Officially endorsed by the British Psychological Society, this book covers topics ranging from biological, cognitive and developmental psychology to the psychology of social interactions, psychopathology and mental health treatments.
Background: Major depression and other depressive conditions are common in people with cancer. These conditions are not easily detectable in clinical practice, due to the overlap between medical and psychiatric symptoms, as described by diagnostic manuals such as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and International Classification of Diseases (ICD). Moreover, it is particularly challenging to distinguish between pathological and normal reactions to such a severe illness. Depressive symptoms, even in subthreshold manifestations, have been shown to have a negative impact in terms of quality of life, compliance with anti-cancer treatment, suicide risk and likely even the mortality rate for the cancer itself. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) on the efficacy, tolerability and acceptability of antidepressants in this population are few and often report conflicting results. Objectives: To assess the efficacy, tolerability and acceptability of antidepressants for treating depressive symptoms in adults (aged 18 years or older) with cancer (any site and stage). Search methods: We searched the following electronic bibliographic databases: the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL 2017, Issue 6), MEDLINE Ovid (1946 to June week 4 2017), Embase Ovid (1980 to 2017 week 27) and PsycINFO Ovid (1987 to July week 4 2017). We additionally handsearched the trial databases of the most relevant national, international and pharmaceutical company trial registers and drug-approving agencies for published, unpublished and ongoing controlled trials. Selection criteria: We included RCTs comparing antidepressants versus placebo, or antidepressants versus other antidepressants, in adults (aged 18 years or above) with any primary diagnosis of cancer and depression (including major depressive disorder, adjustment disorder, dysthymic disorder or depressive symptoms in the absence of a formal diagnosis). Data collection and analysis: Two review authors independently checked eligibility and extracted data using a form specifically designed for the aims of this review. The two authors compared the data extracted and then entered data into Review Manager 5 using a double-entry procedure. Information extracted included study and participant characteristics, intervention details, outcome measures for each time point of interest, cost analysis and sponsorship by a drug company. We used the standard methodological procedures expected by Cochrane. Main results: We retrieved a total of 10 studies (885 participants), seven of which contributed to the meta-analysis for the primary outcome. Four of these compared antidepressants and placebo, two compared two antidepressants, and one three-armed study compared two antidepressants and placebo. In this update we included one additional unpublished study. These new data contributed to the secondary analysis, while the results of the primary analysis remained unchanged. For acute-phase treatment response (6 to 12 weeks), we found no difference between antidepressants as a class and placebo on symptoms of depression measured both as a continuous outcome (standardised mean difference (SMD) -0.45, 95% confidence interval (CI) -1.01 to 0.11, five RCTs, 266 participants; very low certainty evidence) and as a proportion of people who had depression at the end of the study (risk ratio (RR) 0.82, 95% CI 0.62 to 1.08, five RCTs, 417 participants; very low certainty evidence). No trials reported data on follow-up response (more than 12 weeks). In head-to-head comparisons we only retrieved data for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) versus tricyclic antidepressants, showing no difference between these two classes (SMD -0.08, 95% CI -0.34 to 0.18, three RCTs, 237 participants; very low certainty evidence). No clear evidence of a beneficial effect of antidepressants versus either placebo or other antidepressants emerged from our analyses of the secondary efficacy outcomes (dichotomous outcome, response at 6 to 12 weeks, very low certainty evidence). In terms of dropouts due to any cause, we found no difference between antidepressants as a class compared with placebo (RR 0.85, 95% CI 0.52 to 1.38, seven RCTs, 479 participants; very low certainty evidence), and between SSRIs and tricyclic antidepressants (RR 0.83, 95% CI 0.53 to 1.30, three RCTs, 237 participants). We downgraded the certainty (quality) of the evidence because the included studies were at an unclear or high risk of bias due to poor reporting, imprecision arising from small sample sizes and wide confidence intervals, and inconsistency due to statistical or clinical heterogeneity. Authors' conclusions: Despite the impact of depression on people with cancer, the available studies were very few and of low quality. This review found very low certainty evidence for the effects of these drugs compared with placebo. On the basis of these results, clear implications for practice cannot be deduced. The use of antidepressants in people with cancer should be considered on an individual basis and, considering the lack of head-to-head data, the choice of which agent to prescribe may be based on the data on antidepressant efficacy in the general population of individuals with major depression, also taking into account that data on medically ill patients suggest a positive safety profile for the SSRIs. To better inform clinical practice, there is an urgent need for large, simple, randomised, pragmatic trials comparing commonly used antidepressants versus placebo in people with cancer who have depressive symptoms, with or without a formal diagnosis of a depressive disorder.
The Long-Rains wet season of March-May (MAM) over Kenya in 2018 was one of the wettest on record. This paper examines the nature, causes, impacts, and predictability of the rainfall events, and considers the implications for flood risk management. The exceptionally high monthly rainfall totals in March and April resulted from several multi-day heavy rainfall episodes, rather than from distinct extreme daily events. Three intra-seasonal rainfall events in particular resulted in extensive flooding with the loss of lives and livelihoods, a significant displacement of people, major disruption to essential services, and damage to infrastructure. The rainfall events appear to be associated with the combined effects of active Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) events in MJO phases 2-4, and at shorter timescales, tropical cyclone events over the southwest Indian Ocean. These combine to drive an anomalous westerly low-level circulation over Kenya and the surrounding region, which likely leads to moisture convergence and enhanced convection. We assessed how predictable such events over a range of forecast lead times. Long-lead seasonal forecast products for MAM 2018 showed little indication of an enhanced likelihood of heavy rain over most of Kenya, which is consistent with the low predictability of MAM Long-Rains at seasonal lead times. At shorter lead times of a few weeks, the seasonal and extended-range forecasts provided a clear signal of extreme rainfall, which is likely associated with skill in MJO prediction. Short lead weather forecasts from multiple models also highlighted enhanced risk. The flood response actions during the MAM 2018 events are reviewed. Implications of our results for forecasting and flood preparedness systems include: (i) Potential exists for the integration of sub-seasonal and short-term weather prediction to support flood risk management and preparedness action in Kenya, notwithstanding the particular challenge of forecasting at small scales. (ii) We suggest that forecasting agencies provide greater clarity on the difference in potentially useful forecast lead times between the two wet seasons in Kenya and East Africa. For the MAM Long-Rains, the utility of sub-seasonal to short-term forecasts should be emphasized; while at seasonal timescales, skill is currently low, and there is the challenge of exploiting new research identifying the primary drivers of variability. In contrast, greater seasonal predictability of the Short-Rains in the October-December season means that greater potential exists for early warning and preparedness over longer lead times. (iii) There is a need for well-developed and functional forecast-based action systems for heavy rain and flood risk management in Kenya, especially with the relatively short windows for anticipatory action during MAM.
We quantitatively evaluate the extent to which ageing population and social security legislation can explain the high interest rate in Brazil. To guide our assessment, we consider an overlapping generation economy with heterogeneous agents and incomplete markets. The model is calibrated to the Brazilian economy in 2014, our benchmark year, and is able to match very closely the income inequality and the distribution of retirement replacement rates. We examine the effects of imposing a minimum retirement age of 65 and reduce the average retirement replacement rate from 0.82 to 0.40, which is the value observed in the US. We find that, even though the model predicts a large increase in capital and output, 14.5% and 12% respectively, the fall in the long run interest rate is very small, nearly 7%. When we take into account the demographic transition, social security reform has a much larger effect on capital and output, 46.1% and 30.2% respectively, and the interest rate falls nearly 33%. These results suggest that the interaction between these factors is key to understand the effect of social social security on the long run interest rate. We evaluate the implications over the transition to the new steady steady associated with the social security reform. We find that high income agents burden much of the transition costs associated with the reform.
Herein, we report an original one-step, simple, room-temperature, regioselective Minisci reaction for the acylation of electron-deficient heteroarenes with alkynes. The method has broad functional group compatibility and gives exclusively monoacylated products in good to excellent yields. The mechanistic pathway was analyzed based on a series of experiments confirming the involvement of a radical pathway. The 18O-labeling experiment suggested that water is a source of oxygen in the acylated product, and head space GC–MS experiment shows the C–C cleavage occurs via release as CO2.
Natural transformations are ubiquitous in mathematics, logic and computer science. For operations of mixed variance, such as currying and evaluation in the lambda-calculus, Eilenberg and Kelly's notion of extranatural transformation, and often the even more general dinatural transformation, is required. Unfortunately dinaturals are not closed under composition except in special circumstances. This paper presents a new sufficient condition for composability. We propose a generalised notion of dinatural transformation in many variables, and extend the Eilenberg-Kelly account of composition for extranaturals to these transformations. Our main result is that a composition of dinatural transformations which creates no cyclic connections between arguments yields a dinatural transformation. We also extend the classical notion of horizontal composition to our generalized dinaturals and demonstrate that it is associative and has identities.
If, and when the UK is able to agree a new trade relationship with the EU it will be negotiating within a new EU approach to conducting trade agreements. This will have consequences for the type of agreement(s) the UK is able to negotiate with the EU, as well as the replication of any trade agreements negotiated by the EU and the rest of the world before the full Brexit process is finalised.
In addition, the new EU approach to trade agreements may place new demands upon the UK in terms of the time and expertise necessary to negotiate and ratify such agreements with the EU and in the EU Member States.
This is because the EU will now decide at an early stage if it should split trade agreements according to whether they fall either within the exclusive competence of the EU or are viewed as mixed agreements which require input from the Member States and their respective parliaments to ratify.
The changes are a consequence of Opinion 2/15 of the European Court of Justice on the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (EU-SFTA), delivered on 16 May 2017.
On 30 October 2018, the Government revealed its plans on how competition law will continue to operate in the scenario where the UK and the EU are unable to reach an amicable separation agreement – the so-called ‘no deal’ scenario where there is no future EU-UK trade agreement in place. This Blog comments on the expected increase in the workload of the Competition and Markets Authority after Brexit and the proposed new, autonomous approach to competition policy where Regulators and courts will no longer be under an obligation to follow EU competition law.
Purpose
Prospective job applicants tend to use signals that are presented on corporate websites to form perceptions about the organizations. Specifically, they decide whether they would “fit in.” The purpose of this paper is to examine the explicit and implicit signals presented by Financial Times Stock Exchange 250 Index (FTSE250) companies on their corporate websites.
Design/methodology/approach
A content analysis was carried out on FTSE250 corporate websites.
Findings
While many corporate websites do include general references to diversity, they do not engage with different protected characteristics on an equal basis. Furthermore, corporate websites often espouse the legal and business cases rationale for engaging with diversity.
Research limitations/implications
The authors were restricted by the information presented on corporate websites. Further research could use a multi-modal approach and include analysis of images.
Practical implications
Companies need to consider their overall rationale for engaging with diversity. Fostering a culture of inclusion where diversity is celebrated will allow companies to showcase their genuine commitment to diversity on their websites and avoid sending disingenuous signals to minority groups.
Social implications
Increasing the perceived “fit” of minority groups in an organizational culture will foster inclusion and diversity and support minority group engagement.
Originality/value
This research examines diversity signals and relates these to job applicants’ perceptions.
The use of graded readers in Young Learner (YL) programmes is a common enough feature of a syllabus in many private language schools. However, during my experience working in teacher management I found that when conducting developmental observations for teachers, use of the reader could be given short shrift: a last gasp lesson component that too often leaves the opportunities for linguistic, cultural, and creative development under explored. What I hope to outline below are a number of brief considerations behind the reasons why, and broad suggestions how readers might be more fully utilised.
When toddlers hear a novel word, they quickly and independently link it with a novel object rather than known-name objects. However, they are less proficient in retaining multiple novel words. Sleep and even short naps can enhance declarative memory in adults and children and this study investigates the effect of napping on children’s memory for novel words. Forty two-and-a-half-year-old children were presented with referent selection trials for four novel nouns. Children’s retention of the words was tested immediately after referent selection, four hours later in the afternoon, and the following morning. Half of the toddlers napped prior to the afternoon retention test. Amongst the toddlers who napped, retention scores remained steady four hours after exposure and the following morning. In contrast, for the wake group, there was a steady decline in retention scores by the following morning and significantly lower retention scores compared to the nap group. Napping following exposure to novel word–object associations could help in maintaining memories and limiting decay. Nap duration was also associated with better retention scores, but there were no effects of sleep quality, habitual napping, or sleepiness. The findings have implications for the role of napping in children’s language acquisition.
Low self-esteem is often related to interpersonal difficulties. In fact, low self-esteem people fear rejection and tend to adopt self-protection goals. In the present work, we tested the idea that when low self-esteem individuals decide to sacrifice personal preferences for their relationship, they come to regret those actions, with further consequences for their well-being. We conducted a study with 130 couples, using experience sampling, daily diary, and a 1-year follow-up assessment. Results showed that low self-esteem is related to greater regret of past sacrifices, which, in turn, affects negative mood, stress, and life satisfaction. Furthermore, mediation analyses revealed that low self-esteem individuals feel less supported by the partner after they sacrifice, which helps explaining why they come to regret their sacrifices.
Gratitude is robustly linked to many positive outcomes for individuals and relationships (e.g., greater life and relationship satisfaction). However, little is known about how romantic partners come to feel grateful for each other’s pro-relational acts, such as when a partner makes a sacrifice. The present research examines how perceptions of partner sacrifice motives evoke gratitude. We distinguish between partner, relationship, and self-focused motives, and how they are guided by approach or avoidance orientations. We expected that perceiving a partner to sacrifice for partner-focused approach motives (i.e., to promote the partner’s well-being) should evoke gratitude, as this type of motive may signal a genuine departure from self-interest. Moreover, we expected these motives to provoke greater perceptions of partner responsiveness, which should partially explain why they elicit gratitude. In contrast, perceiving a partner to sacrifice for relationship-focused motives (e.g., to promote the well-being of the relationship), or self-focused motives (e.g., to feel good about oneself), should not evoke gratitude—irrespective of an approach or avoidance orientation—as these motives may, to some extent, be perceived as tainted by self-interest. Two studies of romantic couples (N = 413), using diary methods (Studies 1 and 2) and having couples converse about a major sacrifice in the laboratory (Study 2), consistently showed that perceived partner-focused approach motives promote gratitude and that this association is partly mediated by perceived partner responsiveness. In contrast, relationship and self-focused motives (approach and avoidance oriented) were not associated with gratitude. Implications regarding perceiving and displaying sacrifice motives are discussed.
Biologists and social scientists have long tried to understand why some societies have more fluid and open interpersonal relationships—differences in relational mobility—and how those differences influence individual behaviors. We measure relational mobility in 39 societies and find that relationships are more stable and hard to form in east Asia, North Africa, and the Middle East, while they are more fluid in the West and Latin America. Results show that relationally mobile cultures tend to have higher interpersonal trust and intimacy. Exploring potential causes, we find greater environmental threats (like disease and warfare) and sedentary farming are associated with lower relational mobility. Our society-level index of relational mobility for 39 societies is a resource for future studies.
This study investigates the role of the United States Visa Waiver Program on inbound travel. We employ Difference-in-Difference estimation using panel data on US inbound travel. We conclude, ceteris paribus, that admitting a country to the programme increases inbound travel from the origin country to the US by between 29% and 44% depending on the specification.
We present theoretical predictions for the production of top-quark pairs in association with jets at the LHC including electroweak (EW) corrections. First, we present and compare differential predictions at the fixed-order level for tt¯ and tt¯ + jet production at the LHC considering the dominant NLO EW corrections of order O(αs2α) and O(αs3α) respectively together with all additional subleading Born and one-loop contributions. The NLO EW corrections are enhanced at large energies and in particular alter the shape of the top transverse momentum distribution, whose reliable modelling is crucial for many searches for new physics at the energy frontier. Based on the fixed-order results we motivate an approximation of the EW corrections valid at the percent level, that allows us to readily incorporate the EW corrections in the MePs@Nlo framework of Sherpa combined with OpenLoops. Subsequently, we present multi-jet merged parton-level predictions for inclusive top-pair production incorporating NLO QCD + EW corrections to tt¯ and tt¯ + jet. Finally, we compare at the particle-level against a recent 8 TeV measurement of the top transverse momentum distribution performed by ATLAS in the lepton + jet channel. We find very good agreement between the Monte Carlo prediction and the data when the EW corrections are included.
We consider QCD radiative corrections to Higgs boson pair production through gluon fusion in proton collisions. We combine the exact next-to-leading order (NLO) contribution, which features two-loop virtual amplitudes with the full dependence on the top quark mass Mt, with the next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) corrections computed in the large-Mt approximation. The latter are improved with different reweighting techniques in order to account for finite-Mt effects beyond NLO. Our reference NNLO result is obtained by combining one-loop double-real corrections with full Mt dependence with suitably reweighted real-virtual and double-virtual contributions evaluated in the large-Mt approximation. We present predictions for inclusive cross sections in pp collisions at s = 13, 14, 27 and 100 TeV and we discuss their uncertainties due to missing Mt effects. Our approximated NNLO corrections increase the NLO result by an amount ranging from +12% at s=13 TeV to +7% at s=100 TeV, and the residual uncertainty of the inclusive cross section from missing Mt effects is estimated to be at the few percent level. Our calculation is fully differential in the Higgs boson pair and the associated jet activity: we also present predictions for various differential distributions at s=14 and 100 TeV, and discuss the size of the missing Mt effects, which can be larger, especially in the tails of certain observables. Our results represent the most advanced perturbative prediction available to date for this process.
Measurements of tt¯ H production in the H→ bb¯ channel depend in a critical way on the theoretical uncertainty associated with the irreducible tt¯ + b-jet background. In this paper, analysing the various topologies that account for b-jet production in association with a tt¯ pair, we demonstrate that the process at hand is largely driven by final-state g→ bb¯ splittings. We also show that in five-flavour simulations based on tt¯ + multi-jet merging, b-jet production is mostly driven by the parton shower, while matrix elements play only a marginal role in the description of g→ bb¯ splittings. Based on these observations we advocate the use of NLOPS simulations of pp→ tt¯ bb¯ in the four-flavour scheme, and we present a new Powheg generator of this kind. Predictions and uncertainties for tt¯ + b-jet observables at the 13 TeV LHC are presented both for the case of stable top quarks and with spin-correlated top decays. Besides QCD scale variations we consider also theoretical uncertainties related to the Powheg matching method and to the parton shower modelling, with emphasis on g→ bb¯ splittings. In general, matching and shower uncertainties turn out to be remarkably small. This is confirmed also by a consistent comparison against Sherpa+OpenLoops.
We provide a precise description of the Higgs boson transverse momentum distribution including top and bottom quark contributions, that is valid for transverse momenta in the range mb ≲ p⊥ ≲ mt, where mb and mt are the bottom and top quark masses. This description is based on a combination of fixed next-to-leading order (NLO) results with next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic (NNLL) transverse momentum resummation. We show that ambiguities in the resummation procedure for the b-quark loops are of the same order as the related fixed-order uncertainties. We conclude that the current uncertainty in the top-bottom interference contribution to the Higgs transverse momentum spectrum is O(20 %).
We compute the next-to-leading order QCD corrections to the production of Higgs bosons with large transverse momentum p⊥≫2mt at the LHC. To accomplish this, we combine the two-loop amplitudes for processes gg→Hg, qg→Hq and qq¯→Hg, recently computed in the approximation of nearly massless top quarks, with the numerical calculation of the squared one-loop amplitudes for gg→Hgg, qg→Hqg and qq¯→Hgg processes. The latter computation is performed with OpenLoops. We find that the QCD corrections to the Higgs transverse momentum distribution at very high p⊥ are large but quite similar to the QCD corrections obtained for point-like Hgg coupling. Our result removes one of the largest sources of theoretical uncertainty in the description of high-p⊥ Higgs boson production and opens a way to use the high-p⊥ region to search for physics beyond the Standard Model.
This article undertakes a comparative assessment of the development of competition in Botswana, Ethiopia, and Nigeria. These three African countries have all sought to introduce domestic competition law since 2000. The article identifies the different factors that have contributed to the relative success in introducing competition law in Botswana, as compared to both the Nigerian and Ethiopian experience. The article highlights the significance of both domestic and external factors in nurturing competition and good economic governance. It concludes that effective enforcement of competition law is founded on both internal and international dynamics. While domestic will for competition is a necessary precondition, the case of Botswana indicates how domestic reforms needed to be buttressed by capacity building and expertise from external sources, for the betterment of markets, producers, and consumers.
We assess the gains attained by the introduction of age-dependent labor income taxes in an overlapping generations economy where individuals live a meaningful life cycle and endogenously accumulate human capital. The model is sufficiently rich to isolate the role of general equilibrium effects, credit market imperfections, and different forms of human capital accumulation. The large welfare gains we obtain cannot be attained without age dependence, nor can they be attained with age-dependent taxes if progressivity of labor income taxes and capital income tax rates are not suitably adjusted to profit from the complementarity of these instruments.
The cellular kinases inhibitory-κB kinase (IKK) α and Nuclear Factor-κB (NF-κB)-inducing kinase (NIK) are well recognised as key central regulators and drivers of the non-canonical NF-κB cascade and as such dictate the initiation and development of defined transcriptional responses associated with the liberation of p52-RelB and p52-p52 NF-κB dimer complexes. Whilst these kinases and downstream NF-κB complexes transduce pro-inflammatory and growth stimulating signals that contribute to major cellular processes, they also play a key role in the pathogenesis of a number of inflammatory-based conditions and diverse cancer types, which for the latter may be a result of background mutational status. IKKα and NIK, therefore, represent attractive targets for pharmacological intervention. Here, specifically in the cancer setting, we reflect on the potential pathophysiological role(s) of each of these kinases, their associated downstream signalling outcomes and the stimulatory and mutational mechanisms leading to their increased activation. We also consider the downstream coordination of transcriptional events and phenotypic outcomes illustrative of key cancer ‘Hallmarks’ that are now increasingly perceived to be due to the coordinated recruitment of both NF-κB-dependent as well as NF-κB–independent signalling. Furthermore, as these kinases regulate the transition from hormone-dependent to hormone-independent growth in defined tumour subsets, potential tumour reactivation and major cytokine and chemokine species that may have significant bearing upon tumour-stromal communication and tumour microenvironment it reiterates their potential to be drug targets. Therefore, with the emergence of small molecule kinase inhibitors targeting each of these kinases, we consider medicinal chemistry efforts to date and those evolving that may contribute to the development of viable pharmacological intervention strategies to target a variety of tumour types.
Yellow fever virus is a mosquito-borne flavivirus that causes yellow fever, an acute infectious disease that occurs in South America and sub-Saharan Africa. Most patients with yellow fever are asymptomatic, but among the 15% who develop severe illness, the case fatality rate is 20%-60%. Effective live-attenuated virus vaccines are available that protect against yellow fever (1). An outbreak of yellow fever began in Brazil in December 2016; since July 2017, cases in both humans and nonhuman primates have been reported from the states of São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro, including cases occurring near large urban centers in these states (2). On January 16, 2018, the World Health Organization updated yellow fever vaccination recommendations for Brazil to include all persons traveling to or living in Espírito Santo, São Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro states, and certain cities in Bahia state, in addition to areas where vaccination had been recommended before the recent outbreak (3). Since January 2018, 10 travel-related cases of yellow fever, including four deaths, have been reported in international travelers returning from Brazil. None of the 10 travelers had received yellow fever vaccination.
Background
For adults surviving stroke due to spontaneous (non-traumatic) intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) who had taken an antithrombotic (i.e. anticoagulant or antiplatelet) drug for the prevention of vaso-occlusive disease before the ICH, it is unclear whether starting antiplatelet drugs results in an increase in the risk of recurrent ICH or a beneficial net reduction of all serious vascular events compared to avoiding antiplatelet drugs.
Methods/design
The REstart or STop Antithrombotics Randomised Trial (RESTART) is an investigator-led, randomised, open, assessor-blind, parallel-group, randomised trial comparing starting versus avoiding antiplatelet drugs for adults surviving antithrombotic-associated ICH at 122 hospital sites in the United Kingdom. RESTART uses a central, web-based randomisation system using a minimisation algorithm, with 1:1 treatment allocation to which central research staff are masked. Central follow-up includes annual postal or telephone questionnaires to participants and their general (family) practitioners, with local provision of information about adverse events and outcome events. The primary outcome is recurrent symptomatic ICH. The secondary outcomes are: symptomatic haemorrhagic events; symptomatic vaso-occlusive events; symptomatic stroke of uncertain type; other fatal events; modified Rankin Scale score; adherence to antiplatelet drug(s). The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sub-study involves the conduct of brain MRI according to a standardised imaging protocol before randomisation to investigate heterogeneity of treatment effect according to the presence of brain microbleeds. Recruitment began on 22 May 2013. The target sample size is at least 720 participants in the main trial (at least 550 in the MRI sub-study).
Discussion
Final results of RESTART will be analysed and disseminated in 2019.
We find that only 17% of FTSE 100 company websites refer directly to transgender (‘trans’) individuals, illustrating the extent to which trans voices are unheard in the workplace. We propose that these voices are missing for a number of reasons: voluntary silence to protect oneself from adverse circumstances; the subsumption of trans voices within the larger ‘LGBT’ community; assimilation, wherein many trans voices become affiliated with those of their post-transition gender; multiple trans voices arising from diversity within the transgender community; and limited access to voice mechanisms for transgender employees. We identify the negative implications of being unheard for individual trans employees, for organizational outcomes, and for business and management scholarship, and propose ways in which organizations can listen more carefully to trans voices. Finally, we introduce an agenda for future research that tests the applicability of the theoretical framework of invisible stigma disclosure to transgender individuals, and calls for new theoretical and empirical developments to identify HRM challenges and best practices for respecting trans employees and their choices to remain silent or be heard.
Purpose
Human resource management (HRM) departments report a lack of knowledge on supporting transgender employees during gender transition in the workplace. The purpose of this research is to survey the experiences of transgender workers in English-, French- and German-speaking countries to evaluate their experience of transitioning at work and the HRM support they received to do so.
Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire consisting of 32 quantitative items and qualitative text boxes was completed by 166 transgender individuals.
Findings
Results show a mostly negative landscape with some pockets of good practice.
Research limitations/implications
Answers are based on self-report measures and data are cross-sectional.
Practical implications
Recommendations for good practice are proposed for HRM departments.
Social implications
A move towards a more inclusive workplace is needed.
Originality/value
Questions focus on HRM practices specifically, whereas other surveys have assessed work practices more broadly.
This article embraces the spectral turn and sociological framework of “Haunting” to investigate the gendered implications of armed drones for the individuals who crew them. Introducing original interview data from former British Reaper drone crews and focusing on their experiences of conducting lethal operations, this article builds on feminist and queer theorizing to illuminate the instability of the binary distinction between masculinity and femininity as traditionally understood. Developing “Haunting,” I draw out three themes: complex personhood, in/(hyper)visibility, and disturbed temporality as the frames through which the intersection of gender and drone warfare can be examined. I draw upon the conceptual metaphor of the ghost to explore the dead that is also alive, the absent that is also present, and that silence that is also a scream. Through this, I argue that Haunting provides a framework for both revealing and destabilizing gendered binaries and is therefore a useful tool for feminist security and international relations scholars.
There is substantial evidence to suggest that deafness is associated with delays in emotion understanding, which has been attributed to delays in language acquisition and opportunities to converse. However, studies addressing the ability to recognise facial expressions of emotion have produced equivocal findings. The two experiments presented here attempt to clarify emotion recognition in deaf children by considering two aspects: the role of motion and the role of intensity in deaf children's emotion recognition. In Study 1, 26 deaf children were compared to 26 age-matched hearing controls on a computerised facial emotion recognition task involving static and dynamic expressions of 6 emotions. Eighteen of the deaf and 18 age-matched hearing controls additionally took part in Study 2, involving the presentation of the same 6 emotions at varying intensities. Study 1 showed that deaf children's emotion recognition was better in the dynamic rather than static condition, whereas the hearing children showed no difference in performance between the two conditions. In Study 2, the deaf children performed no differently from the hearing controls, showing improved recognition rates with increasing rates of intensity. With the exception of disgust, no differences in individual emotions were found. These findings highlight the importance of using ecologically valid stimuli to assess emotion recognition.
Female entrepreneurs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) experience barriers to their action which require creative strategies to navigate. Despite regulatory efforts to advance female entrepreneurial ventures, sociocultural ascriptions remain and these can be detrimental to women’s business experiences. This chapter explores the exogenous and endogenous circumstances integral to establishing a new venture in Saudi Arabia and the hindrances these can pose to female entrepreneurship. Barriers are identified that frame female entrepreneurial action and their creative responses are highlighted to demonstrate how they can play a crucial role in formulating women’s entrepreneurial identities and their entrepreneurial action. A conceptual framework for future research is outlined that seeks to understand these creative responses.
Ordinary differential equations arise in a variety of applications, including climate modeling, electronics, predator-prey modeling, etc., and they can exhibit highly complicated dynamical behaviour. Complete Lyapunov functions capture this behaviour by dividing the phase space into two disjoint sets: the chain-recurrent part and the transient part. If a complete Lyapunov function is known for a dynamical system the qualitative behaviour of the system’s solutions is transparent to a large degree. The computation of a complete Lyapunov function for a given system is, however, a very hard task. We present significant improvements of an algorithm recently suggested by the authors to compute complete Lyapunov functions. Previously this methodology was incapable to fully detect chain-recurrent sets in dynamical systems with high differences in speed. In the new approach we replace the system under consideration with another one having the same solution trajectories but such that they are traversed at a more uniform speed. The qualitative properties of the new system such as attractors and repellers are the same as for the original one. This approach gives a better approximation to the chain-recurrent set of the system under study.
In the originally published version of this article, the affiliation details for Hugo Muñoz-Hernández, Carlos F. Rodríguez and Oscar Llorca incorrectly omitted ‘Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas (CIB), Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Ramiro de Maeztu 9, 28040 Madrid, Spain’. This has now been corrected in both the PDF and HTML versions of the Article.
The authors wish to apologize for originally omitting the contribution of two individuals, who should have been listed as co-authors: Annika N. Boehm and Annette Aichem. This has now been corrected online.
Introduction: LMTK3 is an oncogenic Receptor Tyrosine Kinase (RTK) implicated in resistance to endocrine therapy in breast cancer. Initially, LMTK3 was described as a regulator of Estrogen Receptor alpha (ERα) since it was found able to protect it from ubiquitin-mediated proteasomal degradation. In a cohort of breast cancer (BC) patients (n>600), LMTK3 protein levels and intronic polymorphisms were significantly associated with disease-free and overall survival and predicted response to endocrine therapy. These data were validated in an Asian cohort in which it was shown that LMTK3 was associated with more aggressive tumours. In addition, LMTK3 was demonstrated to contribute in BC invasion and migration. Recently, a new scaffolding function of LMTK3 was described that results in cancer progression through chromatin remodelling.
Aim: This study aims to identify selective LMTK3 inhibitors that can be used to enable pathway investigation and establish onward tractability of these compounds for future translational activities.
Materials and methods: The Bellbrook Laboratories Transcreener® assay kit was employed and 30,000 compounds were screened to detect novel LMTK3 inhibitors. Nearly 100 of them significantly inhibited LMTK3 activity and were therefore chosen for 10-point concentration-response profiling in duplicate and LC-MS analysis. The top 50 test compounds were clustered into unique chemotypes and were further tested using radiolabelled in vitro kinase assays. The top 5 compounds from two chemotypes were selected to be evaluated with hit-to-lead medicinal chemistry. Subsequently, an active site-directed competition binding assay (DiscoveRx KINOMEscan) was used to quantitatively measure the interactions between the top 5 hit compounds and more than 450 purified human kinases and disease relevant mutant variants.
Results and discussion: Two (C28 and C36) out of the 30,000 compounds that were screened inhibited by >95% the activity of only 10 and 8 kinases respectively. Moreover, the S(35) selectivity index of C28 was 0.186 while the selectivity index of C36 was 0.114. Interestingly, quantitative analysis of 38 kinase inhibitors currently used in clinical oncology showed a comparably low S(35) score as C28 and C36. It is expected that the crystallization of the LMTK3 kinase domain that is currently being conducted as well as co-crystallization experiments with these inhibitors and other analogues will guide a rational optimisation strategy of each chemotype.
Conclusion: More work is required; however, these data represent a step towards the development of the first LMTK3 inhibitors that may have potential for broad clinical utility in breast cancer.
CD4+ T-cell subsets are found in the tumour microenvironment (TME) of low-grade B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphomas such as marginal zone lymphoma (MZL) or follicular lymphoma (FL). Both numbers and architecture of activating follicular helper T-cells (Tfh) and suppressive Treg in the TME of FL are associated with clinical outcomes. There has been almost no previous work on CD4+ T-cells in MZL. It is now recognised that circulating CD4+CXCR5+ T-cells are the memory compartment of Tfh cells. We determined differences in number of circulating Tfh (cTfh) cells and cTfh subsets between normal subjects and patients with FL or MZL. Lymphoma patients showed increased numbers of cTfh1 and reduced cTfh17 cells due to decreased expression of the subset-defining marker CCR6 in patients. PD1, a surface marker associated with Tfh cells, showed increased expression on cTfh subsets in patients. Focusing on MZL we determined expression of 96 T-cell associated genes by microfluidic qRT-PCR. Analysis of differentially expressed genes showed significant differences between normal subjects and patients both for bulk cTfh (CCL4) and the cTfh1 subset (JAK3). While our findings require confirmation in larger studies we suggest that analysis of number and gene expression of circulating T-cells might be a source of clinically useful information as is the case for T-cells within lymphoma lymph nodes.
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the association among trustee board diversity (TBD), corporate governance (CG), capital structure (CS) and financial performance (FP) by using a sample of UK charities. Specifically, the authors investigate the effect of TBD on CS and ascertain whether CG quality moderates the TBD–CS nexus. Additionally, the authors examine the impact of CS on FP and ascertain whether the CS–FP nexus is moderated by TBD and CG quality.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use a number of multivariate regression techniques, including ordinary least squares, fixed-effects, lagged-effects and two-stage least squares, to rigorously analyse the data and test the hypotheses.
Findings
First, the authors find that trustee board gender diversity has a negative effect on CS, but this relationship holds only up to the point of having three women trustees. The authors find similar, but relatively weak, results for the presence of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) trustees. Second, the authors find that the TBD–CS nexus depends on the quality of CG, with the relationship being stronger in charities with higher frequency of meetings, independent CG committee and larger trustee and audit firm size. Third, the authors find that CS structure has a positive effect on FP, but this is moderated by TBD and CG quality. The evidence is robust to different econometric models that adjust for alternative measures and endogeneities. The authors interpret the findings within explanations of a theoretical perspective that captures insights from different CG and CS theories.
Originality/value
Existing studies that explore TBD, CG, CS and FP in charities are rare. This study distinctively attempts to address this empirical lacuna within the extant literature by providing four new insights with specific focus on UK charities. First, the authors provide new evidence on the relationship between TBD and CS. Second, the authors offer new evidence on the moderating effect of CG on the TBD-CS nexus. Third, the authors provide new evidence on the effect of CS on FP. Finally, the authors offer new evidence on the moderating effect of TBD and CG on the CS–FP nexus.
Whilst the ongoing banking regulatory reforms towards a comprehensive Basel III framework emphasise disclosure, transparency and a competitive banking market environment, very little is known about the empirical relationship between bank opacity and banking competition. We investigate the impact of competition, as measured by the individual bank's pricing power in the banking market, on bank opacity using a large sample of US bank holding companies over the 1986–2015 period. We uncover new evidence, on the competition-bank opacity nexus, which suggests that banks with higher market power and operating in less competitive banking markets have lower analysts’ forecast errors and dispersions and may thus be less opaque. This effect is more pronounced for the 2007–09 global financial crisis period. Our evidence is robust to controlling for analysts’ characteristics, bank fixed-effects and endogeneity problems.
This study investigates the effect of environmental performance that is driven by good environmental policies, regulations, and management on firm's financial distress and, consequently, ascertains the extent to which top management teams' (TMTs') characteristics can moderate the environmental performance–financial distress nexus in China using 749 firms over the 2009–2014 period (i.e., generating over 3,000 individual observations). Our findings are twofold. First, our results indicate that increased environmental performance that is driven by good environmental policies tends to strategically reduce the extent of firm financial distress. Second, this nexus is moderated by TMT gender diversity, foreign exposure, and political connection. We interpret our findings within neo-institutional, upper echelons, and risk management theoretical perspectives. The findings are robust to the use of alternative measures of financial distress, estimation techniques, and endogeneity problems.
The concept of the ‘heterogeneous engineer’, devised by Krige (2001) offers the intriguing possibility of applying a concept devised in the history of science literature to the academic study of leadership. This study sought to use the heterogeneous engineer as a conceptual framework to develop wider leadership theory. Two case studies were selected – the Tevatron at Fermilab in the United States and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN on the Franco-Swiss border. The LHC was of particular interest because Carlo Rubbia, identified by Krige (2001) as a classic heterogeneous engineer, played a leading role in its conception. However, the results of this study indicate that Carlo Rubbia is a relative anomaly within the context of scientific leadership and therefore the heterogeneous engineer is an inappropriate construct for the development of wider leadership theory. The paper also identifies and describes the generalised characteristics of leaders in megascience projects as a starting point for future work in this field.
Project and strategic management scholarship recognises the importance of project capabilities that allow firms to deliver projects. Although work on project capabilities is a fast-growing line of inquiry, little is still known about how clients assemble project capabilities to achieve operational outcomes in inter-organisational settings. This study seeks to apply theoretical work on project capabilities to the domain of infrastructure project delivery in order to understand how the assembly of project capabilities in temporary inter-organisational settings contributes to the delivery of operational outcomes. The empirical enquiry takes place in the context of the delivery of London Heathrow Terminal 2. Through an inductive theory building approach drawing upon semi-structured interviews with client-side project leadership, internal documents, publicly available data and ongoing engagement with the field, we identified three key capability-enabling mechanisms that help explain the genesis of project capabilities in inter-organisational settings: (1) reconfiguring project capabilities, (2) adapting project capabilities and (3) maintaining project capabilities. We discuss and expand these findings by engaging with theoretical ideas from project studies, and mainstream strategy, organisation, and management research to induce a dynamic model that can be helpful to guide future research, policy and management practices relating to the client side management of project capabilities.
The authors regret that there was a factual omission in the originally accepted version of the article. The omission refers mainly to the history of changes that occurred during the delivery of the T2 programme in 3.1 Case Context.
We next provide a detailed account of the changes sentence by sentence:
1.
“When it opened, the terminal hosted 26 airlines, comprising all 23 Star Alliance airlines, plus Air Lingus, Virgin Atlantic Little Red and Germanwings as non-alliance airlines." changes to “Originally designed to host 18 Star Alliance carriers, when it opened, the terminal hosted 26 airlines, comprising all 23 Star Alliance airlines, plus Air Lingus, Virgin Atlantic Little Red and Germanwings as non-alliance airlines."
2.
“The delivery phase of T2 was no exception in that regard as it experienced a disruption when the public announcement was made (Financial Times, 2012) that British Midland International (BMI) - the main anticipated airline occupier for the new Terminal 2 at the time of drawing up the contract and until that point - had been acquired by the International Airlines Group (IAG) with the consequence that all BMI operations were to be integrated with British Airways (BA) shortly thereafter." changes to “The delivery phase of T2 was no exception in that regard as it experienced a disruption when the public announcement was made (Financial Times 2012) that British Midland International (BMI)- a key Star Alliance occupier and main domestic carrier for the new Terminal 2 - had been acquired by the International Airlines Group (IAG) with the consequence that all BMI operations were to be integrated with British Airways (BA) shortly thereafter."
3.
“Given that Heathrow Terminal 5 is BA's main hub and base of operations, the main consequence of this merger was that BMI was going to move its operations to a different terminal, leaving T2 without its main occupier." changes to “As BMI ceased to exist as a company, its routes were absorbed by BA into its operations at Heathrow T5, creating an operational void at T2, particularly affecting the T2A building, which now had to fill a number of unused landing slots."
4.
“As a consequence of the unexpected acquisition of BMI, HAL developed and then negotiated a solution in which the new T2 was going to accommodate 23 of the Star Alliance (SA) airlines – a first for any major airport hub. To fully occupy the T2 space, three non-Alliance airlines: Air Lingus, Virgin Atlantic Little Red and Germanwings carriers would also be accommodated. Because these SA airlines were previously spread across other terminals of Heathrow, SA effectively became the lead occupier of the T2 building, with the goal of ultimately serving 22 million passengers per year from a single hub terminal. The business value-add for the SA to occupy the terminal was in the operational and commercial benefits of the hub-and-spoke model of operations. In other words, members of the alliance would enjoy the benefits of being collocated in a single terminal by improving the quality of service and opportunity for cross-selling of products of the SA member airlines." changes to “As a consequence of the unexpected acquisition of BMI, HAL developed and then negotiated a solution in which the new T2 was now going to accommodate all 23 of the Star Alliance members – a significant change from the original 18 carriers. In addition, to fully occupy the available space, three non-Alliance airlines: Air Lingus, Virgin Atlantic Little Red and Germanwings carriers would also be accommodated. In this manner, Star Alliance effectively became the lead occupier of T2, with the goal of ultimately serving 22 million passengers per year from a single hub terminal. The business value-add for the Star Alliance to fully occupy the terminal was in the operational and commercial benefits of the hub-and-spoke model of operations. In other words, members of the alliance would enjoy the benefits of being co-located in a single terminal by improving the quality of service and opportunity for cross-selling of products of the Star Alliance member airlines."
5.
“As opposed to more simplistic technical testing of devices, the trials involved people and were organised in a succession going from trialling the use of specific physical units to entire putting pretend or proxy passengers and their luggage in large areas in a progressively complex effort." changes to “As opposed to more simplistic technical testing of devices, the trials involved volunteers and were organised in a succession going from trialling the use of specific physical units to complex trial scenarios using volunteers and their luggage in large areas in a progressively complex effort."
6.
“The second capability-enabling mechanism that emerged as an aggregate dimension from the informant accounts related to how the project responded to an unforeseen event – the BMI merger – and the change from having to accommodate the shift from one airline to 26 airline occupiers." changes to: “The second capability-enabling mechanism that emerged as an aggregate dimension from the informant accounts related to how the project responded to an unforeseen event – the BMI merger – and the change from having to accommodate the shift from the original 18 to the final 26 airline occupiers."
7.
“One of such solutions refers to how the project team dealt with the new requirements for the check-in area, originally designed and built to accommodate predominantly one airline, but now having to accommodate 26 different airlines, many of which with very different check-in procedures." changes to: “One of such solutions refers to how the project team dealt with the new requirements for the check-in area, now having to accommodate 26 different airlines, many of which with very different check-in procedures."
8.
Sentence “Whist conventional check-in would require 140 counters in the terminal to deal with this situation, there was only enough space for 116." inserted in text after the sentence from point 7 of the corrigendum:
The authors would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused.
The Handbook on the Geographies of Corruption is a comprehensive overview of corruption, exploring the immense variation of corruption among nations, and how this reflects levels of wealth, the centralization of power, colonial legacies, and different national cultures.
In this Handbook, Barney Warf brings together a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary collection of original new chapters from established researchers and leading academics to examine corruption from a spatial perspective. The Handbook opens with a series of thematic chapters on the causes and consequences of corruption, its geography, the connection between corruption and gender, and the role of e-government in mitigating current corruption issues. Further chapters offer a series of national case studies, on countries including Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, Turkey, Russia, Pakistan, China, Indonesia, Ukraine, Bangladesh, and the Philippines from which to draw lessons.
This Handbook will be a valuable read for human geography scholars and corruption researchers, wishing to gain a more in depth understanding of how and why corruption levels differ across the world. Practitioners concerned with combatting corruption would also greatly benefit from reading this given its real-world insights.
Libraries have an emerging role in advocating for and influencing the development of strategy, policy and infrastructure around digital scholarship and open publishing within their institutions. This case study will explore how we have approached this at institutional level by developing a strategic business plan for
University senior management, and also on a practical level by supporting doctoral researchers to carry out a multidisciplinary Book Sprint to publish an open access monograph in four days, providing opportunities to engage with alternative approaches to disseminating scholarly work.
Despite a significant increase in capacity of the Internet regional congestion remains an issue at certain times of day. Dimensioning the system to provide minimal delay under these transient conditions would be uneconomical, particularly as various forms of application data are more or less sensitive to these delays, as are different end-users. We therefore investigate a scheme that allows end-users to selectively exploit a sequence of mini tunnels along a path from their origin to a chosen destination. We assume the availability of such tunnels is advertised centrally through a broker, with the cooperation of the Autonomous System (AS) domain operators, allowing end-users to use them if so desired. The closest analogy this scheme is that of a driver choosing to use one or more toll roads along a route to avoid potential congestion or less desirable geographic locations. It thus takes the form of a type of loose source routing. Furthermore, the approach avoids the need for inter-operator cooperation, although such cooperation provides a means of extending tunnels across AS peers. In this paper we ascertain the benefit in terms of delay for a given degree of tunnel presence within a portion of the Internet. The expectation is that a relatively small number of tunnels may be sufficient to provide worthwhile improvements in performance for some users at least.
Using a broad range of uncertainty measures, we show that uncertainty dramatically slows down firms’ adjustments toward their optimal capital structure. At the upper bound, the estimated speed of leverage adjustments almost halves when uncertainty is high. High quality institutions (common law legal origin, more disclosure to congress and/or to the public, and higher public sector ethics) and presidential political systems offset some of the adverse effects of uncertainty on leverage adjustments. The financial crisis has altered the relationships among uncertainty, adjustment speeds, and a country's institutions; more so for countries with weak institutions and parliamentary systems.
This edited collection analyses the prison through the most fundamental challenge it faces: escapes. The chapters comprise original research from established prison scholars who develop the contours of a sociology of prison escapes.
While there are extensive records of Sir Joseph Banks’s lifetime of work, the “Dairy Book” is one of the few surviving documents that chart an aspect of the intellectual life of his wife, Lady Dorothea Banks. The Dairy Book represents a record of Dorothea’s interpretation of her porcelain collection, acquired through the Banks family’s international network of scholars, scientists, and manufacturers. Beginning with a discussion of its unusual materiality, this article argues that the Dairy Book is distanced from the ordinary book form and is instead closer to the porcelain collection in substance: occulted, disorderly, and excessive. The Dairy Book functions as a metonym for the porcelain collection and the substance itself. This article examines porcelain and the collector’s text as fictile material: a portable signifier and a repository for meanings that are shaped by the collector’s selection and display. The plasticity suggested by “fictile” destabilizes understandings of how meaning is created and communicated. It frames how porcelain may be interpreted through associated practices of synecdoche, metonymy, and transposition.
Liquid scintillators are a common choice for neutrino physics experiments, but their capabilities to perform background rejection by scintillation pulse shape discrimination is generally limited in large detectors. This paper describes a novel approach for a pulse shape based event classification developed in the context of the Double Chooz reactor antineutrino experiment. Unlike previous implementations, this method uses the Fourier power spectra of the scintillation pulse shapes to obtain event-wise information. A classification variable built from spectral information was able to achieve an unprecedented performance, despite the lack of optimization at the detector design level. Several examples of event classification are provided, ranging from differentiation between the detector volumes and an efficient rejection of instrumental light noise, to some sensitivity to the particle type, such as stopping muons, ortho-positronium formation, alpha particles as well as electrons and positrons. In combination with other techniques the method is expected to allow for a versatile and more efficient background rejection in the future, especially if detector optimization is taken into account at the design level.
The yields and production rates of the radioisotopes 9Li and 8He created by cosmic muon spallation on 12C, have been measured by the two detectors of the Double Chooz experiment. The identical detectors are located at separate sites and depths, which means that they are subject to different muon spectra. The near (far) detector has an overburden of ∼120 m.w.e. (∼300 m.w.e.) corresponding to a mean muon energy of 32.1 ± 2.0 GeV (63.7 ± 5.5 GeV). Comparing the data to a detailed simulation of the 9Li and 8He decays, the contribution of the 8He radioisotope at both detectors is found to be compatible with zero. The observed 9Li yields in the near and far detectors are 5.51 ± 0.51 and 7.90 ± 0.51, respectively, in units of 10−8μ−1g−1cm2. The shallow overburdens of the near and far detectors give a unique insight when combined with measurements by KamLAND and Borexino to give the first multi-experiment, data driven relationship between the 9Li yield and the mean muon energy according to the power law Y=Y0(〈Eμ〉/1GeV)α¯, giving α¯=0.72±0.06 and Y0 = (0.43 ± 0.11) × 10−8μ−1g−1cm2. This relationship gives future liquid scintillator based experiments the ability to predict their cosmogenic 9Li background rates.
We measure singlet-triplet mixing in a precision fabricated double donor dot comprising 2 and 1 phosphorus atoms separated by 16 ± 1 nm. We identify singlet and triplet-minus states by performing a sequential independent spin readout of the two electron system and probe its dependence on magnetic field strength. The relaxation of singlet and triplet states is measured to be 12.4 ± 1.0 s and 22.1 ± 1.0 s, respectively, at Bz = 2.5 T.
The synthesis and characterisation of a new anionic flexible scorpionate ligand, methyl(bis-7-azaindolyl)borohydride [MeBai]- is reported herein. The ligand was coordinated to a series of group nine transition metal centres forming the complexes, [Ir(MeBai)(COD)] (1), [Rh(MeBai)(COD)] (2), [Rh(MeBai)(CODMe)] (2-Me) and [Rh(MeBai)(NBD)] (3), where COD = 1,5-cyclooctadiene, CODMe = 3-methyl-1,5-cyclooctadiene and NBD = 2,5-norbornadiene. In all cases, the boron based ligand was found to bind to the metal centres via a κ3-N,N,H coordination mode. The ligand and complexes were fully characterised by spectroscopic and analytical methods. The structures of the ligand and three of the complexes were confirmed by X-ray crystallography. The potential for migration of the "hydride" or "methyl" units from boron to the metal centre was also explored. During these studies an unusual transformation, involving the oxidation of the rhodium centre, was observed in complex 2. In this case, the η4-COD unit transformed into a η1,η3-C8H12 unit where the ring was bound via one sigma bond and one allyl unit. This is the first time such a transformation has been observed at a rhodium centre.
A series of uranium(III) mixed sandwich complexes with sterically demanding CpR ligands, of the type [U(COTTIPS2)(CpR)] (CpR = CptBu (C5H4tBu), CptBu2 (C5H3tBu2-1,3), CptBu3 (C5H2tBu3-1,2,4), CpTIPS2 (C5H3(SiiPr3)2-1,3), CpMe4Bz (C5Me4CH2Ph), IndMe6 (C9HMe6) and IndMe7 (C9Me7), and COTTIPS2 = C8H6(SiiPr3)2-1,4), have been synthesised and their X-ray crystal structures determined. The reactivity of these complexes with CO and CO2 is reported, including the squarate complex [U(COTTIPS2)(IndMe6)]2(μ-C4O4), IR data on the long-lived carbonyl complex [U(COTTIPS2)(IndMe7)(CO)] and the carbonate complex [U(COTTIPS2)(CptBu)]2(μ-η1:η2-CO3). The Solid-G algorithm has been to assess the steric properties of these and previously reported mixed-sandwich complexes in the solid state and correlate these properties with the observed reactivity.
Objective
From a systematic literature review (SLR), it became clear that a consensually validated tool was needed by European General Practitioner (GP) researchers in order to allow multi-centred collaborative research, in daily practice, throughout Europe. Which diagnostic tool for depression, validated against psychiatric examination according to the DSM, would GPs select as the best for use in clinical research, taking into account the combination of effectiveness, reliability and ergonomics? A RAND/UCLA, which combines the qualities of the Delphi process and of the nominal group, was used. GP researchers from different European countries were selected. The SLR extracted tools were validated against the DSM. The Youden index was used as an effectiveness criterion and Cronbach’s alpha as a reliability criterion. Ergonomics data were extracted from the literature. Ergonomics were tested face-to-face.
Results
The SLR extracted 7 tools. Two instruments were considered sufficiently effective and reliable for use: the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and the Hopkins Symptoms Checklist-25 (HSCL-25). After testing face-to-face, HSCL-25 was selected. A multicultural consensus on one diagnostic tool for depression was obtained for the HSCL-25. This tool will provide the opportunity to select homogeneous populations for European collaborative research in daily practice.
Background - Socioeconomic deprivation is a key determinant for health. In England, the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) is a widely used composite measure of deprivation. However, little is known about its spatial clustering or persistence across time.
Methods - Data for overall IMD and its health domain were analysed for 2004–2015 at a low geographical area (average of 1500 people). Levels and temporal changes were spatially visualised for the whole of England and its 10 administrative regions. Spatial clustering was quantified using Moran’s I, correlations over time were quantified using Pearson’s r.
Results - Between 2004 and 2015 we observed a strong persistence for both overall (r=0.94) and health-related deprivation (r=0.92). At the regional level, small changes were observed over time, but with areas slowly regressing towards the mean. However, for the North East, North West and Yorkshire, where health-related deprivation was the highest, the decreasing trend in health-related deprivation reversed and we noticed increases in 2015. Results did not support our hypothesis of increasing spatial clustering over time. However, marked regional variability was observed in both aggregate deprivation outcomes. The lowest autocorrelation was seen in the North East and changed very little over time, while the South East had the highest autocorrelation at all time points.
Conclusions - Overall and health-related deprivation patterns persisted in England, with large and unchanging health inequalities between the North and the South. The spatial aspect of deprivation can inform the targeting of health and social care interventions, particularly in areas with high levels of deprivation clustering.
Objectives: Depressive symptoms and low vitamin D status are common in older persons and may be associated, but findings are inconsistent. This study investigated whether 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations are associated with depressive symptoms in older adults, both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. We also examined whether physical functioning could explain this relationship, to gain a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms.
Methods: Data from two independent prospective cohorts of the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam were used: an older cohort (≥65 years, n = 1282, assessed from 1995–2002) and a younger-old cohort (55–65 years, n = 737, assessed from 2002–2009).
Measurements: Depressive symptoms were measured at baseline and after 3 and 6 years with the Center of Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. Cross-sectional and longitudinal linear regression techniques were used to examine the relationship between 25(OH)D and depressive symptoms. The mediating role of physical functioning was examined in the longitudinal models.
Results: Cross-sectionally, associations were not significant after adjustment for confounders. Longitudinally, women in the older cohort with baseline 25(OH)D concentrations up to 75 nmol/L experienced 175 to 24% more depressive symptoms in the following 6 years, compared with women with 25(OH)D concentrations >75 nmol/L. Reduced physical performance partially mediated this relationship. In men and in the younger-old cohort, no significant associations were observed.
Conclusions: Older women showed an inverse relationship between 25(OH)D and depressive symptoms over time, which may partially be explained by declining physical functioning. Replication of these findings by future studies is needed.
Background
Comorbid depression is common in patients with type 2 diabetes (DM2) and/or coronary heart disease (CHD) and is associated with poor quality of life and adverse health outcomes. However, little is known about patients’ and practice nurses’ (PNs) perceptions of depression. Tailoring care to these perceptions may affect depression detection and patient engagement with treatment and prevention programs. This study aimed to explore patients’ and PNs’ perceptions of depression in patients with DM2/CHD screened for subthreshold depression.
Methods
A qualitative study was conducted as part of a Dutch stepped-care prevention project. Using a purposive sampling strategy, data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 15 patients and 9 PNs. After consent, all interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and analyzed independently by two researchers with Atlas.ti.5.7.1 software. The patient and PN datasets were inspected for commonalities using a constant comparative method, from which a final thematic framework was generated.
Results
Main themes were: illness perception, need for care and causes of depression. Patients generally considered themselves at least mildly depressed, but perceived severity levels were not always congruent with Patient Health Questionnaire 9 scores at inclusion. Initially recognizing or naming their mental state as a (subthreshold) depression was difficult for some. Having trouble sleeping was frequently experienced as the most burdensome symptom. Most experienced a need for care; psycho-educational advice and talking therapy were preferred. Perceived symptom severity corresponded with perceived need for care, but did not necessarily match help-seeking behaviour. Main named barriers to help-seeking were experienced stigma and lack of awareness of depression and mental health care possibilities. PNs frequently perceived patients as not depressed and with minimal need for specific care except for attention. Participants pointed to a mix of causes of depression, most related to negative life events and circumstances and perceived indirect links with DM2/CHD.
Conclusion
Data of the interviewed patients and PNs suggest that they have different perceptions about (subthreshold) depressive illness and the need for care, although views on its causes seem to overlap more.
Introduction and Objectives
The accuracy of conclusions based on Electronic Healthcare Record (EHR) research is highly dependent on the correct selection of descriptors (codes) by users. We aimed to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of filmed vignette monologues as a resource-light method of assessing and comparing how different EHR users record the same clinical scenario.
Methods
Six short monologues of actors portraying patients presenting allergic conditions to their General Practitioners were filmed head-on then electronically distributed for the study; no researcher was present during data collection. The method was assessed by participant uptake, reported ease of completion by participants, compliance with instructions, the receipt of interpretable data by researchers, and participant perceptions of vignette quality, realism and information content.
Results
22 participants completed the study, reporting only minor difficulties. 132 screen prints were returned electronically, enabling analysis of codes, free text and EHR features. Participants assigned a quality rating of 7.7/10 (range 2-10) to the vignettes and rated the extent to which vignettes reflected real-life (86-100%). Between 1 and 2 hours were required to complete the task. Full compliance with instructions varied between participants but was largely successful.
Conclusions
Filmed monologues are a reproducible, standardized method which require few resources, yet allow clear assessment of clinicians’ and EHRs systems’ impact on documentation. The novel nature of this method necessitates clear instructions so participants can fully complete the study without face to face researcher oversight.
Since 2012 Myanmar’s oldest ethnic rebel group, the Karen National Union (KNU), has sought for considerable rapprochement with the government. To many, this seemed to be the direct outcome of wider political transition in Myanmar. This article proposes an alternative explanation. Based on extensive field research and an emerging literature on armed groups, it demonstrates that the group’s rapprochement with the government was driven by leadership struggles between two rival factions within the KNU. At the core of this contestation are shifting internal power relations, which resulted from military pressures and geopolitical transformations in the Myanmar-Thai borderlands. These findings point to significant shortcomings of Myanmar’s peace process. They also contribute to the field of Conflict and Security Studies with much needed primary source data on the internal politics of insurgency, which shows how dynamics of civil war are driven by an interplay between forces on different levels of analysis.
Much of the debate about agricultural commercialisation offers simplistic, dichotomous comparisons between, for example, large and small-scale farming, or export-oriented and domestic markets. There is often an assumption that there is one ideal type of commercialisation that can be realised through investment and policy intervention. Yet in practice, there are diverse ways that different people engage with processes of agricultural commercialisation along value chains, from production to processing to marketing. This range of pathways will have both risks and benefits for different groups of people, often differentiated by gender. Our research will examine the consequences of different types of commercialisation, contrasting, for example, smallholder, contract farming and large-estate arrangements, and pathways of commercialisation, examining commercialisation over time and the outcomes for different people. A comparative research design, across six countries and between different cropping/livestock systems, will enable the APRA Programme to draw out wider recommendations that will help inform and guide investment and policy decisions around agricultural commercialisation in Africa into the future. In practical research terms, the agenda described above requires that a range of indicators are specified in relation to our five main outcome areas. This document compiles five separate papers, each one reviewing the established literature on a specific outcome area and then providing a justification for the proposed indicators to be applied in the APRA studies.
Accurate duplication and transmission of identical genetic information into offspring cells lies at the heart of a cell division cycle. During the last stage of cellular division, namely mitosis, the fully replicated DNA molecules are condensed into X-shaped chromosomes, followed by a chromosome separation process called sister chromatid disjunction. This process allows for the equal partition of genetic material into two newly born daughter cells. However, emerging evidence has shown that faithful chromosome segregation is challenged by the presence of persistent DNA intertwining structures generated during DNA replication and repair, which manifest as so-called ultra-fine DNA bridges (UFBs) during anaphase. Undoubtedly, failure to disentangle DNA linkages poses a severe threat to mitosis and genome integrity. This review will summarize the possible causes of DNA bridges, particularly sister DNA inter-linkage structures, in an attempt to explain how they may be processed and how they influence faithful chromosome segregation and the maintenance of genome stability.
The purpose of the research in this thesis, Emily Dickinson's Sexual Personae, is to investigate how and why Emily Dickinson utilises a variety of sexual personae in her poetry.
The research focuses on how each chosen sexual persona functions in Dickinson's poetry - what the specific sexual persona is (lesbian, sadist, etc), how it functions, and what each persona allows Dickinson to articulate, as pertaining to thoughts, ideas and questions about sexual and/or taboo subjects.
Personae as a mode of expression is analysed, as are the possible reasons for Dickinson's choices of personae.
Research
The first chapter focuses on the function of the sexual persona in Dickinson's poetry, suggesting that Dickinson was inspired to use personae in ways made familiar by Robert Browning, Charles Baudelaire and Jules Laforgue, but how she then moved persona deployment beyond historical or literary models into taboo sexual territory.
Each of the subsequent seven chapters of the thesis focuses on an analysis of the function of a particular sexual persona deployed by Dickinson in her poetry.
Divisions
These sexual personae identified in Dickinson's poetry include the male heterosexual, the female heterosexual, the lesbian, the autoeroticist, the sadist, the masochist and the necrophile.
Method
The thesis is a re-reading of Emily Dickinson's poetry, with new readings and interpretations of the poems and new insights into Dickinson's organisation ofher poems. Each chapter of the thesis provides new conclusions regarding Dickinson's literary project.
Contribution to knowledge
The thesis continues work started by others in the 1970s on Emily Dickinson's use of personae in her poetry. The thesis focus is on sexual personae as a method of articulating the taboo; an area of Dickinson study that has been neglected or ignored.
For 30 years, planning has been attacked both rhetorically and materially in England as governments have sought to promote economic deregulation over landuse planning. Our paper examines two new moments of planning deregulation. These are the loosening of regulation around short-term letting in London and the new permitted development rights, which allow for office to residential conversion without the need for planning permission. Whilst these may be viewed as rather innocuous reforms on the surface, they directly and profoundly illustrate how planners are often trapped between their legal duty to promote public values as dictated by national planning policy and the government’s desire to deregulate. We argue that viewing these changes through a value-based approach to economy and regulation illuminates how multiple and complex local values and understandings of value shape planners’ strategies and actions and thus vary national policies in practice. In so doing, the paper demonstrates how planners have, at least, the opportunity to develop a critical voice and to advocate for policy interpretations that can help to create better outcomes for local communities.
Rainfall and its variability drive the rural economies across the Sudano-Sahelian zone of northern Nigeria, where drought strategies largely determine crop yields. The increasing scarcity of rain gauges in West Africa generally limits assessments of the degree and spatial extent of hardship arising from rainfall deficiency. However, the improved availability and robustness of satellite-based rainfall products since the early 1980s, offers an alternative source of rainfall data which is spatially, and often temporally, more complete than rain gauges. This research evaluates four satellite-based rainfall products for their ability to represent both long term rainfall trends such as recovery from decadal droughts, and trends in seasonal rainfall variables relevant to crop yield prediction. The Climate Hazards group Infrared Precipitation with Stations (CHIRPS) rainfall product at 5 km resolution, was observed to be consistently most representative of ground station rainfall across northern Nigeria over a 35-year period 1981–2015, followed by TARCAT. CHIRPS was found to give a good overall prediction of rainfall amounts at dekadal, monthly and seasonal time scales, and was therefore used in the study to represent the typical performance of satellite rainfall datasets. The CHIRPS-observed increase in growing season length since the 1970s and 80s drought decades, was accompanied by significant rainfall increases in the later part of the growing season, especially marked in northern and northeastern states. This is especially important for the main subsistence crops sorghum and millet as the risk of late drought impedes swelling of the grain, affecting dry weight production. The CHIRPS data also indicate a significant decrease in dry spells in the northwest and southern parts of the study area, which would have favourable outcomes for crop production in the densely populated rural hinterlands of the cities of Sokoto, Jos and Abuja. In view of the continued intra-and inter-annual rainfall variability across northern Nigeria, and amid rapid rural population growth recently, a return to the rainfall levels of the drought decades, would require informed response. The study suggests that satellite rainfall estimates can offer such information, especially since we observed high spatial variability in rainfall distributions and trends.
This paper examines trends in woody vegetation and tree species composition in the Sudan zone of West Africa, using the Kano region of northern Nigeria as a case study. The study compares data on tree density, fuelwood production and tree species composition from fieldwork conducted in 1981 and 2016, as well as on several dates of aerial and satellite images since the 1960s. Recent satellite-based reports of greening in arid West Africa as a response to recovery from droughts in the 1970s and 1980s, are examined to explain the observed trends. Tree densities in the goods and services hinterland of Kano city have at least doubled since the drought period, and no decline, rather a slight increase was observed during the drought decades. This contradicts reports of woody vegetation trends from the more arid and less densely populated Sahel zone, which generally observed decline during the drought years and current recovery to pre-drought levels. The remarkable increase in tree numbers in Kano region is accompanied by increasing fuelwood production as suggested by greater concentration by farmers on tree species highly valued for fuel, at the expense of other traditional species. The main driver of such trends is thought to be rapid population growth in the context of a remaining dependence on wood as fuel by both urban and rural populations in Nigeria. Climate is thought to play only a minor role in explaining the trends. These observations confirm trends in fuelwood production observed in Kano region more than three decades previously, and indicate a somewhat Boserupian response to Malthusian-type pressures on available resources. Nevertheless, a return to rainfall levels of the drought decades combined with climate change predictions of increasing temperatures in dryland Africa, may have serious consequences for rural households if energy sources are not diversified.
REDD+ (Reducing Emissions, Deforestation and forest Degradation+) is a United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC) process through which governments reduce the impacts of climate change through forest conservation in a results-based payments scheme. Distinct from international negotiations about the REDD+ framework under the UNFCCC, there are also REDD+ projects that help governments to set up the institutional architecture, plans and strategies to implement REDD+. These capacity-building projects, in the first phase of 'REDD+ readiness', involve negotiations among national and international actors in which recognition and authority claims are used by participants to influence project-level negotiations. This study analyses the project development negotiations in a World Bank-led REDD+ capacity building regional project, involving six Central African countries between 2008 and 2011. It explores how the project created a 'negotiation table' constituted of national and regional institutions recognised by the donors and governments, and how this political space, influenced by global, regional and national political agendas led to 'instances' of recognition and misrecognition – in which some negotiating parties' claims of representation were acknowledge and affirmed, while others' claims were not. Focusing on Cameroon and Gabon, this article analyses how negotiations shaped full participation by Cameroon and only partial engagement by Gabon.
All major agencies intervening in community-based and carbon forestry – such as international development agencies, conservation institutions, and national governments – state that their interventions must engage local participation in decision making. All say they aim to represent local people in the design and implementation of their interventions. In practice, decision-making processes are rarely 'free', barely 'prior' poorly 'informative' and seldom seek any form of democratic 'consent' or even 'consultation'. Through case studies of representation processes in forestry programs in the Congo Basin region, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and Uganda, this special issue shows how forestry interventions weaken local democracy. We show that participatory and 'free, prior and informed consent' processes rarely reflect local needs and aspirations, they are rarely democratic and they do not permit participants to make significant decisions – such as whether or how the project will take place. The intervening agents' choices of local partners are based on expedience, naïve notions of who can speak for local people, anti-government and pro-market ideologies informed by a comfort with expert rule. Although elected local governments are present in all cases in this special issue, they are systematically circumvented. Instead, project committees, non-governmental organizations, customary authorities, and local forestry department offices are recognized as 'representatives' while technical project objectives are favored over democratic representation.
Government officials, development agents and scholars showcase Senegal's 1996 regionalization reforms as a step towards the deepening of decentralisation. Yet this article shows that the reforms narrowed down local democracy via neoliberal processes. The reforms defined the regional councils as development intermediaries, to serve as a space for the negotiation of public-private partnership contracts between local governments and business interests. Focusing on Tambacounda Region of Senegal, the article analyses the effects of the reforms on forest governance at regional and rural-community scales. First, using two project case studies, it illustrates the use of forest management plans and project-based environmental committees in enabling privatisation of rural community forest governance at the expense of democratic processes. Second, it examines how the intermediary role of the regional council compromised its ability to represent the substantive interests of base-level rural communities and helped instrumentalise the council to promote different privatisation alternatives offered by 'community-based' projects. This role was facilitated by a public-private development agency of the council. The discursive analysis of a regional council meeting illustrates that rather than offering a deliberative and participatory forum, council meetings were used to make representation claims about the 'local people' and to push a market-based neoliberal rationality.
1. New modes of neoliberal and rights-based reproductive governance are emerging across the world which either paradoxically foreclose access to universal health services or promote legislative reform without providing a continuum of services on the ground. These shifts present new opportunities for the expansion but also the limitation of abortion provision conceptually and ‘on-the-ground’, both in the Global North and South. The collection of papers in this special issue examine current abortion governance discourse and practice in historical, socio-political contexts to analyse the threat posed to women's sexual and reproductive health and rights globally. Focusing on abortion politics in the context of key intersectional themes of morality, law, religion and technology, the papers conceptually ‘re-situate’ the analysis of abortion with reference to a changing global landscape where new modes of consumption, rapid flows of knowledge and information, increasingly routinised recourse to reproductive technologies and related forms of bio-sociality and solidarity amongst recipients and practitioners coalesce.
2. Reports in the British media over the last 4 years have highlighted the schisms and contestations that have accompanied the reports of gender selective abortions amongst British Asian families. The position that sexselection may be within the terms of the 1967 Abortion Act has particularly sparked controversy amongst abortion campaigners and politicians but equally among medical practitioners (and their professional organisation BPAS) who have hitherto tended to stay clear of such debates. In what ways has the controversy around gender-based abortion led to new framings of the entitlement to service provision and new ways of thinking about evidence in the context of reproductive rights? We reflect on these issues drawing on critiques of what constitutes best evidence, contested notions of reproductive rights and reproductive governance, comparative work in India and China as well as our involvement with different groups of campaigners including British South Asian NGOs. The aim of the paper is to situate the medical and legal provision of abortion services in Britain within current discursive practices around gender equality, ethnicity, reproductive autonomy, probable and plausible evidence, and policies of health reform.
1. There are no reliable figures to help us measure the volume of charitable donations in South Asia but, according to the 2014 World Giving Index, Sri Lanka is ranked ninth in the world for the charitable efforts of its citizens, while other South Asian countries figure in the top 75 out of 135 countries surveyed. According to the same index, India comes first in the world for the overall number of people donating money to charities and volunteering for social causes; Pakistan is ranked sixth for the number of charitable donations; India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh are within the top ten countries for the number of people who have ‘helped a stranger’ in the 12 months prior to the survey. According to a 2001 survey by the Sampradaan Centre for Indian Philanthropy, among members of the A–C socio-economic classes, 96 per cent of respondents donated annually an average of Rs 1,420. The total amount donated was Rs 16.16 billion. Two surveys conducted in West Bengal and Sri Lanka suggest that South Asians across the social spectrum contribute readily to charity.
2. Recent research on contemporary modalities of Islamic or Muslim philanthropy has focused on processes of subjectivation through which givers and recipients of charity are habituated or craft themselves to an ethic of piety, social responsibility and (neoliberal) economic virtuosity. These studies, however, have concentrated almost exclusively on those who give charity, leading to an over-emphasis on the perspectives of givers, and on their role in determining how the poor might deal with their everyday lives and imagined futures. As a result, small-scale gifting relations in which the Muslim poor may also be involved—making the poor simultaneously givers and recipients of charity—have been obscured or erased altogether. In this article we argue that the concerns of the poor might not always or necessarily be those of the wealthy donors of charity. By receiving and giving sadaqa and zakat, poor and working class Muslim in a Colombo neighbourhood imagine inclusion and belonging to the wider Muslim community in Colombo which is not contingent upon the mediation and pedagogical interventions of charitable organizations and (middle-class) pious donors. Importantly, this imagination of inclusion and belonging comes at a time when the Muslim poor are increasingly marginalized by virtue of a (middle class) discourse which by framing charity as a means ‘to help the poor to help themselves’ has turned socio-economic upliftment into an ethical duty, and, consequently, failure to improve oneself has become the symptom of wider moral shortcomings.
1. In recent decades there has been something of a turn away from critique in anthropology and neighboring disciplines. Rather than confront the fact that the generation of global inequalities has, at its core, an intimate network of human relations, anthropologists and those in neighboring disciplines have begun to present a turn toward critique as an anti-ethnographic move that curtails one’s ability to function properly as an ethnographer or produce sensitive, rich ethnographic work. It is this postcritical turn, most visible in anthropological work with groups that might be considered “elite,” that the contributors to this theme section wish to confront. Rather than choose between a distanced, critical political-economic perspective on elites and an intimate ethnographic approach that whisks political economy out of sight, the contributors to this issue would rather engage with ethical, political, and analytical challenges posed by studying both critically and ethnographically in global elite settings. Th ese settings include the “Alpha Territories” of London, where wealthy families reproduce themselves and their capital through highly gendered forms of labor (Glucksberg, this issue); the family homes of a wealthy Brazilian family concerned with reproducing its members as “socially responsible” industrialists (Sklair, this issue); and the private sector development initiatives that emerge in the encounters between development officials based in London and factory owners based in Dhaka (Gilbert, this issue).
2. This article draws on ethnographic work carried out in London and Dhaka as part of a multi-sited project exploring the production of investment opportunities for (predominantly British) companies in Bangladesh. Focusing on the Ready-Made Garment sector in the run up to, and wake of, the 2013 Rana Plaza factory collapse, I trace aid-funded attempts to improve Bangladesh’s investment climate, engagements with these initiatives by brokers seeking to “rebrand” Bangladesh as an investment destination, and by RMG factory-owning businesspeople based in Dhaka. Writing against the ‘postcritical turn’, I suggest that responding to the explicit recognition by business elites of their own complicity in the exploitation of garment workers provides an entry point for a critical account of private-sector development that enhances, not curtails, ethnographic understanding.
Analyses of Rancière’s philosophy and its potential for understanding the conversation between contemporary politics and art cinema.
In Jacques Rancière and the Politics of Art Cinema, James Harvey contends that Rancière’s writing allows us to broach art and politics on the very same terms: each involves the visible and the invisible, the heard and unheard, and the distribution of bodies in a perceivable social order. Between making, performing, viewing and sharing films, a space is constructed for tracing and realigning the margins of society, allowing us to consider the potential of cinema to create new political subjects. Drawing on case studies of films including Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New York, Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s Climates and John Akomfrah’s The Nine Muses, this books asks to what extent is politics shaping art cinema? And, in turn, could art cinema possibly affect the political structure of the world as we know it?
Key Features
- Collates an eminent body of thought towards a new way of thinking about politics in cinema
- Brings together a number of major auteurs across the contemporary global art cinema scene
- Presents broad and informed social and historical analysis through close analysis of specific films
- The first book-length engagement with Rancière’s thought in relation to cinema
This blog post provides a brief introduction to the concept, development and implementation of the Virtual Land Law Field Trip Project @Sussex. It also revisits some of the key arguments in favour of the incorporation of the ‘visual’ in our teaching.
The 35-ton prototype for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment far detector was a single-phase liquid argon time projection chamber with an integrated photon detector system, all situated inside a membrane cryostat. The detector took cosmic-ray data for six weeks during the period of February 1, 2016 to March 12, 2016. The performance of the photon detection system was checked with these data. An installed photon detector was demonstrated to measure the arrival times of cosmic-ray muons with a resolution better than 32 ns, limited by the timing of the trigger system. A measurement of the timing resolution using closely-spaced calibration pulses yielded a resolution of 15 ns for pulses at a level of 6 photo-electrons. Scintillation light from cosmic-ray muons was observed to be attenuated with increasing distance with a characteristic length of 155 ± 28 cm.
There is increasing international recognition of the need to build capacity to strengthen mental health systems. This is a fundamental goal of the 'Emerging mental health systems in low- and middle-income countries' (Emerald) programme, which is being implemented in six low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) (Ethiopia, India, Nepal, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda). This paper discusses Emerald's capacity-building approaches and outputs for three target groups in mental health system strengthening: (1) mental health service users and caregivers, (2) service planners and policy-makers, and (3) mental health researchers. When planning the capacity-building activities, the approach taken included a capabilities/skills matrix, needs assessments, a situational analysis, systematic reviews, qualitative interviews and stakeholder meetings, as well as the application of previous theory, evidence and experience. Each of the Emerald LMIC partners was found to have strengths in aspects of mental health system strengthening, which were complementary across the consortium. Furthermore, despite similarities across the countries, capacity-building interventions needed to be tailored to suit the specific needs of individual countries. The capacity-building outputs include three publicly and freely available short courses/workshops in mental health system strengthening for each of the target groups, 27 Masters-level modules (also open access), nine Emerald-linked PhD students, two MSc studentships, mentoring of post-doctoral/mid-level researchers, and ongoing collaboration and dialogue with the three groups. The approach taken by Emerald can provide a potential model for the development of capacity-building activities across the three target groups in LMICs.
Background
Approximately 70,000 to 75,000 proximal femoral fracture repairs take place in the UK each year. Hemiarthroplasty is the preferred treatment for adults aged over 60 years. Postoperative infection affects up to 3% of patients and is the single most common reason for early return to theatre. Ultraclean ventilation was introduced to help mitigate the risk of infection, but it may also contribute to inadvertent perioperative hypothermia, which itself is a risk for postoperative infection. To counter this, active intraoperative warming is used for all procedures that take 30 min or more. Forced air warming (FAW) and resistive fabric warming (RFW) are the two principal techniques used for this purpose; they are equally effective in prevention of inadvertent perioperative hypothermia, but it is not known which is associated with the lowest infection rates. Deep surgical site infection doubles operative costs, triples investigation costs and quadruples ward costs. The Reducing Implant Infection in Orthopaedics (RIIiO) study seeks to compare infection rates with FAW versus RFW after hemiarthroplasty for hip fracture. A cost-neutral intervention capable of reducing postoperative infection rates would likely lead to a change in practice, yield significant savings for the health economy, reduce overall exposure to antibiotics and improve outcomes following hip fracture in the elderly. The findings may be transferable to other orthopaedic implant procedures and to non-orthopaedic surgical specialties.
Methods
RIIiO is a parallel group, open label study randomising hip fracture patients over 60 years of age who are undergoing hemiarthroplasty to RFW or FAW. Participants are followed up for 3 months. Definitive deep surgical site infection within 90 days of surgery, the primary endpoint, is determined by a blinded endpoint committee.
Discussion
Hemiarthroplasty carries a risk of deep surgical site infection of approximately 3%. In order to provide 90% power to demonstrate an absolute risk reduction of 1%, using a 5% significance level, a full trial would need to recruit approximately 8630 participants. A pilot study is being conducted in the first instance to demonstrate that recruitment and data management strategies are appropriate and robust before embarking on a large multi-centre trial.
Between 2000 and 2016, shale gas production in the United States increased from approximately 2 billion cubic feet of daily production to approximately 42 billion cubic feet (US EIA, 2016). Much of this development has occurred in the Midwestern United States, where approximately half of US shale production currently takes places (US EIA, 2016; Ridlington et al., 2016). Traveling through some of the rural parts of this region may elicit two common sights: wellheads and roadside bars. This chapter is inspired by a particular event in which these two common landmarks intersected. When conducting research on community perceptions of local development of high- volume hydraulic fracturing activities, a participant confidentially shared a hard copy of “Talking Points for Selling Oil and Gas Lease Rights” (the “Guidelines”), several pages of typed notes marked “Proprietary,” clearly intended to guide landmen in the process of talking to landowners about selling access to the resources that potentially lie under their feet (Kreuze et al., 2016).
Despite the drastic reversal of decarbonization effort by the Trump administration, the majority of U.S. states continue policies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and increasing renewable energy technology (RET) deployment. Although electrical power utilities are required and/or encouraged to comply with these policies, their executives lack direct incentives to do so. In this study, a novel incentive mechanism is evaluated for aligning utility executive compensation with such policies. First, an overview is provided on chief executive officer (CEO) pay and the GHG emissions of utilities. The relationship between GHG emissions, renewable energy diversification, and CEO pay is examined using the case study of three of the largest electric utilities in Michigan. The results show that the regulated utility market is not consistently rewarding CEOs with higher compensation for decreasing GHG emissions and that both an approach incentivizing RETs adoption and an approach encouraging GHG emissions have deficiencies. A combined approach is then analyzed that results in a compensation equation allowing for utility executives to receive incentive pay for reducing overall emissions and increasing renewable generation. The results indicate that by careful calibration of the proposed incentive equations the harmful effects of emissions can be prevented through CEO incentive pay.
The Russian Federation has an acute problem of orphan and runaway oil and gas wells. Deficiencies in the decommissioning requirements under Russian law are one of the main causes of the problem. The principal aim of this article is to explore the legal origins of barriers to effective and efficient decommissioning in Russia and propose potential solutions. The article begins with an overview of the current legal and regulatory framework governing permanent and temporary decommissioning in the context of the Russian legal system's particularities. A critique of the contradicting statutory and regulatory provisions and excessively prescriptive requirements is offered. The article continues with exploring the problem that compounds the shortcomings of the decommissioning legal framework-a misalignment of the legal status of a well under property laws and the laws and administrative regulations governing oil and gas well decommissioning. The article concludes with recommendations regarding the initial step to remedy this complex and compounded problem.
Patient registry data are commonly collected as annual snapshots that need to be amalgamated to understand the longitudinal progress of each patient. However, patient identifiers can either change or may not be available for legal reasons when longitudinal data are collated from patients living in different countries. Here, we apply astronomical statistical matching techniques to link individual patient records that can be used where identifiers are absent or to validate uncertain identifiers. We adopt a Bayesian model framework used for probabilistically linking records in astronomy. We adapt this and validate it across blinded, annually collected data. This is a high-quality (Danish) sub-set of data held in the European Cystic Fibrosis Society Patient Registry (ECFSPR). Our initial experiments achieved a precision of 0.990 at a recall value of 0.987. However, detailed investigation of the discrepancies uncovered typing errors in 27 of the identifiers in the original Danish sub-set. After fixing these errors to create a new gold standard our algorithm correctly linked individual records across years achieving a precision of 0.997 at a recall value of 0.987 without recourse to identifiers. Our Bayesian framework provides the probability of whether a pair of records belong to the same patient. Unlike other record linkage approaches, our algorithm can also use physical models, such as body mass index curves, as prior information for record linkage. We have shown our framework can create longitudinal samples where none existed and validate pre-existing patient identifiers. We have demonstrated that in this specific case this automated approach is better than the existing identifiers.
Thirty-four participants from seventeen countries participated in the Planetary Defense Team Project at the International Space University's 2015 Space Studies Program (ISU-SSP15) to find solutions for short-term warning cosmic threats. The team spent nine weeks working intensively on departmental and lecture activities alongside this project. Space agencies and institutions around the world have discussed cosmic threats, including planetary defense. However, not enough attention has been given to a potentially catastrophic event; what has been done is limited to possible long-term cosmic threats. Having no specific pathway on how to tackle this global challenging task at the beginning of the project, the Integrated Product and Process Development (IPPD) methodology was used to enable the team to identify main elements of the project, starting from developing the mission statement, needs and requirements, and to proposing solutions to planetary defense. These elements include detection and tracking, deflection, collaboration, outreach and education, evacuation and recovery.
1. The contributors to this Special Issue are concerned by the nature of transregional Asian interactions taking place in the field of commerce. They explore this concern through an examination of the experiences, activities, and histories of commodity traders whose life trajectories criss-cross Asia. The articles share a common geographic point of reference: Yiwu - an officially designated ‘international trade city’ located in China’s eastern Zhejiang province. The introduction to the Special Issue analytically locates the individual papers in relationship to a long-standing body of work in anthropology and history on port cities and trading nodes. In so doing it suggests the importance of considering multiple historical processes to understanding Yiwu and its position in China and the world today, as well as, more generally, for the anthropology of ‘globalisation from below’.
2. This article explores the nature of inter-Asian trade dynamics through a consideration of the role played by traders from northern Afghanistan’s Central Asian borderlands. It explores the role that traders from this region have played in commercial exchanges involving China, the Arabian Peninsula and a range of settings in West Asia. In addition to documenting the inter-Asian scope of these traders’ activities, the article also addresses the shifting nature of their identity formations in relationship to successive waves of migration. The traders often identify themselves in relationship to ethno-national identity categories (Turkmen, Uzbek and Tajik) that are politically salient in Central Asia and Afghanistan today. At the same time, the traders also emphasise their being from families that migrated from the territories of the Emirate of Bukhara during the early years of communist rule in the 1920s and 1930s. In the context of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, many of these families moved from Afghanistan to Saudi Arabia, often staying for several years in cities and towns in Pakistan. Over the past three decades, Central Asian émigré families have increasingly established their businesses and communities in the Arabian Peninsula and Turkey; they also run offices in the trading cities of maritime China.
Spray-drying allows to modify the physicochemical/mechanical properties of particles along with their morphology. In the present study, L-leucine with varying concentrations (0.1, 0.5, 1, 5, and 10% w/v) were incorporated into lactose monohydrate solution for spray-drying to enhance the aerosolization performance of dry powder inhalers containing spray-dried lactose-leucine and salbutamol sulfate. The prepared spray-dried lactose-leucine carriers were analyzed using laser diffraction (particle size), differential scanning calorimetry (thermal behavior), scanning electron microscopy (morphology), powder X-ray diffraction (crystallinity), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (interaction at molecular level), and in vitro aerosolization performance (deposition). The results showed that the efficacy of salbutamol sulfate’s aerosolization performance was, in part, due to the introduction of L-leucine in the carrier, prior to being spray-dried, accounting for an increase in the fine particle fraction (FPF) of salbutamol sulfate from spray-dried lactose-leucine (0.5% leucine) in comparison to all other carriers. It was shown that all of the spray-dried carriers were spherical in their morphology with some agglomerates and contained a mixture of amorphous, α-lactose, and β-lactose. It was also interesting to note that spray-dried lactose-leucine particles were agglomerated during the spray-drying process to make coarse particles (volume mean diameter of 79 to 87 μm) suitable as a carrier in DPI formulations.
This chapter presents a new field of research – termed exergy economics – which offers a new perspective on the contribution of energy to economic growth. The approach is based upon the thermodynamic concept of useful exergy and the associated measures of exergy efficiency. Contrary to orthodox economics, the chapter argues that improvements in exergy efficiency are a key driver of productivity improvements, and that useful exergy is a key driver of economic growth. The chapter summarises the theoretical arguments underpinning these claims, reviews the recent empirical work in this area and highlights some of the implications.
The chemistry of British Anti-Lewisite (BAL) and copper in relation to the therapeutic action for the treatment of Wilson's disease was studied by reacting selected Cu(I) and Cu(II) compounds with a range of thiol compounds. Optimum conditions for the preparation of cuprous mercaptides, CuI-SR, from thiophenol, 3-mercapto-1,2-propanediol (MPDH), cysteine (CysH), and glutathione (GSH), were established. BAL displaced Cu(I) from CuI-MPD giving CuI2-BAL irrespective of stoichiometry, while from CuI-cys and CuI-SG, Cu-BAL were obtained. BAL passivated CuI-SPh. The direct reaction of BAL with either Cu(II) or Cu(I) gave insoluble amorphous solids assumed to be CuI2-(oxidized dimeric BAL) or CuI2-BAL, respectively, that could not be completely analyzed or solubilized under various conditions. Thus, the detection of elevated copper in the urine ofWilson's disease patients treated with BAL may not be directly due to the solubilization of endogenous copper by BAL. Cuprous mercaptides are easily autoxidized by attack ofO2 to CuI to give CuII probably as peroxo complexes.
Many efforts are making science more open and accessible; they are mostly concentrated on issues that appear before and after experiments are performed: open access journals, open databases, and many other tools to increase reproducibility of science and access to information. However, these initiatives do not promote access to scientific equipment necessary for experiments. Mostly due to monetary constraints, equipment availability has always been uneven around the globe, affecting predominantly low-income countries and institutions. Here, a case is made for the use of free open source hardware in research and education, including countries and institutions where funds were never the biggest problem.
DNA repair is critical to maintaining genome integrity, and its dysfunction can cause accumulation of unresolved damage that leads to genomic instability. The Spt–Ada–Gcn5 acetyltransferase (SAGA) coactivator complex and the nuclear pore–associated transcription and export complex 2 (TREX-2) couple transcription with mRNA export. In this study, we identify a novel interplay between human TREX-2 and the deubiquitination module (DUBm) of SAGA required for genome stability. We find that the scaffold subunit of TREX-2, GANP, positively regulates DNA repair through homologous recombination (HR). In contrast, DUBm adaptor subunits ENY2 and ATXNL3 are required to limit unscheduled HR. These opposite roles are achieved through monoubiquitinated histone H2B (H2Bub1). Interestingly, the activity of the DUBm of SAGA on H2Bub1 is dependent on the integrity of the TREX-2 complex. Thus, we describe the existence of a functional interaction between human TREX-2 and SAGA DUBm that is key to maintaining the H2B/HB2ub1 balance needed for efficient repair and HR.
UK aid to Yemen is eclipsed by the billions brought in through the bungling, deceitful sale of British weapons to Saudi Arabia
Last week, something rather unusual happened: a member of the British military establishment admitted total complicity in the devastation that is engulfing Yemen
The Thing Breathed is a modular synthesis composition for live performance. It explores nested feedback networks instantiated in analogue synthesis, presenting a chaotic complexity that occludes attempts to fully understand the system. It is a ‘black box’ to its performer, who spends performance time searching for rare yet fruitful zones of sonic interest that have been discovered through rehearsal and experiment. As such the nature of the performance is one of risk and commitment, steering rather than commanding, performative rather than pre-programmed.
Underwater Worlds throws open a new area in the emerging field of “blue” environmental humanities by exploring how subaqueous environments have been imagined and represented across cultures and media. The collection pursues this theme through various disciplinary perspectives and methodologies, including history, literary and film criticism, myth studies, legal studies and the history of art. The essays suggest that, since the nineteenth century, technologies of underwater exploration have generated novel sensory experiences that have destabilized conventional modes of representation and influenced new aesthetic forms from fiction and television to virtual reality. The collection also examines how representations of underwater environments have reflected and critiqued humans’ relationships with marine ecology and life-forms. It reflects on the deeper cultural and symbolic resonances of mythical figures such as mermaids, sea monsters and the ghosts of drowned seafarers. The contributions further reveal myriad political, ideological, gendered and racial dimensions of representing underwater environments.
Metabolic rate and its relationship with body size is a fundamental determinant of many life history traits and potentially of organismal fitness. Alongside various environmental and physiological factors, the metabolic rate of insects is linked to distinct ventilation patterns. Despite significant attention, however, the precise role of these ventilation patterns remains uncertain. Here, we determined the allometric scaling of metabolic rate and respiratory water loss in the red wood ant, as well as assessing the effect of movement upon metabolic rate and ventilation pattern. Metabolic rate and respiratory water loss are both negatively allometric. We observed both continuous and cyclic ventilation associated with relatively higher and lower metabolic rates, respectively. In wood ants, however, movement not metabolic rate is the primary determinant of which ventilation pattern is performed. Conversely, metabolic rate not ventilation pattern is the primary determinant of respiratory water loss. Our statistical models produced a range of relatively shallow intraspecific scaling exponents between 0.40 and 0.59, emphasising the dependency upon model structure. Previous investigations have revealed substantial variation in morphological allometry among wood ant workers from different nests within a population. Metabolic rate scaling does not exhibit the same variability, suggesting that these two forms of scaling respond to environmental factors in different ways.
Reversible decreases in synaptic strength, known as short-term depression (STD), are widespread in neural circuits. Various computational roles have been attributed to STD but these tend to focus upon the initial depression rather than the subsequent recovery. We studied the role of STD and recovery at an excitatory synapse between the fast extensor tibiae (FETi) and flexor tibiae (flexor) motor neurons in the desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria) by making paired intracellular recordings in vivo. Over behaviorally relevant pre-synaptic spike frequencies, we found that this synapse undergoes matched frequency-dependent STD and recovery; higher frequency spikes that evoke stronger, faster STD also produce stronger, faster recovery. The precise matching of depression and recovery time constants at this synapse ensures that flexor excitatory post-synaptic potential (EPSP) amplitude encodes the presynaptic FETi interspike interval (ISI). Computational modelling shows that this precise matching enables the FETi-flexor synapse to linearly encode the ISI in the EPSP amplitude, a coding strategy that may be widespread in neural circuits.
Several species of insects have become model systems for studying learning and memory formation. Although many studies focus on freely moving animals, studies implementing classical conditioning paradigms with harnessed insects have been important for investigating the exact cues that individuals learn and the neural mechanisms underlying learning and memory formation. Here we present a protocol for evoking visual associative learning in wood ants through classical conditioning. In this paradigm, ants are harnessed and presented with a visual cue (a blue cardboard), the conditional stimulus (CS), paired with an appetitive sugar reward, the unconditional stimulus (US). Ants perform a Maxilla-Labium Extension Reflex (MaLER), the unconditional response (UR), which can be used as a readout for learning. Training consists of 10 trials, separated by a 5-minute intertrial interval (ITI). Ants are also tested for memory retention 10 minutes or 1 hour after training. This protocol has the potential to allow researchers to analyze, in a precise and controlled manner, the details of visual memory formation and the neural basis of learning and memory formation in wood ants.
The information in this document covers:
Different types of sight impairments and common characteristics,
How Walking for Health can benefit people with sight impairments,
How group walks can be made safe and welcoming for people with sight impairments,
How to set up a walk for people with sight impairments.
The economy of Bangladesh mainly depends on agriculture. Any development can’t be possible because females and males are equally distributed in the country. Women can play a vital role if they properly participated in farm activities as well as in other income-generating activities outside the home. Rice mills are very much dependent on human labour, and almost 5 millions of unorganised workers are working in different rice mills, and more than 60 per cent of them is a female worker. But the working environment suffers from different discrimination and harassment issues between male and female workers. The present study aimed to find out the socio-economic status of women labour at rice husking mill of Bangladesh. Discrimination between male and female workers and the factor affecting the standard of living of women’s household will be focused. The study was carried out in two districts namely Mymensingh and Sherpur. From each district, rice husking mill was selected by using a cluster sampling technique, and 70 male and 70 female labours were considered as a sample. The survey was conducted by direct interviews using a questionnaire. Data generated were analysed by using tabular and statistical techniques. The average family size of the respondents was 4.46, and 57.05% of the participants were females while 42.95% were males in the household and 65.71% of female had no education. 88% of the women’s main occupation was in the rice mill as a daily paid labour. Average wage rate of male and female worker was 184.31 Tk. And 135.95 Tk., respectively. Age, education, number of family member, total land, number of earning member, the wage of women labour and working time and experience were the factors influencing income and living standard of female labours. There were various social violence cases against female labours in the working environment of rice husking mills. In the study area, 93% of female workers get lower wages, 90% of them had no accommodation facility. Besides they did not have sanitation facility (80%), opportunity to take rest at the middle of work (64%) and meal support (71%).
In order to emerge as a regional leader and an influential global power, India has been expanding its role as a donor or development partner across South Asian and Sub-Saharan African countries. To cash on its identity of the Big Brother of South Asia India, despite having some serious domestic and regional problems, recently invested a lot of money in a number of development projects in neighbouring countries. This article attempts to delve into Indias role as an emerging power in South Asian development business. With a view to examine Indias prospect in this context, the article analyzes three pertinent development cases from three major South Asian countries namely Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka where India attempted to prove its regional development leadership through bilateral arrangements. After reviewing those cases, the author argues that India is still holding its image rather as a political Big Brother of South Asia with occasional attempts to interfere into the internal matters of its neighbours. In spite of some big joint development ventures in recent years, India in all three cases, failed to formulate trust and credibility among the people living in neighbouring countries. It also could not build an image of a regional development partner. This image crisis is one of the key reasons why it is very unlikely that India will soon become a regional or global super power especially in the light of increasing Chinese influence in the region.
Accountability of the elected leaders is one of the key factors in a representative democracy. Bangladesh restored a democratic ruling system in 1991 but has struggled to create an effective institutional mechanism to hold the political leaders before the citizens. Information has often been called the oxygen of democracy because of its power to bring accountability through transparency and public disclosure. With the boom of news media organisations and the emergence of the movement for the right to and freedom of information in the early 2000s, many argued that information institutions could build the mechanism for political accountability. On that background, Bangladesh enacted the Right to Information Act in 2009 and established a few key public information institutions including the Information Commission (IC) and Access to Information Programme hoping that the freedom of information would not only challenge the culture of secrecy and veil but also encourage the elected leaders to be answerable to the citizens. But did it really happen? Why? I looked for the answers in this study though the conceptual and analytical lens of freedom of information, proactive disclosure and accountability. For this study, I mainly used the data and cases gathered from secondary sources namely policy papers, reports, newspapers, journals, books and online spaces. I also utilised my own experience of working with a few state organisations. I analysed the current status of accountability mechanisms in Bangladesh focusing mainly on the political accountability (often called the vertical accountability). I also examined a few recent cases in order to understand the role of the information institutions in bringing the political accountability in the current fragile democracy in Bangladesh. Considering the poor democratic practices in the recent years, findings of this study suggest that the accountability of the political leaders has increased to a certain considerable extent. I argue that this is partly because of the increased transparency and proactive disclosure in the formal and informal institutional mechanisms, and mostly because of the leading active role of the mass media organisations. I conclude with the argument that despite having this increased transparency and freedom of information, this improved accountability is not sustainable without an effective democratic institutional mechanism.
For some people (vicarious pain responders), seeing others in pain is experienced as pain felt on their own body and this has been linked to differences in the neurocognitive mechanisms that support empathy. Given that empathy is not a unitary construct, the aim of this study was to establish which empathic traits are more pronounced in vicarious pain responders. The Vicarious Pain Questionnaire (VPQ) was used to divide participants into three groups: (1) non-responders (people who report no pain when seeing someone else experiencing physical pain), (2) sensory-localized responders (report sensory qualities and a localized feeling of pain) and (3) affective-general responders (report a generalized and emotional feeling of pain). Participants completed a series of questionnaires including the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), the Empathy Quotient (EQ), the Helping Attitudes Scale (HAS), and the Emotional Contagion Scale (ECS) as well as The Individualism - Collectivism Interpersonal Assessment Inventory (ICIAI) and a self-other association task. Both groups of vicarious pain responders showed significantly greater emotional contagion and reactivity, but there was no evidence for differences in other empathic traits or self-other associations. Subsequently, the variables were grouped by a factor analysis and three main latent variables were identified. Vicarious pain responders showed greater socially elicited emotional states which included the ECS, the Emotional Reactivity Subscale of EQ and the HAS. These results show that consciously feeling the physical pain of another is mainly linked to heightened emotional contagion and reactivity which together with the HAS loaded on the socially elicited emotional states factor indicating that, in our population, these differences lead to a more helpful rather than avoidant behavior.
This paper focuses on the process of coalition formation conditioning the common decision to adopt a shared good, which cannot be afforded by an average single consumer and whose use cannot be exhausted by any single consumer. An agent based model is developed to study the interplay between these two processes: coalition formation and diffusion of shared goods. Coalition formation is modelled in an evolutionary game theoretic setting, while adoption uses elements from both the Bass and the threshold models. Coalitions formation sets the conditions for adoption, while diffusion influences the consequent formation of coalitions. Results show that both coalitions and diffusion are subject to network effects and have an impact on the information flow though the population of consumers. Large coalitions are preferred over small ones since individual cost is lower, although it increases if higher quantities are purchased collectively. The paper concludes by connecting the model conceptualisation to the on-going discussion of diffusion of sustainable goods, discussing related policy implications.
The paper investigates the effects of firms’ investment in Research and Development (R&D) on employment dynamics in the British local labour markets (Travel to Work Areas). We distinguish between local areas characterised by the initial level of routinised employment of the workforce. We implement a instrumenting strategy to address endogeneity issues in the relation between innovation and employment. Our results suggest that increases in R&D investments mainly affect routinised areas, where the employment created is low skilled, concentrated in non-tradable sectors (like transport, construction) and services. A significant share of the jobs created is self-employment, concentrated in the 25-34 age cohort. We qualify the effect of R&D on self-employment by looking at local firms’ dynamics, which suggest that the increase in self-employment is reflected in a higher number of micro-firms. Rather, in non-routinized areas, R&D results in the expected increase in the demand of high-skilled workers and a reduced demand of low-skill employment.
Objective
To investigate trends in the incidence of imported malaria in the UK between 2005 and 2016.
Design
Analysis of longitudinal electronic health records (EHRs) in The Health Improvement Network (THIN) primary care database.
Setting
UK primary care
Participants
In total, we examined 12,349,003 individuals aged 0 to 99 years.
Outcome measure
The rate of malaria recordings in THIN was calculated per year between 2005 and 2016. Rate ratios exploring differences by age, sex, location of general practice, socioeconomic status and ethnicity were estimated using multivariable Poisson regression.
Results
A total of 1,474 individuals with a first diagnosis of malaria were identified in THIN between 2005 and 2016. The incidence of recorded malaria followed a decreasing trend dropping from a rate of 3.33 in 2005 to 1.36 cases per 100,000 person years at risk in 2016. Multivariable Poisson regression showed that adults of working age (20 to 69 years), men, those registered with a general practice in London, higher social deprivation and non-white ethnicity were associated with higher rates of malaria recordings.
Conclusion
There has been a decrease in the number of malaria recordings in UK primary care over the past decade. This decrease exceeds the rate of decline reported in national surveillance data; however there are similar associations with age, sex and deprivation. Improved geographic information on the distribution of cases and the potential for automation of case identification suggests that EHRs could provide a complementary role for investigating malaria trends over time.
Background
Chlamydia is a major public health concern, with high economic and social costs. In 2016, there were over 200,000 chlamydia diagnoses made in England. The highest prevalence rates are found among young people. Although annual testing for sexually active young people is recommended, many do not receive testing. General practice is one ideal setting for testing, yet attempts to increase testing in this setting have been disappointing. The Capability, Opportunity, and Motivation Model of Behaviour (COM-B model) may help improve understanding of the underpinnings of chlamydia testing. The aim of this systematic review was to (1) identify barriers and facilitators to chlamydia testing for young people and primary care practitioners in general practice and (2) map facilitators and barriers onto the COM-B model.
Methods
Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods studies published after 2000 were included. Seven databases were searched to identify peer-reviewed publications which examined barriers and facilitators to chlamydia testing in general practice. The quality of included studies was assessed using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme. Data (i.e., participant quotations, theme descriptions, and survey results) regarding study design and key findings were extracted. The data was first analysed using thematic analysis, following this, the resultant factors were mapped onto the COM-B model components. All findings are reported in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines.
Results
Four hundred eleven papers were identified; 39 met the inclusion criteria. Barriers and facilitators were identified at the patient (e.g., knowledge), provider (e.g., time constraints), and service level (e.g., practice nurses). Factors were categorised into the subcomponents of the model: physical capability (e.g., practice nurse involvement), psychological capability (e.g.: lack of knowledge), reflective motivation (e.g., beliefs regarding perceived risk), automatic motivation (e.g., embarrassment and shame), physical opportunity (e.g., time constraints), social opportunity (e.g., stigma).
Conclusions
This systematic review provides a synthesis of the literature which acknowledges factors across multiple levels and components. The COM-B model provided the framework for understanding the complexity of chlamydia testing behaviour. While we cannot at this juncture state which component represents the most salient influence on chlamydia testing, across all three levels, multiple barriers and facilitators were identified relating psychological capability and physical and social opportunity. Implementation should focus on (1) normalisation, (2) communication, (3) infection-specific information, and (4) mode of testing. In order to increase chlamydia testing in general practice, a multifaceted theory- and evidence-based approach is needed.
Against the background of the current graduate skills agenda and its considered importance in relation to a UK law degree, this article considers the value of the CLOCK Community Legal Companion scheme, a collaborative social justice project involving law students, legal services providers, third sector advice agencies and law courts based in two areas of the country namely; Canterbury and Brighton. In recent years, the UK Government has significantly cut civil legal aid in areas such as housing, family and welfare benefits, with a view to easing the strain on the deficit. These cuts have been opposed by many, including lawyers, who have raised concerns that the most vulnerable within our communities could be left unrepresented in court and as a consequence an undue burden placed on our civil justice system. CLOCK therefore provides an opportunity for those within our communities who are caught in the so-called ‘justice gap’, to gain support and guidance from law students when they attend court unrepresented. The findings of a small-scale research project into the perceived benefits of Community Legal Companionship, conducted at two UK law schools; Canterbury Christ Church University and the University of Brighton, indicate that the socio-legal experiential learning opportunities for undergraduate law students presented by such initiatives, are also valuable in terms of legal skills acquisition. The research shows that the scheme not only enables law students to use their legal knowledge for the benefit of their local community, but also through analysis of their own perceptions, demonstrates how such a community-based project can provide undergraduate law students with valuable employability skills. Experiences of setting up a Community Legal Companion scheme, together with an overview of how the scheme operates in the Canterbury and Brighton County Courts, as well as students’ reflections of participating as Community Legal Companions drawn from the empirical qualitative research, are evaluated in this article.
Discusses Rock Advertising Ltd v MWB Business Exchange Centres Ltd (SC) on whether a no oral modification clause invalidated oral variation of a licence agreement, and whether an agreement to pay less or pay later was underpinned by consideration. Reviews possible approaches to contractual modifications, including extending the practical benefit concept to part payments or invoking economic duress. Considers the case's commercial implications.
The Legal Education and Training Review identified gaps in law students’ key skills development and this paper considers how skills training in three key areas of mooting, negotiation and client interviewing can bemaximised so that law students have a sense of themselves as lawyer as well as law student from the beginning of their legal education. The research identifies numerous benefits to learning law through skillsbased activities, but also discovers some possible apprehensions about participating from a student perspective. This paper draws on data taken fromstudents who engaged in short-term optional courses in client interviewing, negotiation and/or mooting and considers the responses to a survey conducted prior to participation, a reflective survey post-completion and a focus group exercise. In total 64 students responded to the questionnaire. The research explores the expected and actual benefits of participating in the courses, discusses how these impact on students’ perceptions of their employability and the types of activities considered most valuable. The article considers how, in light of the research, experiential learning can be put to best use within the law curriculum.
In a time where the future of democracy is at stake, it is necessary to recognize the significance of the contribution that the “new” childhood studies can make to securing that future, particularly with respect to establishing the importance of the agency and social competence (in different arenas of everyday life) of children as political social actors. The combination of these recognitions with the task of conceptualizing childhood politics (as politics with children) and an emancipatory development in the field of children’s rights is vital for fuller socio-theoretical and socio-political debates on solutions to the problem of positive human future for all generations. In this paper, we show how the conceptualizations and empirical work from childhood studies enhance the role that children’s rights can play in the improvement of democratic processes at a societal level, i.e. real participation. This is something that goes way beyond the tendency to treat children’s rights as an individual concern, arguing instead for a consideration of children’s rights and agency as a social requirement for democracy.
In The Justice Facade: Trials of Transition in Cambodia, Alexander Laban Hinton examines the extent to which transitional justice and international law respond to local understandings of ‘justice’ through an analysis of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC). This is a welcome and highly useful contribution to the field, finds Ebru Demir, that invites readers to critically unpack their own assumptions and consider how the neglect of power and the complexities of everyday life can serve to offer little more than a ‘justice facade’.
This updated edition of The Rohingyas: Inside Myanmar’s Genocide, authored by Azeem Ibrahim, aims to draw further attention to the ongoing atrocities being committed against the Rohingyas in Myanmar and to challenge some of the overarching myths that lie behind the persecutions. While she would have welcomed a deeper engagement with the legal components of the situation from the perspective of international law, Ebru Demir recommends this as a welcome contribution to the literature that will give readers insight into the historical roots of the crisis.
Multiple approaches to machine consciousness emphasise the importance of metacognitive states and processes. A considerable num- ber of cognitive systems researchers prefer architectures that are not classically symbolic, and in which learning, rather a priori structure, is central. But it is unclear how these grounded architectures can support metacognition of the required sort. To investigate this possibility, a basic design sketch of such an architecture is presented.
From the early Frankfurt School through to the work of Manuel Castells, there has been a rich body of work on the cleavage between technological and social developments of the twentieth century in respect of the consequences for the constitution of subjectivity. However, little attention is paid to the role of children during their childhoods in attempts to bridge this gap beyond discussions about the democratic actors children will become when they are adults. This paper argues that only the full integration of children, during their childhoods, into democratic development of societies will prevent the deepening of the rift between technological and social progress. The paper traces the correspondence between the new childhood studies and those concepts of politics and politicisation which can support social progress towards an emancipatory social perspective undergirded by particular and democratisation of all areas of everyday life. Drawing on Bourdieu and ideas of participation as action, the paper critically examines the various mechanisms by which children are conventionally excluded from democratic participation and then explores how a deeper consideration of agency in childhood and social actorship opens up alternative mechanisms of inclusion and the concomitant expansion of the concept of democracy.
One potentially important drawback of existing theories of limited attention is that they typically assume a rich dataset of choices from many menus. We study the problem of identifying the distribution of cognitive characteristics in a population of agents when only aggregate choice behavior from a single menu is observable. We show how both “consideration probability” and “consideration capacity” distributions can be substantially identified by aggregate choice shares. We also suggest how to embed the attention models in an econometric specification of the inference problem. Finally, we sucessfully use our results to recover the true parameters in Monte Carlo simulations of both models.
Modulation is essential for adjusting neurons to prevailing conditions and differing demands. Yet understanding how modulators adjust neuronal properties to alter information processing remains unclear, as is the impact of neuromodulation on energy consumption. Here we combine two computational models, one Hodgkin-Huxley type and the other analytic, to investigate the effects of neuromodulation upon Drosophila melanogaster photoreceptors. Voltage-dependent K+ conductances in these photoreceptors: (i) activate upon depolarisation to reduce membrane resistance and adjust bandwidth to functional requirements; (ii) produce negative feedback to increase bandwidth in an energy efficient way; (iii) produce shunt-peaking thereby increasing the membrane gain bandwidth product; and (iv) inactivate to amplify low frequencies. Through their effects on the voltage-dependent K+ conductances, three modulators, serotonin, calmodulin and PIP2, trade-off contrast gain against membrane bandwidth. Serotonin shifts the photoreceptor performance towards higher contrast gains and lower membrane bandwidths, whereas PIP2 and calmodulin shift performance towards lower contrast gains and higher membrane bandwidths. These neuromodulators have little effect upon the overall energy consumed by photoreceptors, instead they redistribute the energy invested in gain versus bandwidth. This demonstrates how modulators can shift neuronal information processing within the limitations of biophysics and energy consumption.
Eutrophication is a major water quality issue in lakes worldwide and is principally caused by the loadings of phosphorus from catchment areas. It follows that to develop strategies to mitigate eutrophication, we must have a good understanding of the amount, sources, and trends of phosphorus pollution. This paper provides the first consistent and harmonious estimates of current phosphorus loadings to the world's largest 100 lakes, along with the sources of these loadings and their trends. These estimates provide a perspective on the extent of lake eutrophication worldwide, as well as potential input to the evaluation and management of eutrophication in these lakes. We take a modeling approach and apply the WorldQual model for these estimates. The advantage of this approach is that it allows us to fill in large gaps in observational data. From the analysis, we find that about 66 of the 100 lakes are located in developing countries and their catchments have a much larger average phosphorus yield than the lake catchments in developed countries (11.1 versus 0.7 kg TP km−2 year−1). Second, the main source of phosphorus to the examined lakes is inorganic fertilizer (47% of total). Third, between 2005–2010 and 1990–1994, phosphorus pollution increased at 50 out of 100 lakes. Sixty percent of lakes with increasing pollution are in developing countries. P pollution changed primarily due to changing P fertilizer use. In conclusion, we show that the risk of P‐stimulated eutrophication is higher in developing countries.
Transferable utility (TU) is a widely used assumption in economics. In this paper, we weaken the TU property to a setting where distinct Pareto frontiers have empty intersections. We call this the no-intersection property (NIP). We show that the NIP is strictly weaker than TU, but still allows to derive several desirable properties. We discuss the NIP in relation to several models where TU has turned out to be a key as- sumption: models of assortative matching, principal-agent models with asymmetric information, the Coase Independence Property and Becker’s Rotten Kid Theorem.
This volume analyses party transformations with a particular focus on intraparty democracy processes and factors such as participation and mobilisation, taking into account both the image of the leadership and the fiduciary relationship between the party and its electorate. With this in mind, the disintegration of the parties as coherent organizations and the collapse of the membership seem to have accelerated the great flight of voters/sympathizers to the territories of anti-politics. Start on paper, then, destined to disappear or become something else. Modern parties, important and functional, but increasingly inconsistent realities. Parties that have filled real and imaginary places, to be systematically emptied after their short passage. Once inhabited political containers, forge of ideas and movement, and now certified formations on paper. Invented names of invented parties that in the last twenty-five years have created, shaped and structured the reality of Italian politics.
Primary elections are a relatively recent innovation in Europe. Their application is associated with specific circumstances (timing, type of organizing party, democratic regime, etc.), and therefore their adoption is associated with some circumstances that causes a certain level of heterogeneity at the European level. In this perspective, Italy is an important example, since the temporal continuity of its experience with primaries has made it a reference point in the framework of the studies on this topic. The aim of this chapter is to analyze how this instrument became rooted in Italian politics and how it developed. In order to be able to do so, we should focus on the political context before primary elections and understand what the political, social and cultural milieu was that led to the development primary elections.
In this paper we test the hypothesis that independent boards can insulate a company from the detrimental impact of corruption on its performance (proxied by innovation). To this purpose, we have estimated an innovation production function that links innovation outputs to innovation input (namely investment in R&D) on a sample of manufacturing subsidiaries controlled by British multinationals and located in 30 countries. Our analysis covers the period 2005- 2013. After controlling for the subsidiary’s characteristics (including the ownership structure and whether the main shareholders are from Common Law countries), we find that independent boards may mitigate the negative impact of corruption on innovation as subsidiaries located in more corrupt countries and with more independent boards tend to invest more in R&D and register more valuable patents. These results still hold after controlling for the average age of the directors, the proportion of directors with no local business affiliations and government effectiveness.
Background
models projecting future disease burden have focussed on one or two diseases. Little is known on how risk factors of younger cohorts will play out in the future burden of multi-morbidity (two or more concurrent long-term conditions).
Design
a dynamic microsimulation model, the Population Ageing and Care Simulation (PACSim) model, simulates the characteristics (sociodemographic factors, health behaviours, chronic diseases and geriatric conditions) of individuals over the period 2014–2040.
Population
about 303,589 individuals aged 35 years and over (a 1% random sample of the 2014 England population) created from Understanding Society, the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, and the Cognitive Function and Ageing Study II.
Main outcome measures
the prevalence of, numbers with, and years lived with, chronic diseases, geriatric conditions and multi-morbidity.
Results
between 2015 and 2035, multi-morbidity prevalence is estimated to increase, the proportion with 4+ diseases almost doubling (2015:9.8%; 2035:17.0%) and two-thirds of those with 4+ diseases will have mental ill-health (dementia, depression, cognitive impairment no dementia). Multi-morbidity prevalence in incoming cohorts aged 65–74 years will rise (2015:45.7%; 2035:52.8%). Life expectancy gains (men 3.6 years, women: 2.9 years) will be spent mostly with 4+ diseases (men: 2.4 years, 65.9%; women: 2.5 years, 85.2%), resulting from increased prevalence of rather than longer survival with multi-morbidity.
Conclusions
our findings indicate that over the next 20 years there will be an expansion of morbidity, particularly complex multi-morbidity (4+ diseases). We advocate for a new focus on prevention of, and appropriate and efficient service provision for those with, complex multi-morbidity.
Following the trend in most developed countries, in Austria the oldest old are the fastest growing population group. Among this group, there is a high prevalence of multimorbidity, functional impairment, dementia and psychiatric conditions. While health promotion (HP) has been considered relevant in coping with the challenges of an aging population, it has so far been viewed as a foreign concept in relation to the oldest old, especially those living in residential aged care (RAC) facilities. Although there is an acknowledgement that HP should be integrated into routine nursing, there has been little re- search on how professionals working with RAC interpret and implement HP. In this study, 13 semi- structured interviews were carried out with professionals from four major Austrian RAC providers. The data were analysed using thematic analysis. The findings show that, typically, professionals understand HP as a concept that is oriented towards maintaining potentials and resources, thereby promoting self-determination, autonomy and social integration, including frail and functionally impaired elderly residents. However, data analysis also revealed a gap between the conceptual understanding and positive attitudes towards HP and its implementation in practice. Implementation of HP seems to occur in isolated cases, related to specific health issues. It seems that more complex HP approaches, especially the ‘settings approach’, are hardly practiced. To implement more comprehensive and systematic HP in Austrian RAC, support from external HP agencies as well as changes in financial incentives are needed.
Background: Despite advances in testing and treatment, HIV incidence rates within European countries are at best stable or else increasing. mHealth technology has been advocated to increase quality and cost-effectiveness of health services while dealing with growing patient numbers. However, studies suggested that mHealth apps are rarely adopted and often considered to be of low quality by users. Only a few studies (conducted in the United States) have involved people living with HIV (PLWH) in the design of mHealth.
Objective: The goal of this study was to facilitate a co-design process among PLWH and clinicians across 5 clinical sites in the European Union to inform the development of an mHealth platform to be integrated into clinical care pathways. We aimed to (1) elicit experiences of living with HIV and of working in HIV care, (2) identify mHealth functionalities that are considered useful for HIV care, and (3) identify potential benefits as well as concerns about mHealth.
Methods: Between January and June 2016, 14 co-design workshops and 22 semistructured interviews were conducted, involving 97 PLWH and 63 clinicians. Data were analyzed thematically and iteratively, drawing on grounded theory techniques.
Results: Findings were established into 3 thematic clusters: (1) approaching the mHealth platform, (2) imagining the mHealth platform, and (3) anticipating the mHealth platform’s implications. Co-design participants approached the mHealth platform with pre-existing concerns arising from their experiences of receiving or providing care. PLWH particularly addressed issues of stigma and questioned how mHealth could enable them to manage their HIV. Clinicians problematized the compatibility of mHealth with existing information technology systems and questioned which patients should be targeted by mHealth. Imagining the potential of mHealth for HIV care, co-design participants suggested medical functionalities (accessing test results, managing medicines and appointments, and digital communication channels), social functionalities (peer support network, international travel, etc), and general features (security and privacy, credibility, language, etc). Co-design participants also anticipated potential implications of mHealth for self-management and the provision of care.
Conclusions: Our approach to co-design enabled us to facilitate early engagement in the mHealth platform, enabling patient and clinician feedback to become embedded in the development process at a preprototype phase. Although the technologies in question were not yet present, understanding how users approach, imagine, and anticipate technology formed an important source of knowledge and proved highly significant within the technology design and development process.
The replication crisis has prompted many to call for statistical reform within the psychological sciences. Here we examine issues within Frequentist statistics that may have led to the replication crisis, and we examine the alternative—Bayesian statistics—that many have suggested as a replacement. The Frequentist approach and the Bayesian approach offer radically different perspectives on evidence and inference with the Frequentist approach prioritising error control and the Bayesian approach offering a formal method for quantifying the relative strength of evidence for hypotheses. We suggest that rather than mere statistical reform, what is needed is a better understanding of the different modes of statistical inference and a better understanding of how statistical inference relates to scientific inference.
The Routledge Companion to Sound Studies is an extensive volume presenting a comparative and historically informed understanding of the workings of sound in culture, while also mapping potential future directions for research in the field. Experts from a variety of disciplines within sound studies cover such diverse topics as politics, gender, media, race, literature and sport. Individual sections that consider the importance of sound in an increasingly mediated world; the role that sound media play in the construction of experience; and the ways in which sound has been theorized to produce a distinctive sensory contribution to knowledge.
This wide-ranging and vibrant collection provides a rich resource for scholars and students of media and culture.
A full exploration of Galdós's treatment of questions relating to the creation and distribution of wealth in the modern money-centred society of Restoration Spain.
Boris Johnson isn't alone: politicians and pundits across the spectrum treat Burqa-wearing women as a symbol of a Europe 'in decline'.
This paper is the first work to propose a network to predict a structured uncertainty distribution for a synthesized image. Previous approaches have been mostly limited to predicting diagonal covariance matrices. Our novel model learns to predict a full Gaussian covariance matrix for each reconstruction, which permits efficient sampling and likelihood evaluation.
We demonstrate that our model can accurately reconstruct ground truth correlated residual distributions for synthetic datasets and generate plausible high frequency samples for real face images. We also illustrate the use of these predicted covariances for structure preserving image denoising.
In reaction to polarised views on the benefits or drawbacks of digital health, the notion of ‘ambivalence’ has recently been proposed as a means to grasp the nuances and complexities at play when digital technologies are embedded within practices of care. This article responds to this proposal by demonstrating how ambivalence can work as a reflexive approach to evaluate the potential implications of digital health. We first outline current theoretical advances in sociology and organisation science and define ambivalence as a relational and multidimensional concept that can increase reflexivity within innovation processes. We then introduce our empirical case and highlight how we engaged with the HIV community to facilitate a co-design space where 97 patients (across five European clinical sites: Antwerp, Barcelona, Brighton, Lisbon, Zagreb) were encouraged to lay out their approaches, imaginations and anticipations towards a prospective mHealth platform for HIV care. Our analysis shows how patients navigated ambivalence within three dimensions of digital health: quantification, connectivity and instantaneity. We provide examples of how potential tensions arising through remote access to quantified data, new connections with care providers or instant health alerts were distinctly approached alongside embodied conditions (e.g. undetectable viral load) and embedded socio-material environments (such as stigma or unemployment). We conclude that ambivalence can counterbalance fatalistic and optimistic accounts of technology and can support social scientists in taking-up their critical role within the configuration of digital health interventions.
Primary elections have become an important aspect of the French party system. In the 2017 presidential elections, the process used by both the Socialist Party and the Republicans was more inclusive. However, this process may have entered a time of crisis. This article examines whether or not participation in the primaries and the level of competitiveness are associated with the results of the 2017 presidential elections, focusing on the similarities, differences, and effects in these two open selection processes.
Culture Wars investigates the relationship between the media and politics in Britain today. It focusses on how significant sections of the national press have represented and distorted the policies of the Labour Party, and particularly its left, from the Thatcher era up to and including Ed Miliband’s and Jeremy Corbyn’s leaderships.
Background and aims: The ‘dual-systems’ model of language acquisition has been used by Ullman and colleagues to explain patterns of strength and weakness in the language of higher-functioning people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Specifically, intact declarative/explicit learning is argued to compensate for a deficit in non-declarative/implicit procedural learning, constituting an example of the so-called ‘see-saw’ effect. Ullman and Pullman (2015) extended their argument concerning a see-saw effect on language in ASD to cover other perceived anomalies of behaviour, including impaired acquisition of social skills. The aim of this paper is to present a critique of Ullman and colleagues’ claims, and to propose an alternative model of links between memory systems and language in ASD.
Main contribution: We argue that a 4-systems model of learning, in which intact semantic and procedural memory are used to compensate for weaknesses in episodic memory and perceptual learning, can better explain patterns of language ability across the autistic spectrum. We also argue that attempts to generalise the ‘impaired implicit learning/spared declarative learning’ theory to other behaviours in ASD are unsustainable.
Conclusions: Clinically significant language impairments in ASD are under-researched, despite their impact on everyday functioning and quality of life. The relative paucity of research findings in this area lays it open to speculative interpretation which may be misleading.
Implications: More research is need into links between memory/learning systems and language impairments across the spectrum. Improved understanding should inform therapeutic intervention, and contribute to investigation of the causes of language impairment in ASD with potential implications for prevention.
Part of an edited collection which seeks to reframe the debate around Thomas Pynchon's fiction and his representation of women, and is the first book-length investigation of Pynchon's writing to put the topics of sex and gender at its core.
Governance arrangements and processes influence access to and benefits from ecosystem services, and therefore the potential for ecosystem services to alleviate poverty. Governance also then influences the health of ecosystems. This chapter learns from decades of governance-related research to identify how to make ecosystem governance more effectively ‘pro-poor’. It is informed by a systematic mapping of literature related to governance of ecosystem services and renewable natural resources for improved wellbeing and poverty alleviation, expert interviews and a workshop with government and non-government actors across a range of sectors from both North and South. The chapter is organised around the concept of trade-offs, considering first ecosystem-focused approaches, then rights-based approaches and lastly, participatory approaches to governance. The chapter further addresses the relevance of scale and multiple administrative levels (multi-level governance) and the importance of informal, or socially embedded, institutions. The chapter concludes that there is no single governance approach that can definitively deliver on improved ecosystem health and human wellbeing, that trade-offs are inevitable and governance is therefore an inherently political process.
Payments for ecosystem services (PES) is an incentives-based governance instrument frequently promoted as a means to achieve win-wins for ecosystems and wellbeing. PES is often conceptualised as a market-oriented approach wherein an ecosystem service is ‘bought’ (cash or in-kind) from an ecosystem service provider contingent upon provision of that service. This chapter explores how the definitions of PES have evolved and changed over time, whether the PES projects have delivered the promised win-wins, and other issues related to PES such as power, equity and justice, and summarises the key lessons learned. Although counterfactual evidence and impact evaluations of PES are limited in number, the chapter outlines some emerging lessons with potential for win-wins for ecosystems and wellbeing, including: the need to design interventions with due considerations for local context and trade-offs; the importance of rewarding broader environmental stewardship; explicitly including pro-poor and equity-based objectives as part of project design; and recognising and addressing power dynamics and the roles of both informal and formal institutions that determine access to and benefits from ecosystem services as well as influence behaviours that affect ecosystem services.
In Peru, as in many developing countries, charcoal is an important source of fuel. We examine the commercial charcoal commodity chain from its production in Ucayali, in the Peruvian Amazon, to its sale in the national market. Using a mixed-methods approach, we look at the actors involved in the commodity chain and their relationships, including the distribution of benefits along the chain. We outline the obstacles and opportunities for a more equitable charcoal supply chain within a multi-level governance context. The results show that charcoal provides an important livelihood for most of the actors along the supply chain, including rural poor and women. We find that the decentralisation process in Peru has implications for the formalisation of charcoal supply chains, a traditionally informal, particularly related to multi-level institutional obstacles to equitable commerce. This results in inequity in the supply chain, which persecutes the poorest participants and supports the most powerful actors.
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) has emerged as a promising climate change mitigation mechanism in developing countries. In order to identify the enabling conditions for achieving progress in the implementation of an effective, efficient and equitable REDD+, this paper examines national policy settings in a comparative analysis across 13 countries with a focus on both institutional context and the actual setting of the policy arena. The evaluation of REDD+ revealed that countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America are showing some progress, but some face backlashes in realizing the necessary transformational change to tackle deforestation and forest degradation. A Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) undertaken as part of the research project showed two enabling institutional configurations facilitating progress: (1) the presence of already initiated policy change; and (2) scarcity of forest resources combined with an absence of any effective forestry framework and policies. When these were analysed alongside policy arena conditions, the paper finds that the presence of powerful transformational coalitions combined with strong ownership and leadership, and performance-based funding, can both work as a strong incentive for achieving REDD+ goals.
Noise Peddler is a part-composed, part-improvised performance for two people, two pedalboards, and four amplifiers involving the re-appropria-tion of guitar effects pedals to create independent musical interfaces capa-ble of generating and manipulating their own sounds. The result is a vis-ually symmetrical live performance that utilises dual stand-alone pedal-boards, generative MIDI/CV control, and video projection, to explore the area between composition and free improvisation. The hybrid performance system employs a selection of cutting edge modern pedal technologies, alongside well-established analog circuits, and explores their potential as an independent interface, away from the guiding force of a traditional acoustic instrument.
Performances:
23rd May 2018 - The Rose Hill, Brighton, UK (Emute Lab)
16th June 2018 - Casa de Musica, Porto, Portugal (ICLI 2018)
Scored in Silence is a digital artwork and performance by Chisato Minamimura that unpacks the untold tales of deaf hibakusha – survivors of the A-Bombs that fell in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 - and their experiences at the time and thereafter. It explores technologically mediated performance through a range of practices including holo-projection and vibrotactility. Developed in collaboration with a team of digital artists and supported by Vibrofusion Lab, Scored in Silence features the work of Jon Armstrong (lighting/projection design) Danny Bright (sound/vibration composition) and Dave Packer (animation). Scored in Silence is produced by Sarah Pickthall.
Scored in Silence employs Woojer© vibration straps worn on the body for audience members to feel the haunting soundscape and vibrational composition. The work also employs Holo-Gauze © projection that meshes Chisato’s sign mime performance with stunning animation.
The work exists in three formats: as a live theatrical performance, full-length performance film, and gallery installation.
The work has been supported by Arts Council England, British Council, Canada Council for the Arts, the Great Britain Saskawa Foundation, with in-kind support from Woojer©.
Performances:
14th & 15th September 2018 - ONCA, Brighton, UK (Brighton Digital Festival)
19th & 20th October 2018 - The International Anthony Burgess Foundation, Manchester, UK (Manchester Science Festival)
18th May 2019 - Fanshawe College, Hamilton ON, Canada
20th & 21st July 2019 - Ovalhouse, London, UK
19th to 23rd August 2019 - Greenside Emerald Theatre, Edinburgh, UK (British Council Showcase at Edinburgh Fringe Festival)
11th December 2019 - Théâtre Jeunes Créatuers, Tunis, Tunisia
13th December 2019 - Municipal Theatre, Sfax, Tunisia
The electroacoustic soundtrack for Scored in Silence (theatrical performance, film and installation) comprises both audio and vibration compositions, experienced during the work through both sonic and vibrotactile interfaces.
Scored in Silence is a digital artwork and performance by Chisato Minamimura that unpacks the untold tales of deaf hibakusha – survivors of the A-Bombs that fell in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 - and their experiences at the time and thereafter. It explores technologically mediated performance through a range of practices including holo-projection and vibrotactility. Developed in collaboration with a team of digital artists and supported by Vibrofusion Lab, Scored in Silence features the work of Jon Armstrong (lighting/projection design) Danny Bright (sound/vibration composition) and Dave Packer (animation). Scored in Silence is produced by Sarah Pickthall.
Scored in Silence employs Woojer© vibration straps worn on the body for audience members to feel the haunting soundscape and vibrational composition. The work also employs Holo-Gauze © projection that meshes Chisato’s sign mime performance with stunning animation.
The work exists in three formats: as a live theatrical performance, full-length performance film, and gallery installation.
The work has been supported by Arts Council England, British Council, Canada Council for the Arts, the Great Britain Saskawa Foundation, with in-kind support from Woojer©.
Jair Bolsonaro’s victory in Brazil’s presidential election could be a disaster for the Amazon, but his opponents can unite, say Mary Menton and Felipe Milanez
An overview of the work under development within the EU-funded collaborative project MAESTRI is presented in this chapter. The project provides a framework of new Industrial methodology, integrating several tools and methods, to help industries facing the fourth industrial revolution. This concept, called the MAESTRI Total Efficiency Framework (MTEF), aims to advance the sustainability of manufacturing and process industries by providing a management system in the form of a flexible and scalable platform and methodology. The MTEF is based on four pillars: a) an effective management system targeted at continuous process improvement; b) Efficiency assessment tools to support improvements, optimization strategies and decision-making support; c) Industrial Symbiosis paradigm to gain value from waste and energy exchange; d) an Internet-of-Things infrastructure to support easy integration and data exchange among shop-floor, business systems and MAESTRI tools.
Objectives: The study assessed markers of renal health in HIV/HBV co-infected patients receiving TDF- containing antiretroviral therapy in Ghana.
Methods: Urinary protein-to-creatinine ratio (uPCR) and albumin-to-protein ratio (uAPR) were measured cross-sectionally after a median of four years of TDF. At this time, alongside extensive laboratory testing, patients underwent evaluation of liver stiffness and blood pressure. The estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was measured longitudinally before and during TDF therapy.
Results: Among 101 participants (66% women, median age 44 years, median CD4 count 572 cells/mm 3 ) 21% and 17% had detectable HIV-1 RNA and HBV DNA, respectively. Overall 35% showed hypertension, 6% diabetes, 7% liver stiffness indicative of cirrhosis, and 18% urinary excretion of Schistosoma antigen. Tubular proteinuria occurred in 16% of patients and was independently predicted by female gender and hypertension. The eGFR declined by median 1.8 ml/min/year during TDF exposure (IQR −4.4, −0.0); more pronounced declines ( ≥5 ml/min/year) occurred in 22% of patients and were associated with receiv-ing ritonavir-boosted lopinavir rather than efavirenz. HBV DNA, HBeAg, transaminases, and liver stiffness were not predictive of renal function abnormalities.
Conclusions: The findings mandate improved diagnosis and management of hypertension and suggest targeted laboratory monitoring of patients receiving TDF alongside a booster in sub-Saharan Africa.
Objectives: The resistance profiles of patients receiving long-term ART in sub-Saharan Africa have been poorly described. This study obtained a sensitive assessment of the resistance patterns associated with long-term tenofovir-based ART in a programmatic setting where virological monitoring is yet to become part of routine care.
Methods: We studied subjects who, after a median of 4.2 years of ART, replaced zidovudine or stavudine with tenofovir disoproxil fumarate while continuing lamivudine and an NNRTI. Using deep sequencing, resistance-associated mutations (RAMs) were detected in stored samples collected at tenofovir introduction (T0) and after a median of 4.0 years (T1).
Results: At T0, 19/87 (21.8%) subjects showed a detectable viral load and 8/87 (9.2%) had one or more major NNRTI RAMs, whereas 82/87 (94.3%) retained full tenofovir susceptibility. At T1, 79/87 (90.8%) subjects remained on NNRTI-based ART, 5/87 (5.7%) had introduced lopinavir/ritonavir due to immunological failure, and 3/87 (3.4%) had interrupted ART. Whilst 68/87 (78.2%) subjects maintained or achieved virological suppression between T0 and T1, a detectable viral load with NNRTI RAMs at T0 predicted lack of virological suppression at T1. Each treatment interruption, usually reflecting unavailability of the dispensary, doubled the risk of T1 viraemia. Tenofovir, lamivudine and efavirenz selected for K65R, K70E/T, L74I/V and Y115F, alongside M184V and multiple NNRTI RAMs; this resistance profile was accompanied by high viral loads and low CD4 cell counts.
Conclusions: Viraemia on tenofovir, lamivudine and efavirenz led to complex resistance patterns with implications for continued drug activity and risk of onward transmission.
The aim of the Filmmaking Research Network was to develop understanding and consolidate the field of filmmaking research by sharing best practice internationally and developing resources. We examined how the UK and Australia use filmmaking research to generate new knowledge and produced resources to improve capacity and research infrastructure.
The network conducted research and knowledge exchange through workshops, visits, meetings, a public screening, conference panels and a survey. Resources include a register of films, case studies of best practice and a PhD examiner list. A special edition of the Media Practice and Education published in 2019 was dedicated to the project. The Filmmaking Research Network ran for 2 years and included over 100 members from more than 40 institutions including industry and third sector representatives. The network stimulated new debates, fostered a deeper understanding of filmmaking research and developed resources to sustain the future of the field.
Funded by an AHRC Research Network Grant
Principal Investigator: Joanna Callaghan, University of Sussex
Co-Investigator: Susan Kerrigan, University of Newcastle
Case studies produced:
Assessment of Filmmaking as research
Film Research in REF impact
Researching Filmmaking Practices
Funding for Film as Research
Cloud computing has become prevalent in many sectors today, including higher-education. The study is premised on the assumption that despite the popularity of cloud computing in higher education, research within this context remains limited. The study, which is qualitative and exploratory in nature, involved an innovative methodological approach, drawing on interviews with three groups of participants: (a) members of a global, Fortune 100 technology company supplying cloud solutions; (b) members of a selected UK university's IT department implementing cloud solutions; and (c) students from the same UK university using cloud solutions. The findings improve understanding around cloud solutions in the higher education context by unpacking—through a qualitative thematic analysis approach—relevant themes that inform the extant information systems literature. Finally, the study provides recommendations for future researchers, cloud suppliers, universities, and students.
This chapter argues for the value of taking a more relational and situated understanding of the temporality of mobility practices. She explains that while there are dominant meanings of how temporal dichotomies relate to mobility practices, these are challenged by the multiplicity and relativity of meanings people attribute to their practices. Drawing on research conducted in Birmingham, UK, her chapter brings out how people’s experiences of mobility are made meaningful in relation to different dimensions of temporalities, as well as wider and more complex intersections of temporalities, practices and materialities. Focusing on the temporal dimensions of speed, duration and rhythmicity, it argues that since multiple temporalities are already embedded in people’s understandings of everyday mobility, these should be more carefully represented and analysed in discussions of sustainability and possible mobility transitions.
Blog post published by the Digital Preservation Coalition. The blog is a summary of the event organised by Dr. Sharon Webb, 'Digital Archives in Communities - Practice and Preservation', a two day event related to Webb's British Academy Rising Star Engagement Award (2018).
This paper uses Brighton, as a case study, to provide important examples of how communities generate and reinforce identity through archival practices. Projects like BrightonOurStory (a now-defunct physical archive), Queer in Brighton (Oral histories, LGBTQ History Club), Into the Outside (Photographic exhibitions), Brighton Transformed (Oral Histories) create memory and meaning through work that captures and records a specific community memory.
This presentation considers the tension between these community-driven endeavours and their capacity to support projects in the long-term, especially with regards to digital preservation. It uses the loss of the BrightonOurStory Archive (1989-2013) as a reminder of our responsibilities as researchers to these archival projects, and to think further about ‘community requirements [in] the digital age’.
Part of 'Critical Theory + Empirical Practice: “The Archive” As Bridge' panel with Dr. James William Baker, Dr. Ben Jackson, Prof. David Berry and Dr. Rebecca Wright.
This paper outlines queer archival work in Brighton and attempts to safeguard its future. It describes this as an exercised right to be represented, to be visible, and as a reaction to historical systems of memory, of archives and of record-keeping, in the “analogue” world, which have in the past silenced or suppressed marginalised voices and communities from and within the historical record. In addition, it highlights the problem of digital preservation in relation to community archives.
This article present Italian female rice weeders and their political and industrial action in Italy 1945-65.
Entrepreneurship as a pseudo-discipline has matured to the point where it has begun to question the myths which have developed around it. As a panacea for the development ills of capitalism, studies have spanned various ideological and methodological viewpoints. Spatially, entrepreneurship studies have grown to include countries of the Global South and emerging economies, particularly those of Eastern Europe. This special issue extends this reach to the small developing states of the Caribbean and particularly those with a British colonial legacy rooted in the remnants of the plantation economy. The commencement of political independence in the 1960s has not resulted in any significant economic independence for the region as it remains dependent on foreign investment, whilst its key sectors remain subject to the volatility of the economies of the global north. The papers in this special issue identify domestic and enterprise level constraints to the development of entrepreneurship in the region. This Introduction places these, mostly micro-level studies, in a wider context, concluding that policy-makers need to better understand the concept of entrepreneurship and its role in achieving developmental goals. Our challenging recommendation is that those formulating and delivering these policies and practices should do so with an entrepreneurial mind-set.
Debates continue over whether the prevailing neuroscientific model of addiction as a brain disease informs questions around moral and criminal responsibility, but little empirical work has been conducted with those tasked to address this question in practical terms on a daily basis. We have explored this point over two studies, respectively sampling 110 and 276 Magistrates active in the UK. In the first study we asked them to consider a criminal sentencing scenario in which evidence of a defendant’s brain damage and impaired impulse control was presented. This neurological damage was attributed to either a (fictional) disease or to addiction. When the same neuropsychiatric profile resulted from disease, rather than heroin use and addiction, custodial sentences were significantly reduced. The pivotal factor denying addiction the mitigating power of disease was perceived choice in the initial acquisition; removing choice from addiction dramatically increased the odds of sentence reduction, while attaching choice to disease tended to aggravate or reverse earlier leniency. The second study presented another criminal sentencing scenario in which the defendant exhibited similar neurological impairment, but additionally included ‘mixed’ aetiologies in which either disease led to addiction or addiction led to disease. Our results confirm the dramatic effect which the aetiology of impairment can have on judgements of criminal responsibility, whilst moreover give suggestion that drug-use tips the balance in favour of the punitive element when weighing criminal sentencing decisions.
Zika virus (ZIKV) infection has become a global public health concern. The viral NS2B-NS3 protease is an attractive antiviral target because of its role in maturation of viral non-structural proteins. Substrate-derived protease inhibitors have been investigated, but it remains challenging to develop them into drugs. Small-molecule inhibitors are of great interest in antiviral drug development. Here we report the structure and dynamics of ZIKV NS2B-NS3 protease covalently bound to a small-molecule inhibitor. Our crystallographic and NMR studies demonstrate that the inhibitor further stabilizes the closed conformation of ZIKV protease. Upon hydrolysis in situ into two fragments, the benzoyl group of the inhibitor forms a covalent bond with the side chain of catalytic residue S135, whereas the second fragment exhibits no obvious molecular interactions with the protease. This study provides a detailed mechanism of action for a covalent inhibitor, which will guide further development of ZIKV protease inhibitors.
Sal-like 4 (SALL4) is a nuclear factor central to the maintenance of stem cell pluripotency and is a key component in hepatocellular carcinoma, a malignancy with no effective treatment. In cancer cells, SALL4 associates with nucleosome remodeling deacetylase (NuRD) to silence tumor-suppressor genes, such as PTEN. Here, we determined the crystal structure of an amino-terminal peptide of SALL4(1-12) complexed to RBBp4, the chaperone subunit of NuRD, at 2.7 Å, and subsequent design of a potent therapeutic SALL4 peptide (FFW) capable of antagonizing the SALL4-NURD interaction using systematic truncation and amino acid substitution studies. FFW peptide disruption of the SALL4-NuRD complex resulted in unidirectional up-regulation of transcripts, turning SALL4 from a dual transcription repressor-activator mode to singular transcription activator mode. We demonstrate that FFW has a target affinity of 23 nM, and displays significant antitumor effects, inhibiting tumor growth by 85% in xenograft mouse models. Using transcriptome and survival analysis, we discovered that the peptide inhibits the transcription-repressor function of SALL4 and causes massive up-regulation of transcripts that are beneficial to patient survival. This study supports the SALL4-NuRD complex as a drug target and FFW as a viable drug candidate, showcasing an effective strategy to accurately target oncogenes previously considered undruggable.
Prior research on organizational routines in the ‘capabilities’ literature has either studied how new routines are created during an exploratory process of variation and selection or how existing routines are replicated during a phase of exploitation. Few studies have analyzed the life cycle of new routine creation and replication as an integrated process. In an in-depth case study of England’s Highways Agency, this paper shows that the creation and replication of a new routine across multiple sites involves four sequential steps: envisioning, experimenting, entrenching and enacting. We contribute to the capabilities research in two ways: first, by showing how different organizational levels, capabilities and logics (cognitive and behavioural) shape the development of new routines; and second, by identifying how distinct evolutionary cycles of variation and selective retention occur during each step in the process. In contrast with prior research on replication as an exact copy of a template or existing routine, our study focuses on the replication of an entirely new routine (based on novel principles) that is adapted to fit local operational conditions during its large-scale replication across multiple sites. We draw upon insights from adjacent ‘practice research’ and suggest how capabilities and practice studies may complement each other in future research on the evolution of routines.
In this piece, I reflect on my teaching practice and provide as an example of curriculum development and teaching and learning innovation in my field. As an interdisciplinary tutor, who is also in charge of delivering the Arabic Electives Pathway programme (Arabic as a minor in certain degree options), I have been implementing extracurricular activities that help advance my Arabic students’ grasp of the language through using what they have learnt to access various cultural inputs in Arabic beyond the official curriculum. In what follows, I reflect on the practice, which has proven very popular with the students; I also suggest expanding it through creating a new interdisciplinary elective module about the Middle East, which would be open to final-year interested students in the Humanities and would be taught in English. There would, however, be an extra option to access some of the materials in Arabic for the Advanced (final-year) Arabic Pathway students, who opt to take the module.
This study contributes to the literature on global governance by highlighting the importance of not losing sight of the nation state as an important player in the transnational governance arena. Specifically, literature on global (accounting) regulation devotes a great deal of attention to the roles of organisations and agencies with transnational remit (such as global standard setters, donor agencies) while often downplaying the significant impacts of the more traditional cross-country links forged through economic relationships and resource dependencies between national and transnational institutional fields. This was specially noted in the case of the indirect influences of the US’s decision to delay IFRS convergence. While being interpreted as an indirect source of influence, such a decision played a very significant role on the convergence negotiations in India. The study shows how the US influence was channelled through Japan with which India has significant trade and economic relations and, most importantly, holds a joint forum specifically to discuss convergence issues. The consequences of India’s links with countries such as US and Japan in the decision-making process provide a vivid indication of the important roles of cross-governmental relationships in the global governance arena, and also question the position of transnational organisations as pervasive powers in such governance. The study’s findings clearly demonstrate that the pursuit of full IFRS convergence strongly favoured by the transnational forces was invariably challenged in the Indian context by the influences of powerful nation states advocating a more cautious approach.
Despite a growing number of studies on the survival of new ventures who pursue an international entry strategy, research in this area is not yet conclusive. One line of argument tells a story of unprepared novices making a risky move, and thus predicts negative consequences. Another line of argument tells a story of prepared entrepreneurs making a strategic decision, and thus predicts positive consequences. The problem of estimating the true effect involves an important endogeneity problem that can only be overcome by accounting for the fact that new ventures self-select into internationalization. The goal of this research is to add to the post-internationalization survival literature by accounting for this self-selection using an endogenous switching model in a potential outcomes or counterfactual inference approach. Leveraging a panel of US new ventures from the Kauffman Firm Survey, our results paint a picture more in line with the preparedness logic of new venture internationalization. After controlling for this self-selection, we find a positive average treatment effect of internationalization on survival, and we find evidence that early internationalization is better for post internationalization survival than late internationalization. We argue that these results suggest that the new theories of new venture internationalization needs to be further unchained from the process theories of internationalization.
In an effort to characterise the human NUDIX family SGC Oxford has expressed recombinant human NUDT7 as part of the SGC chemical probe programme and solved the first crystal structure of this enzyme. This enabled a crystallographic fragment screen which in conjunction with a separate covalent fragment approach yielded a first-in-class small molecule inhibitor of NUDT7 with activity in the single-digit micromolar range in a catalytic assay. This compound paves the way for chemical probe development and further functional exploration of NUDT7 in physiological and disease contexts.
This paper introduces a method to analyse and explore consistency within policy mixes in order to support the policymaking cycle and applies it to energy and climate change policies in the United Kingdom (UK) biofuels policy context. The first part of the paper introduces a multi-level method to evaluate consistency within policy mixes implemented over a period of time. The first level explores consistency across policy design features in policy mixes. The second level evaluates how stakeholders, and their interactions with policy instruments and each other, can impact consistency within a given context. These interactions influence the implementation of policies and can lead to unintended outcomes that fail to meet the overarching goals. In the second part of the paper, we apply our method to the UK biofuels policy mix, to explore a sector that cuts across the policy areas of transportation, energy, land-use, air, and climate change. Our analysis demonstrates how, by overlooking complex interactions in the design and implementation of policies in the biofuels sector, policy mixes have conflicted with the development of a potential low-carbon technology.
In this paper, we address an empirical puzzle. We note that a deliberate and serious drive to internationalize has occurred rather late in the evolution of large Brazilian firms. Meanwhile, and despite their late internationalization, these Brazilian firms expanded rapidly and intently. Despite the rich literature on Emerging Market Multinational Enterprises (EMNEs), there is still much contention on what drives rapid EMNE internationalization, particularly for the less explored firms from Latin America. Using an inductive case study of five leading Brazilian MNEs, we bring new insights on this neglected question. We unveil that the existence of organizational slack (of operational, managerial, and financial nature) can indeed facilitate rapid internationalization, particularly when triggered by unique home country conditions (e.g., regulation; rising cost of doing business at home; exhaustion of profitable growth opportunities in the domestic market).
We review key drivers, trends and consequences of global sourcing of business processes – the sourcing of administrative and more knowledge-intensive processes from globally dispersed locations. We argue that global sourcing, which is also associated with ‘offshoring’ and ‘offshore outsourcing’, has co-evolved over the past three decades with the advancement of information and communication technology (ICT), a growing pool of low-cost, yet often qualified labor and expertise in developing countries, and increasing client-side global sourcing experience. We show how this dynamic has led firms to develop new global capabilities, governance and business models, changed the geographic distribution of work and expertise, and promoted the emergence of new geographic knowledge services clusters. We further introduce three new trends – the emergence of global delivery models, ICT- enabled service automation, and impact sourcing – and discuss future directions for research.
OBJECTIVE:
Repetitive negative thinking (RNT) for example, worry in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and rumination in depression, is often targeted during psychological treatments. To test the hypothesis that negative interpretation bias contributes to worry and rumination, we assessed the effects of inducing more positive interpretations in reducing RNT.
METHOD:
Volunteers diagnosed with GAD (66) or depression (65) were randomly allocated to one of two versions of cognitive bias modification for interpretation (CBM-I), either with or without RNT priming prior to training, or a control condition, each involving 10 Internet-delivered sessions. Outcome measures of interpretation bias, a behavioral RNT task and self-reported worry, rumination, anxiety and depression were obtained at baseline, after home-based training and at 1-month follow-up (self-report questionnaires only).
RESULTS:
CBM-I training, across diagnostic groups, promoted a more positive interpretation bias and led to reductions in worry, rumination, and depressive symptoms, which were maintained at follow-up. Anxiety symptoms were reduced only in the GAD group at follow-up. There were no differences between CBM-I versions; brief priming of RNT did not influence CBM-I effectiveness. Level of interpretation bias post training partially mediated the effects of CBM-I on follow-up questionnaire scores.
CONCLUSIONS:
In contrast to some recent failures to demonstrate improvements following Internet-delivered CBM, we found that self-reported RNT and negative mood were reduced by CBM-I. This is consistent with a causal role for negative interpretation bias in both worry and rumination, suggesting a useful role for CBM-I within treatments for anxiety and depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).
Corpus linguistics has now come of age and Corpus Approaches to Discourse equips students with the means to question, defend and refine the methodology. Looking at corpus linguistics in discourse research from a critical perspective, this volume is a call for greater reflexivity in the field. The chapters, each written by leading authorities, contain an overview of an emerging area and a case-study, presenting practical advice alongside theoretical reflection. Carefully structured with an introduction by the editors and a conclusion by leading researcher, Paul Baker, this is key reading for advanced students and researchers of corpus linguistics and discourse analysis.
The invention provides compounds of the formula (I): wherein R1 and R2 are defined in the specification, to pharmaceutical compositions comprising the compounds and the compounds for use as medicaments. The compounds potentiate AMPA receptor function and are expected to be useful in the treatment of central nervous system disorders, for example in the treatment of depressive disorders, mood disorders and cognitive dysfunction associated with neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia
In warfare, civil unrest, and political protest, chemicals have served as means of coercion, suppression, and manipulation. This book examines how chemical agents have been justified, utilised and resisted as means of control. Through attending to how, when, and for whom bodies become rendered as sites of intervention, Chemical Bodies demonstrates the inter-relations between geopolitical transformations and the technological, spatial and social components of local events.
The chapters draw out some of the insidious ways in which chemical technologies are damaging, and re-open discussion regarding their justification, role and regulation. In doing so the contributors illustrate how certain instances of force gain prominence (or fade into obscurity), how some individuals speak and others get spoken for, how definitions of what counts as ‘success’ and ‘failure’ are advanced, and how the rights and wrongs of violence are contested.
This study contributes to the growing interest in how hybrid organizations manage paradoxical social–business tensions. Our empirical case is ‘‘impact sourcing’’— hybrids in global supply chains that hire staff from disadvantaged communities to provide services to business clients. We identify two major growth orientations— ‘‘community-focused’’ and ‘‘client-focused’’ growth—their inherent tensions and ways that hybrids manage them. The former favors slow growth and manages tensions through highly integrated client and community relations; the latter promotes faster growth and manages client and community relations separately. Both growth orientations address social–business tensions in particular ways, but also create latent constraints that manifest when entrepreneurial aspirations conflict with the current growth path. In presenting and discussing our findings, we introduce preempting management practices of tensions, and the importance of geographic embeddedness and distance to the paradox literature.
This article studies how the logic of firm governance choices varies as a function of the time of adoption of particular sourcing practices. Using data on the diffusion of global business services sourcing as a management practice from early experiments in the 1980s through 2011, we show that the extent to which governance choices are affected by process commoditization, availability of external service capabilities, and past governance choices depends on whether firms are early or late adopters. Findings inform research on governance choice dynamics specifically in highly diverse and evolving firm populations.
There was a large increase in development aid for health during the Millennium Development Goal era, and growing awareness of the importance of donor priorities in determining how that aid is used. The research described in this chapter focused on a case study of the US Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Sambhav scheme: a voucher programme which contracted private hospitals in cities in Uttar Pradesh to provide maternal and reproductive health services to people living in slums. The research examined how USAID’s priorities manifested in the design of the Sambhav scheme, and considered how the public–private partnership was enacted in the city of Lucknow.
The findings reveal a process of USAID-sponsored healthcare commercialisation played out through the development of public–private partnerships. In practice, ‘partnership’ meant the government sent free vaccines and contraceptives to private hospitals while community workers discouraged families from visiting government hospitals. Voucher users missed out on cash incentives available at government hospitals and were charged for ‘additional’ services at participating private hospitals. Dissatisfaction with payment rates among hospital managers meant women requiring more complicated forms of care were referred on to government hospitals or other private hospitals. These experiences raise questions regarding the wider effects of such ‘partnerships’ on health systems and out-of-pocket expenditure.
In many contexts there are a range of individuals and organisations offering healthcare services that differ widely in cost, quality and outcomes. This complexity is exacerbated by processes of healthcare commercialisation. Yet reliable information on healthcare provision is often limited, and progress to and through the healthcare system may depend on knowledge drawn from prior experiences, social networks and the providers themselves. It is in these contexts that healthcare brokerage emerges and third-party actors facilitate access to healthcare.
This article presents a novel framework for studying brokerage of access to healthcare, and empirical evidence on healthcare brokerage in urban slums in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. The framework comprises six areas of interest that have been derived from sociological and political science literature on brokerage. A framework approach was used to group observational and interview data into six framework charts (one for each area of interest) to facilitate close thematic analysis.
A cadre of women in Lucknow's urban slums performed healthcare brokerage by encouraging use of particular healthcare services, organising travel, and mediating communications and fee negotiations with providers. The women emphasised their personal role in facilitating access to care and encouraged dependency on their services by withholding information from users. They received commission payments from healthcare programmes, and sometimes from users and hospitals as well, but were blamed for issues beyond their control. Disruption to their ability to facilitate low-cost healthcare meant some women lost their positions as brokers, while others adapted by leveraging old and new relationships with hospital managers.
Brokerage analysis reveals how people capitalise on the complexity of healthcare systems by positioning themselves as intermediaries. Commercialised healthcare systems offer a fertile environment for such behaviours, which can undermine attainment of healthcare entitlements and exacerbate inequities in healthcare access.
As knowledge production becomes more specialized, studying complex and multi-faceted empirical realities becomes more difficult. This has created a growing need for cross-fertilization and collaboration between research disciplines. According to prior studies, the sharing of concepts, ideas and empirical domains with other disciplines may promote cross-fertilization. We challenge this one-sided view. Based on an analysis of the parallel development of the neighboring disciplines of innovation studies and project management, we show that the sharing of concepts and empirical domains can have ambivalent effects. Under conditions of ideological distancing, shared concepts and domains will be narrowly assimilated − an effect we call ‘encapsulation’ - which creates an illusion of sharing, while promoting further self-containment. By comparison, reflexive meta-theories and cross-disciplinary community-building will enable a form of sharing that promotes cross-fertilization. Our findings inform research on research specialization, cross-fertilization and effectiveness of interdisciplinary collaboration.
A search for pair production of up-type vector-like quarks (T) with a significant branching ratio into a top quark and either a Standard Model Higgs boson or a Z boson is presented. The same analysis is also used to search for four-top-quark production in several new physics scenarios. The search is based on a dataset of pp collisions at √s =13 TeV recorded in 2015 and 2016 with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb−1. Data are analysed in the lepton+jets final state, characterised by an isolated electron or muon with high transverse momentum, large missing transverse momentum and multiple jets, as well as the jets + E T miss final state, characterised by multiple jets and large missing transverse momentum. The search exploits the high multiplicity of jets identified as originating from b-quarks, and the presence of boosted, hadronically decaying top quarks and Higgs bosons reconstructed as large-radius jets, characteristic of signal events. No significant excess above the Standard Model expectation is observed, and 95% CL upper limits are set on the production cross sections for the different signal processes considered. These cross-section limits are used to derive lower limits on the mass of a vector-like T quark under several branching ratio hypotheses assuming contributions from T → W b, Zt, Ht decays. The 95% CL observed lower limits on the T quark mass range between 0.99 TeV and 1.43 TeV for all possible values of the branching ratios into the three decay modes considered, significantly extending the reach beyond that of previous searches. Additionally, upper limits on anomalous four-top-quark production are set in the context of an effective field theory model, as well as in an universal extra dimensions model.
A search for vectorlike quarks is presented, which targets their decay into a Z boson and a third-generation Standard Model quark. In the case of a vectorlike quark T (B) with charge +2/3e (−1/3e), the decay searched for is T→Zt (B→Zb). Data for this analysis were taken during 2015 and 2016 with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb−1 of pp collisions at √s=13 TeV. The final state used is characterized by the presence of b-tagged jets, as well as a Z boson with high transverse momentum, which is reconstructed from a pair of opposite-sign same-flavor leptons. Pair and single production of vectorlike quarks are both taken into account and are each searched for using optimized dileptonic exclusive and trileptonic inclusive event selections. In these selections, the high scalar sum of jet transverse momenta, the presence of high-transverse-momentum large-radius jets, as well as—in the case of the single-production selections—the presence of forward jets are used. No significant excess over the background-only hypothesis is found and exclusion limits at 95% confidence level allow masses of vectorlike quarks of mT>1030 GeV (mT>1210 GeV) and mB>1010 GeV (mB>1140 GeV) in the singlet (doublet) model. In the case of 100% branching ratio for T→Zt (B→Zb), the limits are mT>1340 GeV (mB>1220 GeV). Limits at 95% confidence level are also set on the coupling to Standard Model quarks for given vectorlike quark masses.
A search for exotic decays of the Higgs boson into a pair of spin-zero particles, H → aa, where the a-boson decay sin to b-quarks promptly or with a mean proper lifetime cτa up to 6 mm and has a mass in the range of 20–60 GeV, is presented. The search is performed in events where the Higgs boson is produced in association with a W or Z boson, giving rise to a signature of one or two charged leptons (electrons or muons) and multiple jets from b-quark decays. The analysis is based on the dataset of proton-proton collisions at √s=13 TeV recorded in 2015 and 2016 by the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb−1. No significant excess of events above the Standard Model background prediction is observed, and 95% confidence-level upper limits are derived for the production cross-sections for pp → WH, ZH and their combination, times the branching ratio of the decay chain H → aa → 4b. For a-bosons which decay promptly, the upper limit on the combination of cross-sections for WH and ZH times the branching ratio of H → aa → 4b ranges from 3.0 pb for ma = 20 GeV to 1.3 pb for ma = 60 GeV, assuming that the ratio of WH to ZH cross-sections follows the Standard Model prediction. For a-bosons with longer proper lifetimes, the most stringent limits are 1.8 pb and 0.68 pb, respectively, at cτa ∼ 0.4 mm.
A measurement of J/ψ J/ψ and ψ(2S) ψ(2S) production is presented. It is based on a data sample from Pb+Pb collisions at √sNN =5.02 TeV sNN=5.02 TeV and pp collisions at √s =5.02 TeV s=5.02 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2015, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 0.42 nb −1 0.42 nb−1 and 25 pb −1 25 pb−1 in Pb+Pb and pp, respectively. The measurements of per-event yields, nuclear modification factors, and non-prompt fractions are performed in the dimuon decay channel for 9<p μμ T <40 9<pTμμ<40 GeV in dimuon transverse momentum, and −2<y μμ <2 −2<yμμ<2 in rapidity. Strong suppression is found in Pb+Pb collisions for both prompt and non-prompt J/ψ J/ψ, increasing with event centrality. The suppression of prompt ψ(2S) ψ(2S) is observed to be stronger than that of J/ψ J/ψ, while the suppression of non-prompt ψ(2S) ψ(2S) is equal to that of the non-prompt J/ψ J/ψ within uncertainties, consistent with the expectation that both arise from b-quarks propagating through the medium. Despite prompt and non-prompt J/ψ J/ψ arising from different mechanisms, the dependence of their nuclear modification factors on centrality is found to be quite similar.
For abstract see published article.
A search is presented for the pair production of heavy vectorlike quarks, T¯T or B¯B, that decay into final states with jets and no reconstructed leptons. Jets in the final state are classified using a deep neural network as arising from hadronically decaying W/Z bosons, Higgs bosons, top quarks, or background. The analysis uses data from the ATLAS experiment corresponding to 36.1 fb−1 of proton-proton collisions with a center-of-mass energy of √s=13 TeV delivered by the Large Hadron Collider in 2015 and 2016. No significant deviation from the Standard Model expectation is observed. Results are interpreted assuming the vectorlike quarks decay into a Standard Model boson and a third-generation-quark, T→Wb,Ht,Zt or B→Wt,Hb,Zb, for a variety of branching ratios. At 95% confidence level, the observed (expected) lower limit on the vectorlike B -quark mass for a weak-isospin doublet (B, Y) is 950 (890) GeV, and the lower limits on the masses for the pure decays B→Hb and T→Ht, where these results are strongest, are 1010 (970) GeV and 1010 (1010) GeV, respectively.
A combination of the searches for pair-produced vectorlike partners of the top and bottom quarks in various decay channels (T→Zt/Wb/Ht, B→Zb/Wt/Hb) is performed using 36.1 fb−1 of pp collision data at √s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The observed data are found to be in good agreement with the standard model background prediction in all individual searches. Therefore, combined 95% confidence-level upper limits are set on the production cross section for a range of vectorlike quark scenarios, significantly improving upon the reach of the individual searches. Model-independent limits are set assuming the vectorlike quarks decay to standard model particles. A singlet T is excluded for masses below 1.31 TeV and a singlet B is excluded for masses below 1.22 TeV. Assuming a weak isospin (T,B) doublet and |VTb|≪|VtB|, T and B masses below 1.37 TeV are excluded.
This Letter presents a measurement of γγ→μ+μ− production in Pb+Pb collisions recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider at √sNN=5.02 TeV with an integrated luminosity of 0.49 nb−1. The azimuthal angle and transverse momentum correlations between the muons are measured as a function of collision centrality. The muon pairs are produced from γγ through the interaction of the large electromagnetic fields of the nuclei. The contribution from background sources of muon pairs is removed using a template fit method. In peripheral collisions, the muons exhibit a strong back-to-back correlation consistent with previous measurements of muon pair production in ultraperipheral collisions. The angular correlations are observed to broaden significantly in central collisions. The modifications are qualitatively consistent with rescattering of the muons while passing through the hot matter produced in the collision.
A search for electroweak production of supersymmetric particles is performed in two-lepton and three-lepton final states using recursive jigsaw reconstruction, a technique that assigns reconstructed objects to the most probable hemispheres of the decay trees, allowing one to construct tailored kinematic variables to separate the signal and background. The search uses data collected in 2015 and 2016 by the ATLAS experiment in √s=13 TeV proton-proton collisions at the CERN Large Hadron Collider corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb−1. Chargino-neutralino pair production, with decays via W/Z bosons, is studied in final states involving leptons and jets and missing transverse momentum for scenarios with large and intermediate mass splittings between the parent particle and lightest supersymmetric particle, as well as for the scenario where this mass splitting is close to the mass of the Z boson. The latter case is challenging since the vector bosons are produced with kinematic properties that are similar to those in Standard Model processes. Results are found to be compatible with the Standard Model expectations in the signal regions targeting large and intermediate mass splittings, and chargino-neutralino masses up to 600 GeV are excluded at 95% confidence level for a massless lightest supersymmetric particle. Excesses of data above the expected background are found in the signal regions targeting low mass splittings, and the largest local excess amounts to 3.0 standard deviations.
A search for pair production of the supersymmetric partners of the Higgs boson (higgsinos ˜H) in gauge-mediated scenarios is reported. Each higgsino is assumed to decay to a Higgs boson and a gravitino. Two complementary analyses, targeting high- and low-mass signals, are performed to maximize sensitivity. The two analyses utilize LHC pp collision data at a center-of-mass energy √s=13 TeV, the former with an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb−1 and the latter with 24.3 fb−1, collected with the ATLAS detector in 2015 and 2016. The search is performed in events containing missing transverse momentum and several energetic jets, at least three of which must be identified as b -quark jets. No significant excess is found above the predicted background. Limits on the cross section are set as a function of the mass of the ˜H in simplified models assuming production via mass-degenerate higgsinos decaying to a Higgs boson and a gravitino. Higgsinos with masses between 130 and 230 GeV and between 290 and 880 GeV are excluded at the 95% confidence level. Interpretations of the limits in terms of the branching ratio of the higgsino to a Z boson or a Higgs boson are also presented, and a 45% branching ratio to a Higgs boson is excluded for m˜H≈400 GeV.
A measurement of the rapidity and transverse momentum dependence of dijet azimuthal decorrelations is presented, using the quantity RΔϕ. The quantity RΔϕ specifies the fraction of the inclusive dijet events in which the azimuthal opening angle of the two jets with the highest transverse momenta is less than a given value of the parameter Δϕmax. The quantity RΔϕ is measured in proton-proton collisions at √s=8 TeV as a function of the dijet rapidity interval, the event total scalar transverse momentum, and Δϕmax. The measurement uses an event sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.2 fb−1 collected with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. Predictions of a perturbative QCD calculation at next-to-leading order in the strong coupling with corrections for nonperturbative effects are compared to the data. The theoretical predictions describe the data in the whole kinematic region. The data are used to determine the strong coupling αS and to study its running for momentum transfers from 260 GeV to above 1.6 TeV. Analysis that combines data at all momentum transfers results in αS(mZ)=0.1127+0.0063−0.0027.
A measurement of off-shell Higgs boson production in the ZZ→4ℓ and ZZ→2ℓ2νdecay channels, where ℓ stands for either an electron or a muon, is performed using data from proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of s=13 TeV. The data were collected by the ATLAS experiment in 2015 and 2016 at the Large HadronCollider, and they correspond to an integrated luminosity of 36.1fb−1. An observed (expected) upper limit on the off-shell Higgs signal strength, defined as the event yield normalised to the Standard Model prediction, of 3.8 (3.4) is obtained at 95% confidence level (CL). Assuming the ratio of the Higgs boson couplings to the Standard Model predictions is independent of the momentum transfer of the Higgs production mechanism considered in the analysis, a combination with the on-shell signal-strength measurements yields an observed (expected) 95% CL upper limit on the Higgs boson total width of 14.4 (15.2) MeV.
ATLAS measurements of the production of muons from heavy-flavor decays in √sNN= 2.76 TeV Pb+Pb collisions and √s = 2.76 TeV pp collisions at the LHC are presented. Integrated luminosities of 0.14 nb−1 and 570 nb−1 are used for the Pb+Pb and pp measurements, respectively, which are performed over the muon transverse momentum range 4 < pT < 14 GeV and for five Pb+Pb centrality intervals. Backgrounds arising from in-flight pion and kaon decays, hadronic showers, and misreconstructed muons are statistically removed using a template-fitting procedure. The heavy-flavor muon differential cross sections and per-event yields are measured in pp and Pb+Pb collisions, respectively. The nuclear modification factor RAA obtained from these is observed to be independent of pT , within uncertainties, and to be less than unity, which indicates suppressed production of heavy-flavor muons in Pb+Pb collisions. For the 10% most central Pb+Pb events, the measured RAA is approximately 0.35. The azimuthal modulation of the heavy-flavor muon yields is also measured and the associated Fourier coefficients vn for n = 2, 3, and 4 are given as a function of pT and centrality. They vary slowly with pT and show a systematic variation with centrality which is characteristic of other anisotropy measurements, such as that observed for inclusive hadrons. The measured RAA and vn values are also compared with theoretical calculations.
For abstract see published article.
For Abstract see published article.
A search for dark matter (DM) particles produced in association with a hadronically decaying vector boson is performed using pp collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of √s=13 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb−1, recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. This analysis improves on previous searches for processes with hadronic decays of W and Z bosons in association with large missing transverse momentum (mono-W/Z searches) due to the larger dataset and further optimization of the event selection and signal region definitions. In addition to the mono-W/Z search, the as yet unexplored hypothesis of a new vector boson Z′ produced in association with dark matter is considered (mono-Z′ search). No significant excess over the Standard Model prediction is observed. The results of the mono-W/Z search are interpreted in terms of limits on invisible Higgs boson decays into dark matter particles, constraints on the parameter space of the simplified vector-mediator model and generic upper limits on the visible cross sections for W/Z+DM production. The results of the mono-Z′ search are shown in the framework of several simplified-model scenarios involving DM production in association with the Z′ boson.
Results of dedicated Monte Carlo simulations of beam-induced background (BIB) in the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are presented and compared with data recorded in 2012. During normal physics operation this background arises mainly from scattering of the 4 TeV protons on residual gas in the beam pipe. Methods of reconstructing the BIB signals in the ATLAS detector, developed and implemented in the simulation chain based on the Fluka Monte Carlo simulation package, are described. The interaction rates are determined from the residual gas pressure distribution in the LHC ring in order to set an absolute scale on the predicted rates of BIB so that they can be compared quantitatively with data. Through these comparisons the origins of the BIB leading to different observables in the ATLAS detectors are analysed. The level of agreement between simulation results and BIB measurements by ATLAS in 2012 demonstrates that a good understanding of the origin of BIB has been reached.
The production of Z bosons in association with a high-energy photon (Zγ production) is studied in the neutrino decay channel of the Z boson using pp collisions at √s=13 TeV. The analysis uses a data sample with an integrated luminosity of 36.1fb−1 collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2015 and 2016. Candidate Zγ events with invisible decays of the Z boson are selected by requiring significant transverse momentum (pT) of the dineutrino system in conjunction with a single isolated photon with large transverse energy (ET). The rate of Zγ production is measured as a function of photon ET, dineutrino system pT and jet multiplicity. Evidence of anomalous triple gauge-boson couplings is sought in Zγ production with photon ET greater than 600 GeV. No excess is observed relative to the Standard Model expectation, and upper limits are set on the strength of ZZγ and Zγγ couplings.
An angular analysis of the decay B d 0 → K∗μ+μ− is presented, based on proton-proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. The study is using 20.3 fb−1 of integrated luminosity collected during 2012 at centre-of-mass energy of s√=8 TeV. Measurements of the K* longitudinal polarisation fraction and a set of angular parameters obtained for this decay are presented. The results are compatible with the Standard Model predictions.
Measurements of the azimuthal anisotropy in lead–lead collisions at √sNN = 5.02 TeV are presented using a data sample corresponding to 0.49 nb−1 integrated luminosity collected by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC in 2015. The recorded minimum-bias sample is enhanced by triggers for “ultra-central” collisions, providing an opportunity to perform detailed study of flow harmonics in the regime where the initial state is dominated by fluctuations. The anisotropy of the charged-particle azimuthal angle distributions is characterized by the Fourier coefficients, v2–v7, which are measured using the two-particle correlation, scalar-product and event-plane methods. The goal of the paper is to provide measurements of the differential as well as integrated flow harmonics vn over wide ranges of the transverse momentum, 0.5 < pT < 60 GeV, the pseudorapidity, |η| < 2.5, and the collision centrality 0–80%. Results from different methods are compared and discussed in the context of previous and recent measurements in Pb+Pb collisions at √sNN =2.76 TeV and 5.02TeV. In particular, the shape of the pT dependence of elliptic or triangular flow harmonics is observed to be very similar at different centralities after scaling the vn and pT values by constant factors over the centrality interval 0–60% and the pT range 0.5 < pT < 5 GeV.
A search is performed for a heavy particle decaying into different-flavor, dilepton pairs (eμ, eτ or μτ), using 36.1 fb−1 of proton-proton collision data at √s=13 TeV collected in 2015–2016 by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. No excesses over the Standard Model predictions are observed. Bayesian lower limits at the 95% credibility level are placed on the mass of a Z′ boson, the mass of a supersymmetric τ-sneutrino, and on the threshold mass for quantum black-hole production. For the Z′ and sneutrino models, upper cross-section limits are converted to upper limits on couplings, which are compared with similar limits from low-energy experiments and which are more stringent for the eτ and μτ modes.
The performance of the missing transverse momentum (EmissT) reconstruction with the ATLAS detector is evaluated using data collected in proton–proton collisions at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV in 2015. To reconstruct EmissT, fully calibrated electrons, muons, photons, hadronically decaying τ -leptons, and jets reconstructed from calorimeter energy deposits and charged-particle tracks are used. These are combined with the soft hadronic activity measured by reconstructed charged-particle tracks not associated with the hard objects. Possible double counting of contributions from reconstructed charged-particle tracks from the inner detector, energy deposits in the calorimeter, and reconstructed muons from the muon spectrometer is avoided by applying a signal ambiguity resolution procedure which rejects already used signals when combining the various EmissT contributions. The individual terms as well as the overall reconstructed EmissT are evaluated with various performance metrics for scale (linearity), resolution, and sensitivity to the data-taking conditions. The method developed to determine the systematic uncertainties of the EmissT scale and resolution is discussed. Results are shown based on the full 2015 data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.2 fb−1.
A search for charged Higgs bosons heavier than the top quark and decaying via H± → tb is presented. The data analysed corresponds to 36.1 fb−1 of pp collisions at s√=13 TeV and was recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2015 and 2016. The production of a charged Higgs boson in association with a top quark and a bottom quark, pp → tbH±, is explored in the mass range from mH± = 200 to 2000 GeV using multi-jet final states with one or two electrons or muons. Events are categorised according to the multiplicity of jets and how likely these are to have originated from hadronisation of a bottom quark. Multivariate techniques are used to discriminate between signal and background events. No significant excess above the background-only hypothesis is observed and exclusion limits are derived for the production cross-section times branching ratio of a charged Higgs boson as a function of its mass, which range from 2.9 pb at mH± = 200 GeV to 0.070 pb at mH± = 2000 GeV. The results are interpreted in two benchmark scenarios of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model.
Measurements of differential cross sections of top quark pair production in association with jets by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC are presented. The measurements are performed as functions of the top quark transverse momentum, the transverse momentum of the top quark-antitop quark system and the out-of-plane transverse momentum using data from pp collisions at √ s=13 TeV collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2015 and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.2 fb−1. The top quark pair events are selected in the lepton (electron or muon) + jets channel. The measured cross sections, which are compared to several predictions, allow a detailed study of top quark production.
A search for new heavy particles that decay into top-quark pairs is performed using data collected from proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The integrated luminosity of the data sample is 36.1 fb−1. Events consistent with top-quark pair production are selected by requiring a single isolated charged lepton, missing transverse momentum and jet activity compatible with a hadronic top-quark decay. Jets identified as likely to contain b-hadrons are required to reduce the background from other Standard Model processes. The invariant mass spectrum of the candidate top-quark pairs is examined for local excesses above the background expectation. No significant deviations from the Standard Model predictions are found. Exclusion limits are set on the production cross-section times branching ratio for hypothetical Z bosons, Kaluza–Kein gluons and Kaluza–Klein gravitons that decay into top-quark pairs.
A search for a heavy resonance decaying into WZ in the fully leptonic channel (electrons and muons) is performed. It is based on proton–proton collision data collected by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of 13TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1fb−1. No significant excess is observed over the Standard Model predictions and limits are set on the production cross section times branching ratio of a heavy vector particle produced either in quark–antiquark fusion or through vector-boson fusion. Constraints are also obtained on the mass and couplings of a singly charged Higgs boson, in the Georgi–Machacek model, produced through vector-boson fusion.
The Tile Calorimeter is the hadron calorimeter covering the central region of the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. Approximately 10,000 photomultipliers collect light from scintillating tiles acting as the active material sandwiched between slabs of steel absorber. This paper gives an overview of the calorimeter’s performance during the years 2008–2012 using cosmic-ray muon events and proton–proton collision data at centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8TeV with a total integrated luminosity of nearly 30 fb−1. The signal reconstruction methods, calibration systems as well as the detector operation status are presented. The energy and time calibration methods performed excellently, resulting in good stability of the calorimeter response under varying conditions during the LHC Run 1. Finally, the Tile Calorimeter response to isolated muons and hadrons as well as to jets from proton–proton collisions is presented. The results demonstrate excellent performance in accord with specifications mentioned in the Technical Design Report.
Al-Qafas is Dania Al Kabbani's first graphic novel in Arabic. The text depicts the struggles of a young Damascene woman who escaped the Syrian war into Beirut only to find herself trapped in another socio-political limbo. The text is edited and translated into English by Feras Alkabani.
Spontaneous otoacoustic emissions (SOAEs) recorded from the ear canal in the absence of sound reflect cochlear amplification, an outer-hair-cell (OHC) process required for the extraordinary sensitivity and frequency selectivity of mammalian hearing. Although wild-type mice rarely emit, those with mutations that influence the tectorial membrane (TM) show an incidence of SOAEs similar to that in humans. In this report, we characterized mice with a missense mutation in Tecta, a gene required for the formation of the striated-sheet matrix within the core of the TM. Mice heterozygous for the Y1870C mutation (TectaY1870C/+) are prolific emitters, despite a moderate hearing loss. Additionally, Kimura’s membrane, into which the OHC stereocilia insert, separates from the main body of the TM, except at apical cochlear locations. Multimodal SOAEs are also observed in TectaY1870C/+ mice where energy is present at frequencies that are integer multiples of a lower-frequency SOAE (the primary). Second-harmonic SOAEs, at twice the frequency of a lower-frequency primary, are the most frequently observed. These secondary SOAEs are found in spatial regions where stimulus-evoked OAEs are small or in the noise floor. Introduction of high-level suppressors just above the primary SOAE frequency reduce or eliminate both primary and second-harmonic SOAEs. In contrast, second-harmonic SOAEs are not affected by suppressors, either above or below the second-harmonic SOAE frequency, even when they are much larger in amplitude. Hence, second-harmonic SOAEs do not appear to be spatially separated from their primaries, a finding that has implications for cochlear mechanics and the consequences of changes to TM structure.
We present here a space- and phenotype-structured model of selection dynamics between cancer cells within a solid tumour. In the framework of this model, we combine formal analyses with numerical simulations to investigate in silico the role played by the spatial distribution of abiotic components of the tumour microenvironment in mediating phenotypic selection of cancer cells. Numerical simulations are performed both on the 3D geometry of an in silico multicellular tumour spheroid and on the 3D geometry of an in vivo human hepatic tumour, which was imaged using computerised tomography. The results obtained show that inhomogeneities in the spatial distribution of oxygen, currently observed in solid tumours, can promote the creation of distinct local niches and lead to the selection of different phenotypic variants within the same tumour. This process fosters the emergence of stable phenotypic heterogeneity and supports the presence of hypoxic cells resistant to cytotoxic therapy prior to treatment. Our theoretical results demonstrate the importance of integrating spatial data with ecological principles when evaluating the therapeutic response of solid tumours to cytotoxic therapy.
This paper presents a proposal for a mobile government adoption and utilization model (MGAUM), which is a framework designed to increase the adoption rate of m-government services in Saudi Arabia. Recent advances in mobile technologies such are Mobile compatibilities, The development of wireless communication, mobile applications and devices are enabling governments to deliver services in new ways to citizens more efficiently and economically. In the last decade, many governments around the globe are utilizing these advances effectively to develop their next generation of e-government services. However, a low adoption rate of m-government services by citizens is a common problem in Arabian countries, including Saudi Arabia. Yet, to our knowledge, very little research has been conducted focused on understanding the factors that influence citizen adoption of these m-government services in this part of the world. A set of social, cultural and technological factors have been identified in the literature, which has led to the formulation of associated research questions and hypotheses. These hypotheses will be tested on Saudi citizens using questionnaires and interview methods based around the technology acceptance model. A key objective of the MGAUM framework is to investigate and understand Saudi citizens perception towards adoption and utilization of m-government services.
Purpose
The aim of this study is to examine the impact of the fit between product-service strategy and sensing capability on novelty, and the potential moderating impact of contextual factors (i.e. technological and market turbulence) on novelty.
Design/methodology/approach
In line with the aim of the study, a quantitative approach is adopted and a multi-item scale survey is designed to collect primary data. Using a mixed mode survey, a total number of 491 questionnaires are collected from a sample of UK-based telecommunications firms. Multiple regression is used to test the hypotheses and predict the outcomes.
Findings
The results support the positive contribution of a contingency approach to the study of the impact of the fit between product-service strategy and sensing dynamic capability on novelty. The results also partially confirm the reinforcing impact of technological and market turbulence on novelty.
Originality/value
This study extends research on product-service strategy and sensing capability by adopting a contingency view, which intends to serve two purposes: to complement the existing reductionistic explanations and to explore how the relationship between product-service strategy and sensing capability could create novelty as well as the degree to which this relationship could be moderated in light of the external contextual factors.
Cell-free translation systems based on cellular lysates optimized for protein synthesis have multiple applications both in basic and applied science, ranging from studies of translational regulation to cell-free production of proteins and ribosome-nascent chain complexes. In order to achieve both high activity and reproducibility in a translation system, it is essential that the ribosomes in the cellular lysate are enzymatically active. Here we demonstrate that genomic disruption of genes encoding ribosome inactivating factors - HPF in and Stm1 in - robustly improve the activities of bacterial and yeast translation systems. Importantly, the elimination of HPF results in a complete loss of 100S ribosomes, which otherwise interfere with disome-based approaches for preparation of stalled ribosomal complexes for cryo-electron microscopy studies.
In September 2015, 193 countries of the UN General Assembly adopted a new development agenda Transforming Our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. With 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 underlying targets that are "integrated and indivisible", the agenda provides both an extraordinary chance and extraordinary challenge to society at the global, national and local level. If these goals are met, the pay-off is likely to be a higher level of well-being throughout the world, and a more sustainable planet. Innumerable connections exist among the goals and targets: some are dependent on one another; others have potential trade-offs between them. To effectively implement sustainable social, economic and environmental development and move forward on the SDGs it is necessary to understand and act on these interactions.
This Wilton Park event considered the extent to which science and policy can connect and cooperate to achieve the SDGs, in particular how they can work together to help identify the most important interactions among SDGs to improve economic and social development. Discussion focused on the SDGs which will be considered at the UN High-level Political Forum in New York in July 2018, namely the goals pertaining to water (Goal 6), energy (Goal 7), cities (Goal 11), consumption and production (Goal 12), and land (Goal 15). Key points from the discussion will be fed into the High-level Political Forum to help inform the debate and encourage consideration of the interlinkages among goals.
Background: At least 40% of people with psychosis have persistent distressing symptoms despite optimal medication treatment. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for psychosis (CBTp) is the only NICE recommended individual therapy for psychosis, with effects on symptoms, distress and quality of life. Yet fewer than 20% of service-users receive it and 94% of trusts struggle to provide it. Of those offered it, 22-43% refuse or do not attend. We have developed a new pre-CBTp informed choice intervention to address knowledge and attitudes that influence uptake and implementation and now want to test it in a feasibility trial.
Methods: The design is a 2-arm, feasibility RCT, with 1:1 randomisation, stratified by participant group and site. Participants are 40 psychosis patients and 40 clinicians, who are ambivalent towards uptake or implementation of CBTp. Sites are community and inpatient services in Sussex and London. The intervention is a pre-CBT digital psychoeducation intervention designed to address identified knowledge and attitudinal barriers to uptake and implementation of CBTp, incorporating behaviour change mechanisms, and supported by animated introductory, patient and clinician stories. The comparator is the NHS choices website for CBT. The primary aim is to assess clinical feasibility (recruitment, randomization, acceptability, use, delivery, outcome measurement, retention). A secondary aim is a preliminary evaluation of efficacy. Outcomes will be assessed at baseline, post-intervention, and one-month follow up (blind to treatment arm). The primary efficacy outcome is likelihood of offering/taking up CBTp. Secondary outcomes include knowledge and attitudes towards CBTp; illness perceptions; empowerment; psychological wellbeing (patients only); CBTp implementation (clinicians only). Use of the intervention and CBT behaviours during the follow-up period will be recorded, and captured in a feedback questionnaire. Use, acceptability and experience of outcome assessment will be explored in qualitative interviews with participants (n = 6 per group). The efficacy evaluation will report descriptive data, key model parameters and 95% Highest Probability Density intervals in a Bayesian growth model.
Discussion: This is the first feasibility trial of a digital ‘informed choice’ decision aid for the implementation of CBTp. If the trial proves feasible and demonstrates preliminary evidence of efficacy, a large multi-site trial will be warranted.
This article revisits earlier theorisations of cinematic voyeurism and gender-based violence in considering the cross-media connections between cinema and non-consensual pornography online. In particular, it looks at how the remake of a significant rape-revenge film, I Spit On Your Grave (1978/2010), explores the role of technology in the perpetuation of female victimisation. By making a visible connection between the female character’s physical rape and the violation of her subjectivity performed through filming her without her consent, the film raises a larger social/media issue, which I call media rape. In offering a theorisation of this phenomenon, the article analyses the operation of the website creepshots.com, which distributes non-consensual photos of women. The comparison between these two texts promotes an understanding of the visual and discursive continuities between cinema and online spaces in relation to media rape and rape culture more generally. At a time when the distinction between the creators of and audiences for media content is less straightforward within the context of online media, sadistic scopophilia needs to be reconsidered in relation to medium specificity. Although it is already problematic in the cinematic context, when it extends to online media sadistic scopophilia becomes a human rights violation.
Industrial Design is a discipline concerned with determining the form and function of mass-produced goods. This process depends extensively on the use of models. Until the advent of personal computers, modelling was done mostly by drawing on paper in the case of two-dimensional models, and by making physical mockups using clay, wood, foam, etc in the case of three-dimensional models. With the advent of personal computers however, this process became increasingly computer-based. This application of comptuers for modelling and visualization, constitutes the foundation of what is generally known as 'Computer Aided Design' (CAD) in the Design and Engineering disciplines, and which has become a most essential skill for any practicing professional. The development of these computer skills has been studied in the past, most of this research however, has been done in disciplines with a longer research tradition such as Architecture or Engineering. Moreover, most of this research has been approached from the perspective of Computer Aided Design, not from the perspective of computer skills in general. Therefore it is unknown to what extent Industrial Design students acquire these skills as they transition through college. Besides the fact that computer modelling has become essential in Industrial Design, studying the development of computer skills is important for other reasons. There are computer skills not related to Computer Aided Design, which have been identified as basic literacies in the 21st century. These other skills are intricatelly related to the development of advanced computer modelling techniques which pose opportunities and challenges for Industrial Design education. These studies investigate the computer skills being fostered in Industrial Design schools, and how their development is translated into the curriculum. The studies are based on a survey of 38 Industrial/Product Design schools from different parts of the world, through which their corresponding curriculums were studied/analized. This information was complemented with a number of interviews with practitioners, academics and researchers, and other sources such as artefacts analysis, action research and auto-ethnography. Among other, the studies found that the development of comptuer skills in Industrial Design schools focuses almost exclusively on developing 3D modelling skills, often even excluding 2D skills. The development of other skills, such supporting project management with the use of computers, or computer programming is almost null. The studies also found that most schools do not teach students to work with Polygonal Models, and that a good number only teach students to work with either Solid or Surface (NURBs) models, but not both. One of the arguments raised in the studies, is that due a number of trends, students should learn to work with all three different types of models, including polygonal ones. The studies also found that while strictly speaking the term CAD refers to the use of computers to support the design process, the general understanding in the field, is of CAD being essentially about modelling, and even just about 3D modelling. This tints the research and discussion around the education of computer skills in the field. The studies finish by providing a series of recommendations to enhance the development of computer skills in Industrial Design Education, by using a framework developed in these studies.
The 9/11 attacks provoked an intensified sense of individual and collective vulnerability in the US, and a corresponding effort to reassert the integrity of the body politic – to clearly demarcate self and other, friend and foe. In his 2001 essay ‘In the Ruins of the Future’, DeLillo proposed a ‘counter-narrative’ that would disrupt the fantasized clarity of such boundaries. This chapter presents DeLillo’s 2007 novel Falling Man as a more developed articulation of that ‘counter-narrative’. Using the work of Leo Bersani and Judith Butler, I show how, in Lianne Neudecker’s interactions with the paintings of Giorgio Morandi and with the performance artist ‘Falling Man’, art mediates trauma by constructively repeating it. This allows Lianne to reconceive vulnerability not as a threatened violation of her psychic or bodily integrity, but as its fundamental condition. As such, Falling Man offers a re-description of subjectivity that undermines the fictions of sovereignty and security that sustain neoliberal and neoconservative ideologies.
We investigate the asymptotic safety conjecture for quantum gravity including curvature invariants beyond Ricci scalars. Our strategy is put to work for families of gravitational actions which depend on functions of the Ricci scalar, the Ricci tensor, and products thereof. Combining functional renormalization with high order polynomial approximations and full numerical integration we derive the renormalization group flow for all couplings and analyse their fixed points, scaling exponents, and the fixed point effective action as a function of the background Ricci curvature. The theory is characterized by three relevant couplings. Higher-dimensional couplings show near-Gaussian scaling with increasing canonical mass dimension. We find that Ricci tensor invariants stabilize the UV fixed point and lead to a rapid convergence of polynomial approximations. We apply our results to models for cosmology and establish that the gravitational fixed point admits inflationary solutions. We also compare findings with those from fðRÞ-type theories in the same approximation and pin-point the key new effects due to Ricci tensor interactions. Implications for the asymptotic safety conjecture of gravity are indicated.
We conduct large scale numerical simulations of gravitational wave production at a first-order vacuum phase transition. We find a power law for the gravitational wave power spectrum at high wave number which falls off as k−1.5 rather than the k−1 produced by the envelope approximation. The peak of the power spectrum is shifted to slightly lower wave numbers from that of the envelope approximation. The envelope approximation reproduces our results for the peak power less well, agreeing only to within an order of magnitude. After the bubbles finish colliding, the scalar field oscillates around the true vacuum. An additional feature is produced in the UV of the gravitational wave power spectrum, and this continues to grow linearly until the end of our simulation. The additional feature peaks at a length scale close to the bubble wall thickness and is shown to have a negligible contribution to the energy in gravitational waves, providing the scalar field mass is much smaller than the Planck mass.
Models of symmetry breaking in the early universe can produce networks of cosmic strings threading ’t Hooft-Polyakov monopoles. In certain cases there is a larger global symmetry group and the monopoles split into so-called semipoles. These networks are all known as cosmic necklaces. We carry out large-scale field theory simulations of the simplest model containing these objects, confirming that the energy density of networks of cosmic necklaces approaches scaling, i.e., that it remains a constant fraction of the background energy density. The number of monopoles per unit comoving string length is constant, meaning that the density fraction of monopoles decreases with time. Where the necklaces carry semipoles rather than monopoles,we perform the first simulations large enough to demonstrate that they also maintain a constant number per unit comoving string length. We also compare our results to a number of analytical models of cosmic necklaces, finding that none explains our results. We put forward evidence that annihilation of poles on the strings is controlled by a diffusive process, a possibility not considered before. The observational constraints derived in our previous work for necklaces with monopoles can now be safely applied to those with semipoles as well.
A pattern of personal and political silence in response to sexual violence is evident across societies, despite significant cultural, political, and social differences. Drawing on Foucault’s concept of discourse as a tool that can shed light on the hidden workings of historically contingent social systems that produce forms of knowledge and meaning, we argue that the logics that are built into laws governing national responses to sexual violence draw attention to the ways that these logics structure social relations between sexual violence survivors and society, masking some experiences and bringing others to light. Following Marianne Constable’s analysis of silence and the limits and possibilities of modern law, the manuscript explores the ways in which strategies of silence in the face of sexual violence might lead to novel approaches for pursuing justice for survivors outside of positivist legal frameworks. We also draw on critical feminist perspectives directing legal scholars to pay careful attention to non-legal discourses in developing analyses and responses to sexual violence. The manuscript develops its central arguments through an examination of two dramatically different cases: (a) Title IX as a mechanism for responding to sexual violence on college campuses in the United States; and (b) the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s efforts to pursue transitional justice vis-à-vis gender and sexual violence in post-apartheid South Africa.
Cross‐border travel for business, personal and tourism purposes is an important component of trade in services. In 2013, travel accounted for 25% of services export in the world. Trade in services accounted for 12% of GDP in the world. Hence, the role of travel in many economies is substantial. The current paper studies the determinants of cross‐border flows of people with a particular emphasis on the role of visa policies. We adopt the UN General Assembly Affinity Index, a measure of the quality of bilateral relations between nations, to instrument for bilateral visa policy. We find that, ceteris paribus, imposing visa restrictions on a country reduces travel from that country by about 73% in 2010 implying restrictive visa policies discourage cross‐border travel significantly. This implies an adverse impact of restrictive visa policies on trade‐in‐services.
This research explores audio time-lapse as a creative musical tool within site-specific interdisciplinary performance, pursued through the creation of sound score for two major multi-media dance theatre collaborations: Summer, Winter, Spring (SWS) and Listening Creates an Opening (LCO). It was disseminated through multiple performances, installations and public presentations.
Ficarra explores audio time-lapse, both as a thing in itself (how best to do it) and as a tool for creating new types of sound score engagements in interdisciplinary contexts. Her focus is on reanimating field recordings, creating processes which mimic visual methods of time lapse photography. A single still photo frame contains a mass of information, but sound takes time to speak – how big a window is required for the ear to make sense of what it hears? What method of reanimation gives a sense of the identity of the sound despite radical compression of time? At what stage do we let go of ‘reference’ and accept sound as an abstract and musical construct?
For these two projects, sound was recorded multiple, site-specific urban locations in San Francisco and Troy, New York, and later manipulated using a software “time-lapse engine” developed by Ficarra in Max MSP. Previous work (e.g. Andrew Spitz’s ‘phonolapse’ object) explores live capture of time-lapse audio. By contrast Ficarra’s work uses audio time-lapse as an aesthetic resource for manipulating pre-recorded sound in live interdisciplinary contexts. Experimenting with different sonic windows (from 40 ms to 1 second) reanimated in a continuous stream, Ficarra created fluttering soundtracks that sketch urban and human activity, and co-exist with other musical elements, live video and performance. In LCO, Ficarra further developed this aesthetic by applying the ‘time-lapse engine’ to recordings of musicians featured in the live score, offering a technological re-think of classical notions of stretto.
This paper analyses the changing nature of renewable policies within the EU and the processes of policy learning that have contributed to those changes. While one part of this story is well-known - the transfer of policy ideas associated with the take-up of renewable support mechanisms, particularly the diffusion of the "Feed-In Tariff" - the subsequent retrenchment of renewable policies is less well understood. The paper considers whether the reduction, and some cases the reversal, of support which has taken place in a number of member states over the last decade can also be seen as an example of policy learning. In this case the process comprises both a domestic component (reactions to the unanticipated consequences of earlier policy choices) and an international component (policy-makers borrowing measures adopted by "early retrenchers" with the EU as a forum or even a catalyst for redefining policies). The paper assesses the analytical value of a policy learning approach compared with other explanations for such policy changes, particularly those which draw upon more conventional political drivers such as political parties, interest groups and institutional conditions.
Drug self-administration models of addiction typically require animals to make the same response (e.g., a lever-press or nose-poke) over and over to procure and take drugs. By their design, such procedures often produce behavior controlled by stimulus-response (S-R) habits. This has supported the notion of addiction as a “drug habit”, and has led to considerable advances in our understanding of the neurobiological basis of such behavior. However, for addicts to procure drugs, like cocaine, often requires considerable ingenuity and flexibility in seeking behavior, which, by definition, precludes the development of habits. To better model drug-seeking behavior in addicts we first developed a novel cocaine self-administration procedure (the Puzzle Self-Administration Procedure; PSAP) that required rats to solve a new puzzle every day to gain access to cocaine, which they then self-administered on an Intermittent Access (IntA) schedule. Such daily problem-solving precluded the development of S-R seeking habits. We then asked whether prolonged PSAP/IntA experience would nevertheless produce ‘symptoms of addiction’. It did, including escalation of intake, sensitized motivation for drug, continued drug use in the face of adverse consequences and very robust cue-induced reinstatement of drug-seeking, especially in a subset of ‘addiction-prone’ rats. Furthermore, drug-seeking behavior continued to require dopamine neurotransmission in the core of the nucleus accumbens (but not the dorsolateral striatum). We conclude that the development of S-R seeking habits is not necessary for the development of cocaine addiction-like behavior in rats.
In this paper we present a case study on drinking gesture recognition from a dataset annotated by Experience Sampling (ES). The dataset contains 8825 "sensor events" and users reported 1808 "drink events" through experience sampling. We first show that the annotations obtained through ES do not reflect accurately true drinking events. We present then how we maximise the value of this dataset through two approaches aiming at improving the quality of the annotations post-hoc. First, we use template-matching (Warping Longest Common Subsequence) to spot a subset of events which are highly likely to be drinking gestures. We then propose an unsupervised approach which can perform drinking gesture recognition by combining K-Means clustering with WLCSS. Experimental results verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.
What can feminism, queer theory and media studies bring to our understanding of cinema and television's older leading ladies? Addressing the groundswell of scholarly interest in age and its representation, Ageing Femininity analyses contemporary screen depictions of older women that have attempted to challenge the history of negative stereotypes such as the grotesque hag or the dotty old dear. Studying recent examples of age-affirmation film and television, this important book considers how issues of cinematic genre (ranging from heritage cinema to the action movie), narrative, aesthetics and strategies of performance, such as age camp and age drag, can promote a sensibility of "successful ageing" on the screen.
The United Kingdom’s Smart Meter Implementation Programme (SMIP) creates the legal framework so that an in-home display unit and a smart gas and electricity meter can be installed in every household by the end of 2020. Intended to reduce household energy consumption, the SMIP is one of the world’s most complex smart meter rollouts. It is also proving to be a challenging one as a series of obstacles has characterised and potentially restricted implementation. This chapter first gives background to the most recent smart meter roll out developments in the UK and second, uses an energy justice framework to explore the emergent challenges under the titles of distributional justice, procedural justice and justice as recognition. Applying this framework to an analysis of the UK SMIP provides opportunities to accurately record, present and expose potential forthcoming injustices. In light of this, we offer a series of policy recommendations.
Using Shapefinders, which are ratios of Minkowski functionals, we study the morphology of neutral hydrogen (H I) density fields, simulated using seminumerical technique (inside-out), at various stages of reionization. Accompanying the Shapefinders, we also employ the ‘largest cluster statistic’ (LCS), originally proposed in Klypin & Shandarin, to study the percolation in both neutral and ionized hydrogen. We find that the largest ionized region is percolating below the neutral fraction xHI≲0.728 (or equivalently z ≲ 9). The study of Shapefinders reveals that the largest ionized region starts to become highly filamentary with non-trivial topology near the percolation transition. During the percolation transition, the first two Shapefinders – ‘thickness’ (T) and ‘breadth’ (B) – of the largest ionized region do not vary much, while the third Shapefinder – ‘length’ (L) – abruptly increases. Consequently, the largest ionized region tends to be highly filamentary and topologically quite complex. The product of the first two Shapefinders, T × B, provides a measure of the ‘cross-section’ of a filament-like ionized region. We find that, near percolation, the value of T × B for the largest ionized region remains stable at ∼7 Mpc2 (in comoving scale) while its length increases with time. Interestingly, all large ionized regions have similar cross-sections. However, their length shows a power-law dependence on their volume, L ∝ V0.72, at the onset of percolation.
Brunei Darussalam’s renewed efforts at wet rice cultivation is partly a response to the 2007/2008 global food crisis, and mark its attempt at both economic diversification and food security. This study, aims to assess the effectiveness of the Wasan Scheme in contributing to the economic diversification and food security goals of the government of Brunei. Research was conducted at the Wasan Scheme located at the Mulaut Plain and compared two groups of farmers in the Wasan Scheme namely (a) retired army personnel and (b) local community and how these groups contribute to enhance the productivity of the wet rice agriculture projects. The study employed a mixed-methods approach. Using a sample of 52 farmers, as well as officials of the Department of Agriculture and Agrifood, the study generated quantitative and qualitative data which will be useful for the planning of future wet rice growing programmes. For the qualitative analysis, semi-structured interviews, observation and archival methods were carried out to gather data from rice farmers in the period between May 2010 and January 2011. For the quantitative phase, survey questionnaires of rice farmers and secondary data sources from various government policy documents were utilised. The results showed that farm size, number of workers, variable cost and years of experience affect the productivity of farmers. The study also finds that the problems, which work against the government’s goal of diversification through agriculture, are poor irrigation and drainage system; inadequate knowledge and skills of farm management; lack of knowledge of diseases and pests control; and, the government’s late payments for agricultural products/yield. Furthermore, problems in policy or the political economy of the state also point to Brunei’s rentier state that hinders economic diversification and food security. Far-reaching implications of my findings will, therefore, be addressed too.
Phosphorus donor impurities in silicon are a promising candidate for solid-state quantum computing due to their exceptionally long coherence times and high fidelities. However, individual addressability of exchange coupled donors with separations ~15 nm is challenging. We show that by using atomic precision lithography, we can place a single P donor next to a 2P molecule 16 ± 1 nm apart and use their distinctive hyperfine coupling strengths to address qubits at vastly different resonance frequencies. In particular, the single donor yields two hyperfine peaks separated by 97 ± 2.5 MHz, in contrast to the donor molecule that exhibits three peaks separated by 262 ± 10 MHz. Atomistic tight-binding simulations confirm the large hyperfine interaction strength in the 2P molecule with an interdonor separation of ~0.7 nm, consistent with lithographic scanning tunneling microscopy images of the 2P site during device fabrication. We discuss the viability of using donor molecules for built-in addressability of electron spin qubits in silicon.
MicroRNA (miRNA)-124 is expressed in neurons, where it represses genes inhibitory for neuronal differentiation, including the RNA binding protein PTBP1. PTBP1 maintains nonneuronal splicing patterns of mRNAs that switch to neuronal isoforms upon neuronal differentiation. We find that primary (pri)-miR-124-1 is expressed in mouse embryonic stem cells where mature miR-124 is absent. PTBP1 binds to this precursor RNA upstream of the miRNA stem–loop to inhibit mature miR-124 expression in vivo and DROSHA cleavage of pri-miR-124-1 in vitro. This function for PTBP1 in repressing miR-124 biogenesis defines an additional regulatory loop in the already intricate interplay between these two molecules. Applying mathematical modeling to examine the dynamics of this regulation, we find that the pool of pri-miR-124 whose maturation is blocked by PTBP1 creates a robust and self-reinforcing transition in gene expression as PTBP1 is depleted during early neuronal differentiation. While interlocking regulatory loops are often found between miRNAs and transcriptional regulators, our results indicate that miRNA targeting of posttranscriptional regulators also reinforces developmental decisions. Notably, induction of neuronal differentiation observed upon PTBP1 knockdown likely results from direct derepression of miR-124, in addition to indirect effects previously described.
Rapid antibody production in response to invading pathogens requires the dramatic expansion of pathogen-derived antigen-specific B-lymphocyte populations. Whether B-cell population dynamics are based on stochastic competition between competing cell fates, as in the development of competence by the bacterium Bacillus subtilis, or on deterministic cell fate decisions that execute a predictable program, as during the development of the worm Caenorhabditis elegans, remains unclear. Here, we developed long term live-cell microscopy of B-cell population expansion and multi-scale mechanistic computational modeling in order to characterize the role of molecular noise in determining phenotype heterogeneity. We show that the cell lineage trees underlying B-cell population dynamics are mediated by a largely predictable decision-making process where the heterogeneity of cell fates at any given timepoint largely derives from non-genetic heterogeneity in the founder cells. This means that contrary to previous models only a minority of genetically identical founder cells contribute the majority to the population response. We computationally predict and experimentally confirm non- genetic molecular determinants that are predictive of founder cells’ proliferative capacity. While founder cell heterogeneity may arise from different exposure histories, we show that it may also be due to the gradual accumulation of small amounts of intrinsic noise during the lineage differentiation process of hematopoietic stem cells to mature B cells. Our finding of the largely deterministic nature of B-lymphocyte responses may provide opportunities for diagnostic and therapeutic development.
Phenotypic differences often occur even in clonal cell popu- lations. Many potential sources of such variation have been identified, from biophysical rate variance intrinsic to all chem- ical processes to asymmetric division of molecular compo- nents extrinsic to any particular signaling pathway. Identifying the sources of phenotypic variation and quantifying their con- tributions to cell fate variation is not possible without accurate single cell data. By combining such data with mathematical models of potential noise sources it is possible to characterize the impact of varying levels of each noise source and identify which sources of variation best explain the experimental ob- servations. The mathematical framework of information theory provides metrics of the impact of noise on the reliability of a cell to sense its environment. While the presence of noise in a single cellular system reduces the reliability of signal trans- duction its impact on a population of varied single cells remains unclear.
After the financial crisis of 2008 youth unemployment soared across Europe, leaving a generation of highly qualified young people frustrated in their search for secure, meaningful work.
With contributions from over 90 authors and more than 60 individual contributions this collection summarises the findings of a large-scale EU funding project on Strategic Transitions for Youth Labour in Europe (STYLE).
Including the often overlooked and unheard voices of young people themselves, this eclectic range of contributions discuss the distinctive characteristics of the current phase of youth employment.
It provides a comprehensive analysis of the causes of European youth unemployment and assesses the effectiveness of labour market policies across the region.
This research aimed to understand the experiences of refugee background students (RBS) in secondary schools and colleges in order to support their progression to Higher Education. The research focused on the refugee students’ experiences of arriving in, and moving through, the education system. Additionally, the research looked at the aspirations of young refugees, how these are being met and their perceptions of the difficulties and challenges they face in moving through the education system.
The project worked in partnership with The Hummingbird Project, a charity supporting young refugees and unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in Brighton, and Sanctuary on Sea, part of the national network, City of Sanctuary, whose objective is to make cities more welcoming for refugees and migrants. The project also worked in collaboration with an Advisory Group of partners from schools, colleges, the University of Brighton and the University of Sussex, Brighton and Hove City Council and representatives of refugee communities (See Annex 1). The group met three times over the course of the project. Alongside general oversight of the research, the group contributed their invaluable professional and practice-based perspectives, these have helped to shape the findings presented here.
Two peer researchers with refugee backgrounds were recruited to help with data collection. They were trained in a two-day workshop on research methods at the University of Sussex led by the principal investigator. Peer researchers also contributed to the Advisory Group with their own experiences of education in the UK.
Purpose
With 45% of people now spending over an hour commuting to their jobs, and 70% of people reporting that flexible working options make a job more attractive (powwownow.co.uk, 2017), ‘agile working’ holds significant appeal for today’s workforce (Jeyasingham, 2014). However, there is a dearth of guidance available for organisations that want to facilitate flexible working arrangements. Research into the knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviours (KSABs) of competent agile workers is absent, meaning that organisations are unable to manage their emerging needs. In this paper, we present an e-competency framework to address these issues. This framework clusters agile worker KSABs into three key themes. These themes represent the psychological needs outlined in Ryan and Deci’s (2008) self-determination theory (SDT), and suggest that if agile workers are able to satisfy competencies related to autonomy, relatedness and competence, they will be able to flourish in their roles. We aim to utilise state-of-the-art theory (SDT) to support the e-competency framework, providing practical insights and guidance to both organisations and agile workers interested in optimising the burgeoning trend of flexible working, to realise performance and well-being benefits for a modern workforce.
Design/Methodology
Thirty-four semi-structured interviews were conducted with agile workers in a range of job roles, within a large international private sector company. Agile workers were defined according to whether they: (i) were able to work from home, as well as in the office, on more than one occasion per week; (ii) were primarily involved in knowledge work; (iii) used technology to remain connected to work. Data were analysed thematically by two researchers, and a framework analysis applied to extract the key KSABs associated with e-competence and associated personal wellbeing.
Results
Having coded the interview transcripts, using a two-stage process of decoding and then encoding (Saldana, 2015) agile working KSABs, 20 competencies emerged. These competencies were categorised into 3 broad themes representing the SDT needs for autonomy (7 competencies), relatedness (6 competencies) and competence (7 competencies).
Limitations
Interview data was obtained from a single organisation, meaning that the emerging e-competency framework will need to be cross-referenced in other domains to ensure generalisability.
Practical Implications
The preliminary e-competency framework highlights differences in the KSABs required for healthy and productive agile workers, based on self-determination theory. The framework has strong potential to: (i) inform and develop self-regulatory practices; and (ii) help organisations provide effective guidance and support in managing the well-being of agile workers. In our next tranche of research the e-competence of agile workers will be appraised according to our framework, and this will then be related to daily occupational health markers (engagement, well-being, absenteeism, productivity) in an experience sampling study.
Originality
This study is the first to: (i) investigate and propose a comprehensive set of competencies to facilitate effective agile working; and (ii) link e-competencies to a motivational theory of psychological needs. It is intended that this framework can be used as a guide to support the health and well-being of those transitioning to this nascent work-form.
References:
Deci E. L. and Ryan, R. M. (2008) Self-determination theory: A macrotheory of human motivation, development, and health. Canadian Psychology. Vol. 49, No.3, 182-185.
Jeyasingham, D. (2014) Open spaces, supple bodies? Considering the impact of
agile working on social work office practices. Child and Family Social Work. Vol. 21, 209-217.
Saldaña, J. (2015). The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers. London: Sage.
Noting the increasingly unfavourable economic and operational position of nuclear power around the world, this paper reviews evidence for a hitherto neglected connection between international commitments to civil and military nuclear infrastructures. Reviewing well established understandings of interlinkages associated with fissile materials and other nuclear weapons related substances, the paper surveys a distinct – and currently potentially more important – kind of interdependency that has up to now received virtually no policy attention. This relates to the national industrial supply chains necessary for the manufacture and operation of nuclear propelled submarines, that are deemed central to strategic military doctrine in a few states – and to burgeoning ambitions in a number of others. One of the most striking features of these interdependencies, is that evidence is so strong in strategic military literatures, but that the issue is typically so neglected in energy policy analysis. So the repercussions extend beyond specific domains of civil and military nuclear policy making in themselves – significant as these may be. Across a range of countries, arguably the most important implications arise for the rigour and transparency of mainstream academic and energy policy analysis and the quality and accountability of wider democratic processes – that are failing to give due attention to the evident force of these connections. With civil nuclear power now increasingly recognised to be growing obsolescent as a low carbon energy source, but key military capabilities evidently depending so strongly on its maintenance, a potentially important new window of opportunity may be opening up for robust measures to reduce global military nuclear threats.
Food waste is a prevalent issue, posing a significant societal, economic, nutritional and environmental challenge. Increasing demand for food, growing population and high rates of food waste across the food system calls for innovative sustainable solutions. Researchers have emphasised on the role of circular economy in reducing food waste and contributing to sustainable food systems. However, there is a lack of evidence on the role of circular economy in reducing food waste. The aim of this research is to fill this gap and explore how the circular economy approach can minimise the problem of food waste in the case study of the UK. This research focused on the end of the food supply chain, retail and final consumption. It explored six case studies including two social initiatives and four businesses. The diverse cases provided a better understanding of wider issues in implementing a circular economy to reduce food waste as well as the role of different actors in reducing food waste. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews (founders, employee, and experts), and secondary materials (company reports and website materials). Thematic analysis, using coding and themes identification, guided the analysis of the interviews and secondary materials. Among the six case studies, four cases have adopted circular economy practices, such as circular supplies and resource recovery. Facilitating factors for adopting the circular economy included close partnerships and collaborations between all actors. Two of the main barriers to implementing the circular economy approach identified from the cases were regulations and consumer’s attitudes. Findings showed that the circular economy could play an important role in minimising food waste. This requires collaboration, change and transformation from multiple stakeholders, such as government revising their policies, social initiatives educating and involving communities, SMEs and start-ups playing a key role in adopting CE practices in their business, and retailers adopting strategies to reducing edible food waste.
Carillion’s collapse has brought with it wider scrutiny of the way that UK public services are contracted out to businesses – particularly through the use of Private Finance Initiative (PFI) schemes. The UK’s second largest construction business had a network of these contracts, worth billions of pounds, providing essential public services across government departments. The NHS, defence, education, energy, and prisons have all been left exposed by its collapse.
While the winter crisis tightens its grip on the NHS, two urgently needed hospitals – the Midland Metropolitan and the Royal Liverpool – that were supposed to be constructed by Carillion under PFI arrangements, now await state rescue. In addition, the fire service must now stand by to deliver the school meals Carillion was contracted to provide.
But the company’s collapse is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the failure of PFI to give the public good value for money.
This paper presents numerical investigation into the phenomena of so-called Rayleigh-Bénard streaks inside rotating-cavities. Experimental data from the University of Sussex Multiple Cavity Rig (MCR) has been used as boundary conditions for Unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) calculation using the k-ω SST turbulence model on a three cavity model of the MCR. A four-point validation is presented using comparison to experimental and historical data sets and shows encouraging agreement.
The Rayleigh-Bénard streaks develop along the periphery of the rotating cavity (shroud) and are only associated with flow involved in cyclonic circulation due to the circumferential pressure gradient. These streaks modify the local Nusselt number by as much as 40% above the surface average and, given the contribution of the shroud to the total heat transfer, upwards of 60%, may be a significant factor in further work concerning rotating cavities in aero-engines. However experimental confirmation is required to ratify the existence of the structures.
DNA end resection plays a critical function in DNA double-strand break repair pathway choice. Resected DNA ends are refractory to end-joining mechanisms and are instead channeled to homology-directed repair. Using biochemical, genetic, and imaging methods, we show that phosphorylation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Sae2 controls its capacity to promote the Mre11-Rad50-Xrs2 (MRX) nuclease to initiate resection of blocked DNA ends by at least two distinct mechanisms. First, DNA damage and cell cycle-dependent phosphorylation leads to Sae2 tetramerization. Second, and independently, phosphorylation of the conserved C-terminal domain of Sae2 is a prerequisite for its physical interaction with Rad50, which is also crucial to promote the MRX endonuclease. The lack of this interaction explains the phenotype of rad50S mutants defective in the processing of Spo11-bound DNA ends during meiotic recombination. Our results define how phosphorylation controls the initiation of DNA end resection and therefore the choice between the key DNA double-strand break repair mechanisms.
This special issue is focusing on Emerging and Developing Economies (EDE). Our papers have been written in the context of the second “wave of liquidity” in the post‐GFC global economy, that is, a period of massive expansion in corporate debt. We present new evidence on debt dynamics in EDE with regard to a number of key areas, such as debt maturities, currency mismatches, and LCBM. We assess what this new evidence tells us about the way in which EDE are integrated and exposed to current global debt dynamics. We also examine how these dynamics speak to broader key themes in the debt literature, such as the impact of debt on economic growth and development.
OBJECTIVE
Measurement of changing glomerular filtration rate in acute kidney injury remains problematic. We have previously used a continuous infusion of low-dose Iohexol to measure glomerular filtration rate in stable subjects and postulate that changes greater than 10.3% in critically ill patients indicate acute kidney injury. Our objective is to explore the extent to which continuous infusion of low-dose Iohexol can be a measure of changing glomerular filtration rate during acute kidney injury.
DESIGN
Clinical observational exploratory study.
SETTING
Adult ICU.
PATIENTS
Three patient groups were recruited: nephrectomy group: predictable onset of acute kidney injury and outcome (n = 10); surgery group: predictable onset of acute kidney injury, unpredictable outcome (n = 11); and acute kidney injury group: unpredictable onset of acute kidney injury and outcome (n = 13).
INTERVENTIONS
Continuous infusion of low-dose Iohexol was administered for 24-80 hours. Plasma (ClP) and renal (ClR) Iohexol clearances were measured at timed intervals.
MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS
Kidney Disease: Improved Global Outcomes acute kidney injury criteria were fulfilled in 22 patients (nephrectomy = 5, surgery = 4, and acute kidney injury = 13); continuous infusion of low-dose Iohexol demonstrated acute kidney injury in 29 patients (nephrectomy = 10, surgery = 8, acute kidney injury = 11). Dynamic changes in glomerular filtration rate were tracked in all patients. In the nephrectomy group, ClR decreased by an expected 50% (50.8% ± 11.0%). Agreement between ClP and ClR improved with increasing duration of infusion: bias of ClP versus ClR at 48 hours was -0.1 ± 3.6 mL/min/1.73 m (limits of agreement: -7.2 to 7.1 mL/min/1.73 m). Coefficient of variation of laboratory sample analysis was 2.4%.
CONCLUSIONS
Continuous infusion of low-dose Iohexol is accurate and precise when measuring glomerular filtration rate and tracks changes in patients with differing risks of acute kidney injury. Continuous infusion of low-dose Iohexol may provide a useful standard against which to test novel biomarkers for the diagnosis of acute kidney injury.
Introduction
We evaluated intensive care medicine trainees' practice of emergency intubations in the United Kingdom.
Methods
Retrospective analysis of 881 in-hospital emergency intubations over a three-year period using an online trainee logbook.
Results
Emergency intubations out-of-hours were less frequent than in-hours, both on weekdays and weekends. Complications occurred in 9% of cases, with no association with time of day/day of week (p = 0.860). Complications were associated with higher Cormack and Lehane grades (p=0.004) and number of intubation attempts (p < 0.001), but not American Society of Anesthesiologist grade. Capnography usage was ≥99% in all locations except in wards (85%; p = 0.001). Ward patients were the oldest (p < 0.001), had higher American Society of Anesthesiologist grades (p < 0.001) and lowest Glasgow Coma Scale (p < 0.001).
Conclusions
Complications of intubations are associated with higher Cormack and Lehane grades and number of attempts, but not time of day/day of week. The uptake of capnography is reassuring, although there is scope for improvement on the ward.
The age profile of populations fundamentally affects their conservation status. Yet, age is frequently difficult to assess in wild animals. Here, we assessed the use of DNA methylation of homologous genes to establish the age structure of a rare and elusive wild mammal: the Bechstein's bat (Myotis bechsteinii). We collected 62 wing punches from individuals whose ages were known as a result of a long‐term banding study. DNA methylation was measured at seven CpG sites from three genes, which have previously shown age‐associated changes in humans and laboratory mice. All CpG sites from the tested genes showed a significant relationship between DNA methylation and age, both individually and in combination (multiple linear regression R2 = 0.58, p < 0.001). Despite slight approximation around estimates, the approach is sufficiently precise to place animals into practically useful age cohorts. This method is of considerable practical benefit as it can reliably age individual bats. It is also much faster than traditional capture–mark–recapture techniques, with the potential to collect information on the age structure of an entire colony from a single sampling session to better inform conservation actions for Bechstein's bats. By identifying three genes where DNA methylation correlates with age across distantly related species, this study also suggests that the technique can potentially be applied across a wide range of mammals.
The Bechstein’s bat (Myotis bechsteinii) is a rare sedentary bat considered to be highly reliant on the presence of ancient woodland. Understanding the genetic connectivity and population structure of such elusive mammals is important for assessing their conservation status. In this study, we report the genetic diversity and structure of M. bechsteinii across Britain and Europe. Assessments were made using 14 microsatellite markers and a 747 bp region of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. Nuclear DNA (microsatellites) showed high levels of genetic diversity and little inbreeding across the species range, though genetic diversity was slightly lower in Britain than in mainland Europe. Bayesian and spatial PCA analysis showed a clear separation between the British and European sites. Within Europe, the Italian population south of the Alps was isolated from the other sites. In Britain, there was genetic structuring between the northern and southern part of the geographical range. Despite there being little genetic divergence in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences throughout most of Europe, the mtDNA patterns in Britain confirmed this separation of northern and southern populations. Such genetic structuring within Britain—in the absence of any obvious physical barriers—suggests that other factors such as land-use may limit gene-flow.
This essay explores the ways that Rhys and Kincaid mine the slippage in meanings and registers of “mad” and “madness” in their texts. Rather than reading Jean Rhys as primarily the chronicler of alienation and “terrified (white-Creole) consciousness,” I read across her autobiographical and fictional works to argue that “mad” is deployed in an energizing and critically reflective manner that suggests a more varied and nuanced attunement to the cultural and affective legacies of colonialism. Jamaica Kincaid, for her part, is frequently described as a writer propelled by fury, whose signature affect might without controversy be designated as “anger.” I argue that this emphasis on “anger” elides the other more profoundly unsettling resonances of “mad” that inform Kincaid’s oeuvre, as part of her wider project of questioning established repertoires of feeling (including “anger” and “rage”). The persistence with which autobiographical elements feature in both writers’ works attests less to a desire for “self-expression” than to a painstaking commitment to writing as a space for exploring the very possibility of selfhood. Drawing on selected works by Frantz Fanon and Judith Butler, I navigate across their respective arguments about colonial patriarchal hegemonies as a violent “disintegration” or “undoing” of the gendered, colonized “self” and consider the political and cultural implications of their insights for a reading of Rhys’s and Kincaid’s texts. Focusing on Rhys’s Smile Please: An Unfinished Autobiography (1979), “The Day They Burned the Books” (1968) and Wide Sargasso Sea (1966) alongside Kincaid’s My Brother (1998) and See Now Then (2013) as well as selected interviews, I suggest that reading these two writers in tandem allows us to nuance the meanings that have accrued to “mad” and “madness” in Caribbean literary studies. It also allows questions of authorship, authority, autobiography and gender to more fully inform prevailing understandings of “madness” in Caribbean literary culture.
Measuring affective well-being in organizational studies has become increasingly widespread, given its association with key work-performance and other markers of organizational functioning. As such, researchers and policy-makers need to be confident that well-being measures are valid, reliable and robust. To reduce the burden on participants in applied settings, short-form measures of affective well-being are proving popular. However, these scales are seldom validated as standalone, comprehensive measures in their own right. In this article, we used a short-form measure of affective well-being with 10 items: the Daniels five-factor measure of affective well-being (D-FAW). In Study 1, across six applied sample groups (N = 2624), we found that the factor structure of the short-form D-FAW is robust when issued as a standalone measure, and that it should be scored differently depending on the participant instruction used. When participant instructions focus on now or today, then affect is best represented by five discrete emotion factors. When participant instructions focus on the past week, then affect is best represented by two or three mood-based factors. In Study 2 (N = 39), we found good construct convergent validity of short-form D-FAW with another widely used scale (PANAS). Implications for the measurement and structure of affect are discussed.
This special issue addresses vital epistemological, methodological, ethical and political issues at the intersections of queer theory and anthropology as they speak to the study of sexual and gender diversity in the contemporary world. The special issue centres on explorations of anthropology’s queer sensibilities, that is, experimental thinking in ethnographically informed investigations of gender and sexual difference, and related connections, disjunctures and tensions in their situated and abstract dimensions. The articles consider the possibilities and challenges of anthropology’s queer sensibilities that anthropologise queer theory whilst queering anthropology in ethnographically informed analyses. Contributors focus on anthropologising queer theory in research on same-sex desire in the Congo; LGBT migrant and asylum experience in the UK and France; same-sex intimacies within opposite gender oriented sexualities in Kenya and Ghana; secret and ambiguous intimacies and sensibilities beyond an identifiable ‘queer subject’ of rights and recognition in India; migrant imaginings of home in Indonesian lesbian relationships in Hong Kong; and cross-generational perspectives on ‘coming out’ in Taiwan and their implications for theories of kinship and relatedness. An extensive interview with Esther Newton, the prominent figure in gay and lesbian and queer anthropology concludes the collection.
Mapping the brain structure and function is one of the hardest problems in science. Different image modalities, in particular the ones based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can shed more light on how it is organised and how its functions unfold, but a theoretical framework is needed. In the last years, using network models and graph theory to represent the brain structure and function has become a major trend in neuroscience. In this review, we outline how network modelling has been used in neuroimaging, clarifying what are the underlying mathematical concepts and the consequent methodological choices. The major findings are then presented for structural, functional and multimodal applications. We conclude outlining what are still the current issues and the perspective for the immediate future.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurological disorder characterized by several cognitive and non-cognitive symptoms, with episodic memory being the earliest and most prominently impaired cognitive function. Dopaminergic signals are required for encoding hippocampal memory for new events and the ventral tegmental area (VTA), together with the locus coeruleus, are the primary sources of dopamine acting on dopaminergic receptors in the hippocampus. With this in mind, a recent study on a validated mouse model of AD highlighted on the hippocampal dysfunction and its correlation with an early degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the VTA. In this issue, De Marco and Venneri test the hypothesis that the volume of the VTA nucleus in humans might be associated with cognitive features of AD.
The role of the cerebellum in cognitive function has been broadly investigated in the last decades from an anatomical, clinical, and functional point of view and new evidence points toward a significant contribution of the posterior lobes of the cerebellum in cognition in Alzheimer's disease (AD). In the present work we used SUIT-VBM (spatially unbiased infratentorial template, voxel-based morphometry) to perform an analysis of the pattern of cerebellar gray matter (GM) atrophy in amnestic mild cognitive impairment (a-MCI) and AD dementia patients compared to healthy subjects (HS), in order to follow the changes of non-motor features of cerebellar degeneration throughout disease progression. This template has been validated to guarantee a significant improvement in voxel-to-voxel alignment of the individual fissures and the deep cerebellar nuclei compared to Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) whole-brain template. Our analysis shows a progression of cerebellar GM volume changes throughout a continuous spectrum from early to late clinical stages of AD. In particular vermis and paravermian areas of the anterior (I-V) and posterior (VI) lobes are involved since the a-MCI stage, with a later involvement of the hemispheric part of the posterior lobes (VI lobule) and Crus I in AD dementia patients only. These findings support the role of the cerebellum in higher-level functions, and whilst confirming previous data on the involvement of Crus I in AD dementia, provide new evidence of an involvement of the vermis in the early stages of the disease.
When young people need health information they are increasingly likely to use online sources and health apps (applications). Yet, these are not necessarily well-designed, reliable or appropriate, and research has primarily focused on adult use. Our study is the first to use qualitative mixed methods (focus groups and interviews) to apply the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to understand 26 young people’s uptake and use of a new, clinically-approved health app (application) for 16–25 year olds. We found that perceived usefulness, perceived ease-of-use, social influences and trust, all differently impacted children and young people health-app acceptance and effectiveness. Implications for future research and young-person health-app development are discussed.
The entrepreneurship ecosystem concept has been examined by various scholars resulting in different definitions and the development of various frameworks. High-tech entrepreneurial ecosystems are special types that are closely linked to innovative, high growth firms. We argue that the logic of interpretation of high-tech entrepreneurial ecosystems is quite different from that of national entrepreneurial ecosystems. The latter are guided by national policies and follow mainly a top down approach. This paper posits that the emergence and development of high-tech entrepreneurial ecosystems follow mainly a bottom up approach. For this reason, we have used a complex adaptive systems framework to interpret high-tech entrepreneurial ecosystems. In addition, we have also examined the network effects in these ecosystems. Reflecting on these effects, we have highlighted the additional roles of agents such as universities and local governments in contributing to the success of high-tech ecosystems. Finally, we have developed propositions that could be transformed into testable hypothesis and suggested further research.
University spin-offs with patents (USOPs) are entrepreneurial ventures created by exploiting research results and inventions. USOPs are characterized with a high growth potential and are capable of attracting external investments. To explore the challenges apparent in the creation of USOPs, we reviewed the existing framework to identify key missing elements. Our study proposes a new framework that incorporates Key elements that enhance the creation of USOPs. The new framework focused on the interactions of elements such as national intellectual property regimes, national university assessments, the local entrepreneurship ecosystems where the universities are located, the entrepreneurial orientations and strategies of universities, and stakeholders as independent variables with USOPs as the dependent variable. There is therefore a need for a critical reflection on national and university policies and strategies to enhance the creation of USOPs.
How physical dimensions govern children’s perception, language acquisition and cognition is an important question in developmental science. Here we use the psychophysical technique of Maximum Likelihood Conjoint Measurement (MLCM) as a novel approach to investigate how infants combine information distributed along two or more dimensions. MLCM is based on a signal detection model of decision that allows testing of several models of how observers integrate information to make choices. We tested 6-month-old infants’ preferential looking to “green” stimuli that covaried in lightness and chroma and analysed infant preferences using MLCM. The findings show that infant looking is driven primarily by lightness, with darker stimuli having a greater preference than lighter, plus a small but significant positive contribution of chroma. This study demonstrates that the technique of MLCM can be used in conjunction with preferential looking to investigate the salience of physical dimensions during development. The technique could now be applied to investigate the role of physical dimensions in key aspects of perceptual and cognitive development such as face recognition, language acquisition and object recognition.
In this paper, we draw on a recent ethnographic study in a rural primary school to illustrate the ways that vestiges of colonialism remain deeply imbricated in contemporary schooling in Ghana. In reference to the history of education, we use evidence from this study to argue that colonial constructions of the African child are reproduced within schooling. We highlight the significance of schooling for the production of learner subjectivities and point to the ways that the institution of schooling and its everyday life continue to echo and re-instantiate colonial constructions of the African child. Drawing on the voices and experiences of students and teachers we illustrate the ways that formal schooling continues to work to devalue indigenous knowledge, to regulate and discipline African children and produce their inferiorisation through their education. We specifically highlight the gender inflections in the institutional routines of schooling. Following a brief introduction to the historical context of education in Ghana, we outline the research study and then the theoretical position upon which our analysis is based. We develop the analysis along three major discursive themes starting with the formal institutional structures of the school, highlighting the ways its disciplinary boundaries structure age and gender relations. We then turn to the curriculum and pedagogic practices that shape student understandings of what constitutes legitimate knowledge and the processes of learning. In the final theme, we examine the language of instruction and the ways that this produces exclusions and vilifies indigenous languages and the cultures that are expressed through it. In the conclusion, we draw the key points together to reflect on the extent to which contemporary schooling in Ghana sustains the production of the African child framed in the colonial era. Finally, we suggest that the educational experience of students offers an important starting point for efforts in decolonizing the school and curriculum.
This article discusses the migration processes and brokering practices that link Ethiopia and Sudan by taking into account the social, economic, political and cultural underpinnings of human smuggling in the region. The analysis is based on three months of fieldwork using a conventional qualitative research methodology. Respondents were selected from actors such as smugglers, migrants and government personnel involved in the migration process, facilitation and control activities. Since the 1990s, significant irregular overland labour migration has emerged from Ethiopian towns and villages to Khartoum, Sudan via the border towns of Metema on the Ethiopian side and Galabat on the Sudanese side. However, how various actors engage in shaping this migration process and how human smuggling sustains despite increasing control efforts by the state is less understood. This paper demonstrates that this mobility is facilitated mainly by smugglers who are involved in transnational social relations, material practice and migration knowledge production, including informal money transfer practices, transport and communication infrastructures. This challenges the view reflected in popular discourses that such smuggling is organised by independent criminal organisations. Smugglers and their connectors in Metema facilitate Ethiopian migrants’ clandestine border crossings via the town of Metema by mobilising support and resources from local communities along the border, bribing border guards and capitalising on their ethnic, religious and economic connections along Ethiopian-Sudanese borderlands. The study concludes that human smuggling and brokering migration partly thrives in the border areas since the actors extend benefits of smuggling to the economically disadvantaged local community and in return generate social and community support for smuggling activities.
This chapter focuses on the artworks produced by three contemporary Chinese artists: Zhang Dali, Dai Guangyu and Jin Feng. Their subject matter involves common people, and it engages with three crucial discursive formations: violence, socioeconomic inequality, and utopian dreams. These three artists contribute to creating a 'history from below' whose focus is Chinese ordinary people.
Aims: To expand understandings of how young people with psychosis experience hope. This included to which factors young people attributed changes in their hopefulness and the role played by professionals and others with lived experience.
Method: Ten young people recovering from an experience of psychosis were interviewed using narrative methodology.
Results: The experience of hope as an overarching strand throughout the narratives had three common elements: sense of belonging, which included social inclusion, the importance of information and the significance
of planning and occupation. Professionals played an important role in facilitating small steps forwards.
Conclusions: The findings suggest the importance to young people of a sense of belonging and achieving small goals to facilitate hopeful thinking and, for clinicians, the value of supporting new peer relationships and
meaningful occupation.
In recent years Don DeLillo has increasingly identified himself in interview as Italian American, but his work is rarely read in this light. Focusing on DeLillo’s language, this chapter examines his use of Italian and Italian American in two early short stories and in Underworld ( 1997 ), as well as a broader bilingual sensibility evident in his twenty-first-century fiction. Drawing on linguistic and psychoanalytic theories of bilingualism, it demonstrates the formative nature of DeLillo’s early short stories, and shows how strategies for representation of linguistic and cultural difference used there inform the later work. Close analysis of Italian and Italian American lexis in Underworld then reveals how these ‘foreign’ elements enable ideology-critique and invoke subliminal intertextuality. This analysis shows how DeLillo’s language is the subject as well as the medium of his art and concludes that metalinguistic reflection in Point Omega ( 2010 ), Falling Man ( 2007 ), The Body Artist ( 2001 ) and Zero K ( 2016 ) is ultimately rooted in DeLillo’s Italian American.
Individuals claiming asylum on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity (SOGI) in Europe must prove to the authorities in question that they are ‘credible’ and meet the Refugee Convention criteria. In most cases, they do this by demonstrating that they belong to a Particular Social Group (PSG). However, for some time advocates and researchers have argued that SOGI claimants are treated both unfairly and inconsistently. In this article we use queer and intersectional theories to argue that one explanation for this is how PSG membership has come to be interpreted. Looking at recent experience in two EU countries – Germany and the UK – we argue that this is done in a way that is both prescriptive, in requiring claimants to conform to liminal understandings of sexual and gender identity, but also narrow and one-dimensional, in ignoring other aspects of the claimant’s identity and assuming that SOGI asylum seekers are only sexual or gendered beings.
This handbook offers the first comprehensive, state-of-the-field guide to past weather and climate and their role in human societies. Bringing together dozens of international specialists from the sciences and humanities, this volume describes the methods, sources, and major findings of historical climate reconstruction and impact research. Its chapters take the reader through each key source of past climate and weather information and each technique of analysis; through each historical period and region of the world; through the major topics of climate and history and core case studies; and finally through the history of climate ideas and science. Using clear, non-technical language, The Palgrave Handbook of Climate History serves as a textbook for students, a reference guide for specialists and an introduction to climate history for scholars and interested readers.
RATIONALE: The etiology of sarcoidosis is unknown, but microbial agents are suspected as triggers.
OBJECTIVES: We sought to identify bacterial, fungal, or viral lineages in specimens from patients with sarcoidosis enriched relative to control subjects using metagenomic DNA sequencing. Because DNA from environmental contamination contributes disproportionately to samples with low authentic microbial content, we developed improved methods for filtering environmental contamination.
METHODS: We analyzed specimens from subjects with sarcoidosis (n = 93), control subjects without sarcoidosis (n = 72), and various environmental controls (n = 150). Sarcoidosis specimens consisted of two independent sets of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded lymph node biopsies, BAL, Kveim reagent, and fresh granulomatous spleen from a patient with sarcoidosis. All specimens were analyzed by bacterial 16S and fungal internal transcribed spacer ribosomal RNA gene sequencing. In addition, BAL was analyzed by shotgun sequencing of fractions enriched for viral particles, and Kveim and spleen were subjected to whole-genome shotgun sequencing.
MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: In one tissue set, fungi in the Cladosporiaceae family were enriched in sarcoidosis compared with nonsarcoidosis tissues; in the other tissue set, we detected enrichment of several bacterial lineages in sarcoidosis but not Cladosporiaceae. BAL showed limited enrichment of Aspergillus fungi. Several microbial lineages were detected in Kveim and spleen, including Cladosporium. No microbial lineage was enriched in more than one sample type after correction for multiple comparisons.
CONCLUSIONS: Metagenomic sequencing revealed enrichment of microbes in single types of sarcoidosis samples but limited concordance across sample types. Statistical analysis accounting for environmental contamination was essential to avoiding false positives.
BACKGROUND:
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a progressive disease with an unknown pathogenesis, may be due in part to an abnormal response to injurious stimuli by alveolar epithelial cells. Air pollution and particulate inhalation of matter evoke a wide variety of pulmonary and systemic inflammatory diseases. We therefore hypothesized that increased average ambient particulate matter (PM) concentrations would be associated with an accelerated rate of decline in FVC in IPF.
METHODS:
We identified a cohort of subjects seen at a single university referral center from 2007 to 2013. Average concentrations of particulate matter < 10 and < 2.5 μg/m3 (PM10 and PM2.5, respectively) were assigned to each patient based on geocoded residential addresses. A linear multivariable mixed-effects model determined the association between the rate of decline in FVC and average PM concentration, controlling for baseline FVC at first measurement and other covariates.
RESULTS:
One hundred thirty-five subjects were included in the final analysis after exclusion of subjects missing repeated spirometry measurements and those for whom exposure data were not available. There was a significant association between PM10 levels and the rate of decline in FVC during the study period, with each μg/m3 increase in PM10 corresponding with an additional 46 cc/y decline in FVC (P = .008).
CONCLUSIONS:
Ambient air pollution, as measured by average PM10 concentration, is associated with an increase in the rate of decline of FVC in IPF, suggesting a potential mechanistic role for air pollution in the progression of disease.
L'articolo descrive l'atmosfera della campagna elettorale italiana del 2018, focalizzandosi sulla strumentalizzazione delle migrazioni soprattutto da parte dei partiti Lega e 5Stelle.
The article discusses how the new Italian Immigration Law (2018/2019) represents a peak in the government’s hostility against migrants.
L'articolo analizza l’odissea della nave Aquarius del giugno 2018 alla luce della campagna elettorale permanente della Lega in Italia e dell'avvicinamento di Salvini a posizioni analoghe a quelle del premie ungherese Orbàn.
Environmental law principles, such as the polluter pays, the precautionary principle or the common but differentiated responsibilities, have had a very important function in the shaping and evolution of the young sector of environmental law which has developed over the last fifty years. Yet, their status, content, binding force and functions in law remain largely uncertain. Forming a key part of the Elgar Encyclopedia of Environmental Law, this book examines the facets of environmental principles in international, national and regional law, as applied in different parts of the world and by a variety of courts. It assembles more than fifty contributions from all continents which clarify that, as the environment itself has no voice and cannot express its concerns, there is an overriding importance of scholars' active discussion of environmental principles. The book demonstrates that the necessity to preserve this planet requires a continuous, democratic discussion of values, objectives and concepts which are expressed in the numerous and continuously evolving environmental principles.
It would be easy to stereotype Kaurismäki’s films as drily humorous dramas populated by taciturn underdogs, presented in a predictable style that recycles particular techniques and eschews others. (The former would include: a largely static camera, underplayed performance style, ironic tone, and a soundtrack comprised of early 1960s rock and roll along with Tchaikovsky or Shostakovich.) But this is too simplistic. His output is far from monolithic, and while it evinces important aesthetic and thematic continuities, it also dis-plays a sometimes startling range in both of these dimensions.
Sensory processing can be tuned by a neuron’s integration area, the types of inputs, and the proportion and number of connections with those inputs. Integration areas often vary topographically to sample space differentially across regions. Here, we highlight two visual circuits in which topographic changes in the postsynaptic retinal ganglion cell (RGC) dendritic territories and their presynaptic bipolar cell (BC) axonal territories are either matched or unmatched. Despite this difference, in both circuits, the proportion of inputs from each BC type, i.e., synaptic convergence between specific BCs and RGCs, remained constant across varying dendritic territory sizes. Furthermore, synapse density between BCs and RGCs was invariant across topography. Our results demonstrate a wiring design, likely engaging homotypic axonal tiling of BCs, that ensures consistency in synaptic convergence between specific BC types onto their target RGCs while enabling independent regulation of pre- and postsynaptic territory sizes and synapse number between cell pairs.
It is accepted knowledge that, for a given equivalent sound pressure level, sounds produced by planes are worse received from local communities than other sources related to transportation. Very little is known on the reasons for this special status, including any interactions that non-acoustical factors may have in listener assessments. Here we focus on one of such factors, the multisensory aspect of aircraft events. We propose a method to assess the visual impact of perceived aircraft height and size, beyond the objective increase in sound pressure level for a plane flying lower than another. We utilize a soundscape approach, based on acoustical indicators (dBs, LA, max, background sound pressure level) and social surveys: a combination of postal questionnaires (related to long-term exposure) and field interviews (related to the contextual perception), complementing well-established questions with others designed to capture new multisensory relationships. For the first time, we report how the perceived visual height of airplanes can be established using a combination of visual size, airplane size, reading distance, and airplane distance. Visual and acoustic assessments are complemented and contextualized by additional questions probing the subjective, objective, and descriptive assessments made by observers as well as how changes in airplane height over time may have influenced these perceptions. The flexibility of the proposed method allows a comparison of how participant reporting can vary across live viewing and memory recall conditions, allowing an examination of listeners' acoustic memory and expectations. The compresence of different assessment methods allows a comparison between the “objective” and the “perceptual” sphere and helps underscore the multisensory nature of observers' perceptual and emotive evaluations. In this study, we discuss pro and cons of our method, as assessed during a community survey conducted in the summer 2017 around Gatwick airport, and compare the different assessments of the community perception.
In this case, I focus on the issues arising from comparing two cities embedded in a different social and political framework, and which consequently use differing political jargons. In order to do that, I refer to the fieldwork of my PhD research, situated in Brighton, United Kingdom, and Bologna, Italy. I discuss the challenges of approaching, interpreting, and comparing concepts in the field of migration, when these concepts possess different names with similar, if not identical, meanings. The terms I discuss are “Black and Minority Ethnic” for the United Kingdom and “foreigners” for Italy. As the Institute of Race Relations reports (2017), in the United Kingdom, the term “Black and Minority Ethnic” defines individuals of non-White British descent, either migrants or not, while in Italy “foreigners” is commonly used to identify people with non-Italian descent, regardless of the legal status and/or the length of stay in the country. As a method, I used in-depth semi-structured interviews all throughout the research, which suitability I will also examine. This comparative exercise is helpful not only to learn how to work with different political languages but also to explore the possible implications of these terms.
Studying the evolution and aftermath of the Second Congo War (1998–2003) – also known as ‘Africa’s First World War’– is an exercise in analytical complexity. The war in the Democratic Republic of Congo grew from a mass of overlapping and interlocking conflicts on different scales – from local, to national, the Great Lakes Region and beyond. It drew in a large number of heterogeneous political and military actors, including government forces and rebel groups from about half a dozen countries, large-scale Congolese but often foreign-backed politicomilitary movements, and a host of smaller-scale armed groups.
A climate-resilient and sustainable future for people in vulnerable countries starts with resilient livelihoods. There is an urgent need to turn knowledge around livelihood threats, shocks, trajectories and opportunities into operable solutions. This factsheet presents the key findings coming out of Gibika, a five-year research-to-action project, advancing the understanding of people’s responses to climatic changes and environmental stress in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is a country with a wide variety of environmental stressors. The fact that people are struggling with different stressors in different regions also makes their needs and responses very diverse. Clear differences were observed between the northern, central and southern study sites. For example, in the northern study sites people were facing drought and shifting rainy seasons, while in the southern and central study sites people were dealing with stressors such as riverbank erosion, cyclones and floods. In the southern and central study sites people described struggling more with the environmental impacts than in the northern study sites, and they found themselves and their livelihoods failing to cope with the stress. This factsheet presents six key conclusions, as well as voices from the people which we hope will guide and support policy makers and practitioners in their work to better protect the most vulnerable from climatic risks.
Semantic cognition is central to understanding of language and the world and, unlike many cognitive domains, is thought to show little age-related decline. We investigated age-related differences in the neural basis of this critical cognitive domain by performing an activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis of functional neuroimaging studies comparing young and older people. On average, young people outperformed their older counterparts during semantic tasks. Overall, both age groups activated similar left-lateralised regions. However, older adults displayed less activation than young people in some elements of the typical left-hemisphere semantic network, including inferior prefrontal, posterior temporal and inferior parietal cortex. They also showed greater activation in right frontal and parietal regions, particularly those held to be involved in domain-general controlled processing, and principally when they performed more poorly than the young. Thus, semantic processing in later life is associated with a shift from semantic-specific to domain-general neural resources, consistent with the theory of neural dedifferentiation, and a performance-related reduction in prefrontal lateralisation, which may reflect a response to increased task demands.
Elevated prefrontal cortex activity is often observed in healthy older adults despite declines in their memory and other cognitive functions. According to one view, this activity reflects a compensatory functional posterior-to-anterior shift, which contributes to maintenance of cognitive performance when posterior cortical function is impaired. Alternatively, the increased prefrontal activity may be less efficient or less specific, owing to structural and neurochemical changes accompanying aging. These accounts are difficult to distinguish on the basis of average activity levels within brain regions. Instead, we used a novel model-based multivariate analysis technique, applied to two independent functional magnetic resonance imaging datasets from an adult-lifespan human sample (N=123 and N=115; approximately half female). Standard analysis replicated the age-related increase in average prefrontal activation, but multivariate tests revealed that this activity did not carry additional information. The results contradict the hypothesis of a compensatory posterior-to-anterior shift. Instead, they suggest that the increased prefrontal activation reflects reduced efficiency or specificity, rather than compensation.
Time is relative; there may be fifty-two weeks in the calendar year but in the Social Media Year there are hundreds of Weeks, each with their own hashtag. In October we saw National Libraries Week, Open Access Week, National Work Life Week, Dyslexia Awareness Week and International OCD Awareness Week to name a few. The subject of this post will be December’s Computer Science Education Week, specifically the Hour of Code during it.
Freshers’ Week is on the horizon, signalling the Autumn term will soon begin, and that some of us will shortly enter the busiest time of our working year. While we are planning how best to support our new and returning students, we should spare a thought for our own wellbeing. One way of grounding ourselves during this busy period is mindfulness. If our days are a chain of events, mindfulness encourages us to focus on one link at a time.
The Brownian motion $$(UN_t)_{t\backslashge 0}$$(UtN)t≥0on the unitary group converges, as a process, to the free unitary Brownian motion $$(u_t)_{t\backslashge 0}$$(ut)t≥0as $$N\backslashrightarrow \backslashinfty $$N→∞. In this paper, we prove that it converges strongly as a process: not only in distribution but also in operator norm. In particular, for a fixed time $$t>0$$t>0, we prove that the unitary Brownian motion has a spectral edge: there are no outlier eigenvalues in the limit. We also prove an extension theorem: any strongly convergent collection of random matrix ensembles independent from a unitary Brownian motion also converge strongly jointly with the Brownian motion. We give an application of this strong convergence to the Jacobi process.
Recent work in cognitive and computational neuroscience depicts the brain as in some (perhaps merely approximate) sense implementing probabilistic inference. This suggests a puzzle. If the processing that enables perceptual experience involves representing or approximating probability distributions, why does experience itself appear univocal and determinate, apparently bearing no traces of those probabilistic roots? In this paper, I canvass a range of responses, including the denial of univocality and determinacy itself. I argue that there is reason to think that it is our conception of perception itself that is flawed. Once we see perception aright, as the slave of action, the puzzlement recedes. Perceptual determinacy reflects only the mundane fact that we are embodied, active, agents who must constantly engage the world they perceptually encounter.
Recent work in cognitive and computational neuroscience depicts human brains as devices that minimize prediction error signals: signals that encode the difference between actual and expected sensory stimulations. This raises a series of puzzles whose common theme concerns a potential misfit between this bedrock informationtheoretic vision and familiar facts about the attractions of the unexpected. We humans often seem to actively seek out surprising events, deliberately harvesting novel and exciting streams of sensory stimulation. Conversely, we often experience some wellexpected sensations as unpleasant and to-be-avoided. In this paper, I explore several core and variant forms of this puzzle, using them to display multiple interacting elements that together deliver a satisfying solution. That solution requires us to go beyond the discussion of simple information-theoretic imperatives (such as 'minimize long-term prediction error') and to recognize the essential role of species-specific prestructuring, epistemic foraging, and cultural practices in shaping the restless, curious, novelty-seeking human mind.
In the UK, in 2014 almost fifty thousand motorists made claims about vehicle damages caused by potholes. Pothole damage mitigation has become so important that a number of car manufacturers have officially designated it as one of their priorities. The objective is to improve suspension shock performance without degrading road holding and ride comfort. In this study, it is shown that significant improvement in performance is achieved if a clipped quadratic parameter varying suspension is employed. Optimal design of the proposed system is challenging because of the multiple local minima causing global optimisation algorithms to get trapped at local minima, located far from the optimum solution. To this end an enhanced Fruit Fly Optimisation Algorithm − based on a recent study on how well a fruit fly’s tiny brain finds food − was developed. The new algorithm is first evaluated using standard and nonstandard benchmark tests and then applied to the computationally expensive suspension design problem. The proposed algorithm is simple to use, robust and well suited for the solution of highly nonlinear problems. For the suspension design problem new insight is gained, leading to optimum damping profiles as a function of excitation level and rattle space velocity.
Anxiety regarding dental procedures and fear regarding dental re-attendance when families have experienced problems relating to difficult behaviour at a previous visit, can result in unmet dental treatment needs for patients with autism. The aim of this project was to involve key stakeholders meaningfully to gain understanding of the issues and challenges facing children and young people with Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) when they attend for dental visits. Qualitative data regarding dental experiences was gathered from children diagnosed with ASC, parents of children with ASC and dental service providers. Children were engaged to participate, where possible, in interviews with their parents present. Individual interviews were conducted with parents of children from across the autism spectrum (with and without learning difficulties) and across ages from 5 to 14 years. Information from primary care dental providers was gathered through participation in a focus group discussion. Sensory difficulties, dentist expectations and attitudes, and lack of pre-visit preparation for dental visits were highlighted as important factors influencing dental experiences for patients with ASC and their families. Pre-appointment preparation and education regarding ASC were identified as areas where positive action could be taken to improve dental experience. Sensory reactivity was identified as a common and significant obstacle to optimal oral care requiring further research. The aim of this project was to involve key stakeholders meaningfully to gain understanding of the issues and challenges facing children and young people with Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) when they attend for dental visits.
This paper outlines work that critically evaluates usability study design within ACI, specifically in regard to canine participants. Usability studies are an established interaction design tool and considered an important part of the design process. Often, a specific element or elements of user interfaces may be examined in a lab environment to learn more about users' habits. However, when ACI practitioners desire to gain similar understanding of animal users, issues may arise; for example, experimental design leveraged in animal cognition research may not be appropriate due to a baseline of training required for many canine interfaces. On the other hand, end users are not always available for exploratory or more targeted testing. This work examines canine participant selection in an effort to understand issues
and potential solutions to participant selection for usability testing with canine users.
The contribution of this paper is twofold: using six Living Standards Measurement Surveys in Viet Nam (covering the period 1992-2008), we first assess the level and changes over time in the shares of vulnerable people across economic sectors, organized according to their relative degree of trade exposure; second, we measure how much of households’ consumption variation (which is at the core of vulnerability analysis) can be explained by its stochastic ex-ante component, namely the variance of income within trade-exposed groups, as well as by actual income shocks, defined as the component of income variation unexplained by observables. Our main results are the following. Vulnerability to poverty fell in Viet Nam during the Doi Moi period, together with an increased share of its stochastic (risk) determinant. The share of the vulnerable population in the relatively more trade-exposed sectors fell more slowly than in non-traded sectors. Even after Doi Moi, farming households engaged in the production of export crops and import-competing crops faced higher levels of vulnerability than those engaged in the production of non-traded crops or in non-farm activities. Moreover, the risk of future poverty for households engaged in activities directly affected by trade liberalization was driven by high volatility, not from expected mean consumption below the poverty line. The above results are key for policymaking. They highlight a link between trade openness and risk-induced vulnerability, underlining the need to address vulnerability to poverty, even in the context of trade liberalization policies that result in a net reduction in poverty.
The emerging neurocomputational vision of humans as embodied, ecologically embedded, social agents—who shape and are shaped by their environment—offers a golden opportunity to revisit and revise ideas about the physical and information-theoretic underpinnings of life, mind, and consciousness itself. In particular, the active inference framework (AIF) makes it possible to bridge connections from computational neuroscience and robotics/AI to ecological psychology and phenomenology, revealing common underpinnings and overcoming key limitations. AIF opposes the mechanistic to the reductive, while staying fully grounded in a naturalistic and information-theoretic foundation, using the principle of free energy minimization. The latter provides a theoretical basis for a unified treatment of particles, organisms, and interactive machines, spanning from the inorganic to organic, non-life to life, and natural to artificial agents. We provide a brief introduction to AIF, then explore its implications for evolutionary theory, ecological psychology, embodied phenomenology, and robotics/AI research. We conclude the paper by considering implications for machine consciousness.
This study examines how and to what ends the ICAEW (Institute of Chartered Accountants England and Wales) is governed, to shed light on the extent to which the accounting profession is governed in the public interest. It draws on the literature examining the accountability of the accounting profession to provide a framework for grounding discussion of the extent to which ICAEW is governed in the public interest.
This research is based upon a case study of ICAEW, which is a professional accountancy body incorporated by means of a Royal Charter. We interviewed members of the governing Council and used data from published secondary sources to determine the extent to which explicit consideration of the public interest is taken within the ICAEW strategic decision making structure.
Professional bodies are accountable to the public interest at multiple levels, however external recourse to the public interest is problematic and typically advanced through legislation e.g. the Apprenticeship Levy introduced to facilitate greater social mobility. The council members are responsible for making strategic decisions and overseeing their implementation have typically been trained in private sector professional accountancy bodies and such represent the interest of the private sector. The importance of the public sector may not be fully recognised in the composition of the elected ICAEW Council and members working in the public sector tend to be co-opted. As a result within the strategic decision-making body or Council the explicit consideration of the public sector as an important sector for employment of accountants and sale of accounting services may be somewhat limited. At the operational level we find that ICAEW is indeed working to support the public sector through its current crisis by means of a variety of initiatives.
This study contributes to the literature on the accountability of the accounting profession, through its focus on the governance of ICAEW and highlighting the implications of the governance structure on public accountability. We propose a framework to further our understanding of the multiple layers of public interest and link this to the mobilisation of the concept within ICAEW.
The study for the baseline report was undertaken primarily as a situation analysis able to guide future programming. The methodology was inspired by participatory action research (PAR)as a way of engaging people living in difficult circumstances as agents of change and as actors in their own development. Brief field research was undertaken in the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria to identify key protection issues, the existence of formal and informal child protection actors and how adolescent migrants navigated family relationships, labour markets and education.
One of the most important research programs in contemporary cognitive science is that of extended cognition. In this area of study, features of a subject’s cognitive environment can, in certain conditions, become constituent parts of the cognitive process itself. The aim of this volume is to explore the epistemological ramifications of this idea. The book brings together papers written by a range of distinguished and emerging academics, from a variety of different perspectives, to investigate the very idea of an extended epistemology. The first part of the volume explores foundational issues with regard to an extended epistemology as well as from a critical perspective. The second part of the volume examines the applications of this idea, and the new theoretical directions that it might take us. These include the relevance of Chinese philosophy, the ethical ramifications of extended epistemology, and its import to the epistemology of education, moral ethics, and emerging digital technologies.
Strange inversions occur when things work in ways that turn received wisdom upside down. Hume offered a strangely inverted story about causation, and Darwin, about apparent design. Dennett suggests that a strange inversion also occurs when we project our own reactive complexes outward, painting our world with elusive properties like cuteness, sweetness, blueness, sexiness, funniness, and more. Such properties strike us as experiential causes, but they are (Dennett argues) really effects—a kind of shorthand for whole sets of reactive dispositions rooted in the nuts and bolts of human information processing. Understanding the nature and origins of that strange inversion, Dennett believes, is thus key to understanding the nature and origins of human experience itself. This paper examines this claim, paying special attention to recent formulations that link that strange inversion to the emerging vision of the brain as a Bayesian estimator, constantly seeking to predict the unfolding sensory barrage.
Strange inversions occur when things work in ways that turn received wisdom upside down. Hume offered a strangely inverted story about causation, and Darwin, about apparent design. Dennett suggests that a strange inversion also occurs when we project our own reactive complexes outward, painting our world with elusive properties like cuteness, sweetness, blueness, sexiness, funniness, and more. Such properties strike us as experiential causes, but they are (Dennett argues) really effects—a kind of shorthand for whole sets of reactive dispositions rooted in the nuts and bolts of human information processing. Understanding the nature and origins of that strange inversion, Dennett believes, is thus key to understanding the nature and origins of human experience itself. This paper examines this claim, paying special attention to recent formulations that link that strange inversion to the emerging vision of the brain as a Bayesian estimator, constantly seeking to predict the unfolding sensory barrage.
First, a theoretical background to the volume’s topic, extended epistemology, is provided by a brief outline of its cross-disciplinary theoretical lineage and some key themes. In particular, it is shown how and why the emergence of recent and more egalitarian thinking in the cognitive sciences about the nature of human cognizing and its bounds—viz., the so-called ‘extended cognition’ program, and the related idea of an ‘extended mind’—has important and interesting ramifications in epistemology. Second, an overview is provided of the papers included as chapters in the volume. The sixteen contributions are divided (broadly) into two categories: those that engage with foundational issues to do with extended epistemology, and those that pursue applications of extended epistemology to new areas of research.
Recent work in cognitive and computational neuroscience depicts the human cortex as a multi-level prediction engine. This ‘predictive processing’ framework shows great promise as a means of both understanding and integrating the core information processing strategies underlying perception, reasoning, and action. But how, if at all, do emotions and sub-cortical contributions fit into this emerging picture? The fit, we shall argue, is both profound and potentially transformative. In the picture we develop, online cognitive function cannot be assigned to either the cortical or the sub-cortical component, but instead emerges from their tight co-ordination. This tight co-ordination involves processes of continuous reciprocal causation that weave together bodily information and ‘top-down’ predictions, generating a unified sense of what’s out there and why it matters. The upshot is a more truly ‘embodied’ vision of the predictive brain in action.
If you could change one part of the criminal law, what would it be? The editors put this question to nine leading academics and practitioners. The first nine chapters of the collection present their responses in the form of legal reform proposals, with topics ranging across criminal law, criminal justice and evidence – including confiscation, control orders, criminal attempts, homicide, assisted dying, the special status of children, time restrictions on prosecution, the right to silence, and special measures in court
Purpose: To determine whether the oxygen toxicity hypothesis can explain the distinctive spatio-temporal patterns of retinal degeneration associated with human retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and to predict the effects of antioxidant and trophic factor treatments under this hypothesis.
Methods: Three mathematical models were derived to describe the evolution of the retinal oxygen concentration and photoreceptor density over time. The first model considers only hyperoxia-induced degeneration, while the second and third models include mutation-induced rod and cone loss respectively. The models were formulated as systems of partial differential equations, defined on a two-dimensional domain spanning the region between the foveal center and the ora serrata, and were solved numerically using the finite element method.
Results: The mathematical models recapitulate patterns of retinal degeneration which involve preferential loss of photoreceptors in the parafoveal/perifoveal and far-peripheral retina, while those which involve a preferential loss of midperipheral photoreceptors cannot be reproduced. Treatment with antioxidants or trophic factors is predicted to delay, halt, or partially reverse retinal degeneration, depending upon the strength and timing of treatment and disease severity.
Conclusions: The model simulations indicate that while the oxygen toxicity hypothesis is sufficient to explain some of the patterns of retinal degeneration observed in human RP, additional mechanisms are necessary to explain the full range of behaviors. The models further suggest that antioxidant and trophic factor treatments have the potential to reduce hyperoxia-induced disease severity and that, where possible, these treatments should be targeted at retinal regions with low photoreceptor density to maximize their efficacy.
As the development of new classes of antibiotics slows, bacterial resistance to existing antibiotics is becoming an increasing problem. A potential solution is to develop treatment strategies with an alternative mode of action. We consider one such strategy: anti-adhesion therapy. Whereas antibiotics act directly upon bacteria, either killing them or inhibiting their growth, anti-adhesion therapy impedes the binding of bacteria to host cells. This prevents bacteria from deploying their arsenal of virulence mechanisms, while simultaneously rendering them more susceptible to natural and artificial clearance. In this paper, we consider a particular form of anti-adhesion therapy, involving biomimetic multivalent adhesion molecule 7 coupled polystyrene microbeads, which competitively inhibit the binding of bacteria to host cells. We develop a mathematical model, formulated as a system of ordinary differential equations, to describe inhibitor treatment of a Pseudomonas aeruginosa burn wound infection in the rat. Benchmarking our model against in vivo data from an ongoing experimental programme, we use the model to explain bacteria population dynamics and to predict the efficacy of a range of treatment strategies, with the aim of improving treatment outcome. The model consists of two physical compartments: the host cells and the exudate. It is found that, when effective in reducing the bacterial burden, inhibitor treatment operates both by preventing bacteria from binding to the host cells and by reducing the flux of daughter cells from the host cells into the exudate. Our model predicts that inhibitor treatment cannot eliminate the bacterial burden when used in isolation; however, when combined with regular or continuous debridement of the exudate, elimination is theoretically possible. Lastly, we present ways to improve therapeutic efficacy, as predicted by our mathematical model.
Our societies are increasingly reliant on digital technologies of the form that incorporate computational and therefore calculative and computational ration- alities and which raise challenges for maintaining the sociological capacity for human reasoning. Our growing reliance on small software applications soon becomes problematic as they are automated, networked and interconnected into larger software platforms and services further complexifying their operation. To take an example, think of the increasing networked nature of the simple health, exercise or calorie-counting apps which is now reconciled across mul- tiple devices, time zones, people, projects and technologies and offer guid- ance, support and even discipline the user. Many of these systems were initially designed to support or aid the judgement of people in undertaking a number of activities, analyses and decisions, but have long since surpassed the under- standing of their users and become indispensable to them. In doing so, these devices transform the capacities for human reason by short-circuiting the con- volutions of cognitive processes that are manifested in human reason and by privileging certain instrumental relations manifested in logical processes.
Models and measurements exist for building entry loss (BEL) and for loss due to local clutter. There appears to be less information on the combined effects of the two mechanisms, however. This paper reports on an initial set of measurements made at 3.5 GHz, in which the loss mechanisms were measured separately and in combination.
Online consumer misbehaviors, such as trolling, are widespread and poorly understood. Using actor-network theory, we explore the assemblages of human and non-human entities participating in trolling, showing that rather than managing misbehaving consumers, marketing practitioners should manage the socio-technical networks that allow and fuel these misbehaviors.
A search for the electroweak production of charginos, neutralinos and sleptons decaying into final states involving two or three electrons or muons is presented. The analysis is based on 36.1 fb−1 of √s = 13 TeV proton– proton collisions recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Several scenarios based on simplified models are considered. These include the associated production of the next-to-lightest neutralino and the lightest chargino, followed by their decays into final states with leptons and the lightest neutralino via either sleptons or Standard Model gauge bosons; direct production of chargino pairs, which in turn decay into leptons and the lightest neutralino via intermediate sleptons; and slepton pair production, where each slepton decays directly into the lightest neutralino and a lepton. No significant deviations from the Standard Model expectation are observed and stringent limits at 95% confidence level are placed on the masses of relevant supersymmetric particles in each of these scenarios. For a massless lightest neutralino, masses up to 580 GeV are excluded for the associated production of the next-to-lightest neutralino and the lightest chargino, assuming gauge-boson mediated decays, whereas for slepton-pair production masses up to 500 GeV are excluded assuming three generations of massdegenerate sleptons.
This article presents the results of a workshop held in Stirling, Scotland in June 2018, called to examine critically the effects of low-dose ionising radiation on the ecosphere. The meeting brought together participants from the fields of low- and high-dose radiobiology and those working in radioecology to discuss the effects that low doses of radiation have on non-human biota. In particular, the shape of the low-dose response relationship and the extent to which the effects of low-dose and chronic exposure may be predicted from high dose rate exposures were discussed. It was concluded that high dose effects were not predictive of low dose effects. It followed that the tools presently available were deemed insufficient to reliably predict risk of low dose exposures in ecosystems. The workshop participants agreed on three major recommendations for a path forward. First, as treating radiation as a single or unique stressor was considered insufficient, the development of a multidisciplinary approach is suggested to address key concerns about multiple stressors in the ecosphere. Second, agreed definitions are needed to deal with the multiplicity of factors determining outcome to low dose exposures as a term can have different meanings in different disciplines. Third, appropriate tools need to be developed to deal with the different time, space and organisation level scales. These recommendations permit a more accurate picture of prospective risks.
Canonical DNA non-homologous end-joining (c-NHEJ) and homologous recombination (HR), the two major DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair pathways, have long been depicted as competitors, fighting a race to rejoin DSBs. In human cells, Ku, an upstream component of NHEJ, is highly abundant and has exquisite end-binding capacity. Emerging evidence has suggested that Ku is the first protein binding most, if not all, DSBs, and creates a block to resection. Although most c-NHEJ proceeds without resection, recent studies have provided strong evidence for a process of resection-dependent c-NHEJ, that repairs a subset of DSBs. HR also repairs a subset of two-ended DSBs in G2 phase and processes one-ended DSBs that arise following replication fork stalling or collapse to promote replication restart. HR also necessitates end-resection. This raises the question of how end-resection takes place despite Ku’s avid end-binding capacity. Insight into this enigma has been gained from the analysis of DSBs generated by Spo11 or TOP2, which create protein-bridged DSBs. The progression of repair by HR or NHEJ requires removal of the end-blocking lesions. The MRE11-RAD50-NBS1 (MRN) complex, CtIP and EXO1 play critical roles in this process. Here, we review our current understanding of how resection arises at lesions blocked by covalently bound Spo11 or TOP2 or following Ku binding, which effectively creates a distinct resection-blocking lesion due to its avid end-binding activity and abundance. Our review reveals that Ku plays an active role in determining pathway choice and exposes similarities yet distinctions in the progression of resection that is suited to the optimal repair pathway choice.
Decentralized individual, community and co-operative renewable energy (CE) producers are capturing a growing share of electricity markets. As this share increases, CE producers are becoming increasingly effective political actors. The traditional political privilege enjoyed by incumbent electricity producers is challenged by CE actors as they shift control over jobs, growth and energy supplies. Political struggles between competing interests are increasing. However, the nature and extent of these power shifts (e.g., different policy outputs, changing political discourse), and their consequences for political systems and their outcomes (e.g., more democratic policy processes, action on climate) are poorly understood. This paper develops and tests an approach for understanding how decentralized energy transitions are reshaping political power structures, and consequent policy outcomes. Using an approach grounded in theory on power, policy making, transitions, and institutions, the paper develops a set of power queries that help reveal how political power is changing, and constraining or enabling transitions. The framework is tested through a case of political conflict over electricity in Ontario, Canada. Findings reveal a locked-in system, but also emergent transition pathways. The framework establishes a useful tool to address pressing questions about the socioeconomic and political impacts of the changing energy landscape.
Governance is key to tackle water challenges and transform water management under the increasing pressures of competing water uses and climate change. Diverse water governance regimes have evolved in different countries and regions to regulate the development and management of water resources and the provision of water services. Scholars and policy analysts have been comparing these water governance regimes to analyze elements and processes, to assess performance, or to draw lessons. While the number of such studies has increased over the past decades, no comprehensive synthesis exists. This paper aims to present such a synthesis through conducting a systematic review of the emerging field of comparative water governance studies, and critically reflecting on how water governance is defined, conceptualized and assessed in different contexts. Based on the insights that this review brings about, we identify four areas for future research: 1) improving the balance between small-N, medium-N and large-N studies that are applied for comparative studies on water governance, 2) conducting longitudinal comparisons of water governance in order to identify temporal governance trends and patterns 3) expanding the geographical coverage of the comparisons to include underrepresented countries and regions, focusing more broadly on the Global South 4) addressing the issues of justice, equity and power, which are becoming increasingly important in tackling the water governance challenges that are exacerbated by the impacts of climate change, industrialization and urbanization.
Online personalisation has recently become a trend across the Internet. By using consumer data and advances in technology, brands are able to provide individual users with different content across the same platform through personalisation. Despite benefits for both marketers and consumers being evident, there are growing concerns regarding the provision of personal data for this purpose. This chapter aims to explore how Millennials perceive the cost and benefits of online personalisation in the context of search engines, as well as how they interact with personalised platforms. The results of an online survey of UK consumers suggest that privacy concerns and perceived benefits especially influence Millennials’ willingness to interact with search engine personalisation in the disclosure of personal data. Privacy concerns affect willingness to disclose contact data in particular, which appears to be a cost that Millennials overall appear unwilling to forgo for greater personalisation online. However, Millennials are found to desire high levels of personalisation either side of this concern. Interestingly, a positive relationship is found between Internet expertise and the perceived value of search engine personalisation. No evidence is found to suggest control or consumer-brand relationship as significantly influential in Millennials’ perceptions of search engine personalisation.
This paper proposes new approximate long-memory VaR models that incorporate intraday price ranges. These models use lagged intraday range with the feature of considering different range components calculated over different time horizons. We also investigate the impact of the market overnight return on the VaR forecasts, which has not yet been considered with the range in VaR estimation. Model estimation is performed using linear quantile regression. An empirical analysis is conducted on 18 market indices. In spite of the simplicity of the proposed methods, the empirical results show that they successfully capture the main features of the financial returns and are competitive with established benchmark methods. The empirical results also show that several of the proposed range-based VaR models, utilizing both the intraday range and the overnight returns, are able to outperform GARCH-based methods and CAViaR models.
This thesis draws on actor-network theory to explore the assemblages of human and nonhuman entities that allow and perpetuate online trolling. Trolling is a form of consumer misbehaviour that includes deliberate, deceptive, and mischievous attempts to provoke reactions from other online users. Despite being a pervasive online consumer misbehaviour, affecting consumers, brands, and online sites that offer a medium for trolling, trolling is poorly understood. In particular, there is a lack of understanding of what trolling actually is, how it differs from other anti-social behaviours, how it comes about, and how it could be influenced. These questions are at the forefront of this study.
In disassembling trolling behaviours, this study adopts the actor-network theory (ANT) and practice-focused multi-sited ethnographic research approach. Five cases of trolling were investigated: playful trolling, good old-fashioned trolling, shock trolling, online pranking and raiding, and fake customer service trolling. Data collection included nonparticipant observation of trolling behaviours, in-depth interviews with trolls, shortelectronic exchanges with trolls and community managers, and review of trolling-related documents. Data analysis started with in-depth exploration of single actor-networks and continued with cross-case analysis, comparing and contrasting the actor-networks and building a general representation of the nature of trolling, the assemblages created in trolling, and the roles these assemblages play in the ‘doing’ of trolling.
In respect of the nature of trolling, this study has found that trolling behaviours are deliberate, mischievous, deceptive, and designed to provoke a target into a reaction. Trolling behaviours benefit trolls and their followers, and they typically but not necessarily have negative consequences for the people and firms involved. These characteristics of trolling suggest that trolling should be differentiated from other online misbehaviours, in particular cyberbullying.
Concerning the manifestation of trolling behaviours, this research has revealed that online trolling is performatively constituted by a collection of human and non-human entities interacting more or less in concert with each other. The study has identified nine actors participating in trolling: troll(s), target(s), medium, audience, other trolls, trolling artefacts, regulators, revenue streams, and assistants. Some of these actors (i.e., troll, target, medium) are playing a role in initiating, and other actors in sustaining trolling by celebrating it, boosting it, facilitating it, and normalising it. The findings highlight the role of other actors (apart from misbehaving consumers) in the performance of misbehaving and suggest that effective management of consumer misbehaviours such as trolling will include managing the socio-technical networks that allow and fuel these misbehaviours.
Better understanding of online trolling, as an instance of online and mischief-making consumer (mis)behaviour, contributes to a more rounded understanding of consumer misbehaviours, given that prior research focused on financially motivated or illegal misbehaviours, and on misbehaving in analogue retail settings. Focusing on the act of trolling itself, this ANT-inspired thesis extends previous research on consumer misbehaviours, and trolling, which almost exclusively adopted the dispositional perspective, focusing on studying misbehaving consumers. The original contribution also lies in providing a new definition of trolling behaviours and presenting a theoretical model of how trolling comes about and is nourished. This model has practical value, providing guidance to marketers on how trolling and similar mischief-making consumer (mis)behaviours can be stymied or, if so wished, bolstered.
This research specifically looks at the societal taboo of presenting an overtly sexualised self in a public forum. Specifically, we investigate the way in which technology is being used to mediate sexual experiences between individuals and larger online communities. The research takes an exploratory look at why some users engage in Technology-Mediated Sexual Encounters (TMSEs) and the impact that these online sexual encounters can have on one’s sense of self, perceptions of freedom and expression. Beyond fantasy seeking, novel experiences, and instancy of TMSEs, the importance of perceptions of power and dominance during a TMSE are discussed, as well as the emancipatory feelings associated with being free to break taboo. The impact of engaging in TMSEs and their use in understanding sexuality and expectations of physical sexual experiences is also discussed. The implications from this research include a better understanding of how technology is being used to express one’s self online in taboo contexts.
Background: The community form of palliative care first constructed in Kerala, India has gained recognition worldwide. Although it is the subject of important claims about its replicability elsewhere, little effort has gone into studying how this might occur. Drawing on translation studies, we attend to under-examined aspects of the transfer of a community palliative care intervention into a new geographic and institutional context.
Methods: Over a period of 29 months, we conducted an in-depth case study of Sanjeevani, a community-based palliative care organization in Nadia district, West Bengal (India), that is modelled on the Kerala approach. We draw upon primary (semi-structured interviews and field notes) and secondary data sources.
Results: We identify the translator’s symbolic power and how it counteracts the organizational challenges relating to socio-economic conditions and weak histories of civil society organizing. We find that unlike the Kerala form, which is typified by horizontal linkages and consensus-oriented decision-making, the translated organizational form in Nadia is a hybrid of horizontal and vertical solidarities. We show how translation is an ongoing, dynamic process, where community participation is infused with values of occupational prestige and camaraderie and shaped by emergent vertical solidarities among members.
Conclusions: Our findings have implications for how we understand the relationship between locations, institutional histories, and healthcare interventions. We contribute to translation studies in healthcare, and particularly to conversations about the transfer or ‘roll out’ of palliative care interventions from one geography to another.
We do a proof-of-principle demonstration of an atomic gravimeter based on survival resonances of dissipatively driven atoms. Exposing laser-cooled atoms to a sequence of near-resonant standing-wave light pulses reveals survival resonances when the standing-wave interference pattern accelerates. The resonant accelerations determine the local gravitational acceleration and we achieve a precision of 5 ppm with a drop distance less than 1 mm. The incisiveness of the resonances scales with the square of the drop time. Present results indicate that an appropriately designed atomic gravimeter based on survival resonances might be able to reach a precision of 1μGal with a 10-cm-high fountain. The relatively simple experimental construction of this technique may be of interest for a compact absolute atomic gravimeter.
Background
In most developed countries, the prevalence of smoking remains stubbornly high in lower socioeconomic groups. Male manual workers in England are more than twice as likely as those in managerial and professional occupations to smoke (26% vs 11%), find it more difficult to quit, and have the highest relapse rates. We sought to determine perceived factors in smoking cessation and relapse in this hard-to-reach group to inform the development of effective stop smoking services and public health efforts to reduce the health inequality caused by smoking.
Methods
In this qualitative study in southeast England, 12 male manual workers (aged 18–65 years), who had accessed the Sussex Community NHS Trust Stop Smoking Service during the previous 12 months, were recruited into two focus groups (FG 1, n=4; FG 2, n=8). The focus group discussions were guided by structured and prompt questions. The Brighton East Research Ethics Committee approved the study, and written informed consent was obtained from all participants.
Findings
Participants identified three broad themes that influenced their smoking cessation efforts and relapse. First, personal and behavioural factors included effect of smoking on current physical fitness as a stronger motivating factor to quit than long-term health risks, risk of relapse associated with use of recreational substances (drugs, alcohol), positive impact of changing one's daily routine or habits to control smoking triggers, negative impact on children, negative social impact of “smelling of cigarettes”, and perception that women have more willpower and find it easier to quit smoking. Second, environmental factors included triggering effect of stressful life events, increased risk of relapse because of the availability of packs of ten cigarettes, and the beneficial effect of a ban on point-of-sale display and smoking in pubs and bars. Third, social factors included positive impact of support from friends, family, or the local community, and negative impact of perceived greater “social acceptability” of smoking in men and “social acceptability” of smoking versus other addictions (eg, recreational drugs, heroin, alcoholism).
Interpretation
This new insight informs the development of public health interventions, which need to address these social norms and attitudes in this group of disadvantaged smokers. Carefully targeted and effective campaigns with appropriate content and tone may reduce the health inequality caused by smoking.
Gynaecological cancers encompass a diverse group of tumours with different epidemiological and pathological features, clinical presentations, pathology, and treatment strategies. This chapter aims to provide an overview of basic concepts in cancer epidemiology and to describe the global patterns and trends in incidence and mortality, aetiology, and prevention of the five main types of gynaecological cancer.
In this paper an overview is given of the current status of 5G industry standards, spectrum allocation, and use cases, followed by initial investigations of new opportunities for spectrum sharing in 5G and the underlying technologies to enable efficient sharing, considering both licensed and unlicensed scenarios and spectrum both below 6 GHz and in the millimeter-wave frequency range.
There has been an intensification of student protests around the world addressing issues of racial exclusion and racialised hierarchy within the university, including its teaching and research practices. These movements point to urgent concerns about what and how we teach and research, and how the resources of universities might be used to support the amelioration of injustice rather than its reproduction. This short piece focuses on the curriculum and points to actions that we can take to build resources for a more dynamic and adequate curriculum within our universities. In particular, it discusses one collaborative initiative that all the authors have been involved in, the website Global Social Theory. This site provides resources for the diversification and expansion of the curriculum for those teaching and studying social theory.
Grounded in signaling theory, this paper investigates the signals reflecting product quality, innovativeness, reputation and cultural background which influence film performance, that is, film survival (duration on cinema screen) and box office success, in China’s changing institutional context. This market has grown substantially and still possesses potential for further development. However, China’s unique institutional context presents challenges. By examining an expanded range of potential signals, two of which have not previously been examined in the literature, namely imported films and enhanced format film formats such as 3D and IMAX, we develop a conceptual framework and argue that signaling theory needs to be combined with institutional context. Similar to findings for film industries in other countries, we find quality and reputational signals including budget, star power, sequels, and online consumer reviews to be important in China. However, unique results are also revealed. Chinese consumers react to an innovativeness signal in that they are specifically attracted to enhanced format films. Film award nominations and prizes are insignificant reputational signals. Once other signals are taken into account, imported films on average do not perform as well as domestic films. We link these findings to China’s unique institutional setting and offer important implications for management, recognizing the challenges to film companies of competing in an increasingly globalized market. This paper is also of relevance to policymakers given their continued efforts in shaping the development of China’s film industry.
Fully consolidated fear memories can be maintained or inhibited by retrieval-dependent mechanisms depending on the degree of re-exposure to fear cues. Short exposures promote memory maintenance through reconsolidation, and long exposures promote inhibition through extinction. Little is known about the neural mechanisms by which increasing cue exposure overrides reconsolidation and instead triggers extinction. Using auditory fear conditioning in male rats, we analyzed the role of a molecular mechanism common to reconsolidation and extinction of fear, ERK1/2 activation within the basolateral amygdala (BLA), after intermediate conditioned stimulus (CS) exposure events. We show that an intermediate re-exposure (four CS presentations) failed to activate ERK1/2 in the BLA, suggesting the absence of reconsolidation or extinction mechanisms. Supporting this hypothesis, pharmacologically inhibiting the BLA ERK1/2-dependent signaling pathway in conjunction with four CS presentations had no effect on fear expression, and the NMDA receptor partial agonist d-cycloserine, which enhanced extinction and ERK1/2 activation in partial extinction protocols (seven CSs), had no behavioral or molecular effect when given in association with four CS presentations. These molecular and behavioral data reveal a novel retrieval-dependent memory phase occurring along the transition between conditioned fear maintenance and inhibition. CS-dependent molecular events in the BLA may arrest reconsolidation intracellular signaling mechanism in an extinction-independent manner. These findings are critical for understanding the molecular underpinnings of fear memory persistence after retrieval both in health and disease.
Having established and studied some of the unique properties of boron, these were applied to homoaromatic systems in order to acquire a measure of control over the strength of the through-space interaction. It became evident that the structural isomerism made possible by inserting boron centres in place of the more traditional carbocations results in significantly varied properties in similar and closely-related compounds. The variation of the strength of aromaticity allows for a perturbation in the immediate electronic environment of donor atoms to metal centres thus leading to the modulation of the relative electronic energy difference of the different spin-states of the resulting complexes. The results suggest a possible application to controlled spin-state switching technologies, for instance in the design of spin-switchable materials including stable fully controllable room-temperature spin-crossover compounds.
Chapter 1 includes a discussion of relevant literature setting the context. Chapter 2 comprises a concise summary of work undertaken with multiple experimental groups to identify and characterise properties of boron compounds, this using DFT methodologies to provide a rationale for experimentally observed phenomena. Chapter 3 describes the design of a set of homoaromatic candidates stabilised with NHCs and Chapter 4 focuses on functionalising these compounds with a view towards increased exploitability. Chapter 5 assesses the viability of using an electron localisation method to identify through-space interactions. Chapter 6 documents the optimisation of the singlet excited state of [Fe(Phen)2(NCS)2] via a novel method that circumvents the usual complications of optimising these complex excited states for SCO complexes with the [Fe(bipy)3]2+ complex being included as a control. The methodologies and compound design from the preceding Chapters are collated in Chapter 7 where a homoaromatic ligand set based on a boron derivative of the homotropylium cation is designed and characterised and then applied to create a perturbation to control the spin-state energetics of a defined system. This is followed by a brief description of the possible directions of future work.
Telomeric crisis is the final replicative barrier to cell immortalisation; it is characterised by genome instability and cell death and is triggered when telomeres become critically short and are subjected to fusion. Pre-cancerous lesions, or early stage cancers, often show signs of a telomere crisis, suggesting that escape from telomere crisis is a prerequisite for disease progression. Telomeric crisis therefore represents an attractive, and as yet unexplored, opportunity for therapeutic intervention. Here, we show that two clinically approved PARP inhibitors, selectively eliminate human cells undergoing a telomere-driven crisis. Clonal populations of a colorectal cancer cell line (HCT116), or the plasma cell leukaemia cell line (JJN-3), expressing a dominant-negative telomerase, entered a telomere-driven crisis at defined population doubling points and telomere lengths. The addition of the PARP inhibitors, olaparib or rucaparib prevented these cells from escaping crisis. PARP inhibition did not alter cellular proliferation prior to crisis, rates of telomere erosion or the telomere length at which crisis was initiated, but affected repair of eroded telomeres, resulting in an increased in intra-chromosomal telomere fusion. This was accompanied by enhanced DNA damage checkpoint activation and elevated levels of apoptosis. We propose that PARP inhibitors impair the repair of dysfunctional telomeres and/or induce replicative stress at telomeres to inhibit escape from a telomere crisis. This is the first demonstration that a drug can selectively kill cells experiencing telomeric crisis. We propose that this type of drug, which we term ‘crisolytic’, has the potential to eliminate pre-cancerous lesions and tumours exhibiting short dysfunctional telomeres.
This paper argues for designing geo-technologies supporting non-visual sensory knowledge. Sensory knowledge refers to the implicit and explicit knowledge guiding our uses of our senses to understand the world. To support our argument, we build on an 18 months field-study on geography classes for primary school children with visual impairments. Our findings show (1) a paradox in the use of non-visual sensory knowledge: described as fundamental to the geography curriculum, it is mostly kept out of school; (2) that accessible geo-technologies in the literature mainly focus on substituting vision with another modality, rather than enabling teachers to build on children's experiences; (3) the importance of the hearing sense in learning about space. We then introduce a probe, a wrist-worn device enabling children to record audio cues during field-trips. By giving importance to children's hearing skills, it modified existing practices and actors' opinions on non-visual sensory knowledge. We conclude by reflecting on design implications, and the role of technologies in valuing diverse ways of understanding the world.
In 2015, students at the University of Cape Town demanded the removal of a statue of Cecil Rhodes, the imperialist, racist business magnate, from their campus. The battle cry '#RhodesMustFall' sparked an international movement calling for the decolonisation of the world's universities.
Today, as this movement grows, how will it radically transform the terms upon which universities exist? In this book, students, activists and scholars discuss the possibilities and the pitfalls of doing decolonial work in the home of the coloniser, in the heart of the establishment. Subverting curricula, enforcing diversity, and destroying old boundaries, this is a radical call for a new era of education.
Offering resources for students and academics to challenge and resist coloniality inside and outside the classroom, Decolonising the University provides the tools for radical pedagogical, disciplinary and institutional change.
This paper reports an empirical study of a multisensory map used by visually impaired primary school pupils, to study human habitats and differences between urban, suburban and rural areas using a local example. Using multimodal analysis, we propose to examine how the use of smell and taste shape pupils’ engagement and the development of a non-visual knowledge of geography. Our research questions include: How do pupils try to make sense of this unusual material, in conjunction with the tactile, audio and tangible material used in this lesson? How does the special education teacher support the development of these interpretations? Multisensory material
has the potential to support experiential and embodied learning: were these promises achieved? Our findings show how this multisensory map reconfigures spatial occupation and interaction dynamics, and that it has the potential to make the classroom more pervasive to pupils’ social, spatial and emotional lives. In doing so, it provides opportunities for the teacher to develop citizenship education. The paper provides concrete examples of uses of smell and taste in learning activities to
support engagement, and has implications for pedagogical design beyond special education.
Marginalised children are uniquely vulnerable within western societies. Conducting participatory design research with them comes with particular ethical challenges, some of which we illustrate in this paper. Through several examples across two different participatory design projects (one with autistic children, another with visually impaired children), we reflect on the often overlooked tensions on the level of micro-ethics. We argue we are often required to rely on multiple moral frames of references. We discuss issues that the immediate interaction between researchers and marginalised children in participatory projects can bring and offer an understanding of how micro-ethics manifest in these collaborations. We contribute to a theoretical exploration of ethical encounters based on empirical grounds, which can guide other researchers in their participatory endeavours.
Technology has become central to many activities of learning, ranging from its use in classroom education to work training, mastering a new hobby, or acquiring new skills of living. While digitally-enhanced learning tools can provide valuable access to information and personalised support, people with specific accessibility needs, such as low or no vision, can often be excluded from their use. This requires technology developers to build more inclusive designs and to offer learning experiences that can be shared by people with mixed-visual abilities. There is also scope to integrate DIY approaches and provide specialised teachers with the ability to design their own low cost educational tools, adapted to pedagogical objectives and to the variety of visual and cognitive abilities of their students. For researchers, this invites new challenges of how to best support technology adoption and its evaluation in often complex educational settings. This workshop seeks to bring together researchers and practitioners interested in accessibility and education to share best practices and lessons learnt for technology in this space; and to jointly discuss and develop future directions for the next generation design of inclusive and effective education technologies.
This paper presents a novel kinematically redundant planar parallel robot manipulator, which has full rotatability. The proposed robot manipulator has an architecture that corresponds to a fundamental truss, meaning that it does not contain internal rigid structures when the actuators are locked. This also implies that its rigidity is not inherited from more general architectures or resulting from the combination of other fundamental structures. The introduced topology is a departure from the standard 3-RPR (or 3-RRR) mechanism on which most kinematically redundant planar parallel robot manipulators are based. The robot manipulator consists of a moving platform that is connected to the base via two RRR legs and connected to a ternary link, which is joined to the base by a passive revolute joint, via two other RRR legs. The resulting robot mechanism is kinematically redundant, being able to avoid the production of singularities and having unlimited rotational capability. The inverse and forward kinematics analyses of this novel robot manipulator are derived using distance-based techniques, and the singularity analysis is performed using a geometric method based on the properties of instantaneous centers of rotation. An example robot mechanism is analyzed numerically and physically tested; and a test trajectory where the end effector completes a full cycle rotation is reported. A link to an online video recording of such a capability, along with the avoidance of singularities and a potential application, is also provided.
We study 3d O(N)symmetric scalar field theories using Polchinski's renormalisation group. In the infinite N limit the model is solved exactly including at strong coupling. At short distances the theory is described by a line of asymptotically safe ultraviolet fixed points bounded by asymptotic freedom at weak, and the Bardeen-Moshe-Bander phenomenon at strong sextic coupling. The Wilson-Fisher fixed point arises as an isolated low-energy fixed point. Further results include the conformal window for asymptotic safety, convergence-limiting poles in the complex field plane, and the phase diagram with regions of first and second order phase transitions. We substantiate a duality between Polchinski's and Wetterich's versions of the functional renormalisation group, also showing that that eigenperturbations are identical at any fixed point. At a critical sextic coupling, the duality is worked out in detail to explain the spontaneous breaking of scale symmetry responsible for the generation of a light dilaton. Implications for asymptotic safety in other theories are indicated.
For quantum computers to become a reality, high-fidelity logic gates are required to be implemented on a scalable architecture. The IQT group follows an approach based on using a magnetic field gradient and microwave radiation to implement the required operations. To demonstrate their scalability to many quantum bit systems, these operations need to be implemented on micro-fabricated surface ion traps. In this thesis I describe the technologies I developed for surface ion traps with magnetic field gradients. This entailed the design, assembly and operation of two surface ion trap systems with permanent magnets for generating large magnetic field gradients of 140T=m, novel in-vacuum radio-frequency and microwave emitters for implementing high-speed quantum state manipulation and development of robust and reliable laser control systems required for stable long-term experimental operation.
Any new policy goals pertaining to sustainable energy transitions and associated policy instruments to help foster such change will not exist in a vacuum. Rather, they will become embedded in pre-existing policy contexts with legacies of goals and instruments already in place. It is this messy reality that ultimately influences policy outcomes and it is therefore increasingly important to explicitly study ‘real-world’ policy mixes. This chapter draws on the emerging literature on policy mixes for energy transitions and points out that there has been limited attention specifically to energy efficiency policy mixes. The aim of this chapter is to summarise some of the empirical research on energy efficiency policy mixes conducted as part of CIED in order to draw out overall academic insights and avenues for further research. We also provide policy reflections on design principles for policy mixes for sustainable energy transitions in which energy efficiency plays a key role.
This article explores the symbolic dimension of corruption by looking at the metaphors employed to represent this phenomenon in the media across seven different European countries (France, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Romania, Slovakia and the United Kingdom) over 10 years (2004–2014). It focuses on the media practices in evoking corruption-related metaphors and shows that corruption is a complex phenomenon with unclear boundaries, represented with the use of metaphorical devices that not only illuminate but also hide some of its attributes. The article identifies and analyses the metaphors of corruption by looking at their sources and target domains, as well as unpacking the contexts in which media evoke corruption-related metaphors.
This thesis examines the resurgence of an enchanted idiom in the contemporary novel and shows how it frames questions about the type of enchantment that reading fiction can lay claim to, ranging from unresolved mysteries to authors who call themselves mediums. With reference to novels by J. M. Coetzee, Toni Morrison and Ali Smith, Critical Enchantments makes an intervention into the study of contemporary writing by reinstating the importance of the distinction between ‘the novel’ and ‘fiction’ at a time when the critical and political function of fictionality is deeply contested.
In the introduction I delineate the logic that enchantment and fictionality share – their invitation to recognise artifice and yet maintain a readerly investment in the artwork. The project is then organised around three lines of enquiry. Chapter one surveys the recent re-enchantment of literary reading practices: through a discussion of the recent work of critics such as Rita Felski and Timothy Bewes (and their Ricourean, Lukácian forbears), I locate an idiom of mystery and magic that structures Smith’s experiments with the idea of too-close reading as surveillance. The second chapter appraises the construction of fictional ‘belief’ that figures centrally both in Coetzee’s late fiction and, with recourse to novel and narrative theories of fictionality (particularly Catherine Gallagher’s), illustrates how concerns about belief find articulation in Coetzee’s recurring figure of the secretarial reader. The final chapter reads Morrison’s fiction alongside the reflexive critical trends that have formed in response to her creative and critical corpus; reversing my previous focus on fictional readers, I demonstrate the enchanting effects that Morrison’s extra-fictional anticipation of being read has on her readers.
Taken together, these scenes of critical enchantment tell a story about how the contemporary novel trades on the genre’s tradition of engaging with the mystifying effects of fiction on both readers and writers, and reveals how this mystification is indexical to a performance of authorship that anticipates critically adept readers.
This book examines the meaning, structure, practices and symbolism of corruption in relationship to European Union structural funding in Romania. It offers a unique account of the complex transformations faced by post-communist societies. Despite the new legislation that effectively re-branded typical economic practices in Romanian society as ‘corruption’, entrepreneurs continue to use them in everyday interactions. The entrepreneurial culture described in the chapters is an ordinary trait of the local work routines. Rather than pursuing the singular logic of corruption, the author explores the concept of informality by focusing on the socio-historical context and the meanings embedded in the society that provides solutions to the problems. The book will appeal to students, scholars and practitioners in the areas of corruption, public policy and EU policy and politics.
The Yellow Teddybears (1963, Robert Hartford-Davis, UK: Animated Motion Pictures, Tekli British Productions) was based on the supposed-true story of schoolgirls who wore yellow “Golly” badges (the metal kind you saved Robertson's jam labels for) to signify that they had lost their virginity. This ‘X’ film is sympathetic in tone to the viewpoint of the schoolgirls and condemns the outdated attitudes of parents and authority figures, as represented by the school governors.
Compton-Tekli had been formed in 1960. They had already produced one nudist documentary film and one fully-fledged feature film, which both relied on the tried and tested formula of dressing up exploitation themes as education as a way of justifying their controversial subject matter.
This paper will draw on archival material to explore the promotion of the film as a tool for improving the nation’s sex education. Screenings were held with hundreds of sixth form girls and experts to encourage a national debate about. This paper will include images and recollections from a recent interview I conducted with Annette Whitely, the then young star of the film, who attended some of these screenings and talked to girls about the importance of sex education.
In 1974 the British Board of Film Censors refused to grant a certificate to the Swedish documentary More About the Language of Love (Mera ur Kärlekens språk, 1970, Torgny Wickman, Sweden: Swedish Film Production), due to its explicit sexual content. Nevertheless, the Greater London Council granted the film an ‘X’ certificate so that it could be shown legally in cinemas throughout the capital. This article details the trial against the cinema manager and owners, after the film was seized by police under the charge of obscenity, and explores the impact on British arguments around film censorship, revealing a range of attitudes towards sex and pornography. Drawing on archival records of the trial, the widespread press coverage as well as participants’ subsequent reflections, the article builds upon Elisabet Björklund’s work on Swedish sex education films and Eric Schaefer’s scholarship on Sweden’s ‘sexy nation’ reputation to argue that the Swedish films’ transnational distribution complicated tensions between educational and exploitative intentions in a particularly British culture war over censorship.
Continuing advances in science and technology offer the promise of providing tools to meet global challenges in health, agriculture, the environment, and economic development; some of the benefits are already being realized. However, such advances have the potential to challenge the oversight systems for responsible conduct of life sciences research with dual use potential – research that may have beneficial applications but that also could be misused to cause harm.
Between June 10 and 13, 2018, more than 70 participants from 30 different countries and 5 international organizations took part in an international workshop, The Governance of Dual Use Research in the Life Sciences: Advancing Global Consensus on Research Oversight, to promote global dialogue and increased common understandings of the essential elements of governance for such research. Hosted by the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Zagreb, Croatia, the workshop was a collaboration among the InterAcademy Partnership, the Croatian Academy, the Croatian Society for Biosafety and Biosecurity, and the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.
Throughout his writing, Don DeLillo has demonstrated a proclivity for thinking about the end. This subject emerges in various ways: through the discussion of nuclear war and chemical spills as well as an individual's fear of their inevitable demise. However, though DeLillo’s fiction may explore multiple meanings of ‘end’ and though our anxiety for the end may remain, the ability for us to understand or predict the end is constantly changing. In contemporary eco-criticism, critics suggest that apocalyptism paves the way for new forms of thinking about our environment, as well as our relationships with others. This essay will look at three novels from the 1970s, End Zone (1972) Great Jones Street (1973) and Ratner’s Star (1976) to trace how DeLillo creates fictions that think through the ethics of representation, in which ‘ending’ means to re-think our relationship to others. In doing this, he suggests that we must adapt our nuclear anxiety to form new social and ethical connections.
Vicarious pain refers to the processes and experiences that arise from observations of other people in pain. Due to the interpersonal and multi-modal nature of these processes, research into the field is highly relevant for a number of key concepts in social cognitive neuroscience, such as empathy, multi-sensory processing and social cognition. The dominant approach in the field has been to focus on normative samples with little focus being given to inter-individual differences. The discovery of a subsample of the population who report conscious experiences of pain when observing it, so called ‘mirror-pain responders’, presents a significant opportunity for developing our understanding of the neural processes and characteristics associated with vicarious pain. The present thesis aims to extend understanding of this group who appear to lie on an extreme end of a spectrum of vicarious pain perception. Although past research has highlighted this group and made some attempts to identify their prevalence, few formal attempts have been made to stringently discover the prevalence and identify the characteristics of their qualitative experience. As such, ARTICLE I developed a questionnaire, named the Vicarious Pain Questionnaire (VPQ), which characterises mirror-pain responders based on their subjective experiences of pain. The results showed a surprisingly high prevalence rate for the condition, ~30%. In addition through the use of a cluster analysis, the VPQ identified subgroups within mirror-pain responders, which included a group who experienced sensory and localised mirror-pain, and a group that experienced affective and generalised mirror-pain. ARTICLE I and ARTICLE II both aimed at assessing the neural basis for the experiences and successfully highlighted the role of hyperactivity in vicarious somatosensory processing, through the use of electrophysiological (EEG) neuro-markers for somatosensory processing (mu rhythm) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) activation in the somatosensory cortex during pain observation. Additionally, these articles highlighted the role of self-other processing regions through the use of voxel-based morphometry (VBM) which revealed reduced grey-matter volume in the right temporo-parietal junction (rTPJ), and psycho-physiological interactions (PPI) of fMRI processing which revealed connectivity networks between pain matrix regions and self-other processing regions (rTPJ and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC)).
Characteristics of the mirror-pain were further assessed in ARTICLE III which in a battery of behavioural and physiological tests were administered to mirror-pain responders and controls. This study showed abnormal autonomic nervous system processing for Affective/General mirror-pain responders and confirmed the link between the condition and questionnaire measures of empathy. Finally, ARTICLE IV failed to provide a causal link between self-other processing regions (rTPJ) and somatosensory activation in response to pain observations through the use of theta-burst transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in non-responders. This calls into question the direct causality of neural mechanisms associated with self-other theories of mirror-pain. This thesis demonstrates the importance of studying inter-individual differences in vicarious pain by reporting a set questionnaire and neuroimaging results which contribute to debates in the field and raises questions for future research. This work, its implications, and contributions to the wider literature are reviewed in the DISCUSSION chapter.
Colour perception is formed of many different components, such as colour discrimination, colour constancy, colour term naming, and the dimensions of colour (hue, chroma and lightness). It is a ‘toolbox’ of processes, not one cohesive function. Some of the components of colour vision develop into adult-like function over childhood, but they do not necessarily mature at the same speed. The studies in this thesis investigate adult, child and infant colour perception and cognition.
Paper 1 finds a relationship between colour constancy and colour term naming in three- to four-year-old children. This relationship has wider implications for the co-development of language and perception. Paper 2 (Rogers, Knoblauch & Franklin, 2016) uses the technique of Maximum Likelihood Conjoint Measurement (MLCM) in adult participants to investigate the interaction between lightness and chroma in perception.
Paper 3 combines MLCM analysis with preferential looking methods to compare interaction of lightness and chroma in infant and adult participants. This study paves the way for the use of MLCM and eye-tracking for studying other dimensions in development such as face perception, language, surface and shape. Paper 4 investigates why discrimination is poorest along the blue-yellow direction of cone opponent space (also known as the daylight locus). We tested the theory that this is adaptive for colour constancy by comparing illumination discrimination to surface discrimination in adult participants. We found equally poor discrimination for blue-yellow in both conditions, suggesting colour constancy is not the only explanatory factor.
Together, these papers add to our understanding of the key components of colour vision over the life span and how perception of colour depends on various contextual and individual factors. Furthermore, this thesis develops novel applications of experimental techniques, and paves the way for these methods to be used to study other cognitive and developmental domains.
In order to rapidly get the gist of new scenes the brain must have mechanisms to process the large amount of visual information that enters the eye. Previous research has shown that observers can extract the average feature from briefly seen sets of multiple stimuli that vary along a certain dimension (e.g., size), a phenomenon called ensemble perception. This chapter summarizes the research that we have carried out investigating ensemble perception of hue. We have shown that observers can extract and estimate the mean hue of rapidly presented multi-colour ensembles. The ability to average hue may be driven by a subsampling mechanism (i.e. remembering just a few items), but results from autistic adults suggest that it can be modulated by local/global bias.
Big data is a recent technology employed by companies to gain a competitive advantage. The investment of big data technologies in the USA was estimated at more than 30 billion USD in 2016. However, the investment of big data technologies in China was relatively small in 2016. Grounded in the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework, this study identifies the main factors affecting the organizational adoption of big data in China. The results can provide useful indicators for industries to utilize big data for a more productive business.
To philosopher Vilém Flusser to be in a photographic world is to be in a mosaic world. In such a universe of the contemporary, our experiences are lived through a game of combining and recombining moments lived through images, that shared in virtual communities, create a colourful, shifting and expanding mosaic. This book purposes a discussion about Instagram's vernacular photography and its aestheticization of everyday life. It is therefore about the intertwinement of aesthetics and the ordinary not only on photographs but on the experience of daily life.
Reclaiming the Women of Britain’s First Mission to Africa is the compelling story of three long-forgotten women, two white and one black, who lived, worked and died on the Church Missionary Society’s first overseas mission at the dawn of the nineteenth century. It was a time of momentous historical events: the birth of Britain’s missionary movement, the creation of its first African colony as a home for freed slaves, and abolition of the slave trade. Casting its long shadow over much of the women’s story was the protracted war with Napoleon.
Taking as its starting point a cache of fifty letters from the three women, the book counters the prevailing narrative that early missionary endeavour was a uniquely European and male affair, and reveals the presence of a surprising number of women, among them several with very forceful personalities. Those who are interested in women’s life history, black history, the history of the slave trade and British evangelism will find this book immensely enjoyable.
53BP1 controls a specialized non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) pathway that is essential for adaptive immunity, yet oncogenic in BRCA1 mutant cancers. Intra-chromosomal DNA double-strand break (DSB) joining events during immunoglobulin class switch recombination (CSR) require 53BP1. However, in BRCA1 mutant cells, 53BP1 blocks homologous recombination (HR) and promotes toxic NHEJ, resulting in genomic instability. Here, we identify the protein dimerization hub—DYNLL1—as an organizer of multimeric 53BP1 complexes. DYNLL1 binding stimulates 53BP1 oligomerization, and promotes 53BP1’s recruitment to, and interaction with, DSB-associated chromatin. Consequently, DYNLL1 regulates 53BP1-dependent NHEJ: CSR is compromised upon deletion of Dynll1 or its transcriptional regulator Asciz, or by mutation of DYNLL1 binding motifs in 53BP1; furthermore, Brca1 mutant cells and tumours are rendered resistant to poly-ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitor treatments upon deletion of Dynll1 or Asciz. Thus, our results reveal a mechanism that regulates 53BP1-dependent NHEJ and the therapeutic response of BRCA1-deficient cancers.
Background
Nondisclosure of cancer diagnosis continues to be practiced in India, with many family caregivers concealing it from patients in order to protect them from emotional distress.
Objective
The aim of this study was to explore Indian primary family caregivers' reasons for, and experiences of, disclosure versus nondisclosure to patients about their cancer diagnosis.
Methods
Indian disclosing (n = 8) and nondisclosing (n = 7) primary family caregivers participated in semistructured interviews exploring their reasons for disclosure versus nondisclosure of cancer diagnosis to their patient. Qualitative content analysis was used to classify the reasons for and for not disclosing. Illustrative quotes were selected to highlight caregivers' motivations for, and experiences of, each reason.
Results
The findings revealed 6 main reasons for disclosing (emotional well-being, lack of control, preparing the patient, family reasons, patient's personality, and longevity/curability of the disease) and 6 reasons for not disclosing (emotional well-being, family reasons, patient's personality, longevity/curability of the disease, barriers to communication, and disease severity). Typically, disclosing caregivers considered reasons for as well as against disclosure, whereas nondisclosing caregivers considered reasons against disclosure.
Conclusions
Most of the reasons given for disclosing and not disclosing were the same, although these reasons operated differently for disclosing and nondisclosing caregivers. In addition, justification for these reasons demonstrated cognitive consistency effects that appeared to reduce any feelings of dissonance regarding caregivers' disclosure, or nondisclosure, decisions.
Implications for Practice
Cancer nurses should provide additional psychological support to nondisclosing caregivers, especially with regard to how they view and engage in their caregiving role.
This article examines the relations between workplace and local labor regimes, global production networks (GPNs), and the state-led creation of expanded markets as spaces of capitalist regulation through trade policy. Through an examination of the ways in which labor regimes are constituted as a result of the articulation of local social relations and lead-firm pressure in GPNs, the article examines the limits of labor provisions in European Union trade policy seeking to ameliorate the worst consequences of trade liberalization and economic integration on working conditions. The article takes as its empirical focus the Moldovan clothing industry, the leading export-oriented manufacturing sector in the country. Trade liberalization has opened up a market space for EU lead firms to contract with Moldovan-based suppliers, but in seeking to regulate labor conditions in the process of trade liberalization, the mechanisms in place are not sufficient to deal with the consequences for workers’ rights and working conditions. Indeed, when articulated with national state policy formulations seeking to liberalize labor markets and deregulate labor standards, the limits of what can be achieved via labor provisions are reached. The EU’s trade policy formulation does not sufficiently take account of the structural causes of poor working conditions. Consequently, there is a mismatch between what the EU is trying to achieve and the core labor issues that structure social relations in, and labor regimes of, low-wage labor-intensive clothing export production for EU markets.
Labour standards provisions contained within the European Union’s (EU) free trade agreements (FTAs) are a major iteration of attempts to regulate working conditions in the global economy. This article develops an analysis of how the legal and institutional mechanisms established by these FTAs intersect with global value chain governance dynamics in countries with contrasting political economies. The article formulates an original analytical framework to explore how governance arrangements and power relations between lead firms in core markets and suppliers in FTA signatory countries shape and constrain the effectiveness of labour provisions in FTAs. This analysis demonstrates how the common framework of labour provisions in EU trade agreements, when applied in a uniform manner across differentiated political-economic contexts, face serious difficulties in creating meaningful change for workers in global value chains.
Early assessment of infectious disease outbreaks is key to implementing timely and effective control measures. In particular, rapidly recognising whether infected individuals stem from a single outbreak sustained by local transmission, or from repeated introductions, is crucial to adopt effective interventions. In this study, we introduce a new framework for combining several data streams, e.g. temporal, spatial and genetic data, to identify clusters of related cases of an infectious disease. Our method explicitly accounts for underreporting, and allows incorporating preexisting information about the disease, such as its serial interval, spatial kernel, and mutation rate. We define, for each data stream, a graph connecting all cases, with edges weighted by the corresponding pairwise distance between cases. Each graph is then pruned by removing distances greater than a given cutoff, defined based on preexisting information on the disease and assumptions on the reporting rate. The pruned graphs corresponding to different data streams are then merged by intersection to combine all data types; connected components define clusters of cases related for all types of data. Estimates of the reproduction number (the average number of secondary cases infected by an infectious individual in a large population), and the rate of importation of the disease into the population, are also derived. We test our approach on simulated data and illustrate it using data on dog rabies in Central African Republic. We show that the outbreak clusters identified using our method are consistent with structures previously identified by more complex, computationally intensive approaches.
Objective markers of disease sensitive to the clinical activity, symptomatic progression, and underlying substrates of neurodegeneration are highly coveted in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in order to more eloquently stratify the highly heterogeneous phenotype and facilitate the discovery of effective disease modifying treatments for patients. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a promising, non-invasive biomarker candidate whose acquisition techniques and analysis methods are undergoing constant evolution in the pursuit of parameters which more closely represent biologically-applicable tissue changes. Neurite Orientation Dispersion and Density Imaging (NODDI; a form of diffusion imaging), and quantitative Magnetization Transfer Imaging (qMTi) are two such emerging modalities which have each broadened the understanding of other neurological disorders and have the potential to provide new insights into structural alterations initiated by the disease process in ALS. Furthermore, novel neuroimaging data analysis approaches such as Event-Based Modeling (EBM) may be able to circumvent the requirement for longitudinal scanning as a means to comprehend the dynamic stages of neurodegeneration . Combining these and other innovative imaging protocols with more sophisticated techniques to analyse ever-increasing datasets holds the exciting prospect of transforming understanding of the biological processes and temporal evolution of the ALS syndrome, and can only benefit from multicentre collaboration across the entire ALS research community.
Lithium, which is still the gold standard in the treatment of bipolar disorder, has been proposed to inhibit inositol monophosphatase (IMPase) and is hypothesized to exert its therapeutic effects by attenuating phosphatidylinositol (PI) cell signalling. Drug-discovery efforts have focused on small-molecule lithium mimetics that would specifically inhibit IMPase without exhibiting the undesired side effects of lithium. L-690,330 is a potent bisphosphonate substrate-based inhibitor developed by Merck Sharp & Dohme. To aid future structure-based inhibitor design, determination of the exact binding mechanism of L-690,330 to IMPase was of interest. Here, the high-resolution X-ray structure of human IMPase in complex with L690,330 and manganese ions determined at 1.39 Å resolution is reported.
Much as Murphy (1938) insists that desire is a ‘closed system’ in which ‘the quantum of wantum does not vary’, the Knott household in Watt (1953) seems to be a closed system ‘to which nothing could be added’ and from which ‘nothing could be taken away’ (Mu, 38–9, Wa, 111). Yet the random variable of Knott's appetite produces an instability that must be corrected to maintain equilibrium. This essay argues that Watt's efforts to dispose of Knott's leftover food work through a problem of equilibrium with consequences for Beckett's ideal of compositional practice. In October 1932, Beckett says to Thomas MacGreevy that writing should be a ‘spontaneous combustion of the spirit to compensate the pus & pain that threatens its economy’ (LSB 1, 134–5). The ‘poem’, he adds in September 1935, must be ‘useful in the depths, where demand and supply coincide, and the prayer is god’ (LSB 1, 274). Using two variant passages from Watt and Molloy, I will suggest that Beckett's growing scepticism about this economic conception of imaginative work was partly due to some unhappy historical parallels concerning the discourse of equilibrium. The first variant passage I consider is the coprophagic economy of Ballyba, administered by a bureaucratic organisation called ‘Organisation Maraîchère’ (‘Market Garden Organisation’). Having identified an overlooked deictic marker concerning a misbegotten WW2 mission and an unfortunate cryptonym, the essay argues that Ballyba's insistence on eliminating waste was too historically suggestive to be included in the published text. The second variant passage is an 8300-word continuation of the problem of Mr Knott's dinner, ending in a notorious ‘spectacle’ of canine love, put on by the Lynch family for the amelioration of the local population (Beckett, 1945, 297). I argue that this final, orgiastic solution to the problem of Mr Knott's dinner spells out the philosophical consequences of trying to eliminate waste and ensure supply and demand ‘coincide’. The essay concludes there were good historical reasons for Beckett to turn away from his credo of ‘personal and aesthetic equilibrium’, as Mark Nixon puts it, and towards a more commodious art of ‘mess’ and ‘pre-established arbitrary’ (Nixon 2011, 37, Wa, 114).
This study is justified by a renewed interest in citizenship in both the international and the Chilean education context. Throughout history, it has often been difficult to conceptualise citizenship, but there is a consensus that it is a desirable status and condition, and that education plays a crucial role in the development of citizenship. Approaches from which to understand and implement citizenship education are also diverse. Research on civics and citizenship education has been conducted worldwide and in Chile, especially in the last decades. These studies and the revived importance of citizenship, the globalised scenario and the new context of democracy after the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990), have prompted governments to review citizenship education in Chile, design curriculum reforms to make it more relevant to students, and help them to develop the competences needed to practise their citizenship. However, there is still a lack of research that explores citizenship education in Chile and takes students’ views as a priority, particularly in secondary schools.
This study provides insights into what secondary school students understand by citizenship and citizenship education in Chile, and how the education system through the curriculum and particular types of school, influences those understandings.
A qualitative case study was conducted in one city in southern Chile over five months in 2013, with grade 12 students (aged 17-18), their head teachers, teachers of the subject History, Geography and Social Sciences, and their parents. Two secondary schools, one public–secular and one private faith-based, were chosen as they portrayed the current situation of citizenship education in provinces in Chile and helped to compare different types of schools regarding the delivery of citizenship education.
Study findings show that students’ understandings of citizenship and citizenship education are influenced by the intended and implemented curriculum. Even when several reforms on education have been carried out, the discourses, ideologies and objectives embedded in official government education policy documents have not significantly changed in the last two decades. One explanation is that the policy-makers involved in the enactment of reforms are influenced by ideologies of groups that seek to maintain unequal relations of power. What students understand by citizenship and citizenship education align with the official discourses in the curriculum and textbooks, but those understandings and the sense of citizenship they have developed are not connected to what has been delivered in citizenship education. Regarding students’ experiences of citizenship, these might be either helped or hindered by their families, the school ethos and local community.
Regarding the contribution to knowledge, this thesis has addressed the limited research on what students in Chile understand by citizenship and citizenship education, and the link between their understandings and the school curriculum. It also adds knowledge to the existing literature on discourses and ideologies in education, different types of curriculum and school ethos. This study contributes to informing decisions of policymakers to improve the education system, the curriculum and particularly, citizenship education, considering the need for better training of teachers, an updated understanding of citizenship education and the diverse types of schools, a review of the discourses embedded in education policy, and overall, the need to hear students’ voice and include their views in the enactment of education documents.
Improving antibiotic stewardship [Interview] Professor Martin Llewelyn and Dr Valentijn Schweitzer discuss antibiotic stewardship and explain why there is an urgent need to develop recommendations for better research in this field
Decoherence and errors appear among the main challenges to implement successful quantum technologies. In this thesis I discuss the application of some general tools and principles that may be valuable resources to develop robust technologies, with applications in quantum sensing and quantum simulation.
Firstly, we employ suitable periodically driving fields acting on the Ising model in order to tailor spin-spin interactions depending on the spatial direction of the bonds. In this way, we are able to simulate the quantum compass model on a square lattice. This system exhibits topological order and a doubly degenerate ground state protected against local noise. A possible implementation of this proposal is outlined for atomic quantum simulators.
Secondly, we exploit two general working principles based on spontaneous symmetry breaking and criticality that may be beneficial to achieve robust quantum sensors, particularly appropriate for quantum optical dissipative systems. A concrete application is given for a minimal model: a single qubit laser. It is shown how the precision in parameter estimation is enhanced as the incoherent pumping acting on the qubit increases, and also when the system is close to the lasing critical point.
Finally, classical long-range correlations in lattice systems are shown to provide us with an additional resource to be used in robust sensing schemes. The previous setup is extended to a lattice of single qubit lasers where interactions are incoherent. Under the right conditions, we show that a Heisenberg scaling with the number of probes can be accomplished.
In this paper we investigate the changes in the functional connectivity intensity, and some related properties, in healthy people, across the life span and at resting state. For the explicit computation of the functional connectivity we exploit a recently proposed model, that bases not only on the correlations data provided by the acquisition equipment, but also on different parameters, such as the anatomical distances between nodes and their degrees. The leading purpose of the paper is to show that the proposed approach is able to recover the main aspects of resting state condition known from the available literature, as well as to suggest new insights, perspectives and speculations from a neurobiological point of view. Our study involves 133 subjects, both males and females of different ages, with no evidence of neurological diseases or systemic disorders. First, we show how the model applies to the sample, where the subjects are grouped into 28 different groups (14 of males and 14 of females), according to their age. This leads to the construction of two graphs (one for males and one for females), that can be realistically interpreted as representative of the neural network during the resting state. Second, following the idea that the brain network is better understood by focusing on specific nodes having a kind of centrality, we refine the two output graphs by introducing a new metric that favours the selection of nodes having higher degrees. As a third step, we extensively comment and discuss the obtained results. In particular, it is remarkable that, despite a great overlapping exists between the outcomes concerning males and females, some intriguing differences appear. This motivates a deeper local investigation, which represents the fourth part of the paper, carried out through a thorough statistical analysis. As a result, we are enabled to support that, for two special age groups, a few links contribute in differentiating the behaviour of males and females. In addition, we performed an average-based comparison between the proposed model and the traditional statistical correlation-based approach, then discussing and commenting the main outlined discrepancies.
Understanding a text requires not only understanding the individual words and sentences, but also requires the construction of an integrated model of the text as a whole: a Mental Model (Johnson-Laird, 1983) or Situation Model (Kintsch, 1998). In the first part of this paper, we differentiate between the types of inference that occur as a reader understands a text: necessary inferences (at both the local and global level) and 'merely elaborative' inferences, which might embellish the reader's understanding, but which are not essential to it. We then go on to discuss the problems of children who have a Specific Comprehension Difficulty (i.e. they are able to read words at an age-appropriate level but, nevertheless, have a poor understanding of the text overall). We describe the particular difficulties that such children have in answering inferential questions about a text, and outline the evidence that such difficulties are causally related to comprehension skill. We then discuss the reciprocal relation between vocabulary skills and inference making. Inference skills have a clear role in helping readers to derive the meanings of unknown words from text through the use of contextual cues and, conversely, deep vocabulary knowledge (what is known about words), and rapid access to that knowledge, can support inference making.
The clustering of different types of B-cell malignancies in families raises the possibility of shared aetiology. To examine this, we performed cross-trait linkage disequilibrium (LD)-score regression of multiple myeloma (MM) and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) genome-wide association study (GWAS) data sets, totalling 11,734 cases and 29,468 controls. A significant genetic correlation between these two B-cell malignancies was shown (Rg = 0.4, P = 0.0046). Furthermore, four of the 45 known CLL risk loci were shown to associate with MM risk and five of the 23 known MM risk loci associate with CLL risk. By integrating eQTL, Hi-C and ChIP-seq data, we show that these pleiotropic risk loci are enriched for B-cell regulatory elements and implicate B-cell developmental genes. These data identify shared biological pathways influencing the development of CLL and, MM and further our understanding of the aetiological basis of these B-cell malignancies.
Thomas MacGreevy was a Catholic, an Irish nationalist, and an international
modernist who lived through two world wars. His life and work marks him as an
active voice in the contentious cultural debates about art, poetry, and modernity that
emerged in Ireland immediately after the First World War. This thesis examines the
ways in which the three critical components of his life - modernism, Catholicism, and
nationalism - interact with each other to distinguish MacGreevy as a poet.
MacGreevy’s life has been approached in broadly chronological order. The
thesis is not an intellectual or literary biography, but a critical study of his life and
published works. His role as a volunteer in the British Army during the First World
War, especially as an Irishman fighting on behalf of the British, is crucial to
understanding him as a poet. The theological questions and nationalist ideology with
which he returned to Dublin after the war greatly influenced his role as a literary critic
and writer, as well as his career as an art historian and art critic while Director of the
National Gallery, Dublin. His literary career in London and Paris in the nineteen
twenties and thirties was crucial to his development as a modernist. His literary
associations with other modernists of the interwar period, including W.B. Yeats,
James Joyce, and T.S. Eliot, were highly influential. The physical detachment from
his homeland during these periods of his life crystallised his sense of nationalism,
whilst also creating space for an international identity to emerge.
Of the three constants of MacGreevy’s life examined in this thesis -
nationalism, Catholicism, and modernism - nationalism progressively evolved from a
creed to an institution. His Catholicism too became progressively stronger, and in the
latter half of his life was a decisive factor in the work he produced and published. His
modernism was determined by the European locations where he lived, and by his
professional associations. By aligning himself with the cultural nationalism of Yeats
and the modernism of Eliot, MacGreevy aligned himself with a new mainstream
modernism.
What makes MacGreevy distinctive is that he was an international nationalist
who remained throughout his life a deeply-rooted Catholic. The context in which
MacGreevy operated transformed itself over the course of the twentieth century as a
nation-based nationalism came into conflict with modernist internationalism.
MacGreevy’s response to this conflict produced a combination of his international
culture and the religion of his homeland, the international religion of Catholicism.
This chapter explores the modernisation and Europeanisation of SGEI in the light of austerity measures. The regulation of State aid has played an important role in curbing public expenditure in the EU but the processes involved are inherently undemocratic.
It is argued that the new language of public spending is designed to create efficient and effective social policies that are adequate and fiscally sustainable, with social innovation seen as a form of social investment to be tested through evidence-based decision-making.
Background
Major depression is a prevalent mental disorder with a high risk of relapse or recurrence. Only few studies have focused on the cost-effectiveness of interventions aimed at the prevention of relapse or recurrence of depression in primary care.
Aim To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of a supported Self-help Preventive Cognitive Therapy (S-PCT) added to treatment-as-usual (TAU) compared with TAU alone for patients with a history of depression, currently in remission.
Methods
An economic evaluation alongside a multi-center randomised controlled trial was performed (n = 248) over a 12-month follow-up. Outcomes included relapse or recurrence of depression and quality-adjusted-life-years (QALYs) based on the EuroQol-5D. Analyses were performed from both a societal and healthcare perspective. Missing data were imputed using multiple imputations. Uncertainty was estimated using bootstrapping and presented using the cost-effectiveness plane and the Cost- Effectiveness Acceptability Curve (CEAC). Cost estimates were adjusted for baseline costs.
Results
S-PCT statistically significantly decreased relapse or recurrence by15% (95%CI 3;28) compared to TAU. Mean total societal costs were €2,114 higher (95%CI -112;4261). From a societal perspective, the ICER for recurrence of depression was 13,515. At a Willingness To Pay (WTP) of 22,000 €/recurrence prevented, the probability that S-PCT is cost-effective, in comparison with TAU, is 80%. From a healthcare perspective, the WTP at a probability of 80% should be 11,500 €/recurrence prevented. The ICER for QALYs was 63,051. The CEA curve indicated that at a WTP of 30,000 €/QALY gained, the probability that S-PCT is cost-effective compared to TAU is 21%. From a healthcare perspective, at a WTP of 30,000 €/QALY gained, the probability that S-PCT is cost-effective compared to TAU is 46%.
Conclusions
Though ultimately depending on the WTP of decision makers, we expect that for both relapse or recurrence and QALYs, S-PCT cannot be considered cost-effective compared to TAU.
Memories of slavery affect contemporary political life in many Sahelian countries, but how do stigmatised groups use those memories as a tool for integration?
Precolonial elites used to enslave the farmers of rural Chad, now they hold them in debt bondage. How much has changed, how much has not?
Individuals claiming asylum on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity (SOGI) in Europe must prove to the authorities in question that they are ‘credible’ and meet the Refugee Convention criteria. In most cases, they do this by demonstrating that they belong to a Particular Social Group (PSG). However, for some time advocates and researchers have argued that SOGI claimants are treated both unfairly and inconsistently. In this article we use queer and intersectional theories to argue that one explanation for this how PSG membership has come to be interpreted. Looking at recent experience in two EU countries – Germany and the UK – we argue that this is done in a way that is both prescriptive, in requiring claimants to conform to minimal understandings of sexual and gender identity, but also narrow and one-dimensional, in ignoring other aspects of the claimant’s identity and assuming that SOGI asylum seekers are only sexual or gendered beings.
Mitigating space debris with lasers is investigated as a possible mechanism for contactless space debris deflection in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). This deflection mechanism can be carried out by irradiating the space debris surface with a high-power laser beam. The energy absorbed by the surface of the debris, from the laser beam, sublimates the irradiated surface, transforming it to gas from solid. The ablated material is formed into a plume of ejecta, which acts against the orbital debris if the laser is beamed in the right direction; it produces a small push or thrust that deflects the debris by reducing its orbital velocity, altitude and eventually its lifetime in orbit. This approach could also be used to push space debris away from operational satellites paths.
Laser ablation depends mainly on understanding the physical properties of both, the laser beam and the space debris. The interaction process for three different commonly used spacecraft materials are illuminated by a laser beam and investigated both experimentally and by using theoretical models. Experimental results and theoretical verifications are employed to evaluate the feasibility of the ablation model and to understand its performance in producing an effective deflection of space debris. This was investigated using Nd3+ Glass laser pulses with three metals: nickel (Ni), aluminium (Al) and copper (Cu). The Nd3+ Glass laser operated at a wavelength of 1.06 μm that provided intensities just below the threshold for plasma formation. This interaction produces surface power intensities ranging between one GW/m2 to one TW/m2, which produces high order temperature gradients that cause non-equilibrium energy transport phenomenon. This phenomenon cannot be explained by classical theories. The results have been used for the enhancement of the ablation model. Additional enhancements included the temperature penetration in the target surface. The surface temperature transients of metals due to laser interaction have also been investigated, and heat transfer is simulated by utilising a kinetic particle model, which captures the dominant energy transport processes. This model of energy transport permits determination of the significant decline in temperature gradients and the non-equilibrium conditions that occur between the Fermi surface conduction electrons and lattice phonons. This results in an accurate temperature distribution calculation within the space debris. The laser pulse specification and the properties of the space debris material were specified for simulation. The kinetic model has been used to simulate the spatial temperature distribution growth in the space debris when illuminated with a 1.06 μm wavelength Nd3+ Glass laser. The evaporation physics are also incorporated into the kinetic model. The average mass flow rate has been evaluated. A critical difference has been discovered between the experimental results and the predicted results using the classical Fourier Theory. The experimental data of the target surface temperatures are compared with Fourier and electron Kinetic theories. The experimental results validate the theoretical results and model improvements. It also illustrated the inaccuracy of Fourier theory regarding its solution of steep energy gradients and its failure to illustrate the non-equilibrium energy transport state, which grows between electrons and lattice phonons. It was noticed that the electron Kinetic theory results provide sufficient agreement with the experimental results below the boiling point and give a much better model than Fourier theory above the boiling temperature. The enhancements have permitted the laser specifications and the performance of the ablation treatment to be characterised.
The performance of orbital debris mitigation with pulsed lasers outperformed alternative techniques that can produce a small contactless push on space junk. This method avoids sending complicated spacecraft into orbits to take space debris away from Earth orbits. The laser power that is required to reduce the altitude and the orbital velocity of space debris were predicted and calculated theoretically. The performance has been assessed by its capability to move small debris, centimetre size, by at least a couple of m/s. The results confirmed the possible benefits of using lasers to mitigate space debris in LEO. Employing current technologies together with a high Technology Readiness Level (TRL), an affordable and compact laser system could be successfully constructed and attached to traditional artificial satellites as a space-based laser system. Such a system could demonstrate the method, synergies and techniques of laser ablation. Mission complexity and the extra mass are saved by the direct debris ablation process, which can operate at a relatively small distance compared to a ground-based laser system. The analysis thus confirms the feasibility of utilising space-based laser systems and the applicability of the model’s experimental validation.
In Pixar’s Inside Out (Docter and Del Carmen, 2015), Joy and Sadness navigate around their host Riley’s long-term memory where coloured orbs representing different events in her past are stored on shelves. The film imagines memory as fixed content that can be recalled as needed. However, developments in the interdisciplinary field of memory studies now consider memory to be much more complex than this. Like the term realism discussed elsewhere in this volume, memory is a slippery thing – it is better understood as always in a state of becoming, as related to the present more than the past, and as a creative, networked process rather than as a simple transmission of historical data. After introducing some of the broad ideas related to contemporary studies of media and memory, this chapter focuses on the ways in which we can remember the past through and with animation, and how the form can represent memory, concentrating particularly on issues of trauma and witnessing, collective memory and identity, and nostalgia.
Sinfonia is the Italian word for symphony. It derives from 'the Greek syn (‘together’) and phōnē (‘sounding’), and thence from the Latin symphonia'. (Cusick & Larue, 2001). My Sinfonia is a creative response to the transition from voices to instruments that characterised music in England between 1415 and 1611.
In this sense, it forms a survey of six very different works by six composers:
Anonymous, John Cooke, John Dunstaple, Thomas Tallis, Orlando Gibbons, Christopher Tye
Each of my source texts has its own section or movement, like separate chapters or case studies.
The six 'source texts' are varied - they range from vernacular song, to polyphonic Latin motet, to viol consort music for domestic use.
Sinfonia deliberately uses the vivid resources of today's contemporary classical instruments. But it intersects imaginatively with some of England's earliest music conceived and written down for voices.
Through the act of composing Sinfonia, I created six views on the question what happens when a composer consciously references or models the music of the past, and transforms it, in a new composition?
Policy initiatives in the UK, such as the Green Deal, have sought and failed to achieve the mass uptake of comprehensive residential retrofit. This chapter argues that previous policies have failed to address four interrelated challenges that constrain consumer demand. Thus, we focus on solutions to address these challenges from three key perspectives: business models, finance mechanisms and intermediaries. We first identify the systemic challenges for whole house retrofit and argue that a more comprehensive and wide-reaching policy strategy will be needed to overcome these challenges. This will require consistent and ambitious policy targets, and the creation or support of new finance mechanisms, business models and dedicated intermediary actors to support policy implementation.
Background Heterozygous germline loss-of-function mutations in the aryl hydrocarbon receptor-interacting protein gene (AIP) predispose to childhood-onset pituitary tumours. The pathogenicity of missense variants may pose difficulties for genetic counselling and family follow-up.
Objective To develop an in vivo system to test the pathogenicity of human AIP mutations using the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster.
Methods We generated a null mutant of the Drosophila AIP orthologue, CG1847, a gene located on the Xchromosome, which displayed lethality at larval stage in hemizygous knockout male mutants (CG1847exon1_3 ). We tested human missense variants of ‘unknown significance’, with ‘pathogenic’ variants as positive control.
Results We found that human AIP can functionally substitute for CG1847, as heterologous overexpression of human AIP rescued male CG1847exon1_3 lethality, while a truncated version of AIP did not restore viability. Flies harbouring patient-specific missense AIP variants (p.C238Y, p.I13N, p.W73R and p.G272D) failed to rescue CG1847exon1_3 mutants, while seven variants (p.R16H, p.Q164R, p.E293V, p.A299V, p.R304Q, p.R314W and p.R325Q) showed rescue, supporting a non-pathogenic role for these latter variants corresponding to prevalence and clinical data.
Conclusion Our in vivo model represents a valuable tool to characterise putative disease-causing human AIP variants and assist the genetic counselling and management of families carrying AIP variants.
The rise of right wing populism (RWP) poses a challenge for the climate agenda, as leaders and supporters tend to be climate sceptics and hostile to climate policy (although there are some variations within this general pattern). However, there is a surprising dearth of research that investigates the nature and causes of this association. This paper considers two kinds of explanation. One is termed 'structuralist', drawing on accounts of the roots of populism in economic and political marginalisation amongst those 'left behind' by globalisation and technological change. A second focuses on the ideological content of RWP, especially its antagonism between 'the people' and a cosmopolitan elite, with climate change and policy occupying a symbolic place in this contrast. It is argued that there are limits to the structuralist approach, and that an ideologically based explanation is more compelling. The paper concludes with an agenda for future research on right wing populism and climate science and policy
We present results for the bubble wall velocity and bubble wall thickness during a cosmological first-order phase transition in a condensed form. Our results are for minimal extensions of the Standard Model but in principle are applicable to a much broader class of settings. Our first assumption about the model is that only the electroweak Higgs is obtaining a vacuum expectation value during the phase transition. The second is that most of the friction is produced by electroweak gauge bosons and top quarks. Under these assumptions the bubble wall velocity and thickness can be deduced as a function of two equilibrium properties of the plasma: the strength of the phase transition and the pressure difference along the bubble wall.
This paper explores the deployment of rhetorical legitimation strategies during public-sector accounting reforms by investigating how organizational actors justify related changes in the central governments of the United Kingdom (UK), Italy and Austria. The study shows that changes are largely legitimated (and rarely delegitimated) by key actors, with authorization strategies dominating. Country differences and actors’ professional backgrounds also impact upon the use of legitimation strategies, with those from an accounting background and working in the UK being more likely to justify change in terms of rationalization and normalization. Italian and Austrian actors more frequently resort to authorization strategies to explain accounting change.
Meeting emissions targets necessitates both the rapid transformation of our physical energy systems and the societies that surround or use them, influencing who uses which energy source, how, and when. Thus, it is inevitable that there will be winners and losers, including the people who, for a variety of reasons, cannot access or afford the benefits from those transitions. In this vein, making sure that all voices are represented in transitions plans and their actualisation is undoubtedly a question of social justice. Yet despite ongoing debates about ethics and justice, one social element missing from transitions frameworks is explicit, practice-oriented engagement with the energy justice concept; an omission that is arguably mirrored in practice. In this regard, this chapter serves a dual purpose. First, it reiterates and reaffirms the need for socially just transitions approaches in energy demand scholarship and explores the role of the energy justice concept in this. Second, through a case study of fuel poverty, it begins to explore what this may practically look like. We close with policy-relevant recommendations.
This brief presents a summary of key issues in research on women’s empowerment, drawn from an APRA working paper commissioned to support the design of APRA’s research on pathways to agricultural commercialisation in Africa. In the context of African agriculture, as women move along different pathways of commercialisation, the source of their disempowerment may shift from local to more global actors and factors, and the means of empowerment towards more collective and political processes. Researching the effectiveness of different pathways of agricultural commercialisation to empowering women and girls, therefore, requires an approach which explores the relationships between global and local, shifting dynamics as women move into and up global value chains, and changing gender relations in a specific local context.
The Brain Dead Ensemble are an acoustically net¬worked feedback quartet/assemblage in which the structural, acoustic feedback pathways within and between “open” instruments create a fundamentally distributed musical agency. The current ensemble consists of two feedback cellos, a feedback bass and a Threnoscope, acoustically coupled to form a multi-instrument, multi-chan¬nel system - an expanded music interface.
The feedback cellos and bass are electro-acous¬tic-digital resonator instruments. Each instrument has pickups under each of its strings and one or more transducers built into the acoustic instru¬ment body, inducing electromagnetically-con¬trolled feedback which can be subject to digi¬tal processing. The classical model of a bowed instrument is inverted: the player no longer con¬trols and excites the strings to produce sound, but negotiates with an ongoing, lively, self-resonat¬ing instrument. The threnoscope is a software system created by ixi audio for drones, live coding and microtonal, spatialised composition. All the instruments are networked acoustically: the seven channels of the threnoscope are diffused to a quadraphonic PA plus the integral speakers of the string instruments.
The acoustic result of these feedback pro¬cesses is characterised by a variety of sonic col¬ours including airy microtonal micro-melodies, serene yet colourful drones, complex spectral gestures, and vast explosions surfacing grad¬ually or unpredictably into screams. Perfor¬mances are improvised; an emergent, negoti¬ated form of performance which involves the steering and shaping of evolving, distributed, sonic energies rather than the instigation and exchange of discrete musical ideas. No one is in control, although everyone is playing.
During DNA replication conflicts with ongoing transcription are frequent and require careful management to avoid genetic instability. R-loops, three stranded nucleic acid structures comprising a DNA:RNA hybrid and displaced single stranded DNA, are important drivers of damage arising from such conflicts. How R-loops stall replication and the mechanisms that restrain their formation during S phase are incompletely understood. Here we show in vivo how R-loop formation drives a short purine-rich repeat, (GAA)10, to become a replication impediment that engages the repriming activity of the primase-polymerase PrimPol. Further, the absence of PrimPol leads to significantly increased R-loop formation around this repeat during S phase. We extend this observation by showing that PrimPol suppresses R-loop formation in genes harbouring secondary structure-forming sequences, exemplified by G quadruplex and H-DNA motifs, across the genome in both avian and human cells. Thus, R- loops promote the creation of replication blocks at susceptible structure-forming sequences, while PrimPol-dependent repriming limits the extent of unscheduled R-loop formation at these sequences, mitigating their impact on replication.
This paper reports on an interactive and interconnected music ensemble from the perspective of the interface. More specifically it aims to canvass the dynamic relationships established within the Brain Dead Ensemble. It describes how the reconfigured relationships between performers and instruments are inherent to this ensemble from a technical point of view. In addition, it aims to survey the phenomenological aspect of the relationships established between the performers of this ensemble and how these relationships suggest the possibility of an ensemble itself conceived as interface.
The Circular Economy is viewed as an important driver for resolving resource issues and tackling sustainability issues more broadly. The fashion industry operates in a largely linear way and suffers from various environmental, societal and economic challenges. In a Circular Economy, first and foremost, products need to be retained at the highest level, thus slowing resource loops. Slowing resource loops goes against current fast fashion trends and therefore appears the most difficult approach to pursue. This paper investigates how a large established retailer aims to slow resource loops as part of a broader project targeted to significantly reduce textile waste to landfill. The retailer collaborated with a university partner to pursue circular business model experiments. This paper reports on the approach for a slowing resource loops experiment around building sewing capabilities. Suggestions for future research and practice on circular business model experimentation are included.
Persecution and discrimination on the basis of religion and belief are on the rise in many parts of the world. The fundamental human right of freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) is in crisis. In response to growing persecution and discrimination in recent years, the international community has committed to a broad range of efforts to prevent and combat intolerance based on religion or belief: strengthening policy tools, global advocacy efforts and international coordination to protect FoRB. There is, however, a growing feeling that the current policy approach is failing and that new bottom up strategies, i.e., engaging with local stakeholders and developing activities in response to local concerns, is the way forward.
Building on this insight, a multi-stakeholder consultation process, led by the University of Sussex (FoRB&FPI) and run under the patronage of the 2018 Italian OSCE Chairmanship in partnership with the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Policy Planning Unit) and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR), was established to encourage governments and international organizations to consider interreligious engagement – engagement with religious actors and interreligious dialogue and collaboration – as a vital policy tool to advance FoRB for all, providing recommendations and strategies of how to do so.
The consultation involved 94 policy-makers, experts, religious and civil society representatives from the OSCE region and beyond (see list on page 28), who engaged in three official meetings in Bologna in the context of the European Academy of Religion (March 2018), in London (July 2018) in the UK Parliament at Westminster Palace and at Lambeth Palace and in Warsaw (September 2018) at the OSCE/ODHIR Human Dimension Implementation Meeting. The FoRB&FPI team participated in a number of additional informal meetings, follow-up presentations, discussions and interviews.
Listening Mirrors is a sound art installation and instrument that promotes shared modes of musical expression for musicians and non-musicians alike. The instrument, in its construction and interaction design, investigates ways in which collective sonic expression can be made possible using Audio Augmented Reality technology (AAR) and acoustic mirrors, whilst exploring how such environments promote collaborative sonic expression.
Listening Mirrors is composed of a virtual acoustic mirror (an IOS app built with OpenFrameworks, LibPD with bone-conduction headphones) and a parabolic acoustic mirror (built from aluminium metal sheets, piano wires and 3D printed joints, and brought under tension with double bass strings, bending each piano wire and aluminium sheet to form its parabolic shape), all networked and excited by transducers that stream sound from the real and virtual sonic environments.
Listening Mirrors #01 is a sound art installation and musical instrument that warps and blurs the boundaries between real and designed realities, opening up a new space for participants to explore these two worlds as one. It challenges existing cultural conditioning of perception with new sonic networking systems. It promotes shared modes of musical expression for musicians and non-musicians alike. The instrument, in its construction and interaction design, investigates ways in which collective sonic expression can be made possible using Audio Augmented Reality technology (AAR) and acoustic mirrors, whilst exploring how such environments promote collaborative sonic expression. Listening Mirrors is composed of a virtual acoustic mirror (an IOS app built with OpenFrameworks, LibPD with bone-conduction headphones)and a parabolic acoustic mirror (built from aluminium metal sheets, piano wires and 3D printed joints, and brought under tension with double bass strings, bending each piano wire and aluminium sheet to form its parabolic shape), all networked and excited by transducers that stream sound from the real and virtual sonic environments.
We introduce ongoing developments of Listening Mirrors, a sound art installation and live interface for musician and non-musician alike. The piece, in its construction and interaction design, investigates ways in which collective sonic expression can be made possible using Audio Augmented Reality technology (AAR) and acoustic mirrors, whilst asking how such environments promote collective sonic expression.
Vitamins and minerals play multiple functions within the central nervous system which may help to maintain brain health and optimal cognitive functioning. Supplementation of the diet with various vitamins and minerals has been suggested as a means of maintaining cognitive function, or even of preventing dementia, in later life.
An extensively illustrated volume in which art historian Dr Alexandra Loske and astronomer Dr Robert Massey present a rich and curious history of the Earth's Moon. From its violent birth through to the exhilarating story of the Space Race and current exploration efforts, discover the many faces of the Moon and how they have shaped humanity's existence. The book presents eight essays that chart humanity's fascination with and exploration of the Moon, with and additional 32 focus pieces on various themes and key images and objects related to Moon history.
Introduction: Understanding key influences on outcomes for caregivers of people with dementia is hampered by inconsistent conceptualization and measurement of outcomes and limited evidence about the relative impact of different variables. We aimed to address these issues.
Methods: We analyzed data from 1283 caregivers of community-dwelling individuals with mild-to-moderate dementia in the Improving the experience of Dementia and Enhancing Active Life cohort study. We generated a “living well” latent factor from measures of quality of life, satisfaction with life, and well-being. We used structural equation modelling to derive latent variables for 7 domains reflecting caregivers’ perceptions of their personal resources and experiences, and to examine the associations with caregivers’ perceptions of their capability to “live well.”
Results: The domain of psychological characteristics and psychological health was most strongly related to living well [2.53; 95% confidence interval (CI), 2.08-2.97], followed by physical fitness and physical health (1.48; 95% CI, 1.04-1.91) and experiencing caregiving (1.34; 95% CI, 0.99-1.70). Social capitals, assets and resources (0.68; 95% CI, 0.35-1.00) and relationship with the person with dementia (−0.22; 95% CI, −0.41 to −0.03) had smaller, significant associations. Social location (0.28; 95% CI, −0.33 to 0.89) and managing everyday life with dementia (0.06; 95% CI, −0.15 to 0.28) were not significantly associated with living well.
Discussion: These findings demonstrate the importance of supporting caregivers’ psychological and physical health and their ability to develop and maintain positive coping strategies, as well as enabling them to maintain vital social capitals, assets and resources.
Background:
The concept of ‘living well’ is increasingly used to indicate that it is, or should be, possible for a person living with dementia to experience a subjective sense of ‘comfort, function and contentment with life.’ We used a theoretically-derived conceptual framework to investigate capability to ‘live well’ with dementia through identifying the relative contribution of domains associated with the subjective experience of living well.
Methods:
We analysed data from 1550 community-dwelling individuals with mild to moderate dementia participating in the baseline wave of the Improving the experience of Dementia and Enhancing Active Life (IDEAL) cohort study. Subjective perceptions of ability to live well were obtained by generating a living well latent factor from responses on the Quality of Life in Alzheimer’s disease (QoL-AD), Satisfaction with Life and WHO-5 Well-being scales. Multivariate modelling and structural equation modelling was used to investigate variables potentially associated with living well. Variables were grouped into five domains, latent variables were constructed representing Social Location, Capitals, Assets and Resources, Psychological Characteristics and Psychological Health, Physical Fitness and Health, and Managing Everyday Life with Dementia, and associations with living well were examined. All models were adjusted for age, sex and dementia sub-type.
Results:
Considering the domains singly, the Psychological Characteristics and Psychological Health domain was most strongly associated with living well (3.56; 95% CI: 2.25, 4.88), followed by Physical Fitness and Physical Health (1.10, 95% CI: -2.26, 4.47). Effect sizes were smaller for Capitals, Assets and Resources (0.53; 95% CI: -0.66, 1.73), Managing Everyday Life with Dementia (0.34; 95% CI: 0.20, 0.87), and Social Location (-0.12; 95% CI: -5.72, 5.47). Following adjustment for the Psychological Characteristics and Psychological Health domain, other domains did not show independent associations with living well.
Conclusions:
Psychological resources are central to subjective perceptions of living well and offer important targets for immediate intervention. Availability of social and environmental resources, and physical fitness, underpin these positive psychological states, and also offer potential targets for interventions and initiatives aimed at improving the experience of living with dementia.
Angular distortion is a common problem in fusion welding, especially when it comes to thick plates. Despite the fact that various processes and influencing factors have been discussed, the cause of the angular distortion has not been clearly revealed. In this research, the asymmetry of cross-sectional profile along thickness is considered of great importance to the angular distortion. A theoretical model concerning the melting-solidification process in fusion welding was established. An expression of the angular distortion was formulated and then validated by experiments of laser welding 316L stainless steel. The results show that the asymmetric cross-sectional profile is a major contributory factor towards the angular distortion mechanism. The asymmetry of cross-section profile along thickness causes the difference between two bending moments in the lower and upper parts of the joint. This is the difference that drives the angular distortion of the welded part. Besides, the asymmetry of cross-section profile is likely to be influenced by various processes and parameters, thereby changing the angular distortion.
We assess the status of models in which the Higgs is a composite pseudo-Nambu Goldstone boson, in the light of the latest 13 TeV Run 2 Higgs data. Drawing from the extensive Composite Higgs literature, we collect together predictions for the modified couplings of the Higgs, in particular examining the different predictions for κ V and κ F . Despite the variety and increasing complexity of models on the market, we point out that many independent models make identical predictions for these couplings. We then look into further corrections induced by tree-level effects such as mass-mixing and singlet VEVs. We then investigate the compatibility of different models with the data, combining the Run 1 and recent Run 2 LHC data. We obtain a robust limit on the scale f of 600 GeV, with stronger limits for different choices of fermion embeddings. We also discuss how a deficit in a Higgs channel could pinpoint the type of Composite Higgs model responsible for it.
Displaced vertices are relatively unusual signatures for dark matter searches at the LHC. We revisit the model of pseudo-Dirac dark matter (pDDM), which can accommodate the correct relic density, evade direct detection constraints, and generically provide observable collider signatures in the form of displaced vertices. We use this model as a benchmark to illustrate the general techniques involved in the analysis, the complementarity between monojet and displaced vertex searches, and provide a comprehensive study of the current bounds and prospective reach.
This paper presents a structured approach to support the development of self-organized industrial symbiosis, the Toolkit for Industrial Symbiosis. Developed within MAESTRI project, it provides a set of tools and methods to help companies gain value from wasted resources and contributes to MAESTRI goal of advancing the sustainability of European manufacturing and process industry. A participatory approach was taken for its development. The ultimate objective of this work is to encourage companies to change their attitude and consider waste as a resource and potential source for value creation.
Black Women’s Blueprint (BWB), a US-based civil and human rights organization, convened the first Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) addressing Black women’s and girls’ experiences with rape and sexual assault in the US. Led by Black women survivors of rape and sexual assault, the TRC was held at the United Nations (UN) in New York City from 28 April to 1 May 2016 as part of the UN’s International Decade of People of African Descent. The TRC applied an intersectional lens to expose the deep historical roots of sexual/ized violence against Black women, who still today suffer disproportionately high levels of rape and sexual violence but are less likely to have their cases prosecuted, especially if the perpetrator is a state official.
In the following conversation, Farah Tanis, Executive Director of BWB and Chair of the Black Women’s TRC, and Ericka Dixon, Policy Programs Director and TRC testifier, share findings from the Commission that they are currently writing up in the TRC’s final report. They discuss the legacies of chattel slavery, strategies, and challenges in working toward systems of community accountability and safety, promoting healing for survivors, the strategic use of international human rights mechanisms, and language to frame rape and sexual assault against Black women as rape-based torture in “the afterlife of slavery” (Hartman 2007, 6) – and, finally, how to practice self-care.
We consider models where a massive spin-two resonance acts as the mediator between Dark Matter (DM) and the SM particles through the energy-momentum tensor. We examine the effective theory for fermion, vector and scalar DM generated in these models and find novel types of DM-SM interaction never considered before. We identify the effective interactions between DM and the SM quarks when the mediator is integrated out, and match them to the gravitational form factors relevant for spin-independent DM-nucleon scattering. We also discuss the interplay between DM relic density conditions, direct detection bounds and collider searches for the spin-two mediator.
There is general consensus that Nigeria’s inordinate reliance on oil has not had a positive impact on its social and economic development – indeed, that Nigeria has suffered from the ‘resource curse’. In 2009, the National Planning Commission of Nigeria, the custodian of the Vision 20:2020 document as well as the 30-year National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan (NIIMP), which stressed the need for Nigeria to reduce its reliance on hydrocarbons, a crucial element in this goal is Information and Communications Technology. This paper
examines the establishment of the communications satellite industry and its strategic role as critical ICT
backbone infrastructure in driving Nigeria’s national ICT revolution beyond cities and urban areas to unserved
and underserved areas and its growing value chain in key economic sectors of the Nigerian economy and society.
This review investigated whether people with mild cognitive impairment can reduce their risk of developing dementia, or can prevent their memory or other thinking skills from deteriorating further, by taking vitamin or mineral supplements.
The primary aim of this thesis is to investigate the effects of single and cumulative family-related adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on affective problems (disorders and symptoms) across the life course. Chapter 1 represents a general introduction into the prevalence, development and stability of affective problems across the life course, outlines key theories and approaches that address the development of affective problems, and highlights the role of early life risk factors in the onset and stability of these problems. Chapter 2 focuses on systematically reviewing the evidence from prospective studies for the role of single (e.g. parental divorce, parental psychopathology, childhood maltreatment unspecified, sexual abuse and family conflict) and cumulative ACEs in adult affective problems. Through synthesising effect sizes from 42 eligible studies, findings revealed that ACEs were associated with an increased risk of affective symptoms in adulthood. However the strength of the association varied, with sexual abuse, followed by cumulative adversities, being the strongest predictors of affective symptoms in adulthood. These findings show that ACEs pose risk for affective problems beyond childhood and adolescence, and that this risk may vary depending on the type and number of ACEs.
Chapter 3 builds upon this work through exploring the effects of cumulative ACEs on adult affective problems by synthesising the evidence from studies that use various designs (cross-sectional, case-control, and prospective), as well as critically evaluating methodological strengths and limitations of the existing studies, and suggesting new directions for future research. Future studies would benefit from more systematic assessments of ACEs using prospective multi-informant reports, and from utilisation of a developmentally sensitive life course approach to affective symptoms.
Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 extend existing research by utilising longitudinal prospectively collected data from the Medical Research Council (MRC) National Survey of Health and Development (NSHD). These two empirical studies make a novel contribution to the research field by modelling life course profiles of affective symptoms across a period of more than 50 years (from age 13 through 69), and by investigating the effects of single and cumulative ACEs on affective symptoms across the lifespan.
As demonstrated in Chapter 4, a higher cumulative ACE score was associated with affective symptom severity in late adulthood (i.e., at ages 60-64 and 69), but not at earlier ages (i.e., at ages 13, 15, 36, 43, 53). This unexpected finding indicates that the risk of affective symptoms in those who experienced multiple ACEs persists beyond childhood and adolescence, up to late adulthood. Further research is encouraged to explore the effect of cumulative ACEs on affective symptoms across the lifespan using person-centred approaches and to explore risk and resilience mechanisms underlying the association.
In Chapter 5, advanced modelling techniques – latent class analysis (LCA) – were employed to derive life course profiles of affective symptoms, and the effects of 24 single ACEs and their accumulation, in relation to these life course profiles, were investigated. Four life course profiles of affective symptoms were identified: no symptoms, adolescent symptoms only, adult symptoms only, and adolescent and adult symptoms. Four ACEs were significantly associated with affective symptom trajectories, with small effect sizes observed: childhood chronic illness was associated with adult symptoms only; whereas growing up in an overcrowded house and parental poor perceived health were associated with symptoms in adolescence and adulthood. However, no associations were found for twenty of the ACEs tested.
The thesis concludes with the Discussion, which aims to synthesise and summarise the evidence from each study, discuss their key findings and implications, before acknowledging the strengths and limitations of the research area in general, along with providing some suggestions for future research.
Aims
The practical aim of this research project is to create a multi-touch digital puppetry system that simulates shadow theatre environments and translates gestural acts of touch into live and expressive control of virtual shadow figures. The research is focussed on the qualities of movement achievable through the haptics of single and multi-touch control of the digital puppets in the simulation. An associated aim is to create a collaborative environment where multiple performers can control dynamic animation and scenography, and create novel visualisations and narratives.
The conceptual aim is to link traditional and new forms of puppetry seeking cultural significance in the ‘remediation’ of old forms that avail themselves of new haptic resources and collaborative interfaces.
The thesis evaluates related prior art where traditional worlds of shadow performance meet new media, digital projection and 3D simulation, in order to investigate how changing technical contexts transform the potential of shadows as an expressive medium.
Methodology
The thesis uses cultural analysis of relevant documentary material to contextualise the practical work by relating the media archaeology of 2D puppetry—shadows, shadowgraphs and silhouettes—to landmark work in real-time computer graphics and performance animation. The survey considers the work of puppeteers, animators, computer graphics specialists and media artists.
Through practice and an experimental approach to critical digital creativity, the study provides practical evidence of multiple iterations of controllable physics-based animation delivering expressive puppet motion through touch and multiuser interaction. Video sequences of puppet movement and written observational analysis document the intangible aspects of animation in performance. Through re-animation of archival shadow puppets, the study presents an emerging artistic media archaeological method. The major element of this method has been the restoration of a collection of Turkish Karagöz Shadow puppets from the Institut International de la Marionnette (Charleville, France) into a playable digital form.
Results
The thesis presents a developing creative and analytical framework for digital shadow puppetry. It proposes a media archaeological method for working creatively with puppet archives that unlock the kinetic and expressive potential of restored figures. The interaction design introduces novel approaches to puppetry control systems—using spring networks—with objects under physics-simulation that demonstrate emergent expressive qualities. The system facilitates a dance of agency¹ between puppeteer and digital instrument. The practical elements have produced several software iterations and a tool-kit for generating elegant, nuanced multi-touch shadow puppetry. The study presents accidental discoveries—serendipitous benefits of open-ended practical exploration. For instance: the extensible nature of the control system means novel input—other than touch—can provide exciting potential for accessible user interaction, e.g. with gaze duration and eye direction. The study also identifies limitations including the rate of software change and obsolescence, the scope of physics-based animation and failures of simulation.
Originality/value
The work has historical value in that it documents and begins a media archaeology of digital puppetry, an animated phenomenon of increasing academic and commercial interest. The work is of artistic value providing an interactive approach to making digital performance from archival material in the domain of shadow theatre. The work contributes to the electronic heritage of existing puppetry collections.
The study establishes a survey of digital puppetry, setting a research agenda for future studies. Work may proceed to digitise, rig and create collaborative and web-mediated touch-based motion control systems for 2D and 3D puppets. The present study thus provides a solid platform to restore past performances and create new work from old, near forgotten-forms.
¹ Following Andrew Pickering, puppetry is ‘a temporally extended back-and-forth dance of human and non-human agency in which activity and passivity on both sides are reciprocally intertwined’ PICKERING, A. 2010. Material Culture and the Dance of Agency. In: BEAUDRY, M. C. & HICKS, D. (eds.) Oxford Handbook of Material Culture Studies. Oxford University Press..
This thesis asserts the importance of cinemas as influential sites of public emotion within mid-twentieth-century England. It argues that, as institutions, they offered much more than a recreational experience, allowing the formation of emotional communities within an environment which, on an affective level, differed from many other forms of public leisure activity. It combines approaches from the history of emotions and the history of space to introduce a novel methodological approach which allows a reassessment of the role of cinemas in twentieth-century life. The intersection between space and emotion is strengthened by using the records of Mass Observation, an archive imbued with powerful emotional narratives. In conjunction with two case studies of cinemas in Brighton and Bolton, which offer vivid local perspectives on historical cinema-going, the thesis argues that cinemas allowed cinema-goers to enhance, suspend, or even invert, their emotional comportment. This was permitted within a physical environment which fostered a hazy emotionality attractive to many people wishing to escape the dominant social codes of the age, such as the much-debated “stiff-upper-lip”.
The thesis suggests that whilst cinema-going was a universal activity, the economies of different towns affected the types of cinemas and the emotional landscapes within. It also highlights how cinemas were caught up in contemporary debates on working-class passivity, the considerable strains affecting the emotions of the nation’s youth, the face of the modern, and the value of emotional authenticity. Public emotion within the cinema auditorium was moulded by many factors, including gender, the darkness of the space, the reactions of one’s fellow patrons, film taste, and the emotional ambiguity of the space. The case of mid-century cinema-going reveals how public emotion developed in England within the context of mass culture, straddling a permeable line and oscillating between the private and the communal in spaces such as the cinema, allowing people to develop and contest their sense of emotional self.
The major objective of this thesis is to provide an alternative to the predominant model of the Western urban home, arguing that it is more detrimental than beneficial to its inhabitants.
In order to achieve this, it first explores the development of home through a genealogical analysis. It then considers the concepts with which it is traditionally connected, such as those of identity, safety, privacy and satisfaction, supporting that the idealised home hides numerous issues of concern (e.g. class and sex inequalities, physical and psychological violence). In order to form a more comprehensive picture, the thesis draws on different philosophical approaches discussing the idea of home, while it explores a variety of contemporary habitation and home-making practices (e.g. smart and second homes, new technologies inside the house, home and consumerism).
The normative and overly-idealised domestic model, promoted in Western urban societies, is presented as detrimental both on a personal and on a social level. Therefore, alternatives are explored in Adorno’s ‘Hotel Room’, Jameson’s ‘Dirty Realism’ and Deleuze and Guattari’s ‘Nomadology’. The lack of viability characterising the abovementioned proposals leads to the examination of the Deleuzoguattarian concept of the Body without Organs; the home as a BwO provides the contemporary agents with the tools to reconstruct an autonomous space where they can recreate their personal discourse and influence the social ground accordingly.
Through the analysis of home this thesis explores how and why it has been appropriated by systemic forces and highlights a very serious issue: the fact that our personal space is no longer personal. Simultaneously, a common concern of feminist and post-structuralist background is addressed regarding the process of self-redefinition and the ways to approach it. The response entails a reconstructed autonomous home with a respective influence on the public sphere.
Asking unanticipated questions in investigative interviews can elicit differences in the verbal behaviour of truth-tellers and liars: When faced with unanticipated questions, liars give less detailed and consistent responses than truth-tellers. Do such differences in verbal behaviour lead to an improvement in the accuracy of interviewers’ veracity judgements? Two empirical studies evaluated the efficacy of the unanticipated questions technique. Experiment 1 compared two types of unanticipated questions (questions regarding the planning of a task and questions regarding the specific spatial and temporal details associated with the task), assessing the veracity judgements of interviewers and verbal content of interviewees’ responses. Experiment 2 assessed veracity judgements of independent observers. Overall, the results provide little support for the technique. For interviewers, unanticipated questions failed to improve veracity judgement accuracy above chance. Reality monitoring analysis revealed qualitatively distinct information in the responses to the two unanticipated question types, though little distinction between the responses of truth-tellers and liars. Accuracy for observers was greater when judging transcripts of unanticipated questions, and this effect was stronger for spatial and temporal questions than planning questions. The benefits of unanticipated questioning appear limited to post-interview situations. Furthermore, the type of unanticipated question affects both the type of information gathered and the ability to detect deceit.
Dissolution enhancement of poorly water soluble drugs is a major challenge in pharmaceutical industry. The aim of this study is to fabricate curcumin nanoparticles by antisolvent crystallization in the presence of PVP-K30 or HPMC with various concentrations as a stabilizer. The effect of high pressure homogenization on properties of curcumin particles is also investigated in this study. The antisolvent crystallization method followed by freeze drying (CRS-FD) and also antisolvent crystallization and high pressure homogenization followed by freeze drying (HPH-FD) were employed to modify curcumin particles. Physical mixtures of the drug and additives were also prepared for comparison purposes. The solid state analysis (DSC, XRPD and FT-IR studies), particle size measurement, morphological analysis, saturation solubility and dissolution behavior of the samples were investigated. The curcumin crystallized without using stabilizer produced polymorph 2 curcumin with lower crystallinity and higher solubility. The samples obtained in the presence of stabilizers showed higher solubility compared to its physical mixtures counterpart. It was found that the stabilizers used in the current study were capable of inhibiting the crystal growth of particles during crystallization. High pressure homogenizer method generated smaller particles compared to those samples that were not subjected to high pressure homogenizer (for example, 2748 nm for 5% PVP CRS-FD sample and 706 nm for 5% PVP HPH-FD sample). Particles obtained via HPH showed better solubility and dissolution rate compared to those samples that HPH was not employed (for example, the saturated solubility of 25% PVP CRS-FD sample was near 2 μg/ml while this amount was approximately 4.3 μg/ml for 25% HPH-FD sample. The effect of high pressure homogenization on dissolution rate is more pronounced for samples with lower stabilizer ratio. The samples prepared with high pressure homogenizer using 50% PVP showed 25-fold higher solubility compared to untreated curcumin. Generally, it can be concluded that the method of preparation, selection of suitable stabilizer and concentration of stabilizer play a critical role on particle size and dissolution rate of curcumin.
Since 1990s, the world has seen a lot of advances in providing humanitarian aid through sophisticated logistics operations. The current consensus seems to be that humanitarian relief organizations (HROs) can improve their relief operations by collaborating with logistics service providers (CLSPs) in the commercial sector. The question remains: how can HROs select the most appropriate CLSP for disaster preparation? Despite its practical significance, no explicit effort has been done to identify the criteria/factors in prioritising and selecting a CLSP for disaster relief. The present study aims to address this gap by consolidating the list of criteria from a socio-technical systems (STS) perspective. Then, to handle the interdependence among the criteria derived from the STS, we develop a hybrid multi-criteria decision making model for CLSP selection in the disaster preparedness stage. The proposed model is then evaluated by a real-life case study, providing insights into the decision-makers in both HROs and CLSPs.
Generally, DPI formulations show low fine particle fraction (FPF) due to poor detachment of drug particles from carrier during inhalation. L-Leucine, with varying concentrations (ranging from 0 to 10% w/w), were introduced into a 60%w/v mannitol solution where the solutions were then spray dried to achieve a new processed carrier. The spray dried samples were blended with Albuterol sulfate to determine the efficacy of their aerosolization performance. Analyzing each formulation was completed via the implementation of numerous analytical techniques such as particle size distribution analysis via laser diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electron microscope (SEM), powder X-Ray diffraction (PXRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, and an in vitro deposition study. It was shown the concentration of leucine in spray dried is really crucial to achieve the highest FPF possible. The highest FPF was obtained for the samples containing 10% w/w leucine which was 52.96±5.21%. It was interesting to note that the presence of leucine produced different polymorphic forms for mannitol. Moreover, through this study, the authors were able to conclude that mannitol can serve as an alternative carrier in DPI formulations containing Albuterol sulfate tailored for lactose intolerant patients.
That the public distrusts politicians is prevalent in both polling and academic literature (Uberoi & Apostolova, 2017; van der Meer, 2017; YouGov, 2017a, 2017b). Whether it's true that politicians cannot actually be trusted is really immaterial. If McCombs (2004) and Lippman (1922) are correct, and the media has an enormous impact on public opinion simply by establishing this dire narrative, then the perception of mistrust has become fact. Citizens are disengaged, misinformed, and weary. Politicians issue statements to meet political expediencies. Trust is a critical component of democracy, and only by behaving in a substantively new manner can politicians restore it. The irony is that this image cannot be artificially constructed; they must behave naturally and re-introduce themselves to a public sceptical of media training and spin. To restore trust they must present themselves as they truly are. They must behave authentically.
This thesis examines the tweets made by UK MPs during 2011 and 2012 (n=774,467) for evidence of authenticity and establishes behavioural models that identify authentic talk in large Twitter datasets. The analytical .framework that defines authenticity and informs the content analysis is broadly based on the prior work examining authentic behaviour in reality TV conducted by Coleman (2006) that reveals performative characteristics that audiences are drawn to; Hall's (2009) examination of the good and bad effects of mediated communication on reality TV audiences; Liebes's (2001) examination of sincerity and humility in the performance of authenticity by politicians; Montgomery's (2001b) work examining the presence of authenticity in the press behaviour of UK MPs and his examination of Goffman's relevance to mediated communication (Montgomery, 2001a). This study also challenges Goffman's Dramaturgical theory which positions public communication either on stage or backstage by suggesting that the backstage is now performed onstage (Goffman, 1959, 1981). Additionally, this content analysis is informed by Henneberg and Scammell's examination of how competing perceptions of democratic theory can be used to evaluate a politician's political marketing techniques (Henneberg, Scammell, & O'Shaughnessy, 2009) and positions the behavioural models within these techniques. It is also important to note that the 774,467 tweets subjected to a quantitative and qualitative content analysis, as far as can be established, is the only large-scale longitudinal study of parliamentary Twitter behaviour.
This study's contribution to knowledge is:
1. to examine of all the tweets produced by UK MPs between 2011-2012 (n=774,467) for evidence of authentic talk;
2. to memorialize their Twitter usage;
3. to establish behavioural models for identifying the presence of authenticity in the Twitter behaviour of politicians;
4. to organize these MPs into these new behavioural models;
5. to develop a mixed method research design for locating this behaviour in large sets of Twitter metadata.
Works Cited
Coleman, S. (2006). How the other half votes: Big Brother viewers and the 2005 general election. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 9(4), 457-479. doi: 10.1177 /1367877906069895
Goffman, E. (1959). The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.
Goffman, E. {1981). Forms of talk: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Hall, A. (2009). Perceptions of the Authenticity of Reality Programs and Their Relationships to Audience Involvement, Enjoyment, and Perceived Learning. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 53(4), 515 - 531.
Henneberg, S. C., Scammell, M., & O'Shaughnessy, N. J. {2009). Political marketing management and theories of democracy. Marketing Theory, 9(2), 165-188.
doi:10.1177 /1470593109103060
Liebes, T. (2001). "Look me straight in the eye," the political discourse of authenticity,
spontaneity, and sincerity. The Communication Review, 4(4), 499 - 510.
Lippman, W. (1922). Public Opinion. New York: Free Press.
Mccombs, M. E. (2004). Setting the agenda: the mass media and public opinion.
Montgomery, M. (2001a). Defining 'authentic talk'. Discourse Studies, 3(4), 397-405.
Montgomery, M. {2001b). The uses of authenticity: "Speaking from experience" in a U.K.
election broadcast. The Communication Review, 4(4), 447 - 462.
Uberoi, E., & Apostolova, V. {2017). House of Commons Key Issues 2017: Political dis)engagement. London: House of Commons Retrieved from https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/key-issues/political-disengagement/.
van der Meer, T. W. G. (2017). Political Trust and the "Crisis of Democracy". In Oxford
Research Encyclopedia - Politics: Oxford University Press.
YouGov. (2017a). The problem of trust. Retrieved from
https://yougov.co.uk/news/2012/11/13/problem-trust/
YouGov. (2017b). YouGov Trust Tracker. Retrieved from yougov.co.uk:
https://yougov.co.uk/news/2012/11/13/problem-trust/
This article argues that while Foucauldian security studies (FSS) scholarship on the biopolitics of security and liberal war has not ignored racism, these works largely replicate Foucault's whitewashing of the raciality and coloniality of modern power and violence. Drawing on Black, indigenous, postcolonial and decolonial studies, we show how Foucault's genealogy of biopower rests on an unspecified concept of the “human,” failing to account for how notions of “human” were constituted through the savage and slave other, how enslaved people were rendered into things, and how punitive, sovereign violence persists as a (settler) colonial technique of gratuitous, not merely instrumental, violence. FSS exacerbates these problems. This article challenges two core FSS propositions on liberal war: 1. that “human life cannot ever be secured,” which replicates Foucault's Eurocentric reliance on an unspecified “human” as the object of biopolitics; 2. that “everyone is (potentially) dangerous” and thus open to the punitive/lethal dimensions of liberal power, which reduces racism to a sorting process after the establishment of biopolitics and liberal war, rather than a precondition of it. This “methodological Whiteness” (Bhambra 2017a) results in major oversights in FSS empirical genealogies of: state violence, twenty-first-century digital and molecular revolutions, labor, capital, and enslavement.
The following report summarises the activities and discussions at the workshop coordinated by the ESRC Nexus Network at the UCL Institute of Global Prosperity on 1 May 2018. It offers some conclusions and recommendations drawn from the insights provided by the participants, who were all researchers with experience of working on transdisciplinary research projects.
State-of-the-art computer vision systems use frame-based cameras that sample the visual scene as a series of high-resolution images. These are then processed using convolutional neural networks using neurons with continuous outputs. Biological vision systems use a quite different approach, where the eyes (cameras) sample the visual scene continuously, often with a non-uniform resolution, and generate neural spike events in response to changes in the scene. The resulting spatio-temporal patterns of events are then processed through networks of spiking neurons. Such event-based processing offers advantages in terms of focusing constrained resources on the most salient features of the perceived scene, and those advantages should also accrue to engineered vision systems based upon similar principles. Event-based vision sensors, and event-based processing exemplified by the SpiNNaker (Spiking Neural Network Architecture) machine, can be used to model the biological vision pathway at various levels of detail. Here we use this approach to explore structural synaptic plasticity as a possible mechanism whereby biological vision systems may learn the statistics of their inputs without supervision, pointing the way to engineered vision systems with similar online learning capabilities.
The visual system extracts statistical information about the environment to manage noise, ensure perceptual stability and predict future events. These summary representations are able to inform sensory information received in subsequent times or in other regions of the visual field. This has been conceptualized in terms of Bayesian inference within the predictive coding framework. Nevertheless, contextual influence can also drive anti-Bayesian biases, as in sensory adaptation.
Variance is a crucial statistical descriptor, yet relatively overlooked in ensemble vision research. We assessed the mechanisms whereby visual variability exerts and is subject to contextual modulation over time and across the visual field.
Perceptual biases over time: serial dependence (SD)
In a series of visual experiments, we examined SD on visual variance: the influence of the variance of previously presented ensembles in current variance judgments. We encountered two history-dependent biases: a positive bias exerted by recent presentations and a negative bias driven by less recent context. Contrary to claims that positive SD has low-level sensory origin, our experiments demonstrated a decisional bias requiring perceptual awareness and subject to time and capacity limitations. The negative bias was likely of sensory origin (adaptation).
A two-layer model combining population codes and Bayesian Kalman filters replicated positive and negative effects in their approximate timescales.
Perceptual biases across the visual field: Uniformity Illusion (UI)
In UI, presentation of a pattern with uniform foveal components and more variable peripheral elements results in the latter taking the appearance of the foveal input. We studied the mechanistic basis of UI on orientation and determined that it arose without changes in sensory encoding at the primary visual cortex.
Conclusions
We studied perceptual biases on visual variability across space and time and found a combination of sensory negative and positive decisional biases, likely to handle the balance between change sensitivity and perceptual stability.
The Roma constitute the largest ethnic minority in Europe and have a long history of social immobility, marginalisation, exclusion and discrimination. Despite the many political attempts to address these issues, the Roma people in Serbia, as in other countries in the Central and Eastern Europe region, remain disadvantaged in key areas such as health, housing, employment and education. In terms of education today, Roma people remain highly under-represented at the higher education level throughout Serbia: only 2% of the total number of the Roma population ever attend higher education, and the number of Roma in Serbia with university degree only 0.7% (Serbian National Strategy for Roma Inclusion, 2016). More precisely, the participation of Roma in the student population is 16 times smaller than their Serbian peers (EQUIED, 2012). Regarding research on Serbian Roma education, there has been a lot of interest among academics in exploring how the Roma communities in Serbia fare in school-level education (e.g. Milivojevic, 2008). However, there has been little focus on Roma people’s experiences of access to higher education (Rakovic, 2009). My research is an attempt to fill this gap. The crucial issue of war and displacement aside, Serbia can serve as a case study informing policy and practice in the wider Central and Eastern European region.
My doctoral dissertation presents findings in response to the following research question: ‘How do Roma students as an ethnic minority, succeed in accessing higher education in Serbia?’ My research employs an intersectional, postcolonial feminist theoretical approach, and a qualitative life history methodological approach. The rationale for this is that patriarchal oppression within Roma communities intersects with institutionalised anti-Roma racism to create a multidimensional modality of oppression for Roma women and men. Marginalisation and loss of voice affecting the Roma also make this approach relevant, as does the status of the Roma as a ‘colonised’ people in the wider Serbian society. My qualitative research involves 10 life history interviews to explore Roma students’ lived experiences and 5 semi-structured interviews with Roma activists, Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) workers and professionals. I undertake this research as an ethnical feminist Roma woman from an economically disadvantaged background, and one of only a tiny handful of Roma to have gone this far in my higher education journey. During this journey, I have developed a feminist consciousness with a position on power and patriarchy that challenges both the socio-cultural practices within my Roma community, and Serbian anti-Roma institutional and social racism – especially in the higher education sector. The theory underpinning this research has its roots in intersectionality and postcolonial feminism as developed by feminists of colour in the US and the Global South during the 1980s and ‘90s, but also builds on the adaptation of these theories to the Roma context undertaken by Roma and non-Roma feminist activists since 2005.
Drawing on Sara Ahmed’s (2012) theories of difference, inclusion and institutional racism, my research shows how conceptions of diversity and inclusion play out in the Serbian context in relation to Roma students’ access to and experiences of higher education. Specifically, the findings show how the contexts of profound poverty (Ringold et al., 2005), institutional and social experiences of racism, and the gendered natured of marginalisation of the Roma people all interact to affect Roma students’ access to higher education. My research further shows what Roma students have found useful in accessing higher education. My research thus explores how the sociocultural practices of these students influence their access to higher education, with a focus on Roma students’ aspiration. It highlights the importance of widening participation of Roma in higher education as an integral element in countering Roma marginalisation in Serbia, improving Roma people’s welfare and of enabling their social mobility and inclusion (Morley et al, 2010).
Novel acridine ligands were synthesized and converted to the corresponding cationic gold(I) complexes to provide new fluorescent tools for the study of their mechanism of action using confocal microscopy. These complexes were characterized by X-ray crystallography and their activity was evaluated against liver hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells. A new series of cationic gold(I) pyrazole complexes were also prepared in excellent yields as their perchlorate salts. Results of cell viability assays show that these novel complexes have good cytotoxic properties against the human HepG2 cancer cell line. These complexes showed promising anti-cancer activities and pyrazoles have never been tested against this cell line in prior art. The regioselectivity of the complexation is also discussed in regards to the substitution pattern of the pyrazoles. The investigation of the reactivity of gold(I) with triphenyl phosphine and trihexyl phosphine provided an insight into the behaviour of cationic gold(I) in solution. The exchange of ligands could be observed at low temperature (-80 oC) with higher coordination numbers. The photophysical properties of substituted acridine ligands and their complexes have also been investigated. The substituted acridine functionalised by small electronically active groups showed a hypsochromic shift to shorter wavelengths when the conjugated π-system is electron deficient and bathochromic shift to longer wavelengths when the delocalised ring bore electron donating group and electron withdrawing group. Investigations into the effect of halogen substituents indicated a similar trend in the excitation and emission wavelengths. The position of the substitution and the nature of the substituent(s) has been shown to have a great impact on the Stokes shift and the quantum yield of the compounds. For instance, the addition of one or more methoxy groups lead to bathochromic shift which also reflects in the Stokes shift of the acridine derivatives.
One of the oldest firms in the City of London, and a pillar of modern finance throughout its history, is Lloyd's insurance. In this presentation, Paul Gilbert explores how the firm's growth was based in part on the transatlantic slave trade, and the way that these colonial legacies continue to shape the way the financial realm measures and manages risk in the international field. It was originally recorded at the Cornhill Water Pump located right beside the historic London Stock Exchange and in the shadow of Lloyd's iconic skyscraper.
Integrated Information Theory (IIT) is a prominent theory of consciousness that has at its centre measures that quantify the extent to which a system generates more information than the sum of its parts. While several candidate measures of integrated information (‘Φ’) now exist, little is known about how they compare, especially in terms of their behaviour on non-trivial network models. In this article we provide clear and intuitive descriptions of six distinct candidate measures. We then explore the properties of each of these measures in simulation on networks consisting of eight interacting nodes, animated with Gaussian linear autoregressive dynamics. We find a striking diversity in the behaviour of these measures – no two measures show consistent agreement across all analyses. Further, only a subset of the measures appear to genuinely reflect some form of dynamical complexity, in the sense of simultaneous segregation and integration between system components. Our results help guide the operationalisation of IIT and advance the development of measures of integrated information that may have more general applicability.
Teacher education programmes seek to provide student teachers with the knowledge and expertise to provide qualtiy teaching and learning in a diverse and challenging school context. Learning to Teach in post-apartheid South Africa: Student Teachers' Encounters with Initial Teacher Education addresses the complexities of teacher education programmes in preparing students to teach. It adds to the knowledge about teacher education, contributing critical understanding of education and the schooling system. The book provides important insights to deepen researchers, academics, teacher education providers, policy-makers, and students' understanding of the importance to address equity, redress, and quality in South African educaiton in a post-apartheid era. This book further helps to build student teachers' capacities to work creatively and to become active and critical agents of transformation. It ultimately outlines the challenges face in designing and delivering successful Inital Teacher Education programmes, and the impact this has on delivering equitable and qualtiy education.
Background
Efforts to establish the 2015 baseline and monitor early implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) highlight both great potential for and threats to improving health by 2030. To fully deliver on the SDG aim of “leaving no one behind”, it is increasingly important to examine the health-related SDGs beyond national-level estimates. As part of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2017 (GBD 2017), we measured progress on 41 of 52 health-related SDG indicators and estimated the health-related SDG index for 195 countries and territories for the period 1990–2017, projected indicators to 2030, and analysed global attainment.
Methods
We measured progress on 41 health-related SDG indicators from 1990 to 2017, an increase of four indicators since GBD 2016 (new indicators were health worker density, sexual violence by non-intimate partners, population census status, and prevalence of physical and sexual violence [reported separately]). We also improved the measurement of several previously reported indicators. We constructed national-level estimates and, for a subset of health-related SDGs, examined indicator-level differences by sex and Socio-demographic Index (SDI) quintile. We also did subnational assessments of performance for selected countries. To construct the health-related SDG index, we transformed the value for each indicator on a scale of 0–100, with 0 as the 2·5th percentile and 100 as the 97·5th percentile of 1000 draws calculated from 1990 to 2030, and took the geometric mean of the scaled indicators by target. To generate projections through 2030, we used a forecasting framework that drew estimates from the broader GBD study and used weighted averages of indicator-specific and country-specific annualised rates of change from 1990 to 2017 to inform future estimates. We assessed attainment of indicators with defined targets in two ways: first, using mean values projected for 2030, and then using the probability of attainment in 2030 calculated from 1000 draws. We also did a global attainment analysis of the feasibility of attaining SDG targets on the basis of past trends. Using 2015 global averages of indicators with defined SDG targets, we calculated the global annualised rates of change required from 2015 to 2030 to meet these targets, and then identified in what percentiles the required global annualised rates of change fell in the distribution of country-level rates of change from 1990 to 2015. We took the mean of these global percentile values across indicators and applied the past rate of change at this mean global percentile to all health-related SDG indicators, irrespective of target definition, to estimate the equivalent 2030 global average value and percentage change from 2015 to 2030 for each indicator.
Findings
The global median health-related SDG index in 2017 was 59·4 (IQR 35·4–67·3), ranging from a low of 11·6 (95% uncertainty interval 9·6–14·0) to a high of 84·9 (83·1–86·7). SDG index values in countries assessed at the subnational level varied substantially, particularly in China and India, although scores in Japan and the UK were more homogeneous. Indicators also varied by SDI quintile and sex, with males having worse outcomes than females for non-communicable disease (NCD) mortality, alcohol use, and smoking, among others. Most countries were projected to have a higher health-related SDG index in 2030 than in 2017, while country-level probabilities of attainment by 2030 varied widely by indicator. Under-5 mortality, neonatal mortality, maternal mortality ratio, and malaria indicators had the most countries with at least 95% probability of target attainment. Other indicators, including NCD mortality and suicide mortality, had no countries projected to meet corresponding SDG targets on the basis of projected mean values for 2030 but showed some probability of attainment by 2030. For some indicators, including child malnutrition, several infectious diseases, and most violence measures, the annualised rates of change required to meet SDG targets far exceeded the pace of progress achieved by any country in the recent past. We found that applying the mean global annualised rate of change to indicators without defined targets would equate to about 19% and 22% reductions in global smoking and alcohol consumption, respectively; a 47% decline in adolescent birth rates; and a more than 85% increase in health worker density per 1000 population by 2030.
Interpretation
The GBD study offers a unique, robust platform for monitoring the health-related SDGs across demographic and geographic dimensions. Our findings underscore the importance of increased collection and analysis of disaggregated data and highlight where more deliberate design or targeting of interventions could accelerate progress in attaining the SDGs. Current projections show that many health-related SDG indicators, NCDs, NCD-related risks, and violence-related indicators will require a concerted shift away from what might have driven past gains—curative interventions in the case of NCDs—towards multisectoral, prevention-oriented policy action and investments to achieve SDG aims. Notably, several targets, if they are to be met by 2030, demand a pace of progress that no country has achieved in the recent past. The future is fundamentally uncertain, and no model can fully predict what breakthroughs or events might alter the course of the SDGs. What is clear is that our actions—or inaction—today will ultimately dictate how close the world, collectively, can get to leaving no one behind by 2030.
Background
The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2017 comparative risk assessment (CRA) is a comprehensive approach to risk factor quantification that offers a useful tool for synthesising evidence on risks and risk–outcome associations. With each annual GBD study, we update the GBD CRA to incorporate improved methods, new risks and risk–outcome pairs, and new data on risk exposure levels and risk–outcome associations.
Methods
We used the CRA framework developed for previous iterations of GBD to estimate levels and trends in exposure, attributable deaths, and attributable disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), by age group, sex, year, and location for 84 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or groups of risks from 1990 to 2017. This study included 476 risk–outcome pairs that met the GBD study criteria for convincing or probable evidence of causation. We extracted relative risk and exposure estimates from 46 749 randomised controlled trials, cohort studies, household surveys, census data, satellite data, and other sources. We used statistical models to pool data, adjust for bias, and incorporate covariates. Using the counterfactual scenario of theoretical minimum risk exposure level (TMREL), we estimated the portion of deaths and DALYs that could be attributed to a given risk. We explored the relationship between development and risk exposure by modelling the relationship between the Socio-demographic Index (SDI) and risk-weighted exposure prevalence and estimated expected levels of exposure and risk-attributable burden by SDI. Finally, we explored temporal changes in risk-attributable DALYs by decomposing those changes into six main component drivers of change as follows: (1) population growth; (2) changes in population age structures; (3) changes in exposure to environmental and occupational risks; (4) changes in exposure to behavioural risks; (5) changes in exposure to metabolic risks; and (6) changes due to all other factors, approximated as the risk-deleted death and DALY rates, where the risk-deleted rate is the rate that would be observed had we reduced the exposure levels to the TMREL for all risk factors included in GBD 2017.
Findings
In 2017, 34·1 million (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 33·3–35·0) deaths and 1·21 billion (1·14–1·28) DALYs were attributable to GBD risk factors. Globally, 61·0% (59·6–62·4) of deaths and 48·3% (46·3–50·2) of DALYs were attributed to the GBD 2017 risk factors. When ranked by risk-attributable DALYs, high systolic blood pressure (SBP) was the leading risk factor, accounting for 10·4 million (9·39–11·5) deaths and 218 million (198–237) DALYs, followed by smoking (7·10 million [6·83–7·37] deaths and 182 million [173–193] DALYs), high fasting plasma glucose (6·53 million [5·23–8·23] deaths and 171 million [144–201] DALYs), high body-mass index (BMI; 4·72 million [2·99–6·70] deaths and 148 million [98·6–202] DALYs), and short gestation for birthweight (1·43 million [1·36–1·51] deaths and 139 million [131–147] DALYs). In total, risk-attributable DALYs declined by 4·9% (3·3–6·5) between 2007 and 2017. In the absence of demographic changes (ie, population growth and ageing), changes in risk exposure and risk-deleted DALYs would have led to a 23·5% decline in DALYs during that period. Conversely, in the absence of changes in risk exposure and risk-deleted DALYs, demographic changes would have led to an 18·6% increase in DALYs during that period. The ratios of observed risk exposure levels to exposure levels expected based on SDI (O/E ratios) increased globally for unsafe drinking water and household air pollution between 1990 and 2017. This result suggests that development is occurring more rapidly than are changes in the underlying risk structure in a population. Conversely, nearly universal declines in O/E ratios for smoking and alcohol use indicate that, for a given SDI, exposure to these risks is declining. In 2017, the leading Level 4 risk factor for age-standardised DALY rates was high SBP in four super-regions: central Europe, eastern Europe, and central Asia; north Africa and Middle East; south Asia; and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania. The leading risk factor in the high-income super-region was smoking, in Latin America and Caribbean was high BMI, and in sub-Saharan Africa was unsafe sex. O/E ratios for unsafe sex in sub-Saharan Africa were notably high, and those for alcohol use in north Africa and the Middle East were notably low.
Interpretation
By quantifying levels and trends in exposures to risk factors and the resulting disease burden, this assessment offers insight into where past policy and programme efforts might have been successful and highlights current priorities for public health action. Decreases in behavioural, environmental, and occupational risks have largely offset the effects of population growth and ageing, in relation to trends in absolute burden. Conversely, the combination of increasing metabolic risks and population ageing will probably continue to drive the increasing trends in non-communicable diseases at the global level, which presents both a public health challenge and opportunity. We see considerable spatiotemporal heterogeneity in levels of risk exposure and risk-attributable burden. Although levels of development underlie some of this heterogeneity, O/E ratios show risks for which countries are overperforming or underperforming relative to their level of development. As such, these ratios provide a benchmarking tool to help to focus local decision making. Our findings reinforce the importance of both risk exposure monitoring and epidemiological research to assess causal connections between risks and health outcomes, and they highlight the usefulness of the GBD study in synthesising data to draw comprehensive and robust conclusions that help to inform good policy and strategic health planning
Background
The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2017 comparative risk assessment (CRA) is a comprehensive approach to risk factor quantification that offers a useful tool for synthesising evidence on risks and risk–outcome associations. With each annual GBD study, we update the GBD CRA to incorporate improved methods, new risks and risk–outcome pairs, and new data on risk exposure levels and risk–outcome associations.
Methods
We used the CRA framework developed for previous iterations of GBD to estimate levels and trends in exposure, attributable deaths, and attributable disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), by age group, sex, year, and location for 84 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or groups of risks from 1990 to 2017. This study included 476 risk–outcome pairs that met the GBD study criteria for convincing or probable evidence of causation. We extracted relative risk and exposure estimates from 46 749 randomised controlled trials, cohort studies, household surveys, census data, satellite data, and other sources. We used statistical models to pool data, adjust for bias, and incorporate covariates. Using the counterfactual scenario of theoretical minimum risk exposure level (TMREL), we estimated the portion of deaths and DALYs that could be attributed to a given risk. We explored the relationship between development and risk exposure by modelling the relationship between the Socio-demographic Index (SDI) and risk-weighted exposure prevalence and estimated expected levels of exposure and risk-attributable burden by SDI. Finally, we explored temporal changes in risk-attributable DALYs by decomposing those changes into six main component drivers of change as follows: (1) population growth; (2) changes in population age structures; (3) changes in exposure to environmental and occupational risks; (4) changes in exposure to behavioural risks; (5) changes in exposure to metabolic risks; and (6) changes due to all other factors, approximated as the risk-deleted death and DALY rates, where the risk-deleted rate is the rate that would be observed had we reduced the exposure levels to the TMREL for all risk factors included in GBD 2017.
Findings
In 2017, 34·1 million (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 33·3–35·0) deaths and 1·21 billion (1·14–1·28) DALYs were attributable to GBD risk factors. Globally, 61·0% (59·6–62·4) of deaths and 48·3% (46·3–50·2) of DALYs were attributed to the GBD 2017 risk factors. When ranked by risk-attributable DALYs, high systolic blood pressure (SBP) was the leading risk factor, accounting for 10·4 million (9·39–11·5) deaths and 218 million (198–237) DALYs, followed by smoking (7·10 million [6·83–7·37] deaths and 182 million [173–193] DALYs), high fasting plasma glucose (6·53 million [5·23–8·23] deaths and 171 million [144–201] DALYs), high body-mass index (BMI; 4·72 million [2·99–6·70] deaths and 148 million [98·6–202] DALYs), and short gestation for birthweight (1·43 million [1·36–1·51] deaths and 139 million [131–147] DALYs). In total, risk-attributable DALYs declined by 4·9% (3·3–6·5) between 2007 and 2017. In the absence of demographic changes (ie, population growth and ageing), changes in risk exposure and risk-deleted DALYs would have led to a 23·5% decline in DALYs during that period. Conversely, in the absence of changes in risk exposure and risk-deleted DALYs, demographic changes would have led to an 18·6% increase in DALYs during that period. The ratios of observed risk exposure levels to exposure levels expected based on SDI (O/E ratios) increased globally for unsafe drinking water and household air pollution between 1990 and 2017. This result suggests that development is occurring more rapidly than are changes in the underlying risk structure in a population. Conversely, nearly universal declines in O/E ratios for smoking and alcohol use indicate that, for a given SDI, exposure to these risks is declining. In 2017, the leading Level 4 risk factor for age-standardised DALY rates was high SBP in four super-regions: central Europe, eastern Europe, and central Asia; north Africa and Middle East; south Asia; and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania. The leading risk factor in the high-income super-region was smoking, in Latin America and Caribbean was high BMI, and in sub-Saharan Africa was unsafe sex. O/E ratios for unsafe sex in sub-Saharan Africa were notably high, and those for alcohol use in north Africa and the Middle East were notably low.
Interpretation
By quantifying levels and trends in exposures to risk factors and the resulting disease burden, this assessment offers insight into where past policy and programme efforts might have been successful and highlights current priorities for public health action. Decreases in behavioural, environmental, and occupational risks have largely offset the effects of population growth and ageing, in relation to trends in absolute burden. Conversely, the combination of increasing metabolic risks and population ageing will probably continue to drive the increasing trends in non-communicable diseases at the global level, which presents both a public health challenge and opportunity. We see considerable spatiotemporal heterogeneity in levels of risk exposure and risk-attributable burden. Although levels of development underlie some of this heterogeneity, O/E ratios show risks for which countries are overperforming or underperforming relative to their level of development. As such, these ratios provide a benchmarking tool to help to focus local decision making. Our findings reinforce the importance of both risk exposure monitoring and epidemiological research to assess causal connections between risks and health outcomes, and they highlight the usefulness of the GBD study in synthesising data to draw comprehensive and robust conclusions that help to inform good policy and strategic health planning
Background
The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2017 (GBD 2017) includes a comprehensive assessment of incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability (YLDs) for 354 causes in 195 countries and territories from 1990 to 2017. Previous GBD studies have shown how the decline of mortality rates from 1990 to 2016 has led to an increase in life expectancy, an ageing global population, and an expansion of the non-fatal burden of disease and injury. These studies have also shown how a substantial portion of the world's population experiences non-fatal health loss with considerable heterogeneity among different causes, locations, ages, and sexes. Ongoing objectives of the GBD study include increasing the level of estimation detail, improving analytical strategies, and increasing the amount of high-quality data.
Methods
We estimated incidence and prevalence for 354 diseases and injuries and 3484 sequelae. We used an updated and extensive body of literature studies, survey data, surveillance data, inpatient admission records, outpatient visit records, and health insurance claims, and additionally used results from cause of death models to inform estimates using a total of 68 781 data sources. Newly available clinical data from India, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Nepal, China, Brazil, Norway, and Italy were incorporated, as well as updated claims data from the USA and new claims data from Taiwan (province of China) and Singapore. We used DisMod-MR 2.1, a Bayesian meta-regression tool, as the main method of estimation, ensuring consistency between rates of incidence, prevalence, remission, and cause of death for each condition. YLDs were estimated as the product of a prevalence estimate and a disability weight for health states of each mutually exclusive sequela, adjusted for comorbidity. We updated the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a summary development indicator of income per capita, years of schooling, and total fertility rate. Additionally, we calculated differences between male and female YLDs to identify divergent trends across sexes. GBD 2017 complies with the Guidelines for Accurate and Transparent Health Estimates Reporting.
Findings
Globally, for females, the causes with the greatest age-standardised prevalence were oral disorders, headache disorders, and haemoglobinopathies and haemolytic anaemias in both 1990 and 2017. For males, the causes with the greatest age-standardised prevalence were oral disorders, headache disorders, and tuberculosis including latent tuberculosis infection in both 1990 and 2017. In terms of YLDs, low back pain, headache disorders, and dietary iron deficiency were the leading Level 3 causes of YLD counts in 1990, whereas low back pain, headache disorders, and depressive disorders were the leading causes in 2017 for both sexes combined. All-cause age-standardised YLD rates decreased by 3·9% (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 3·1–4·6) from 1990 to 2017; however, the all-age YLD rate increased by 7·2% (6·0–8·4) while the total sum of global YLDs increased from 562 million (421–723) to 853 million (642–1100). The increases for males and females were similar, with increases in all-age YLD rates of 7·9% (6·6–9·2) for males and 6·5% (5·4–7·7) for females. We found significant differences between males and females in terms of age-standardised prevalence estimates for multiple causes. The causes with the greatest relative differences between sexes in 2017 included substance use disorders (3018 cases [95% UI 2782–3252] per 100 000 in males vs s1400 [1279–1524] per 100 000 in females), transport injuries (3322 [3082–3583] vs 2336 [2154–2535]), and self-harm and interpersonal violence (3265 [2943–3630] vs 5643 [5057–6302]).
Interpretation
Global all-cause age-standardised YLD rates have improved only slightly over a period spanning nearly three decades. However, the magnitude of the non-fatal disease burden has expanded globally, with increasing numbers of people who have a wide spectrum of conditions. A subset of conditions has remained globally pervasive since 1990, whereas other conditions have displayed more dynamic trends, with different ages, sexes, and geographies across the globe experiencing varying burdens and trends of health loss. This study emphasises how global improvements in premature mortality for select conditions have led to older populations with complex and potentially expensive diseases, yet also highlights global achievements in certain domains of disease and injury.
Background
Global development goals increasingly rely on country-specific estimates for benchmarking a nation's progress. To meet this need, the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2016 estimated global, regional, national, and, for selected locations, subnational cause-specific mortality beginning in the year 1980. Here we report an update to that study, making use of newly available data and improved methods. GBD 2017 provides a comprehensive assessment of cause-specific mortality for 282 causes in 195 countries and territories from 1980 to 2017.
Methods
The causes of death database is composed of vital registration (VR), verbal autopsy (VA), registry, survey, police, and surveillance data. GBD 2017 added ten VA studies, 127 country-years of VR data, 502 cancer-registry country-years, and an additional surveillance country-year. Expansions of the GBD cause of death hierarchy resulted in 18 additional causes estimated for GBD 2017. Newly available data led to subnational estimates for five additional countries—Ethiopia, Iran, New Zealand, Norway, and Russia. Deaths assigned International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes for non-specific, implausible, or intermediate causes of death were reassigned to underlying causes by redistribution algorithms that were incorporated into uncertainty estimation. We used statistical modelling tools developed for GBD, including the Cause of Death Ensemble model (CODEm), to generate cause fractions and cause-specific death rates for each location, year, age, and sex. Instead of using UN estimates as in previous versions, GBD 2017 independently estimated population size and fertility rate for all locations. Years of life lost (YLLs) were then calculated as the sum of each death multiplied by the standard life expectancy at each age. All rates reported here are age-standardised.
Findings
At the broadest grouping of causes of death (Level 1), non-communicable diseases (NCDs) comprised the greatest fraction of deaths, contributing to 73·4% (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 72·5–74·1) of total deaths in 2017, while communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional (CMNN) causes accounted for 18·6% (17·9–19·6), and injuries 8·0% (7·7–8·2). Total numbers of deaths from NCD causes increased from 2007 to 2017 by 22·7% (21·5–23·9), representing an additional 7·61 million (7·20–8·01) deaths estimated in 2017 versus 2007. The death rate from NCDs decreased globally by 7·9% (7·0–8·8). The number of deaths for CMNN causes decreased by 22·2% (20·0–24·0) and the death rate by 31·8% (30·1–33·3). Total deaths from injuries increased by 2·3% (0·5–4·0) between 2007 and 2017, and the death rate from injuries decreased by 13·7% (12·2–15·1) to 57·9 deaths (55·9–59·2) per 100 000 in 2017. Deaths from substance use disorders also increased, rising from 284 000 deaths (268 000–289 000) globally in 2007 to 352 000 (334 000–363 000) in 2017. Between 2007 and 2017, total deaths from conflict and terrorism increased by 118·0% (88·8–148·6). A greater reduction in total deaths and death rates was observed for some CMNN causes among children younger than 5 years than for older adults, such as a 36·4% (32·2–40·6) reduction in deaths from lower respiratory infections for children younger than 5 years compared with a 33·6% (31·2–36·1) increase in adults older than 70 years. Globally, the number of deaths was greater for men than for women at most ages in 2017, except at ages older than 85 years. Trends in global YLLs reflect an epidemiological transition, with decreases in total YLLs from enteric infections, respiratory infections and tuberculosis, and maternal and neonatal disorders between 1990 and 2017; these were generally greater in magnitude at the lowest levels of the Socio-demographic Index (SDI). At the same time, there were large increases in YLLs from neoplasms and cardiovascular diseases. YLL rates decreased across the five leading Level 2 causes in all SDI quintiles. The leading causes of YLLs in 1990—neonatal disorders, lower respiratory infections, and diarrhoeal diseases—were ranked second, fourth, and fifth, in 2017. Meanwhile, estimated YLLs increased for ischaemic heart disease (ranked first in 2017) and stroke (ranked third), even though YLL rates decreased. Population growth contributed to increased total deaths across the 20 leading Level 2 causes of mortality between 2007 and 2017. Decreases in the cause-specific mortality rate reduced the effect of population growth for all but three causes: substance use disorders, neurological disorders, and skin and subcutaneous diseases.
Interpretation
Improvements in global health have been unevenly distributed among populations. Deaths due to injuries, substance use disorders, armed conflict and terrorism, neoplasms, and cardiovascular disease are expanding threats to global health. For causes of death such as lower respiratory and enteric infections, more rapid progress occurred for children than for the oldest adults, and there is continuing disparity in mortality rates by sex across age groups. Reductions in the death rate of some common diseases are themselves slowing or have ceased, primarily for NCDs, and the death rate for selected causes has increased in the past decade.
Background
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and spinal cord injury (SCI) are increasingly recognised as global health priorities in view of the preventability of most injuries and the complex and expensive medical care they necessitate. We aimed to measure the incidence, prevalence, and years of life lived with disability (YLDs) for TBI and SCI from all causes of injury in every country, to describe how these measures have changed between 1990 and 2016, and to estimate the proportion of TBI and SCI cases caused by different types of injury.
Methods
We used results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors (GBD) Study 2016 to measure the global, regional, and national burden of TBI and SCI by age and sex. We measured the incidence and prevalence of all causes of injury requiring medical care in inpatient and outpatient records, literature studies, and survey data. By use of clinical record data, we estimated the proportion of each cause of injury that required medical care that would result in TBI or SCI being considered as the nature of injury. We used literature studies to establish standardised mortality ratios and applied differential equations to convert incidence to prevalence of long-term disability. Finally, we applied GBD disability weights to calculate YLDs. We used a Bayesian meta-regression tool for epidemiological modelling, used cause-specific mortality rates for non-fatal estimation, and adjusted our results for disability experienced with comorbid conditions. We also analysed results on the basis of the Socio-demographic Index, a compound measure of income per capita, education, and fertility.
Findings
In 2016, there were 27·08 million (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 24·30–30·30 million) new cases of TBI and 0·93 million (0·78–1·16 million) new cases of SCI, with age-standardised incidence rates of 369 (331–412) per 100 000 population for TBI and 13 (11–16) per 100 000 for SCI. In 2016, the number of prevalent cases of TBI was 55·50 million (53·40–57·62 million) and of SCI was 27·04 million (24·98–30·15 million). From 1990 to 2016, the age-standardised prevalence of TBI increased by 8·4% (95% UI 7·7 to 9·2), whereas that of SCI did not change significantly (−0·2% [–2·1 to 2·7]). Age-standardised incidence rates increased by 3·6% (1·8 to 5·5) for TBI, but did not change significantly for SCI (−3·6% [–7·4 to 4·0]). TBI caused 8·1 million (95% UI 6·0–10·4 million) YLDs and SCI caused 9·5 million (6·7–12·4 million) YLDs in 2016, corresponding to age-standardised rates of 111 (82–141) per 100 000 for TBI and 130 (90–170) per 100 000 for SCI. Falls and road injuries were the leading causes of new cases of TBI and SCI in most regions.
Interpretation
TBI and SCI constitute a considerable portion of the global injury burden and are caused primarily by falls and road injuries. The increase in incidence of TBI over time might continue in view of increases in population density, population ageing, and increasing use of motor vehicles, motorcycles, and bicycles. The number of individuals living with SCI is expected to increase in view of population growth, which is concerning because of the specialised care that people with SCI can require. Our study was limited by data sparsity in some regions, and it will be important to invest greater resources in collection of data for TBI and SCI to improve the accuracy of future assessments.
Background
How long one lives, how many years of life are spent in good and poor health, and how the population's state of health and leading causes of disability change over time all have implications for policy, planning, and provision of services. We comparatively assessed the patterns and trends of healthy life expectancy (HALE), which quantifies the number of years of life expected to be lived in good health, and the complementary measure of disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), a composite measure of disease burden capturing both premature mortality and prevalence and severity of ill health, for 359 diseases and injuries for 195 countries and territories over the past 28 years.
Methods
We used data for age-specific mortality rates, years of life lost (YLLs) due to premature mortality, and years lived with disability (YLDs) from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2017 to calculate HALE and DALYs from 1990 to 2017. We calculated HALE using age-specific mortality rates and YLDs per capita for each location, age, sex, and year. We calculated DALYs for 359 causes as the sum of YLLs and YLDs. We assessed how observed HALE and DALYs differed by country and sex from expected trends based on Socio-demographic Index (SDI). We also analysed HALE by decomposing years of life gained into years spent in good health and in poor health, between 1990 and 2017, and extra years lived by females compared with males.
Findings
Globally, from 1990 to 2017, life expectancy at birth increased by 7·4 years (95% uncertainty interval 7·1–7·8), from 65·6 years (65·3–65·8) in 1990 to 73·0 years (72·7–73·3) in 2017. The increase in years of life varied from 5·1 years (5·0–5·3) in high SDI countries to 12·0 years (11·3–12·8) in low SDI countries. Of the additional years of life expected at birth, 26·3% (20·1–33·1) were expected to be spent in poor health in high SDI countries compared with 11·7% (8·8–15·1) in low-middle SDI countries. HALE at birth increased by 6·3 years (5·9–6·7), from 57·0 years (54·6–59·1) in 1990 to 63·3 years (60·5–65·7) in 2017. The increase varied from 3·8 years (3·4–4·1) in high SDI countries to 10·5 years (9·8–11·2) in low SDI countries. Even larger variations in HALE than these were observed between countries, ranging from 1·0 year (0·4–1·7) in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (62·4 years [59·9–64·7] in 1990 to 63·5 years [60·9–65·8] in 2017) to 23·7 years (21·9–25·6) in Eritrea (30·7 years [28·9–32·2] in 1990 to 54·4 years [51·5–57·1] in 2017). In most countries, the increase in HALE was smaller than the increase in overall life expectancy, indicating more years lived in poor health. In 180 of 195 countries and territories, females were expected to live longer than males in 2017, with extra years lived varying from 1·4 years (0·6–2·3) in Algeria to 11·9 years (10·9–12·9) in Ukraine. Of the extra years gained, the proportion spent in poor health varied largely across countries, with less than 20% of additional years spent in poor health in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burundi, and Slovakia, whereas in Bahrain all the extra years were spent in poor health. In 2017, the highest estimate of HALE at birth was in Singapore for both females (75·8 years [72·4–78·7]) and males (72·6 years [69·8–75·0]) and the lowest estimates were in Central African Republic (47·0 years [43·7–50·2] for females and 42·8 years [40·1–45·6] for males). Globally, in 2017, the five leading causes of DALYs were neonatal disorders, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, lower respiratory infections, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Between 1990 and 2017, age-standardised DALY rates decreased by 41·3% (38·8–43·5) for communicable diseases and by 49·8% (47·9–51·6) for neonatal disorders. For non-communicable diseases, global DALYs increased by 40·1% (36·8–43·0), although age-standardised DALY rates decreased by 18·1% (16·0–20·2).
Interpretation
With increasing life expectancy in most countries, the question of whether the additional years of life gained are spent in good health or poor health has been increasingly relevant because of the potential policy implications, such as health-care provisions and extending retirement ages. In some locations, a large proportion of those additional years are spent in poor health. Large inequalities in HALE and disease burden exist across countries in different SDI quintiles and between sexes. The burden of disabling conditions has serious implications for health system planning and health-related expenditures. Despite the progress made in reducing the burden of communicable diseases and neonatal disorders in low SDI countries, the speed of this progress could be increased by scaling up proven interventions. The global trends among non-communicable diseases indicate that more effort is needed to maximise HALE, such as risk prevention and attention to upstream determinants of health.
The author offers some reflections on the place of religions in a global world. The first relates to the failure of the so-called secularization thesis, and the re-emergence of religion in the international arena. The second relates to certain imbalances in the ways in which commentators have dealt with this resurgence, especially when they link religions to conflict without recognizing the potentialities that religions offer for conflict resolution. The third point builds on the previous, recognizing the growing recognition that religion can represent a strategic resource for diplomacy, peace-building and development. The author recognizes the potential that the Sophia Global Studies center offers to the study of the complex role of religions in today’s world.
Accumulation of CD28null T cells has been traditionally considered a sign of aging, as the percentage of these cells is increased in the elderly. However, the permanent loss of CD28 on T cells is caused by chronic antigenic stimulation. In that sense, CMV infection seems to be an important factor, particularly in the CD4 T-cell compartment, where significant expansions of these cells have been observed in CMV-seropositive individuals only and independently of age. In contrast to this, the CD28null CD8 T-cell subset is more heterogeneous, consisting of different type of cells with diverse origins, phenotype, and functions. Indeed, contrarily to their CD4 counterparts, CD28null CD8 T cells can be found expanded in the absence of CMV. CD28null CD4 T cells are cytotoxic and produce high amounts of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Expansions of these cells has been shown to be associated with many diseases and seems to have a relevant role in CVD (cardiovascular diseases). We, therefore, propose that CMV-related CVD risk may be mediated in part by CD28null CD4 T-cells, capable of damaging the vasculature.
The ATLAS and CMS collaborations have recently released significant new data on Higgs and diboson production in LHC Run 2. Measurements of Higgs properties have improved in many channels, while kinematic information for h→γγ and h→ZZ can now be more accurately incorporated in fits using the STXS method, and W + W − diboson production at high p T gives new sensitivity to deviations from the Standard Model. We have performed an updated global fit to precision electroweak data, W + W − measurements at LEP, and Higgs and diboson data from Runs 1 and 2 of the LHC in the framework of the Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SMEFT), allowing all coefficients to vary across the combined dataset, and present the results in both the Warsaw and SILH operator bases. We exhibit the improvement in the constraints on operator coefficients provided by the LHC Run 2 data, and discuss the correlations between them. We also explore the constraints our fit results impose on several models of physics beyond the Standard Model, including models that contribute to the operator coefficients at the tree level and stops in the MSSM that contribute via loops.
Objectives
To investigate the patterns and frequency of multiple risk behaviours (alcohol, drugs, smoking, higher risk sexual activity) among men who have sex with men (MSM) living with HIV.
Methods
Cross sectional study.
Results
819 HIV-positive MSM exhibited a high-risk phenotype (defined as >3 of smoking, excess alcohol, sexually transmitted infection and recent recreational drug use). This phenotype was associated with younger age, depressive symptoms and <90% adherence in multivariable logistic regression.
Conclusion
In a cohort of MSM, a small, but significant proportion exhibited multiple concurrent risk behaviours.
Background
Although a preventable and treatable disease, tuberculosis causes more than a million deaths each year. As countries work towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target to end the tuberculosis epidemic by 2030, robust assessments of the levels and trends of the burden of tuberculosis are crucial to inform policy and programme decision making. We assessed the levels and trends in the fatal and non-fatal burden of tuberculosis by drug resistance and HIV status for 195 countries and territories from 1990 to 2016.
Methods
We analysed 15 943 site-years of vital registration data, 1710 site-years of verbal autopsy data, 764 site-years of sample-based vital registration data, and 361 site-years of mortality surveillance data to estimate mortality due to tuberculosis using the Cause of Death Ensemble model. We analysed all available data sources, including annual case notifications, prevalence surveys, population-based tuberculin surveys, and estimated tuberculosis cause-specific mortality to generate internally consistent estimates of incidence, prevalence, and mortality using DisMod-MR 2.1, a Bayesian meta-regression tool. We assessed how the burden of tuberculosis differed from the burden predicted by the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a composite indicator of income per capita, average years of schooling, and total fertility rate.
Findings
Globally in 2016, among HIV-negative individuals, the number of incident cases of tuberculosis was 9·02 million (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 8·05–10·16) and the number of tuberculosis deaths was 1·21 million (1·16–1·27). Among HIV-positive individuals, the number of incident cases was 1·40 million (1·01–1·89) and the number of tuberculosis deaths was 0·24 million (0·16–0·31). Globally, among HIV-negative individuals the age-standardised incidence of tuberculosis decreased annually at a slower rate (–1·3% [–1·5 to −1·2]) than mortality did (–4·5% [–5·0 to −4·1]) from 2006 to 2016. Among HIV-positive individuals during the same period, the rate of change in annualised age-standardised incidence was −4·0% (–4·5 to −3·7) and mortality was −8·9% (–9·5 to −8·4). Several regions had higher rates of age-standardised incidence and mortality than expected on the basis of their SDI levels in 2016. For drug-susceptible tuberculosis, the highest observed-to-expected ratios were in southern sub-Saharan Africa (13·7 for incidence and 14·9 for mortality), and the lowest ratios were in high-income North America (0·4 for incidence) and Oceania (0·3 for mortality). For multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, eastern Europe had the highest observed-to-expected ratios (67·3 for incidence and 73·0 for mortality), and high-income North America had the lowest ratios (0·4 for incidence and 0·5 for mortality).
Interpretation
If current trends in tuberculosis incidence continue, few countries are likely to meet the SDG target to end the tuberculosis epidemic by 2030. Progress needs to be accelerated by improving the quality of and access to tuberculosis diagnosis and care, by developing new tools, scaling up interventions to prevent risk factors for tuberculosis, and integrating control programmes for tuberculosis and HIV.
Regions at which replication is initiated are called origins of replication and the fidelity of DNA replication is crucial to genome stability. A number of factors can affect the progression of DNA replication and origin firing. In unperturbed cells, origins are fired in a fixed temporal manner, a phenomenon known as the DNA replication timing program.
In this thesis, a novel next generation deep sequencing technique was optimised to study the progression of DNA replication through repetitive and heterochromatic regions in a variety of genetic backgrounds. The loss of Rif1, a protein implicated in a number of processes, such as facultative heterochromatin formation, DNA damage response and DNA replication timing control, yielded the most unexpected results. In addition to local effects in origin firing activity around Rif1 binding sites, rif1Δ resulted in a complete loss of the global replication timing program. Based on these data, this thesis further explores the relationship between the global replication timing program and the landscape of origin firing efficiencies.
In metazoans, the establishment of the DNA replication timing program was linked to the nuclear distribution of chromatin. Here, we describe the role that the tethering of chromatin to the nuclear periphery plays in establishing the global replication timing program in S. pombe. Finally, we present a model explaining the global replication timing program in S. pombe and the role that global origin firing plays within it.
We measure the clustering of DES Year 1 galaxies that are intended to be combined with weak lensing samples in order to produce precise cosmological constraints from the joint analysis of large-scale structure and lensing correlations. Two-point correlation functions are measured for a sample of 6.6×10 5 luminous red galaxies selected using the \textsc{redMaGiC} algorithm over an area of 1321 square degrees, in the redshift range 0.15<z<0.9, split into five tomographic redshift bins. The sample has a mean redshift uncertainty of σ z /(1+z)=0.017. We quantify and correct spurious correlations induced by spatially variable survey properties, testing their impact on the clustering measurements and covariance. We demonstrate the sample's robustness by testing for stellar contamination, for potential biases that could arise from the systematic correction, and for the consistency between the two-point auto- and cross-correlation functions. We show that the corrections we apply have a significant impact on the resultant measurement of cosmological parameters, but that the results are robust against arbitrary choices in the correction method. We find the linear galaxy bias in each redshift bin in a fiducial cosmology to be b(z =0.24)=1.40±0.08 , b(z =0.38)=1.61±0.05, b(z =0.53)=1.60±0.04 for galaxies with luminosities L/L ∗ > 0.5 , b(z =0.68)=1.93±0.05 for L/L ∗ > 1 and b(z =0.83)=1.99±0.07 for L/L ∗ >1.5 , broadly consistent with expectations for the redshift and luminosity dependence of the bias of red galaxies. We show these measurements to be consistent with the linear bias obtained from tangential shear measurements.
We present galaxy-galaxy lensing measurements from 1321 sq. deg. of the Dark Energy Survey (DES) Year 1 (Y1) data. The lens sample consists of a selection of 660,000 red galaxies with high-precision photometric redshifts, known as redMaGiC, split into five tomographic bins in the redshift range 0.15<z<0.9 . We use two different source samples, obtained from the Metacalibration (26 million galaxies) and Im3shape (18 million galaxies) shear estimation codes, which are split into four photometric redshift bins in the range 0.2<z<1.3 . We perform extensive testing of potential systematic effects that can bias the galaxy-galaxy lensing signal, including those from shear estimation, photometric redshifts, and observational properties. Covariances are obtained from jackknife subsamples of the data and validated with a suite of log-normal simulations. We use the shear-ratio geometric test to obtain independent constraints on the mean of the source redshift distributions, providing validation of those obtained from other photo-z studies with the same data. We find consistency between the galaxy bias estimates obtained from our galaxy-galaxy lensing measurements and from galaxy clustering, therefore showing the galaxy-matter cross-correlation coefficient r to be consistent with one, measured over the scales used for the cosmological analysis. The results in this work present one of the three two-point correlation functions, along with galaxy clustering and cosmic shear, used in the DES cosmological analysis of Y1 data, and hence the methodology and the systematics tests presented here provide a critical input for that study as well as for future cosmological analyses in DES and other photometric galaxy surveys.
Cellular stability, assembly and activation of a growing list of macromolecular complexes require the action of HSP90 working in concert with the R2TP/Prefoldin-like (R2TP/PFDL) co-chaperone. RNA polymerase II, snoRNPs and complexes of PI3-kinase-like kinases, a family that includes the ATM, ATR, DNA-PKcs, TRAPP, SMG1 and mTOR proteins, are among the clients of the HSP90-R2TP system. Evidence links the R2TP/PFDL pathway with cancer, most likely because of the essential role in pathways commonly deregulated in cancer. R2TP forms the core of the co-cochaperone and orchestrates the recruitment of HSP90 and clients, whereas prefoldin and additional prefoldin-like proteins, including URI, associate with R2TP, but their function is still unclear. The mechanism by which R2TP/PFLD facilitates assembly and activation of such a variety of macromolecular complexes is poorly understood. Recent efforts in the structural characterization of R2TP have started to provide some mechanistic insights. We summarize recent structural findings, particularly how cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) is contributing to our understanding of the architecture of the R2TP core complex. Structural differences discovered between yeast and human R2TP reveal unanticipated complexities of the metazoan R2TP complex, and opens new and interesting questions about how R2TP/PFLD works.
We present cosmological results from a combined analysis of galaxy clustering and weak gravitational lensing, using 1321 deg 2 of griz imaging data from the first year of the Dark Energy Survey (DES Y1). We combine three two-point functions: (i) the cosmic shear correlation function of 26 million source galaxies in four redshift bins, (ii) the galaxy angular autocorrelation function of 650,000 luminous red galaxies in five redshift bins, and (iii) the galaxy-shear cross-correlation of luminous red galaxy positions and source galaxy shears. To demonstrate the robustness of these results, we use independent pairs of galaxy shape, photometric redshift estimation and validation, and likelihood analysis pipelines. To prevent confirmation bias, the bulk of the analysis was carried out while blind to the true results; we describe an extensive suite of systematics checks performed and passed during this blinded phase. The data are modeled in flat Λ CDM and w CDM cosmologies, marginalizing over 20 nuisance parameters, varying 6 (for Λ CDM) or 7 (for w CDM) cosmological parameters including the neutrino mass density and including the 457 × 457 element analytic covariance matrix. We find consistent cosmological results from these three two-point functions, and from their combination obtain S 8 ≡σ 8 (Ω m /0.3) 0.5 =0.783 +0.021 −0.025 and Ω m =0.264 +0.032 −0.019 for Λ CDM for w CDM, we find S 8 =0.794 +0.029 −0.027, Ω m =0.279 +0.043 −0.022, and w=−0.80 +0.20 −0.22 at 68% CL. The precision of these DES Y1 results rivals that from the Planck cosmic microwave background measurements, allowing a comparison of structure in the very early and late Universe on equal terms. Although the DES Y1 best-fit values for S 8 and Ω m are lower than the central values from Planck.
We use 26 million galaxies from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) Year 1 shape catalogs over 1321 deg 2 of the sky to produce the most significant measurement of cosmic shear in a galaxy survey to date. We constrain cosmological parameters in both the flat Λ CDM and w CDM models, while also varying the neutrino mass density. These results are shown to be robust using two independent shape catalogs, two independent \photoz\ calibration methods, and two independent analysis pipelines in a blind analysis. We find a 3.5\% fractional uncertainty on σ 8 (Ω m /0.3) 0.5 =0.782 +0.027 −0.027 at 68\% CL, which is a factor of 2.5 improvement over the fractional constraining power of our DES Science Verification results. In w CDM, we find a 4.8\% fractional uncertainty on σ 8 (Ω m /0.3) 0.5 =0.777 +0.036 −0.038 and a dark energy equation-of-state w=−0.95 +0.33 −0.39. We find results that are consistent with previous cosmic shear constraints in σ 8 -- Ω m, and see no evidence for disagreement of our weak lensing data with data from the CMB. Finally, we find no evidence preferring a w CDM model allowing w≠−1 . We expect further significant improvements with subsequent years of DES data, which will more than triple the sky coverage of our shape catalogs and double the effective integrated exposure time per galaxy.
This paper reports the discovery and orbital characterization of two extreme trans-Neptunian objects (ETNOs), 2016 QV 89 and 2016 QU 89 , which have orbits that appear similar to that of a previously known object, 2013 UH 15 . All three ETNOs have semi-major axes a≈172 AU and eccentricities e≈0.77 . The angular elements (i,ω,Ω) vary by 6, 15, and 49 deg, respectively between the three objects. The two new objects add to the small number of TNOs currently known to have semi-major axes between 150 and 250 AU, and serve as an interesting dynamical laboratory to study the outer realm of our Solar System. Using a large ensemble of numerical integrations, we find that the orbits are expected to reside in close proximity in the (a,e) phase plane for roughly 100 Myr before diffusing to more separated values. We then explore other scenarios that could influence their orbits. With aphelion distances over 300 AU, the orbits of these ETNOs extend far beyond the classical Kuiper Belt, and an order of magnitude beyond Neptune. As a result, their orbital dynamics can be affected by the proposed new Solar System member, referred to as Planet Nine in this work. With perihelion distances of 35-40 AU, these orbits are also influenced by resonant interactions with Neptune. A full assessment of any possible, new Solar System planets must thus take into account this emerging class of TNOs.
Impulsivity refers to both a stable personality trait and a set of behaviours which undergo momentary changes depending on the current circumstances. Impulsivity plays a vital role in daily life as well as clinical practice as it is associated with drug misuse and certain neuropsychiatric conditions. Because of its great health and well-being importance, it is crucial to understand factors which modulate impulsive behaviours. The current studies investigated the role of emotions and physiological arousal as modulators of impulsive actions and decisions in healthy individuals.
A set of experiments was conducted using a variety of methods including behavioural testing, physiological recordings, psychopharmacology and neuroimaging. Studies 1 and 2 clarified the influence of emotional states on distinct dimensions of impulsive behaviours. Study 3 investigated the neural correlates behind the impact of emotions on impulsive actions. Finally, studies 4 and 5 focused on the relationship between physiological arousal and behavioural and trait impulsivity.
Our findings demonstrate that a degree to which one’s internal (emotional or physiological) state changes, is associated with behavioural impulsivity level. Importantly, distinct dimensions of impulsivity are differentially sensitive to those changes. Namely, increased state level of physiological arousal is associated with decreased motor ‘stopping’ impulsivity, enhanced subjective ratings and objective measurements of arousal are also related to decreased temporal impulsivity. Increased ratings of stress and increased physiological arousal, however, are associated with higher reflection impulsivity. At the neural level, successful response inhibition requires enhanced activation of prefrontal and parietal areas in impulsive individuals, particularly in negative emotional context, suggesting that behavioural control might be more effortful for highly impulsive individuals.
In conclusion, changes in internal bodily state are related to behavioural impulsivity level. Staying more attuned to those changes and finding adaptive ways to adjust behaviour according to bodily needs might be vital to reducing impulsivity levels.
We constrain the mass--richness scaling relation of redMaPPer galaxy clusters identified in the Dark Energy Survey Year 1 data using weak gravitational lensing. We split clusters into 4×3 bins of richness λ and redshift z for λ≥20 and 0.2≤z≤0.65 and measure the mean masses of these bins using their stacked weak lensing signal. By modeling the scaling relation as ⟨M 200m |λ,z⟩=M 0 (λ/40) F ((1+z)/1.35) G , we constrain the normalization of the scaling relation at the 5.0 per cent level as M 0 =[3.081±0.075(stat)±0.133(sys)]⋅10 14 M ⊙ at λ=40 and z=0.35 . The richness scaling index is constrained to be F=1.356±0.051 (stat)±0.008 (sys) and the redshift scaling index G=−0.30±0.30 (stat)±0.06 (sys) . These are the tightest measurements of the normalization and richness scaling index made to date. We use a semi-analytic covariance matrix to characterize the statistical errors in the recovered weak lensing profiles. Our analysis accounts for the following sources of systematic error: shear and photometric redshift errors, cluster miscentering, cluster member dilution of the source sample, systematic uncertainties in the modeling of the halo--mass correlation function, halo triaxiality, and projection effects. We discuss prospects for reducing this systematic error budget, which dominates the uncertainty on M 0. Our result is in excellent agreement with, but has significantly smaller uncertainties than, previous measurements in the literature, and augurs well for the power of the DES cluster survey as a tool for precision cosmology and upcoming galaxy surveys such as LSST, Euclid and WFIRST.
Footnotes to Plato is a TLS Online series appraising the works and legacies of the great thinkers and philosophers. In this article, Sarah Sawyer explores Putnam’s view that meanings ‘just ain’t in the head’.
This thesis explores the effects of emotional information about characters in text on processing. In five chapters presenting nine experiments in total, readers were presented with emotional characters that occurred either in small texts or in sentences. In the second chapter, it was investigated whether mental representations of entities in sentences are more salient and easier to retrieve due to emotional information. In the third chapter, the effects of emotional information about multiple different characters on processing were explored. The forth chapter presents experiments on perspective taking and how perspective affects the way emotional information is processed. Building up on that, in chapter 5, it was investigated how the mood of the reader influences perspective taking when reading about emotional information. All experiments in the first four chapters used a self-paced reading method to explore effects on reading speed (reading times). Chapter 6, however, presents an eye-tracking experiment set out to explore the effects of perspective on reading behaviour in more detail and to determine where perspective differences arise in the text. Hence, pronoun regions (including perspective cues) across the text were analysed. The findings presented in this thesis gave evidence that readers focus more on emotional characters (that emotional characters are more salient), and that readers also engage more with (emotional) texts when they experience the situation from a personal perspective. All experiments gave evidence that readers track and use emotional information to form a coherent representation of the text.
Despite the success of general relativity in explaining classical gravitational phenomena, several problems at the interface between gravitation and high energy physics remain open to date. The purpose of this thesis is to explore classical and quantum gravity in order to improve our understanding of different aspects of gravity, such as dark matter, gravitational waves and ination. We focus on the class of higher derivative gravity theories as they naturally arise after the quantization of general relativity in the framework of effective field theory.
The inclusion of higher order curvature invariants to the action always come in the form of new degrees of freedom. From this perspective, we introduce a new formalism to classify gravitational theories based on their degrees of freedom and, in light of this classification, we argue that dark matter is no different from modified gravity.
Additional degrees of freedom appearing in the quantum gravitational action also affect the behaviour of gravitational waves. We show that gravitational waves are damped due to quantum degrees of freedom and we investigate the backreaction of these modes. The implications for gravitational wave events, such as the ones recently observed by the Advanced LIGO collaboration, are also discussed. The early universe can also be studied in this framework. We show how ination can be accommodated in this formalism via the generation of the Ricci scalar squared, which is triggered by quantum effects due to the non-minimal coupling of the Higgs boson to gravity, avoiding instability issues associated with Higgs ination. We argue that the non-minimal coupling of the Higgs to the curvature could also solve the vacuum instability issue by producing a large effective mass for the Higgs, which quickly drives the Higgs field back to the electroweak vacuum during ination.
Anatomy, has in history, been linked to helpful ways to remember structures, branches of nerves, structures passing through foramina et cetera. Scalp is even a mnemonic in itself (Skin, Connective tissue, Aponeurosis, Loose areolar tissue, Pericranium). There has been concern by some educators that using mnemonics or rhymes promotes a surface approach to learning and is unhelpful in establishing long term and meaningful deep learning. This article argues that mnemonics and rhyme can be used, in the appropriate way, at the right time, by students as an important learning strategy. That strategy can help lay a foundation of knowledge to be developed and later built upon, or simply recall information more easily. Mnemonics, like all information that is to be recalled, is consolidated by rehearsal. In examining the neuroanatomy of learning theories, it is therefore possible to suggest that when students begin to learn an area of anatomy, such as the cranial nerves, using a mnemonic or rhyme can help students remember the names and facilitate engagement of working memory processes assisting the student to build a construct for subsequent deeper layers of knowledge. Modern approaches to anatomy education involve a myriad of learning opportunities, but educators must assess the value of each one before recommending them to students. It appears that using mnemonics and rhyme is as valid today as it has been for centuries.
In this work we explore three-point statistics applied to the large-scale structure in our Universe. Three-point statistics, such as the bispectrum, encode information not accessible via the standard analysis method—the power spectrum—and thus provide the potential for greatly improving current constraints on cosmological parameters. They also present us with additional challenges, and we focus on two of these arising from a measurement as well as modelling point of view.
The first challenge we address is the covariance matrix of the bispectrum, as its precise estimate is required when performing likelihood analyses. Covariance matrices are usually estimated from a set of independent simulations, whose minimum number scales with the dimension of the covariance matrix. Because there are many more possibilities of finding triplets of galaxies than pairs, compared to the power spectrum this approach becomes rather prohibitive. With this motivation in mind, we explore a novel alternative to the bispectrum: the line correlation function (LCF). It specifically targets information in the phases of density modes that are invisible to the power spectrum, making it a potentially more efficient probe than the bispectrum, which measures a combination of amplitudes and phases. We derive the covariance properties and the impact of shot noise for the LCF and compare these theoretical predictions with measurements from N-body simulations. Based on a Fisher analysis we assess the LCF’s sensitivity on cosmological parameters, finding that it is particularly suited for constraining galaxy bias parameters and the amplitude of fluctuations. As a next step we contrast the Fisher information of the LCF with the full bispectrum and two other recently proposed alternatives. We show that the LCF is unlikely to achieve a lossless compression of the bispectrum information, whereas a modal decomposition of the bispectrumcan reduce the size of the covariancematrix by at least an order of magnitude.
The second challenge we consider in this work concerns the relation between the dark matter field and luminous tracers, such as galaxies. Accurate knowledge of this galaxy bias relation is required in order to reliably interpret the data gathered by galaxy surveys. On the largest scales the dark matter and galaxy densities are linearly related, but a variety of additional terms need to be taken into account when studying clustering on smaller scales. These have been fully included in recent power spectrumanalyses, whereas the bispectrummodel relied on simple prescriptions that were likely extended beyond their realm of validity. In addition, treating power spectrumand bispectrum on different footings means that the two models become inconsistent on small scales. We introduce a new formalism that allows us to elegantly compute the lacking bispectrum contributions from galaxy bias, without running into the renormalization problem. Furthermore, we fit our new model to simulated data by implementing these contributions into a likelihood code. We show that they are crucial in order to obtain results consistent with those fromthe power spectrum, and that the bispectrum retains its capability of significantly reducing uncertainties in measured parameters when combined with the power spectrum.
BACKGROUND:There is a need to improve dementia education to prepare future generations of healthcare professionals to deal with the increasing challenges they will face. Time for Dementia is an innovative undergraduate education program for medical, nursing, and paramedic students in the south of England. Success of the program is dependent upon the participation of families (people with dementia and their carers). This qualitative study seeks to explore the motivation and experiences of the families taking part in the program.
METHODS:
A topic guide was developed to understand factors influencing motivation and retention. A purposeful sample of participant families, who had at least 12 months of involvement in the program, were selected from a cohort of 282 families and were invited to take part in an in-depth qualitative interview. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using thematic analysis. This was subsequently refined in an on-going process of analysis aided by the use of Nvivo 11. Interviewing stopped when thematic saturation was reached.
RESULTS:
Eighteen families took part in an in-depth qualitative interviews. Four themes were identified from the analysis. These themes were motivators, value to family, value to the person with dementia, and student factors.
CONCLUSIONS:
This study identifies underpinning factors that motivate families to join dementia education programs and the impact of such programs upon them. We found that engagement in such programs can have therapeutic benefits to participants, and do not cause harm. These findings can be used to strengthen recruitment and enhance family involvement in similar programs.
This study examines the confluence of practices that are generated when the state brings strangers together to make a brand new family. Concerns about matching, the process in which an adoptive family is made, are driving significant changes in the organisation of adoption services yet 'research evidence is lacking- not just sparse, but virtually absent' (Quinton, 2012, p.1). This study addresses these gaps and offers original empirical and conceptual contributions to the knowledge base. My approach draws on sociological and anthropological perspectives through which family life is understood as constructed through day-to-day activities, action, imagination and emotional interactions. This study focuses on the ‘doing’ of family and the ‘doing’ of social work to illuminate and analyse everyday practices.
The research design is original in the field and builds on innovative methodologies at the interface of pedagogy, practice and research. Through a psychoanalytically informed multi- modal ethnographic study I observed a single matching process in ‘real time’ over 9 months. This methodology afforded direct access to dyadic, familial, professional and organizational relationships in homes, offices, forums, in documents and in email correspondence. Group analytic practices were used to help access subjective and sociocultural dimensions. The data generated from these groups (which included adults adopted from care, adoptive parents, researchers, social workers and policy advisors) allowed the juxtaposition of contemporary matching practices with intergenerational perspectives. Collaborative processes brought a multiplicity of minds to the study helping maintain a recursive and critically reflective approach. This unique data-set provides an opportunity to consider matching through multiple lenses and as a lens through which to consider multiple practices.
This thesis makes four analytical claims. Firstly, I suggest that during a matching process intense emotional forces, multiple paradoxes and uncertainty converge, creating a ‘liminal hotspot’ (Greco and Stenner, 2017, p.147). For those directly involved, (including children, carers, prospective parents and professionals) navigating this space requires spatialized and temporalized strategies. In this study social work practices were found to function as necessary rites of passage, tools and processes which could also mitigate polarizing forces. Secondly, I suggest that matching is a site where work and non-work practices become entangled. In the midst of these entanglements those involved have to navigate ‘distinct cultures of child rearing’ (Thomson et al., 2011, p.4). In this context the role of the foster carer emerges as extraordinarily complex. Thirdly, this thesis claims that current powerful social projections and transformative processes are played out and become visible within matching practices. Matching practices are considered to be an epistemic lens into a matrix of tensions relating to care and authority.
Finally, this research suggests that reductions in welfare spending, increasing pressures on services and a policy pre-occupation with timeliness are undermining essential deliberative processes. This study found that this is a high risk situation; creating unnecessary vulnerability across a workforce, across multiple families and ultimately in the lives of children.
This thesis used pupillometry to investigate whether pupils respond differently to faces that differ in familiarity. We aimed to see whether pupillometry measures cognitive processes involved in face processing, and whether it could be applied forensically.
We started by evaluating three explanations for pupillary changes that occur when processing faces. The first was cognitive load (mental effort), because faces that have only been seen briefly are more difficult to recognise than well-known faces. The second was cognitive engagement (interest), because faces contain socially-important information. The third was memory strength (forensically applicable), as eyewitnesses have to recall a perpetrator’s face in an attempt to identify them if they appear in a lineup. While pupillary responses reflected cognitive engagement to some extent, cognitive load best accounted for decreasing pupil sizes when learning new faces, and memory strength explained the pupillary changes seen in lineups. The theories all had some influence on pupil sizes, but their influence varied according to context, saliency, and the task at hand.
Then we investigated whether pupillometry measured implicit recognition of a perpetrator in a lineup, and found that it did. Pupil sizes reflected memory strength in participants who believed their memory to be strong: there were differences in pupil sizes (between looking at the perpetrator and the distractors) in participants who identified him, but not in those who did not. The pupillary responses of participants who ‘guessed’ indicated that they were indeed guessing. There were no pupillary changes when the perpetrator was not in the lineup, even when participants misidentified a distractor. We concluded that pupillary responses are independent of explicit identification responses, and could be used forensically to support traditional measures of eyewitness identification and credibility.
This thesis presents the development of the Geonium Chip, a planar Penning trap. The Geonium Chip consists of the five electrodes of a cylindrical Penning trap projected onto the surface of a microfabricated chip. Beneath the chip is a planar magnetic field source currently made from coils of niobium titanium wire. Traditionally the magnetic field source is a large superconducting solenoid, replacing this with a planar source makes the setup scalable, portable and economical.
The Geonium Chip, with its magnetic field source and detection electronics, need to be placed in a cryostat. In this thesis, I describe the development of the cryogenic setup with particular emphasis on the design and optimisation of the non-destructive detection system. I detail the cryogenic wiring of the cryostat including the thermalisation of high current wires and the noise reduction techniques employed on the detection signal. In addition, I explore the parasitic capacitances of the Geonium Chip using microwave network analysis and describe the testing of the magnetic field source at 4 K. Finally, I discuss the generation of electrons within the trap and the results of our first attempts at trapping a cloud of electrons.
Together, the chip and the magnetic field source can be used to trap ions for ultraaccurate mass spectrometry or an electron for single microwave photon detection. A single microwave photon detector is a tool that is currently still missing in quantum technology and is needed for determining the quantum state of microwave radiation fields. This is vital for quantum communication and cryptography. Additionally, using the Geonium Chip as a mass spectrometer has the potential to lead to very accurate mass spectrums without the need for frequent calibration. Finally, eliminating the expensive superconducting solenoid will make accurate mass spectrometry available to a wider market.
It is evident that the climate is changing and countries especially the developing ones are vulnerable. Various sectors such as water, agriculture and even land use are all being affected by climate change. Hydropower, a major source of electricity in Ghana is one key sector which has been hit by the changing climate thus contributing to the continuous power outages in the country. Government had to rush for emergency thermal plants at a cost whilst maintaining them with oil and gas has not been cheap.
It is important that economies are able to adapt to climate change and its uncertainties by being climate resilient as well as making sure long-lived infrastructure such as hydropower incorporate the problem of uncertainty. It would be also expedient for developing nations to be able to climate proof their entire energy sector and deal with climate change head on. In Africa, hydropower plants have been built without proper climate risk analysis. In Ghana, reports suggested that the Bui hydroelectric project did not consider climate change. Therefore this research was to understand how decision makers take decisions on hydropower investments in light of climate change and its associated risks and uncertainties. To be able to understand this process, the researcher used the Bui Dam as a case study, consulted various publications relating to the issue and conducted interviews with key informants. It was analysed using a framework adopted by Lemos et al. (2012) to understand the barriers to the use of climate information during the project. It was discovered that, the priority of the government was to attempt to solve the then power crisis and not necessarily consider climate change adaptation. A climate risk assessment has been scheduled to take place as part of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment of The Pwalugu Dam. However, government must do more to support climate research as well as take advantage of various approaches that have been developed to aid decision makers when dealing with climate change uncertainty.
To maintain genome stability, cells need to replicate their DNA before dividing. The kinases CDK1 and PLK1 drive mitotic entry and become active when bulk DNA synthesis is completed at the S/G2 transition. Here, we have tested the hypothesis that DNA replication controls activation of mitotic kinases. Using an optimized double-degron system, we find that human cells unable to initiate DNA replication in S-phase promptly activate CDK1 and PLK1 and prematurely enter mitosis. In the presence of DNA replication, inhibition of CHK1 and p38 leads to premature activation of CDK1 and PLK1. While CDK2 activity promotes DNA replication, activation of CDK1 in S-phase induces severe replication stress. We propose that mitotic kinase activation is governed by a CDK2- and DNA replication-dependent feed-forward loop that ensures timely cell division while preserving genome stability. DNA replication thus functions as a break that coordinates cell cycle activities and determines cell cycle duration.
A light pulse generating circuit is described for generating light pulses from a diode light source such as an LED or laser diode. The light pulse generating circuit comprises a charge storage device and a trigger circuit for triggering a discharge of the charge storage device across the diode light source to generate a light pulse. The light pulse generating circuit comprises a differentiator circuit for differentiating an input signal to produce a differentiated signal, which is provided as an input to the trigger circuit. A first diode is arranged relative to the differentiator circuit in order to substantially prevent the propagation of one of a positive pulse and a negative pulse generated by differentiating the input signal so that a light pulse having a single peak is generated. Also described are methods of using the same, and systems comprising a plurality of light pulse generating circuits arranged in sequence.
A simple procedure of producing three-dimensional blisters of graphene through irradiation of the visible range laser by Raman spectrometer has been presented. Fabrication of different volumes of the blisters and their characterization were carried out with Raman spectroscopy by tuning the irradiation dose. The produced blisters showed a consistency in altitude and a remarkable change in functionality, adhesion force map and local contact potential difference as compared to untreated monolayer graphene and naturally occurred graphene nanobubbles. Nevertheless, bilayer graphene is unaffected in the applied laser doses. The laser irradiation led to lattice expansion of carbon atoms and introduced oxygenic functional groups with the structural disorder. The internal pressure of the gaseous molecules was evaluated by monitoring the shape of the graphene blisters and nanobubbles. High-resolution Raman mapping showed the impact of laser-affected area and
the defect density (nd) is reported as a function of displacement. Our results reveal ease of applicability of the Raman laser for the imaging and texturing of graphene pointing toward the possibility of the desirable and cost-effective laser writing at the submicron scale by tuning photochemistry of graphene which is pivotal for
numerous applications.
Urban experimentation (UE) is seen as crucial for enacting transformations towards sustainability. Research in this domain has flourished, but still lacks theoretical coherence. We review this emerging literature, combining methods for problematisation and critical interpretive synthesis, to address two questions: how does the extant literature conceive of the contexts in which experimentation emerge, and what dynamics are thought to be implicated in reconfiguring these contexts into favourable environments for UE? Traditionally, transition studies assume that cities may act as protective spaces for experimentation, but recent studies suggest other salient dynamics. We identify three lenses - seedbeds, harbours, and battlegrounds – which articulate the assumptions and dynamics associated with different understandings of the urban context. We argue for plural accounts of how UE thrives in particular places and offer a way öto follow’ the co-evolution between a multiplicity of experiments and their environment, through interactions between protection, connectivity, and conflict.
While neuromorphic systems may be the ultimate platform for deploying spiking neural networks (SNNs), their distributed nature and optimisation for specific types of models makes them unwieldy tools for developing them. Instead, SNN models tend to be developed and simulated on computers or clusters of computers with standard von Neumann CPU architectures. Over the last decade, as well as becoming a common fixture in many workstations, NVIDIA GPU accelerators have entered the High Performance Computing field and are now used in 50% of the Top 10 super computing sites worldwide. In this paper we use our GeNN code generator to re-implement two neo-cortex-inspired, circuit-scale, point neuron network models on GPU hardware. We verify the correctness of our GPU simulations against prior results obtained with NEST running on traditional HPC hardware and compare the performance with respect to speed and energy consumption against published data from CPU-based HPC and neuromorphic hardware. A full-scale model of a cortical column can be simulated at speeds approaching 0.5× real-time using a single NVIDIA Tesla V100 accelerator – faster than is currently possible using a CPU based cluster or the SpiNNaker neuromorphic system. In addition, we find that, across a range of GPU systems, the energy to solution as well as the energy per synaptic event of the microcircuit simulation is as much as 14× lower than either on SpiNNaker or in CPU-based simulations. Besides performance in terms of speed and energy consumption of the simulation, efficient initialisation of models is also a crucial concern, particularly in a research context where repeated runs and parameter-space exploration are required. Therefore, we also introduce in this paper some of the novel parallel initialisation methods implemented in the latest version of GeNN and demonstrate how they can enable further speed and energy advantages.
This is a useful and timely book. On the one hand, the academy has seen a growth in the teaching of content relating to popular culture, youth culture, (post)subcultures, countercultures, DIY cultures and resistance studies. On the other hand, university teaching is being quantified and weaponised in numerous agendas. In the UK context these agendas are simultaneously related to ‘value for money’, ‘transferable skills’ and ‘slipping standards’, while at the same time reflecting state-led initiatives such as Prevent (The Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015) or the Teaching Excellence Framework. Here is a collection that helps us think about the implications of each for the other, which raises important discussions about the relationship between what it is we teach, how we teach it and the institutional contexts in which we teach. This is not a simple ‘how to teach punk’ toolkit. It is an engaged and engaging series of analyses, drawing out the complexity of ways, subjects and institutions in which we work.
This eBook includes a series of data analytics teaching and learning activities that are useful for various core business and management courses/modules as well as specialised data analytics modules. The learning outcomes of TeachBDA are twofold. For teachers: By using TeachBDA materials, teachers of business courses would be enabled to embed data analytics in their courses. For students: After using TeachBDA activities, students will experience applied data analytics in various business subject areas.
Experimental tests of Lorentz symmetry in systems of all types are critical for ensuring that the basic assumptions of physics are well founded. Data from all phases of the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory, a kiloton-scale heavy water Cherenkov detector, are analyzed for possible violations of Lorentz symmetry in the neutrino sector. Such violations would appear as one of eight possible signal types in the detector: six seasonal variations in the solar electron neutrino survival probability differing in energy and time dependence and two shape changes to the oscillated solar neutrino energy spectrum. No evidence for such signals is observed, and limits on the size of such effects are established in the framework of the standard model extension, including 38 limits on previously unconstrained operators and improved limits on 16 additional operators. This makes limits on all minimal, Dirac-type Lorentz violating operators in the neutrino sector available for the first time.
High amplitude impulsive noise (IN) occurrence over power line channels severely degrades the performance of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) systems. One of the simplest methods to reduce IN is to precede the OFDM demodulator with a blanking non-linearity processor. In this respect, Selective Mapping (SLM) applied to an OFDM signal before the transmitter does not only reduce Peak-to-Average Power Ratio (PAPR) but also increases the resulting Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) when blanking nonlinearity is applied at the receiver. This paper highlights another advantage of SLM based IN reduction, which is the reduced dependency on threshold used for blanking nonlinearity. The simulation results show that the optimal threshold to achieve maximum SNR is found to be constant for phase vectors greater than or equal to 64 in the SLM scheme. If the optimized threshold calculation method is used, the output SNR with SLM OFDM will result in SNR gains of up to 8.6dB compared to the unmodified system, i.e. without implementing SLM. Moreover, by using SLM, we not only get the advantage of low peak power, but also the need to calculate optimized threshold is eliminated, thereby reducing the additional computation.
This project explores the nebulizing effect of digital technologies on their analogue counterparts, and their cultural and social repercussions as depicted in early twenty-first-century novels. The thesis finds five central concerns of digital culture, areas in which the structures and codes of the culture have had to be recalibrated to such a degree to accommodate virtuality, and examines them through the works of a novelist with a fascination for, or resistance to this change. The thesis identifies an irreversible shift in the mental apparatus caused by digital technologies that work on narrativizing powers such as memory, interpretation, and perception, that finds expression in fiction.
Chapter 1 reads Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad and The Keep as responses to the phenomena of geomapping, networking and communications in the age of global reach. Chapter 2 uses Tom McCarthy’s novels C, Remainder, and Satin Island to illustrate the distorting effects of digitality on time. Chapter 3 brings to focus the more recent work of J. M. Coetzee, Summertime, Elizabeth Costello, and Diary of a Bad Year, that engages with digitality and a cultural landscape increasing reliant on distancing technologies. Chapter 4 examines the recording and surveilling technologies at the heart of Ali Smith’s twentyfirst- century novels How to Be Both, Autumn and The Accidental. Chapter 5 reads Dave Eggers’ The Circle as a critique of corporate digital culture, and examines the role of taste in articulating personal freedom.
The conclusion analyses a current crisis point in the digital project, and gestures towards the future of technology in the contemporary novel, speculating on what elements discussed in the thesis might endure and shape fictional narrative as the age of digitality progresses.
EMBARGOED - expected end date 01.12.2023
This study seeks to determine whether the regulatory basis and operational structure of the Islamic financial model position it as the front-runner in terms of sustainability and resilience to financial crises. A critical review of the extant literature reveals that Islamic banks have performed better than conventional banks during economic shocks because Islamic banks are less exposed to risks. However, this study maps the profile of financial institutions that are generally resilient to financial crises, and notes that Islamic banks do not match this profile. Nonetheless, an assessment of the risk management strategies of Islamic banks reveals that they are in fact less likely to trigger instability when using profit-loss sharing schemes. The study utilises existing statistical data as part of the inter-disciplinary understanding of the effects of financial crises. The data is derived from various surveys and reports that chart overall performance considering the stressful financial environment of 2007-09 and beyond. This is complemented with original qualitative data that has been collected through surveys that identify the perceptions of key stakeholders in the banking sector on the resilience of their respective banking systems and how those systems could ultimately be improved. The traditional tripartite analysis of knowledge is adopted. The analysis at a generic level reveals that banks using the profit-loss sharing schemes match the profile of institutions that are generally more resilient to financial crises. The analysis at the level of the State reveals that where Islamic banks are accommodated within the same regulatory framework as conventional banks, the former are more resistant to financial shock. Lastly, the analysis at the level of individual banks reveals that the stress testing frameworks of the conventional banks may be rated as less effective than those of Islamic banks.
Can governments contract out the management of schools to private operators at scale? This paper estimates the effect of a school reform in Punjab, Pakistan, in which 4,276 poorly performing public primary schools (around 10 percent of the total) were contracted out to private operators in a single school year. These schools remain free to students and the private operator receives a per-student subsidy equivalent to less than half of spending in government schools. Using a difference-in-difference framework we estimate that enrolment in converted schools increased by over 60 percent. Converted schools see a slight decline in overall average test scores, but this may be a composition effect rather than a treatment effect. Schools with the same number or fewer students as in the previous year saw no change in average test scores.
In anticipation of upcoming gravitational wave experiments, we provide a comprehensive overview of the spectra predicted by phase transitions triggered by states from a large variety of dark sector models. Such spectra are functions of the quantum numbers and (self-) couplings of the scalar that triggers the dark phase transition. We classify dark sectors that give rise to a first order phase transition and perform a numerical scan over the thermal parameter space. We then characterize scenarios in which a measurement of a new source of gravitational waves could allow us to discriminate between models with differing particle content.
We study the finite-temperature properties of the Randall-Sundrum model in the presence of brane-localized curvature. At high temperature, as dictated by AdS/CFT, the theory is in a confined phase dual to the planar AdS black hole. When the radion is stabilized, à la Goldberger-Wise, a holographic first-order phase transition proceeds. The brane-localized curvature contributes to the radion kinetic energy, substantially decreasing the critical bubble energy. Contrary to previous results, the phase transition completes at much larger values of N , the number of degrees of freedom in the CFT. Moreover, the field value of the bulk scalar on the TeV-brane is allowed to become large, while remaining consistent with back-reaction constraints. Assisted by this fact, we find that for a wide region in the parameter space tunneling happens rather quickly, i.e. the nucleation temperature becomes of the order of the critical temperature. At zero temperature, the most important signature of brane-localized curvature is the reduction of spin-2 Kaluza-Klein graviton masses and a heavier radion.
Although children as active agents have been extensively studied within anthropology and social sciences in general, children as public actors –or as activists engaged with direct forms of politics and social movements- have been largely neglected. This thesis addresses this research gap by ethnographically exploring the politics of autonomous, self-organized youth and pupils in Nicosia, Cyprus and their processes of radical political subjectivization, as well as the role of public space in such processes of becoming. It further problematizes how national and international configurations of childhood and youth have been enabling or disabling this activism, and how they govern children and ‘minoritized adults’ through educational, gentrifying and other policies of the biopolitical sphere.
More specifically, the thesis critically explores how those perceived as minor subjects resist such governing through horizontal collective action and counter-cultural politics. Such politics involve the subversion of enclosed, ‘adult’ –nationalist, militarist, patriarchal, consumeristestablishments and notions of maturity in modernity, enhanced by Cyprus’s recent ethnonational conflict. Their subversion is achieved through playful tactics of street-partying, selfeducation, community formation and assembly, which are explored in this thesis, and through carving out temporal space for experimentation with alternative self-definitions. By exploring such politics my thesis significantly contributes to the anthropology of Cyprus through the study of politics beyond nationalism and ethnic-conflict frameworks as has overwhelmingly been the case so far.
Moreover, in my thesis, I treat youth and children as political categories beyond their sociocultural framing within youth anthropology and explore the categorical framings youth use to constitute themselves as political actors following larger movements like May 1968, Greek Autonomia and Alterglobalization movement. I further critically re-consider recen theorization on direct action and prefigurative politics from the vastly underrepresented perspective of children and pupils’ activism. I argue that a theoretical over-emphasis on direct action as prefigurative significantly obscures, on an analytical plane, the processes young actors go through in order to become horizontal anti-authoritarian activists. Such processes of becoming, however, form a great part of their activist practice.
An 18-month ethnographic fieldwork process further revealed the role of public space and urban commons in the reproduction of autonomous youth initiatives and in processes of reimagining the political and youth identity in late capitalism. By ethnographically exploring how a public square in Nicosia was produced into an alternative public sphere for youth anti- authoritarian politics, I demonstrate how underage autonomous activists sustain their capacity to act, given their exclusion from dominant public spheres and inability to purchase space. I, thus, contribute to emerging ethnographic literature on squares as key spaces of social movement action and on spatialized public spheres. My findings led me to conceptualize squares as destinations instead of crossing points, as places of stasis, and to argue that stasis in public space manifests multiple radical potentialities and becomes resistance to neoliberal governmentality.
This thesis maps and re-maps literary London through an engagement with selected novels by Diana Evans, Bernardine Evaristo and Andrea Levy. The thesis builds on the work of very strong strands of black British women’s writing, an area of writing that remains committed to the necessity of having to defend it. I argue that the literature of this group of contemporary women writers re-orientates trajectories of black British writing to focus on emerging distinctive London identities in the twenty-first century. The thesis charts a shift in black British women’s writing which rewrites familiar postcolonial tensions around nationhood, displacement and unbelonging to articulate a rootedness in London. Evans’, Evaristo’s and Levy’s sense of belonging stems from the city in which they were all born and raised, their ‘London-ness’ rendering a new form of selfhood which informs who they are and what they write.
The study is motivated by an agenda to critique black British women’s writing outside of the historical paradigmatic racial and gendered identities through which it has traditionally been read. I wish to attend to women’s writing in a way which disturbs the canon of contemporary British fiction, reconfiguring predominately male narratives of London life to present an alternative view of the city. The study assesses Evans’, Evaristo’s and Levy’s contributions to and reappraisal of long traditions of women writing novels of family and home. The novels I engage with are localised within a particular London postcode, foregrounding the importance of microcosmic conceptions of home and domestic spaces to constructions of belonging in a multifaceted, complex urban environment such as London. The role of family is central to the authors’ narratives and the thesis explores familial women’s relationships which are both nuanced and complicated. The trope of sisterhood is deployed across the texts and raises profound questions concerning ideological constructions of belonging and home.
The thesis grounds itself intellectually at the nexus of debates in the fields of feminist discourse, postcolonial theory and contemporary urban theory, implementing them within a more fluid critical framework capable of reading the literature by this group of writers outside rigid categorising partitions. To not attend to questions of race and gender within their works would be to distort the thematic framework underpinning the novels. Nevertheless, I wish to re-inflect the ways in which we critique London writing to encourage the emergence of a new language which allows us think about it as organically diverse, rather than consciously or systematically ‘multicultural’.
The renormalisation group is a crucial tool for understanding scale-dependent quantum field theories. Renormalisation group fixed points correspond to theories where scale invariance is restored at the quantum level, and may provide high- or low-energy limits for more general quantum field theories. In particular, those reached in the ultraviolet allow theories to be defined microscopically, a scenario known as asymptotic safety. In this work I investigate fixed points of conventional four-dimensional, at-space, perturbatively renormalisable, local quantum field theories. Focusing on weakly interacting fixed points the problem becomes amenable to perturbation theory. The approach is twofold: on the one hand to understand general conditions for the existence of such fixed points, and on the other to construct theories which introduce new features compared to previous examples.
To understand perturbative fixed points, general calculations for theories of this type are exploited. It is established, for gauge theories, interacting fixed points may be nonzero in gauge couplings alone, or in gauge and Yukawa couplings. Deriving novel group theory bounds it is established that only the latter may possibly be ultraviolet. Additionally it is shown that theories without gauge interactions cannot possess weakly coupled fixed points, and the connexion between this fact and the impossibility of such theories being asymptotically free is highlighted.
Two explicit families of examples are presented: a theory with semisimple gauge group is analysed in detail, containing many new fixed points, a rich phase structure, and asymptotically safe regions of parameter space, and a separate supersymmetric model with an ultraviolet fixed point, providing the first known explicit example of an asymptotically safe supersymmetric gauge theory.
We develop a model in which social pressure on a firm to behave well is jointly produced by a state regulator (EPA) and an NGO. The EPA and NGO differ in how they trade-off business versus environmental interests and also have access to different instruments in pursuit of their objectives. EPA and NGO efforts may be strategic complements or substitutes, depending upon circumstances. We present a taxonomy of outcomes in the game between EPA and NGO in the spirit of Fudenberg and Tirole's (1984) classic taxonomy of business strategies. We also consider strategic delegation from NGO supporters to an NGO that has tastes over environmental and business interests different to their own.
This thesis addresses an under-researched disjunction surrounding knowledge creation between, and within, development and pastoralist groups. Many academics increasingly recognise pastoralist populations as creative and adaptable, yet these populations often lack the resources to develop innovations beyond the local context. Despite often being better resourced than pastoralist communities, development interventions in the Horn of Africa have achieved limited successes; an observation often linked in academic literature with a failure to rethink inappropriate established practices drawn from settled agriculture.
The need to explore new ways of understanding hybrid knowledge creation in pastoralist settings emerged from the international community’s limited understanding of informal innovation processes and unique contexts of pastoralist regions, due in part to the unsuitability of current frameworks and research tools for conceptualising informal innovation in marginal settings. This study makes an original research contribution by exploring the factors that shape processes of knowledge creation between development and pastoralist groups to answer the question what factors influence innovation in pastoralist areas?
An interconnected, mixed-methods research strategy was developed and applied to study the role of knowledge networks and framings in processes of knowledge creation amongst pastoralist and development actors innovating in North Horr, Kenya. The empirical data gathered throughout the research informed the development of an internally-valid analytical framework with which to explore innovation in this setting.
The key findings of this study highlight the importance of the contextual and often asymmetric nature of relationships in processes of emergent knowledge creation within pastoralist development. The observations collected throughout the research process provide an empirical basis from which to discuss networks, framings, and knowledge creation in pastoralist settings; contributing to wider debates surrounding informal innovation processes and narratives of pastoralist development.
This thesis addresses three key research questions, which explore empirically, the links between women’s relative intra-household bargaining power and child welfare outcomes in Sub-Saharan African households.
The first empirical study examines the effects of a woman’s decision-making power on the nutrition outcomes of Ghanaian children under five years of age using two measures. First, using an index-based measure of a woman’s overall involvement in household decision-making, relative to her partner, indicates positive effects of a mother’s bargaining power on child nutrition. Second, measures of bargaining power which further distinguish between equal power and sole decision-making power relative to her partner for separate spheres of decision-making are used. The results show that better child nutrition outcomes are associated with being in households where the power balance between women and their partners is equal. This suggests that even though child nutrition is positively associated with women’s bargaining power, policy interventions that promote balanced bargaining power may better enhance child nutrition outcomes.
In the next chapter, the impact of another aspect of intra-household bargaining power, a mother’s report of her experience of domestic violence on child survival, is studied using Demographic and Health Survey data from six sub-Saharan African countries, spanning 2008 and 2013. The analysis of a mother’s experience of emotional, physical and sexual violence on infant mortality, nutrition and illness, provides limited evidence that women’s exposure to domestic violence is a threat to infant mortality. The results of this study also show that while women’s exposure to violence might potentially affect child survival, its effects are varied across countries.
The third substantive chapter studies the effects of a woman’s relative bargaining power on boys’ and girls’ educational achievement in Ghana measured by test scores, while a woman’s ownership of a range of economic assets relative to her partner are used as measures of her bargaining power. Based on data from a national survey by the University of Ghana and Yale University’s Economic Growth Centre in 2008/2009, the study finds limited evidence that a woman’s ownership of household durable assets and agricultural land, are more significantly associated with the educational achievement of children. The conclusion from this study is that based on the evidence available, other factors seem to be more important for children’s educational achievement than the relative bargaining power of their mothers.
We derive the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis (ETH) from a random matrix Hamiltonian by extending the model introduced by Deutsch (1991 Phys. Rev. A 43 2046). We approximate the coupling between a subsystem and a many-body environment by means of a random Gaussian matrix. We show that a common assumption in the analysis of quantum chaotic systems, namely the treatment of eigenstates as independent random vectors, leads to inconsistent results. However, a consistent approach to the ETH can be developed by introducing an interaction between random wave-functions that arises as a result of the orthonormality condition. This approach leads to a consistent form for off-diagonal matrix elements of observables. From there we obtain the scaling of time-averaged fluctuations of generic observables with system size for which we calculate an analytic form in terms of the inverse participation ratio. The analytic results are compared to exact diagonalizations of a quantum spin chain for different physical observables in multiple parameter regimes.
Distinct protein phosphorylation levels in interphase and M phase require tight regulation of Cdk1 activity [1, 2]. A bistable switch, based on positive feedback in the Cdk1 activation loop, has been proposed to generate different thresholds for transitions between these cell-cycle states [3, 4, 5]. Recently, the activity of the major Cdk1-counteracting phosphatase, PP2A:B55, has also been found to be bistable due to Greatwall kinase-dependent regulation [6]. However, the interplay of the regulation of Cdk1 and PP2A:B55 in vivo remains unexplored. Here, we combine quantitative cell biology assays with mathematical modeling to explore the interplay of mitotic kinase activation and phosphatase inactivation in human cells. By measuring mitotic entry and exit thresholds using ATP-analog-sensitive Cdk1 mutants, we find evidence that the mitotic switch displays hysteresis and bistability, responding differentially to Cdk1 inhibition in the mitotic and interphase states. Cdk1 activation by Wee1/Cdc25 feedback loops and PP2A:B55 inactivation by Greatwall independently contributes to this hysteretic switch system. However, elimination of both Cdk1 and PP2A:B55 inactivation fully abrogates bistability, suggesting that hysteresis is an emergent property of mutual inhibition between the Cdk1 and PP2A:B55 feedback loops. Our model of the two interlinked feedback systems predicts an intermediate but hidden steady state between interphase and M phase. This could be verified experimentally by Cdk1 inhibition during mitotic entry, supporting the predictive value of our model. Furthermore, we demonstrate that dual inhibition of Wee1 and Gwl kinases causes loss of cell-cycle memory and synthetic lethality, which could be further exploited therapeutically.
The Digital Ghost Hunt is an immersive storytelling experience that transforms coding and digital technology from something foreign and mysterious into a tool of the imagination. In its first implementation, the Digital Ghost Hunt immersive experience will be realised in the historic Battersea Arts Centre (BAC), with a narrative that explore the building's rich historical memory using the creative spirit of an earlier era of open-ended technological experimentation. The key objective of The Digital Ghost Hunt is to present technology to students as an empowering tool, where coding emerges as - and fuses with - different forms of storytelling. It seeks to shift the context in which Key Stage 2 students see coding, engaging groups who may be uninterested in or feel excluded by digital technology, to open up an imaginative space through play for them to discover the creative potential of technology on their own terms.
For this pilot project, we will publish code libraries and instructions for affordable hardware kits, and write an initial narrative formed around the fictive Ministry of Paranormal Hygiene. Learning facilitators will appear in class as a team of Ministry scientists, led by the Deputy Undersecretary of Paranormal Hygiene, to initiate their training. Using Raspberry Pi microprocessor kits, their first task will be to program their detection devices. During this phase students will be introduced to the basic logic of programming: variables, looping and decision structures. They will be taught how to use the high-level API (Application Interface) to query their sensors for information, store it and display it. The emphasis will be on students taking ownership of their devices, deciding which of the ghost detectors they want to build and how it works.
When they are ready, students will begin their first hunt at a haunted historical building. Students will use the devices they've built to discover clues and research the history of the building to discover the ghost's identity. The ghost will in turn communication with them, given life by actors, practical effects and the poltergeist potential of the Internet of Things. Together students will unravel the mystery of the ghost's haunting, and help set it free.
METADATA. HOW WE RELATE TO IMAGES Lethaby Gallery 10 Jan—3 Feb 2018 An exhibition organised by the International Research Group “Bilderfahrzeuge. Aby Warburg’s Legacy and the Future of Iconology” in collaboration with Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London.
The Lancet Countdown: tracking progress on health and climate change was established to provide an independent, global monitoring system dedicated to tracking the health dimensions of the impacts of, and the response to, climate change. The Lancet Countdown tracks 41 indicators across five domains: climate change impacts, exposures, and vulnerability; adaptation, planning, and resilience for health; mitigation actions and health co-benefits; finance and economics; and public and political engagement. This report is the product of a collaboration of 27 leading academic institutions, the UN, and intergovernmental agencies from every continent. The report draws on world-class expertise from climate scientists, ecologists, mathematicians, geographers, engineers, energy, food, livestock, and transport experts, economists, social and political scientists, public health professionals, and. doctors. The Lancet Countdown’s work builds on decades of research in this field, and was first proposed in the 2015 Lancet Commission on health and climate change,1 which documented the human impacts of climate change and provided ten global recommendations to respond to this public health emergency and secure the public health benefits available (panel 1).
The mind and brain sciences began with consciousness as a central concern. But for much of the 20th century, ideological and methodological concerns relegated its empirical study to the margins. Since the 1990s, studying consciousness has regained a legitimacy and momentum befitting its status as the primary feature of our mental lives. Nowadays, consciousness science encompasses a rich interdisciplinary mixture drawing together philosophical, theoretical, computational, experimental, and clinical perspectives, with neuroscience its central discipline. Researchers have learned a great deal about the neural mechanisms underlying global states of consciousness, distinctions between conscious and unconscious perception, and self-consciousness. Further progress will depend on specifying closer explanatory mappings between (first-person subjective) phenomenological descriptions and (third-person objective) descriptions of (embodied and embedded) neuronal mechanisms. Such progress will help reframe our understanding of our place in nature and accelerate clinical approaches to a wide range of psychiatric and neurological disorders.
This thesis operationalizes a political ecology research programme to examine the different dimensions of environmentally-oriented small-scale gold mining reform within Guyana’s unique mining setting. The study is based on a year of fieldwork in Guyana and employs a mix of spatial, quantitative, and qualitative data – including multiple Geographic Information Systems (GIS) maps, mineral property data, hundreds of secondary documents, three ethnographic site-based case studies, and 143 semi-structured interviews.
The research approach examines the small-scale reform agenda in Guyana as a ‘storyline’, enabling a view of the policy agenda as not only embodying structures and institutions, but as also predicated on particular assumptions about social and ecological reality. By highlighting the contrasts between the ways policies are perceived and experienced by a range of actors on the ground with the abstract policy framings, it offers an analysis of the root causes of policy failure, conflict, and economic and social injustice.
The thesis identifies a range of powerful (and under-acknowledged) political phenomena in the mining landscape that threaten the legibility, legitimacy, and effectiveness of the reform approach. These phenomena relate to contested local understandings of environmental change; unresolved contentions among poorer miners and indigenous groups over the structural basis of formal titles; emerging forms of market-mediated exclusion; and inherent ‘informality’ amidst intense resource competition, state fragility and remote geographies.
The persistence of such phenomena offers a reminder that mining reform is not merely a ‘legal-institutional’ process but an inherently ‘political’ one that entails contestation over how social and ecological relationships are defined and managed. While showing how a political ecology approach enables engagement with a range of normative concerns, this thesis also makes specific contributions to current academic and policy debates on small-scale gold mining governance, offering new insights on patterns of informality, injustice, and exclusion.
Geopolitics and grand strategy are modern concepts of statecraft associated with the rise and decline of Great Powers. This chapter looks at the concept of geopolitics and its significance for grand strategy. It does so by tracing the development of the concepts and showing how the meaning of the concepts evolved in response to changing world historical contexts. It explains why geopolitics and grand strategy are associated with the politics of Great Powers and why these concepts are currently making a comeback. The chapter then goes on to discuss the pitfalls and problems associated with formulating a grand strategy, and why geopolitics is as much about interpretation as it is about objective geographical factors.
This study was commissioned by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the FEMM Committee. The study provides a definition and conceptual model of domestic sexual abuse of girls, as well as analyses of prevalence and risk factors across the EU. It goes on to review policies and actions to address domestic sexual abuse of girls at the EU and Member State levels, and sets out case studies of four countries. It ends by providing recommendations for Member States and EU institutions.
This research originated from an interest in developing products with a holistic and interdisciplinary systems engineering approach, toward fostering sustainability. A comprehensive method which helps designers make better decisions in the earliest design stage was applied for conceptual model development and comparison. The study developed a new-design passive house with a double-skin envelope that delivers better energy consumption performance for heating and cooling relative to a conventional reference house, while achieving comfort-level indoor temperatures. A single-façade reference house was designed with the identical geometry, material and conditions of the new house living quarters, in order to demonstrate the new house performance using a valid comparison. The new house and reference house were simulated cases and were not calibrated by actual models. The energy simulations demonstrated that the heating and cooling demands of the new house were 19.1% and 18.8% lower than those of the reference house, respectively. Furthermore, fluid dynamics behavior of the air inside the double-skin envelope was analyzed to demonstrate the airflow’s contribution to the energy performance. Computational fluid dynamics simulations revealed that turbulent airflow in the underground space on summer day increased heat transfer, and laminar airflow in the double-skin roof on winter night decreased such transfer.
Inter-individual differences in human fundamental frequency (F0, perceived as voice pitch) predict mate quality and reproductive success, and affect listeners' social attributions. Although humans can readily and volitionally manipulate their vocal apparatus and resultant voice pitch, for instance, in the production of speech sounds and singing, little is known about whether humans exploit this capacity to adjust the non-verbal dimensions of their voices during social (including sexual) interactions. Here, we recorded full-length conversations of 30 adult men and women taking part in real speed-dating events and tested whether their voice pitch (mean, range and variability) changed with their personal mate choice preferences and the overall desirability of each dating partner. Within-individual analyses indicated that men lowered the minimum pitch of their voices when interacting with women who were overall highly desired by other men. Men also lowered their mean voice pitch on dates with women they selected as potential mates, particularly those who indicated a mutual preference (matches). Interestingly, although women spoke with a higher and more variable voice pitch towards men they selected as potential mates, women lowered both voice pitch parameters towards men who were most desired by other women and whom they also personally preferred. Between-individual analyses indicated that men in turn preferred women with lower-pitched voices, wherein women's minimum voice pitch explained up to 55% of the variance in men's mate preferences. These results, derived in an ecologically valid setting, show that individual- and group-level mate preferences can interact to affect vocal behaviour, and support the hypothesis that human voice modulation functions in non-verbal communication to elicit favourable judgements and behaviours from others, including potential mates.
Despite the fact that the first cases of asylum granted for reasons of sexual orientation date back to the 1980s, most research on this issue began to emerge only in 2010. Most of this literature is about Refugee Status Determination (RSD) and does not approach the process of local integration. There is a lack of comparative studies among different States, with the exception of the ones relating to RSD in European countries. This paper is therefore a first attempt at approaching asylum based on sexual orientation in a North-South perspective, analysing RSD and local integration in Brazil and Spain.
Background and Aim
Prescribing errors continue to compromise patient safety. However, in spite of its obvious importance in health care, medical students do not feel adequately prepared for the complex task of prescribing.
The prescribing safety assessment (PSA) has become an established component of UK medical school assessments with the purpose of driving the learning of practical prescribing skills.
This study aimed to investigate UK medical students’ perspectives on the impact of the PSA on the acquisition of practical prescribing skills.
Summary of work and outcomes
1023 medical students in years three (22%; n=225), four (37%; n=378) and final (41%; n=420) from 25 UK medical schools responded to an online questionnaire. 54% of final year students reported that their medical school helped them prepare for the PSA (n=227) while 72.4% of third year (n=163) and 56.3% fourth year (n=213) students were not aware of teaching aligned with the PSA; [ χ 2(2, N=1023) =0.72.31, p<.001]. Majority (72.1%; n=303) of final year students opined that preparing for the PSA will or had already improved their practical prescribing skills, compared with 66.9% of year 4 students (n=253) and 59.6% of year 3 students (n=134); [ χ 2(2, n=1023) =10.646, p=0.005].
The main student justification for indicating positive impact of the PSA was that skills acquired in preparation for the PSA were relevant and directly transferable for use on graduation. Furthermore, the PSA enables focus on aspects of prescribing that otherwise might not have been covered in as much detail – calculations; side effects; familiarity with sources of information. Students also reported that PSA preparation might highlight individual learning needs and introduce the notion of prescribing standards.
Discussion
This study highlights medical student perspectives on the impact of the PSA on practical prescribing skills. Overall, the students find the PSA exerts a positive influence on practical prescribing skills. However, there needs to be a greater consistency in medical schools providing targeted teaching in preparation for the PSA which might in turn translate into effective learning. The results also suggest that the introduction of similar assessments to the PSA in the lower years might highlight individual learning needs and lead to an earlier exposure to expected standards for prescribing competence.
Conclusion
From a medical student perspective, preparation for the PSA might optimise practical prescribing skills. Although this represents the views of medical students, the role of student feedback in curriculum development cannot be underestimated.
This thesis explores the integration of public veterinarians in zoonosis management policy and action in Ghana with regard to the implementation of the internationally-led policy ideal: ‘One Health’ (OH). Drawing on theoretical contributions that examine professionalism, integration mechanisms and social processes, I researched vets’ potential for OH in a context of new public health imperatives, limited resources and absence of targeted national strategy. During eight months of ethnography in Southern Ghana, I investigated veterinary professional characteristics using participant observation, interviews, document collection and a network survey. I analysed how veterinary perspectives, practices and relationships influenced the scope for integration of vets and their activities in zoonosis management, from the district-level clinics and offices to national-level institutions and international organisations. This work questioned whether and why Ghanaian vets would want to engage in OH integration with regard to their professional values and interests. It also sought to understand which practitioners and practices were professionally promoted or repressed and what were the main dilemmas or opportunities for local vets taking part in local zoonosis surveillance, prevention and control. Furthermore, it studied interactions in networks around zoonoses between Ghanaian vets and other actors, and their potential to create and maintain relationships that favour integration. This research contributes to critical knowledge on global health policy implementation by highlighting the importance of relationships and power dynamics both within and between professionals in relation to integration. This, I argue, can be done through more consideration of their professional values, interests and status, and the heterogeneity of all of these in a national context. The thesis also adds to the scarce literature on veterinary professionalism in low- and middle-income countries by providing ‘thick descriptions’ of veterinary perspectives, practices and network relationships.
Renewable energy projects, such as offshore and onshore wind and solar farms, including the necessary infrastructure, have an impact on biodiversity. Given the status of biodiversity across Europe, and the ambitions for the maintenance of species, limiting the impact of renewable energy generation units on biodiversity is of fundamental importance. This study offers an insight into the incorporation of species protection aspects in current permit practices, and contributes to the discussion on dealing with species protection issues in the process of upscaling sustainable energy facilities.
RbpA is unique to and conserved across the Actinobacteria and binds to the group I sigma factors to form an RNA polymerase holoenzyme complex resulting in stabilisation of the transcription initiation bubble. RbpA is composed of an unstructured N-terminus, RbpA core domain (RCD), Basic linker (BL) and Sigma Interaction Domain (SID). The function of the RbpA-SID is the only well characterised domain. Therefore, this study focuses on elucidating the function of the RbpA BL. A recently published full length RbpA crystal structure has shown that the RbpA BL is positioned to interact with the extended -10 promoter DNA. Alanine substitutions of the RbpA BL did show a small colony phenotype with actinorhodin production in S. coelicolor. The equivalent RbpA BL residue substitutions with alanine in M. tuberculosis were constructed and tested in vivo. The RbpA BL mutant (3KRA) failed to culture on solid media, but no growth inhibitory phenotype was present in liquid media. Additionally, RNA-seq of the BL mutant in both organisms revealed major transcriptional changes. Together these studies, suggest that the RbpA BL does not contribute to the essential function of RbpA and therefore RbpA may fulfil other functions. To explore these alternative functions, we constructed mutations in HrdB, a principle sigma factor in S. coelicolor, which prevented RbpA binding to RNAP/σHrdB holoenzyme. Chromatin immunoprecipitation techniques followed by high-throughput ChIP sequencing of the HrdB mutant revealed that HrdB was capable of co-localising at all RbpA dependant promoters in the absence of RbpA binding.
CarD is another essential transcription factor in Mycobacterium spp which binds to RNAP/σA holoenzyme. Several structural models have suggested that RbpA and CarD bind to the extended -10 promoter DNA from opposite sides of the double helix DNA. Therefore, to explore a potential relationship between RbpA and CarD, we constructed a degradation tag system to enable co-depletion of RbpA and CarD. This provides a genetic tool for studying essential genes without the use of antibiotic dependant inducible systems.
Objective: To explore the course persistency of Medically Unexplained Symptoms (MUS) and its prognostics factors in the general adult population. Knowledge of prognostic factors of MUS may indicate possible avenues for intervention development.
Methods: Data were derived from the Netherlands Mental Health Survey and Incidence Study-2 (NEMESIS-2), a nationally representative face-to-face cohort study among the Dutch general population aged 18-64 years. We selected subjects with MUS at baseline and who participated at follow-up (N=324) and reassessed those subjects for having MUS at three year follow-up. Logistic regression analyses were used to determine risk factors for persistency of MUS.
Results: 36.4% of the subjects had persistent MUS at follow-up. In logistic regression analyses adjusted for sex and age, persistency of MUS was predicted by the number of comorbid chronic medical disorder(s), lower education, female sex, not having a paid job, parental psychopathology as well as lower functioning. In the logistic regression analysis in which all significant variables adjusted for sex and age were entered simultaneously, three variables predicted persistent MUS: parental psychopathology, the number of comorbid chronic medical disorder(s) and physical functioning, with odds ratios of 2.01 (1.20-3.38), 1.19 (1.01-1.40) and 0.99 (0.97-1.00), respectively.
Conclusion: In the adult general population, MUS were persistent in over one third of the subjects with MUS at baseline. Persistency was uniquely significantly predicted by parental psychopathology, number of comorbid chronic medical disorders and physical functioning. These findings warrant further research into early intervention and treatment options for persons with an increased risk of persistent MUS.
Prior research has shown that consumers have clear and measurable expectations about the likely effects of food and drink items on their appetite and thirst, which are acquired with experience and influenced by a product’s taste and texture. What is unclear is whether expression of these expectations also varies with current appetitive state. It is possible that current appetite could increase or decrease the relevance of these expectations for future food choice and magnify a product’s expected impact on appetite. To test this, we contrasted expectations about satiety and thirst for four products consumed two hours after an appetite manipulation at breakfast, achieved through ad libitum access to low-energy drinks only (hunger condition), cereal only but no drinks (thirst condition) or both foods and drinks (sated condition). The test products were two soups and two drinks, with a thicker and thinner version of each product type to act as positive control to ensure sensitivity in detecting differences in expectations. For satiety, the predicted differences between products were seen: soups and thicker products were expected to be more filling and to suppress subsequent hunger more than drinks and thinner products, but these differences were more pronounced in the hunger than thirsty or sated conditions. Being thirsty also enhanced expectations of how much drinks would appease immediate thirst. Overall the data show that expectations were adjusted subtly by a person’s current appetitive state, suggesting that we have mechanisms that highlight the most important features of a product at the time when it may be most beneficial to the consumer.
This thesis examines the role of military badge brooches, miniature replicas of regimental insignia worn by women from the 1880s to the present day. Often given to mark personal relationships, they became known generically as ‘sweetheart brooches’ but in fact communicated much more than this, articulating societal solidarity, status, concepts of patriotism and frequently commemoration. Their tangible presence in the quotidian lives of women across all strata of society maintained links between personnel on the front line and those on the home front but no academic investigation has been conducted into them and they are conspicuously absent from studies of jewellery, dress or material culture.
Starting with the brooches themselves and synthesising case studies, archival material and primary documentation, the thesis aims to address this gap in scholarship. Five chapters consider their significance to wartime society. They denoted military history, became a vital part of the jewellery trade and were promoted as propaganda. For the women who wore them they might be fashion items, wedding jewellery, talismanic charms, status symbols or memory objects. The brooches are considered in conjunction with images as commemorations of events and people and situated within the history of the earlier sentimental jewels from which they evolved.
Regimental sweetheart brooches were ubiquitous across all walks of society, forming part of the pervasive visual wartime background. The study shifts the emphasis of conflict-related art from male uniforms and artefacts towards the concerns of women on the home front by considering these evocative but hitherto unexplored jewels through the approaches of material culture, commercial interests, museums and the oral and written testimonies of those who gave and wore them, demonstrating that they should be integrated into the historiography of jewellery and conflict artworks.
The primary purpose of this thesis is to offer an insight into family attitudes toward transgender experience in Cuba, one of the few countries in the world where gender reassignment surgery is state-sponsored. Homosexuality was legalised in Cuba in 1975. In the early 1990s, new laws also encompassed legalisation for gender non-normative persons. Against this background, the present research involved a mixed repertoire of visual and narrative ethnographic methods and was conducted in Cuba between 2014 and 2016. This involved collaborative research to establish a photographic project reflecting on the experience of gender transitioning in the family and included the gathering of oral histories from eight Cuban families. It was intended to enable research participants to reveal the complexities that characterise life in contemporary Cuba and, more importantly, to explore the question of gender, sexuality and the Revolution. Data for this research were collected from eight Cuban families whose members’ ages range from 25 to 80. This facilitated a space for conversation about family and gender transitioning across generations.
This thesis is based on the analysis of this participatory research, which has included assembling the participants’ visual narratives and lived experiences through their family portraits and oral histories, including my own ethnographic visual reflexivity. These family photographs depict the apparently straight/hetero family as a space where sexual and gender difference is happening. They also provide a significant strategy for rethinking queer family spaces, not as separate or subaltern but as implicated within seemingly normative family arrangements. The critical written component of the thesis consists of 38,098 words. The creative work includes a photography exhibition/installation and a photography book. Also, as an integral part of the thesis, some parts of a published article are included in Chapter 4. (See Appendix 2 for Oral History Authors’ Agreement). Each chapter includes descriptions of participants’ thoughts on their own transgender experiences in relation to their domestic space, care arrangements, family relationships and kinship, and also their experiences with The National Center for Sex Education (CENESEX) and the Cuban State.
One way to hunt for top squarks is to look for deviations from the Standard Model in loop level processes involving Higgses. This method is indirect, but complementary to direct searches as it does not rely on specific top squark decays. Studying inclusive Higgs production pp → h alone is insufficient, since there are parameter regions where the effects of the two top squarks approximately cancel. This degeneracy can be broken by looking at the rate for highly boosted Higgses recoiling against a jet, pp → h + jet. In this paper we perform a detailed study of the complementarity of the inclusive and highly boosted processes at the LHC, both in existing Run 1 and Run 2 data, and looking forward to high luminosity. To break the degeneracy, our calculation must maintain the full mass dependence in the loop functions and therefore cannot be recast in an effective field theory framework. We quantify the dependence of both topologies in the top squark parameter space, and outline which levels of experimental and theoretical understanding would be needed for boosted Higgses to be competitive with inclusive Higgs production.
The Global Gag Rule has restricted access to reproductive health services across the Global South for over three decades. In 2017, Trump dramatically expanded the policy, further reducing the number of women with access to safe abortions. In this paper, I argue that Global North economic policies have left Global South people dependent on aid in order to meet their basic health needs. I show that the effects of inadequate access to healthcare and aid dependence are gender-differential in two ways. First, as primary care-givers, women are required to perform additional unpaid care-work when health services are inadequate. Second, women’s access to sexual and reproductive health services become vulnerable to the moral and political whims of foreign powers. These marginalising forces operate against the backdrop of “women’s empowerment” aid discourses which are wilfully imperceptive to this context. Global North economic policies have disempowered Global South women, and the Global Gag Rule imperils their bodily autonomy. The effect is a form of imperialism which must be resisted.
Women have been central to the revolution in Rojava, leading to widespread interest in the Kurdish women’s movement across Western contexts. Yet Western mass media representations of women combatants tend to be objectifying and superficial, glossing over the unique variety of feminism, known as “jineology,” that is core to the political system of Rojava, which operates according to the ideology of “democratic confederalism.” This paper is intended as a corrective to the inadequate representation of the theory and praxis of the women’s movement in Rojava. It approaches this task by: (a) critiquing the popular representation of women in Rojava, and (b) providing an overview of some of the features of the distinctive feminism that are in operation, with a focus on intersectionality, autonomous spaces, and combatting masculinity.
This paper explores how conceptions of luxury and status affect the manner in which a relatively novel technology—an electric vehicle— diffuses across societies. To do so, it combines Veblen’s notion of conspicuous consumption and Roger’s diffusion of innovation by proposing a new theoretical variation, which we term “conspicuous diffusion.” The paper sketches natural connections between the two theories, namely how conspicuous consumption relates to technological and societal development, and how diffusion of innovation is intrinsically connected to status. In combining these approaches, we hypothesize that the success of an innovation is guided by its adherence to the canons of conspicuousness and conspicuous value, which it loses as the innovation diffuses across the population. To illustrate the explanatory power of conspicuous diffusion, we examine the status of electric vehicles in the Nordic region, based on original data from multiple methods, including expert interviews and focus groups. We find that conspicuous diffusion can explain previous failures and current successes of electric vehicle diffusion patterns. The paper concludes with recommendations for policymakers, industry, and academia.
In Contingent Computation, M. Beatrice Fazi offers a new theoretical perspective through which we can engage philosophically with computing. The book proves that aesthetics is a viable mode of investigating contemporary computational systems. It does so by advancing an original conception of computational aesthetics that does not just concern art made by or with computers, but rather the modes of being and becoming of computational processes. Contingent Computation mobilises the philosophies of Gilles Deleuze and Alfred North Whitehead in order to address aesthetics as an ontological study of the generative potential of reality. Through a novel philosophical reading of Gödel’s incompleteness theorems and of Turing’s notion of incomputability, Fazi finds this potential at the formal heart of computational systems, and argues that computation is a process of determining indeterminacy. This indeterminacy, which is central to computational systems, does not contradict their functionality. Instead, it drives their very operation, albeit in a manner that might not always fit with the instrumental, representational and cognitivist purposes that we have assigned to computing.
OBJECTIVES: To investigate the correlation between sarcopenia and arterial stiffness in Caucasians, centering on the relationship between skeletal mass index (SMI) and the cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) to assess the use of CAVI in predicting sarcopenia.
DESIGN CROSS-SECTIONAL SETTING: United Kingdom.
PARTICIPANTS: UK adults aged 45 years and over (N = 366, n = 177 male, n = 189 female).
MEASUREMENTS: Bioimpedance analysis was used to derive SMI. CAVI score was calculated using a vascular screening system. Handgrip strength was measured using a standard dynamometer.
RESULTS: Average CAVI was significantly correlated with SMI (correlation coefficient (r) = −0.285, p < .001), with higher correlation in women (r = −0.416, p < .001) than men (r = −0.214, p = .01). CAVI had the highest correlation with SMI from appendicular muscle (fat-free mass in men, r = −0.253, p = .002; predicted muscle mass in women, r = −0.436, p < .001). There was a significant difference in average CAVI between groups, with participants who were not sarcopenic having lower CAVI (8.98) than those who were sarcopenic (9.80) (p < .001, t-test). Linear regression was performed using SMI as the dependent variable. After adjustment for age, average CAVI was a significant predictor of SMI in women (beta = −0.332, p < .001) but not men.
For the ongoing debate on the contents of gender equity education concerning whether or not to include relationship and sexuality education (RSE), this paper is responding to an urgent call to promote the understanding of ‘emotions’ in and beyond classroom and their significance in personal gender/sexual identity constructs. Recently in Taiwan, we witnessed several incidents involved with suicide and homicide of heterosexual and homosexual individuals, some of which happened between young adults. Although the Gender Equity Education Act was proclaimed in 2004, the curricular programme is still a battlefield between LGBTQ rights organisations and the Pro-Family Movement (representing all the Taiwanese parents, as asserted). Drawing on the ‘health and human rights’ theory, this paper identifies a neglected dimension of all arguments: the intersection of children and adolescents’ rights to health and education. Yet, this perspective is particularly relevant, considering the entry into force of the Implementation Act of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in November 2014. I thus argue that it is now the government’s legal obligation to develop and provide RSE – integral of health education and indispensable for a healthy social life.
Galaxy interactions are often accompanied by an enhanced star formation rate (SFR). Since molecular gas is essential for star formation, it is vital to establish whether, and by how much, galaxy interactions affect the molecular gas properties. We investigate the effect of interactions on global molecular gas properties by studying a sample of 58 galaxies in pairs and 154 control galaxies. Molecular gas properties are determined from observations with the JCMT, PMO, CSO telescopes, and supplemented with data from the xCOLD GASS and JINGLE surveys at 12CO(1-0) and 12CO(2-1). The SFR, gas mass (MH2), and gas fraction (fgas) are all enhanced in galaxies in pairs by ∼ 2.5 times compared to the controls matched in redshift, mass, and effective radius, while the enhancement of star formation efficiency (SFE ≡ SFR/MH2) is less than a factor of 2. We also find that the enhancements in SFR, MH2 and fgas increase with decreasing pair separation and are larger in systems with smaller stellar mass ratio. Conversely, the SFE is only enhanced in close pairs (separation < 20 kpc) and equal-mass systems; therefore most galaxies in pairs lie in the same parameter space on the SFR-MH2 plane as controls. This is the first time that the dependence of molecular gas properties on merger configurations is probed statistically with a relatively large sample and with a carefully-selected control sample for individual galaxies. We conclude that galaxy interactions do modify the molecular gas properties, although the strength of the effect is merger configuration dependent.
Exploring how radio-emitting active galactic nuclei (AGN) behave and evolve with time is critical for understanding how AGN feedback impacts galaxy evolution. In this work, we investigate the relationship between 1.4 GHz radio continuum AGN luminosity (LAGN1.4), specific black hole accretion rate (s-BHAR, defined as the accretion luminosity relative to the galaxy stellar mass) and redshift, for a luminosity-complete sample of radio-selected AGN in the VLA COSMOS 3 GHz Large Project. The sample was originally selected from radio-continuum observations at 3 GHz, and includes about 1800 radio AGN identified via (>2σ) radio-excess relative to the infrared-radio correlation of star-forming galaxies. We further select a subsample of over 1200 radio AGN that is complete in LAGN1.4 over different redshift ranges, out to z~4, and use X-ray stacking to calculate the average s-BHAR in each LAGN1.4-z bin. We find that the average s-BHAR is independent of LAGN1.4, at all redshifts. However, we see a strong increase of s-BHAR with redshift, at fixed LAGN1.4. This trend resembles the strong increase in the fraction of star-forming host galaxies (based on the (NUV−r) / (r−J) colours) with redshift, at fixed LAGN1.4. A possible explanation for this similarity might imply a link between average AGN radiative power and availability of cold gas supply within the host galaxy. This study corroborates the idea that radio-selected AGN become more radiatively efficient towards earlier epochs, independently of their radio power.
JINGLE is a new JCMT legacy survey designed to systematically study the cold interstellar medium of galaxies in the local Universe. As part of the survey we perform 850um continuum measurements with SCUBA-2 for a representative sample of 193 Herschel-selected galaxies with M*>10^9Msun, as well as integrated CO(2-1) line fluxes with RxA3m for a subset of 90 of these galaxies. The sample is selected from fields covered by the Herschel-ATLAS survey that are also targeted by the MaNGA optical integral-field spectroscopic survey. The new JCMT observations combined with the multi-wavelength ancillary data will allow for the robust characterization of the properties of dust in the nearby Universe, and the benchmarking of scaling relations between dust, gas, and global galaxy properties. In this paper we give an overview of the survey objectives and details about the sample selection and JCMT observations, present a consistent 30 band UV-to-FIR photometric catalog with derived properties, and introduce the JINGLE Main Data Release (MDR). Science highlights include the non-linearity of the relation between 850um luminosity and CO line luminosity, and the serendipitous discovery of candidate z>6 galaxies.
We present ALMA Band 9 observations of the [C II]158um emission for a sample of 10 main-sequence galaxies at redshift z ~ 2, with typical stellar masses (log M*/Msun ~ 10.0 - 10.9) and star formation rates (~ 35 - 115 Msun/yr). Given the strong and well understood evolution of the interstellar medium from the present to z = 2, we investigate the behaviour of the [C II] emission and empirically identify its primary driver. We detect [C II] from six galaxies (four secure, two tentative) and estimate ensemble averages including non detections. The [C II]-to-infrared luminosity ratio (L[C II]/LIR) of our sample is similar to that of local main-sequence galaxies (~ 2 x 10^-3), and ~ 10 times higher than that of starbursts. The [C II] emission has an average spatial extent of 4 - 7 kpc, consistent with the optical size. Complementing our sample with literature data, we find that the [C II] luminosity correlates with galaxies' molecular gas mass, with a mean absolute deviation of 0.2 dex and without evident systematics: the [C II]-to-H2 conversion factor (alpha_[C II] ~ 30 Msun/Lsun) is largely independent of galaxies' depletion time, metallicity, and redshift. [C II] seems therefore a convenient tracer to estimate galaxies' molecular gas content regardless of their starburst or main-sequence nature, and extending to metal-poor galaxies at low and high redshifts. The dearth of [C II] emission reported for z > 6 - 7 galaxies might suggest either a high star formation efficiency or a small fraction of UV light from star formation reprocessed by dust.
We present a census of the molecular gas properties of galaxies in the most distant known X-ray cluster, CLJ1001, at z=2.51, using deep observations of CO(1-0) with JVLA. In total 14 cluster members with M∗>1010.5M⊙ are detected, including all the massive star-forming members within the virial radius, providing the largest galaxy sample in a single cluster at z>2 with CO(1-0) measurements. We find a large variety in the gas content of these cluster galaxies, which is correlated with their relative positions (or accretion states), with those closer to the cluster core being increasingly gas-poor. Moreover, despite their low gas content, the galaxies in the cluster center exhibit an elevated star formation efficiency (SFE=SFR/Mgas) compared to field galaxies, suggesting that the suppression on the SFR is likely delayed compared to that on the gas content. Their gas depletion time is around tdep∼400 Myrs, comparable to the cluster dynamical time. This implies that they will likely consume all their gas within a single orbit around the cluster center, and form a passive cluster core by z∼2. This result is one of the first direct pieces of evidence for the influence of environment on the gas reservoirs and SFE of z>2 cluster galaxies, thereby providing new insights into the rapid formation and quenching of the most massive galaxies in the early universe.
We report on the discovery of a merger-driven starburst at z = 1.52, PACS-787, based on high signal-to-noise ALMA observations. CO(5-4) and continuum emission (850um) at a spatial resolution of 0.3" reveal two compact (r_1/2 ~ 1 kpc) and interacting molecular gas disks at a separation of 8.6 kpc thus indicative of an early stage in a merger. With a SFR of 991 Msun/yr, this starburst event should occur closer to final coalescence, as usually seen in hydrodynamical simulations. From the CO size, inclination, and velocity profile for both disks, the dynamical mass is calculated through a novel method that incorporates a calibration using simulations of galaxy mergers. Based on the dynamical mass, we measure (1) the molecular gas mass, independent from the CO luminosity, (2) the ratio of the total gas mass and the CO(1 - 0) luminosity (alpha_CO = M_gas/L'_CO(1-0)), and (3) the gas-to-dust ratio, with the latter two being lower than typically assumed. We find that the high star formation, triggered in both galaxies, is caused by a set of optimal conditions: a high gas mass/fraction, a short depletion time (t_depl=85 and 67 Myrs) to convert gas into stars, and the interaction of likely counter-rotating molecular disks that may accelerate the loss of angular momentum. The state of interaction is further established by the detection of diffuse CO and continuum emission, tidal debris that bridges the two nuclei and is associated with stellar emission seen by HST/WFC3. This observation demonstrates the power of ALMA to study the dynamics of galaxy mergers at high redshift.
We present an analysis of the molecular gas properties, based on CO(2 - 1) emission, of twelve starburst galaxies at z~1.6 selected by having a boost (>~4x) in their star formation rate (SFR) above the average star-forming galaxy at an equivalent stellar mass. ALMA observations are acquired of six additional galaxies than previously reported through our effort. As a result of the larger statistical sample, we significantly detect, for the first time at high-z, a systematically lower L'_CO/L_IR ratio in galaxies lying above the star-forming `main sequence' (MS). Based on an estimate of alpha_CO (i.e., the ratio of molecular gas mass to L'_CO(1-0)), we convert the observational quantities (e.g., L'_CO/L_IR) to physical units (M_gas/SFR) that represent the gas depletion time or its inverse, the star formation efficiency. We interpret the results as indicative of the star formation efficiency increasing in a continuous fashion from the MS to the starburst regime, whereas the gas fractions remain comparable to those of MS galaxies. Although, the balance between an increase in star-formation efficiency or gas fraction depends on the adopted value of alpha_CO as discussed.
Over the last ten years, Karyn Kusama has made a significant contribution to cinematic horror. Her two horror features, Jennifer’s Body (2009), a teen comedy about what happens when your best friend starts eating boys, and The Invitation (2015), a slow-burning paranoia film about a Hollywood Hills dinner party haunted by loss, social anxiety and cults, represent very different engagements with genre hybridity and the terrifying nature of everyday social relations. Most recently the short, “Her Only Living Son,” the final segment of the female-directed horror anthology film XX (2017), asked what raising a demonic son might tell us about masculinity and contemporary culture. Her film work and interviews reveal a filmmaker fascinated by the potential of genre to tell meaningful, intimate stories, as well as one who, frustrated by the limits of both studio and independent productions, takes a creatively pragmatic approach to her work.
Based on original data derived from 257 expert respondents across Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, we investigate the different expectations and visions associated with one form of low carbon transport, electric mobility, inclusive of vehicle-to-grid and vehicle-grid-integration configurations. Utilizing concepts from the sociology of expectation—notably rhetorical visions, ideographs, promise-requirement cycles, and enablers and selectors—we examine how future electric mobility is envisioned. A collection of eight visions is analyzed and then placed into a typology. Some visions see electric mobility as a harbinger of positive social change in terms of ubiquitous automobility or endless innovation, others warn of families literally stranded and freezing to death on mountains and a business landscape marred with insolvent and financially struggling firms. We conclude with insights about what such competing and contradictory visions mean for energy and climate policy as well as sustainability transitions.
Helicases, described as ‘guardians of the genome’, are enzymes that unwind DNA or RNA. Certain helicases, such as Bloom syndrome protein (BLM), are highly implicated in the DNA damage response (DDR). For example, BLM has various roles in homologous recombination (HR), a key pathway in the repair of DNA double strand breaks. Targeting proteins involved in DDR has recently garnered potential as a selective chemotherapeutic strategy. In this work, a tool inhibitor targeting BLM helicase was sought to increase understanding of its role and relevance in DNA damage repair.
The only characterised BLM helicase inhibitor, ML216, was developed from the results of a quantitative high-throughput screen (qHTS) screen on BLM helicase.1 This reported inhibitor presented as a good candidate for a starting point in a hit optimisation campaign that ultimately was not successful due to poor physicochemical properties of this compound series.
In order to identify a more suitable hit optimisation candidate, 672 actives from the MLSMR qHTS screen [AID2528]2 were analysed and 7 series were selected for in-house synthesis and biological evaluation. This led to the discovery of a single series that is a relatively potent inhibitor of BLM helicase. Hit optimisation primarily focused on the design and synthesis of a highly potent compound with a good solubility profile. Subsequently, co-crystallisation of BLM with this novel series led to the application of rational structure-based methods in the design of tool BLM inhibitors.
In 2012, Lord Justice Toulson observed that the practical application of open justice ‘may need reconsideration from time to time to take account of changes in the way society and the courts work’. In this article, we undertake such a reconsideration in light of the declining role that institutional media organisations play in promoting and protecting the principle of open justice, focusing on courts in England and Australia. We argue that due to changes in the communications landscape, the media no longer have the resources or sufficient inclination to adequately safeguard the public interest in transparency in the courts. In order to place the media’s declining role into context, we also briefly explore three further categories of contemporary challenges facing the open justice principle: changes to judicial attitudes to open justice in response to new communication technologies; shifts in the priority given in law to competing interests in national security and privacy; and, finally, new and emerging changes to court processes and procedures that potentially limit open justice, including virtual courts. We then consider mechanisms that would offer enhanced protection of open justice. Most boldly, we examine a novel model in which an open justice advocate (OJA) intervenes in appropriate circumstances, with the overall objective of ensuring maximum transparency of court proceedings. We also suggest additional mechanisms for greater transparency and accountability regarding the state of open justice in the courts – namely, a statutory duty on courts to give written public reasons for all decisions regarding open justice, a public register of all reporting restrictions (and similar orders) granted by the courts, and annual open justice reporting requirements.
Coatings of graphene oxide over two substrates of glass-fibre and polystyrene were obtained by electrophoretic deposition (EPD). A chemical reduction of graphene oxide by exposure to hydrazine hydrate at 100 °C significantly changes the interfacial interaction with the substrate as well as the tribology. Spectroscopic techniques like Fourier transform infrared, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction showed that the treatment with hydrazine replaces oxygen functional groups and also induces roughness, a structural disorder and decreases the interlayer separation in the transition from graphene oxide (GO) to reduced graphene oxide (rGO). Treatment with hydrazine reduces adhesion and friction force against diamond like carbon coated Si probe (DLC AFM) at the basal plain of the coatings. Investigation at the edges revealed that the presence of oxygenic functional groups leads to higher shear strength with glass-fibre and polystyrene which reduces after treatment with hydrazine.
Graphene Oxide has great potential to be used in tissue engineering applications. However, its stability in wet environment is questionable. Spin, dip and plasma cross-linked graphene oxide (GO) coatings of polymers (PEEK and PET) were used in a cell study to establish stability and biocompatibility. The different coatings procedure produced surfaces with different topography and functionality. All the coatings were stable in wet cell culture environment. Despite the fact that most of the coatings were highly oxidized, as measured by XPS, with high carboxyl groups relative concentration, they showed minimal toxic effect on the examined cell line (C2C12 myoblast). The effect of oxidative stress was not evident on this particular cell line as a typical fusiform shape and adherence on the surface were detected for all samples. With the exception of the GO dip coated PEEK sample, all other coatings showed high cell proliferation, comparable to the positive control. This reflects on the stability of GO dip coating process and suggests that coating stabilization is necessary for biomedical applications. We observed (using AFM) a higher rates of ripples and wrinkles in the spin and dip GO coated PEEK (but not PET) which led to observable myogenic differentiation, imaged by SEM.
What role does property doctrine play in defining the scope of “matrimonial property” for the purposes of financial provision on divorce in Scots law? In Grant v Grant, the Sheriff Appeal Court held that the date at which an asset was acquired can be the date of construction of family house, rather than the date of acquisition of the land on which it stands. Does the statutory context justify departure from the long-established doctrine that the legal status of an accessory follows that of the principal? If the usual rules of property law do not apply, on what basis are decisions about the scope of “matrimonial property” to be made? Is fairness between the parties the only principle that matters?
Graphene structural defects, namely edges, step-edges and wrinkles are susceptible to severe mechanical deformation and stresses under frictional operations. Applied forces cause deformation by folding, buckling, bending and tearing the defective sites of graphene, which lead to a remarkable decline in normal load and friction bearing capacity. In this work, we experimentally quantified the maximal normal and friction forces corresponding to the damage thresholds of the different investigated defects as well as their pull-out (adhesion) forces. Horizontal wrinkles (with respect to the basal plane, i.e. folded) sustained the highest normal load, up to 317 nN, during sliding, whereas for vertical (i.e. standing collapsed) wrinkles, step-edges and edges, the load bearing capacities are up to 113 nN, 74 nN and 63±5 nN, respectively. The related deformation mechanisms were also experimentally investigated by varying the normal load up to the initiation of the damage from the investigated defects and extended with the numerical results from Molecular Dynamics and Finite Element Method simulations.
Capacitive division and other charge-sharing techniques have become ubiquitous within modern technology. Almost all touchscreen devices depend on some form of charge sharing mechanism. The Capacitive-Division Imaging Readout, C-DIR, scheme developed for space/astronomy applications, is a proven concept which has benefited from widespread publication and several iterations of prototyping. In this study, we borrowed this idea and assessed its application in the field of life sciences, specifically, fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM).
Firstly, the composite C-DIR camera system was developed using a prototype anode developed by Lapington et al in combination with advanced photomultiplier tube technology developed by Photek Limited, and ultra-fast NINO ASIC and high performance time-to-digital converter, HPTDC, readout electronics developed by CERN. Several issues like signal noise, timing jitter and image distortion required special attention to successfully tune the C-DIR system for obtaining FLIM measurements. The C-DIR was characterized in the context of current detector technologies used for time-resolved applications. The maximum achievable global event rate was determined to be a USB 2.0 hard limit of about 1MHz. The spatial resolution and timing performance were identified as 0.5 line-pairs/mm and 200ps FWHM, respectively, which was comparable to other wide-field fluorescence lifetime cameras. These results provided the basis for using the system in a real situation. Before this was possible, however, it was necessary to engineer a bespoke software platform for data acquisition which could cope with the data rates and reduce raw data emerging from the C-DIR system, producing a format compatible with widely used fitting software.
The final stage of the project involved using the C-DIR for real science by reproducing real world experiments which allow for a fitness test of the system in the field. The first experiment involved a calcium calibration where the C-DIR system was calibrated using FLIM on a series of calcium buffers of known concentrations. This C-DIR was able accurately recover the lifetime values from the calcium buffers. The second shorter experiment involved using the calibrated system for the quantification of calcium within living tissue samples using fluorescence lifetime imaging. Results were consistent with those published in the literature which solidified the position of the C-DIR as a viable option for time-resolved fluorescence microscopy.
This study responds to the need for more research around (im)mobility decision-making to better support people facing environmental shocks and climatic changes. The concept of Trapped Populations, first appeared with the release of the 2011 Foresight report yielding repeated use in environmental migration studies and to a more limited extent policy. Although a seemingly straightforward concept, referring to people’s inability to move away from environmental high-risk areas despite a desire to do so, the underlying reasons for someone’s immobility can be profoundly complex. The empirical literature body referring to ‘trapped’ populations has similarly taken a fairly simple and narrow economic explanatory approach. A more comprehensive understanding around how immobility is narrated in academia, and how people’s cultural, social and psychological background in Bangladesh influences their (im)mobility, can provide crucial research insights. To better protect and support people living with environmental shocks and changes worldwide we need to build robust and well-informed policy frameworks
To achieve this, a set of discourse analyses were carried out. Firstly, a textual Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) reviewed how ‘trapped’ has been framed within academia. Secondly, a Foucauldian inspired discourse analysis was performed on field data to explore how power, knowledge and and binary opposites shape and determine people’s social norms in terms of their (im)mobility decision-making. These key concepts critically showcased how meaning, values and power can constrain the mobility of a social group. The analysis was carried out on a large set of field data gathered between 2014 and 2016 in Bangladesh. The data on urban immobility and rural non-evacuation behaviour was gathered through a mixed-method quant-qualitative approach that included Q-methodology, storytelling group sessions, in-depth interviews and a survey questionnaire. Other key concepts used to frame the analysis included those of subjectivity, gender, place and space.
The textual discourse analysis highlighted the dangers of framing mobility or resettlement as a potential climate adaptation. Assisted migration, could for example end up disguising other hidden political and economic agendas. The research identified how the empirical notions of ‘trapped’ move beyond economic immobility. People in Bangladesh described being socially, psychologically and emotionally ‘trapped’. These empirical notions are useful within the area of climate policy, as they raise questions around whether mobility in fact is the solution.
Efficient and effective objects identification using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is always a challenge in large scale industrial and commercial applications. Among existing solutions, the tree based splitting scheme has attracted increasing attention because of its high extendibility and feasibility. However, conventional tree splitting algorithms can only solve tag collision with counter value equals to zero and usually result in performance degradation when the number of tags is large. To overcome such drawbacks, we propose a novel tree-based method called Fast Splitting Algorithm based on Consecutive Slot Status detection (FSA-CSS), which includes a fast splitting (FS) mechanism and a shrink mechanism. Specifically, the FS mechanism is used to reduce collisions by increasing commands when the number of consecutive collision is above a threshold. Whereas the shrink mechanism is used to reduce extra idle slots introduced by FS. Simulation results supplemented by prototyping tests show that the proposed FSA-CSS achieves a system throughput of 0.41, outperforming the existing UHF RFID solutions.
Dynamic changes in bodily physiology influence perceptual, affective and cognitive processes. Behaviour is shaped by interoception, that is the processing of afferent information concerning internal state. Physiological signals, such as heartbeats, selectively facilitate, compete with, or inhibit, information processing across psychological domains, often providing a proximate mechanism for pervasive effects of emotions. There is increasing recognition of these influences on cognition, and a growing knowledge concerning underlying neural substrates. Recent theoretical models, notably interoceptive predictive coding, apply concepts of the 'Bayesian brain' and active inference to feeling states, agency and embodiment. Here we describe the impact of interoceptive signals on cognitive processes.
Student self-assessment using computer-based quizzes has been shown to increase subject memory and engagement. Some types of self-assessment quizzes can be associated with a dilemma between 1) medical students who want the self-assessment quiz to be clearly related to upcoming summative assessments or curated by the exam-setters, and 2) university administrators and ethics committees who want clear guarantees that the self-assessment quizzes are not based on the summative assessments or made by instructors familiar with the exam bank of items. An algorithm in Matlab was developed to formulate multiple-choice questions for both ion transport proteins and pharmacology. A resulting question/item subset was uploaded to the Synap online self-quiz web platform, and 48 year 1 medical students engaged with it for 3 wk. Anonymized engagement statistics for students were provided by the Synap platform, and a paper-based exit questionnaire with an 80% response rate (n=44) measured satisfaction. Four times as many students accessed the quiz system via laptop compared with phone/tablet. Of 391 questions/items, over 11,749 attempts were made. Greater than 80% of respondents agreed with each of the positive statements (ease of use, enjoyed, engaged more, learned more, and wanted it to be extended to other modules). Despite simplistic questions and rote memorization, the questions developed by this system were engaged with and were received positively. Students strongly supported extending the system.
Writing in 1965, Susan Sontag identified an important change taking place in modern culture. Rooted in the experiences of mid-twentieth century life and assisted by the development of new technologies, this change – a ‘new sensibility’, she called it – was increasingly rendering the ‘Matthew Arnold idea of culture’ obsolete and weakening the very idea of ‘high’ and ‘low’ art categories (p. 302). By the 1990s, this shift (and capitalism’s global expansion) had re-formed social habits of cultural consumption, as well as attitudes and prejudices regarding social class that had been traditionally associated with the consumption of high and low forms of art. In an important study published in 1992, the American sociologist Richard Peterson showed that one’s social status could no longer be so easily determined by the type of culture an individual consumed, but instead by how much culture – high and low – they consumed. Cultural ‘omnivores’, as Peterson termed them, participate in and know many forms of culture, from popular music to opera, and as a consequence typically enjoy higher social standing. By contrast, the cultural ‘univore’, those who participate in fewer cultural activities, possess lower cultural capital and consequently have a lower social status.
As well as re-defining the terms of the low/high culture/class debate, the cultural shift that has been taking place over the last half century, and Peterson’s assessment of it, has important aesthetic consequences. While it was once unheard of for artists working in elite aesthetic modes to draw upon popular sources, in the current cultural environment, this has become commonplace. Popular forms of culture are no longer considered ignorant, taboo or vulgar: they are widely consumed, appreciated and appropriated into other cultural forms. In this paper, I explore this cultural shift in relation to theatre and performance over the last fifty years. In particular, I will consider how the popular has been (and is being) drawn upon, and into, Western stage practices, as well as the aesthetic consequences of an omnivoric audience for art more generally.
Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is a gram positive spore forming bacterium which produces intracellular protein crystals toxic to a wide variety of insect larvae and is the most commonly used biological pesticide worldwide. More recently, Bt crystal proteins known as parasporins have been discovered, that have no known insecticidal activity but target some human cancer cells exhibiting strong cytocidal activities with different toxicity spectra and varied activity levels. Amongst these parasporins, parasporin-3 most closely resembles the commercially used insecticidal toxins and presents the narrowest activity spectrum, showing moderate cytotoxicity against only two cancer cell lines, HL-60 (Human promyelocytic leukemia cells) and HepG2 (Human liver cancer cells). Parasporin-3, also called Cry41Aa, has only been shown to exhibit cytocidal activity towards these two cell lines after being proteolytically cleaved. In order to understand this activation mechanism various mutations were made at the N- or C-terminal region of the protein and the toxicity against both HepG2 and HL-60 cell lines was evaluated. Our results indicate that only N-terminal cleavage is required for activation and that N-terminally deleted mutants show some toxicity without the need for proteolytic activation. Furthermore we have shown that the level of toxicity towards the two cell lines depends on the protease used to activate the toxin. Proteinase K-activated toxin was significantly more toxic towards HepG2 and HL-60 than trypsin-activated toxin. N-terminal sequencing of activated toxins showed that this difference in toxicity is associated with a difference of just two amino acids (serine and alanine at positions 59 and 60 respectively) which we hypothesize occlude a binding motif. Preliminary work carried out on binding showed a lack of correlation between binding and toxicity since toxin binds to both susceptible and non-susceptible cancer cell lines. In an attempt to better understand the mechanism of action of Cry41Aa against these cells, we evolved resistance in HepG2 through repeated exposure to increasing doses of the toxin. Morphological, physiological and genetic characteristics of the resistant cell line were compared with susceptible cells. Toxin was shown to bind to resistant HepG2 similarly to the susceptible line. RNA sequencing identified AQP9 as a potential mediator of resistance but extensive investigations failed to show a direct link. The involvement of certain intracellular signalling pathways were also investigated in order to understand cell responses to the toxin and showed that in response to the toxin p38, but not ERK1/2, is activated and in a dose dependent manner.
In the context of the current Mediterranean ‘crisis’ and ongoing negotiations of migration policies at national and European Union (EU) level, this Issue explores some of the problematic aspects raised by sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) asylum claims. Going beyond the studies available in this field, which are often focused only on the refugee status determination, the contributions published in this Issue scrutinise the entire process of claiming asylum undertaken by SOGI claimants. Adopting different perspectives based on international, EU and domestic law, all authors advance appropriate proposals to overcome the legal obstacles that prevent, to this day, the protection of SOGI claimants and the full enjoyment of their human rights in Europe.
In this paper we explore the entanglement of two relativistic spin-1/2 particles with continuous momenta. The spin state is described by the Bell state and the momenta are given by Gaussian distributions of product form. Transformations of the spins are systematically investigated in different boost scenarios by calculating the orbits and concurrence of the spin degree of freedom. By visualizing the behavior of the spin state we get further insight into how and why the entanglement changes in different boost situations.
We introduce a novel remote interface to control and optimize the experimental production of Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) and find improved solutions using two distinct implementations. First, a team of theoreticians employed a Remote version of their dCRAB optimization algorithm (RedCRAB), and second a gamified interface allowed 600 citizen scientists from around the world to participate in real-time optimization. Quantitative studies of player search behavior demonstrated that they collectively engage in a combination of local and global search. This form of adaptive search prevents premature convergence by the explorative behavior of low-performing players while high-performing players locally refine their solutions. In addition, many successful citizen science games have relied on a problem representation that directly engaged the visual or experiential intuition of the players. Here we demonstrate that citizen scientists can also be successful in an entirely abstract problem visualization. This gives encouragement that a much wider range of challenges could potentially be open to gamification in the future.
Pairwise models are used widely to model epidemic spread on networks. These include the modelling of susceptible-infected-removed (SIR) epidemics on regular networks and extensions to SIS dynamics and contact tracing on more exotic networks exhibiting degree heterogeneity, directed and/or weighted links and clustering. However, extra features of the disease dynamics or of the network lead to an increase in system size and analytical tractability becomes problematic. Various `closures' can be used to keep the system tractable. Focusing on SIR epidemics on regular but clustered networks, we show that even for the most complex closure we can determine the epidemic threshold as an asymptotic expansion in terms of the clustering coefficient.We do this by exploiting the presence of a system of fast variables, specified by the correlation structure of the epidemic, whose steady state determines the epidemic threshold. While we do not find the steady state analytically, we create an elegant asymptotic expansion of it. We validate this new threshold by comparing it to the numerical solution of the full system and find excellent agreement over a wide range of values of the clustering coefficient, transmission rate and average degree of the network. The technique carries over to pairwise models with other closures [1] and we note that the epidemic threshold will be model dependent. This emphasises the importance of model choice when dealing with realistic outbreaks.
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) continues to be subjected to a level of scrutiny that differs significantly from that received by domestic courts of constitutional relevance and status. This intense scrutiny is rooted in the wide range of cultural and legal understandings of the role of courts within specific legal systems and has resulted in the CJEU being labelled an activist court with a political agenda. This thesis contributes to legal scholarship and in part, political science, adding to the discourse surrounding the CJEU and its reasoning, by suggesting that a norm theoretical approach informs the Court’s jurisprudence and advances its role as the constitutional court of the European Union (EU).
The CJEU, as a de facto constitutional court within the EU constitutional order, applies and interprets the norms of the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. These norms demonstrate the characteristics of constitutional rights norms, as discussed by Robert Alexy’s Theory of Constitutional Rights Norms. It is argued that understanding norms in this way enables a clear distinction between rules and principles as norm categories to be drawn. The thesis offers a structural analysis of the EU constitutional framework, highlighting specific norm characteristics as influential in the process of constitutionalisation.
Treaty norms governing EU citizenship are analysed in this thesis from the perspective of constitutional rights norms, which enables these norms to be seen as open-textured, requiring rights and interests to be balanced where they conflict with other provisions. The radiating effect of these provisions gives constitutional relevance to secondary legislation, which is of particularly relevance in the context of EU law. The thesis makes the case for looking at EU citizenship, in its norm structure, as a constitutional principle, which requires the CJEU to apply and interpret the provision in specific ways that may then be construed as judicial activism. The thesis informs and enhances the highly relevant and topical discussion of EU citizen rights through a norm structural analysis of the Treaty provisions enshrining EU citizenship within the EU legal framework. The thesis suggests that such an evaluation enables a more objective consideration of EU citizenship as a constitutional right extending beyond subjective rights.
Finally, it is argued in this thesis that understanding norm categories and their relevance within the EU constitutional framework enables the development` of a structured understanding of the Court’s jurisprudence based on legal theory.
The responsibility to protect concept (R2P), as specified in the report of the International Commission of Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS) in 2001, is a re-articulation of the overworked right of humanitarian intervention. Since then, the concept has been used by the international community, as a form of moral argumentation that justifies the use of force for human protection purposes. One of the connecting threads of this thesis has been to reflect on the meaning, effects and limits of ‘responsibility’ within R2P. This thesis explores the concept’s institutionalization, its juridico-moral framework and structure of address. The resulting insight points to a ‘notion of irresponsibility’ that is internal to responsibility practices, as these originate from modern forms of social organization and their ‘mentalities’. This thesis attempts to argue that the global ethical responsibility we find within R2P emanates from a foreclosing structure of address. Such a foreclosing structure fails the promise of protection at an inter-subjective/intra-subjective level and transforms global ethical responsibility into a project of governance, management and control. This vantage point is one in which the ‘international community’ of liberal international law and legal cosmopolitanism projects a self-assured self and fails to account for the limits of its own self-understanding, irresponsibility and violence. The juridico-moral framework of R2P both constitutes and is constitutive of forms of political subjectivity. Therefore, it materially circumscribes the politico-ethical limits of the structure of address of social and political violence globally. Drawing on Jacques Derrida and Judith Butler, the ‘notion of irresponsibility’ expounded in this thesis exposes the internal conditions, paradoxes and ‘aporias’ of responsibility and therefore, it also embodies them. It works as a conceptual resource, a kind of ‘talking-back’ to its discourse and presents a re-appropriation or representation of the global scene of address of social and political violence. This vantage point yields a radically different approach from that taken by liberal internationalists and legal cosmopolitans. This research contributes a critique of the juridico-moral framework of the concept and of our resourcefulness for global ethical judgment.
Distortion is a common but unrevealed problem in metal additive manufacturing, due to the rapid melting in metallurgy and the intricate thermal-mechanical processes involved. We explain the distortion mechanism and major influencing factors by assumption of constraining force, which is assumed between the added layer and substrate. The constraining force was set to act on the substrate in a static structural finite element analysis (FEA) model. The results were compared with those of a thermal-mechanical FEA model and experiments. The constraining force and the associated static structural FEA showed trends in distortion and stress distribution similar to those shown by thermal-mechanical FEA and experiments. It can be concluded that the constraining force acting on the substrate is a major contributory factor towards the distortion mechanism. The constraining force seems to be primarily related to the material properties, temperature, and cross-sectional area of the added layer.
Pituitary prolactin (PRL) shows an episodic pattern of evolution in mammals, with a slow underlying rate (near stasis) and periods of rapid change in some groups. PRL evolution in bats, the second most speciose mammalian order, has not previously been studied, and is examined here. Slow basal evolution of PRL is seen in some bats, particularly megabats, but in most microbat groups evolution of PRL is more rapid. Accelerated evolution of PRL is particularly notable in the family Vespertilionidae, where analysis of nonsynonymous and synonymous substitutions indicates that it reflects adaptive evolution/positive selection. Remarkably, vespertilionid bats also show a large sequence insertion, of variable length, into exon 4 of PRL, giving a protein sequence 18-60 amino acids longer than normal, with the longest insertions in bats of the genus Myotis. An equivalent insertion has not been reported in PRL of any other vertebrate group. In the 3-dimensional structure of the complex between PRL and the extracellular domain (ecd) of its receptor (PRL:PRLR2) the inserted sequence is seen to be introduced in the short loop between helices 2 and 3 of PRL; it is far removed from the receptor-binding sites, and may not interfere with binding. The ecd of the receptor also shows variable rates of evolution, with a higher rate in the Vespertilionidae, but this is much less marked than for the hormone. The distribution of substitutions introduced into PRL during vespertilionid evolution appears to be non-random, and this and the evidence for positive selection suggests that the rapid evolution and insert sequence introduction were associated with a significant change in the biological properties of the hormone.
Kant’s ethics is objectivist. Like other objectivist ethics, it faces the problem of showing how what is objectively morally demanded hooks onto the moral deliberations of particular individuals. The issue is particularly acute for Kantian ethics given the centrality of the concept of autonomy, which expresses a demand for rational self-legislation. The paper focuses on the ‘ought implies can principle’ (OIC) and its role in Kant’s ethics. The argument shows how understanding the Kantian use of OIC helps also with the problem of establishing a link between individual deliberation and objective moral demands.
In recent years, there has been an exponential increase in research exploring contemplative constructs, namely mindfulness and compassion, and their potential to enhance psychological functioning. A large body of evidence supports the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) for improving mental health and wellbeing, and emerging evidence indicates benefits associated with cultivating compassion. However, significant gaps remain, which impede progress in mindfulness and compassion research. Understanding and empirical testing of the mechanisms underlying the effects of MBIs are limited. Research on MBIs also requires valid and reliable mindfulness measures and existing self-report scales need additional psychometric testing. Despite increasing research attention on self- and othercompassion, there is a lack of definitional clarity and psychometrically robust measures of these constructs. This thesis aims to address these omissions.
Following an overview of mindfulness and compassion theory and research, Chapter 2 presents a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies which formally tested mechanisms of MBIs. Chapter 3 examines the specific effects and mechanisms of learning mindfulness, by comparing an online self-help MBI with a matched control condition. Much of effectiveness and mechanism research involves comparing mindfulness scores before and after MBIs, yet the factor structure of commonly used self-report measures before and after MBIs has not been tested; this is addressed in Chapter 4. Chapters 5, 6, and 7 focus on increasing clarity in defining and measuring compassion. Chapter 5 proposes a five-element definition of compassion and includes a systematic review and evaluation of existing compassion measures. Chapter 6 empirically tests the factor structure of the five-element definition using self-report items. Following theoretical and empirical support for the five-element conceptualisation, Chapter 7 uses this definition to develop and validate new self-report measures of self- and other-compassion. Chapter 8 presents a general discussion of the research undertaken, including strengths and limitations, future directions, and implications.
‘Corporate Venturing (CV)’, which is broadly defined as an innovation practice by creating and nurturing internal CV teams or investing in external start-ups (Burgelman, 1983b; Dushnitsky and Lenox, 2005), has been adopted by large incumbent firms wishing to ensure their survival and business s growth in the future. Despite its promised benefits, CV activities are often terminated in the early stages. Nevertheless, some firms start their CV programs again, and these recurring patterns of CV activities contribute towards ‘CV cyclicality’. However, we have limited understandings of the phenomenon of CV cyclicality at the level of the firm. This thesis, therefore, aims to develop a better understanding of the cyclical nature of CV (i.e. CV cyclicality) in a way that helps managers manage CV activities—engaged scholarship (Van de Ven, 2007).
To explore CV cyclicality at the firm level, this thesis adopted an in-depth case study approach. A large Korean ICT firm (pseudonym: Company Alpha), which is the exemplar of a large firm in Korea that repeated CV activities over time, was examined (from early 2013 to 2017) to find out how CV activities were developed, terminated, and then re-started during the period between 1990 and 2015. This approach enabled to find the importance of the term ‘direction’ for the CV practitioners at Company Alpha and in the Korean context. Hence, this thesis also aims to usefully conceptualize ‘direction’ itself to understand and explain Company Alpha’s corporate venturing activities and how they repeat over time.
This thesis suggests that the direction of corporate venturing (CV) can be usefully conceptualized as an internal consistency between the firm’s structure (with actors residing in the structure) and its strategy. Drawing on research orchestration theory (Sirmon et al., 2007; 2011), a conceptual framework (the direction of CV) was developed by combining both the main managerial actors who conduct CV activities (the starting point) and the primary strategic objective that the CV program pursues and is designed to achieve (the end point).
The thesis demonstrates that this new framing of direction helps us to better understand and explain Company Alpha’s repeating CV cycles. From the examination of the twenty-six years history of CV (from 1990 to 2015) at the Korean ICT firm through the lens of the direction of CV, this thesis makes its main argument about the CV cyclicality at Company Alpha: rather than being terminated separately, a series of CV programs evolved over time for the purpose of combining resources in a new way; results of deliberate and experimental efforts then formed an evolutionary cycle of CV. The thesis also argues that what was terminated during the firm’s repeated CV activities was, instead, a distinct evolutionary cycle of CV, which later re-initiated with the next CV cycle.
This thesis makes substantial contributions to knowledge. Firstly, this thesis makes contributions to the CV literature by providing a detailed and empirical evidence-based explanation of CV cyclicality at a large Korean high-tech firm (repeated evolutionary CV cycles aimed at new resource combination), which goes beyond a relatively simple dichotomy between termination and evolution. Secondly, the thesis also contributes to the strategy and innovation management literature by suggesting a new framing of direction from an internal firm perspective. This helps us to understand organizational and strategic change in a new way that organizations can generate changes proactively by reconfiguring their internal elements, even without stimuli external to the firm. Thirdly, for practitioners, the findings from the thesis contribute by providing an empirical insight that can help managers manage their CV activities. Almost no organizational memory about their previous CV efforts remained within the firm, however, this thesis casts an empirical light by unfolding how a repeating pattern (the evolution of CV) occurred within the first (1997–2002) and the second CV cycle (2011–2015) of the firm. The case firm and other companies may benefit from having knowledge of a corporate history of CV cycles including failures.
Using the framework of multi-speed membership, this thesis explores party membership and party organisational change. It does so within a single party case study, the British Labour Party: a party that has made significant changes to its membership model in the period of analysis (2011-2018). This party provides a critical case within which to explore and expand our understanding of membership and membership change.
The case study takes both a demand-side (elite) and supply-side (members) approach in order to understand both the causes and consequences of multi-speed membership change. On the demand side, the question of ‘why change?’ is answered by developing a multi-level model of party change, a model appropriate to the idea of multi-speed membership. This framework not only facilitates a broad exploration of party change but demonstrates the value of a multi-level, interactive model which accounts for the role of party actors in shaping change as well as responding to it.
The supply-side analysis explores the nature of party membership and the relationships between members and their party. This member-centred approach reveals the dynamics in this relationship: the processes that lead to joining, what happens after joining, and how and when the relationship sometimes ends. In taking this approach, new concepts and categories for understanding party membership are developed. These conceptual developments suggest a path towards solving some of the puzzles of party membership, such as why, in spite of significant ideological incongruence and dissatisfaction, some party members don’t leave.
This thesis seeks to fill the qualitative gap in party membership studies applying a mixedmethods approach utilising interviews, document analysis and participant observation within a single critical case to develop a comprehensive picture of the dynamics of party membership and party organisational change. This in-depth analysis of change in one party adds to our general understanding of party membership, party membership changes and their consequences, with insights that can be applied across other cases.
The thesis proposes an ethics centred on the notion of human dignity. In Chapter One I introduce the position the thesis proposes, Agent Particularism, according to which who you are is relevant to determining what you ought to do. I reject the thesis of the universalizability of moral judgements that says that if you judge that X is the right thing for you to do, you are necessarily committed to the view that X is the right thing for everybody to do in relevantly similar circumstances.
In Chapter Two I present an Agent-Particularist conception of freedom. I offer an Agent-Particularist conception of the self. I make a distinction between negative freedom, which is being free from external interference, and positive freedom, which is developing into the ideal version of yourself (in accord with your particular nature). In Chapter Three I present Agent Particularism as a kind of virtue ethics. I offer a solution to an epistemological problem that the thesis faces: once I have rejected the existence of exceptionless moral principles, how can there be moral knowledge and what kind of knowledge that would be? I argue that the problem can be solved by understanding moral knowledge as consisting on the deliverances of a perceptual capacity. I position Agent Particularism in relation to traditional virtue ethics.
In Chapter Four I present the Agent-Particularist conception of human dignity. I show that the Agent-Particularist position developed in the first three chapters issues in a peculiar conception of human dignity. I present the basic elements of an Agent-Particularist conception of dignity. I present Kant’s conception of dignity and contrast it with the Agent-Particularist conception.
A search for the electroweak production of charginos and neutralinos decaying into final states involving three electrons or muons is presented. The analysis is based on 36.1 fb^-1 of √s = 13TeV proton–proton collisions recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Scenarios considered are based on simplified models with the associated production of the next-to-lightest neutralino and the lightest chargino, followed by their decays into final states with leptons and the lightest neutralino via either sleptons or Standard Model gauge bosons. No significant deviations from Standard Model expectations are observed and stringent limits at 95% confidence level are placed on the masses of relevant supersymmetric particles. For a massless lightest neutralino, masses up to 1.13TeV are excluded for the associated production of the next-to-lightest neutralino and the lightest chargino, assuming slepton mediated decays, whereas for gauge-boson-mediated decays, masses up to 380 GeV are excluded.
This thesis is concerned with what I call “the problem of beginning.” This problem expresses the difficulty involved in getting the type of critical, rational thinking proper to philosophical work underway in a manner that is not problematically arbitrary. This amounts to a dilemma between beginning dogmatically by depending upon unexamined presuppositions, and beginning dogmatically with some fundamentally arbitrary assertion. After motivating the problem and explicating it in some detail in the introduction, I identify a number of possible, but unappealing ways to respond. In Chapter 1 I argue that, motivated by his relationship with Pyrrhonism, Hegel is engaging with this same problem at the start of his Science of Logic. I identify a distinctive form of a solution to the problem in Hegel’s work which amounts to isolating a beginning which is both presuppositionless and non-arbitrary, or, in his terminology, both immediate and mediated.
In Hegel’s work I identify two different possible ways in which the form of this solution can be fleshed out. They differ in terms of what they designate as the element of mediation in the beginning. In the first case, this element is stated to be the project of phenomenology, as carried out in Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit. In the second case, this element is characterised as a project of “consummate scepticism,” but left problematically underdeveloped. In Chapter 2 I present reasons for rejecting the suitability of the former, and in Chapter 3 I attempt to sketch a project of “consummate scepticism” which would be capable of functioning as the element of mediation in a manner capable of producing a working, “Hegelian” solution to the problem of beginning. I draw the thesis to a close by considering both the costs and opportunities which follow from this reconstructed solution, especially concerning the establishment of idealism.
Modern optical systems increasingly rely on complex physical processes that require accessible control to meet target performance characteristics. In particular, advanced light sources, sought for, for example, imaging and metrology, are based on nonlinear optical dynamics whose output properties must often finely match application requirements. However, in these systems, the availability of control parameters (e.g., the optical field shape, as well as propagation medium properties) and the means to adjust them in a versatile manner are usually limited. Moreover, numerically finding the optimal parameter set for such complex dynamics is typically computationally intractable. Here, we use an actively controlled photonic chip to prepare and manipulate patterns of femtosecond optical pulses that give access to an enhanced parameter space in the framework of supercontinuum generation. Taking advantage of machine learning concepts, we exploit this tunable access and experimentally demonstrate the customization of nonlinear interactions for tailoring supercontinuum properties.
Background and Aim
Prescribing errors remains a major challenge that undermines the safe and effective use of medicines and can lead to serious patient harm. The landmark EQUIP study, performed in the UK, showed that junior doctors were responsible for most of the prescribing but also had the highest prescribing error rates. Ironically, medical students do not feel adequately prepared for prescribing after graduation. This justified the main recommendations from the study which were an increased emphasis on undergraduate and early postgraduate practical prescribing education.
Historically, the focus has been on core curriculum content, intended learning outcomes and assessments in safe and effective prescribing with little emphasis on appropriate methods of teaching and learning. This study aimed to achieve a consensus amongst experts on the optimal methods of teaching and learning of practical prescribing in medical schools.
Summary of work and outcomes
A modified Delphi technique was performed and consensus was defined as a minimum of 75% agreement of the expert panel members. Forty-seven experts were sent the questionnaire and 34 responded (72.3%). There was 100% panel agreement for inclusion, in the medical school undergraduate curriculum, of following methods of teaching and learning of safe and effective practical prescribing: validated pre-prescribing i.e. having prescribing validated by a qualified clinician; small group teaching; shadowing a clinical pharmacist; problem and case based studies; teaching on awareness of prescribing sources of information. Less than 60% of the panel agreed that peer teaching was an acceptable method and over 80% of the panel agreed on other methods. Experts also indicated that some of the most favoured teaching and learning methods were more relevant in the later undergraduate years.
Discussion
This study highlights methods considered by experts to be most appropriate in the teaching and learning of practical prescribing and this might equip curriculum developers in medical schools. These results complement the existing evidence on core content, learning outcomes and assessment and might help align teaching and learning to enable medical students to become safer and more effective prescribers on graduation.
Conclusion
This project informs on effective methods of teaching and learning safe and effective practical prescribing at undergraduate level. Potential long term effects include an improvement in prescribing competence which might ultimately lead to a reduction in prescribing errors. However, we recognise that further studies are required for this outcome to be elicited.
Since the 1990s, the European Union (EU) has slowly developed an increasingly sophisticated body of asylum law and policy, known as the Common European Asylum System (CEAS). This framework – both in the shape of legislative instruments and case law – has inevitably also affected those asylum seekers who claim asylum on the basis of sexual orientation and/or gender identity (SOGI). This has been vividly demonstrated by particular norms in EU asylum instruments and judgments of the Court of Justice of EU (CJEU). The current CEAS can be said to have several shortcomings in relation to SOGI claims, including in relation to: accelerated procedures; country of origin information; the notion of ‘safe country of origin’; the burden of proof and the principle of benefit of the doubt; the concept of a ‘particular social group’; and the definition of persecution.
A new set of proposals for reform of the CEAS was put forward in 2016, and these also affect SOGI asylum claims in precise and acute ways. This contribution scrutinises these proposals of reform, including the different positions of the Commission, Parliament and Council, where relevant. In particular, this contribution will assess the extent to which these proposals and different institutional positions address, ignore or aggravate the issues that currently affect SOGI asylum seekers.
Objective
To provide an insight into the experiences and perceptions of physician associate students and primary care staff involved in primary care educational placements in the United Kingdom.
Methods
A qualitative study was conducted. Data were collected from focus groups and semi-structured interviews with eight first year Physician Associate students and six primary care staff in two general practice surgeries in East Sussex, United Kingdom. Recruitment was via purposeful sampling. Thematic Analysis was used to develop common themes.
Results
Three themes were identified: 'Perceptions of the Physician Associate Role', 'Interprofessional Working', and 'The Physician Associate Course Structure and Placements'. Staff demonstrated a lack of familiarity with the physician associate programme and there was a risk of unrealistic expectations. Overall, staff and students were positive about their experiences. However, students expressed anxiety over a large amount of learning in a short timeframe, the perceptions of others, and the reluctance of staff to train them in phlebotomy skills. In addition, students were unsure about their career aspirations for the future.
Conclusions
Participants were positive about their experiences however students expressed a number of anxieties, with a scope to improve interprofessional education. Staff demonstrated an overall lack of knowledge of the curriculum and physician associates in general leading to a risk of unrealistic expectations. Further studies on these themes with a larger sample size across relevant training institutions in the United Kingdom is required to explore this further.
Slowly, but surely, awareness is increasing about the possible impact of Brexit on individuals who identify, or are identified as, members of minorities based on their sexual orientation or gender identity (SOGI). After explorations of this theme by Wintemute and by us, Cooper, Cooper et al., and the Trade Union Congress all alerted people to the potentially detrimental effect that Brexit may have on SOGI minorities.
It is critical to note that these SOGI minorities are far from monolithic, and any potential impact of Brexit for them will be different at a sub-group and even at an individual level. Broad-brush, abstract policy analyses on this theme – as on any other theme – fail to capture the essentially individual nature of the relationship between SOGI minorities and Brexit, as one of the most divisive and hotly contested topics in British society for many decades.
In this short piece, we wish to delve into that individuality, bringing to the fore just some of the voices within the ‘SOGI minorities’ umbrella and listening to their concerns, fears and hopes in relation to Brexit – both specifically related to their identity and more generally about life after Brexit.
The use of 2-naphthalenesulfonate (NAS) ligand in lanthanide chemistry afforded a family of isostructural mononuclear lanthanide complexes with formula [Ln(NAS)2(H2O)6](NAS)·3H2O [Ln = Tb (1), Dy (2), Er (3), Yb (4)]. Crystallographic studies determine a square antiprismatic geometry (D4d) for the Ln centre and crystallization in unprecedented chiral space group. The latter was further confirmed by the observation of Cotton effects in single crystal circular dichroism (CD) spectra. Static and dynamic magnetic measurements identify weak intermolecular dipolar interactions in 2, and such effects can be waived by dilution, which was noted by the detection of zero-field single molecule magnet (SMM) behaviour and hysteresis loop in the magnetically diluted sample (5). Compounds 2-4 exhibit SMM behaviours with energy barriers of 53, 32 and 45 K, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, these complexes provide the first examples of pure 4f sulfonate-based SMMs.
Under the nearly neutral theory of molecular evolution, the proportion of effectively neutral mutations is expected to depend upon the effective population size (Ne). Here, we investigate whether this is the case across the genome of Drosophila melanogaster using polymorphism data from North American and African lines. We show that the ratio of the number of nonsynonymous and synonymous polymorphisms is negatively correlated to the number of synonymous polymorphisms, even when the nonindependence is accounted for. The relationship is such that the proportion of effectively neutral nonsynonymous mutations increases by ∼45% as Ne is halved. However, we also show that this relationship is steeper than expected from an independent estimate of the distribution of fitness effects from the site frequency spectrum. We investigate a number of potential explanations for this and show, using simulation, that this is consistent with a model of genetic hitchhiking: Genetic hitchhiking depresses diversity at neutral and weakly selected sites, but has little effect on the diversity of strongly selected sites.
Construction must play a major role in meeting climate change targets, but this will require major changes in industry practice. The sector will need to adopt innovative low-carbon technologies, integrate these within novel building designs and ensure these designs are constructed, implemented and optimised successfully. A likely precondition for this is greater levels of integration within the construction supply chain. While there is evidence that supply chain integration (SCI) can improve project performance and enable innovation, the literature rarely differentiates between different types of innovation and has paid little attention to low-carbon innovation. This paper synthesises insights from three different bodies of literature – construction innovation, low carbon buildings and SCI – to create a typology of low-carbon innovations in non-domestic buildings and to identify conditions and strategies for their successful implementation. It proposes that low-carbon innovations are ‘building-enhancing’ ‘integral’ and/or ‘user-dependent’ and their effective implementation requires collaboration, championing and user-involvement. The paper uses two case studies to illustrate the diversity of mechanisms through which these conditions can be realised. It concludes with some reflections on the methodological challenges of studying this topic, together with the wider implications of the proposed framework for industrial practice and public policy.
Progress on improving energy efficiency of UK homes has stalled in recent years and the question arises how much more potential for further energy savings exist across the housing stock. Whilst there are some high-level estimates of the potential for buildings energy efficiency in the UK, a more granular assessment is needed to understand exactly where this potential lies and what form it takes. Our analysis fills this gap. It is based on the best available evidence on the remaining potential for energy efficiency improvements within UK residential buildings. Using UK government criteria for investment appraisal, we demonstrate that there is a significant resource of untapped energy-saving opportunities in UK homes. Specifically, our estimates suggest that: one quarter of the energy currently used in UK households could be cost effectively saved by 2035; and this could increase to one half if allowance is made for falling technology costs and the wider benefits of energy efficiency improvements. However, these estimates are sensitive to the assumptions made about capital, energy and carbon costs, and capturing this potential will require both significant policy change and large-scale investment.
Flow cytometric methods for detecting and quantifying reduced intracellular thiol content using fluorescein-5-maleimide (F5M) in viable eukaryotic cells date back to 1983 [1]. There has been little development in these methodologies since that time, a period that has witnessed huge technological advances, particularly with the emergence of digital multi-parameter flow cytometric systems. Concurrent advancement in our understanding of redox regulation within eukaryotic cellular systems has also followed, whereby it is now accepted that cysteine thiols partake in redox reactions, which regulate protein activity and function [2,3]. Moreover, we are at the dawn of a new era in redox biology whereby the importance of ‘reductive stress’ in eukaryotic cellular systems is gathering momentum [4]. It is therefore critical that methods be continually advanced to better understand these concepts in more detail at the cellular level. Flow cytometry is a powerful technique that may be used for this purpose. Henceforth we have rejuvenated these methods to address modern scientific questions. In this paper, essential detail is provided on:
• The adaption of a protocol initially described by Durand & Olive [1] for use with modern digital flow cytometer configurations. Here we provide optimal conditions for labelling intracellular thiols with F5M for detection using digital flow cytometers. Our modifications avoid the use of methanol fixation thus preserving cell viability in single cell suspension cultures.
• Demonstration that flow cytometry can detect the gain and loss of reduced intracellular thiols in cells exposed to physiological doses of hydrogen peroxide mediated by glucose oxidase [5].
• Validation of F5M protein labelling by coupling method to confocal microscopy and downstream proteomics, thus permitting a powerful experimental platform for potential use with next generation flow cytometry e.g. CyTOF [6].
Carbon nanofoam (CNF) is a highly porous,amorphous carbon nanomaterial that can be produced through the interaction of a high-fluence laser and a carbon-based target material. The morphology and electrical properties of CNF make it an ideal candidate for super-capacitor applications. In this paper, we prepare and characterize CNF supercapacitor electrodes through two different processes, namely, a direct process and a water-transfer process. We elucidate the influence of the production process on the microstructural properties of the CNF, as well as the final electrochemical performance. We show that a change in morphology due to capillary forces doubles the specific capacitance of the wet-transferred CNF electrodes.
This article offers a critical overview and analysis of the implications of ESMA’s interpretation of the concepts of credit ratings and credit rating agencies underlying ESMA’s decisions of 11 July 2018 to fine five Scandinavian banks for issuing credit ratings without being registered as credit rating agencies.
This article is a microhistory of the capital case of Percy Clifford, a man of colour who was hanged for the murder of his wife Maud in England in 1914. It examines both what this case reveals about his life as a man of colour in Edwardian England and the racialised ways in which he was portrayed in the criminal justice system. It argues that understandings of bourgeois respectability, which were interwoven with notions of race, gender, class and sexuality, were significant to how the case was portrayed and interpreted.
We present a new measurement of EG, which combines measurements of weak gravitational lensing, galaxy clustering, and redshift-space distortions. This statistic was proposed as a consistency test of General Relativity (GR) that is insensitive to linear, deterministic galaxy bias, and the matter clustering amplitude. We combine deep imaging data from KiDS with overlapping spectroscopy from 2dFLenS, BOSS DR12, and GAMA and find EG(z = 0.267) = 0.43 ± 0.13 (GAMA), EG(z = 0.305) = 0.27 ± 0.08 (LOWZ+2dFLOZ), and EG(z = 0.554) = 0.26 ± 0.07 (CMASS+2dFHIZ). We demonstrate that the existing tension in the value of the matter density parameter hinders the robustness of this statistic as solely a test of GR. We find that our EG measurements, as well as existing ones in the literature, favour a lower matter density cosmology than the cosmic microwave background. For a flat CDM Universe, we find m(z = 0) = 0.25 ± 0.03. With this paper, we publicly release the 2dFLenS data set at: http://2dflens.swin.edu.au.
The galaxies found in optical surveys fall in two distinct regions of a diagram of optical colour versus absolute magnitude: the red sequence and the blue cloud with the green valley in between. We show that the galaxies found in a submillimetre survey have almost the opposite distribution in this diagram, forming a `green mountain'. We show that these distinctive distributions follow naturally from a single, continuous, curved Galaxy Sequence in a diagram of specific star-formation rate versus stellar mass without there being the need for a separate star-forming galaxy Main Sequence and region of passive galaxies. The cause of the red sequence and the blue cloud is the geometric mapping between stellar mass/specific star-formation rate and absolute magnitude/colour, which distorts a continuous Galaxy Sequence in the diagram of intrinsic properties into a bimodal distribution in the diagram of observed properties. The cause of the green mountain is Malmquist bias in the submillimetre waveband, with submillimetre surveys tending to select galaxies on the curve of the Galaxy Sequence, which have the highest ratios of submillimetre-to-optical luminosity. This effect, working in reverse, causes galaxies on the curve of the Galaxy Sequence to be underrepresented in optical samples, deepening the green valley. The green valley is therefore not evidence (1) for there being two distinct populations of galaxies, (2) for galaxies in this region evolving more quickly than galaxies in the blue cloud and the red sequence, (c) for rapid quenching processes in the galaxy population.
We show that alongside the already observed gravitational waves,quantum gravity predicts the existence of two additional massive classical fields and thus two new massive waves. We set a limit on their masses using data from Eöt–Wash–like experiments. We point out that the existence of these new states is a model independent prediction of quantum gravity. We explain how these new classical fields could impact astrophysical processes and in particular the binary inspirals of black holes. We calculate the emission rate of these new states in binary inspirals astrophysical processes.
This Letter presents a search for exotic decays of the Higgs boson to a pair of new (pseudo)scalar particles, H→aa , where the a particle has a mass in the range 20-60 GeV, and where one of the a bosons decays into a pair of photons and the other to a pair of gluons. The search is performed in event samples enhanced in vector-boson fusion Higgs boson production by requiring two jets with large invariant mass in addition to the Higgs boson candidate decay products. The analysis is based on the full dataset of pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV recorded in 2015 and 2016 with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.7 fb −1 . The data are in agreement with the Standard Model predictions and an upper limit at the 95% confidence level is placed on the production cross section times the branching ratio for the decay H→aa→γγgg .This limit ranges from 3.1 pb to 9.0 pb depending on the mass of the a boson.
The efficiency to identify jets containing b -hadrons (b -jets) is measured using a high purity sample of dileptonic top quark-antiquark pairs (tt ¯ ) selected from the 36.1 fb −1 of data collected by the ATLAS detector in 2015 and 2016 from proton-proton collisions produced by the Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy s √ =13 TeV. Two methods are used to extract the efficiency from tt ¯ events, a combinatorial likelihood approach and a tag-and-probe method. A boosted decision tree, not using b -tagging information, is used to select events in which two b -jets are present, which reduces the dominant uncertainty in the modelling of the flavour of the jets. The efficiency is extracted for jets in a transverse momentum range from 20 to 300 GeV, with data-to-simulation scale factors calculated by comparing the efficiency measured using collision data to that predicted by the simulation. The two methods give compatible results, and achieve a similar level of precision, measuring data-to-simulation scale factors close to unity with uncertainties ranging from 2% to 12% depending on the jet transverse momentum.
EMBARGOED - expected end date 06.01.2025
Jet substructure observables have significantly extended the search program for physics beyond the Standard Model at the Large Hadron Collider. The state-of-the-art tools have been motivated by theoretical calculations, but there has never been a direct comparison between data and calculations of jet substructure observables that are accurate beyond leading-logarithm approximation. Such observables are significant not only for probing the collinear regime of QCD that is largely unexplored at a hadron collider, but also for improving the understanding of jet substructure properties that are used in many studies at the Large Hadron Collider. This Letter documents a measurement of the first jet substructure quantity at a hadron collider to be calculated at next-to-next-to-leading-logarithm accuracy. The normalized, differential cross-section is measured as a function of log 10 ρ 2, where ρ is the ratio of the soft-drop mass to the ungroomed jet transverse momentum. This quantity is measured in dijet events from 32.9 fb −1 of √s =13 TeV proton-proton collisions recorded by the ATLAS detector. The data are unfolded to correct for detector effects and compared to precise QCD calculations and leading-logarithm particle-level Monte Carlo simulations.
Searches for new heavy resonances decaying into different pairings of W, Z, or Higgs bosons, as well as directly into leptons, are presented using a data sample corresponding to 36.1fb −1 of pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV collected during 2015 and 2016 with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. Analyses selecting bosonic decay modes in the qqqq,ννqq,ℓνqq, ℓℓqq,ℓνℓν,ℓℓνν,ℓνℓℓ,ℓℓℓℓ,qqbb,ννbb,ℓνbb,and ℓℓbb final states are combined, searching for a narrow-width resonance. Likewise, analyses selecting the leptonic ℓν and ℓℓ final states are also combined. These two sets of analyses are then further combined. No significant deviation from the Standard Model predictions is observed. Three benchmark models are tested: a model predicting the existence of a new heavy scalar singlet, a simplified model predicting a heavy vector-boson triplet, and a bulk Randall-Sundrum model with a heavy spin-2 Kaluza-Klein excitation of the graviton. Cross-section limits are set at the 95% confidence level using an asymptotic approximation and are compared with predictions for the benchmark models. These limits are also expressed in terms of constraints on couplings of the heavy vector-boson triplet to quarks, leptons, and the Higgs boson. The data exclude a heavy vector-boson triplet with mass below 5.5 TeV in a weakly coupled scenario and 4.5 TeV in a strongly coupled scenario, as well as a Kaluza-Klein graviton with mass below 2.3 TeV.
A search is presented for photonic signatures, motivated by generalized models of gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking. This search makes use of proton-proton collision data at √s = 13 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb −1 recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC, and it explores models dominated by both strong and electroweak production of supersymmetric partner states. Experimental signatures incorporating an isolated photon and significant missing transverse momentum are explored. These signatures include events with an additional photon or additional jet activity not associated with any specific underlying quark flavor. No significant excess of events is observed above the Standard Model prediction, and 95% confidence-level upper limits of between 0.083 fb and 0.32 fb are set on the visible cross section of contributions from physics beyond the Standard Model. These results are interpreted in terms of lower limits on the masses of gluinos, squarks, and gauginos in the context of generalized models of gauge-mediated supersymmetry, which reach as high as 2.3 TeV for strongly produced and 1.3 TeV for weakly produced supersymmetric partner pairs.
A search is presented for the pair production of heavy vector-like B quarks, primarily targeting B quark decays into a W boson and a top quark. The search is based on 36.1 fb −1 of pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV recorded in 2015 and 2016 with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. Data are analysed in the lepton-plus-jets final state, characterised by a high-transverse-momentum isolated electron or muon, large missing transverse momentum, and multiple jets, of which at least one is b -tagged. No significant deviation from the Standard Model expectation is observed. The 95% confidence level lower limit on the B mass is 1350 GeV assuming a 100% branching ratio to Wt. In the SU(2) singlet scenario, the lower mass limit is 1170 GeV. This search is also sensitive to a heavy vector-like B quark decaying into other final states (Zb and Hb ) and thus mass limits on B production are set as a function of the decay branching ratios. The 100% branching ratio limits are found to be also applicable to heavy vector-like X production, with charge +5/3, that decay into Wt.
The paper analyses the mediation of Bangladeshi construction worker migration to the Gulf and how multiple and unpredictable risks and opportunities are co-created by brokers, employers and the state. It examines how migrants navigate these to achieve imagined futures and their own role in co-creating precarity. The authors employ a relational lens to examine why aspiring migrants choose informal brokers over formal migration managers. The everyday practices of brokers in producing ideal Bangladeshi workers for the Qatari labour market and how this precarises migrant labour are unpacked. Migrant and broker interviews provide insights into the degrees of precarity experienced at different stages of the migration process. Entangled with these processes of precarisation are the strategies employed by migrant workers to resist precarity and transform their social and economic positions in the long term. The rich accounts presented in the paper provide evidence on the dialectical relationship between migrants and migration intermediaries which contrasts with popular discourses about brokers as exploiters and migrants as victims without agency.
Currently prevalent liberal democratic discourses and policies assume a lack of or failed ‘integration’ of racialized populations in Europe. While mainstream discourses framing approaches to diversity management, such as civic universalism or multiculturalism, differ regarding of who they consider responsible for addressing the ‘disintegration’ of, for instance, Muslim populations, and the kinds of regulatory responses they advocate, they all suggest that religious minorities need to be transferred from the outside to the inside of a social entity. A diagnosis of a ‘being outside’ informs regulatory frameworks that seek ‘to integrate’ by either prohibiting or accommodating religious minority practices, by limiting or extending the freedom of religious expression, or by protecting from discrimination on grounds of markers of belonging. As I traced in greater detail elsewhere (Lewicki 2014), the disintegration diagnosis assumes an understanding of inequality as ‘individual status differential’, thus as lower position in a social hierarchy that is mainly understood as cultural. This understanding falls short of problematizing inequality as multidimensional and as structural, thus rooted within and brought about by various features of the social order. As an alternative perspective to the reductive ‘integration paradigm’, I propose to draw on a conceptualization of social justice that allows for a more encompassing analysis of structural asymmetries in relation to racialized alterity within diverse European societies. This perspective enables us to critically reflect on distinctions that are key features of and thus perpetually reproduced by the systemic logics and dynamics of the current social order, including the capitalist market economy, Christian secularity, or the nation state.
The air stable and high yielding tetranuclear coordination cluster [CuII2DyIII2L4(NO3)2(CH3CN)2]·2(CH3CN) promotes the Suzuki coupling reaction of phenylboronic acid with substituted aryl halides in environmentally benign conditions.
This thesis presents details of the design, construction and measurements of an apparatus
(Blue Elbow cryostat) for high voltage testing of a full-size cryogenic nEDM cell
in liquid helium at 4.2 K SVP. The test cell is cylindrical and of 24 cm internal diameter
with stainless steel electrodes and an insulating borosilicate glass spacer. The cylinder
axis of the cell is vertical and the insulator is located in grooves in the electrodes. The
electrode separation can be varied from 0.2 cmto 2.6 cm and a voltage of up to 260 kV
can be applied across the cell. It has long been expected that a nEDM cell immersed
in superfluid LHe at 0.5 K should permit E-fields much greater than room temperature
experiments. Long et al. (1) showed that over 400 kV/cm was obtainable in a large
cell without an insulating spacer at 4.2 K, but that this was reduced dramatically as the
temperature, and hence pressure, was reduced to below 2 K in a pumped LHe bath.
Subsequent work by Davidson (2) in this laboratory on small spacerless cells showed
that the dielectric strength in the superfluid at 1.9 K could be restored to its 400 kV/cm
value by pressurising the LHe to 1 bar.
Further work in this laboratory by Davidson (2) and Hill (3) shows that the introduction
of a dielectric spacer reduces the value of the breakdown field, Ebd , for a given geometry.
However, measurements presented here on smaller scales than the Blue Elbow cryostat,
overcame the reduced fields through careful groove optimisation and insulator material
choice.
Ebd data as a function of separation with the Blue Elbow cryostat in LN2 show a clear
reduction compared to data from smaller scale cells, due to surface area effects. Breakdown
fields in LHe at 4.2 K SVP with this apparatus indicate fields at 120 kV/cm were
achievable at 6mm separation but dropped off dramatically as separation was increased
to 12 mm then 16 mm. The reason for the drop off is attributed to the geometry of
the electrode. This result, together with Davidson’s pressure dependence data, should
inform the design of a future cryogenic nEDM experiment.
This thesis presents the search for the supersymmetric partner of the top quark in p s Æ 13 TeV proton-proton collisions at the LHC using data collected by the ATLAS detector in 2015 and 2016. Results were interpreted considering natural supersymmetric extensions of the Standard Model in R-parity conserving decays. Events characterised by four or more jets and missing transverse momentum in the final states were selected. The performance of the tracking algorithms used by the ATLAS online trigger were studied. Optimisation studies of the search regions to increase the sensitivity to supersymmetric signals were performed and data-driven techniques to estimate StandardModel backgrounds were employed. The agreement between data and background predictionswas extensively checked and the extrapolations frombackgroundenriched regions to signal-enriched regions were validated. The analysis yielded no significant excess therefore exclusion limits on various models were set.
There is a risk in the ‘Smart City’ that plural forms of knowing the city become eclipsed by singular governance-oriented analyses produced through computational logics originating from undemocratic service providers. In light of this concern, this chapter considers three aspects of smart urbanism’s knowledge politics: i) the role of urban agencies – or understanding smart urbanism as a situated, socio-material practice; ii) the agency of smart city technologies’ materiality as well as the ownership and control of these technologies, and: iii) the political rationalities, values and assumptions embedded in smart city technologies’ design and use. Drawing on these insights, this chapter analyses smart knowledge politics in Barcelona, where the 2015 Council elections replaced a market-oriented political leadership enthusiastically implementing the Smart City with a political leadership whose origins in social
1
movements and citizen democracy made it deeply sceptical towards smart urbanism. We analyse how this opened up space for different approaches to using technology in the city while at the same time giving rise to materially very different kinds of smart knowledge configuring technologies emphasizing citizen participation and democratic control of knowledge production. Indeed, political rationalities and smart knowledge configuring technologies intersected and co-evolved, rather than one informing the other unidirectionally.
The growing visibility of Islam in the public spaces of Western societies is often interpreted in the media as a sign of Muslim radicalisation. This article questions this postulate by examining the flourishing Muslim marriage industry in the UK. It argues that these ‘halal’ services, increasingly popular among the young generation of British Muslims, reflect the semantic shifting of categories away from the repertoire of Islamic jurisprudence to cultural and identity labels visible in public space. Informed by long-term ethnographic fieldwork in the British field of Islamic law, this article examines a Muslim speed-dating event, which took place in central London in 2013. It investigates how Islamic morality is maintained and negotiated in everyday social interactions rather than cultivated via discipline and the pursuit of virtuous dispositions. Using Goffman’s “frame analysis” and his interpretation of the social as a space of “performances” as well as recent anthropological reflections on “ordinary ethics” (Lambek) and “everyday Islam” (Schielke, Osella and Soares), it examines the potential for such practices to define the contours of a new public culture where difference is celebrated as a form of distinction.
We present a novel class of CMOS-compatible devices aimed to perform the solid-state-biased coherent detection of ultrashort terahertz pulses, i.e. featuring a gap-free bandwidth at least two decades-wide. Such a structure relies on a 1-µm-wide slit aperture located between two parallel aluminum pads, embedded in a 1-µm-thick layer of silicon nitride, and deposited on a quartz substrate. We show that this device can detect ultra-broadband terahertz pulses by employing unprecedented low optical probe energies of only a few tens of nanojoules. This is due to the more than one order of magnitude higher nonlinear coefficient of silicon nitride with respect to silica, the nonlinear material employed in the previous generations. In addition, due to the reduced distance between the aluminum pads, very high static electric fields can be generated within the slit by applying extremely low external bias voltages (in the order of few tens of volts), which strongly enhance the dynamic range of the detected THz waveforms. These results pave the way to the integration of solid-state ultra-broadband detection in compact and miniaturized terahertz systems fed by high repetition-rate laser oscillators and low-noise, low-voltage generators.
Searches for the exclusive decays of the Higgs and Z bosons into a J/ψ,ψ(2S), or Υ(nS)(n=1,2,3) meson and a photon are performed with a pp collision data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb −1 collected at √s =13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. No significant excess of events is observed above the expected backgrounds, and 95% confidence-level upper limits on the branching fractions of the Higgs boson decays to J/ψγ, ψ(2S)γ,and Υ(nS)γ of 3.5×10 −4, 2.0×10−3,and(4.9,5.9,5.7)×10 −4,respectively, are obtained assuming Standard Model production. The corresponding 95% confidence-level upper limits for the branching fractions of the Z boson decays are 2.3×10 −6, 4.5×10 −6 and (2.8,1.7,4.8)×10 −6, respectively.
A direct search for the Standard Model Higgs boson decaying to a pair of charm quarks is presented. Associated production of the Higgs and Z bosons, in the decay mode ZH→ℓ + ℓ − cc ¯ is studied. A dataset with an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb −1 of pp collisions at √s =13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC is used. The H→cc ¯ signature is identified using charm-tagging algorithms. The observed (expected) upper limit on σ(pp→ZH)×B(H→cc ¯ ) is 2.7 (3.9 +2.1 −1.1) pb at the 95% confidence level for a Higgs boson mass of 125 GeV, while the Standard Model value is 26 fb.
The results of a search for new heavy W′ bosons decaying to an electron or muon and a neutrino using proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of √s =13 TeV are presented. The dataset was collected in 2015 and 2016 by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb −1. As no excess of events above the Standard Model prediction is observed, the results are used to set upper limits on the W′ boson cross-section times branching ratio to an electron or muon and a neutrino as a function of the W′ mass. Assuming a W′ boson with the same couplings as the Standard Model W boson, W′ masses below 5.1 TeV are excluded at the 95% confidence level.
In this chapter I primarily investigate the separate and dissenting opinions in the Arrest Warrant case on the question of universal jurisdiction in absentia in order to draw out the descending (more normative, less concrete) and ascending (more concrete, less normative) patterns of argument within each opinion and to identify the hegemonic and counter-hegemonic positions in the pre- and post-Arrest Warrant debate. I observe how Van den Wyngaert, Guillaume and the Joint Separate Opinion are archetypal of the competing moralist and formalist approaches and the move to the “middle ground” with recourse to reasonableness. It is evident that this debate on in absentia trials is caught within the tension between the moralist (fighting impunity) and formalist (avoiding abuse) approaches that underpin a broader debate on the principle’s justification and content. As will be observed, this struggle for hegemonic control illustrates how each legal outcome within the debate is not ‘natural’ and ‘inevitable’. Rather it is a series of strategic moves that are historically contingent and accord with structural bias.
This is a study about the return of migrants to their countries of origin and their subsequent reintegration experiences. By using qualitative research tools, this thesis aims to respond to the research question: What factors shape returnees’ (re)integration experiences? While the thesis is not explicitly comparative in nature, in order to analyse the ways in which contexts of return shape returnees’ reintegration experiences, this research was conducted in two contrasting localities in Mexico: the rural municipality of Huaquechula in the state of Puebla, and Mexico City; both are non-traditional emigration areas with high levels of return.
Existing studies on Mexican migration are often focused on one of three approaches: emigration, immigration or transnationalism. Despite the fact that return migration has always been part of the Mexico-USA migration cycle, it has received relatively little scholarly attention. Similarly, very little regard is paid to the reintegration processes that Mexican migrants experience when relocating to their country of origin. This naturalistic view of return migration sees reintegration as unproblematic, since individuals relocate, or are relocated to, the place where it is alleged they ‘naturally belong’. The lack of research in these fields indicates that there is still little understanding of these multi-causal and multi-layered processes linked to return.
The thesis, argues that, in order to gain a better understanding of the reintegration experiences of returnees, it is important to adopt a ‘holistic’ approach, and proposes the use of the ‘(re)integration framework’ (developed for my analysis of this case study) as its key analytical tool. The findings demonstrate that reintegration experiences are strongly linked to numerous variables: migrants’ motivations to migrate and return, their age at the time of migration, their gendered life course aspects (such as the number of dependents and family roles), and, most importantly, their contexts of return. In turn, these aspects influence the wellbeing of returnees which in turn shape and influence their sense of belonging and future aspirations.
In exploring the interconnections between current wellbeing, sense of belonging and long-term life expectations, the thesis contributes to our understanding of why a significant number of Mexican returnees consider re-migrating, either internally or internationally, as one of the few ways to pursue their ideal of vivir mejor (living well). Moreover, the inability of many returnees to re-migrate generates new challenges which affect their opportunities to (re)integrate and to contribute to their communities of return. This inability to re-migrate leaves them in a protracted limbo state which is detrimental, not only to their individual wellbeing, but also to the wellbeing of their families and entire communities.
A search for a heavy neutral Higgs boson, A , decaying into a Z boson and another heavy Higgs boson, H,is performed using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb −1 from proton-proton collisions at √s =13 TeV recorded in 2015 and 2016 by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The search considers the Z boson decaying to electrons or muons and the H boson into a pair of b -quarks. No evidence for the production of an A boson is found. Considering each production process separately, the 95% confidence-level upper limits on the pp→A→ZH production cross-section times the branching ratio H→bb are in the range of 14-830 fb for the gluon-gluon fusion process and 26-570 fb for the b -associated process for the mass ranges 130-700 GeV of the H boson and process for the mass ranges 130-700 GeV of the H boson and 230-800 GeV of the A boson. The results are interpreted in the context of the two-Higgs-doublet model.
A search for the bb ¯ decay of the Standard Model Higgs boson produced through vector-boson fusion is presented. Three mutually exclusive channels are considered: two all-hadronic channels and a photon-associated channel. Results are reported from the analysis of up to 30.6 fb −1 of pp data at s √ =13 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measured signal strength relative to the Standard Model prediction from the combined analysis is 2.5 +1.4 −1.3 for inclusive Higgs boson production and 3.0 +1.7 −1.6 for vector-boson fusion production only.
The mass of the Higgs boson is measured in the H→ZZ ∗ →4ℓ and in the H→γγ decay channels with 36.1 fb −1 of proton-proton collision data from the Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector in 2015 and 2016. The measured value in the H→ZZ ∗ →4ℓ channel is m ZZ ∗ H =124.79±0.37 GeV, while the measured value in the H→γγ channel is m γγ H =124.93±0.40 GeV. Combining these results with the ATLAS measurement based on 7 TeV and 8 TeV proton-proton collision data yields a Higgs boson mass of m H =124.97±0.24 GeV.
Three-dimensional printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is a fabrication process whereby a 3D object is created layer-by-layer by depositing a feedstock material such as thermoplastic polymer. The 3D printing technology has been widely used for rapid prototyping and its interest as a fabrication method has grown significantly across many disciplines. The most common 3D printing technology is called the Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) which utilises thermoplastic filaments as a starting material, then extrudes the material in sequential layers above its melting temperature to create a 3D object. These filaments can be fabricated using the Hot-Melt Extrusion (HME) technology. The advantage of using HME to manufacture polymer filaments for FDM printing is that a homogenous solid dispersion of two or more pharmaceutical excipients i.e., polymers can be made and a thermostable drug can even be introduced in the filament composition, which is otherwise impractical with any other techniques. By introducing HME techniques for 3D printing filament development can improve the bioavailability and solubility of drugs as well as sustain the drug release for a prolonged period of time. The latter is of particular interest when medical implants are considered via 3D printing. In recent years, there has been increasing interest in implementing a continuous manufacturing method on pharmaceutical products development and manufacture, in order to ensure high quality and efficacy with less batch-to-batch variations of the pharmaceutical products. The HME and FDM technology can be combined into one integrated continuous processing platform. This article reviews the working principle of Hot Melt Extrusion and Fused Deposition Modelling, and how these two technologies can be combined for the use of advanced pharmaceutical applications.
Current policy emphasises the importance of ‘living well’ with dementia, but there has been no comprehensive synthesis of the factors related to quality of life (QoL), subjective well-being or life satisfaction in people with dementia. We examined the available evidence in a systematic review and meta-analysis. We searched electronic databases until 7 January 2016 for observational studies investigating factors associated with QoL, well-being and life satisfaction in people with dementia. Articles had to provide quantitative data and include ⩾75% people with dementia of any type or severity. We included 198 QoL studies taken from 272 articles in the meta-analysis. The analysis focused on 43 factors with sufficient data, relating to 37639 people with dementia. Generally, these factors were significantly associated with QoL, but effect sizes were often small (0.1–0.29) or negligible (<0.09). Factors reflecting relationships, social engagement and functional ability were associated with better QoL. Factors indicative of poorer physical and mental health (including depression and other neuropsychiatric symptoms) and poorer carer well-being were associated with poorer QoL. Longitudinal evidence about predictors of QoL was limited. There was a considerable between-study heterogeneity. The pattern of numerous predominantly small associations with QoL suggests a need to reconsider approaches to understanding and assessing living well with dementia.
A search for new phenomena in final states containing an e + e − or μ + μ − pair, jets, and large missing transverse momentum is presented. This analysis makes use of proton--proton collision data with an integrated luminosity of 36.1fb −1 , collected during 2015 and 2016 at a centre-of-mass energy √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The search targets the pair production of supersymmetric coloured particles (squarks or gluinos) and their decays into final states containing an e + e − or μ + μ − pair and the lightest neutralino (χ ~ 0 1) via one of two next-to-lightest neutralino (χ ~ 0 2 ) decay mechanisms: χ ~ 0 2 →Zχ ~ 0 1, where the Z boson decays leptonically leading to a peak in the dilepton invariant mass distribution around the Z boson mass; and χ ~ 0 2 →ℓ + ℓ − χ ~ 0 1 with no intermediate ℓ + ℓ − resonance, yielding a kinematic endpoint in the dilepton invariant mass spectrum. The data are found to be consistent with the Standard Model expectation. Results are interpreted using simplified models, and exclude gluinos and squarks with masses as large as 1.85 TeV and 1.3 TeV at 95% confidence level, respectively.
The elliptic flow of prompt and non-prompt J/ψ was measured in the dimuon decay channel in Pb+Pb collisions at √sNN = 5.02 TeV with an integrated luminosity of 0.42 nb −1 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The prompt and non-prompt signals are separated using a two-dimensional simultaneous fit of the invariant mass and pseudo-proper decay time of the dimuon system from the J/ψ decay. The measurement is performed in the kinematic range of dimuon transverse momentum and rapidity 9<p T <30 GeV,|y|<2 , and 0-60% collision centrality. The elliptic flow coefficient,v2, is evaluated relative to the event plane and the results are presented as a function of transverse momentum, rapidity and centrality. It is found that prompt and non-prompt J/ψ mesons have non-zero elliptic flow. Prompt J/ψ v 2 decreases as a function of p T , while non-prompt J/ψ it is, with limited statistical significance, consistent with a flat behaviour over the studied kinematic region. There is no observed dependence on rapidity or centrality.
Results of a search for gluino pair production with subsequent R-parity-violating decays to quarks are presented. This search uses 36.1 fb −1 of data collected by the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions with a center-of-mass energy of s √ =13 TeV at the LHC. The analysis is performed using requirements on the number of jets and the number of jets tagged as containing a b -hadron as well as a topological observable formed by the scalar sum of masses of large-radius jets in the event. No significant excess above the expected Standard Model background is observed. Limits are set on the production of gluinos in models with the R-parity-violating decays of either the gluino itself (direct decay) or the neutralino produced in the R-parity-conserving gluino decay (cascade decay). In the gluino cascade decay model, gluinos with masses below 1850 GeV are excluded for 1000 GeV neutralino mass. For the gluino direct decay model, the 95% confidence level upper limit on the cross section times branching ratio varies between 0.80 fb at m g ~ = 900 GeV and 0.011 fb at m g ~ = 1800 GeV.
A search for supersymmetry involving the pair production of gluinos decaying via third-generation squarks into the lightest neutralino (χ ~ 0 1 ) is reported. It uses LHC proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy s √ =13 TeV with an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb −1 collected with the ATLAS detector in 2015 and 2016. The search is performed in events containing large missing transverse momentum and several energetic jets, at least three of which must be identified as originating from b -quarks. To increase the sensitivity, the sample is divided into subsamples based on the presence or absence of electrons or muons. No excess is found above the predicted background. For χ ~ 0 1 masses below approximately 300 GeV, gluino masses of less than 1.97 (1.92) TeV are excluded at 95% confidence level in simplified models involving the pair production of gluinos that decay via top (bottom) squarks. An interpretation of the limits in terms of the branching ratios of the gluinos into third-generation squarks is also provided. These results improve upon the exclusion limits obtained with the 3.2 fb −1 of data collected in 2015.
A search for new resonances decaying into jets containing b-hadrons in pp collisions with the ATLAS detector at the LHC is presented in the dijet mass range from 0.57 TeV to 7 TeV. The dataset corresponds to an integrated luminosity of up to 36.1 fb −1 collected in 2015 and 2016 at s √ =13 TeV. No evidence of a significant excess of events above the smooth background shape is found. Upper cross-section limits and lower limits on the corresponding signal mass parameters for several types of signal hypotheses are provided at 95% CL. In addition, 95% CL upper limits are set on the cross-sections for new processes that would produce Gaussian-shaped signals in the di-b-jet mass distributions
The results of a search for the direct pair production of top squarks, the supersymmetric partner of the top quark, in final states with one isolated electron or muon, several energetic jets, and missing transverse momentum are reported. The analysis also targets spin-0 mediator models, where the mediator decays into a pair of dark-matter particles and is produced in association with a pair of top quarks. The search uses data from proton-proton collisions delivered by the Large Hadron Collider in 2015 and 2016 at a centre-of-mass energy of √s =13 TeV and recorded by the ATLAS detector, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36 fb −1 . A wide range of signal scenarios with different mass-splittings between the top squark, the lightest neutralino and possible intermediate supersymmetric particles are considered, including cases where the W bosons or the top quarks produced in the decay chain are off-shell. No significant excess over the Standard Model prediction is observed. The null results are used to set exclusion limits at 95% confidence level in several supersymmetry benchmark models. For pair-produced top-squarks decaying into top quarks, top-squark masses up to 940 GeV are excluded. Stringent exclusion limits are also derived for all other considered top-squark decay scenarios. For the spin-0 mediator models, upper limits are set on the visible cross-section.
A search for supersymmetric partners of top quarks decaying as t ~ 1 →cχ ~ 0 1 and supersymmetric partners of charm quarks decaying as c ~ 1 →cχ ~ 0 1, where χ ~ 0 1 is the lightest neutralino, is presented. The search uses 36.1 fb −1 pp collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV collected by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider and is performed in final states with jets identified as containing charm hadrons. Assuming a 100% branching ratio to cχ ~ 0 1, top and charm squarks with masses up to 850 GeV are excluded at 95% confidence level for a massless lightest neutralino. For m t ~ 1 ,c ~ 1 −m χ ~ 0 1 < 100 GeV, top and charm squark masses up to 500 GeV are excluded.
A search for the decay of the Standard Model Higgs boson into a bb ¯ pair when produced in association with a W or Z boson is performed with the ATLAS detector. The data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 79.8 fb −1 were collected in proton-proton collisions during Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. For a Higgs boson mass of 125 GeV, an excess of events over the expected background from other Standard Model processes is found with an observed (expected) significance of 4.9 (4.3) standard deviations. A combination with the results from other searches in Run 1 and in Run 2 for the Higgs boson in the bb ¯ decay mode is performed, which yields an observed (expected) significance of 5.4 (5.5) standard deviations, thus providing direct observation of the Higgs boson decay into b -quarks. The ratio of the measured event yield for a Higgs boson decaying into bb ¯ to the Standard Model expectation is 1.01±0.12(stat.) +0.16 −0.15 (syst.). Additionally, a combination of Run 2 results searching for the Higgs boson produced in association with a vector boson yields an observed (expected) significance of 5.3 (4.8) standard deviations.
A search is conducted for a new beyond-the-Standard-Model boson using events where a Higgs boson with mass 125 GeV decays to four leptons (ℓ= e or μ ). This decay is presumed to occur via an intermediate state which contains one or two on-shell, promptly decaying bosons: H→ZX/XX→4ℓ , where X is a new vector boson Z d or pseudoscalar a with mass between 1 and 60 GeV. The search uses pp collision data collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC with an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb −1 at a centre-of-mass energy s √ =13 TeV. No significant excess of events above Standard Model background predictions is observed; therefore, upper limits at 95% confidence level are set on model-independent fiducial cross-sections, and on the Higgs boson decay branching ratios to vector and pseudoscalar bosons in two benchmark models.
Results from a search for supersymmetry in events with four or more charged leptons (electrons, muons and taus) are presented. The analysis uses a data sample corresponding to 36.1 fb −1 of proton-proton collisions delivered by the Large Hadron Collider at s √ =13 TeV and recorded by the ATLAS detector. Four-lepton signal regions with up to two hadronically decaying taus are designed to target a range of supersymmetric scenarios that can be either enriched in or depleted of events involving the production and decay of a Z boson. Data yields are consistent with Standard Model expectations and results are used to set upper limits on the event yields from processes beyond the Standard Model. Exclusion limits are set at the 95% confidence level in simplified models of General Gauge Mediated supersymmetry, where higgsino masses are excluded up to 295 GeV. In R -parity-violating simplified models with decays of the lightest supersymmetric particle to charged leptons, lower limits of 1.46 TeV, 1.06 TeV, and 2.25 TeV are placed on wino, slepton and gluino masses, respectively.
Charged Higgs bosons produced either in top-quark decays or in association with a top-quark, subsequently decaying via H ± →τ ± ν τ , are searched for in 36.1 fb −1 of proton-proton collision data at s √ =13 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector. Depending on whether the top-quark produced together with H ± decays hadronically or leptonically, the search targets τ +jets and τ +lepton final states, in both cases with a hadronically decaying τ -lepton. No evidence of a charged Higgs boson is found. For the mass range of m H ± = 90-2000 GeV, upper limits at the 95% confidence level are set on the production cross-section of the charged Higgs boson times the branching fraction B(H ± →τ ± ν τ ) in the range 4.2-0.0025 pb. In the mass range 90-160 GeV, assuming the Standard Model cross-section for tt ¯ production, this corresponds to upper limits between 0.25% and 0.031% for the branching fraction B(t→bH ± )×B(H ± →τ ± ν τ )
The inclusive and fiducial tt ¯ production cross-sections are measured in the lepton+jets channel using 20.2 fb −1 of proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Major systematic uncertainties due to the modelling of the jet energy scale and b -tagging efficiency are constrained by separating selected events into three disjoint regions. In order to reduce systematic uncertainties in the most important background, the W+jets process is modelled using Z+jets events in a data-driven approach. The inclusive tt ¯ cross-section is measured with a precision of 5.7% to be σ inc (tt ¯ ) = 248.3 ± 0.7 (stat.) ± 13.4 (syst.) ± 4.7 (lumi.) pb, assuming a top-quark mass of 172.5 GeV. The result is in agreement with the Standard Model prediction. The cross-section is also measured in a phase space close to that of the selected data. The fiducial cross-section is σ fid (tt ¯ ) = 48.8 ± 0.1 (stat.) ± 2.0 (syst.) ± 0.9 (lumi.) pb with a precision of 4.5%.
Many extensions of the Standard Model predict new resonances decaying to a Z, W, or Higgs boson and a photon. This paper presents a search for such resonances produced in pp collisions at √s =13 TeV using a data set with an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb−1 collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The Z/W/H bosons are identified through their decays to hadrons. The data are found to be consistent with the Standard Model expectation in the entire investigated mass range. Upper limits are set on the production cross section times branching fraction for resonance decays to Z/W+γ in the mass range from 1.0 to 6.8 TeV and for the first time into H+γ in the mass range from 1.0 to 3.0 TeV.
Measurements are made of differential cross-sections of highly boosted pair-produced top quarks as a function of top-quark and tt ¯ system kinematic observables using proton--proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of s √ =13TeV. The data set corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb −1, recorded in 2015 and 2016 with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. Events with two large-radius jets in the final state, one with transverse momentum p T >500 GeV and a second with p T >350 GeV, are used for the measurement. The top-quark candidates are separated from the multijet background using jet substructure information and association with a b -tagged jet. The measured spectra are corrected for detector effects to a particle-level fiducial phase space and a parton-level limited phase space, and are compared to several Monte Carlo simulations by means of calculated χ 2 values. The cross-section for tt ¯ production in the fiducial phase-space region is 292±7 (stat)±76(syst) fb, to be compared to the theoretical prediction of 384±36 fb.
A search for direct pair production of top squarks in final states with two tau leptons, b -jets, and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis is based on proton-proton collision data at s √ =13 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb −1 recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider in 2015 and 2016. Two exclusive channels with either two hadronically decaying tau leptons or one hadronically and one leptonically decaying tau lepton are considered. No significant deviation from the Standard Model predictions is observed in the data. The analysis results are interpreted in terms of model-independent limits and used to derive exclusion limits on the masses of the top squark t ~ 1 and the tau slepton τ ~ 1 in a simplified model of supersymmetry with a nearly massless gravitino. In this model, masses up to m(t ~ 1 )=1.16 TeV and m(τ ~ 1 )=1.00 TeV are excluded at 95% confidence level.
With the dual challenges of reducing emissions from fossil fuels and providing access to clean and affordable energy, there is an imperative for a transition to a low carbon energy system. The transition must take into consideration questions of energy justice to ensure that policies, plans and programmes guarantee fair and equitable access to resources and technologies. An energy justice framework is outlined to account for distributional, procedural and recognition inequalities, as well as emerging themes such as cosmopolitan and non-Western understandings of justice, in decision-making relating to energy systems. The spectrum of research offers critical perspectives on the energy transition as well as tools for decision-making and policy processes. Quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods all contribute to our understanding of the problems and the success of responses. The studies presented in this special issue illustrate that the field of energy justice is a rapidly growing arena. There is constant innovation taking place in enabling the transition with new structures, processes and metrics being introduced to guide decision-making and a more holistic view of the community emerging where acceptance, mobilisation and empowerment are opening possibilities for a just transition to a low carbon energy system. The importance of introducing the interdisciplinary approach between social sciences and natural sciences as well engineering implementation supported by scientific data and experiments shall be emphasized in future studies.
What is the value of the book review today? Is reviewing a form of critique and conversation particularly well-suited to feminist theory and practice? And what strategies might editors looking to feature more feminist scholarship consider in their work? In this Q&A, we speak to Katherine Farrimond about her role as book reviews editor of the journal Feminist Theory.
In Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other tauopathies, soluble tau protein self-assembles into insoluble aggregates. In AD, tau is deposited as neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) composed mainly of paired helical filaments (PHFs). The structural core of PHFs is made up of two protofilaments with C-shaped subunits. There is a need for a relevant model of tau aggregation that does not require non-physiological inducers of aggregation, to permit the study of inhibition of tau aggregation and tau seeding in a physiological environment. The tau protein fragment, dGAE (amino acids 297-391) maps onto the proteolytically-stable PHF-core tau sequence and represents a model system with which to understand the cellular effects of misfolded tau.
In this thesis, dGAE self-assembly was characterised in vitro, to investigate changes to dGAE size and morphology over the course of assembly and the role of disulphide bonds in this process. Here, we show that dGAE assembles into filaments that resemble PHFs from AD brain, but this process does not depend on Cys-322. The effect of the small molecule, MT, on dGAE self-assembly was investigated, showing that MT must be reduced to LMT to efficiently inhibit dGAE self-assembly and forms species with an alternative conformation. The effect of exogenously-applied dGAE on cell viability, internalisation and seeding capabilities were examined in differentiated SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells, which do not overexpress aggregation prone mutant tau or tau fragments. These cells can internalise dGAE in a soluble form and accumulates within the cytoplasm. Exposure to exogenous dGAE induces changes to endogenously expressed tau, namely a redistribution and increase in phosphorylated endogenous tau.
The results presented in this thesis characterise the self-assembly of the PHF core under physiological conditions and aids in understanding the process leading to PHF formation. This approach will provide a useful tool to facilitate the study of tau aggregation and ultimately to study the potential of tau aggregation inhibitors to target tau seeding activity.
This article appraises Ben Enwonwu’s contribution to postcolonial modernism in Nigeria. To do so, it analyses his artistic responses to the political crisis that resulted in the Nigeria-Biafra war (1967–70). The article argues that Enwonwu’s varied Biafrascapes, expressed as portraits, landscape paintings and mythopoetic imagery, reflect his struggle to ethically convey the conflict’s complex realities and legacies.
Many proteins and peptides are able to self-assemble in solution in vitro and in vivo to form amyloid-like fibrils. These fibrils share common structural characteristics. In order for a fibril to be characterized as amyloid, it is expected to fit certain criteria including the composition of cross-β. Here we describe how the formation of amyloid fibrils can be characterized in vitro using a variety of methods including circular dichroism and intrinsic tyrosine/tryptophan fluoresence to follow conformational changes; Thioflavin and/or ThS assembly to monitor nucleation and growth; transmission electron microscopy to visualize fibrillar morphology and X-ray fiber diffraction to examine cross-β structure.
This paper presents a measurement of jet fragmentation functions in 0.49 nb −1 of Pb+Pb collisions and 25 pb −1 of pp collisions at √ sNN =5.02 TeV collected in 2015 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. These measurements provide insight into the jet quenching process in the quark-gluon plasma created in the aftermath of ultra-relativistic collisions between two nuclei. The modifications to the jet fragmentation functions are quantified by dividing the measurements in Pb+Pb collisions by baseline measurements in pp collisions. This ratio is studied as a function of the transverse momentum of the jet, the jet rapidity, and the centrality of the collision. In both collision systems, the jet fragmentation functions are measured for jets with transverse momentum between 126 GeV and 398 GeV and with an absolute value of jet rapidity less than 2.1. An enhancement of particles carrying a small fraction of the jet momentum is observed, which increases with centrality and with increasing jet transverse momentum. Yields of particles carrying a very large fraction of the jet momentum are also observed to be enhanced. Between these two enhancements of the fragmentation functions a suppression of particles carrying an intermediate fraction of the jet momentum is observed in Pb+Pb collisions. A small dependence of the modifications on jet rapidity is observed.
In recent decades there has been a rapid development of methods to experimentally control individual quantum systems. A broad range of quantum control methods has been developed for two-level systems; however, the complexity of multilevel quantum systems make the development of analogous control methods extremely challenging. Here we exploit the equivalence between multilevel systems with SU(2) symmetry and spin-1/2 systems to develop a technique for generating new robust, high-fidelity, multilevel control methods. As a demonstration of this technique, we develop adiabatic and composite multilevel quantum control methods and experimentally realize these methods using a 171Yb+ ion system. We measure the average infidelity of the process in both cases to be around 10−4, demonstrating that this technique can be used to develop high-fidelity multilevel quantum control methods and can, for example, be applied to a wide range of quantum computing protocols, including implementations below the fault-tolerant threshold in trapped ions.
A measurement of the fragmentation functions of jets into charged particles in p +Pb collisions and pp collisions is presented. The analysis utilizes 28 nb −1 of p+Pb data and 26 pb −1 of pp data, both at (sqrt) s NN = 5.02 TeV, collected in 2013 and 2015, respectively, with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurement is reported in the centre-of-mass frame of the nucleon-nucleon system for jets in the rapidity range |y ∗ |< 1.6 and with transverse momentum 45 <p T < 260 GeV. Results are presented both as a function of the charged-particle transverse momentum and as a function of the longitudinal momentum fraction of the particle with respect to the jet. The pp fragmentation functions are compared with results from Monte Carlo event generators and two theoretical models. The ratios of the p +Pb to pp fragmentation functions are found to be consistent with unity.
This paper presents a measurement of the W boson production cross section and the W + /W − cross-section ratio, both in association with jets, in proton--proton collisions at s √ =8 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. The measurement is performed in final states containing one electron and missing transverse momentum using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.2 fb −1 . Differential cross sections for events with one or two jets are presented for a range of observables, including jet transverse momenta and rapidities, the scalar sum of transverse momenta of the visible particles and the missing transverse momentum in the event, and the transverse momentum of the W boson. For a subset of the observables, the differential cross sections of positively and negatively charged W bosons are measured separately. In the cross-section ratio of W + /W − the dominant systematic uncertainties cancel out, improving the measurement precision by up to a factor of nine. The observables and ratios selected for this paper provide valuable input for the up quark, down quark, and gluon parton distribution functions of the proton
A combined measurement of differential and inclusive total cross sections of Higgs boson production is performed using 36.1 fb −1 of 13 TeV proton-proton collision data produced by the LHC and recorded by the ATLAS detector in 2015 and 2016. Cross sections are obtained from measured H→γγ and H→ZZ ∗ →4ℓ event yields, which are combined taking into account detector efficiencies, resolution, acceptances and branching fractions. The total Higgs boson production cross section is measured to be 57.0 +6.0 −5.9 (stat.) +4.0 −3.3 (syst.) pb, in agreement with the Standard Model prediction. Differential cross-section measurements are presented for the Higgs boson transverse momentum distribution, Higgs boson rapidity, number of jets produced together with the Higgs boson, and the transverse momentum of the leading jet. The results from the two decay channels are found to be compatible, and their combination agrees with the Standard Model predictions.
A search for the supersymmetric partners of quarks and gluons (squarks and gluinos) in final states containing hadronic jets and missing transverse momentum, but no electrons or muons, is presented. The data used in this search were recorded in 2015 and 2016 by the ATLAS experiment in √s=13 TeV proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb−1 . The results are interpreted in the context of various models where squarks and gluinos are pair produced and the neutralino is the lightest supersymmetric particle. An exclusion limit at the 95% confidence level on the mass of the gluino is set at 2.03 TeV for a simplified model incorporating only a gluino and the lightest neutralino, assuming the lightest neutralino is massless. For a simplified model involving the strong production of mass-degenerate first- and second-generation squarks, squark masses below 1.55 TeV are excluded if the lightest neutralino is massless. These limits substantially extend the region of supersymmetric parameter space previously excluded by searches with the ATLAS detector.
Inclusive jet and dijet cross-sections are measured in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The measurement uses a dataset with an integrated luminosity of 3.2 fb−1 recorded in 2015 with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Jets are identified using the anti-kt algorithm with a radius parameter value of R = 0.4. The inclusive jet cross-sections are measured double-differentially as a function of the jet transverse momentum, covering the range from 100 GeV to 3.5 TeV, and the absolute jet rapidity up to |y| = 3. The double-differential dijet production cross-sections are presented as a function of the dijet mass, covering the range from 300 GeV to 9 TeV, and the half absolute rapidity separation between the two leading jets within |y| < 3, y∗, up to y∗ = 3. Next-to-leading-order, and next-to-next-to-leading-order for the inclusive jet measurement, perturbative QCD calculations corrected for non-perturbative and electroweak effects are compared to the measured cross-sections.
Flavor-changing neutral currents are not present in the Standard Model at tree level and are suppressed in loop processes by the unitarity of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix; the corresponding rates for top quark decay processes are experimentally unobservable. Extensions of the Standard Model can generate new flavor-changing neutral current processes, leading to signals which, if observed, would be unambiguous evidence of new interactions. A data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb−1 of pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of √s=13 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider is used to search for top quarks decaying to up or charm quarks with the emission of a Higgs boson, with subsequent Higgs boson decay to final states with at least one electron or muon. No signal is observed and limits on the branching fractions B(t→Hc)<0.16% and (t→Hu)<0.19% at 95% confidence level are obtained (with expected limits of 0.15% in both cases.
This paper presents a search for direct electroweak gaugino or gluino pair production with a chargino nearly mass-degenerate with a stable neutralino. It is based on an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb−1 of pp collisions at s √ =13 s=13 TeV collected by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. The final state of interest is a disappearing track accompanied by at least one jet with high transverse momentum from initial-state radiation or by four jets from the gluino decay chain. The use of short track segments reconstructed from the innermost tracking layers significantly improves the sensitivity to short chargino lifetimes. The results are found to be consistent with Standard Model predictions. Exclusion limits are set at 95% confidence level on the mass of charginos and gluinos for different chargino lifetimes. For a pure wino with a lifetime of about 0.2 ns, chargino masses up to 460 GeV are excluded. For the strong production channel, gluino masses up to 1.65 TeV are excluded assuming a chargino mass of 460 GeV and lifetime of 0.2 ns.
Two custom-made In0.5Ga0.5P p+-i-n+ circular mesa spectroscopic X-ray photodiodes with different diameters (200 μm and 400 μm) and a 5 μm i layer have been characterized for their response to X-ray photons within the energy range 4.95 keV to 21.17 keV. The photodiodes, operating uncooled at 30 °C, were coupled, in turn, to the same custom-made charge-sensitive preamplifier. X-ray fluorescence spectra of high-purity calibration foils excited by a Mo target X-ray tube were accumulated. The energy resolution (Full Width at Half Maximum) increased from 0.79 keV ± 0.02 keV at 4.95 keV to 0.83 keV ± 0.02 keV at 21.17 keV, and from 1.12 keV ± 0.02 keV at 4.95 keV to 1.15 keV ± 0.02 keV at 21.17 keV, when using the 200 μm and 400 μm diameter devices, respectively. Energy resolution broadening with increasing energy was attributed to increasing Fano noise (negligible incomplete charge collection noise was suggested); for the first time the Fano factor for In0.5Ga0.5P was experimentally determined to be 0.13, suggesting a Fano limited energy resolution of 145 eV at 5.9 keV. The charge output of each system had a linear relationship with photon energy, across the investigated energy range. The count rate of both spectroscopic systems increased linearly with varying X-ray tube current up to ~105 photons s-1 cm-2 incident photon fluences. The development of In0.5Ga0.5P based spectrometers is particularly important for hard X-/γ-ray astronomy, due to the material’s large linear X-ray and γ-ray absorption coefficients and ability to operate uncooled at high temperatures.
A search for the exclusive decays of the Higgs and Z bosons to a φ or ρ meson and a photon is performed with a pp collision data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of up to 35.6 fb −1 collected at s √ =13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. These decays have been suggested as a probe of the Higgs boson couplings to light quarks. No significant excess of events is observed above the background, as expected from the Standard Model. Upper limits at 95% confidence level were obtained on the branching fractions of the Higgs boson decays to φγ and ργ of 4.8×10 −4 and 8.8×10 −4, respectively. The corresponding 95% confidence level upper limits for the Z boson decays are 0.9×10 −6 and 25×10 −6 for φγ and ργ, respectively.
The paper introduces the theme and topics of this Special Issue on the extraterritoriality of EU law and human rights in the fields of trade and public procurement since the entry into force of the 2009 Treaty of Lisbon. It briefly explores the meaning of extraterritoriality in international (human rights) law and the EU legal order highlighting the complexity of such notion in both legal systems. In so doing, it provides the context and focus of analysis of the collection of papers that make up this Special Issue, which addresses a number of topical questions concerning the extraterritorial conduct of the EU, as well as the extraterritorial effects of EU law in those specific fields, from the perspective of human rights.
A search for flavour-changing neutral-current processes in top-quark decays is presented. Data collected with the ATLAS detector from proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of p s = 13TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb1, are analysed. The search is performed using top quark pair events, with one top quark decaying through the t > qZ (q = u; c) flavour changing neutral-current channel, and the other through the dominant Standard Model mode t > bW. Only Z boson decays into charged leptons and leptonic W boson decays are considered as signal. Consequently, the final-state topology is characterized by the presence of three isolated charged leptons (electrons or muons), at least two jets, one of the jets originating from a b-quark, and missing transverse momentum from the undetected neutrino. The data are consistent with Standard Model background contributions, and at 95% confidence level the search sets observed (expected) upper limits of 1:7 x 10-4 (2:4 x 10-4) on the t > uZ branching ratio and 2:4 _ 104 (3:2 _ 104) on the t > cZ branching ratio, constituting the most stringent limits to date.
The current functional magnetic resonance imaging fMRI study investigated how outcomes achieved by others affect subjective regret and subsequent behavior. During the task, participants were asked to open a series of boxes consecutively until they decided to stop. Each box contained a reward (gold), except for one that contained an adverse stimulus (devil), which caused the participants to lose all the gold they collected in that trial. Importantly, participants were instructed that every trial they encountered would also be played in parallel by another player. During the feedback stage, outcomes of both the participant and the other player were presented. Behaviorally, participants felt less regret and took less risk when objective outcomes improved or when their outcomes were better than others. Participants tended to take more risk after experiencing regret. At the neural level, the ventral striatum (VS) and the pregenual anterior cingulate cortex (pgACC)showed increased activation as objective outcomes improved. Across participants, activation of the VS was positively correlated with corresponding behavioral changes. Increased activation of the VS and significantly higher functional connectivity with the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) were found when their outcomes were better than others. Additionally, the VS-dACC functional connectivity was correlated with risk-taking behavior.
Digital holograms has been developed an used in many applications. They are a technique by which a wavefront can be recorded and then reconstructed, often even in the absence of the original object. In this project, we use digital holography methods in which the original object amplitude and phase are recorded numerically, which would allow these data be downloaded to a spatial light modulator (SLM).This provides digital holography with capabilities that are not available using optical holographic methods.The digital holographically reconstructed image can be refocused to different depths depending on the reconstruction distance. This remarkable aspect of digital holography as can be useful in many applications and one of the most beneficial applications is when it is used for the biological cell studies. In this research, point source digital in-line and off-axis digital holography with a numerical reconstruction has been studied. The point source hologram can be used in many biological applications. As the original object we use the binary amplitude Fresnel zone plate which is made by rings with an alternating opaque and transparent transmittance. The in-line hologram of a spherical wave of wavelength, λ, emanating from the point source is initially employed in the project. Also, we subsequently employ an off-axis point source in which the original point-source object is translated away from original on-axis location. Firstly, we create the binary amplitude Fresnel zone plate (FZP) which is considered the hologram of the point source. We determine a phase-only digital hologram calculation technique for the single point source object. We have used a modified Gerchberg-Saxton algorithm (MGSA) instead of the non-iterative algorithm employed in classical analogue holography. The first complex amplitude distribution, i(x, y), is the result of the Fourier transform of the point source phase combined with a random phase. This complex filed distribution is the input of the iteration process. Secondly, we propagate this light field by using the Fourier transform method. Next we apply the first constraint by modifying the amplitude distribution, that is by replacing it with the measured modulus and keeping the phase distribution unchanged. We use the root mean square error (RMSE) criterion between the reconstructed field and the target field to control the iteration process. The RMSE decreases at each iteration, giving rise to an error-reduction in the reconstructed wavefront. We then extend this method to the reconstruction of multiple points sources. Thus the overall aim of this thesis has been to create an algorithm that is able to reconstruct the multi-point source objects from only their modulus. The method could then be used for biological microscopy applications in which it is necessary to determine the position of a fluorescing source from within a volume of biological tissue.
Constructing a large-scale ion trap quantum processor will require entangling gate operations that are robust in the presence of noise and experimental imperfection. We experimentally demonstrate how a new type of Mølmer-Sørensen gate protects against infidelity caused by heating of the motional mode used during the gate. Furthermore, we show how the same technique simultaneously provides significant protection against slow fluctuations and mis-sets in the secular frequency. Since this parameter sensitivity is worsened in cases where the ions are not ground-state cooled, our method provides a path towards relaxing ion cooling requirements in practical realizations of quantum computing and simulation.
This book provides a new understanding of the eurozone crisis across three of the worst hit cases: Greece, Portugal, and Ireland.
In contrast to accounts which stress the ‘immaturity’ of the European ‘periphery’, as well as more critical narratives that understand these countries as victims of German and core ‘economic domination’, this book recognises that individual peripheral countries have followed dramatically different paths to crisis, making it difficult to speak of the eurozone crisis as a single phenomenon. Bringing literature from Comparative Political Economy into dialogue with scholarship on Europeanisation, this book contributes the concept of ‘divergence via Europeanisation’. It explores the much-overlooked ways in which the negotiation of a ‘one size fits all’ project of European financial integration has been generative of precarious patterns of economic growth across Greece, Portugal, and Ireland. The book shows that far from their failure or inability to do so, it has been the European periphery’s attempt to ‘follow the rules’ of European integration that explains their current difficulties.
This novel understanding of the eurozone crisis should appeal to students and scholars in International Political Economy, European and European Union Studies, Comparative Political Economy, Irish Politics, Greek Politics, and Portuguese Politics.
Insects rely heavily on olfaction to locate food, find mates and sense danger. Odorant stimuli in their natural environment often consist of mixtures of several chemical compounds, and stimulus concentration in air fluctuates rapidly and unpredictably. Despite the complex nature of natural odorant stimuli, odor identity can be encoded by insects’ olfactory systems very quickly. How this can be achieved is still an open area of study. Here, I ask two specific questions: 1. Are the olfactory responses to mixture stimuli qualitatively different from those to pure chemical compounds and are such differences relevant to olfactory coding? and 2. Which types of temporal spike information can potentially be useful for olfactory coding? To address the first question, I extended a standard receptor model to mixtures. Through mathematical analysis of the extended model, I found that first-spike latencies are shorter and activity patterns are more stable across concentrations in olfactory receptor neurons for mixtures than for pure odorants. I then built a computational model of the early olfactory system of honey bees and showed that the above-mentioned mixture effects can also be observed deeper in insects’ brain. These results suggest that mixtures can be more efficiently identified by insects than pure odorants. To address the second question, I developed mathematical methods to approximate the probability distribution of the first-spike latency of a leaky integrate-and-fire neuron upon receiving an external input signal with auto-correlated background noise. The approximation is excellent for a wide range of sizes and shapes of the signal, even when the dynamical time scale of the signal is comparable to that of membrane integration. The methods allow efficient evaluation of how reliable certain correlation patterns of spikes from multiple neurons would be formed after a sensory stimulus is applied, which indicates whether these patterns could carry information about the stimulus.
TDP-43-mediated proteinopathy is a key factor in the pathology of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). A potential underlying mechanism is dysregulation of the cytoskeleton. Here we investigate the effects of expressing TDP-43 wild-type and M337V and Q331K mutant isoforms on cytoskeletal integrity and function, using rat cortical neurons in vitro. We find that TDP-43 protein becomes mislocalised in axons over 24–72 hours in culture, with protein aggregation occurring at later timepoints (144 hours). Quantitation of cell viability showed toxicity of both wild-type and mutant constructs which increased over time, especially of the Q331K mutant isoform. Analysis of the effects of TDP-43 on axonal integrity showed that TDP-43-transfected neurons had shorter axons than control cells, and that growth cone sizes were smaller. Axonal transport dynamics were also impaired by transfection with TDP-43 constructs. Taken together these data show that TDP-43 mislocalisation into axons precedes cell death in cortical neurons, and that cytoskeletal structure and function is impaired by expression of either TDP-43 wild-type or mutant constructs in vitro. These data suggest that dysregulation of cytoskeletal and neuronal integrity is an important mechanism for TDP-43-mediated proteinopathy.
This Special Issue comprises selected papers presented at a two-day workshop on the theme of extraterritoriality, human rights and the European Union (EU) after the entry into force of the 2009 Treaty of Lisbon, held at the University of Sussex School of Law in July 2017 with the participation of EU law and international human rights law scholars and practitioners from the United Kingdom (UK) and Europe. The workshop explored a variety of questions concerning, inter alia, the human rights obligations of the EU in relation to its external action, the justiciability within the EU order of extraterritorial human rights violations, the extraterritorial conduct of the EU, and the reach of its policies and laws from the perspectives of international and EU law. These questions remain central to the papers included in this Special Issue, which focuses on two broad areas of EU law, namely trade and public procurement. This Special Issue does not intend to provide a comprehensive account of the issues raised by extraterritoriality, human rights and the EU but rather, and more modestly, the aim is to contribute to the debate on the extraterritorial effects produced by the laws and conduct of the EU, while recognising that there is space, and indeed need, for further and more systematic research in this area.
Background
Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia is a common and frequently fatal infection. Adjunctive rifampicin may enhance early S. aureus killing, sterilise infected foci and blood faster, and thereby reduce the risk of dissemination, metastatic infection and death.
Objectives
To determine whether or not adjunctive rifampicin reduces bacteriological (microbiologically confirmed) failure/recurrence or death through 12 weeks from randomisation. Secondary objectives included evaluating the impact of rifampicin on all-cause mortality, clinically defined failure/recurrence or death, toxicity, resistance emergence, and duration of bacteraemia; and assessing the cost-effectiveness of rifampicin.
Design
Parallel-group, randomised (1 : 1), blinded, placebo-controlled multicentre trial.
Setting
UK NHS trust hospitals.
Participants
Adult inpatients (≥ 18 years) with meticillin-resistant or susceptible S. aureus grown from one or more blood cultures, who had received < 96 hours of antibiotic therapy for the current infection, and without contraindications to rifampicin.
Interventions
Adjunctive rifampicin (600–900 mg/day, oral or intravenous) or placebo for 14 days in addition to standard antibiotic therapy. Investigators and patients were blinded to trial treatment. Follow-up was for 12 weeks (assessments at 3, 7, 10 and 14 days, weekly until discharge and final assessment at 12 weeks post randomisation).
Main outcome measures
The primary outcome was all-cause bacteriological (microbiologically confirmed) failure/recurrence or death through 12 weeks from randomisation.
Results
Between December 2012 and October 2016, 758 eligible participants from 29 UK hospitals were randomised: 370 to rifampicin and 388 to placebo. The median age was 65 years [interquartile range (IQR) 50–76 years]. A total of 485 (64.0%) infections were community acquired and 132 (17.4%) were nosocomial; 47 (6.2%) were caused by meticillin-resistant S. aureus. A total of 301 (39.7%) participants had an initial deep infection focus. Standard antibiotics were given for a median of 29 days (IQR 18–45 days) and 619 (81.7%) participants received flucloxacillin. By 12 weeks, 62 out of 370 (16.8%) patients taking rifampicin versus 71 out of 388 (18.3%) participants taking the placebo experienced bacteriological (microbiologically confirmed) failure/recurrence or died [absolute risk difference –1.4%, 95% confidence interval (CI) –7.0% to 4.3%; hazard ratio 0.96, 95% CI 0.68 to 1.35; p = 0.81]. There were 4 (1.1%) and 5 (1.3%) bacteriological failures (p = 0.82) in the rifampicin and placebo groups, respectively. There were 3 (0.8%) versus 16 (4.1%) bacteriological recurrences (p = 0.01), and 55 (14.9%) versus 50 (12.9%) deaths without bacteriological failure/recurrence (p = 0.30) in the rifampicin and placebo groups, respectively. Over 12 weeks, there was no evidence of differences in clinically defined failure/recurrence/death (p = 0.84), all-cause mortality (p = 0.60), serious (p = 0.17) or grade 3/4 (p = 0.36) adverse events (AEs). However, 63 (17.0%) participants in the rifampicin group versus 39 (10.1%) participants in the placebo group experienced antibiotic or trial drug-modifying AEs (p = 0.004), and 24 (6.5%) participants in the rifampicin group versus 6 (1.5%) participants in the placebo group experienced drug-interactions (p = 0.0005). Evaluation of the costs and health-related quality-of-life impacts revealed that an episode of S. aureus bacteraemia costs an average of £12,197 over 12 weeks. Rifampicin was estimated to save 10% of episode costs (p = 0.14). After adjustment, the effect of rifampicin on total quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) was positive (0.004 QALYs), but not statistically significant (standard error 0.004 QALYs).
Conclusions
Adjunctive rifampicin provided no overall benefit over standard antibiotic therapy in adults with S. aureus bacteraemia.
Future work
Given the substantial mortality, other antibiotic combinations or improved source management should be investigated.
Trial registrations
Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN37666216, EudraCT 2012-000344-10 and Clinical Trials Authorisation 00316/0243/001.
Funding
This project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme and will be published in full in Health Technology Assessment; Vol. 22, No. 59. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information.
Background
Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a serious, preventable public health problem that affects millions of people worldwide. Research indicates that adults suffering from long term, disabling conditions are more likely to be victims of IPV due to the intersection of disease-associated stigma and discrimination. IPV in turn is known to worsen the overall health and wellbeing of those affected by it. Little research however explores the relationship between neglected tropical diseases such as podoconiosis and IPV. This study explores the relationship between IPV and podoconiosis in northern Ethiopia with the aim of identifying new avenues for limiting disability and promoting the wellbeing of people affected by this neglected tropical disease.
Methods
The study was conducted in East and West Gojjam zones, located in the Amhara Regional State of Ethiopia. Research participants were first screened using the domestic violence screening tool Hurt-Insult-Threaten-Scream (HITS). Data were collected by native speakers of the local language (Amharic) in the form of semi-structured interviews during January and February 2016. Thematic and content data analysis was carried out, using the Open Code 3.4 qualitative data analysis software for coding.
Results
A total of 15 women living with podoconiosis and experiencing IPV were interviewed (aged 31 to 75). Women experienced different forms of IPV, including beatings (with or without an object), insults, name calling, undermining, denial of equal rights over common assets, movement monitoring, cheating, abandonment, forced divorce, obstruction of health care access, inhibition of decision-making and sexual coercion. Podoconiosis increases the frequency and severity of IPV and in occasions shapes a change from physical to psychological and financial violence. In turn, frequent episodes of IPV worsen disease outcomes and contribute to disease persistence in the region, in that these impede women’s ability to manage the disease and help perpetuate the conditions of poverty that influence disease onset.
Conclusions
Women living with podoconiosis are victims of various, overlapping forms of IPV that negatively impact their health and wellbeing. Poverty, scarce IPV prevention services in the area together with a social acceptance of IPV and these women’s decreased ability to work due to the debilitating effects of podoconiosis and childcare responsibilities frequently prompt these women to tolerate IPV and remain in abusive relationships. Tackling disease-associated taboo and stigma, developing accessible IPV interventions, working towards greater gender equality at the household and societal levels and developing sustainable strategies for improving the socio-economic assets of women affected by podoconiosis are all necessary to both prevent IPV and to improve disease outcome.
For abstract please refer to PDF
Investigating the Thames, this chapter explores late eighteenth-century newspaper articles that narrate stories of animals, such as: a gigantic eel trapped in a coffin, eroticised swan-men, and blindfolded tigers arriving on the docks after Tipu Sultan’s defeat in Mysore. These articles provoke new ways of reading motifs of sexuality, empire and hell in works by Blake, including The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, Urizen, the Large and Small Books of Designs, and illustrations to John Gabriel Stedman, Dante and the Bible. The chapter draws on writing by Walter Benjamin and J. Hillis Miller, developing the idea of the literary caption as an alternative form of academic writing. By using sensationalist animal stories as captions for Blake, we can discover new magical and ethical aspects of his work, within a circulation of fantastical narratives around the Thames. Human–animal relationships become a model for understanding the relationship between texts and images—intimate and visionary, infecting each other without directly touching.
At a time when nationalism is being rehabilitated as the most likely custodian of political discourse, those who propagate a left alternative also seem wedded to the nation – in asserting control over migration, over defence, over security, and over how we imagine our everyday sense of community. In this paper, James and Valluvan discuss the relationship between the current crisis and xeno-racist nationalism, including an engagement with whiteness and the working class. They argue that a realisation of alternative left visions for governance must at a minimum start with the repudiation of xeno-racism’s hold on contemporary politics, and the left’s routine submission to its lustre.
After nearly four years of civil war, Libya continues to be described as an ‘ungoverned space’ where the collapse of state institutions reignited tribal, political, religious and ideological tensions. These accounts, however, obscure Libya’s complex subnational governance, and the role of non-state armed groups in shaping the emerging political orders. By contrast, we contend that distinct subnational political orders have emerged in Libya since 2014 in which actors engage in state-making practices driven by local interests. Using empirical evidence to explore the activity of non-state armed groups during the Libyan civil conflict, we highlight that the local conflict environments in eastern, western and southern Libya provide specific incentives that shape the process of armed group splintering and patterns of violence. The findings demonstrate that claims to authority and notions of statehood extend far beyond the state whereby governance relations are negotiated between state and non-state actors. Conflict patterns, (in)stability and the prevailing political order are therefore conditional on the nature of the dominant actor, their strategies and modes of violence within their areas of influence. Through this analysis, the paper provides a more granular understanding of the local political dynamics that drive violence in Libya and civil wars more generally.
For full abstract please refer to http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13661-018-1047-2
From Marx onward, social theorists have been preoccupied with the study of social domination and power. Since the 1980s, however, this research agenda has been complemented by resistance studies and the work of feminist anthropologists, which aim to explore social change and the complex ways in which political consciousness is socially, historically, and culturally formed.
'Coccolith' (17 mins, directed and produced by Christopher Brown) is an experimental short fiction film shot in the subterranean world of the Ramsgate Tunnels in Kent. Departing from typical storytelling conventions, the film depicts an imaginary realm in which devised performances evoke the unique histories and feel of this eerie environment, seeking to challenge simplistic associations of the tunnels with wartime nostalgia and mythology.
'Coccolith' is a work of practice-as-research. It takes its name from the microscopic calcite shells shed by ocean algae, which accumulate on the sea bed over millions of years, forming chalk. In their very composition, the tunnels at Ramsgate evidence both layers of geological history, and the past existence of living things. The film captures the material result of this primordial geological process – the chalk environment itself – whilst dramatizing notions of historical accumulation figuratively. Multiple histories inscribed in the same place co-exist in the film frame, with characters from different points in time inhabiting the same tunnel environment.
The project sought to reflect the fragmented nature of knowledge afforded by the tunnels in their dilapidated state, whilst at the level of process, to develop strategies for facilitating a creative response to the apparently intractable tunnel environment. The project departed from typical film industry production practices in various ways: there was no script; the performances were collaboratively devised; the production was structured around a concept outline; the conception of the project owed a great deal to site-specific installation practice; sound design was conceived as an integral part of the film directing process.
'Coccolith' is part of a broader practice-as-research project investigating how audio-visual practices might represent the experiences of ruined spaces, a collaboration between Brown and composer Andrew Knight-Hill at the University of Greenwich. Brown and Knight-Hill’s article ‘Stories of a ruined space: filmic and sonic approaches to practice-as-research’ (published in Media Practice and Education 19.3, a special issue by the Filmmaking Research Network) explored how the project sought to reconfigure the relationship between film and sound practice. Another forthcoming article by Brown discusses the film’s approach to screen performance in terms of a creative remapping of the tunnels, designed to critique the spatial foundations of wartime nostalgia and national mythmaking (one way in which the film sought to engage with traditions of site-specific installation practice). More information about the film is available at www.coccolithfilm.co.uk
Screenings:
26th November 2018: Screening at the Greenwich Picturehouse, London, preceded by a talk in which the filmmakers discussed the concepts behind the film and its development.
20th March 2019: Screening at the conference 'Mapping Spaces, Sounding Places: Geographies of Sound in Audiovisual Media' held at the University of Pavia, Cremona. The screening at the Teatro Monteverdi was followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers.
August 2019: Screening at the Musikkens Hus (Music House) in Aalborg, Denmark, for the conference 'Re:Sound - Sound, Media and Art: Theories, Histories, Practices' at Aalborg University.
September 2019: Talk about 'Coccolith' at the conference 'Music and Sound Design for the Screen' at Maynooth University in Ireland.
The adverse social and physical conditions of homelessness pose significant developmental risks for children, which may be compounded or buffered by the quality of parenting behaviour they are exposed to. There is currently a limited understanding of how parents approach their care-giving role and responsibilities while adjusting to the experience of homelessness. Advancing knowledge in this area is essential for developing acceptable, appropriate and effective interventions to support highly marginalised and vulnerable homeless families. This review explored homeless parents’ perceptions of how homelessness affects their parenting behaviour and identified adaptive strategies that parents may use to mitigate the potentially negative impacts of homelessness on the quality of care-giving. A systematic search of four electronic databases (ASSIA, PsycINFO, Web of Science and MEDLINE) identified 13 published qualitative studies, all originating from the USA, which explored parenting behaviour in homeless contexts. The studies were critically appraised using the CASP qualitative assessment tool. Thematic synthesis identified the following determinants of parenting behaviour; negative self-concept in the parental role, parental mental health, material resources, challenges to autonomy and self-efficacy, daily hassles, physical environment and service context, stigma, child characteristics and lack of support. These were synthesised thematically using existing models of parenting determinants and positive parenting. Findings indicate substantive impacts of homelessness on parental mental health, parenting authority, material resources, parenting environments and social support. Parents developed a number of adaptive methods to negotiate the challenges of homeless parenting such as maintaining a positive mindset, cherishing the parental role and developing practical strategies. We conclude with recommendations that service providers should tailor parenting support to resource-constrained circumstances and that further research is required in order to better understand experiences of homeless parents in other international contexts.
Background: Evidence-based parenting programmes are recommended for the treatment of child mental health difficulties. Families with complex psychosocial needs show poorer retention and outcomes when participating in standard parenting programmes. The Helping Families Programme (HFP) is a 16-week community-based parenting intervention designed to meet the needs of these families, including families with parental personality disorder. This study aimed to explore the help seeking and participatory experiences of parents with a diagnosis of personality disorder. It further aimed to examine the acceptability of referral and intervention processes for the HFP from the perspectives of (i) clinicians referring into the programme; and (ii) referred parents.
Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with parents recruited to receive HFP (n = 5) as part of a research case series and the referring NHS child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) clinicians (n = 5). Transcripts were analysed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis.
Results: Four themes were identified for parents: (i) the experience of parenthood, (ii) being a parent affected by personality disorder, (iii) experience of the intervention, and (iv) qualities of helping. Three themes emerged for clinicians: (i) challenges of addressing parental need, (ii) experience of engaging parents with personality disorders and (iii) limited involvement during HFP. Comparison of parent and clinician themes led to the identification of two key interlinked themes: (i) concerns prior to receiving the intervention, and (ii) the challenges of working together without a mutual understanding.
Conclusions: This pilot study identifies potentially significant challenges of working with parents affected by personality disorder and engaging them in HFP and other similar interventions. Results have important wider clinical implications by highlighting potential barriers to engagement and participation and providing insights on how these barriers might be overcome. Findings have been used to inform the referral and intervention processes of a pilot RCT and further intervention development.
Background
School-based mental health services have been advocated to increase access to psychological support for children and adolescents. However, concerns have been raised about the potential stigma associated with selection of students and the visibility of school-based service contact.
Methods
This review assessed findings from qualitative studies to identify potential stigmatising effects of participation in targeted school-based mental health interventions for students attending primary- or secondary-level education. Eight articles (reflecting seven studies) were identified through electronic database searches (PsycInfo, EMBASE, Medline, CINAHL, ERIC), supplemented by citation and reference searches and expert consultations. Data were synthesised according to established guidelines for thematic synthesis.
Results
Three overarching themes were identified: “anticipated and experienced stigma”, “consequences of stigma” and “mitigating strategies”. These findings illustrate how pervasively stigma can compromise efforts to increase access to mental health care through targeted school-based provision, while also outlining strategies endorsed by students for alleviating the risk and/or impact of stigma.
Limitations
The findings need to be considered in view of the relative scarcity of surveyed evidence. Furthermore, as all evidence came from high-income and Western countries, the applicability to other contexts is unclear.
Conclusions
This synthesis reflects the first overview of qualitative evidence regarding stigmatising experiences and concerns associated with students’ engagement with targeted school-based mental health interventions. The findings should inform efforts for mitigating stigma-related barriers to students’ engagement in targeted mental health support, and serve to guide future research in this area.
Understanding how neurons encode and compute information is fundamental to our study of the brain, but opportunities for hands-on experience with neurophysiological techniques on live neurons are scarce in science education. Here, we present Spikeling, an open source in silico implementation of a spiking neuron that costs £25 and mimics a wide range of neuronal behaviours for classroom education and public neuroscience outreach. Spikeling is based on an Arduino microcontroller running the computationally efficient Izhikevich model of a spiking neuron. The microcontroller is connected to input ports that simulate synaptic excitation or inhibition, to dials controlling current injection and noise levels, to a photodiode that makes Spikeling light sensitive, and to a light-emitting diode (LED) and speaker that allows spikes to be seen and heard. Output ports provide access to variables such as membrane potential for recording in experiments or digital signals that can be used to excite other connected Spikelings. These features allow for the intuitive exploration of the function of neurons and networks mimicking electrophysiological experiments. We also report our experience of using Spikeling as a teaching tool for undergraduate and graduate neuroscience education in Nigeria and the United Kingdom.
In the past few decades, probabilistic interpretations of brain functions have become widespread in cognitive science and neuroscience. The Bayesian brain hypothesis, predictive coding, the free energy principle and active inference are increasingly popular theories of cognitive functions that claim to unify understandings of life and cognition within general mathematical frameworks derived from information and control theory, statistical physics and machine learning. The connections between information and control theory have been discussed since the 1950’s by scientists like Shannon and Kalman and have recently risen to prominence in modern stochastic optimal control theory. However, the implications of the confluence of these two theoretical frameworks for the biological sciences have been slow to emerge. Here we argue that if the active inference proposal is to be taken as a general process theory for biological systems, we need to consider how existing control theoretical approaches to biological systems relate to it. In this work we will focus on PID (Proportional-Integral-Derivative) controllers, one of the most common types of regulators employed in engineering and more recently used to explain behaviour in biological systems, e.g. chemotaxis in bacteria and amoebae or robust adaptation in biochemical networks. Using active inference, we derive a probabilistic interpretation of PID controllers, showing how they can fit a more general theory of life and cognition under the principle of (variational) free energy minimisation under simple linear generative models.most common types of regulators employed in engineering and more recently used to explain behaviour in biological systems, e.g. chemotaxis in bacteria and amoebae or robust adaptation in biochemical networks. Using active inference, we derive a probabilistic interpretation of PID controllers, showing how they can fit a more general theory of life and cognition under the principle of (variational) free energy minimisation under simple linear generative models.
How dictionaries are marketed gives a picture of the ways in which dictionary publishers help to create, support, and maintain the contrasting “dictionary cultures” of the UK and US. Such materials show American dictionaries promoted as a tool for people from all walks of life, able to help in social, educational, and economic advancement. British domestic dictionary promotion, on the contrary, has focused more on the accuracy of the record of the language, with some attention to enjoyment of language. This article draws on archival materials concerning Merriam-Webster and Oxford University Press one-volume dictionaries in the twentieth century and situates them within the context of the culture of the written word in the US and UK.
The concept of brain, cognitive, and neural reserves has been introduced to account for the apparent discrepancies between neurological damage and clinical manifestations. However, these ideas are yet theoretical suggestions that are not completely assimilated in the clinical routine. The mechanisms of the reserves have been extensively studied in neurodegenerative pathologies, in particular in Alzheimer's disease. Both human and animal studies addressed this topic by following two parallel pathways. The specific aim of the present review is to attempt to combine the suggestions derived from the two different research fields to deepen the knowledge about reserves. In fact, the achievement of a comprehensive theoretical framework on reserve mechanisms is an essential step to propose well-timed interventions tailored to the clinical characteristics of patients. The present review highlights the importance of addressing three main aspects: the definition of reserve proxy measures, the interaction between reserve level and therapeutic interventions, and the specific time-window of reserve efficacy.
In the context of the current Mediterranean ‘crisis’, which led to closed harbours to migrants headed to Europe, this paper analyses what a ‘safe harbour’ really means for people claiming asylum on SOGI grounds. To this purpose, it carries out a human rights reading of relevant rules of the international law of the sea and of refugee law, looking also at the extraterritorial application of human rights obligations. Trying to fill a gap in the literature in these fields, it argues that, in light of their migratory experience, granting a ‘safe harbour’ to SOGI claimants requires a more comprehensive reading of the connected notion of ‘place of safety’, at least in terms of routes, destinations and receptions. In particular, if implemented in an effective way and with due diligence, the relevant negative and positive obligations biding EU Member States and the EU may ensure an immediate improvement for this group of claimants' experience during their travel to, and arrival in, Europe.
Variable geometry turbocharger and exhaust gas recirculation valves are widely installed on diesel engines to allow optimized control of intake air mass flow and exhaust gas recirculation ratio. The positions of variable geometry turbocharger vanes and exhaust gas recirculation valve are predominantly regulated by dual-loop proportional–integral–derivative controllers to achieve predefined set-points of intake air pressure and exhaust gas recirculation mass flow. The set-points are determined by extensive mapping of the intake air pressure and exhaust gas recirculation mass flow against various engine speeds and loads concerning engine performance and emissions. However, due to the inherent nonlinearities of diesel engines and the strong interferences between variable geometry turbocharger and exhaust gas recirculation, an extensive map of gains for the P, I, and D terms of the proportional–integral–derivative controllers is required to achieve desired control performance. The present simulation study proposes a novel fuzzy logic control scheme to determine appropriate positions of variable geometry turbocharger vanes and exhaust gas recirculation valve in real-time. Once determined, the actual positions of the vanes and valve are regulated by two local proportional–integral–derivative controllers. The fuzzy logic control rules are derived based on an understanding of the interactions among the variable geometry turbocharger, exhaust gas recirculation, and diesel engine. The results obtained from an experimentally validated one-dimensional transient diesel engine model showed that the proposed fuzzy logic control scheme is capable of efficiently optimizing variable geometry turbocharger and exhaust gas recirculation positions under transient engine operating conditions in real-time. Compared to the baseline proportional–integral–derivative controllers approach, both engine’s efficiency and total turbo efficiency have been improved by the proposed fuzzy logic control scheme while NOx and soot emissions have been significantly reduced by 34% and 82%, respectively.
In clinical populations, olfactory abilities parallel executive function, implicating shared
neuroanatomical substrates within the ventral prefrontal cortex. In healthy individuals, the relationship
between olfaction and personality traits or certain cognitive and behavioural characteristics remains
unexplored. We therefore tested if olfactory function is associated with trait and behavioural impulsivity
in nonclinical individuals. Eighty-three healthy volunteers (50 females) underwent quantitative
assessment of olfactory function (odour detection threshold, discrimination, and identifcation). Each
participant was rated for trait impulsivity index using the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale and performed
a battery of tasks to assess behavioural impulsivity (Stop Signal Task, SST; Information Sampling
Task, IST; Delay Discounting). Lower odour discrimination predicted high ratings in non-planning
impulsivity (Barratt Non-Planning impulsivity subscale); both, lower odour discrimination and detection
threshold predicted low inhibitory control (SST; increased motor impulsivity). These fndings extend
clinical observations to support the hypothesis that defcits in olfactory ability are linked to impulsive
tendencies within the healthy population. In particular, the relationship between olfactory abilities and
behavioural inhibitory control (in the SST) reinforces evidence for functional overlap between neural
networks involved in both processes. These fndings may usefully inform the stratifcation of people at
risk of impulse-control-related problems and support planning early clinical interventions.
Introduction: Anomalous experiences are common within the general population, but the frequency and intensity is increased in young people with psychosis. Studies have demonstrated that perceptual biases towards noticing these phenomena plays a role, but the way one thinks about one’s experience (metacognition) may also be relevant. Whilst poor metacognitive function has been theoretically associated with anomalous experiences, this relationship is currently unclear. However, metacognition may work along a continuum with various metacognitive levels, many of which have been demonstrated as impaired in psychosis. These metacognitive components may interact via processes that maintain poor metacognition across levels, and that potentially impact both what people do in their everyday lives (functional outcome) and how people feel about their everyday lives (subjective recovery outcome) in young people with psychosis compared to healthy control participants.
Methods and analysis: This study will investigate the association and contribution of metacognition to anomalous experiences and outcome measures cross-sectionally, and longitudinally in a 36-month follow-up. Firstly, young people with psychosis will be compared with healthy control participants on selected measures of anomalous experience, metacognition, and function, using ANCOVA to identify group differences. Next, the relationship between metacognitive components and processes will be explored, including processes connecting the different components, using regression analyses. Finally, mediation analyses will be used to assess the predictive value of metacognitive measures on outcome measures, both cross-sectionally and longitudinally at 36-months, whilst controlling for symptoms and cognition.
Ethics and dissemination: Ethical and Health Research Authority approval has been obtained through Camberwell St. Giles Research Ethics Committee (reference number: 17/LO/0055). This research project will be reported within a PhD thesis and submitted for journal publication. Once key predictive components of poor outcome in psychosis are identified, this study will develop a series of dynamic models to understand influences on outcome for young people with psychosis.
The complex life cycle of oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) initiates in undifferentiated basal epithelial keratinocytes where expression of the E6 and E7 oncogenes is restricted. Upon epithelial differentiation, E6/E7 transcription is increased through unknown mechanisms to drive cellular proliferation required to support virus replication. We report that the chromatin-organising CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF) promotes the formation of a chromatin loop in the HPV genome that epigenetically represses viral enhancer activity controlling E6/E7 expression. CTCF-dependent looping is dependent on the expression of the CTCF-associated Yin Yang 1 (YY1) transcription factor and polycomb repressor complex (PRC) recruitment, resulting in trimethylation of histone H3 at lysine 27. We show that viral oncogene up-regulation during cellular differentiation results from YY1 down-regulation, disruption of viral genome looping, and a loss of epigenetic repression of viral enhancer activity. Our data therefore reveal a key role for CTCF-YY1–dependent looping in the HPV life cycle and identify a regulatory mechanism that could be disrupted in HPV carcinogenesis.
Reducing energy consumption and creating a comfortable thermal indoor environment in rural residential buildings can play a key role in fighting global warming in China. As a result of economic development, rural residents are building new houses and modernizing existing buildings. This paper investigated and analyzed a typical rural residential building in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in Northwest China through field measurements and numerical simulation. The results showed that making full use of solar energy resources is an important way to improve the indoor temperature. Reasonable building layout and good thermal performance of the building envelope can reduce wind velocities and convective heat loss. Insulation materials and double-glazed windows should be used to reduce energy loss in new buildings, although it is an evolution process in creating thermally efficient buildings in rural China. This research provides a reference for the design and construction of rural residential buildings in Northwest China and similar areas for addressing energy poverty.
We assessed here functional connectivity changes in the locus coeruleus (LC) and ventral tegmental area (VTA) of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). We recruited 169 patients with either AD or amnestic mild cognitive impairment due to AD and 37 elderly controls who underwent cognitive and neuropsychiatric assessments and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging at 3T. Connectivity was assessed between LC and VTA and the rest of the brain. In amnestic mild cognitive impairment patients, VTA disconnection was predominant with parietal regions, while in AD patients, it involved the posterior nodes of the default-mode network. We also looked at the association between neuropsychiatric symptoms (assessed by the neuropsychiatric inventory) and VTA connectivity. Symptoms such as agitation, irritability, and disinhibition were associated with VTA connectivity with the parahippocampal gyrus and cerebellar vermis, while sleep and eating disorders were associated with VTA connectivity to the striatum and the insular cortex. This suggests a contribution of VTA degeneration to AD pathophysiology and to the occurrence of neuropsychiatric symptoms. We did not find evidence of LC disconnection, but this could be explained by the size of this nucleus, which makes it difficult to isolate. These results are consistent with animal findings and have potential implications for AD prognosis and therapies.
Film makers, producers, and theaters have continuously looked at ways to embody and/or integrate multiple sensory cues in the experiences they deliver. Here, we present a reflection on past attempts, lessons learnt, and future directions for the community around multisensory TV, film, and multimedia as a historical, though renewed, space of content creation. In particular, we present an overview of what we call "tasty film", that is, film involving taste, flavor, and more broadly food and drink inputs, to influence the audience experience. We suggest that such elements should be considered beyond "add-ons" in film experiences. We advocate for experimentation with new kinds of storytelling taking inspiration from multisensory design research and work on sensory substitution. We position this article as a starting point for anyone interested in multisensory film involving taste, flavor, and foods.
When we are babies we put anything and everything in our mouths, from Lego to crayons. As we grow older we increasingly rely on our other senses to explore our surroundings and objects in the world. When interacting with technology, we mainly rely on our senses of vision, touch, and hearing, and the sense of taste becomes reduced to the context of eating and food experiences. In this paper, we build on initial efforts to enhance gaming experiences through gustatory stimuli. We introduce TasteBud, a gustatory gaming interface that we integrated with the classic Minesweeper game. We first describe the details on the hardware and software design for the taste stimulation and then present initial findings from a user study. We discuss how taste has the potential to transform gaming experiences through systematically exploiting the experiences individual gustatory stimuli (e.g., sweet, bitter, sour) can elicit.
The focus of this thesis is the design of low-dimensional coordination polymers (CPs) using semi-rigid N-donor ligands based on heterocyclic molecules, especially benzotriazole, and the investigation of their potential magnetic and catalytic properties.
Chapter 1 serves as a general introduction to the chemistry discussed in the thesis. The first part emphasizes on the synthetic aspects and applications of CPs. The second part presents the unique chemical characteristics of benzotriazole and includes a thorough literature review on its use as a ligand in coordination chemistry, culminating to the development of a ligand system for the design of the targeted materials.
Chapter 2 introduces the main family of benzotriazole-based ligands (L1-L3) employed in this thesis, focusing on their coordination chemistry with cobalt salts. The synthesis and characterisation of a series of novel 0D, 1D and 2D compounds with a large structural variety is reported. Synthetic aspects and magnetic properties of selected compounds are discussed.
Chapters 3, 4 and 5 report a series of copper coordination compounds employing L1-L3 as well as analogous N-donor ligands (L4-L8). A system of 1D CPs is established and investigated for its catalytic properties in a range of organic transformations that includes the synthesis of 1,4-dihydropyridines through a previously unreported route, the A3 coupling and the ‘click’ azide-alkyne cycloaddition reaction. Investigations into optimising the catalytic behaviour and mechanistic aspects of this system are presented.
In Chapter 6 the coordination capabilities of L1-L3 are combined with the rich chemistry of silver salts to generate a structurally diverse family of 0D, 1D and 2D compounds. Investigations of their potential catalytic properties in the A3 coupling and alkyne hydration reactions are additionally presented.
Chapter 7 provides an overall conclusion to the work presented in the thesis, including its contributions to the reported literature as well as potential future directions. Finally, experimental and synthetic details as well as crystallographic data are presented in Chapter 8 and Chapter 9 respectively.
This article describes a year-long participatory arts project carried out as part of a community–university partnership in the South of England. The research sought to examine the relationship between the ‘user-led’ ethos of the Brighton Unemployed Centre Families Project (BUCFP) and emergence within it of creatively working and self-managing groups, examining how an environment that did not adhere to a prescribed use of space might enable groups to make sense of their experiences. The research used ethnographic methods and a theoretical framework informed by systems theory, critical health psychology and narrative analysis to explore the group’s experiences of food poverty. The research demonstrates ways in which the group provided community members with a space in which to examine, define and make legitimate their experiences and how this can be thought of as an educational and community knowledge-building practice that has important implications, particularly for notions of well-being.
This paper develops a climate-economy model with uncertainty, irreversibility, and active learning. Whereas previous papers assume learning from one observation per period, or experiment with control variables to gain additional information, this paper considers active learning from investment in monitoring, specifically in improved observations of the global mean temperature. We find that the decision maker invests a significant amount of money in climate research, far more than the current level, in order to increase the rate of learning about climate change. This helps the decision maker make improved decisions. The level of uncertainty decreases more rapidly in the active learning model than in the passive learning model with only temperature observations. As the uncertainty about climate change is smaller, active learning reduces the optimal carbon tax. The greater the risk, the larger is the effect of learning. The method proposed here is applicable to any dynamic control problem where the quality of monitoring is a choice variable, for instance, the precision at which we observe GDP, unemployment, or the quality of education.
Single-molecule magnets (SMMs) containing only one metal center may represent the lower size limit for molecule-based magnetic information storage materials. Their current drawback is that all SMMs require liquid-helium cooling to show magnetic memory effects. We now report a chemical strategy to access the dysprosium metallocene cation [(CpiPr5)Dy(Cp*)]+ (CpiPr5 = penta-iso-propylcyclopentadienyl, Cp* = pentamethylcyclopentadienyl), which displays magnetic hysteresis above liquid-nitrogen temperatures. An effective energy barrier to reversal of the magnetization of Ueff = 1,541 cm–1 is also measured. The magnetic blocking temperature of TB = 80 K for this cation overcomes an essential barrier towards the development of nanomagnet devices that function at practical temperatures.
The elastohydrodynamic lubrication regime occurs in systems where large elastic deformations, the hydrodynamic action of a converging wedge and eventually large variation of viscosity of the fluid concur to determine the formation of a continuous fluid film that separates the solid surfaces. Experimental and theoretical work, over the past few decades, have elucidated the role of various working and material parameters on the lubricant film thickness which plays a crucial role in protecting the solid surfaces from direct contact and ultimately from failure. These mechanisms are well understood for steady state conditions however, elastohydrodynamic contacts most often experience transient conditions, including variation of geometry, velocity of surfaces or load. In this case the mechanisms of film formation are more complex involving film squeeze in addition to the mechanisms mentioned above. Experimental and theoretical modelling of transient phenomena in elastohydrodynamic lubrication include sudden variation of entrainment speed or load and changing geometry. No systematic experimental study on the effect of harmonic load vibration upon the elastohydrodynamic films has been published before. In order to cover this gap this paper presents the results of an experimental study and of a simple theoretical approach on the behaviour of the elastohydrodynamic film thickness under harmonic variation of load.
Under the current results-driven development agenda, sound evaluation, and a corresponding evaluation toolkit, need to be in place to examine whether and to what extent development interventions have achieved their targeted objectives and results, and to generate lessons for further development learning and improvement. My review of the literature shows that innovative and appropriate evaluation approaches are needed to address key challenges in evaluation such as the tension between learning and accountability objectives, the need to unpack the mechanisms linking outputs and outcomes or goal, and to add an actor perspective.
Irrespective of project type, the Logical Framework Approach (LFA) is often a standard requirement of major official donor agencies on projects they fund, so as to fulfil bureaucratic imperatives. However, it is often considered inadequate in addressing key challenges in development evaluation. Given the dominant status of the LFA with such strong support from donors, it is helpful to seek a ‘middle way’: a combination of the LFA with other approaches in order to address some of its inadequacies, while satisfying donor agencies’ requirements. A synthesis of the LFA and Outcome Mapping (OM) is one such option.
This thesis explores the practical value and usefulness of a synthesis model empirically. Applying the model in two case study aid projects, I found that it serves well as a theory-based evaluation tool with a double-stranded (actor strand and results chain) theory of change. The model helps reconcile learning and accountability and add explanatory power and an explicit actor perspective. It also helps establish causation and enable attribution claims at various results levels with its different elements. The model has some limitations but my results suggest it can be usefully adopted. The choice of its application depends on project evaluation context and purpose in specific cases.
The fossil fuel scarcity worldwide has rapidly driven the electric vehicles and battery charging technologies, including contactless power transfer (CPT), over the past decades. There still exist many technical difficulties to be specifically addressed and ideas to be innovatively achieved although a lot of contribution on EVs charging solutions has been made by the engineering world. In this paper, the comparatively up to date CPT technologies for EVs charging were investigated and the project methodology was discussed from the aspects of maximizing the charging system efficiency, power transfer rating levels and air gaps of charging coupling coils. Until present, the different coil designs, ferrite core deployments, operating frequencies and air gaps are acting as the main investigation factors regarding producing transfer efficiencies and power ratings on the load end. By modeling and simulating the electromagnetic field couplings with the simplified inductive transmitting system in 3D finite-element methods based environment, an Axis-to-Axis (Coaxial) rectangular coil CPT system and an Axis-Parallel (Non-coaxial) rectangular coil system have been modeled and quantitatively compared. Besides, an axis-parallel coil system and a C-Type rectangular coil system deploying ferrite cores with 50 mm air gap have been analyzed, resulting in output efficiencies over 85% and 74%, respectively. In addition, the effectiveness of using a ferrite core to improve the flux linkage and magnetic flux density can be noticed. From the perspective of electromagnetic field, the contributions of deploying natural resonant frequencies of transmitting ground side and receiving vehicle side in terms of system efficiency, magnetic field strength generated and actual power transfer ratings have been described.
This article uses the very materiality of the city, namely its dust, to reflect on the processes of researching and writing about it. By using ‘dust’ as both a material and an imaginative metaphor that assembles architecture, urban space, archives and history, I argue that field environments, in a very material sense, seep through our fieldwork methodologies. Written through a series of four vignettes; this article reflects on conducting archival fieldwork in urban space, as a non-risky methodology, yet within a politically turbulent context where research in itself could be a cause of risk. By acknowledging the very materiality of the field environment, a space is created to reflect on how the field constitutes our subjectivity as researchers, in the city, the archive, or elsewhere. Attention to dust allows us to write with – rather than against – the entanglement of field notes. It makes space for an autobiographic incision and reclaims a subjective voice that writing on being in the field needs. Furthermore, it allows us to trouble the clean and disentangled constructions of our subjectivity as academic knowing subjects through the orchestrated everyday practices of conducting fieldwork.
Dr Grace Pailthorpe (surgeon/ psychoanalyst / artist, 1883-1971) and Reuben Mednikoff (artist, 1906-1972) began collaborating in 1935. From that year until their deaths, they produced a huge body of work that included startlingly vivid and wildly experimental paintings and drawings, often paired with in-depth psychoanalytic interpretation, as well as autobiography, poetry and short stories. They spent decades of their lives researching how the visual and literary arts might liberate individuals and societies from the constraints that sickened and impoverished them, together developing a creative process that combined Surrealism with psychoanalysis, bringing artistic and scientific thinking together.
The work of Pailthorpe and Mednikoff is still relatively unknown, and A Tale of Mother’s Bones is the most significant presentation of their work in almost 20 years. Drawing on original archival research, it tells the story of the couple’s lives through their works, showing how they excavated their earliest memories (including memories of birth) in order to understand their adult relationships, critical reception, political context, and spiritual beliefs. The exhibition reinstates the couple within the artistic and intellectual histories they contributed to, and reveals a new term developed by the pair: Psychorealism.
The exhibition toured between three UK venues: De La Warr Pavilion, 6 October 2018 – 20 January 2019, Camden Arts Centre, 12 April – 23 June 2019, and Newlyn Art Gallery and the Exchange, 19 October 2019 – 04 January 2020. The first exhibitions were curated by Hope Wolf with Rosie Cooper, Head of Exhibitions at the De La Warr Pavilion, Martin Clark, Director, Camden Arts Centre, and Gina Buenfeld, Curator, Camden Arts Centre. The last exhibition was curated by Hope Wolf in collaboration with Camden Arts Centre and the De La Warr Pavilion.
The development of community resilience is one of the strategies that UK governments employ to guard against the severe and long-lasting impact of floods. However, current approaches to community resilience emphasize the role of pre-existing networks, largely ignoring the emergent togetherness between strangers that often characterizes disasters. My aim in this thesis is to use the social identity approach to collective resilience in order to investigate community responses to flooding and suggest a theoretically-driven approach to community resilience.
I present a critical review of how communities and their resilience regarding floods are represented in official guidance documents. The analysis shows that there are both static and reified, as well as more complex understandings of community resilience based on various psychological, cognitive, and relational concepts. Communities are either depicted as rational and agentic, or as passive receivers of expert knowledge. However, the documents mostly ignore psychological understandings of communities, as well as social identity understandings of collective resilience in disasters.
The empirical research in this thesis took place at York, UK, which flooded in December 2015, and included two interview studies conducted 2 and 15 months after the floods, and three cross-sectional surveys administered 8, 15, and 21 months post-flood. Results show that shared community identity emerges due to common fate and leads to higher expectations and provision of support, shared goals, enhanced collective efficacy, and increased well-being among residents. Common fate, shared identity, and the strength of their relationship decline over time, but communication can play a crucial role in the maintenance of shared identity.
Results show that social identity processes play a role in how communities respond to flooding. Thus, I argue that current approaches to community resilience can benefit by incorporating social identity understandings of psychological communities and collective resilience in theory and practice.
This thesis explores the aspirations of black South Africans who were born after the end of apartheid. These young people are controversially referred to as the ‘born free’ generation. They were born into a democracy that officially offers them equal opportunities but continues to grapple with a legacy of racial discrimination, spatial segregation and unequal educational provision. Despite the majority of ‘born frees’ experiencing poor educational attainment and high levels of unemployment, existing research indicates that those in this category hold ambitious future aspirations, although these rarely come to fruition. The focus of my work is the aspirations of rural youth and draws upon ten months of ethnographic data collected within a township in Mpumalanga province. It analyses selected curriculum content, observations, focus groups and interviews with two groups of young people – those in their last year of schooling and those two years out of school. Through ethnographic observations in one secondary school in particular, I elucidate how students’ schooling environments relay particular discourses concerning what constitutes a ‘good education’ and what it means to aspire towards a ‘good life.’ Integrating insights from feminist, poststructural and postcolonial theories, I consider how the discourses of the ‘new South Africa’ are transmitted within the schooling environments, homes and wider social and political arenas which these young people occupy, thereby creating and structuring ways for them to speak and think about their futures.
My analysis engages with the shifting attachments that shape how South Africans living in a rural area construct their narratives of the future and demonstrates how these young people’s performances of identity are both spatially constructed and affectively negotiated. By considering the silences and contradictions in their imaginaries, this thesis shows how the discourses through which these imaginaries are constructed create boundaries around ways of being and becoming that are deemed valuable and those that are not. In problematising an understanding of aspiration as an individual disposition, my research demonstrates that the hopes of young, black South Africans are rooted in social and spatial inequalities.
In the immediate aftermath of German reunification, as in the wake of the recent humanitarian crisis, Germany experienced notable ‘peaks’ of racist agitation and violence. In the 1990s, as today, the post-Communist eastern regions of Germany tend to be perceived as the hub of such racism. In this article, Lewicki revisits both ‘peaks’ via an examination of numerical evidence for verbal and physical racist violence in the former East and West of Germany. Rather than conceiving of racism as ‘cyclical’ or a specific legacy of the Communist dictatorship, her analysis suggests that political projects in Germany’s past and present have retained distinct structural incarnations of race. Far-right activists could thus successfully channel animosities resulting from the terms of unification into nationalist and racist resentment: momentarily more so in the East, but increasingly also in the West. The politics of citizenship, Lewicki argues, has provided a key means of perpetuating, reaffirming and cementing racialized hierarchies in the two post-war German states, but also in reunified Germany.
Background
Mother–child mental state talk (MST) supports children's developing social–emotional understanding. In typically developing (TD) children, family conversations about emotion, cognition, and causes have been linked to children's emotion understanding. Specific language impairment (SLI) may compromise developing emotion understanding and adjustment.
Aims
We investigated emotion understanding in children with SLI and TD, in relation to mother–child conversation. Specifically, is cognitive, emotion, or causal MST more important for child emotion understanding and how might maternal scaffolding support this?
Sample
Nine 5‐ to 9‐year‐old children with SLI and nine age‐matched typically developing (TD) children, and their mothers.
Method
We assessed children's language, emotion understanding and reported behavioural adjustment. Mother–child conversations were coded for MST, including emotion, cognition, and causal talk, and for scaffolding of causal talk.
Results
Children with SLI scored lower than TD children on emotion understanding and adjustment. Mothers in each group provided similar amounts of cognitive, emotion, and causal talk, but SLI children used proportionally less cognitive and causal talk than TD children did, and more such child talk predicted better child emotion understanding. Child emotion talk did not differ between groups and did not predict emotion understanding. Both groups participated in maternal‐scaffolded causal talk, but causal talk about emotion was more frequent in TD children, and such talk predicted higher emotion understanding.
Conclusions
Cognitive and causal language scaffolded by mothers provides tools for articulating increasingly complex ideas about emotion, predicting children's emotion understanding. Our study provides a robust method for studying scaffolding processes for understanding causes of emotion.
The Ireland v United Kingdom case concerns the treatment of detainees by British security forces in Northern Ireland and the implementation of internment or detention without trial, introduced in Northern Ireland in 1971. By reading human rights ‘as a language’ and ‘an endless semantic battlefield’, we explore how the Irish Government in the Ireland v United Kingdom case sought to use the European Convention of Human Rights strategically to secure its own political assessment towards internment and the controversial interrogation methods as a legal outcome before a regional human rights institution. In this sense, the Irish legal team re-described and reframed the Irish Government’s political position on the use of internment and of interrogation methods in the language of Convention and according to concepts developed within the European Commission of Human Rights jurisprudence. We focus on two strategic moves that the Irish legal team pursued at the admissibility and merits stages of the European Commission of Human Rights proceedings, namely, submitting a wider range of allegations, alongside article 3 allegations, as an administrative practice and advocating for the hearing of expert testimony on the use of the interrogation methods (the ‘five techniques’). We explore these strategic moves in order to illustrate the semantic battlefield in operation and the potential limits of the strategic use of human rights as a language.
The reaction of the bis(pentalene)dititanium complex Ti2(μ:η5,η5-Pn†)2 (Pn† = C8H4(1,4-SiiPr3)2) (1) with the N-heterocyclic carbene 1,3,4,5-tetramethylimidazol-2-ylidene results in intramolecular C–H acti- vation of an isopropyl substituent to form a tucked-in hydride (3). Whilst pyridine will also effect this cyclometallation reaction to form (5), the pyridine analogue of (3), the bases 1,2,4,5-tetramethyl-imid- azole, 2,6-lutidine, DABCO or trimethylphosphine are ineffective. The reaction of (1) with 2,6-dichloro- pyridine affords crystallographically characterised (6) which is the product of oxidative addition of one of the C–Cl bonds in 2,6-dichloro-pyridine across the Ti–Ti double bond in (1). The tucked-in hydride (3) reacts with hydrogen to afford a dihydride complex (4) in which the tuck-in process has been reversed; detailed experimental and computational studies on this reaction using D2, HD or H2/D2 support a mechanism for the formation of (4) which does not involve σ-bond metathesis of H2 with the tucked-in C–H bond in (3). The reaction of (3) with tBuCCH yields the corresponding acetylide hydrido complex (7), where deuteration studies show that again the reaction does not proceed via σ-bond metathesis. Finally, treatment of (3) with HCl affords the chloro-derivative (9) [(NHC)Ti(μ-H)Ti{(μ,η5:η5)Pn†}2Cl], whereas pro- tonation with [NEt3H]BPh4 yielded a cationic hydride (10) featuring an agostic interaction between a Ti centre and an iPr Me group.
This thesis applies catFISH, a variant of the standard fluorescence in situ hybridisation technique, to study the neuronal ensembles activated by heroin and cocaine across brain structures involved in motivated behaviour, in the Sprague-Dawley rat. The first chapter reviews the pharmacology of heroin and cocaine, rodent models of drug-related behaviours, and heroin and cocaine’s ability to trigger immediate-early gene expression when administered acutely or chronically. It is suggested that the empirical evidence points towards a significant separation between the neuronal systems engaged by the two drugs. The main goal of this thesis was to test whether this separation can be seen within brain areas playing a key role in motivation and reward (e.g. the nucleus accumbens). Since immediate-early genes serve as markers of neuronal activity, and catFISH is a technique which can detect the expression of such genes in response to two separate stimuli, the technique was chosen as the best method to test if heroin and cocaine activate the same neuronal ensembles when administered acutely. The second chapter summarises the methods used across experiments described in following chapters.
The third chapter presents an experiment addressing the methodological issues associated with using catFISH to study pharmacological stimuli. The technique was originally used to study the hippocampus and brain activity triggered by stimuli with well-controlled on- and offset (e.g. exposure to a novel environment or discrete cues). Arguably, acute drug injections comprise a stimulus with an on- and offset which can only be controlled indirectly – they depend on the drug dose and route of administration, among other factors. It was shown that acute intravenous injections of heroin and cocaine at doses usually self-administered by animals are suitable stimuli to use with catFISH.
Chapter four describes an experiment showing that, across the striatum, the neuronal ensembles activated by an injection of cocaine followed by an injection of heroin overlap significantly less than the neuronal ensembles activated by two consecutive injections of cocaine. This is interpreted as direct evidence for a significant separation between the neuronal pathways activated by heroin vs. cocaine, even in brain areas often considered a common neurobiological substrate for the effects of the two drugs. It must be noted that the magnitude and the nature of this separation depends on the particular part of the striatum and the order in which drugs are administered.
Chapter five describes a pilot experiment attempting to incorporate the logic of the catFISH technique into a rodent drug self-administration paradigm. It was found that the rats preferred self-administering heroin over cocaine, and that there was no detectable expression of the homer 1a gene across the striatum in response to acute heroin and cocaine after extended experience with the two drugs. There was also no change from baseline expression of the homer 1a and arc genes in areas of the prefrontal cortex.
Finally, chapter six summarises the main findings and the key methodological considerations from all three experiments. As a whole, it is suggested that the experiments in this thesis provide a proof of concept that heroin and cocaine are processed differently by the brain, even within brain areas considered to be common substrates for the reinforcing and addictive properties of the two drugs. Future studies should take this separation into account, as it may have important implications for understanding drug addiction as a whole.
The appendices contain representative fluorescence microscopy images of brain tissue
analysed for catFISH.
Objectives
Assess the feasibility of engaging youth to disseminate accurate information about gene by environmental (GxE) influences on podoconiosis, a neglected tropical lymphedema endemic in southern Ethiopia.
Methods
A cross sectional survey was conducted with 377 youth randomly selected from 2 districts of Southern Ethiopia. Measures included GxE knowledge (4 true/false statements), preventive action knowledge (endorse wearing shoes and foot hygiene), causal misconceptions (11 items related to contagion) and confidence to explain GxE (9 disagree/agree statements).
Results
Over half (59%) accurately endorsed joint contributions of gene and environment to podoconiosis and preventive mechanisms (e.g., wearing protective shoes and keeping foot hygiene). Multivariable logistic regression showed that youth with accurate understanding about GxE contributors reported having: some education, friends or kin who were affected by the condition, and prior interactions with health extension workers. Surprisingly, higher accurate GxE knowledge was positively associated with endorsing contagion as a causal factor. Accuracy of GxE and preventive action knowledge were positively associated with youth’s confidence to explain podoconiosis-related information.
Conclusions
Youth have the potential to be competent disseminators of GxE information about podoconiosis. Interventions to foster confidence among youth in social or kin relationships with affected individuals may be most promising. Efforts to challenge youth’s co-existing inaccurate beliefs about contagion could strengthen the link of GxE explanations to preventive actions.
In both Hyland (2006) and Leki, Cumming, and Silva (2008) the term voice is absent from the index. It is left to practitioners to operationalise the construct and arrive at a collective understanding. Iga Maria Lehman’s book, the twelfth in the Peter Lang series Studies in Language, Culture and Society, seemingly fills this gap. It is aimed at applied linguists and English language teachers working at the tertiary level, and it tests the hypothesis that a writer’s voice and academic writer identity are constructs of writing competence and the writer’s self.
Exploring the three levels of project management, this edited collection analyses the practice of problem structuring approaches (PSAs) with an aim to improve organisational adaptability and value creation. By studying these approaches, the authors present techniques for enhancing project management knowledge, informing decision-making and guiding management actions. This book is an insightful and timely read, as it addresses the need for organisations to adapt in order to tackle new challenges within today’s changing business landscape. Undoubtedly useful to those studying project management and operational research, this book is also an important read for managers and decision-makers within organisations as it identifies and examines the effective outcomes of PSAs.
An in-line pulse tube cryocooler with an active displacer has been built and its performance has been examined in detail by experimental measurements and numerical modelling. An active displacer allows the mass flow at the cold end to be easily adjusted for optimum performance. It is demonstrated that both cooling power and relative Carnot efficiency have optimum phase values that are different. It is also shown that the phase optimisations are not critical – good performance is achieved over a significant range. The pulse tube cryocooler can deliver up to 3.8 W of cooling at 80 K with an input power of 88 W (shaft power of 69 W) when operating at optimal phase. Moreover, a numerical Sage model is used to enhance our understanding behind the trends observed by examining the mass flow and pressure pulse at the cold end. It is shown that the variation in phase of the active displacer helps boost the cryocooler performance by increasing the amplitude of the mass flow at the cold end and not by adjusting the phase of the mass flow. The Sage model is also used to demonstrate that using a displacer in place of an inertance tube can result in a more efficient cryocooler.
This thesis critically evaluates how the implementation of the EU-Turkey Agreement on refugees affects the rights of refugees and asylum seekers, particularly in relation to the application of the principle of non-refoulement. Drawing upon the political theory of Arendt, the thesis investigates whether the fundamental rights of refugees and asylum seekers are compromised during the readmission procedure. In seeking to address this issue, the thesis set out two main hypotheses. The first hypothesis is that the EU-Turkey Readmission Agreement falls short of guaranteeing “a right to have rights” for refugees, with notable limitations around the right to seek asylum, protection from refoulement and the availability of dignified living conditions as envisioned in the 1951 Refugee Convention and other human rights instruments. The second hypothesis is that Turkey is not a safe country for refugees. These two hypotheses were tested during fieldwork undertaken in Turkey to explore the current situation of refugees and asylum seekers there. Alongside legal and doctrinal analysis, the thesis sets out the results of interviews conducted with representatives of NGOs, judges, lawyers, senior officials and experts in Turkey who shared their experiences and observations and threw light on the practical and legal difficulties that refugees experience in seeking to assert their fundamental human right in Turkey.
The thesis argues that the two hypotheses are confirmed. First, the EU and Turkey Agreement on refugees fails to guarantee the fundamental rights of refugees because Turkey’s institutional and legal structures are simply not capable of hosting a large number of refugees. Furthermore, Turkey’s security concerns after the failed coup attempt in 2016 have resulted in an increased security-oriented approach and the risk of deportation of asylum seekers and refugees on the ground of public security and public order, resulting also in prolonged detention in inhuman conditions. Secondly, Turkey is not a safe third country for refugees since Turkey cannot provide effective protection to refugees meaning that nearly three million refugees are struggling to access housing, health, education services and employment opportunities. The thesis suggests that this situation is a further form of violence against refugees and hinders their ability to claim and exercise their rights. Put simply, even though refugees are endowed with natural human rights they have no means of exercising those rights. This situation gives rise to the fundamental condition of “rightlessness” and reduces refugees to “bare humanity”.
The thesis finds that the EU-Turkey ‘deal’ and its implementation provide important evidence to counter the suggestion that refugee protection in the region of origin is an effective solution to the refugee protection crisis. The thesis further casts doubt on the capacity of the Agreement to contribute to fair burden sharing between states. The thesis concludes that there is a need for further research to determine how protection in the region of origin could be facilitated without infringing the fundamental rights of refugees.
Objectives
The adverse effects of cigarette smoking have been widely studied before, whilst the effects of hookah smoking has received less attention, although it is a common habit in the Middle East. Here we have investigated the effects of cigarette and hookah smoking on biochemical characteristics in a representative population sample derived from the Mashhad stroke and heart atherosclerotic disorder (MASHAD) cohort study, from Northeastern Iran.
Study design
A total of 9840 subjects from the MASHAD population study were allocated to five groups; non-smokers (6742), ex-smokers (976), cigarette smokers (864), hookah smokers (1067), concomitant cigarette and hookah smokers (41).
Methods
Baseline characteristics were recorded in a questionnaire. Biochemical characteristics were measured by routine methods. Data were analyzed using SPSS software and p < 0.05 was considered significant.
Results
After adjustment for age and sex; the presence of CVD, obesity, metabolic syndrome, DM and dyslipidemia were significantly (p < 0.001) related to smoking status. After multivariate analysis, HDL (p < 0.001), WBC (p < 0.001), MCV (p < 0.05), PLT (p < 0.01) and RDW (p < 0.001), and the presence of CVD (p < 0.01), obesity (p < 0.001), metabolic syndrome (p < 0.05) and DM (p < 0.01) remained significant between cigarette smokers and non-smokers. Between hookah smokers and non-smokers; uric acid (p < 0.001), PLT (p < 0.05) and RDW (p < 0.05), and the presence of obesity (p < 0.01), metabolic syndrome (p < 0.001), diabetes (p < 0.01) and dyslipidemia (p < 0.01) remained significant after logistic regression.
Conclusion
There was a positive association between hookah smoking and metabolic syndrome, diabetes, obesity and dyslipidemia which was not established in cigarette smoking.
Lorentz reciprocity establishes a stringent relation between electromagnetic fields and their sources. For static magnetic fields, a relation between magnetic sources and fields can be drawn in analogy to the Green’s reciprocity principle for electrostatics. So far, the magnetostatic reciprocity principle remains unchallenged and the magnetostatic interaction is assumed to be symmetric (reciprocal). Here, we theoretically and experimentally show that a linear and isotropic electrically conductive material moving with constant velocity is able to circumvent the magnetostatic reciprocity principle and realize a diode for magnetic fields. This result is demonstrated by measuring an extremely asymmetric magnetic coupling between two coils that are located near a moving conductor. The possibility to generate controlled unidirectional magnetic couplings implies that the mutual inductances between magnetic elements or circuits can be made extremelly asymmetric. We anticipate that this result will provide novel possibilities for applications and technologies based on magnetically coupled elements and might open fundamentally new avenues in artificial magnetic spin systems.
Recently the Yogyakarta Principles have celebrated their tenth anniversary; there has been widening acceptance across international organisations and increasingly corresponding state practices, and still, there is a need for a wider appreciation of such norms. It is argued here, simultaneously, it is necessary for queer methodology and critique to intervene in this developing field in both law and politics in order to relax the policing of identity upon a nationalised as well as gendered and sexualised body. Queer international law – echoing the advocacy of queer International Relations – targets the heteronormative idea of state sovereignty that is in itself patriarchal and paternalistic in normalising, or even discarding, the undesirable citizens. This essay, from the perspective that international law is a historical product reflecting the competition between powers at both domestic and international levels, attempts to draw attention to the importance of raising queer polyvocality in reframing the idea of the law of and between nation/states.
In this note we prove that quantum gravitational corrections to vacuum solutions of Einstein's equations vanish at second order in curvature.
Purpose: Integrated care requires solutions that cannot be delivered without addressing the underlying multidisciplinary problems. Yet with a few notable exceptions, there is a lack of coordination between disciplines, to effectively integrate knowledge. The main aim of this special section is to provide a platform that explicitly coordinates and curates multidisciplinary research aimed at providing a shared understanding and knowledge base that directly addresses the fragmentation in this field, with an explicit focus on the role of Marketing as a key but often neglected partner. We identify four big challenges (Self, Society, Micro Systems and Macro Systems) to which Marketing can contribute, illustrating these potential contributions through the articles and accompanying practitioner commentaries of this special section.
Methodology: Ferguson demonstrates how reflexive introspection can be used, beyond its therapeutic benefits, to bring a deeper understanding of the meaning of illness and treatments from a patient’s perspective. Orazi and Newton establish experimentally the positive impact of collaborative sources on health messaging receptivity. Taiminen, Saramieni and Parkinson survey physicians to evaluate acceptance of/barriers to incorporating digital self-services into overall care delivery. Cruz, Snuggs and Tsarenko utilise interviews to understand the patient’s negotiation of the service labyrinth and fragmentation.
Findings: We demonstrate the scope and flexibility of marketing theories and methods and how these can be applied to the four main challenges of integrated care: Self; Society; Micro Systems; Macro Systems.
Research Implications: We identify directions for future research as a means of stimulating fruitful multidisciplinary partnerships in the four key challenge areas. It is only by collaborating across disciplines that we can really develop and provide insights that inform policy, practitioners, society and consumers on how to future-proof our care services.
Originality/Value: In addition to publishing new research, this special section directly encourages multidisciplinary collaboration between marketing, as a neglected partner, and health/social care disciplines by showcasing the theories and methods that can be used to address our identified four key challenges to integrated care. In a novel approach, practitioner commentaries evaluate the value of each study, placing them in the wider integrated care context and hence pointing out further directions for development.
We study the properties of transmissivity of a beam of atoms traversing an optical lattices loaded with ultracold atoms. The transmission properties as function of the energy of the incident particles are strongly dependent on the quantum phase of the atoms in the lattice. In fact, in contrast to the Mott-insulator regime, the absence of an energetic gap in the spectrum of the superfluid phase enables the atoms in the optical lattice to adapt to the presence of the beam. This induces a feedback process that has a strong impact on the transmittivity of the atoms. Based on the corresponding strong dependency we propose the implementation of a speed sensor with and estimated sensitivity of 10 8 −10 9 m/s/Hz − − − √ , which we characterize via the Fisher information. We apply our findings to a bosonic Li−Rb mixture, which is relevant for experiments with ultracold atoms. Applications of the presented scheme are discussed.
It is ten years since this journal published ‘Ten Years of Radio Studies: The Very Idea!’, a reflection on a decade of work since the launch of the Radio Studies Network (Lacey, 2008). To caricature the main thesis, I argued against the idea of ‘radio studies’ on the grounds that there is no such thing as radio, and that setting up a new intellectual enclave would continue to isolate, distort and marginalise our work pragmatically, intellectually and philosophically. This essay is a response to the editors’ invitation – and challenge - to revisit that argument another ten years on.
A film of the polymer of intrinsic microporosity PIM-7 is coated onto a glassy carbon electrode and the resulting effects on electron transfer reactions are studied for three different types of processes: (i) aqueous solution based, (ii) solid state surface immobilised, and (iii) electrocatalytic processes on electrodeposited palladium. The effects on reactivity for hydroquinone oxidation in aqueous phosphate buffer are shown to be linked to microporosity causing a slightly lower rate of mass transport without detrimental effects on electron transfer and reaction kinetics. Next, water-insoluble microcrystalline anthraquinone is immobilised directly into the PIM-7 film and shown to give a chemically reversible reduction process, which is enhanced in the presence of PIM-7, when compared to the case of anthraquinone immobilised directly onto bare glassy carbon. Electrodeposition of a film of nano-palladium is demonstrated to give catalytically active electrodes for the reduction/oxidation of protons/hydrogen, the reduction of oxygen, and for the oxidation of formic acid and methanol. With the PIM-7 film applied onto palladium, a mechanical stabilisation effect occurs. In addition, both the hydrogen insertion and the hydrogen evolution reactions as well as formic acid oxidation are enhanced. Effects are discussed in terms of PIM-7 beneficially affecting the interfacial reaction under triphasic conditions. The microporous polymer acts as an interfacial “gas management” layer.
5G heterogeneous wireless networks are believed to be an emerging and promising solution to meet growing demands posed by various vehicular telematics and infotainment applications. However, there are some challenges in designing a feasible and efficient 5G heterogeneous wireless network for pervasive vehicular connectivity, such as the complexity in the large-scale heterogeneous architecture and the dynamic nature of vehicular applications. In this paper, we propose an intelligent 5G heterogeneous wireless network architecture which includes a reinforcement learning (Q-learning)-based Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC) for Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) and millimeter wave (mmWave) for Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) communications. Based on our findings, the goal is to develop essential vehicular connectivity management components and a situationally-aware central intelligent wireless optimizing unit to coordinate network selection for optimal vertical handoff decisions among these heterogeneous access radios. Performance evaluation supplemented by large scale simulation and field test are also provided to show our efforts in delivering our commitment.
The fracture of rock during freezing and thawing poses a serious threat to rock slope stability and represents an important geohazard in cold regions. However, mechanistic understanding of microcracking processes, controls and rates, and the transition from micro- to macrocracking during freeze‒thaw is limited. To investigate the mechanisms of cracking, two physical modelling experiments supplemented by compressive tests were performed on specimens of chalk and sandstone, monitoring and imaging micro- and macroscale deformation due to freeze‒thaw cycling.
The microscale experiment repeatedly scanned two water-saturated specimens 20 mm in diameter and 30 mm high, subject to downward freezing in a climate cabinet. Successive micro-computed tomography (μ-CT) images quantified the progressive development of structure and strain during 20 freeze‒thaw cycles. The macroscale experiment imposed 12 bidirectional (upward and downward) freezing cycles on three 300 mm cubic blocks over the course of 315 days, simulating an active layer above permafrost. Eight acoustic emission sensors recorded the timing, location and energy released during microcracking events, while rock temperature, surface heave and settlement, and subsurface strain were monitored continuously.
The microscale experiment generated different probability functions that correlate points, clusters and linear movements of the progressive fracture phase extracted from scanned images and showed dominantly vertical rather than horizontal microcrack growth. The macroscale experiment brecciated a chalk block near modal depths of the 0oC isotherm during thaw, and indicated high tensional activity and limited shearing. Ice segregation during thawing produced more microcracking events than volumetric expansion produced during freezing. A statistical model is proposed that distinguishes the mechanism of fracture propagation during freezing and thawing.
This thesis compares the experiences of internal migrants engaged in low-skilled and unskilled labour, with their local non-migrant counterparts in urban India to explore patterns and structures of access to state social protection. While Indians are constitutionally permitted to work and settle anywhere within the country, migrants face a range of barriers to accessing state social protection, in term of policy and implementation. The thesis uses the example of the Public Distribution System (PDS) - a universal food subsidy scheme and India’s largest social protection programme - and takes into account the role of governance to explore how social protection access is experienced by diverse types of labour migrants, with local labourers living in the same city.
The thesis is based on evidence gathered over nine months through mainly qualitative methods (semi-structured interviews and observation, supplemented by a sampling survey) in two cities: Ahmedabad and Nashik, representing the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra respectively. A final round of supplementary key informant interviews was conducted in Delhi.
The empirical findings show that both migrants and local labourers face a range of significant barriers to access, though to varying degrees. However, a strong dichotomy between their experiences is not observed. Instead these complex and diverse experiences can be represented as a broad and overlapping ‘spectrum’ of vulnerabilities: where local labourers face relatively fewer barriers, and migrants – varied in terms of spatial and temporal factors – face distinctly intense barriers. The findings also highlight that, while individual state context does not have a strong effect on barriers to accessing the PDS, divergences between constitutional law, government policy and implementation across India are influential in structuring the experiences of precariousness among labour migrants.
Finally, the thesis presents evidence on how all poor, urban labourers deploy multiple strategies to overcome barriers to access. Migrant agency however is displayed in distinct forms. The findings illustrate how labour migrants, regardless of temporal or spatial factors, actively maintain ‘multi-locational’ linkages between places of destination and origin to overcome access barriers.
The aim of this thesis is to explore the social legacies of slavery in the Guéra region, in central Chad. The topic of the legacy of slavery in the Sahel is receiving increasing attention from both local and global civil society, as well as from scholars. This thesis aims to contribute to these debates, connecting post-slavery issues with the new models of governance developed in the Sahel since the 1990s, and the increasing competition for resources through mobilising ethnic categories. It argues that as the recognition of citizenship rights tends to be related to specific identities, slave ancestry becomes a political tool that is used in different ways.
Based on nine months of fieldwork in Guéra, the thesis explores the complex interactions between a group that is widely seen as slave descendants, Yalnas, meaning “the sons of the people” in Chadian Arabic, and their neighbours. Until it came under French rule in 1911 the Guéra region acted as an effective “reservoir” of slaves for the neighbouring Wadai sultanate, whose warriors regularly took captives from among the scattered groups of local farmers. After the colonial regime’s abolition of slavery, the opportunities for former slaves and the social dynamics related to this were different from those in areas inhabited by former slave-holders. In this context, the ethnonym Yalnas initially facilitated the integration of former slaves locally, whereas today it used to criticize the rights of its members, to the point that people called Yalnas are trying to get rid of this label.
The thesis analyses the narratives of the past of both the Yalnas and other local groups. It brings together the stories recounted by elders and archival sources with contemporary political tensions, to explore the ongoing importance of the presumed past of the Yalnas as slaves. In Guéra, it was relatively easy for slave-descendants to be accepted among other local groups and intermarry with them. However, Yalnas’ integration has been built on contradictions that make their status ambiguous. This ambiguity is central to current contestations over land and citizenship. Since the reforms of the 1990s, a range of new local associations have formed in Guéra. These are used by local leaders to consolidate support and distribute resources on an ethnic basis. In this context, the past of the Yalnas as former slaves has been used as an argument to exclude them from the opportunities created by these associations. In these struggles, narratives about the past are used by all groups as political tools and are critical to secure citizenship rights. A focus on the label Yalnas and its changing uses over time provides important insights about the connection between slavery, identity and citizenship in a former slave
Background
Savant syndrome is a condition where prodigious talent can co-occur with developmental conditions such as autism spectrum conditions (autism). It is not yet clear why some autistic people develop savant skills while others do not.
Methods
We tested three groups of adults: autistic individuals who have savant skills, autistic individuals without savant skills, and typical controls without autism or savant syndrome. In experiment 1, we investigated the cognitive and behavioural profiles of these three groups by asking participants to complete a battery of self-report measures of sensory sensitivity, obsessional behaviours, cognitive styles, and broader autism-related traits including social communication and systemising. In experiment 2, we investigated how our three groups learned a novel savant skill—calendar calculation.
Results
Heightened sensory sensitivity, obsessional behaviours, technical/spatial abilities, and systemising were all key aspects in defining the savant profile distinct from autism alone, along with a different approach to task learning.
Conclusions
These results reveal a unique cognitive and behavioural profile in autistic adults with savant syndrome that is distinct from autistic adults without a savant skill.
PURPOSE:
Gorlin syndrome (or basal-cell nevus syndrome) is a cancer-prone genetic disease in which hypersusceptibility to secondary cancer and tissue reaction after radiation therapy is debated, as is increased radiosensitivity at cellular level. Gorlin syndrome results from heterozygous mutations in the PTCH1 gene for 60% of patients, and we therefore aimed to highlight correlations between intrinsic radiosensitivity and PTCH1 gene expression in fibroblasts from adult patients with Gorlin syndrome.
METHODS AND MATERIALS:
The radiosensitivity of fibroblasts from 6 patients with Gorlin syndrome was determined by cell-survival assay after high (0.5-3.5 Gy) and low (50-250 mGy) γ-ray doses. PTCH1 and DNA damage response gene expression was characterized by real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting. DNA damage and repair were investigated by γH2AX and 53BP1 foci assay. PTCH1 knockdown was performed in cells from healthy donors by using stable RNA interference. Gorlin cells were genotyped by 2 complementary sequencing methods.
RESULTS:
Only cells from patients with Gorlin syndrome who presented severe deficiency in PATCHED1 protein exhibited a significant increase in cellular radiosensitivity, affecting cell responses to both high and low radiation doses. For 2 of the radiosensitive cell strains, heterozygous mutations in the 5' end of PTCH1 gene explain PATCHED1 protein deficiency. In all sensitive cells, DNA damage response pathways (ATM, CHK2, and P53 levels and activation by phosphorylation) were deregulated after irradiation, whereas DSB repair recognition was unimpaired. Furthermore, normal cells with RNA interference-mediated PTCH1 deficiency showed reduced survival after irradiation, directly linking this gene to high- and low-dose radiosensitivity.
CONCLUSIONS:
In the present study, we show an inverse correlation between PTCH1 expression level and cellular radiosensitivity, suggesting an explanation for the conflicting results previously reported for Gorlin syndrome and possibly providing a basis for prognostic screens for radiosensitive patients with Gorlin syndrome and PTCH1 mutations.
Methods that generate networks sharing a given degree distribution and global clustering can induce changes in structural properties other than that controlled for. Diversity in structural properties, in turn, can affect the outcomes of dynamical processes operating on those networks. Since exhaustive sampling is not possible, we propose a novel evolutionary framework for mapping this structural diversity. The three main features of this framework are: (a) subgraph-based encoding of networks, (b) exact mutations based on solving systems of Diophantine equations, and (c) heuristic diversity-driven mechanism to drive resolution changes in the MapElite algorithm.We show that our framework can elicit networks with diversity in their higher-order structure and that this diversity affects the behaviour of the complex contagion model. Through a comparison with state of the art clustered network generation methods, we demonstrate that our approach can uncover a comparably diverse range of networks without needing computationally unfeasible mixing times. Further, we suggest that the subgraph-based encoding provides greater confidence in the diversity of higher-order network structure for low numbers of samples and is the basis for explaining our results with complex contagion model. We believe that this framework could be applied to other complex landscapes that cannot be practically mapped via exhaustive sampling.
Haplotypes of the Gabra2 gene encoding the α2-subunit of the GABAA receptor (GABAAR) are associated with drug abuse, suggesting that α2-GABAARs may play an important role in the circuitry underlying drug misuse. The genetic association of Gabra2 haplotypes with cocaine addiction appears to be evident primarily in individuals who had experienced childhood trauma. Given this association of childhood trauma, cocaine abuse and the Gabra2 haplotypes, we have explored in a mouse model of early life adversity (ELA) whether such events influence the behavioral effects of cocaine and if, as suggested by the human studies, α2-GABAARs in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) are involved in these perturbed behaviors. In adult mice prior ELA caused a selective decrease of accumbal α2-subunit mRNA, resulting in a selective decrease in the number and size of the α2-subunit (but not the α1-subunit) immunoreactive clusters in NAc core medium spiny neurons (MSNs). Functionally, in adult MSNs ELA decreased the amplitude and frequency of GABAAR-mediated miniature inhibitory postsynaptic currents (mIPSCs), a profile similar to that of α2 “knock-out” (α2−/−) mice. Behaviourally, adult male ELA and α2−/− mice exhibited an enhanced locomotor response to acute cocaine and blunted sensitisation upon repeated cocaine administration, when compared to their appropriate controls. Collectively, these findings reveal a neurobiological mechanism which may relate to the clinical observation that early trauma increases the risk for substance abuse disorder (SAD) in individuals harbouring haplotypic variations in the Gabra2 gene.
This opening chapter sets the scene for subsequent more detailed analysis of many of the issues raised here. We start by discussing in Section 1 the tension in the current era between humanity’s simultaneously standing at “the peak of possibilities” while also, possibly, facing an abyss due to growing inequalities, political conflict and the ever-present danger of climate catastrophe. We turn in Sections 2 and 3 to the main social and spatial transformations that have characterised the last twenty five years. Again we see advances and regressions, above all uneven and fragile development. These sections set the scene for a consideration of three specific challenges: the tension between capitalism and democracy (Section 4); that between production and reproduction with an emphasis on gender relations (Section 5); and that between demographic change and sustainability (Section 6). We then conclude with a sober appraisal of the prospects for the emergence of viable agents for social transformation (Section 7) before making some general remarks on the challenges and possibilities for social progress (Section 8).
The underlying hypothesis for social progress is that development is, and always has been, contradictory. Poverty amongst plenty, individual advancement versus collective regression and repression intertwined with liberty. If the industrial era emerged through what Karl Polanyi called a “great transformation” are we headed towards, or do we need a ‘new’ great transformation? We posit a general need for the market to be re-embedded in society if social progress is not to be halted or even reversed.
In terms of the political order we find that the recent transformations of democracy and capitalism have had hugely ambiguous features. It is not wrong to say that the planet is currently both more democratic and more affluent than it was three decades ago. But the ways in which such progress has come about endangers not only future progress, it even puts past progress at risk. In political terms, the increasing diffusion of democracy means that more people across the globe have a say on the collective matters that concern them. But under current circumstances, their participation may not be able to reach the kind of decisions that one would understand as collective self-determination. In economic terms, material affluence is being created in unprecedented forms and volume. But, first, this affluence is so unevenly generated and distributed that poverty and hardship do not disappear and are even reproduced in new and possibly more enduring forms. And second, the continuing production of this material affluence may/will endanger the inhabitability of the planet, or large parts of it, even in the short- or medium-term.
We have seen our task as one of offering a complex assessment of the current situation that has not been over-determined by our own political preferences. The positive and negative components of the picture we offer are constitutive of the ambivalent nature of the social progress. We are acutely aware that the world looks very different according to our standpoint geographically, socially and by our social and cultural identity. So we have not posed a false unity in terms of outlook. We consider it useful to pose the key questions as clearly as possible from a collective perspective that includes many diverse disciplinary and subject stand-points.
We also seek to avoid an analysis determined by either a depressed Weltanschauung that sees only catastrophe ahead given recent political developments or what some have called a Polanyian Pollyanna tendency that is emotionally committed to positive social transformation regardless of the evidence. Quite simply, neither pessimism nor optimism are adequate diagnostic tools. This is particularly the case when we turn to the possible agents of the ‘new’ social transformation we advocate. While we show the decline of 20th-century agents of social change we also try to bring to life the new potential actors for redistribution, social justice and recognition.
This study investigates Omani academic writing in English as an example of English for Special Purposes produced by authors in an Arab context. Specifically, it explores the differences in attitudes towards academic authorities/sources manifested in the construction and use of deontic verb phrases within the particular academic genre on the topic of English Language Teaching (ELT). In response to the perceived threats from the spreading of English as an international language in academia to the cultural values of the Sultanate of Oman, this conservative Islamic nation has stated aims to modernise itself but still preserve its inner cultural thrust by producing ‘global workers with local values’. However, the difficulties experienced by many Omani novice academic writers in engaging with the wider academic community are well documented and a difference in attitudes towards authority has been mooted as a potential cause for their pragmatic failures. In addressing this issue, this project uses a qualitative evaluation to compare the work of locally published Omani writers alongside established authors, i.e. (non)native speakers using English systematically in the Western world. The results identify a number of key differences between the two sets of authors in the construction and use of deontic verb phrases which reveal the culturally embedded values and attitudes towards academic authority of the Omani writers.
Background
Work related stress, depression and anxiety are common. Despite evidence that these problems can be successfully treated in the workplace, take-up of psychological treatments by workers is low, resulting in many going untreated. One way to address this may be through the use of digital mental health interventions (DMHIs) in the workplace, but there is a lack of information about their appeal and effectiveness.
Research questions
1. What is the evidence for delivering DMHIs in the workplace?
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages to delivering DMHIs in the workplace?
3. What features of DMHIs influence engagement and adherence? What can be done to
improve these?
4. What are employers’ priorities when selecting DMHIs for their workforce?
Method of investigation
Mixed methods were used to answer the research questions.
Summary of conclusions
There is evidence for the efficacy of workplace DMHIs, especially if they are delivered over a short timeframe, utilise secondary modalities to deliver the interventions (emails and text messages), and use elements of persuasive technology (self-monitoring and tailoring). Use of online-facilitated discussion groups may increase engagement. Both employees and employers identified convenience, flexibility, and anonymity as advantages of DMHIs. Employers also valued the potential of DMHIs to reach many employees. The main barrier to engagement for employees was lack of time. For employers, barriers to purchasing DMHIs were employees’ lack of access to equipment, and their low interest and skills. Cost and effectiveness were priorities for decision makers when purchasing DMHIs. Further work needs to be done with workers and employers to design and deliver DMHIs that meet both their needs.
The contemporary world is confronted by a double challenge: environmental degradation and social inequality. This challenge is linked to the dynamics of the First Deep Transition (Schot, 2016): the creation and expansion of a wide range of socio-technical systems in a similar direction over the past 200–250 years. Extending the theoretical framework of Schot and Kanger (2018), this paper proposes that the First Deep Transition has been built up through successive Great Surges of Development (Perez, 2002), leading to the emergence of a macro-level selection environment called industrial modernity. This has resulted in the formation of a portfolio of directionality, characterized by dominant and durable directions and occasional discontinuous shifts in addition to a continuous variety of alternatives sustained in niches or single systems. This historically-informed view on the co-evolution of single socio-technical systems, complexes of systems and industrial modernity has distinctive implications for policy-making targeted at resolving the current challenges.
The anticipated radio telescope SKA is expected to detect the 21-cm signal from the Cosmic Dawn, allowing us to probe the astrophysical processes of this previously unobserved era. The 21-cm differential brightness temperature fluctuations from the Cosmic Dawn are driven by early inhomogeneous heating of the neutral intergalactic medium and variations in Lyman-alpha photon density. Inhomogeneous heating is driven by high energy, X-ray photons which have long mean free paths and thus penetrate deep into the neutral intergalactic medium. Lyman-α fluctuations depend on the soft, UV photons from these sources redshifting into Lyman-α resonance. In this thesis I present a large-volume (349Mpc comoving) suite of fully numerical radiative transfer simulations of this epoch. The simulations include the effects of helium ionisation, secondary ionisations and multi-frequency heating in order to include different types of X-ray sources (high mass X-ray binaries sources and QSO sources) in addition to black body stellar sources and Lyman-alpha fluctuations, which are added as a post-processing step.
In our simulations X-ray sources are able to contribute significantly to early heating of the neutral IGM. Different X-ray models produce varying lengths and morphologies of the transition from absorption to emission. When the results are smoothed to the expected resolution of SKA1-Low the mean, rms, skewness, kurtosis and power spectra of the 21-cm differential brightness temperature are notably different for each X-ray model. These rms fluctuations for each heating model are well above the expected noise for deep integrations which suggests direct imaging of X-ray heating during the Cosmic Dawn should be possible. The presence of QSOs greatly affects the non-Gaussianity, suggesting higher order statistics may be a good observational probe of rare X-ray sources. This e_ect is decreased if the Lyman-α background is built up late. We conclude by discussing ongoing and future work on the topic.
Eighty percent of the world’s population are currently exposed to light-polluted skies, and the Milky Way is no longer visible to more than a third of humanity. The pace the light pollution is increasing is faster than global population growth and economic development. While environmental conditions at night are being dramatically and rapidly altered, circadian rhythms, behaviour and ecology of plants and animals are imminently influenced. In the same time, effects of artificial lighting, various illumination schemes and spectra on biodiversity, including bats, are currently insufficiently understood, whereas only a vague notion of required mitigation and compensation activities exists among decision-makers and other parties involved in lighting projects. Although the bats are almost exclusively nocturnal and extremely sensitive to multiple effects of light pollution, its negative impact on bats alongside essential measures needed to preserve unfragmented nightscapes for these animals are often disregarded during impact assessments, planning and operation.
In this volume, we tried to compile available evidence related to the effect of artificial light at night on the European bats. Based on the current state of knowledge, solutions are proposed concerning possible ways to avoid, mitigate and compensate the adverse effects which lighting projects may have on bats and their functional habitats. We also outlined research priorities for future studies, required for in-depth understanding of the problem and assessing efficiency of proposed mitigative measures.
Objective To determine whether there is an association between hypermobility and sports injury.
Methods A quantitative observational approach using a cross-sectional survey was adopted. Individuals were identified as hypermobile or not. All participants were asked to complete two questionnaires: one asking demographic information and the other injury-specific. Fisher’s exact test was used for statistical analysis.
Results 114 individuals participated in the study, 62 women and 52 men. 26% of the participants were hypermobile. There was no significant association between hypermobility and sports injury (p=0.66). There was a significant increase in joint and ligament sprain among the non-hypermobile (NH) group covering all sports (p=0.03). Joint dislocation was found exclusively among hypermobile individuals. The duration of injury in hypermobile individuals was higher than NH. The use of oral painkillers or anti-inflammatories in the semiprofessional group was greater than the general population.
Conclusion Hypermobility is relatively common among individuals, and there is a lot of anecdotal evidence associating it with increased rates of injuries. This project finds that NH individuals are more likely to sustain a ligament or joint sprain in sports. This is due to increased joint laxity and flexibility preventing injury. There were important limitations to this study which will be addressed in further work. These include assessing for pauciarticular hypermobility and focusing on one sport to investigate its association with sports injury in those who are hypermobile or not. It would also be important to focus on one specific joint, assessing its flexibility and association with injury
Through an empirical analysis of Amplify, a crowdsourcing platform funded by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), we examine the potential of ICTs to afford more participatory development. Especially interactive Web2.0 technologies are often assumed to enable the participation of marginalized groups in their development, through allowing them to modify content and generate their own communication. We use the concepts of platform politics and voice to show that while Amplify managers and designers invested time and resources to include the voices of Amplify beneficiaries on the platform and elicit their feedback on projects supported via the platform, no meaningful participation took place. Our analysis of the gaps between participatory rhetoric, policy and practice concludes with suggestions for how ICTs could be harnessed to contribute to meaningful participatory development that matters materially and politically.
First paragraph, in lieu of abstract: Karl Marx declared in 1859 that “it is not the consciousness of men [people] that determines their being, but, on the contrary, their social being that determines their consciousness” (Marx [1859] 1968: 181). His argument was aimed at philosophical idealists who placed conceptual schemas ahead of material existence. The claim that what we think, and perhaps what we dream, is somehow constrained, if not contained, by how the world is already arranged remains a profound and difficult idea. Marx could be saying something like, “we can’t think outside of the box until we can begin to live outside of the box, until our living somehow breaks that box.” Social being might be constraining, but it is not a singular and consistent entity; it has its own ssures and its own wiggle room. We might not be totally outside “the box,” but neither is “the box” one single prison cell. Indeed, Marx’s own critical consciousness would be hard to explain if social being was simply an overarching monoformation that could be described by the phrase “the capitalist division of labor,” which consequently determined all consciousness. Marx’s historical wager speculates that a collective “critical” consciousness will emerge through and against the constraining arrangements of social being. In the nineteenth century, the factory work benches were drawing people together even while systematically exploiting them. Physical space (the factory) allowed a collectivity to come into being; it provided the material circumstances for “social being” and provided the (imperfect) conditions for a new collective and critical consciousness to emerge.
The first comparative study of the surface behavior of four small aromatic molecules, benzene, toluene, p-xylene, and o-xylene, adsorbed on graphite at temperatures ≤30 K, is presented. Intermolecular interactions are shown to be important in determining the growth of the molecules on the graphite surface at low (monolayer) exposures. Repulsive intermolecular interactions dominate the behavior of benzene and toluene. By contrast, stronger interactions with the graphite surface are observed for the xylene isomers, with islanding observed for o-xylene. Multilayer desorption temperatures and energies increase with the size of the molecule, ranging from 45.5 to 59.5 kJ mol−1 for benzene and p-xylene, respectively. Reflection absorption infrared spectroscopy gives insight into the effects of thermal processing on the ordering of the molecules. Multilayer benzene, p-xylene, and o-xylene form crystalline structures following annealing of the ice. However, we do not observe an ordered structure for toluene in this study. The ordering of p-xylene shows a complex relationship dependent on both the annealing temperature and exposure.
In December 1961, The Economist ran a speculative feature about the future existence of “televarsities”—communities of learners serviced by an educational television channel dedicated to transporting lectures and science demonstrations “into people’s own fireside.” The article warned that “if an ETV (education television) network does get set up, its worst enemy might well be the conservatism of educationalists themselves. Many of them are likely to be outraged by the prospect of standardised mechanical or electronic teaching.” Two years later, Harold Wilson, the leader of the Labour party and soon to be Prime Minister, announced the intention to create a “university of the air” as part of Labour’s Plan for Science. In Wilson’s words this university was “designed to provide an opportunity for those who, for one reason or another, have not been able to take advantage of higher education.” By catering for, what were often called, non-traditional students, and by using mass media formats to disseminate knowledge, the university would enrich the development of scientific and cultural fields and disciplines far beyond the bounds of the classical academy. This university of the air materialized as the Open University, and was ushered in by Wilson’s government in the second half of the1960s. It received its charter in 1969 and immediately began to produce course materials for the first intake of students in 1971.
Disruptions of normal Hox gene expression can lead to severe morphological defects revealing a link between the regulation of Hox expression and pattern formation. Here we explore these links focusing on the impact of microRNA regulation on the expression of the Drosophila Hox gene Ultrabithorax (Ubx) during haltere development. Through the combination of bioinformatic and transcriptomic analyses we identify the miR-310/313 cluster (miR-310C) as a candidate regulator of Ubx. Several experiments confirm this. First, miR-310C and Ubx protein show complementary expression patterns in haltere imaginal discs; second, artificial activation of miR-310C expression in haltere discs leads to Ubx-like phenotypes. Third, expression of a fluorescent reporter bearing Ubx 3'UTR sequences is reduced when co-expressed with miR-310C Fourth, deletion of miR-310C leads to Ubx upregulation and changes the array of mechanosensory sensilla at the base of the haltere. Fifth, artificial increase of Ubx levels within the miR-310C expression domain phenocopies the mechanosensory defects observed in miR-310C mutants. We propose that miR-310C-mediated repression delimits Ubx fine-grain expression contributing to the sculpting of complex morphologies in the Drosophila haltere. Our work reveals a novel role of microRNA regulation in the control of Hox gene expression with impact on morphology.
The New product development (NPD) process-performance link has been sufficiently studied in academic research. However, the more recent NPD trend is significantly different from the conventional NPD with the inclusion of sustainability considerations, which is evidenced by the growing body of research on sustainable NPD and green NPD. In the context of Circular Economy (CE), it is no longer viable for companies to stick to conventional NPD process which targets only at profit. Instead, their NPD process must have some CE elements either due to self-interest or stakeholder requirements. In theory, NPD with CE considerations (hereafter CE-NPD), compared with conventional NPD, is associated with higher costs and longer development times due to the fulfilment of CE requirements along with product functions. This study empirically examines the effect of CE-NPD process on both Time-to-market (TTM) and profit performance in the context of Chinese private enterprises. In addition, the role of traditional Chinese philosophies of Confucianism and Taoism in influencing the CE-NPD process-performance link is also investigated. We find that firms’ CE-NPD projects reduce TTM and increase profit. Moreover, Confucianism positively moderates the relationship between CE-NPD process and TTM performance. However, it negatively moderates the CE-NPD - profit link. On the other hand, the moderating effect of Taoism is negative on both the CE-NPD - TTM and CE-NPD - profit links. An interesting finding of this study is that the coexistence of Confucian and Taoist values in NPD workers has the strongest positive impact on the relationship between CE-NPD process and performance. Our study provides insights on the way in which companies should plan to apply Chinese philosophies during the CE-NPD process to maximize the benefits.
In this article, I argue that a common view of Habermas’s theory of public reason, which takes it to be similar to Rawls’s ‘proviso’, is mistaken. I explain why that mistake arises, and show that those who have made it have thus overlooked the distinctiveness of Habermas’s theory and approach. Consequently, I argue, they tend to wrongly infer that objections directed at Rawls’s ‘proviso’ apply also to Habermas’s ‘institutional translation proviso’. Ironically, Habermas’s attempt to rebut those objections leads him to advance a peculiar, and ultimately indefensible, thesis about the cognitive requirements of democratic citizenship for secular citizens. I argue that the underlying problem that Habermas takes the peculiar thesis to solve is not that the public reason requirements of the secular state are unfair towards religious citizens, or biased towards secular views of the world, but that the nature of religious arguments, and of scientism, as Habermas understands these, prevents citizens who adhere to them from participating in discourse. I end by suggesting a simpler, less controversial solution to that problem.
In natural environments, odors are typically mixtures of several different chemical compounds. However, the implications of mixtures for odor processing have not been fully investigated. We have extended a standard olfactory receptor model to mixtures and found through its mathematical analysis that odorant-evoked activity patterns are more stable across concentrations and first-spike latencies of receptor neurons are shorter for mixtures than for pure odorants. Shorter first-spike latencies arise from the nonlinear dependence of binding rate on odorant concentration, commonly described by the Hill coefficient, while the more stable activity patterns result from the competition between different ligands for receptor sites. These results are consistent with observations from numerical simulations and physiological recordings in the olfactory system of insects. Our results suggest that mixtures allow faster and more reliable olfactory coding, which could be one of the reasons why animals often use mixtures in chemical signaling.
Composition for solo piano and chamber orchestra
Introduction: A key priority in asthma management is achieving control. The Asthma Control Test (ACT) is a validated tool showing a numerical indicator which has the potential to provide a target to drive management. A novel pharmacist-led intervention recently evaluated and introduced in the Italian setting with a cluster randomised controlled trial (C-RCT) showed effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. This paper evaluates whether the intervention is successful in securing the minimally important difference (MID) in the ACT score and provides better health outcomes and economic savings.
Methods: Clinical data were sourced from 816 adult patients with asthma participating in the C-RCT. The success of the intervention was measured looking at the proportion of patients reaching MID in the ACT score. Different levels of asthma control were grouped according to international guidelines and graded using the traffic light rating system. Asthma control levels were linked to economic (National Health Service (NHS) costs) and quality-adjusted life years outcomes using published data.
Results: The median ACT score was 19 (partially controlled) at baseline, and 20 and 21 (controlled) at 3-month and 6-month-follow up, respectively (p<0.01). The percentage of patients reaching MID at 3 and 6 months was 15.8% (129) and 19.9% (162), respectively. The overall annual NHS cost savings per 1000 patients attached to the shift towards the MID target were equal to €346 012 at 3 months and increased to €425 483 at 6 months. Health utility gains were equal to 35.42 and 45.12 years in full health gained, respectively.
Discussion: The pharmacist-led intervention secured the MID in the ACT score and provided better outcomes for both patients and providers.
Thoracic sarcoidosis is the most common form of sarcoidosis, encompassing a heterogeneous group of patients with a wide range of clinical features and associated outcomes. The distinction between isolated thoracic lymphadenopathy and pulmonary involvement matters. Morbidity is often higher, and long-term outcomes are worse for the latter. Although inflammatory infiltrates in pulmonary sarcoidosis may resolve, persistent disease activity is common and can result in lung fibrosis. Given the distinct clinical features and natural history of pulmonary sarcoidosis, its pathogenesis may differ in important ways from other sarcoidosis manifesta- tions. This review highlights recent advances in the pathogenesis of pulmonary sarcoidosis, including the nature of the sarcoidosis antigen, the role of serum amyloid A and other host factors that contribute to alterations in innate immunity, factors that shape adaptive T-cell profiles in the lung, and how these mechanisms influence the maintenance of granulomatous inflammation in sarcoidosis. We discuss questions raised by recent findings, including the role of innate immunity in the pathogenesis, the meaning of immune cell exhaustion, and mecha- nisms that may contribute to lung fibrosis in sarcoidosis. We conclude with a reflection on when and how immunosuppressive therapies may be helpful for pulmonary sarcoidosis, a consider- ation of nonpharmacologic management strategies, and a survey of potential novel therapeutic targets for this vexing disease.
In this article we take a fresh look at Research and Innovation (R&I hereinafter) policy and define a new notion: Schumpeterian catalytic R&I policy. Such policy style amends and enriches the new mission-oriented framework for innovation policy by assigning more weight to the microeconomic dimension of private actors’ actions and by being more concerned with the temporary nature of interventions. We relate our argument to recent empirical trends in productivity dynamics and innovative activities. These suggest that an innovation slowdown is taking place and, consequently, that a renewed interest in the (re-)direction—rather than on the intensity of innovative activities—is key to the design of R&I policy capable to tackle current challenges. We use the evidence to build a schematic theoretical framework to inform policy design, and we outlined the defining features of our proposed policy style.
Human use of the land (for agriculture and settlements) has a substantial negative effect on biodiversity globally. However, not all species are adversely affected by land use, and indeed, some benefit from the creation of novel habitat. Geographically rare species may be more negatively affected by land use than widespread species, but data limitations have so far prevented global multi-clade assessments of land-use effects on narrow-ranged and widespread species. We analyse a large, global database to show consistent differences in assemblage composition. Compared with natural habitat, assemblages in disturbed habitats have more widespread species on average, especially in urban areas and the tropics. All else being equal, this result means that human land use is homogenizing assemblage composition across space. Disturbed habitats show both reduced abundances of narrow-ranged species and increased abundances of widespread species. Our results are very important for biodiversity conservation because narrow-ranged species are typically at higher risk of extinction than widespread species. Furthermore, the shift to more widespread species may also affect ecosystem functioning by reducing both the contribution of rare species and the diversity of species’ responses to environmental changes among local assemblages.
Background Despite a decline in the number of new HIV infections in the UK overall, the number and proportion of new HIV diagnoses in people aged ≥50 years continues to increase. People aged ≥50 years are disproportionately affected by late diagnosis, which is associated with poorer health outcomes, increased treatment complexity and increased healthcare costs. Late HIV diagnosis also has significant public health implications in terms of onward HIV transmission. It is not fully understood what factors affect the decision of an older person to test for HIV. The aim of this study was to identify factors associated with testing for HIV in people aged ≥50 years who tested late for HIV.
Methods: We interviewed 20 people aged ≥50 years diagnosed late with HIV to identify factors associated with HIV testing. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed.
Results: Seven themes associated with HIV testing in people aged ≥50 years were identified: experience of early HIV/AIDS campaigns, HIV knowledge, presence of symptoms and symptom attribution, risk and risk perception, generational approaches to health and sexual health, stigma, and type of testing and testing venue.
Conclusion: Some factors associated with testing identified in this study were unique to older individuals. People aged ≥50 years often do not perceive themselves to be at risk of HIV. Further, stigma and a lack of knowledge of how to access HIV testing suggest a need for health promotion and suggest current sexual health services may need to adapt to better meet their needs.
This chapter argues the case for reform to three areas of the substantive criminal law: the age of criminal responsibility, fitness to plead as applied to children, and the creation of a defence of developmental immaturity. It is argued that these are three key areas where the law does not reflect appropriately the special status of children and their immaturity. In doing so, it takes a multi-disciplinary approach, drawing upon liberal theories of responsibility as well as, for example, findings from neuroscience and child development studies, international conventions and the law in other jurisdictions.
Here, we describe the unusual self-assembly of amine-terminated oligoglycine peptides into extended two-dimensional sheets in the presence of silver nanowires. The resulting tectomer sheets are shown to have a strong affinity for the nanowires through a charge-transfer interaction as evidenced by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. We show that extended assemblies of metal–peptide hybrids offer additional augmentative functionalities; for instance, the tectomer sheets are hydrophobic in nature and act as a protective layer preventing oxidation and degradation of the nanowires when exposed to atmospheric conditions. Moreover, for silver nanowire percolating networks the presence of the peptide markedly increases the overall electrical conductivity through mechanical squeezing of wire–wire junctions in the network. The peptide–metal interface can be controlled by pH stimulus thus potentially offering new directions where silver nanowire assemblies are used for transparent electrodes ranging from antimicrobial coatings to biosensors.
Quantitative studies of children’s caring activities during parental illness have increased in the past 10 years. However, the various outcomes for these children have been investigated less frequently. In the present study, we investigate whether the children have different outcomes when the parent has a severe physical illness, mental illness, or substance abuse and whether any factors are associated with the positive and negative outcomes of the children’s caregiving. This was a cross-sectional, multicenter study. We recruited parents who were out- or inpatients in five public hospitals in Norway as well as their children. The sample included 246 children ages 8–18 and 238 of their parents with a severe physical illness, mental illness, or substance abuse. Ten percent reported negative outcomes at a clinical level of concern, and nearly half of the children reported stress. However, the outcomes were not significantly different across parental illness groups. Positive and negative outcomes were associated with the nature of caring activities (e.g., personal care, financial and practical management, household management), social skills, and perceived external locus of control. Health professionals must provide a more comprehensive and overall assessment of both the parents’ and the children’s needs. To recognize the role taken by the child, an assessment of children’s caring activities and their need for adequate information should be performed. In particular, should the children’s need for follow-up regarding caring activities, respite, and emotional support be assessed to secure their necessary skills and feeling of mastery.
Background: Self-defining memories (SDM) are vivid personal memories, related to narrative identity. Individuals with schizophrenia report less specific, more negative, and extract less meaning from these memories compared to control groups. Self-defining memories have been shown to be predicted by neurocognition, associated with metacognition, and linked to goal outcomes in healthy controls. As neurocognition and metacognition are known predictors of poor functioning in psychosis, self-defining memories may also be a predictor. No study has assessed the relationship to functioning or pattern of SDMs in First Episode Psychosis.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional study involving 71 individuals with First Episode Psychosis (FEP) and 57 healthy controls who completed a self-defining memories questionnaire. FEP participants completed measures of neurocognition, metacognition (Metacognitive Assessment Interview), functional capacity (The UCSD Performance-Based Skills Assessment) and functional outcome (Time-Use Survey).
Results: Self-defining memories reported by individuals with FEP were less integrated compared to healthy controls. Within the FEP sample, holding less specific memories was associated with engagement in significantly fewer hours of structured activity per week and specificity of SDMs mediated the relationship between neurocognition and functional outcome, independent of metacognition.
Conclusion: This is the first study to assess SDMs in FEP and to explore the important role of SDMs on clinical outcomes, compared to healthy controls. This study suggests that elaborating on specific self-defining memories is a valid therapeutic target and may be considered a tool to improve daily functioning in FEP.
Previous research has identified that neurocognition predicts functional outcome in schizophrenia to a greater extent than psychopthology. More contemporary authors have begun to explore the role of metacognition as a mediating variable between neurocognition and functional outcome. The present review sought to extend the known work by synthesising the results reported in individual studies to see if these results are consistently found across samples. Relevant search strategies were entered into Medline (PubMed), PsychINFO and Embase. The present meta-analysis encompassed 17 studies (N=1060) investigating the relationship between neurocognition and metacognition and 7 studies investigating the relationship between metacognition and functional outcome (N=645). A small-to-moderate mean effect size was found between neurocognition and metacognition (effect size range .13 -.58,) and a small-to-moderate effect size was found between metacognition and functional outcome (range .17 - .57). Study findings suggest that relationships between variables are consistently found across samples and that future research should focus on investigating this relationship at earlier stages of illness, in female cohorts and across cognitive domains. Greater investigation is required in functional outcome, differentiating the impact of metacognition on functional capacity and other domains of functional outcome.
This paper analyse the energy flow which generates heat and causes wear during the acceleration period of undercarriage wheels after aircraft touchdown on the runway. In this acceleration period, a sliding between the wheel tyre and runway surface takes place. The sliding friction causes high temperature which emits pollution smoke and produces excessive tyre wear. A model based on mechanical dynamics is established for analysing the high temperature, heat transfer rate to tyre and concrete runway. The effect of adopting a pre-rotation device is also analysed in order to lower the temperature and reduce the tyre wear. The width of tyre is shown also having significant effect on the raised temperature. A blackened runway is believed to have changed the heat conduction therefore affecting the landing quality.
Generalized anxiety (GAD) has excessive anxiety and uncontrollable worry as core symptoms. Abnormal cerebral functioning underpins the expression and perhaps pathogenesis of GAD: Studies implicate impaired communication between the amygdala and the pre-frontal cortex (PFC). Our aim was to longitudinally investigate whether such network abnormalities are spatially restricted to this circuit or if the integrity of functional brain networks is globally disrupted in GAD.
We acquired resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data from 16 GAD patients and 16 matched controls at baseline and after 1 year. Using network modelling and
graph-theory, whole-brain connectivity was characterized from local and global perspectives. Overall lower global efficiency, indicating sub-optimal brain-wide organization and integration, was present in patients with GAD compared to controls. The amygdala and midline cortices showed higher betweenness centrality, reflecting functional dominance of these brain structures. Third, lower betweenness centrality and lower degree emerged for PFC, suggesting weakened inhibitory control. Overall, network organization showed impairments consistent with neurobiological models of GAD (involving amygdala,
PFC, and cingulate cortex) and further pointed to an involvement of temporal regions. Such impairments tended to progress over time and predict anxiety symptoms. A graph-analytic approach represents a powerful approach to deepen our understanding of GAD.
Hunger state can substantially alter the perceived value of a stimulus, even to the extent that the same sensory cue can trigger antagonistic behaviors. How the nervous system uses these graded perceptual shifts to select between opposed motor patterns remains enigmatic. Here, we challenged food-deprived and satiated Lymnaea to choose between two mutually exclusive behaviors, ingestion or egestion, produced by the same feeding central pattern generator. Decoding the underlying neural circuit reveals that the activity of central dopaminergic interneurons defines hunger state and drives network reconfiguration, biasing satiated animals toward the rejection of stimuli deemed palatable by food-deprived ones. By blocking the action of these neurons, satiated animals can be reconfigured to exhibit a hungry animal phenotype. This centralized mechanism occurs in the complete absence of sensory retuning and generalizes across different sensory modalities, allowing food-deprived animals to increase their perception of food value in a stimulus-independent manner to maximize potential calorific intake.
While the advent of the home computer in 1990s Britain has been well documented by historians of computing and technology, there remains little research on the everyday experience of this phenomenon. In this article, we use material held in The Mass Observation Project (MOP) archive to explore the way men and women in late-modern Britain experienced and understood the changes brought about by home computing. The reflexive and yet private nature of responses held in the MOP archive make it an important window into the cultural and social contexts in which personal computers were encountered. Our research indicates that the advent of the home computer brought about a number of historically-specific changes in the way Mass Observers scribed and composed their written communications. The processes through which people turned ideas into text were irreversibly recalibrated by the possibilities of saving, editing, copy and pasting on screen. As personal computer resources moved from being predominantly accessible at work to being a staple part of the home, the lines between labour and leisure, business and pleasure and the personal and the professional were blurred. Ultimately, evidence from the Mass Observation Archive indicates that the advent of the home computer had a significant effect on the processes through which individuals composed a sense of self on a day-to-day basis. It introduced new tensions, possibilities and anxieties to the act of negotiating a ‘modern’ identity. Building on this insight, our paper makes interventions in two areas: the history of writing and the history of the home. Placed alongside one another, these findings open up suggestive new questions for the heavily contested historiographical trope of the late-modern ‘self’.
Calbindin-D28K is a widely expressed calcium-buffering cytoplasmic protein that is involved in many physiological processes. It has been shown to interact with other proteins, suggesting a role as a calcium sensor. Many of the targets of calbindin-D28K are of therapeutic interest: for example, inositol monophosphatase, the putative target of lithium therapy in bipolar disorder. Presented here is the first crystal structure of human calbindin-D28K. There are significant deviations in the tertiary structure when compared with the NMR structure of rat calbindin-D28K (PDB entry 2g9b), despite 98% sequence identity. Smallangle X-ray scattering (SAXS) indicates that the crystal structure better predicts the properties of calbindin-D28K in solution compared with the NMR structure. Here, the first direct visualization of the calcium-binding properties of calbindinD28K is presented. Four of the six EF-hands that make up the secondary structure of the protein contain a calcium-binding site. Two distinct conformations of the N-terminal EF-hand calcium-binding site were identified using long-wavelength calcium single-wavelength anomalous dispersion (SAD). This flexible region has previously been recognized as a protein–protein interaction interface. SAXS data collected in both the presence and absence of calcium indicate that there are no large structural differences in the globular structure of calbindin-D28K between the calcium-loaded and unloaded proteins.
The observation of Higgs boson production in association with a top quark pair (tt H¯ ), based on the analysis of proton–proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider, is presented. Using data corresponding to integrated luminosities of up to 79.8 fb−1, and considering Higgs boson decays into b¯ b, W W ∗, τ +τ −, γγ , and Z Z∗, the observed significance is 5.8 standard deviations, compared to an expectation of 4.9 standard deviations. Combined with the tt H¯ searches using a dataset corresponding to integrated luminosities of 4.5 fb−1 at 7 TeV and 20.3 fb−1 at 8 TeV, the observed (expected) significance is 6.3 (5.1) standard deviations. Assuming Standard Model branching fractions, the total tt H¯ production cross section at 13 TeV is measured to be 670 ± 90 (stat.) +110 −100 (syst.) fb, in agreement with the Standard Model prediction.
Science, technology and innovation (STI) policy is shaped by persistent framings that arise from historical context. Two established frames are identified as co-existing and dominant in contemporary innovation policy discussions. The first frame is identified as beginning with a Post-World War II institutionalisation of government support for science and R&D with the presumption that this would contribute to growth and address market failure in private provision of new knowledge. The second frame emerged in the 1980s globalising world and its emphasis on competitiveness which is shaped by the national systems of innovation for knowledge creation and commercialisation. STI policy focuses on building links, clusters and networks, and on stimulating learning between elements in the systems, and enabling entrepreneurship. A third frame linked to contemporary social and environmental challenges such as the Sustainable Development Goals and calling for transformative change is identified and distinguished from the two earlier frames. Transformation refers to socio-technical system change as conceptualised in the sustainability transitions literature. The nature of this third framing is examined with the aim of identifying its key features and its potential for provoking a re-examination of the earlier two frames. One key feature is its focus on experimentation, and the argument that the Global South does not need to play catch-up to follow the transformation model of the Global North. It is argued that all three frames are relevant for policymaking, but exploring options for transformative innovation policy should be a priority.
In response to the rapidly increasing number of new HIV infections in the WHO European Region, the action plan for the health sector response to HIV in WHO European Region was endorsed at the 66th session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe in September 2016. From December 2017 to April 2018, the WHO Regional Office for Europe collected good practices in implementation of the action plan and compiled them in this compendium. National health authorities, national and international experts, and civil-society organizations involved in HIV prevention, treatment and care were solicited to share their practices. The practices exemplify efforts within five target areas: HIV prevention; HIV testing and treatment; reducing AIDS-related deaths; curbing discrimination; and increasing financial sustainability of the HIV/AIDS response. This first compendium of good HIV practices in the WHO European Region includes 52 practice examples from 32 Member States. The compendium is intended as a resource for relevant stakeholders in the HIV response.
The inpainting of damaged images has a wide range of applications, and many different mathematical methods have been proposed to solve this problem. Inpainting with the help of Cahn{Hilliard models has been particularly successful, and it turns out that Cahn{Hilliard inpainting with the double obstacle potential can lead to better results compared to inpainting with a smooth double well potential. However, a mathematical analysis of this approach is missing so far. In this paper we give first analytical results for a Cahn--Hilliard double obstacle inpainting model regarding existence of global solutions to the time-dependent problem and stationary solutions to the time-independent problem without constraints on the parameters involved. With the help of numerical results we show the effectiveness of the approach for binary and grayscale images.
Since the beginning of the 20th century, much time and effort has been invested in the search for a theory of quantum gravity. While this provided a myriad of possibilities, it has so far failed to find a definitive answer. Here we take an alternative approach: instead of constructing a theory of quantum gravity and examining its low energy limit, we start with the conventional theory and ask what are the first deviations induced by a possible quantization of gravity. It is proposed that in this limit quantum gravity, whatever the ultimate theory might be, manifests itself as non-locality.
In this thesis are explored two different approaches to effective theories. In the first, it is demonstrated how combining quantum field theory with general relativity naturally gives rise to non-locality. This is explored in the context of inflation, a natural place to look for high energy phenomena. By considering a simple scalar field theory, it is shown how non-locality results in higher dimensional operators and what the effects are on inflationary models.
The second approach looks at a theory which naturally incorporates a minimal scale. Noncommutative geometry parallels the phase space or deformation quantization approach of quantum mechanics. It supposes that at short scales, the structure of spacetime is algebraic rather than geometric. In the first instance, we follow the first section and look at cosmological implications by replacing normal scalar theory with its noncommutative counterpart. In the second, we take a step back and examine the implications of quantization on the differential geometry. The formalism is developed and applied to generic spherically symmetric spacetimes where it is shown that to first order in deformation, the quantization is unique
The thesis presents the results of two searches for the direct pair-production of third generation scalar quarks, the stop and the sbottom, in proton-proton collisions at √s = 13 TeV delivered by the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and recorded by the ATLAS detector. Third generation squarks are studied in the context of natural supersymmetric extensions of the Standard Model, highlighting their role in the solution of the Higgs hierarchy problem and considering both R-parity conserving and violating decay scenarios. The signal models of interest produce final states characterised by the presence of two bottom quarks, and the identification of the hadronic jets generated by their fragmentation plays a crucial role in the analyses. The performance of b-jet identification algorithms is studied in detail, and a novel approach for the estimate of the associated systematic uncertainties is presented. The first analysis in the thesis is a search for a pairproduced sbottom with two-body decays into Standard Model third generation quarks and quasi-degenerate electroweakinos, while the second targets the pair-production of the stop followed by R-parity violating decays into a bottom quark and a lepton. No evidence of SUSY particles is found, and exclusion limits are set on the relevant signal models using dedicated statistical tools.
This thesis uncovers the reasons behind, and offers a solution to, the disconnection between theories of nationalism and histories of Middle Eastern nationalisms. These two fields of research remain isolated from each other and rarely interact. The field of nationalism studies has little to offer to the study of Middle Eastern nationalisms as the leading theories of the field base their explanation on European historical experience. Histories of Middle Eastern nationalisms, on the other hand, generally eschew any theoretical elaboration and remain largely wedded to narrative explanation.
Earlier chapters of the thesis trace the wellspring of this separation to an institutionally prevalent and rigid division of labour between disciplines and area studies. In Chapter 1, the thesis aims to clarify the causes of theoretical poverty in the histories of Middle Eastern nationalisms, with a specific focus on the cases of Iran and Turkey. The outcome of this poverty is a tendency to treat these nationalisms as unique, which ends up tacitly assuming the national unit of analysis and theoretically downplays the constitutive international dimension of their emergence. On the other side of the gulf, the dominant theories in the field of nationalism studies espouses a generalist thrust in their explanation, but only by abstracting from the historical conditions of Western Europe. This leads, argues Chapter 2, to the poverty of theory: as the historical conditions (and causal mechanisms) identified in the nationalism studies literature were absent in non-Western European cases, these nationalisms appear misshapen, or as theoretical externalities. This problem is termed variously as internalism, Eurocentrism or methodological nationalism.
The problem itself has been identified before; yet previous diagnoses remained without a viable prescription. Chapter 3 lays out the main claim of this thesis: that the internalisms exposed in the previous chapters can be overcome by theoretically accounting for the causal significance of international relations for the emergence and development of Iranian and Turkish nationalisms The chapter then cumulatively pieces together a methodological solution by engaging available ways to bridge the gulf between theory and history. It starts with exploring the promises and pitfalls of a solution previously suggested in the literature: historical comparison. Historical comparison is found to be unsatisfactory on account of its obliviousness towards the fact that societies in contact do not only exist in a state of interrelationship but also reciprocally alter one another through their interaction. The chapter then reviews the recent debate in historiography between ‘comparativists and transnationalists,’ and takes a closer look at the calls for bringing transnational history and historical sociology into a fruitful exchange. This critical engagement culminates into the invoking of the theory of uneven and combined development (U&CD) as the most suitable candidate to bridge transnational history and historical sociology in order to overcome the problems of internalism in the study of Iranian and Turkish nationalisms. Specifically, U&CD is well suited to theoretically integrate the mediating effects on Qajar Iran and the Ottoman Empire of other ‘backward’ societies, which experienced similar pressures and pursued modernisation with similar goals.
To substantiate these claims, Chapter 4 proposes an alternative periodisation to conventional Eurocentric historiography by demonstrating how the Ottoman Empire and the dynasties ruling over the Iranian plateau began to transform their external relations during the course of eighteenth century by way of bilateral international agreements, which marked a ‘conceptual turning point’ in sovereignty and citizenship. Then, rather than employing a sole focus on the state level strategies of backwardness, which draws a relational distinction between industrialised European powers and late developing states of the non-European world, the chapter identifies agents of ‘transmission and mediation’ located in another late developing society: the expatriate Qajar subjects resident in the Ottoman Empire. This community’s experience in the modernising empire and its convictions that the Ottomans could act as a model to reform the Qajar state and society adds a layer to our understanding of late development, which I call ‘mediated modernisation.’ This aspect of late development is largely overlooked in the accounts of Qajar modernisation and remained limited to specialised empirical studies.
The final chapter advances the ‘mediated modernisation’ argument into the turn-of-thecentury emergence of Iranian and Turkish nationalisms – a period during which the first programmatic statements of these ideologies are formulated. The chapter starts by evaluating the impact of Japanese modernisation and the result of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05 on Qajar Iran and the Ottoman Empire. The second section focuses on v the wave of constitutional revolutions that swept across the late developing world during early twentieth century. As truly trans-imperial phenomena, the mobility and ‘cosmopolitan nationalism’ of these constitutionalist movements frontally challenges the internalist histories. With a similar challenge in mind, the third section of the chapter traces a diverse group of intellectuals and reformists who carried ideas, agitated reform and conspired revolution across the Eurasian continent.
Welcome to the 20th Special Issue of the International Journal of Innovation Management (IJIM) for the International Society for Professional Innovation Management (ISPIM). This draws upon papers submitted to the ISPIM Innovation Conference at Stockholm in June 2018. From this pool of 250 potential papers, nine were selected for further review, and the five papers published in this issue are the results of subsequent review and revision. The foci of the papers range from individual innovator characteristics, through organisational factors, to the ecosystem in which the firm is embedded, demonstrating the need to adopt an integrated approach to fully understand and practice innovation (Tidd and Bessant, 2018).
Blastocystis is the most common eukaryotic microbe in the human gut. It is linked to irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), but its role in disease has been contested considering its widespread nature. This organism is well adapted to its anoxic niche and lacks typical eukaryotic features such as a cytochrome-driven mitochondrial electron transport. Although generally considered a strict or obligate anaerobe, its genome encodes an alternative oxidase. Alternative oxidases are energetically wasteful enzymes as they are non-protonmotive and energy is liberated in heat, but they are considered to be involved in oxidative stress protective mechanisms. Our results demonstrate that the Blastocystis cells themselves respire oxygen via this alternative oxidase thereby casting doubt on its strict anaerobic nature. Inhibition experiments using alternative oxidase and Complex II specific inhibitors clearly demonstrate their role in cellular respiration. We postulate that the alternative oxidase in Blastocystis is used to buffer transient oxygen fluctuations in the gut and that it likely is a common colonizer of the human gut and not causally involved in IBS. Additionally the alternative oxidase could act as a protective mechanism in a dysbiotic gut and thereby explain the absence of Blastocystis in established IBS environments.
The use of networks to model the spread of epidemics through structured populations is widespread. However, epidemics on networks lead to intractable exact systems with the need to coarse grain and focus on some average quantities. Often, the underlying stochastic processes are Markovian and so are the resulting mean-field models constructed as systems of ordinary differential equations (ODEs). However, the lack of memory (or memorylessness) does not accurately describe real disease dynamics. For instance, many epidemiological studies have shown that the true distribution of the infectious period is rather centred around its mean, whereas the memoryless assumption imposes an exponential distribution on the infectious period. Assumptions such as these greatly affect the predicted course of an epidemic and can lead to inaccurate predictions about disease spread. Such limitations of existing approaches to modelling epidemics on networks motivated my efforts to develop non-Markovian models which would be better suited to capture essential realistic features of disease dynamics.
In the first part of my thesis I developed a pairwise, multi-stage SIR (susceptible-infected-recovered) model. Each infectious node goes through some K 2 N infectious stages, which for K > 1 means that the infectious period is gamma-distributed. Analysis of the model provided analytic expressions for the epidemic threshold and the expected final epidemic size. Using available epidemiological data on the infectious periods of various diseases, I demonstrated the importance of considering the shape of the infectious period distribution.
The second part of the thesis expanded the framework of non-Markovian dynamics to networks with heterogeneous degree distributions with non-negligible levels of clustering. These properties are ubiquitous in many real-world networks and make model development and analysis much more challenging. To this end, I have derived and analysed a compact pairwise model with the number of equations being independent of the range of node degrees, and investigated the effects of clustering on epidemic dynamics.
My thesis culminated with the third part where I explored the relationships between several different modelling methodologies, and derived an original non-Markovian Edge-Based Compartmental Model (EBCM) which allows both transmission and recovery to be arbitrary independent stochastic processes. The major result is a rigorous mathematical proof that the message passing (MP) model and the EBCM are equivalent, and thus, the EBCM is statistically exact on the ensemble of configuration model networks. From this consideration I derived a generalised pairwise-like model which I then used to build a model hierarchy, and to show that, given corresponding parameters and initial conditions, these models are identical to MP model or EBCM.
In the final part of my thesis I considered the important problem of coupling epidemic dynamics with changes in network structure in response to the perceived risk of the epidemic. This was framed as a susceptible-infected-susceptible (SIS) model on an adaptive network, where susceptible nodes can disconnect from infected neighbours and, after some fixed time delay, connect to a random susceptible node that they are not yet connected to. This model assumes that nodes have perfect information on the state of all other nodes. Robust oscillations were found in a significant region of the parameter space, including an enclosed region known as an 'endemic bubble'. The major contribution of this work was to show that oscillations can occur in a wide region of the parameter space, this is in stark contrast with most previous research where oscillations were limited to a very narrow region of the parameter space.
Any mathematical model is a simplification of reality where assumptions must be made. The models presented here show the importance of interrogating these assumptions to ensure that they are as realistic as possible while still being amenable to analysis.
This thesis presents through a number of applications a self-contained and robust methodology for exploring mathematical models of pattern formation from the perspective of a dynamical system. The contents of this work applies the methodology to investigate the influence of the domain-size and geometry on the evolution of the dynamics modelled by reaction-diffusion systems (RDSs). We start with deriving general RDSs on evolving domains and in turn explore Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE) formulation of these systems. We focus on a particular RDS of activator-depleted class and apply the detailed framework consisting of the application of linear stability theory, domain-dependent harmonic analysis and the numerical solution by the finite element method to predict and verify the theoretically proposed behaviour of pattern formation governed by the evolving dynamics. This is achieved by employing the results of domain-dependent harmonic analysis on three different types of two-dimensional convex and non-convex geometries consisting of a rectangle, a disc and a flat-ring.
The aim of the thesis is to chart the development of the term solidarity as it appears in the European social and political thought tradition. It traces the emergence of the term in its modern form from around the time of the French Revolution to the present. The thesis is divided into three parts, the historical background in France in the early nineteenth century; the consolidation, application and limiting of solidarity theory by Durkheim and its final exhaustion in Habermas’s political thought. A historical perspective is maintained throughout the thesis. However this is not a straightforward intellectual history of a concept. The historical analysis that is present, particularly in the first third of the thesis, is given to show the relationship of solidarity to crisis. Placing the theoretical debates of solidarity into a historical picture allows for a comparative and linked progression to become visible. This helps to demonstrate that solidarity discourse tends to react to social and political reality, in a way that is rarely appreciated in the literature. The central claim is that writing on solidarity cannot be made sense of unless it is historically situated. Solidarity is a chameleon concept changing to fit its environment, be that in theory or in practice. The refusal to be definitively defined is one of solidarity’s more enduring, interesting and significant characteristics. It is this discussion that adds to a growing but very much underdeveloped literature on solidarity. Finally, whilst some form of solidarity must be present for society to function, this thesis argues that there needs to be a serious rethink of the way that it is currently understood, beyond the archetypal writings of Durkheim and Habermas.
This thesis investigates the economic themes and structures in Samuel Beckett’s prose texts from 1932 to 1964. It aims to understand the difficulties of imagining a political context for Beckett’s writing, and identifies two main obstacles to doing so: the downward shift in economic perspective from More Pricks than Kicks (1934) to Molloy (1951) implies a logic of value that prioritises ‘indifference’ and withdrawal from material concerns (‘nothing to gain’); and the category of representation has been destabilised by an effort to make the ‘metaphysical’ and the ‘concrete’ interchangeable, where the latter is often economic in nature. Chapter 1 addresses the ‘closed system’ of desire in Murphy (1938), a theory of value with equivalents in economic and psychoanalysis; the novel’s unemployment plot spells out its ramifications for writing and production in general. Chapter two considers two variant passages about economics from the Watt typescript (1945) and the notebooks of Molloy (1947), and concludes that they show Beckett turning against a formal interest in equilibrium (‘the depths where demand and supply coincide’). Chapter 3 sees Beckett’s post-war texts, with ‘vaguen[ed]’ referents inviting innumerable possible readings, moving towards a new form of value based on equivalence and interchangeability. Chapter 4 sees this logic of equivalence intercalated through How It Is (1964) [1961], and takes the torturer-tortured relationship as a readymade figure for a readerly economy that leaves punishingly little room for a reader; it finds that Beckett’s overlapping fascinations with torture and circulation are inextricable from the resistances of his writing to persuasive political restatements. The thesis ends by arguing that Beckett’s economics is more ‘concrete’ because it can be taken for lenient otherworldliness.
My research has focused on locating and measuring star formation and AGN activity in different environments with interferometric and single-dish radio observations. As my first PhD project, I studied the complex interaction between an intermediate redshift (z 0.3) starburst galaxy and a nearby ( 7 kpc separation) QSO using sub-arcsecond VLA observations. I found new evidence for jet-induced star formation activity in the companion galaxy, making the system a strong candidate for this rare, and potentially important process in the early Universe. In my second paper, I investigated the infrared-radio correlation (IRRC) of spheroid- and disc-dominated galaxies in the COSMOS field out to z 1.5. With 1.4 GHz data and Herschel photometry I found that the redshift evolution reported in recent works is due to an increasing radio excess emission associated with spheroid-dominated galaxies, compared to disc-dominated ones, i.e. the ‘purest’ star-forming systems in our sample. I theorize that the extra radio power in spheroid-dominated systems is due to low-level AGN activity, even though these sources were not identified by most commonly-used diagnostics as AGN hosts. This finding will significantly increase the accuracy of future high-redshift radio surveys measuring star formation. In my third project I assembled and analysed the largest-to-date low-z IRRC sample of galaxies. I demonstrated the importance of selection effects influencing IRRC statistics, and carried out an improved IRRC analysis that yielded more accurate measures of the correlation’s properties. With rich ancillary data it will provide insight into the physical processes that give rise to the IRRC. Finally, I adopted an MCMC-based model optimization to fit a radiative transfer model to ammonia line spectra of a binary molecular cloud core. I determined the physical structures and the masses of the cores and found they are gravitationally unbound.
Amyloid proteins feature in neurodegenerative diseases and functionally throughout many organisms. Furthermore, due to their structural properties, amyloid proteins have been developed as materials in biotechnology. This raises the question of what makes disease-related amyloid proteins toxic. β-amyloid 1-42 (Aβ42) is a self-assembling protein that goes through many structural changes before forming the extracellular plaques characteristic of Alzheimer's disease. We have studied the conformational changes of the Aβ42 peptide over time by combining a range of biophysical approaches including circular dichroism, and Thioflavin T fluorescence with Transmission Electron Microscopy. Aβ42 assembly is compared to a novel, rationally-designed, assembly-resistant Aβ42 peptide variant (vAβ42), as well as the two main Aβ42 controls, Aβ reversed (Aβ42-1)and Aβ scrambled (AβS). The vAβ42 differs in sequence by only two amino acids, however, does not self-assemble or form β-sheet structures, unlike Aβ42-1and AβS which both display a high propensity to form amyloid. All three variants of Aβ42 were non-toxic in primary hippocampal cultures, highlighting the importance of primary sequence in determining the toxic nature of an amyloid protein. Furthermore, the structure andtoxicity of the naturally functional amyloid protein, GNNQQNY,and the designedfunctional amyloid peptide, FEFKFEFKK (F9), have also been characterised. These show immediate assembly into mature fibrils, do not form intermediary species and are not cytotoxic. Together, this data suggests the ability to form oligomers and the time spent in this conformation is a requirement of amyloid toxicity. To further investigate the link between size, conformation and toxicity, we compared the cytotoxicity and internalisation of oligomeric, fibrillar and sonicated fibres of Aβ42 in primary hippocampal neurons using immunolabelling and live cell imaging. As expected, the oligomeric Aβ42 was highly neurotoxic in hippocampal cultures, however fibrillar and sonicated fibrils did not have the same effect. Finally, the necessity of internalisation in mediating cytotoxicity was investigated and showed a certain threshold of intracellular accumulation must be met to induce cytotoxicity. Overall, our data suggests primary sequence, the resultant self-assembly and intermediary species formed, and intracellular accumulation are vital in determining the pathogenic properties of amyloid proteins.
This Briefing explains why the use of synthetic, industrially-manufactured hormones in beef production,
and the threat of importing hormone-produced beef after Brexit, matter for UK consumers. There is robust scientific evidence showing that meat produced using one key hormone (17β-oestradiol) increases the cancer risk to consumers, while for the rest the available evidence is insufficient to show that their use is acceptably safe. The Briefing outlines the basis of the scientific and policy disputes over the use of supplementary hormones in beef cattle production. It shows that, although the USA is most associated with hormone-reared beef, other countries that want to export their beef to the UK, post Brexit, either allow hormones to be used, or are suspected of doing so. The EU has been reasonably vigilant on consumers’ behalf on this issue, and it has robust scientific grounds for its ban on their use.
The risk from beef hormones is one of many issues on which UK consumers have benefited from the EU’s measures to protect public and environmental health. Chlorine-washed chicken is another example.
The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) is beginning to roll out a far-reaching programme of regulatory change called Regulating Our Future (ROF). This Briefing Paper argues that ROF risks:
Making the UK’s food supply less safe by further weakening systems that are already too weak;
Undermining the ability of UK food producers to export to the EU after Brexit;
Creating irreconcilable conflicts of interests, because rather than having public officials inspect food businesses, the food businesses will be able to choose who ‘marks their homework’.
Professors Erik Millstone (University of Sussex) and Tim Lang (City, University of London) provide a detailed and powerful critique of the Food Standards Agency’s proposals. They conclude that ROF represents a fundamental and detrimental shift in the role, approach and public responsibilities of the FSA and the local authority officers who are the bedrock of food safety in the UK. They also show why these unwelcome proposals are especially unwise in the context of negotiations over Brexit, when the public needs a strong, vigilant and effective FSA.
The authors call for ROF to be halted pending further review by a special Parliamentary Joint Select Committee of the Health and Environment, Food & Rural Affairs Committees.
This article is an empirical investigation in to how the statutory derivative procedure is being applied de facto in comparison with the equitable procedure. Agency theory supposes that the corporate purpose is to maximise the value of the company. To do so, the “efficient contract” must be approximated between the shareholders and directors, which is one that maximises their aggregate welfare. Private enforcement through the derivative claim is one such way of doing so. However, an intractable tension exists between too much and too little litigation where there are inadequate private incentives relative to the corporate purpose. The equitable procedure did not incentivise litigation. The concern of the statutory reform was that it would be more accessible creating inadequate private incentives for shareholders to litigate. Comparing the de facto application of the two procedures we do not find evidence to suggest the statutory procedure is more accessible. Instead, we observed what we call the sine quibus non for permission. These essential conditions the courts require for permission are unlikely to be met by shareholders, creating little incentive to litigate. From this we infer directors will continue to be incentivised to deter even beneficial litigation.
Remedies in Australian Private Law offers readers a clear and detailed introduction to remedies and their functions under Australian law. Clearly structured, with a strong black-letter law focus, the text provides a complete treatment of remedies in common law, equity and statute, and develops a framework for understanding the principles of private law remedies and their practical application.
The second edition has been significantly revised and offers up-to-date coverage of case law and legislation, including the Australian Consumer Law. It builds on the detailed treatment of remedies and their broad functions across a range of private law categories, including torts, contract, equity, trusts and property law. It also offers expanded coverage of vindicatory damages, debt, specific restitution and coercive remedies. Theoretical perspectives on issues such as equitable obligations, the fusion of common law and equity, the nature of reasonable fee awards and the concept of unjust enrichment are also discussed.
With it systematic and accessible approach, this text will enables students and practitioners to develop a coherent understanding of remedial law and develop the skills to analyse legal problems and identify appropriate remedial solutions.
A growing body of literature is encouraging academics to slow down their academic work as a way of managing the acceleration of university life. Little attention, however, has been paid to the important differences in temporalities among different sorts of higher education institutions, and the effect this is likely to have upon the sense of acceleration and, crucially, the capacity to resist it. This article discusses interview data with academics at a particularly ‘fast’ academic site, drawn from a broader comparative study of three very different sorts of institution. It argues that the culture at this university is fundamentally structured around the principle of rapid change, in marked contrast to both more research-intensive and more teaching-intensive institutions. Any advice about the management of change must, I argue, take into account the specifics of institutional situations as well as broader structural causes of institutional difference, if it is to prove effective.
In this work, we analyze the effect of CF4/O2 plasma treatment on the contact interface between the amorphous Indium-Gallium-Zinc-Oxide (a-IGZO) semiconductor and Titanium-Gold electrodes. First, the influence of CF4/O2 plasma treatment is evaluated using transmission line structures and compared to pure O2 and CF4 plasma, resulting in a reduction of the contact resistance RC by a factor of 24.2 compared to untreated interfaces. Subsequently, the CF4/O2 plasma treatment is integrated in the a-IGZO thin-film transistor (TFT) fabrication process flow. We achieve a reduction of the gate bias dependent RC by a factor up to 13.4, which results in an increased current drive capability. Combined with an associated channel length reduction, the effective linear field-effect mobility is increased by up to 74.6% for the CF4/O2 plasma treated TFTs compared to untreated reference devices.
This book chapter is a first attempt to explore the issue of human rights in Russia and China drawing comparisons from an international law perspective. To this end, firstly it scrutinises the role and the position of international law within these countries' internal frameworks. Secondly, it analyses the conceptualisation of human rights that emerges from the relations of these countries with the universal human rights framework. Thirdly, combining the related findings, it verifies how human rights are integrated in Russian and Chinese legal orders. It concludes that, in contrast to common belief, both countries do not oppose human rights as such but require that these are interpreted in light of their national identity or strategic aims.
Advances in experimental techniques and computational power allowing researchers to gather anatomical and electrophysiological data at unprecedented levels of detail have fostered the development of increasingly complex models in computational neuroscience. Large-scale, bio-physically detailed cell models pose a particular set of computational challenges, and this has led to the development of a number of domain-specific simulators. At the other level of detail, the ever growing variety of point neuron models increases the implementation barrier even for those based on the relatively simple integrate-and-fire neuron model. Independently of the model complexity, all modeling methods crucially depend on an efficient and accurate transformation of mathematical model descriptions into efficiently executable code. Neuroscientists usually publish model descriptions in terms of the mathematical equations underlying them. However, actually simulating them requires they be translated into code. This can cause problems because errors may be introduced if this process is carried out by hand, and code written by neuroscientists may not be very computationally efficient. Furthermore, the translated code might be generated for different hardware platforms, operating system variants or even written in different languages and thus cannot easily be combined or even compared. Two main approaches to addressing this issues have been followed. The first is to limit users to a fixed set of optimized models, which limits flexibility. The second is to allow model definitions in a high level interpreted language, although this may limit performance. Recently, a third approach has become increasingly popular: using code generation to automatically translate high level descriptions into efficient low level code to combine the best of previous approaches. This approach also greatly enriches efforts to standardize simulator-independent model description languages.
In the past few years, a number of code generation pipelines have been developed in the computational neuroscience community, which differ considerably in aim, scope and functionality. This article provides an overview of existing pipelines currently used within the community and contrasts their capabilities and the technologies and concepts behind them.
Human dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (HsDHODH) is a key enzyme of pyrimidine de novo biosynthesis pathway. It is located on the mitochondrial inner membrane and contributes to the respiratory chain by shuttling electrons to the ubiquinone pool. We have discovered ascofuranone (1), a natural compound produced by Acremonium sclerotigenum, and its derivatives are a potent class of HsDHODH inhibitors. We conducted a structure–activity relationship study and have identified functional groups of 1 that are essential for the inhibition of HsDHODH enzymatic activity. Furthermore, the binding mode of 1 and its derivatives to HsDHODH was demonstrated by co-crystallographic analysis and we show that these inhibitors bind at the ubiquinone binding site. In addition, the cytotoxicities of 1 and its potent derivatives 7, 8, and 9were studied using human cultured cancer cells. Interestingly, they showed selective and strong cytotoxicity to cancer cells cultured under microenvironment (hypoxia and nutrient-deprived) conditions. The selectivity ratio of 8 under this microenvironment show the most potent inhibition which was over 1000-fold higher compared to that under normal culture condition. Our studies suggest that under microenvironment conditions, cancer cells heavily depend on the pyrimidine de novo biosynthesis pathway. We also provide the first evidence that 1 and its derivatives are potential lead candidates for drug development which target the HsDHODH of cancer cells living under a tumor microenvironment.
Lithium has long been used for the treatment of psychiatric disorders, due to its robust beneficial effect as a mood stabilizing drug. Lithium’s effectiveness for improving neurological function is therefore well-described, stimulating the investigation of its potential use in several neurodegenerative conditions including Alzheimer’s (AD), Parkinson’s (PD) and Huntington’s (HD) diseases. A narrow therapeutic window for these effects, however, has led to concerted efforts to understand the molecular mechanisms of lithium action in the brain, in order to develop more selective treatments that harness its neuroprotective potential whilst limiting contraindications. Animal models have proven pivotal in these studies, with lithium displaying advantageous effects on behavior across species, including worms (C. elegans), zebrafish (Danio rerio), fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) and rodents. Due to their susceptibility to genetic manipulation, functional genomic analyses in these model organisms have provided evidence for the main molecular determinants of lithium action, including inhibition of inositol monophosphatase (IMPA) and glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3). Accumulating pre-clinical evidence has indeed provided a basis for research into the therapeutic use of lithium for the treatment of dementia, an area of medical priority due to its increasing global impact and lack of disease-modifying drugs. Although lithium has been extensively described to prevent AD-associated amyloid and tau pathologies, this review article will focus on generic mechanisms by which lithium preserves neuronal function and improves memory in animal models of dementia. Of these, evidence from worms, flies and mice points to GSK-3 as the most robust mediator of lithium’s neuro-protective effect, but it’s interaction with downstream pathways, including Wnt/β-catenin, CREB/brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (Nrf2) and toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)/nuclear factor-κB (NFκB), have identified multiple targets for development of drugs which harness lithium’s neurogenic, cytoprotective, synaptic maintenance, anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and protein homeostasis properties, in addition to more potent and selective GSK-3 inhibitors. Lithium, therefore, has advantages as a multi-functional therapy to combat the complex molecular pathology of dementia. Animal studies will be vital, however, for comparative analyses to determine which of these defense mechanisms are most required
TOPBP1 and its fission yeast homologue Rad4, are critical players in a range of DNA replication, repair and damage signalling processes. They are composed of multiple BRCT domains, some of which bind phosphorylated motifs in other proteins. They thus act as multi-point adaptors bringing proteins together into functional combinations, dependent on post-translational modifications downstream of cell cycle and DNA damage signals. We have now structurally and/or biochemically characterised a sufficient number of high-affinity complexes for the conserved N-terminal region of TOPBP1 and Rad4 with diverse phospho-ligands, including human RAD9 and Treslin, and Schizosaccharomyces pombe Crb2 and Sld3, to define the determinants of BRCT domain specificity. We use this to identify and characterise previously unknown phosphorylationdependent TOPBP1/Rad4-binding motifs in human RHNO1 and the fission yeast homologue of MDC1, Mdb1. These results provide important insights into how multiple BRCT domains within TOPBP1/Rad4 achieve selective and combinatorial binding of their multiple partner proteins.
In view of the prevalence of sensorineural hearing defects in an ageing population, the development of protocols to generate cochlear hair cells and their associated sensory neurons as tools to further our understanding of inner ear development are highly desirable. We report herein a robust protocol for the generation of both vestibular and cochlear hair cells from human pluripotent stem cells which represents an advance over currently available methods that have been reported to generate vestibular hair cells only. Generating otic organoids from human pluripotent stem cells using a three-dimensional culture system, we show formation of both types of sensory hair cells bearing stereociliary bundles with active mechano-sensory ion channels. These cells share many morphological characteristics with their in vivo counterparts during embryonic development of the cochlear and vestibular organs and moreover demonstrate electrophysiological activity detected through single-cell patch clamping. Collectively these data represent an advance in our ability to generate cells of an otic lineage and will be useful for building models of the sensory regions of the cochlea and vestibule.
In the adult auditory organ, mechanoelectrical transducer (MET) channels are essential for transducing acoustic stimuli into electrical signals. In the absence of incoming sound, a fraction of the MET channels on top of the sensory hair cells are open, resulting in a sustained depolarizing current. By genetically manipulating the in vivo expression of molecular components of the MET apparatus, we show that during pre-hearing stages the MET current is essential for establishing the electrophysiological properties of mature inner hair cells (IHCs). If the MET current is abolished in adult IHCs, they revert into cells showing electrical and morphological features characteristic of pre-hearing IHCs, including the re-establishment of cholinergic efferent innervation. The MET current is thus critical for the maintenance of the functional properties of adult IHCs, implying a degree of plasticity in the mature auditory system in response to the absence of normal transduction of acoustic signals.
Context: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) costs the economy €210 billion per year in Europe. There is an association between low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and CVD risk.
Objective: To evaluate the cost and effectiveness of LopiGLIK® (LOPI) in lowering LDL-C and CVD risk.
Design: Single blind multicenter randomized controlled trial; patients were divided into two groups, subjected to centralized randomization.
Setting: Four Italian regions.
Participants: Thirty-one physicians enrolled 573 adult patients with mild hypercholesterolemia between January 2016 and January 2018.
Intervention: Patients were treated for 16 weeks either with LOPI (intervention) or Armolipid Plus® (AP; control).
Outcome measures: Primary outcome: percentage of patients who achieved LDL-C <130 mg/dL. Secondary outcomes: reduction of HbA1c, survival analysis and HR linked to 38.67 mg/dL reduction of LDL-C and 1% reduction of HbA1c. Costs were assessed per unit and cure.
Results: Three hundred and seventy patients treated with LOPI and 203 treated with AP were randomized and completed the study. At baseline 8.9% (n=18) patients treated with AP and 9.5% (n=35) treated with LOPI had LDL-C levels <130 mg/dL (P=0.815). At the 16-week follow-up, 41.4% (n=84) of patients treated with AP and 67.6% (n=250) with LOPI achieved LDL-C levels <130 mg/dL (P<0.001). LOPI patients were three times more likely to achieve LDL-C levels <130 mg/dL; adjusted OR 2.97 (95% CI; 2.08–4.24; P<0.001), number needed to treat was four (95% CI; 5.60–2.90; P<0.001). Survival analysis demonstrated the superiority of LOPI vs AP relative to 38.67 mg/dL LDL-C reduction (P<0.002); HR was 0.761 (95% CI; 0.62–0.94; P<0.001). Both products reduced the HbA1c without a significant difference between them (P=0.156). Survival analysis and HR (0.91; 95% CI; 0.70–1.18) estimated for 1% HbA1c reduction, showed differences between LOPI and AP, which were not significant (P=0.411; P=0.464). The cost of LOPI was €2.11 (unit), €211 (cure), and AP €3.77 and €377, respectively.
Conclusion: LOPI appeared more effective and less expensive than AP in lowering LDL-C and CVD risk.
Trial registration: NCT02898805, September 8, 2016.
Keywords: hypercholesterolemia, nutraceuticals, effectiveness, cardiovascular risk reduction
Automobility refers to the continued, self-perpetuating dominance of privately-owned, gasoline-powered vehicles used primarily by single occupants—a system which clearly has broad environmental and societal impacts. Despite increasing societal interest in transitions to more sustainable transportation technologies, there has been little consideration of how such innovations might challenge, maintain or support different aspects of automobility, and what that means for technology deployment, transport policy, and user practices. To bring attention to the complexity and apparent durability of the automobility system, in this paper we develop a conceptual framework that explores automobility through a categorization of frames, or shared cultural meanings. This framework moves beyond the typical focus on private, functional considerations of user choice, financial costs and time use to also consider symbolic and societal frames of automobility that exist among users, non-users, industry, policymakers and other relevant social groups. We illustrate this framework with eight particular frames of automobility that fall into four broad categories: private-functional frames such as (1) cocooning and fortressing and (2) mobile digital offices; private-symbolic frames such as (3) gender identity and (4) social status; societal-functional frames such as (5) environmental stewardship and (6) suburbanization; and societal-symbolic frames such as (7) self-sufficiency and (8) innovative adopters. Finally, we start the process of discussing several transportation innovations in light of these automobility frames, namely electrified, autonomous and shared mobility—examining early evidence for which frames would be challenged or supported by such transitions. We believe that appreciation of the complex and varied frames of automobility can help to enrichen discussion of transitions and policy relating to sustainable transportation.
In this article, we explore the concept of ’powerful knowledge’ which, from a curriculum studies perspective, refers to the aspects of content knowledge towards which teaching should be oriented. We then consider how the concept of ‘powerful knowledge’ can be developed and operationalized as a research framework within studies in subject-specific didactics across the curriculum by relating it to the analytical concept of ‘transformation’. Transformation is perceived in this case as an integrative process in which content knowledge is transformed into knowledge that is taught and learned through various transformation processes both outside and within the educational system. We argue that powerful knowledge cannot be identified based on the discipline alone, but needs to consider transformation processes and be empirically explored. A variety of theories and frameworks developed within the European research tradition of didactics are described as ways to study transformation processes related to powerful knowledge at different institutional levels as well as between different subjects and disciplines. A comparative research framework related to subject-specific education is proposed around three research questions.
It is a widely held belief that questioning vulnerable witnesses is a specialist skill. In England and Wales vulnerable witness advocacy training built around ‘20 Principles’ has been developed and is being delivered. The 20 Principles do not cite a tested theoretical framework(s) or empirical evidence in support. This paper considers whether the 20 Principles are underpinned by research evidence. It is submitted that advocacy training and the approach to questioning witnesses in the courtroom should take into account the already available research evidence. The authors make recommendations for revision of the training and for a wider review of the approach taken to the handling of witness evidence.
There is a central concern in contemporary cognitive science with the validity of the use of epistemic and intentional terms to interpret the communication patterns of non-human animals. Here I argue (a) that the human developmental transition to intentional communication is a well-described phenomenon, from an empirical standpoint; (b) that the behavioural patterns that characterise intentional communication in our own species are also well-described in the communication of our nearest living relatives, the great apes; (c) that the presence of the behavioural markers for intentional communication in non-human primates does not unambiguously implicate any particular one of a large number of often mutually contradictory hypothetical psychological process models; and (d) that intentional communication by young humans is also consistent with hypothetical process models that are, themselves, mutually contradictory. Intentional communication is a class of behaviour that is open to public, objective measurement. In contrast, the hypothetical cognitive processes supporting intentional communication in both human and non-human animals are not specified by the fact that intentional communication has occurred—they could not be, except when there is an unambiguous behavioural index of invisible psychological processes, which is a contradiction in terms. In this chapter, I will examine a number of contemporary scientific practices that purportedly reveal aspects of psychological processes underlying intentional communication and demonstrate the deficiencies of these protocols. In general, these methodological infelicities support a systematic, discipline-wide double standard of interpretation of the communication of animals and humans. I will conclude that there is no convincing evidence extant of different psychological processes in the intentional communication of apes and preverbal humans.
Plant diseases are responsible for substantial and sometimes devastating economic and societal costs and thus are a major limiting factor for stable and sustainable agricultural production. Diseases of crops are particular crippling in developing countries that are heavily dependent on agriculture for food security and income. Various techniques have been developed to reduce the negative impact of plant diseases and eliminate the associated parasites, but the success of these approaches strongly depends on population awareness and the degree of engagement with disease control and prevention programs. In this paper we derive and analyse a mathematical model of mosaic disease of Jatropha curcas, an important biofuel plant, with particular emphasis on the effects of interventions in the form of nutrients and insecticides, whose use depends on the level of population awareness. Two contributions to disease awareness are considered in the model: global awareness campaigns, and awareness from observing infected plants. All steady states of the model are found, and their stability is analysed in terms of system parameters. We identify parameter regions associated with eradication of disease, stable endemic infection, and periodic oscillations in the level of infection. Analytical results are supported by numerical simulations that illustrate the behaviour of the model in different dynamical regimes. Implications of theoretical results for practical implementation of disease control are discussed.
Empirical evaluation of verification tools by benchmarking is a common method in software verification research. The Competition on Software Verification (SV-COMP) aims at standardization and reproducibility of benchmarking within the software verification community in an annual basis, through comparative evaluation of fully-automatic software verifiers for C programs. Building upon this success, we describe here how to re-use the ecosystem developed around SV-COMP for benchmarking Java verification tools. We provide a detailed description of the rules for benchmark verification tasks, the integration of new tools into SV-COMP's benchmarking framework and also give experimental results of a benchmarking run on three state-of-the-art Java verification tools, JPF-SE, JayHorn and JBMC.
Background: Enhanced placental transfusion reduces adverse neonatal outcomes, including death. Despite being endorsed by the World Health Organization in 2012, the method has not been adopted widely in practice.
Methods: We performed a systematic literature search and included quality improvement projects on placental transfusion at birth and studies on barriers to implementation. We extracted information on population, methods of implementation, obstacles to implementation, and strategies to overcome them.
Results: We screened 99 studies out of which 18 were included in the review. The preferred methods of implementation were protocol development (86% of studies) reinforced by targeted education (64% of studies) and multidisciplinary team involvement (43% of studies). Barriers to implementation were mentioned in 12 studies and divided into four categories: general factors such as lack of staff awareness (5 studies) and professional resistance to change (5 studies); obstetrician‐specific concerns, including the impact during cesarean (3 studies) and the risk of postpartum hemorrhage (3 studies); pediatrician‐specific concerns, including the need for resuscitation (5 studies), risk of jaundice (3 studies), and polycythemia (2 studies); and logistical difficulties. The main strategies to facilitate placental transfusion at birth included effective multidisciplinary team collaboration, protocol development, targeted education, and constructive feedback sessions.
Conclusions: Placental transfusion implementation requires a multidisciplinary approach, with obstetricians, midwives, nurses, and pediatricians central to adoption of the practice. Understanding the obstacles to implementation informs strategies to increase placental transfusion adoption of practice worldwide. We suggest a stepwise approach to implementation and enhancement of placental transfusion into practice.
The present article introduces a model based on cognitive consistency principles to predict how new identities become integrated into the self-concept, with consequences for intergroup attitudes. The model specifies four concepts (self-concept, stereotypes, identification, and group compatibility) as associative connections. The model builds on two cognitive principles, balance–congruity and imbalance–dissonance, to predict identification with social groups that people currently belong to, belonged to in the past, or newly belong to. More precisely, the model suggests that the relative strength of self-group associations (i.e., identification) depends in part on the (in)compatibility of the different social groups. Combining insights into cognitive representation of knowledge, intergroup bias, and explicit/implicit attitude change, we further derive predictions for intergroup attitudes. We suggest that intergroup attitudes alter depending on the relative associative strength between the social groups and the self, which in turn is determined by the (in)compatibility between social groups. This model unifies existing models on the integration of social identities into the self-concept by suggesting that basic cognitive mechanisms play an important role in facilitating or hindering identity integration and thus contribute to reducing or increasing intergroup bias.
Empirical research on eco-innovation has produced a substantive body of literature on the relevance of regulation for stimulating such innovation. Much of this work on the role of policy for eco-innovation relies on econometric analyses of company survey data. In this regard, the eco-innovation module introduced in 2008/9 in the Community Innova-tion Survey serves as an important data source that has helped improve our under-standing of the role of environmental and innovation policy for eco-innovation in the Eu-ropean Union (EU). However, so far, this data source has provided only limited oppor-tunities to generate insights into the role of instrument design and instrument interaction for eco-innovation. In this chapter, we present a first attempt to measure such aspects in a company innovation survey based on the example of renewable energy innovation in Germany. In particular, we explore to what extent the design of the German Renewa-ble Energy Sources Act (and the interaction of its feed-in tariffs with the EU emissions trading system) correlates with innovation in renewable power generation technologies. We find instrument design features but not instrument type to be related to eco-innovation. In addition, our exploratory study provides evidence for an interaction effect between climate policy and renewables support policy. Based on these findings, we discuss implications for future research on the role of policy in eco-innovation.
The transition from primary to secondary education is one of the most stressful events in a young person’s life (Zeedyk et al., 2003) and can have a negative impact on psychological wellbeing and academic achievement. One explanation for these negative impacts is that the transition coincides with early adolescence, a period during which certain psychological disorders (i.e., anxiety disorders) become more salient (Kessler et al., 2005) and marked social, biological, and psychological development occurs (Anderson, Jacobs, Schramm, & Splittgerber, 2000). This review evaluates the existing literature on the psychological and academic impacts of the transition to secondary education on young adolescents. We examine the factors that plausibly increase or mitigate the risk of developing mental health issues and/or a decline in academic performance during the transition to secondary education. We also review the interplay between psychological health and academic achievement across and beyond the transition. We conclude with a summary of what schools and parents can learn from these findings to support children in a successful transition into secondary education.
Three experiments explore whether knowledge of grammars defining global vs. local regularities has an advantage in implicit acquisition and whether this advantage is affected by cultural differences. Participants were asked to listen to and memorize a number of strings of 10 syllables instantiating an inversion (i.e. a global pattern); after the training phase, they were required to judge whether new strings were well formed. In Experiment 1, Western people implicitly acquired the inversion rule defined over the Chinese tones in a similar way as Chinese participants when alternative structures (specifically, chunking and repetition structures) were controlled. In Experiment 2 and 3, we directly pitted knowledge of the inversion (global) against chunk (local) knowledge, and found that Chinese participants had a striking global advantage in implicit learning, which was greater than that of Western participants. Taken together, we show for the first time cross cultural differences in the type of regularities implicitly acquired.
In this research, university students were asked to solve arithmetic word problems constructed either with discrete quantities, such as apples or marbles, or continuous quantities such as meters of rope or grams of sand. An analysis of their brain activity showed different alpha levels between the two types of problems with, in particular, a lower alpha power in the parieto-occipital area for problems describing discrete quantities. This suggests that processing discrete quantities during problem solving prompts more mental imagery than processing continuous quantities. These results are difficult to reconcile with the schema theory, according to which arithmetic problem solving depends on the activation of ready-made mental frames stored in long-term memory and triggered by the mathematical expression used in the texts. Within the schema framework, the nature of the objects described in the text should be quickly abstracted during problem solving because it cannot impact the semantic structure of the problem. On the contrary, our results support the situation model theory, which places greater emphasis on the problem context in order to account for individuals' behaviour. On a more methodological point of view, this study constitutes the first attempt to infer the characteristics of individual's mental representations of arithmetic text problems from EEG recordings. This opens the door for the application of brain activity measures in the field of arithmetic word problem.
Takano and Osaka’s (1997, 1999) careful review of empirical research on individualism and collectivism in the US and Japan revealed a striking lack of support for the “common view” that Japanese individuals are typical collectivists whereas Americans are typical individualists. Two decades on, Takano and Osaka (2018) conclude that empirical studies have continued to fail to support the common view—and yet this view is stubbornly persistent in the literature. More is at stake here than the characterization of two national cultures. The common view epitomizes a widely adopted binary view of culture, which reduces the richness and complexity of global cultural diversity to an oversimplified contrast between individualist/independent/Western/North American and collectivist/interdependent/Eastern/East Asian categories. Unless cultural psychologists can move beyond binary thinking and research practices, correcting an inaccurate portrayal of American and Japanese cultures will be of limited benefit. Future progress might be fostered by (a) defining concepts more precisely, (b) more use of exploratory approaches, (c) wider sampling of cultural groups and contexts, (d) using available methodological guidance for cross-cultural research, and (e) expanding research into cultural identities and stereotypes.
Based on their pharmacological properties, psychoactive drugs are supposed to take control of the natural reward system to finally drive compulsory drug seeking and consumption. However, psychoactive drugs are not used in an arbitrary way as pure pharmacological reinforcement would suggest, but rather in a highly specific manner depending on non-pharmacological factors. While pharmacological effects of psychoactive drugs are well studied, neurobiological mechanisms of non-pharmacological factors are less well understood. Here we review the emerging neurobiological mechanisms beyond pharmacological reinforcement which determine drug effects and use frequency. Important progress was made on the understanding of how the character of an environment and social stress determine drug self-administration. This is expanded by new evidence on how behavioral alternatives and opportunities for drug instrumentalization generate different patterns of drug choice. Emerging evidence suggests that the neurobiology of non-pharmacological factors strongly determines pharmacological and behavioral drug action and may, thus, give rise for an expanded system’s approach of psychoactive drug use and addiction.
A strong argument can be made that the European Union has the most rigorous regulatory system for pesticides in the world, and that modern pesticide use poses fewer environmental threats than older regimes. Nevertheless, the impacts of pesticides on bees and other non-target organisms are much debated in Europe as elsewhere. Here we document changing patterns of pesticide use in arable and horticultural crops in Great Britain from 1990 to 2015. The weight of pesticides used has approximately halved over this period, but in contrast the number of applications per field nearly doubled. The total potential kill of honeybees (the total number of LD50 doses applied to the 4.6 million hectares of arable farmland in Great Britain each year) increased six-fold to approximately 3 1016 bees, the result of the increasing use of neonicotinoids from 1994 onwards which more than offset the effect of declining organophosphate use. It is important to stress that this does not mean that this number of bees will be killed, and also to acknowledge that our simple analysis does not take into account many factors such as differences in persistence, and timing and mode of application of pesticides, which will affect actual exposure of non-target organisms. Nonetheless, all else being equal, these data suggest that the risk posed by pesticides to non-target insects such as bees, other pollinators and natural enemies of pests, has increased considerably in the last 26 years.
All life requires the capacity to recover from challenges that are as inevitable as they are unpredictable. Understanding this resilience is essential for managing the health of humans and their livestock. It has long been difficult to quantify resilience directly, forcing practitioners to rely on indirect static indicators of health. However, measurements from wearable electronics and other sources now allow us to analyze the dynamics of physiology and behavior with unsurpassed resolution. The resulting flood of data coincides with the emergence of novel analytical tools for estimating resilience from the pattern of micro-recoveries observed in natural time series. Such dynamic indicators of resilience (DIORs) may be used to monitor the risk of systemic failure across systems ranging from organs to entire organisms. These tools invite a fundamental rethink of our approach to the adaptive management of health and resilience.
The experimental and numerical studies were performed to understand the atomization mechanism of pressure spray of a swirl nozzle. The design and performance parameters such as spray cone angle, velocity of particles, spray pressure, and Sauter Mean Diameter (SMD) of the droplets were studied using a laser particle size analyzer and high-speed camera. The results show that the SMD increases at first, then decreases as the spray distance increases, and finally tends to be stable after 1 m. The SMD is largest in the center of the spray field and decreases gradually along the radial direction. The SMD distribution is more concentrated near the nozzle. Increasing spray pressure and deceasing nozzle diameter both can make the SMD distribution more concentrated and uniform. The swirl nozzle has been used in a coal mine and was shown to be very effective in suppressing coal dust compared to other traditional nozzles.
Increasing dissatisfaction with investor-State dispute settlement has weakened the adversarial approach to international investment law and policy. This article argues that global initiatives, such as the UNCTAD’s Global Action Menu for Investment Facilitation (the ‘Action Menu’), provides good policy praxis to redirect the development of international investment law from adversarial to a constructive path. The Action Menu suggests rebuilding of future international investment law and policy with a reconciliatory spirit and by promoting investment facilitation for sustainable development. To demystify the Action Menu’s policy praxis, this article addresses the following key questions: How is the Action Menu’s proposed investment facilitation framework different from existing investment promotion and protection strategies? Does the Action Menu propose a fundamental change to existing international investment policy agenda? Are there other comparable initiatives that may enlighten the Action Menu’s approach? To what extent the existing domestic policies on investment facilitation reflect the Action Menu’s approaches? Would the Action Menu’s investment facilitation framework indeed promote sustainable development? The analysis primarily hinges on the impression that at the time when international investment law is fraught with internal antagonism, the Action Menu’s investment facilitation framework brings positive vibes to international investment law and policy making. Key strengths of the Action Menu are its holistic treatment of all primary foreign investment policy stakeholders (i.e. foreign investors and their home and host States) under one policy framework, and its whole-of-government approach for implementation of investment facilitation policies. The apparent weaknesses are a lack of attention to curb possible race to the bottom and visible lapses in offering a collaborative sustainable development programme. The article concludes that although the Action Menu sets out great policy initiatives, there are many issues that remain to be addressed.
Making use of definitive new lattice computations of the Standard Model thermodynamics during the quantum chromodynamic (QCD) phase transition, we calculate theenhancement in the mass distribution of primordial black holes (PBHs) due to the softening of the equation of state. We find that the enhancement peaks at approximately 0.7M, with the formation rate increasing by at least two orders of magnitude due to the softening of the equation of state at this time, with a range of approximately 0.3M < M < 1.4M at full width half-maximum. PBH formation is increased by a smaller amount for PBHs with masses spanning a large range, 10 −3 M < M PBH < 10 3 M , which includes the masses of the BHs that LIGO detected. The most significant source of uncertainty in the number of PBHs formed is now due to unknowns in the formation process, rather than from the phase transition. A near scale-invariant density power spectrum tuned to generate a population with mass and merger rate consistent with that detected by LIGO should also produce a much larger energy density of PBHs with solar mass. The existence of BHs below the Chandresekhar mass limit would be a smoking gun for a primordial origin and they could arguably constitute a significant fraction of the cold dark matter density. They also pose a challenge to inflationary model building which seek to produce the LIGO BHs without overproducing lighter PBHs.
Simple models of single-field inflation in the very early universe can generate the observed amplitude and scale dependence of the primordial density perturbation, but models with multiple fields can provide an equally good fit to current data. We show how future observations will be able to distinguish between currently favoured models. If a curvaton field generates the primordial perturbations after inflation, we show how the total duration of inflation can be measured.
In Tourette Syndrome, the expression of tics and commonly preceding premonitory sensations is associated with perturbed subjective feelings of self-control and agency. We compared responses to the Rubber Hand Illusion in 23 adults with TS and 22 controls. Both TS and control participants reported equivalent subjective embodiment of the artificial hand: feelings of ownership, location, and agency were greater during synchronous visuo-tactile stimulation, compared to asynchronous. However, individuals with TS did not manifest greater proprioceptive drift, an objective marker of embodiment observed in controls. An 'embodiment prediction error' index of the difference between subjective embodiment and objective proprioceptive drift correlated with severity of premonitory sensations. Feelings of ownership also correlated with premonitory sensation severity, and feelings of agency with tic severity. These findings suggest that subjective bodily ownership, as measured by the rubber hand illusion, contributes to susceptibility to the premonitory sensations that may be a precipitating factor in tics.
This thesis deals with the cognitive process of cinematic character construal and explores the question of how narrative film viewers presumably understand characters and make impressions about them as a result of the interplay of different types of schema.
Based on the cognitive concept of schema (Barlett [1932] 1995), Speech Act Theory (Austin, 1962; Searle, 1969) and cognitivist film theory (Bordwell,1985), a cognitive framework, which is inscribed within the cognitive stylistics theories and analytical frameworks, is proposed for character impression formation. The model posits that viewers understand characters in terms of the interactions between three planes of background knowledge: 1. Social knowledge (knowledge of real-life people, social roles, and interpersonal relations), 2. Narrative film knowledge (knowledge of film narrative, style and techniques), 3. Pragmalinguistic knowledge (knowledge of linguistic and pragmatic norms. The focus of the linguistic plane is on Speech Act Theory).
This research argues that film draws on medium-specific, multimodal devices to tell the story and create characters. With regard to the multimodality of film discourse, this thesis suggests a toolkit for character creation and comprehension. The three planes of social, film and pragmalinguistic schemas and also the marked aspects of the suggested cinematic character creation toolkit are all applied to three art auteur films: The Piano Teacher (2001), Autumn Sonata (1987), and Ten (2001), whose comprehension is challenging for viewers Pragmalinguistic because of their deviations from the conventional norms of Hollywood cinema in terms of narrative, characterization, cinematic style and techniques. Methodologically, this analysis is informed by multimodal analysis (Kress and van Leeuwen, 1996), and multimodal transcription (Baldry and Thibault, 2006) in particular, which consider text as an ensemble of different communication modes all of which contribute to meaningmaking. Thus, this analysis presents a detailed account of viewers’ plausible understanding trajectory, and an explanation of linguistic and visual/cinematic strategies to narrative (as the context in which characters are created and developed), and particularly character creation within the scope of the films mentioned above.
This study contributes to the literature on global governance by highlighting the importance of not losing sight of the nation state as an important player in the transnational governance arena. Specifically, literature on global (accounting) regulation devotes a great deal of attention to the roles of organisations and agencies with transnational remit (such as global standard setters, donor agencies) while often downplaying the significant impacts of the more traditional cross- country links forged through economic relationships and resource dependencies between national and transnational institutional fields. This was specially noted in the case of the indirect influences of the US’s decision to delay IFRS convergence. While being interpreted as an indirect source of influence, such a decision played a very significant role on the convergence negotiations in India. The study shows how the US influence was channelled through Japan with which India has significant trade and economic relations and, most importantly, holds a joint forum specifically to discuss convergence issues. The consequences of India’s links with countries such as US and Japan in the decision-making process provide a vivid indication of the important roles of cross-governmental relationships in the global governance arena, and also question the position of transnational organisations as pervasive powers in such governance. The study’s findings clearly demonstrate that the pursuit of full IFRS convergence strongly favoured by the transnational forces was invariably challenged in the Indian context by the influences of powerful nation states advocating a more cautious approach.
Purpose of review
Myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) is a severe, progressive genetic disease that affects between 1 in 3,000 and 8,000 individuals globally. No evidence-based guideline exists to inform the care of these patients, and most do not have access to multidisciplinary care centers staffed by experienced professionals, creating a clinical care deficit.
Recent findings
The Myotonic Dystrophy Foundation (MDF) recruited 66 international clinicians experienced in DM1 patient care to develop consensus-based care recommendations. MDF created a 2-step methodology for the project using elements of the Single Text Procedure and the Nominal Group Technique. The process generated a 4-page Quick Reference Guide and a comprehensive, 55-page document that provides clinical
care recommendations for 19 discrete body systems and/or care considerations.
Summary
The resulting recommendations are intended to help standardize and elevate care for this patient population and reduce variability in clinical trial and study environments. Described as “one of the more variable diseases found in medicine,” myotonic dystrophy type
1 (DM1) is an autosomal dominant, triplet-repeat expansion disorder that affects somewhere between 1:3,000 and 1:8,000 individuals worldwide.1 There is a modest association between increased repeat expansion and disease severity, as evidenced by the average age of onset and overall morbidity of the condition. An expansion of over 35 repeats typically indicates an unstable and expanding mutation. An expansion of 50 repeats or higher is consistent with a diagnosis of DM1. DM1 is a multisystem and heterogeneous disease characterized by distal weakness, atrophy, and myotonia, as well as symptoms in the heart, brain, gastrointestinal tract, endocrine, and respiratory systems. Symptoms may occur at any age. The severity of the condition varies widely among affected individuals, even among members of the same family.
Comprehensive evidence-based guidelines do not currently
exist to guide the treatment of DM1 patients. As a result, the international patient community reports varied levels of care and care quality, and difficulty accessing care adequate to manage their symptoms, unless they have access to multidisciplinary neuromuscular clinics.
Consensus-based care recommendations can help standardize
and improve the quality of care received by DM1 patients
and assist clinicians who may not be familiar with the significant variability, range of symptoms, and severity of the disease. Care recommendations can also improve the landscape for clinical trial success by eliminating some of the inconsistencies in patient care to allow more accurate understanding of the benefit of potential therapies.
The development of dementia friendly communities is a current global and national priority for the UK. As a response to policy, there have been a number of dementia awareness initiatives disseminated with the aim of reducing the stigma associated with a diagnosis of dementia. The inclusion of adolescents in such initiatives in imperative in order to sustain dementia friendly communities. With this is mind, the aim of this study was to establish the dementia education needs of adolescents and effective dissemination strategies to convey key messages. A total of 42 adolescents aged 12 to 18 years participated in eight focus group discussions. Key themes to emerge from discussions included: the importance of dementia awareness, topics of interest within dementia, preferred methods of learning, the inclusion of the person living with dementia and the use of social media. The findings of the study will enable the development of appropriate dementia awareness initiatives for adolescents and thus facilitate the sustainability of dementia friendly communities.
We examine the impacts of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) on government procurement practices in the European Union (EU). We empirically analyse whether the WTO GPA is effective in promoting nondiscriminant, open, transparent, competitive, and efficient government procurement. To study this question, we use a unique data set recently released by the EU, covering more than three million tenders conducted in the European Economic Area, Switzerland, and Macedonia during the years 2006 to 2016. We find that the WTO GPA promotes competition by increasing the probability of awarding a contract to a foreign firm. The WTO GPA significantly lowers corruption risk by decreasing the number of contracts with a single offer and decreasing the winning ratio of firms.
This commentary discusses Ireland’s 25 May 2018 Referendum result to repeal the Eighth Amendment and has two key aims. Firstly, it encourages policy-makers to grasp the full potential of legislative reform by enabling and protecting women’s access to abortion care within a continuum of sexual and reproductive healthcare options. Secondly, it calls for urgent clarity about access to abortion care in the interim period of legislative transition.
This paper explores the relationship between FDI spillovers and productivity in manufacturing firms in five European transition countries. The novelty of our approach lies in separating the impact of vertical linkages from services and manufacturing sectors. For this purpose, we rely on firm level data obtained from the Amadeus database and annual input-output tables. The results from a dynamic panel model reveal that local manufacturing firms benefit from the presence of foreign firms in upstream services, especially in the knowledge intensive services, and in downstream manufacturing sector while the effect of intra-industry spillovers and manufacturing forward linkages are negative. The firms’ productivity is also influenced positively by human capital and intangible assets. The results for intra-industry spillovers suggest attenuating effects for higher levels of firms’ absorptive capacity in some countries.
Patient derived anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor-T (CAR-T) cells are a powerful tool in achieving a complete remission in a range of B-cell malignancies, most notably B-acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (B-ALL) and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). However, there are limitations, including inability to manufacture CAR-T cells from the patient’s own T cells, disease progression and death prior to return of engineered cells. T cell dysfunction is known to occur in cancer patients, and several groups have recently described differences in CAR-T cells generated from chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) patients compared with those from a healthy donor. This is thought to contribute to the low response rate in this disease group. Healthy donor, gene-edited CAR-T cells which do not require human leucocyte antigen (HLA) matching have the potential to provide an ‘off the shelf’ product, overcoming the manufacturing difficulties of producing CAR-T cells for each individual patient. They may also provide a more functional, potent product for malignancies such as CLL, where T cell dysfunction is common and frequently cannot be fully reversed during the manufacturing process. Here we review the potential benefits and obstacles for healthy donor, allogeneic CAR-T cells.
In Brexit and the election of Donald Trump we have witnessed the rise of authoritarian populism. Across the Atlantic, appeals to the people are being made in the name of law and order, race and nation. Trump, Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson are not alone. In continental Europe, Marine Le Pen, Viktor Orbán, Geert Wilders and the Flemish national party, Vlaams Belang also suture individuals’ dissatisfaction with neoliberalism with racial, nationalist and authoritarian allures.
While moments such as Brexit provide a lens through which authoritarian populism becomes apparent, there is a risk that over-attention to its spectacle will detract from wider analysis of the problem at hand. Certainly, Farage and Johnson did not come out of thin air. Rather, they are the product of history and social context. As they took to the stage, their positions were already constituted in popular culture.
Architecture and urban development provide an important access point for this discussion. Key indicators of dominant culture, they offer incubators for the forms of populist authoritarianism so prominently observed. Newham’s Arc of Opportunity is a case in point. Here, in the regeneration of Stratford Town, Canning Town, Custom House and the Royal Docks we see authoritarianism fabricated in glass, grass and concrete, and we see this done in the name of the masses.
The impact of global capital and foreign investment on local communities is being felt in major cities across the world. Since the 2012 Olympics was awarded to the British capital, East London has been at the heart of the largest and most all-encompassing top-down urban regeneration strategy in civic history. At the centre of this has been the local government, Newham Council, and their daring proposal: an “Arc of Opportunity” for developers to transform 1,412 hectares of Newham. This proposal was outlined in a short film, London’s Regeneration Supernova, and shown to foreign developers and businesses at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo.
While the sweeping changes to East London have been keenly felt by locals, the symbolism and practicalities of these changes – for the local area, and the world alike – are overdue serious investigation. Regeneration Songs is about how places are turned into simple stories for packaged investment opportunities, how people living in those places relate to those stories, and how music and art can render those stories in many different ways.
The book will also include a download code to obtain the related musical project, Music for Masterplanning – in which musicians from East London soundtracked London’s Regeneration Supernova – and a glossy insert detailing the artists involved.
Contributors include Owen Hatherley, Joy White, Douglas Murphy and Will Jennings.
In this letter, we report the early detection of fetal cardiac electrical activity recorded from the maternal abdomen non-invasively. We developed a portable and non-invasive, prototype based on electric potential sensing technology to monitor both: the mother and fetal heart activity during pregnancy. In this proof of principle demonstration, we show the suitability of our technology to monitor the fetal heart development starting at week twenty, when the fetus heart is approximately one-tenth the size of an adult’s heart. The study was conducted for ten weeks to demonstrate how the maturation of the fetus leads to a change on the heart rate dynamics as it approaches birth. Importantly, electrocardiogram information is presented without any post processing given that our device eliminates the requirement of signal conditioning algorithms such as having to un-mix both, the maternal and fetal cardiac waveforms. The provided ECG trace allows extracting the heart rate and other heart activity parameters useful for further diagnostics. Finally, our device does not require any gels to be applied so movement induced potential is eliminated. This technology has the potential to be used for determining possible heart related congenital disorders during pregnancy.
This paper assesses the impact of human capital endowments on international competitiveness in Europe, with special reference to transition economies in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The analysis uses longitudinal data for 27 European economies over the period 1995-2010. In line with the orthodox theory, a positive relationship is found between the labor force’s level of educational attainment and competitiveness. While in the European Economic Area (EEA17) tertiary education is the only significant education-based determinant of the export market share, in CEECs both the shares of the workforce with secondary and tertiary education are significant with the former having a greater impact. Some evidence is found for the hypothesized impact of the quality of education.
This article reflects on the authors’ work in investigating how audiovisual practices might represent the experience of disused or ruined structures. With backgrounds in visual and sound practice respectively, the authors have, in their most recent experimental film project Coccolith [UK: Coccolith Productions], conceived the Ramsgate wartime tunnels in Kent as a point of collision for divergent artistic approaches to the representation of space. Challenging the site’s association with wartime mythology, the project sought to reconfigure the relationship between film and sound practice in order to articulate an alternative representation of the tunnels’ history, heritage and temporality. The article reflects on the role of the sound designer in developing soundscapes that embodied the ruined space, and on the role of the director in visually conceiving a spatial experience of the tunnels characterized by the absence of sound – silence. We argue that in conceiving an audiovisual project in terms of texture and gesture, it is possible to reconceptualize both the role of the soundtrack in relation to a film’s diegesis, and the role of the director in relation to sound design.
We described the cerebello-cerebral functional connectivity in a subject who developed a manic state after a cerebellar lesion. Whole brain investigation, performed by means of an advanced MRI examination, evidenced an isolated lesion involving the left lobules VI, VIIa (crus I), and IX and the posterior area of the vermis. The cerebello-cerebral functional connectivity analysis detected a pattern of altered connectivity in specific areas of the prefrontal-striatal-thalamic circuits that are typically altered in bipolar subjects during the manic state. Specifically, a pattern of hypo-connectivity was found between the cerebellum and cerebral regions known to be implicated in emotion modulation and social interaction. Conversely, a pattern of hyper-connectivity was found between the cerebellum and posterior cerebral cortical regions that are involved in sensorimotor functions. The present study represents the first evidence that dysregulation of cerebral networks consequent to a cerebellar lesion is at the root of bipolar disorder, at least the manic state, and provides a new framework for interpreting cerebellar modulation in the regulation of mood in specific psychiatric conditions.
In the last decade, researchers and policy makers alike have increasingly moved away from the consideration of single policy tools and towards a greater consideration of their combination and resulting interactions. Much of this policy design work has used – albeit with varying definitions and based on different bodies of literature – the term policy mix to capture such interacting instruments, may that be in environmental policy, innovation policy, biodiversity policy, or other policy fields. However, these ‘simple’ conceptualiza-tions of policy mixes have been recently extended to a consideration of more ‘complex’ policy mixes, particularly in the context of sustainability transitions, such as the transi-tion to low-carbon energy systems. This chapter will provide an overview of this new orientation in policy mix research, including an introduction to the major building blocks – the elements, processes and characteristics – as well as dimensions of ‘complex’ policy mixes. It concludes by outlining how such an extended policy mix concept can serve as integrated framework for policy mix evaluation and design.
Policy mixes may play a crucial role in redirecting and accelerating innovation towards low-carbon solutions, thus addressing a key societal challenge. Towards this end, some argue that the characteristics of such policy mixes matter greatly, yet with little empirical evidence backing up such claims. In this paper we explore this link between policy mix characteristics and low-carbon innovation, using the research case of the transition of the German electricity system towards renewable energy. Our empirical insights are based on an innovation survey administered to German manufacturers of renewable power generation technologies which builds on the Community Innovation Survey. For our purposes we adjusted the survey to better capture companies’ perceptions of policy mixes. Employing a bivariate Tobit model we find evidence that companies’ perceptions regarding the consistency and credibility of a policy mix are positively associated with their innovation expenditures for renewable energies, and this positive link intensifies when considering the mutual interdependence of these policy mix characteristics. In contrast, neither the comprehensiveness of the instrument mix nor the coherence of policy processes were found to be related to innovation expenditures. Overall, these findings suggest that future research on low-carbon and eco-innovation should pay greater attention to the characteristics of policy mixes, rather than focusing on policy instruments only. Finally, our findings indicate a need to consider how policy may be measured in innovation surveys to generate better informed policy advice regarding the greening of innovation.
The tritocerebral commissure giant (TCG) of the grasshopper Schistocerca gregaria is one of the best anatomically and physiologically described arthropod brain neurons. A member of the so-called Ventral Giant cluster of cells, it integrates sensory information from visual, antennal and hair receptors, and synapses with thoracic motor neurons in order to initiate and regulate flight behavior. Its ontogeny, however, remains unclear. In this study, we use bromodeoxyuridine incorporation and cyclin labeling to reveal proliferative neuroblasts in the region of the embryonic brain where the ventral giant cluster is located. Engrailed labeling confirms the deutocerebral identity of this cluster. Comparison of soma locations and initial neurite projections into tracts of the striate deutocerebrum help identify the cells of the ventral cluster in both the embryonic and adult brain. Reconstructions of embryonic cell lineages suggest deutocerebral NB1 as being the putative neuroblast of origin. Intracellular dye injection coupled with immunolabeling against neuron-specific horseradish peroxidase is used to identify the VG1 (TCG) and VG3 neurons from the ventral cluster in embryonic brain slices. Dye injection and backfilling are used to document axogenesis and the progressive expansion of the dendritic arbor of the TCG from mid-embryogenesis up to hatching. Comparative maps of embryonic neuroblasts from several orthopteroid insects suggest equivalent deutocerebral neuroblasts from which the homologous TCG neurons already identified in the adult brain could originate. Our data offer the prospect of identifying further lineage-related neurons from the cluster and so understand a brain connectome from both a developmental and evolutionary perspective.
Constitutional patriotism is a term introduced but not developed by Jürgen Habermas.
Muller’s approach to Constitutional Patriotism has brought more substance into it. This
thesis is a journey through Habermasian scholarship, primarily, for finding pieces of
constitutional patriotism. The scope of this is not limited to jurisprudence or sociology
alone but it is interdisciplinary in nature. Constitutional patriotism was an idea put forward
by Jürgen Habermas in the aftermath of the Second World War. I have a reconstructive
approach to the emergence of CP in the first few chapters of my thesis. I lay down the
intellectual and political context which gave rise to it. I will maintain that it is not only the
immediacy of the German political context which gave rise to the emergence of the term
Constitutional Patriotism. Constitutional Patriotism also stands on different aspects of his
political philosophy. Philosophical and sociological aspects of Habermas`s work have
different dimensions which could be interpreted into CP. His direct references to the term
CP are very rare. This thesis aims to bring together the different meanings underlying his
philosophy. I maintain that seemingly different concepts of his philosophy can, and ought
to be read constructively with a view to a holistic umbrella term which I bring under CP. In
this thesis, these concepts are identity, Europe, human rights, cosmopolitanism, the self
and democracy. Constitutional patriotism, which I seek to construct here, is a new idea of
attachment. It is based on existing forms of political and social attachment. In this respect,
it is ‘post’-national. Identity, in Constitutional Patriotism, is a form of attachment. It’s a
relationship with your own self and with others. It accepts that the individual and the
collective are closely linked while investigating the political and social dimension of these
relationships. It seeks to increase the critical thinking capacity. This process paves the way
for the realisation of abstract political and legal ideals such as human rights and
democracy. Each chapter of this thesis follows the former and opens up the space for
discussion for the latter. I hope that each reader will find a small piece of herself in it.
This thesis analyses the opportunities that child’s play presents for language, style and reading practices in the works of Henry James, Elizabeth Bowen and Don DeLillo, and the consequent forms of literary knowledge that this relationship between play and writing produces. I argue that James’s work represents a shift in literary and cultural relationships with “childhood” and trace the ways in which, following his work, childhood becomes a resistant performance of obliviousness, an unreadable subjectivity reluctantly tied to, and at points struggling against, the objects and activities associated with the child at play.
In the introduction I delineate a shared history of representations of “childhood” and theories of play in order to locate what versions of the Romantic child still exist in modernist and postmodernist literature and theory. Engaging with work by Jacqueline Rose, Robin Bernstein and Daniela Caselli on the difficulty of delineating or interpreting childhood, I explore a literary preoccupation with the aesthetic value of an elusive childhood knowledge, and forms of not knowing such as innocence, located in child’s play. Chapter one proposes that for James, the difficulty with reading the child is tied to the child as reader. In What Maisie Knew, James encourages what I term a childlike reading practice, which develops in response to an adult suspicion of childhood. The second chapter considers the ways in which imaginative child’s play in Bowen’s novels, and the work of the Romantic figure of the writer-as-child which emerges from the compulsion to appropriate this form of play, is continually disrupted by the materiality of toys. Often rendered impotent, these toys, such as tricycles and kaleidoscopes, interrupt modernity’s narratives of progress, and rupture the value systems of the modernist novel that privilege difficulty and subjectivity. My final chapter identifies the ways in which DeLillo’s novels attempt to redeem language by bringing pre-linguistic childhood babble into discourse to render accessible the secrets of childhood knowledge. DeLillo experiments with the pure games of poststructuralism only to contrast them with the play of the postmodern wild child able to navigate a post-apocalyptic wilderness of hyper-real simulacra.
These scenes in which writers engage with toys and child’s play to conceptualise the work of writing a novel and their relationship with their readership, form a narrative about the changing versions of literary knowledge that are produced in attempts to represent “childhood” in the face of its loaded Romantic literary history and twentieth-century shifts in cultural fantasies invested in the idea of the alterity of child’s play.
Very little is known about the characteristics of highly cited scientists in Africa. This is unfortunate as highly cited researchers are seen as key drivers of knowledge production for their countries and as important conduits of frontier knowledge into the local academic research community and society in general. In this article, we combined bibliometric and survey data to identify which researchers are producing highly cited research in Africa, and we employed econometric analysis to understand which characteristics are associated with the likelihood of being highly cited. Overall, our results suggest that, on average, researchers who produce more scientific publications in a year, collaborate more often with non-African partners, and do their highest qualification in an Anglo-Saxon university (the USA, the UK, Canada, or Australia), have a higher probability of producing highly cited research. We conclude by arguing about the duality of our results. On the one hand, collaborating with frontier universities seems to be a crucial mechanism that allows researchers to develop scientific capabilities. On the other hand, policy makers should be aware that research assessment in African countries should go beyond measuring scientific impact in the academic community. Otherwise, incentives will be in place to stimulate winners that are already well connected with the global scientific elite.
In this paper, we discuss the numerical solution of certain matrix-valued partial differential equations. Such PDEs arise, for example, when constructing a Riemannian contraction metric for a dynamical system given by an autonomous ODE. We develop and analyse a new meshfree discretisation scheme using kernel-based approximation spaces. However, since these pproximation spaces have now to be matrix-valued, the kernels we need to use are fourth order tensors. We will review and extend recent results on even more general reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces. We will then apply this general theory to solve a matrix-valued PDE and derive error estimates for the approximate solution. The paper ends with applications to typical examples from dynamical systems
This thesis focuses on developing efficient, atom-economic synthesis routes for functionalised 5-phenyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-1,4-benzodiazepin-2-one libraries. 1,4-Benzodiazepines (BZDs) are often referred to as “privileged scaffolds” due to their important biological activities; therefore, finding new efficient methods for synthesising such analogues is highly desirable in pharmaceutical and medicinal research.
Chapter 1 introduces the project detailing the biological importance and applications of BZDs. The classical synthetic routes towards BZDs and some of the limitations for efficient and rapid BZD-based library synthesis, followed by the aims of the project.
Chapter 2 presents a late-stage C-H activation method for synthesising ortho-arylated 5-phenyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-1,4-benzodiazepin-2-one, including a library of over twenty novel analogues. The microwave-mediated palladium catalysed arylation method is also applicable to nordazepam (7-chloro-5-phenyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-1,4-benzodiazepin-2-one), the active metabolite of diazepam. Further diversification of the compounds is achieved by N-alkylation and/or H/D exchange, which affords elaborated pharmaceuticals.
Chapter 3 describes an alternative catalytic visible light-mediated photoredox method for ortho-arylated 5-phenyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-1,4-benzodiazepin-2-ones. The protocol uses aryldiazonium salts in refluxing methanol and showcases an interesting phenomenon known as the “nuisance effect” with 2- or 4-fluorobenzenediazonium salts. It results in both fluoroaryl and methoxyaryl- products, the latter result from a nucleophilic aromatic substitution (SNAr) on the fluorobenzenediazonium salt (nuisance effect). The results from biological tests of the benzodiazepine libraries against GABAA receptors indicated that the C-7 substituent is vital for activities in GABA and only the 7-chloro-benzodiazepines show any reasonable activities, although ortho arylation is detrimental to bioactivity. A computational DFT analysis of the reaction mechanism from our collaborators is also discussed in the Chapter.
Chapter 4 contains a brief overview of C-H functionalisation protols. Moreover, in this Chapter, the photoredox C-H activation method combined with the nuisance effect are extended to other privileged scaffolds. This Chapter describes the synthesis of small libraries of 2-phenylpyridines and 1-phenyl-2-pyrrolidinones. The nuisance effect proves to be effective in creating small arrays of compounds from a single reaction and in X-ray screening arrays for biological testing. A number of 1-phenyl-2-pyrrolidinone analogues display promising biological activities towards NUDT7, a peroxisomal coenzyme A diphosphatase of current interest.
Chapter 5 focuses on the synthesis of a series of N1-arylated 5-phenyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-1,4-benzodiazepin-2-ones. The N-arylation occurs in one-step using a single 1,4-benzodiazepine precursor with unsymmetrical diaryliodonium salts in aqueous ammonia as a base.
Chapter 6 reports the scale-up synthesis of 6-(1H-indol-4-yl)-8-methoxy-1-methyl-4H-[1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a][1,4]benzodiazepine-4-acetic acid methyl ester, TC-AC-28. This BZD derivative is a highly selective bromo and extra terminal (BET) bromodomain inhibitor and a useful epigenetic tool compound. The near gram-scale, seven-step synthesis of this key chemical probe compound enabled it to be available for researchers through Tocris, one of our industry sponsors, and where I spent 3 months as part of my CASE award.
Chapter 7 concludes the thesis and concentrates on future directions.
A new series of cationic gold(I) pyrazole complexes were prepared in excellent yields as their perchlorate salts. Results of cell viability assays show that these novel complexes have good cytotoxic properties against the human HepG2 cancer cell line. These complexes showed promising anti-cancer activities and to our knowledge, pyrazoles have never been tested against this cell line. The regioselectivity of the complexation is also discussed in regards to the substitution pattern of the pyrazoles.
Permafrost deposits have been a sink for atmospheric carbon for millennia. Thaw-erosional processes, however, can lead to rapid degradation of ice-rich permafrost and the release of substantial amounts of organic carbon (OC). The amount of the OC stored in these deposits and their potential to be microbially decomposed to the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) depends on climatic and environmental conditions during deposition and the decomposition history before incorporation into the permafrost. Here, we examine potential greenhouse gas production in degrading ice-rich permafrost deposits from three locations in the northeast Siberian Laptev Sea region. The deposits span a period of about 55 kyr from the last glacial period and Holocene interglacial. Samples from all three locations were incubated under aerobic and anaerobic conditions for 134 days at 4 °C. Greenhouse gas production was generally higher in deposits from glacial periods, where 0.2–6.1% of the initially available OC was decomposed to CO2. In contrast, only 0.1–4.0% of initial OC were decomposed in permafrost deposits from the Holocene and the late glacial transition. Within the deposits from the Kargin interstadial period (Marine Isotope Stage 3), local depositional environments, especially soil moisture, also affected the preservation of OC. Sediments deposited under wet conditions contained more labile OC and thus produced more greenhouse gases than sediments deposited under drier conditions. To assess the greenhouse gas production potentials over longer periods, deposits from two locations were incubated for a total of 785 days. However, more than 50% of total CO2 production over 785 days occurred within the first 134 days under aerobic conditions while even 80% were produced over the same period under anaerobic conditions, which emphasizes the non-linearity of the OC decomposition processes. Methanogenesis was generally observed in active layer samples but only sporadically in permafrost samples and was several orders of magnitude smaller than CO2 production.
This article analyzes the effects of patronage networks on cohesion in the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It shows that while patronage networks provide support to individual military personnel, they undermine both peer and commander–subordinate bonding. They promote unequal service conditions and statuses and link these to extra-unit and extra-military forms of social identification, which are further reinforced by soldiers’ living and generating revenue among civilians. Furthermore, they impair meritocracy and frustrate the extent to which commanders live up to their subordinates’ expectations. As they fuel internal conflicts, often around revenue generation, and foster bad service conditions and distrust toward the political and military leadership, patronage networks also undermine institutional cohesion. The article concludes that cohesion formation in the FARDC follows different patterns than in well-institutionalized and well-resourced militaries. Given that cohesion impacts combat performance and norm enforcement, these findings are relevant for defense reform efforts and military cooperation.
Although two decades of militarization have normalized the presence of armed forces in eastern DR Congo, civilians continue to resist their power and practices, engaging in heterogeneous repertoires of contentious action. Focusing on resistance against the national army, this article analyzes the forms and effects of these contentious repertoires as well as the factors that shape them. The latter include the intimate and multi-faceted entanglement of civilian and military lives and the high fluidity of dynamics of conflict, insecurity and protection. These factors foster an orientation towards both the socially immediate and the socially imagined. Accordingly, it is appropriate to analyze civilian resistance in eastern DR Congo through the lens of “social navigation,” a term used to conceptualize social practice in volatile settings. Yet, social navigation’s focus on fluidity and flexibility does not allow for fully comprehending civilians’ contentious practices vis-à-vis the military. Following the theory of structuration, these practices are also shaped by relatively durable social structures, such as economic scarcity and deeply rooted socio-political imaginaries and modes of action relating to “stateness,” patronage, and social belonging. The imprint of these structures on social practice renders civilian resistance fleeting, incoherent, and personalized, thereby reducing its potential to undermine the military’s dominance. These observations indicate that even in highly volatile settings, the analysis of durable social structures remains crucial to understanding social practice, including resistance, and its effects on the social order. The analytical approach of social navigation must therefore be complemented by the theory of structuration.
Drawing on postcolonial theory, this article queries into the ways in which the concepts of militarism/militarization and securitization are applied to ‘African’ contexts. We highlight the selective nature of such application and probe into the potential reasons for and effects of this selectiveness, focusing on its signifying work. As we argue, the current selective uses of securitization and militarism/militarization in ‘Africa’ scholarship tend to recreate troublesome distinctions between ‘developed’ versus ‘underdeveloped’ spaces within theory and methodology. In particular, they contribute to the reproduction of familiar colonially scripted imagery of a passive and traditional ‘Africa’, ruled by crude force and somehow devoid of ‘liberal’ ideas and modes of governing. Yet we do not suggest simply discarding ‘selectiveness’ or believe that there are any other easy remedies to the tensions between universalism and particularism in theory application. Recognizing the ambivalent workings of colonial discourse, we rather contend that any attempts to trace the colonial into the present use of the concepts of securitization and militarism/militarization need to acknowledge the problematic nature of both discourses of ‘African’ Otherness and those of universalism and sameness.
The growing militarisation of nature conservation has refocused attention on the relations between counterinsurgency and conservation. This contribution analyses how these two phenomena entwine in the Virunga National Park, located in the war-ridden east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It examines how this entwinement relates to dynamics of conflict and violence, and how these dynamics shape and are shaped by the livelihood and resistance practices of local inhabitants. As it shows, a particularly important form of resistance is ‘guerrilla livelihood’ activities, or cultivation, (prohibited) fishing and logging within the boundaries of the park, which often take place under the protection of armed groups. By studying the interplay among such unauthorised exploitation of natural resources, different types of conflict, and insurgent mobilisation, it is demonstrated that strict law enforcement and joint operations of the Congolese army and park guards fuel, rather than mitigate, the dynamics feeding into armed mobilisation.
Based on comprehensive research among boat operators and navy personnel working on the Congo River (DRC), this article explores how assessments of ‘taxation’ are shaped by the interplay of legitimation and ‘officialisation’. As such, it draws upon and contributes to scholarly debates on taxpayers’ attitudes towards taxation. While boat operators resent having to pay a plethora of authorities, including the navy, along the Congo River, the article demonstrates how they locate these ‘taxes’ on a spectrum from more to less legitimate. These assessments are shaped by various factors: authorities’ legitimacy as ‘measured’ by their official mandate and importance; public and non-official service provision; and the deployment of symbols of ‘stateness’. In interaction, these factors legitimise and ‘officialise’ ‘taxes’ by the navy that are prohibited in legislation. These findings caution against the a priori use of the labels ‘official’ and ‘non-official’, emphasising the need to better grasp these notions’ emic understandings.
Scholars and practitioners agree that virtual teams (VTs) have become commonplace in today's digital workplace. Relevant literature argues that learning constitutes a significant contributor to team member satisfaction and performance, and that, at least in face-to-face teams, team cohesion fosters team learning. Given the additional challenges VTs face, e.g. geographical dispersion, which are likely have a negative influence on cohesion, in this paper we shed light on the relationship between team cohesion and team learning. We adopted a quantitative approach and studied 54 VTs in our quest to understand the role of feedback in mediating this relationship and, more specifically, the role of personality traits in moderating the indirect effect of team feedback and guided reflection intervention on TL through team cohesion within the VT context. Our findings highlight the importance of considering aspects related to the team composition when devising intervention strategies for VTs, and provide empirical support for an interactionist model between personality and emergent states such as cohesion. Implications for theory and practice are also discussed.
Queer International Relations’ momentum in the past four years has made it inconceivable for disciplinary IR to make it ‘appear as if there is no Queer International Theory’. The ‘queer turn’ has given rise to vibrant research programmes across IR subfields. Queer research is not only not a frivolous distraction from the ‘hard’ issues of IR, but queer analytics crack open for investigation fundamental dimensions of international politics that have hitherto been missed, misunderstood or trivialised by mainstream and critical approaches to IR. As queer research is making significant inroads into IR theorising, a fault line has emerged in IR scholarship on sexuality and queerness. Reflecting the tensions between Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Studies and Queer Theory in the academy more broadly, the IR literature on (homo)sexuality largely coalesces into two distinct approaches: LGBT and Queer approaches. The article will lay out the basic tenets of Queer Theory and discuss how it diverges from LGBT Studies. The article then turns to the books under review and focuses on the ways in which they take up the most prominent issue in contemporary debates in Queer Theory: the increasing inclusion of LGBT people into international human rights regimes and liberal states and markets. The article finishes with a brief reflection on citation practices, queer methodologies and the ethics of queer research.
Taking inspiration from complex natural phenomena such as chaos and unpredictability, as well as highly optimized organisms constituted by multitudes of interacting cells, evolutionary photonics aims at developing new sustainable technologies for renewable energy production, bioimaging, and scalable materials with advanced optical functionalities. These photonics systems integrate complex dielectric and/or metallic units into large networks of heterogeneous elements, which are entirely controlled by acting on the interactions among the different units that compose the network. This Review presents a selection of recent results in this research field, discussing advantages, challenges and perspectives of this technology in addressing global challenges in several scientific areas, ranging from broadband light energy harvesting, to scalable clean water production, early‐stage cancer detection, sensing, artificial intelligence, invisible structures, and to large‐scale optical materials with programmable functionality and robust structural coloration.
While the one-electron reduction of (CAACMe)BH2Br (CAACMe = 1-(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)-3,3,5,5-tetramethylpyrrolidin-2-ylidene) yields a hydride-shift isomer of the corresponding tetrahydrodiborane, a further reversible reduction leads to the first stable parent boryl anion, [(CAACMe)BH2]–, which acts as a powerful boron nucleophile.
Health care systems worldwide are having to adapt to ageing populations and increasing numbers of older people with frailty with complex health and social needs, and in the UK primary care is at the frontline of policy attempts to meet this challenge, but achieving the goal of making frailty an integral part of primary care practice is not without considerable challenges
Objective: to evaluate the association between SSRI and SNRI use and risk of fractures in older adults.
Methods: We systematically identified and analyzed observational studies comparing SSRI/SNRI use for depression with non-SSRI/SNRI use with a primary outcome of risk of fractures in older adults. We searched for studies in MEDLINE, PsycINFO, EMBASE, DARE, the Cochrane Library, Web of Science clinical trials research registers from 2011 for SSRIs and 1990 for SNRIs to November 29, 2016.
Results: Thirty-three studies met our inclusion criteria, 23 studies were included in meta-analysis: 9 case-control studies and 14 cohort studies. A 1.67-fold increase in the risk of fracture for SSRI users compared to non-users was observed (Relative Risk 1.67, 95% CI 1.56-1.79, p=0.000). The risk of fracture increases with their long-term use: within 1 year the risk is 2.9% or one additional fracture in every 85 users; within 5 years the risk is 13.4% or one additional fracture in every 19 users. In meta-regression we found that the increase in risk did not differ across age groups (OR=1.006; p=0.173). A limited number of studies on SNRIs use and the risk of fractures prevented us from conducting a meta-analysis.
Conclusions: Our systematic review showed an association between risk of fracture and the use of SSRIs, especially with increasing use. Age does not increase this risk. No such conclusions can be drawn about the effect of SNRIs on the risk of fracture due to a lack of studies.
The television broadcasting culture of Pakistan was changed dramatically in 2002. The President, General Pervez Musharraf, introduced a policy of liberalisation that enabled controversial issues such as honour killings, adultery, stoning to death, domestic violence, marriage after divorce and homosexuality to be increasingly depicted on screen.
Women and TV Culture in Pakistan is the first in-depth analysis of this change in television content. Munira Cheema focuses on how `gender issues' are dealt with on TV and examines the impact this has on female viewers. In Pakistan, television is often the only way in which women can access the public sphere (except through male guardians) and this book evaluates how TV content allows them to navigate their intersecting identities as Muslims, women and Pakistanis. At a time when religious conservatism is on the rise in the country, this book investigates why producers choose to focus on gender-based issues and the extent to which religion dictates social behaviour and broadcasting choices. Based on interviews with women viewers in Karachi as well as industry professionals including writers, directors and ratings experts, the research is a much-needed and original contribution to global television studies and gender studies.
Gendered content that travels through popular TV in Pakistan highlights gender-based crimes and allows women access to the mediated public sphere. This is an unprecedented form of access in a society that defines public/private through Shariah. The boundaries between the two spheres have thus far been immutable. Recent changes in the media landscape have made these boundaries porous. Drawing on theoretical debates on popular culture, cultural citizenship and counter public sphere, the study argues that these popular cultural spaces can be read in terms of an emerging feminist public sphere where women can engage as members of the public and as cultural citizens. To determine engagement patterns of young viewers, focus groups turned out to be effective method. In the sample of university students, there were 42 participants in 10 groups with 4 to 6 members in each group. The study finds that gendered content allows women to act in pro-civic ways. Their engagement with this content allows viewers to revisit their intersecting identities as Muslims, women and Pakistanis.
While the refugee convention was not written to protect women and LGBTI people, subsequent treaties and directives recognise the violence they experience as legitimate grounds for claiming asylum. However, to meet the threshold for persecution, it is expedient for women and LGBTI asylum seekers to present themselves as abject victims of brutal and backward regimes, reinforcing dichotomies between refugee- producing and refugee-receiving countries. Such narratives obscure the misogyny, homo- and transphobia prevalent in the West, potentially appropriating migrants’ rights for neocolonial agendas. This phenomenon has been identified by theorists within feminism, black feminist theory, queer theory, and post-colonialism. However, move to the field of practice and the surest way to secure refugee status is invariably to tell a story that resonates with decision makers; one in which an oppressed individual is given sanctuary in the pro-gay and female-friendly West. To tell a more nuanced story would jeopardise the individual’s claim, and women and LGBTI people already struggle to meet the requirements for refugee protection in a system that was not designed for them. This paper explores this difficulty in bridging theory and practice in relation to gender and sexual orientation based asylum claims.
Asylum seekers fleeing homophobia and transphobia to claim refuge in European countries have a difficult time. They experience many of the problems that all asylum seekers face – the abuses and injustices that forced them to leave their homes in the first place, combined with what was probably a difficult journey, followed by having to engage with a complex and unsympathetic asylum system in whichever European country they ended up in. However, LGBTQI+ people often encounter additional hurdles. Because their persecution may take place in private at the hands of family members or people in the community rather than state officials, it may be difficult to provide evidence to support their claim for asylum. And they are unlikely to be able to seek support from community organisations and their diaspora to the same extent as other refugees. They are particularly vulnerable to discrimination and violence, especially if they are detained pending a decision on their claim.
Cells have evolved conserved mechanisms to protect DNA ends, such as those at the termini of linear chromosomes, or those at DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). In eukaryotes, DNA ends at chromosomal termini are packaged into proteinaceous structures called telomeres. Telomeres protect chromosome ends from erosion, inadvertent activation of the cellular DNA damage response (DDR), and telomere fusion. In contrast, cells must respond to damage-induced DNA ends at DSBs by harnessing the DDR to restore chromosome integrity, avoiding genome instability and disease. Intriguingly, Rif1 (Rap1-interacting factor 1) has been implicated in telomere homeostasis as well as DSB repair. The protein was first identified in as being part of the proteinaceous telosome. In mammals, RIF1 is not associated with intact telomeres, but was found at chromosome breaks, where RIF1 has emerged as a key mediator of pathway choice between the two evolutionary conserved DSB repair pathways of non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) and homologous recombination (HR). While this functional dichotomy has long been a puzzle, recent findings link yeast Rif1 not only to telomeres, but also to DSB repair, and mechanistic parallels likely exist. In this review, we will provide an overview of the actions of Rif1 at DNA ends and explore how exclusion of end-processing factors might be the underlying principle allowing Rif1 to fulfill diverse biological roles at telomeres and chromosome breaks.
The article examines the natural worlds of the British Empire
This article presents contemporary oral histories collected in Roman convent, focusing on the issue of the work of women religious. Drawing on the work of other scholars of women religious, the article argues that the work of nuns has historically been overlooked.
We perform a search for stellar streams around the Milky Way using the first 3 yr of multiband optical imaging data from the Dark Energy Survey (DES). We use DES data covering ∼5000 deg2 to a depth of g>23.5 with a relative photometric calibration uncertainty of <1%. This data set yields unprecedented sensitivity to the stellar density field in the southern celestial hemisphere, enabling the detection of faint stellar streams to a heliocentric distance of ∼50 kpc. We search for stellar streams using a matched filter in color–magnitude space derived from a synthetic isochrone of an old, metal-poor stellar population. Our detection technique recovers four previously known thin stellar streams: Phoenix, ATLAS, Tucana III, and a possible extension of Molonglo. In addition, we report the discovery of 11 new stellar streams. In general, the new streams detected by DES are fainter, more distant, and lower surface brightness than streams detected by similar techniques in previous photometric surveys. As a by-product of our stellar stream search, we find evidence for extratidal stellar structure associated with four globular clusters: NGC 288, NGC 1261, NGC 1851, and NGC 1904. The ever-growing sample of stellar streams will provide insight into the formation of the Galactic stellar halo, the Milky Way gravitational potential, and the large- and small-scale distribution of dark matter around the Milky Way.
We present accretion disk size measurements for 15 luminous quasars at 0.7�z�1.9 derived from griz light
curves from the Dark Energy Survey. We measure the disk sizes with continuum reverberation mapping using two methods, both of which are derived from the expectation that accretion disks have a radial temperature gradient and the continuum emission at a given radius is well described by a single blackbody. In the first method we measure the relative lags between the multiband light curves, which provides the relative time lag between shorter and longer wavelength variations. From this, we are only able to constrain upper limits on disk sizes, as many are consistent with no lag the 2σ level. The second method fits the model parameters for the canonical thin disk directly rather than solving for the individual time lags between the light curves. Our measurements demonstrate good agreement with the sizes predicted by this model for accretion rates between 0.3 and 1 times the Eddington rate. Given our large uncertainties, our measurements are also consistent with disk size measurements from gravitational microlensing studies of strongly lensed quasars, as well as other photometric reverberation mapping results, that find disk sizes that are a factor of a few (∼3) larger than predictions.
The primary goals of the STRong lensing Insights into the Dark Energy Survey (STRIDES) collaboration are to measure the dark energy equation of state parameter and the free streaming length of dark matter. To this aim, STRIDES is discovering strongly lensed quasars in the imaging data of the Dark Energy Survey and following them up to measure time delays, high resolution imaging, and spectroscopy sufficient to construct accurate lens models. In this paper, we first present forecasts for STRIDES. Then, we describe the STRIDES classification scheme, and give an overview of the Fall 2016 follow-up campaign.We continue by detailing the results of two selection methods, the outlier selection technique and a morphological algorithm, and presenting lens models of a system that could possibly be a lensed quasar in an unusual configuration. We conclude with the summary statistics of the Fall 2016 campaign. Including searches presented in companion papers (Anguita et al.; Ostrovski et al.), STRIDES followed up 117 targets identifying 7 new strongly lensed systems, and 7 nearly identical quasars, which could be confirmed as lenses by the detection of the lens galaxy. 76 candidates were rejected and 27 remain otherwise inconclusive, for a success rate in the range of 6–35 per cent. This rate is comparable to that of previous searches like SDSS Quasar Lens Search even though the parent data set of STRIDES is purely photometric and our selection of candidates cannot rely on spectroscopic information.
We present two galaxy shape catalogues from the Dark Energy Survey Year 1 data set, covering 1500 deg2 with a median redshift of 0.59. The catalogues cover two main fields: Stripe 82, and an area overlapping the South Pole Telescope survey region. We describe our data analysis process and in particular our shape measurement using two independent shear measurement pipelines, METACALIBRATION and IM3SHAPE. The METACALIBRATION catalogue uses a Gaussian model with an innovative internal calibration scheme, and was applied to riz bands, yielding 34.8M objects. The IM3SHAPE catalogue uses amaximum-likelihood bulge/disc model calibrated using simulations, and was applied to r-band data, yielding 21.9M objects. Both catalogues pass a suite of null tests that demonstrate their fitness for use in weak lensing science. We estimate the 1σ uncertainties in multiplicative shear calibration to be 0.013 and 0.025 for the METACALIBRATION and IM3SHAPE catalogues, respectively.
The established cosmological theory which describes the history of the Universe since shortly after the “Big Bang” until today is remarkably successful. Thanks to the increasing precision of available observational data, we are now able to considerably constrain the geometry and composition of the Universe - and to glimpse how these will evolve in the near future. However, this success comes at a price: one must assume the Universe “started” in a highly fine-tuned initial condition. Understanding what came before this is therefore one of the main goals of modern cosmology.
This thesis attempts to further our understanding of the epoch before this initial condition in three different ways.
Firstly, the concept of negative absolute temperatures (NAT) is introduced and its potential relevance for cosmology is investigated. In particular, it is shown that a Universe at a NAT should undergo a period of inflation - although it is unclear whether this would be consistent with current observations.
Secondly, work is done on the topic of the evolution of networks of cosmic strings - topological defects which are expected to form in a broad class of phase transitions the
Universe may have gone through. A model which takes into account the presence of small-scale structure in strings is used to address questions concerning the existence and stability of scaling regimes for these networks.
Finally, it is investigated how future experiments might try to falsify a simple class of canonical single-field slow-roll inflation models by measuring the running and the running of the running of the spectral index of scalar perturbations.
We present a structural and morphological catalogue for 45 million objects selected from the first year data of the Dark Energy Survey (DES). Single Sersic fits and non-parametric ´ measurements are produced for g, r, and i filters. The parameters from the best-fitting Sersic ´ model (total magnitude, half-light radius, Sersic index, axis ratio, and position angle) are mea- ´ sured with GALFIT; the non-parametric coefficients (concentration, asymmetry, clumpiness, Gini, M20) are provided using the Zurich Estimator of Structural Types (ZEST+). To study the statistical uncertainties, we consider a sample of state-of-the-art image simulations with a realistic distribution in the input parameter space and then process and analyse them as we do with real data: this enables us to quantify the observational biases due to PSF blurring and magnitude effects and correct the measurements as a function of magnitude, galaxy size, Sersic ´ index (concentration for the analysis of the non-parametric measurements) and ellipticity. We present the largest structural catalogue to date: we find that accurate and complete measurements for all the structural parameters are typically obtained for galaxies with SEXTRACTOR MAG AUTO I ≤ 21. Indeed, the parameters in the filters i and r can be overall well recovered up to MAG AUTO ≤ 21.5, corresponding to a fitting completeness of ∼90 per cent below this threshold, for a total of 25 million galaxies. The combination of parametric and non-parametric structural measurements makes this catalogue an important instrument to explore and understand how galaxies form and evolve. The catalogue described in this paper will be publicly released alongside the DES collaboration Y1 cosmology data products at the following URL: https://des.ncsa.illinois.edu/releases.
The effective field theory of quantum gravity generically predicts non-locality to be present in the effective action, which results from the low-energy propagation of gravitons and massless matter. Working to second order in gravitational curvature, we reconsider the effects of quantum gravity on the gravitational radiation emitted from a binary system. In particular, we calculate for the first time the leading order quantum gravitational correction to the classical quadrupole radiation formula which appears at second order in Newton’s constant.
The typographic imaginary is an aesthetic linking authors from William Caxton to Alexander Pope, this study centrally contends. Early modern English literature engages imaginatively with printing and this book both characterizes that engagement and proposes the typographic imaginary as a framework for its analysis. Certain texts, Rachel Stenner states, describe the people, places, concerns, and processes of printing in ways that, over time, generate their own figurative authority. The typographic imaginary is posited as a literary phenomenon shared by different writers, a wider cultural understanding of printing, and a critical concept for unpicking the particular imaginative otherness that printing introduced to literature. Authors use the typographic imaginary to interrogate their place in an evolving media environment, to assess the value of the printed text, and to analyse the roles of other text-producing agents. This book treats a broad array of authors and forms: printers’ manuals; William Caxton’s paratexts; the pamphlet dialogues of Robert Copland and Ned Ward; poetic miscellanies; the prose fictions of William Baldwin, George Gascoigne, and Thomas Nashe; the poetry and prose of Edmund Spenser; writings by John Taylor and Alexander Pope. At its broadest, this study contributes to an understanding of how technology changes cultures. Located at the crossroads between literary, material, and book historical research, the particular intervention that this work makes is threefold. In describing the typographic imaginary, it proposes a new framework for analysis of print culture. It aims to focus critical engagement on symbolic representations of material forms. Finally, it describes a lineage of late medieval and early modern authors, stretching from the mid-fifteenth to the mid-eighteenth centuries, that are linked by their engagement of a particular aesthetic.
Prediction of rock slide events remains a difficult task for geoscientists. Kinematic analysis provides an indication of possible modes of failure at a site. However, the highly variable nature of chalk compressive strength due to variations in water content and salt weathering is such that parameterizing models of slope stability can result in large variations in the resultant factor of safety. In this work, we use high-precision monitoring data of an eroding coastal cliff to characterize the geometry of a large wedge failure in chalk. We use these data in conjunction with published material properties to model the joint compressive strength of the chalk at the time of failure through back analysis. Results indicate a strength of 7.19 KPa for the chalk suggesting that the joint surface was close to saturation at the time of failure.
What might socialist development look like? Mainstream conceptions of development regard capital accumulation as the bedrock upon which to achieve human development. In these conceptions of change, labouring classes are regarded as fuel for the development motor, which in turn justifies their exploitation and oppression. This essay asks, in contrast, how a non-exploitative socialist development strategy might be operationalised. It does so by conducting a thought experiment: Imagine that labouring classes, supported by a small-farmer/peasant sector have conquered political power in a poor country. Imagine too, that there is no immediate prospect of a socialist ascendency elsewhere in the world. What kinds of development strategies, policies and practices would and could a nascent socialist state pursue? This essay discusses the problems such a nascent socialist state would face, notes ways in which wealth distribution, even in very poor countries, can provide the basis of significant human developmental gains, and advances a 10-point plan for sustainable socialist transformation.
A doubly base-stabilized diborane based on a benzylphosphine linker was prepared by a salt elimination reaction between 2-LiC6H4CH2PCy2.Et2O and B2Br4. This compound was reduced with KC8 to its corresponding diborene, with the benzylphosphine forming a five-membered chelate. The diborene reacts with butadiene, 2-trimethylsiloxy-1,3-butadiene and isoprene to form 4,5-diboracyclohexenes, which interconvert between their 1,1- (geminal) and 1,2- (vicinal) chelated isomers. The 1,1-chelated diborene undergoes a halide-catalysed isomerisation into its thermodynamically favoured 1,2-isomer, which undergoes Diels-Alder reactions more slowly than the kinetic product.
Thin-walled structures are often used as kinetic energy absorbers in vehicular systems and infrastructure designs. In such applications, high specific energy absorption is usually desirable, because it is beneficial for weight reduction. The dimpling cold-roll metal forming process introduces dimpled geometry and increases the strength of sheet metal. This thesis aims to investigate the energy absorption characteristics of the dimpled thin-walled structures.
A finite element (FE) modelling analysis was performed using ANSYS Explicit Dynamics solver, to predict the response of dimpled structures to dynamic and quasi-static loads. A series of experimental tests were conducted and the FE method was validated through comparing the numerical and experimental results.
To understand the response of the dimpled structural components to axial crushing loads, numerical simulations were performed. A parametric study on a key cold-roll forming parameter “forming depth” was carried out to evaluate its effects on the dimpled geometry and material properties. Through the parametric study, manufacturing parameters for the cold-roll forming process were suggested to improve yield strength and energy absorption performance of dimpled steel components. It was shown that the specific energy absorption can be increased by up to 16% after optimizing the forming depth.
To take the most advantage of the dimpled geometry, multi-layer dimpled thin-walled columns were analysed. The interlocking mechanism of dimpled plates were investigated and an empirical model was proposed to describe the interaction between dimpled plates. It was shown that a considerable amount of energy can be absorbed through the interaction between dimpled walls.
The behaviour of dimpled columns under lateral impact loads was also investigated. It was revealed that the introduced dimpled geometry contributes to reducing the peak impact force without sacrificing the energy absorption capacity. However, this is only valid when at least one end of the dimpled thin-walled column is fully restrained.
In 1909 two worlds collided in Bethlehem. A successful and cosmopolitan merchant from the town was brought back from the dead by a local nun who had never left Palestine. This article presents an experiment in biographical writing by reconstructing the miracle and the lives that unfolded around it. At first glance, the two protagonists could not appear more different. The merchant, Jubra’il Dabdoub (1860−1931), was among Bethlehem’s ‘pioneer’ generation of merchant migrants − young men who boarded steamships setting sail from Jaffa in the 1870s and 1880s, to travel all over the world in a bid to make their fortunes. The nun, Marie-Alphonsine (1843–1927), born in Jerusalem, was a fiercely devout woman who embraced a life of poverty and founded a religious order, the Congregation of the Rosary Sisters (still active today), devoted to serving local Arab girls and women. In 2015 she and Mariam Bawardi were canonized by Pope Francis as the first Catholic Palestinian female saints.Despite the apparently divergent biographies of these characters, they were both products of the same local society. The article below attempts to place the reader within the world views of Jubra’il Dabdoub and Marie Alphonsine, rather than argue through a detached, analytical style of writing. More specifically, it employs a magical realist mode of storytelling to create a mood in which supernatural occurrences are experienced as routine events while the manifestations of global capitalism are looked upon with wonder and trepidation. As a literary genre, magical realism constantly seeks to destabilize the reader’s sense of the mundane and the extraordinary, the illusory and the real. As such it has much to offer historians interested in adapting their writing to mirror subjects who seem unfazed Jerusalem Quarterly 73 [ 11 ] by supernatural events while simultaneously living through great social, political or economic upheaval. In the case of Bethlehem, as with Palestine more broadly, profoundly unsettling changes were occurring at the turn of the twentieth century. The article seeks to capture these upheavals through the eyes of the local inhabitants, especially in terms of migration, technology, and the pull of Arab identity, while asserting the sense of magic and piety that underpinned people’s experiences of these changes. To achieve consistency in style, I have at times embellished historical sources by drawing on wider research to imagine how a person might have experienced a given event. This is particularly the case with Jubra’il Dabdoub who left behind no written reflections on his life, but only fragments of sources relating to his activities as an itinerant merchant. I have indicated clearly in the endnotes where I have gone beyond the empirically available evidence. Jubra’il Dabdoub is also the subject of a monograph I am currently writing that will explore in more depth the potential of fictional and folkloric narrative techniques to capture the lives of these types of historical actors.
Two 400 μm diameter Al0.52In0.48P p+-i-n+ mesa photodiodes (6 μm i layer) were fabricated from a wafer grown by metalorganic vapour phase epitaxy (MOVPE) and then studied at temperatures from 140 °C to -20 °C for the development of temperature tolerant 55Fe X-ray photovoltaic and 63Ni betavoltaic microbatteries. The Al0.52In0.48P epitaxial layers are the thickest so far reported for this emerging application. At each temperature, the performances of the Al0.52In0.48P detectors were analysed in dark conditions, as well as under the illumination of a 182 MBq 55Fe radioisotope X-ray source and a 185 MBq 63Ni radioisotope source. An open circuit voltage as high as 1.13 V was found for both the Al0.52In0.48P X-ray photovoltaic cells at -20 °C; whilst an open circuit voltage of 0.47 V was found for the best 63Ni betavoltaic cell, at the same temperature. Maximum output powers of 1.44 pW and 1.36 pW were obtained from the two X-ray photovoltaic cells at -20 °C; combining the output powers of these two Al0.52In0.48P X-ray photovoltaic cells, a total maximum output power as high as 2.8 pW could be obtained at 20 °C. Maximum output powers of 0.18 pW and 0.13 pW were instead extracted from the two betavoltaic cells at -20 °C, these could lead to a total maximum output power as high as 0.3 pW at 20 °C. Conversion efficiencies of 2.2% and 0.06% were found, respectively, for the best Al0.52In0.48P X-ray photovoltaic and betavoltaic cells at -20 °C. With respect to previously reported Al0.52In0.48P X-ray photovoltaic cells with thinner i layers, the 6 μm Al0.52In0.48P X-ray photovoltaic cells had higher short circuit current, open circuit voltage, maximum output power, and conversion efficiency. The 6 μm Al0.52In0.48P betavoltaic cells instead presented similar performances to previously analysed Al0.52In0.48P betavoltaic cells.
In this paper for the first time, an InGaP photodiode was used in a high temperature tolerant X-ray spectrometer. The use of InGaP in X-ray spectrometers shows a significant advance within this field allowing operation up to 100 °C. Such results are particularly important since GaP and InP (the InGaP binary parent compounds) are not spectroscopic even at room temperature. The best energy resolution (smallest FWHM) at 5.9 keV for the InGaP spectrometer was 1.27 keV at 100 °C and 770 eV at 20 °C, when the detector was reverse biased at 5 V. The observed FWHM were higher than the expected statistically limited energy resolutions indicating that other sources of noise contributed to the FWHM broadening. The spectrometer’s Si preamplifier electronics was the limiting factor for the FWHM rather than the InGaP photodiode itself. The InGaP electron-hole pair creation energy (εInGaP) was experimentally measured across the temperature range 100 °C to 20 °C. εInGaP was 4.94 eV ± 0.06 eV at 20 °C.
This thesis looks at defiance in civil society and aims to contribute towards a deeper understanding of contestation against regimes that restrict the expansion of the political playing field in sub-Saharan Africa. It also analyses the role of contemporary African activists in these contestations, and examines why some social contestation process are successful and others not. The role of Mozambican activists from aid-supported NGOs in relevant political movements between 2010 and 2015 is a key issue. The first part of the thesis offers a theoretical overview of civil society as contesting actor in Africa and Mozambique, and outlines the construction of concepts of civil society latency, defiance and co-construction through a theoretical framework that draws on the literature on moral economy, social movements, contentious politics, the public sphere, power and competitive authoritarianism. Analysis of two contrasting civil society organisations, the LDH (the League for Human Rights) and UNAC (the Mozambican Peasants’ Union), aims to give a better understanding of public spaces for participation and defiance, and to follow the movement of activists from urban areas towards traditional indigenous sectors so as to ensure that vital issues for communities are brought into the public sphere. It also looks at the neutralisation processes suffered by organisations that offer support and/or directly organise contestation of government initiatives and policies that have a negative impact on the population. The case studies draw on research over a period of three years in the city of Maputo and the provinces of Nampula, Cabo Delgado, Tete, Zambezia and Manica. They examine the reasons for contestations around land issues between 2010-2015, focusing on peasants' and NGOs' resistance to the ProSAVANA agrarian development project, and on urban protests against abductions and against the 2012-2015 return to civil war, investigating the role of European donors and government in the near destruction of one of the most well-known NGOs in Africa.
Background: The pro-myelinating effects of leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) and other cytokines of the gp130 family, including oncostatin M (OSM) and ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF), have long been known, but controversial results have also been reported. We recently overexpressed erythropoietin receptor (EPOR) in rat central glia-4 (CG4) oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) to study the mechanisms mediating the pro-myelinating effects of erythropoietin (EPO). In this study, we investigated the effect of co-treatment with EPO and LIF.
Methods: Gene expression in undifferentiated and differentiating CG4 cells in response to EPO and LIF was analysed by DNA microarrays and by RT-qPCR. Experiments were performed in biological replicates of N ≥ 4. Functional annotation and biological term enrichment was performed using DAVID (Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery). The gene-gene interaction network was visualised using STRING (Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes).
Results: In CG4 cells treated with 10 ng/ml of EPO and 10 ng/ml of LIF, EPO-induced myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) expression, measured at day 3 of differentiation, was inhibited ≥ 4-fold (N=5, P < 0.001). Inhibition of EPO-induced MOG was also observed with OSM and CNTF. Analysis of the gene expression profile of CG4 differentiating cells treated for 20 h with EPO and LIF revealed LIF inhibition of EPO-induced genes involved in lipid transport and metabolism, previously identified as positive regulators of myelination in this system. In addition, among the genes induced by LIF, and not by differentiation or by EPO, the role of suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (SOCS3) and toll like receptor 2 (TLR2) as negative regulators of myelination was further explored. LIF-induced SOCS3 was associated with MOG inhibition; Pam3, an agonist of TLR2, inhibited EPO-induced MOG expression, suggesting that TLR2 is functional and its activation decreases myelination.
Conclusions: Cytokines of the gp130 family may have negative effects on myelination, depending on the cytokine environment.
This paper explores how feminist movements in contemporary Ireland and the Women’s Liberation Movement in Britain in the 1970s and 1980s have subverted state domination and have struggled for self-governance of the female bodies in ways that represent a continuum of responses to restrictive legislation. We address how discourses of liberatory knowledges and autonomy can give rise to ‘illegitimate’ forms of self-care as well as extra-state care (or ‘exile’) across historically-situated points in time. Moreover, we illustrate how social resistance can influence political action surrounding abortion law reform, which can be understood as an attempt to bring the ‘illegitimate’ into the realm of state control and guardianship. Our comparative approach illustrates how campaigns around reproductive rights in contemporary Ireland and in 1970s and 1980s Britain continue to share three crucial strategies: to raise consciousness and awareness; to encourage mobilisation and self-organising of care at the individual and collective levels; and to seek legislative change. Mapping the continuities in how feminist campaigns configure reproductive health and the body as a site of activism in the body politic heralds renewed feminist encounters with the medical humanities, by (re)situating women’s bodies in a historically contiguous struggle for reproductive justice.
This study contrasts two national solar home system (SHS) programs that relied on the same World Bank approach, but reached dramatically different results. The Energy Services Delivery Project (ESDP) in Sri Lanka was an exemplary renewable energy access program, successfully installing 21,000 off-grid SHSs alongside grid-connected mini-hydro capacity and off-grid village hydroelectric systems. It reached all of its targets ahead of schedule and below cost. By contrast, the Indonesia Solar Home System Project (ISHSP), which ran from 1997 to 2003, sought to reach one million rural Indonesians through the sales and installation of 200,000 SHSs. However, by project closing in 2003, less than five percent of the original sales target, or only 8,054 units, had been installed. The ESDP and ISHSP were the World Bank’s first foray into a “market-based renewable energy services provision model.” Based on original research interviews and field observation, the article finds that contrasting the two programs—one a success, the other a failure—offers lessons for energy and development practitioners, namely that effective programs are those that select appropriate technology, often with input from households themselves; they promote community participation and ownership; and they have robust marketing, demonstration, and promotion activities.
EMBARGOED - expected end date 18.09.2023
The intellectual authors of neoliberalism were aware of the lethal implications of what they advocated. For ‘the market’ to work, the state was to refuse protection to those unable to secure their subsistence, while dissidents were to be repressed. What has received less attention is how deadly neoliberal reforms increasing come wrapped in social, legal and humanistic rhetoric. We see this not only in ‘social’ and ‘legal’ rationales for tearing away safety nets in Europe’s former social democratic heartlands, but also in the ‘pro-poor’ emphasis of contemporary development discourse. This includes contexts where colonial legacies have facilitated extreme armed violence in service of corporate plunder. To expose these dynamics, I juxtapose the everyday violence of austerity in Britain with neoliberal restructuring in Colombia. The latter is instructive precisely because, in tandem with widespread state-backed terror, Colombia has held fast to the language and institutions of liberal democracy. It has, as a result, prefigured the subtle authoritarian tendencies now increasingly prominent in European states.
The reconceptualization of law, rights and social policy that has accompanied neoliberal globalization is deeply fascistic. Authoritarian state power is harnessed to the power of transnational capital, often accompanied by nationalistic and racist ideologies that legitimize refusal of protection and repression, enabling spiraling inequality. Nevertheless, extending Boaventura de Sousa Santos’s discussion of ‘social fascism’, I suggest that widespread appeal to the ‘social’ benefits and ‘legal necessity’ of lethal economic policies marks a significant and Orwellian shift. Not only are democratic forces suppressed: the very meanings of democracy, rights, law and ethics are being reshaped, drastically inhibiting means of challenging corporate power.
This paper examines the educational efficacy of a learning environment in which children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) engage in social interactions with an artificially intelligent (AI) virtual agent and where a human practitioner acts in support of the interactions. A multi-site intervention study in schools across the UK was conducted with 29 children with ASC and learning difficulties, aged 4-14 years old. For reasons related to data completeness and amount of exposure to the AI environment, data for 15 children was included in the analysis. The analysis revealed a significant increase in the proportion of social responses made by ASC children to human practitioners. The number of initiations made to human practitioners and to the virtual agent by the ASC children also increased numerically over the course of the sessions. However, due to large individual differences within the ASC group, this did not reach significance. Although no evidence of transfer to the real-world post-test was shown, anecdotal evidence of classroom transfer was reported. The work presented in this paper offers an important contribution to the growing body of research in the context of AI technology design and use for autism intervention in real school contexts. Specifically, the work highlights key methodological challenges and opportunities in this area by leveraging interdisciplinary insights in a way that (i) bridges between educational interventions and intelligent technology design practices, (ii) considers the design of technology as well as the design of its use (context and procedures) on par with one another, and (iii) includes design contributions from different stakeholders, including children with and without ASC diagnosis, educational practitioners and researchers.
It is widely accepted that voluntary corporate responsibility for human rights is a means of continuing “business-as-usual”. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been denounced as “whitewash”, with little effect in practice. I claim here that voluntary CSR is far worse than “whitewash”: it actively bolsters corporate impunity by rendering the violence of development illegible and equating resistance with irrationality or subversion. It thrives upon the state of exception that provides the permissive context of human rights violations. I make this argument by returning to the birthplace of corporate responsibility for human rights: BP’s Colombian oilfields, combining ethnographic research with trenchant critique of the colonial myths informing mainstream discussion of business and human rights. The UN has responded to the potential of voluntary CSR to detract from abuses by emphasising the importance of judicial remedy. What the analysis here reveals is how voluntary measures and provision for judicial remedy may work in opposite directions.
Chapter in forthcoming book, Women's Legal Landmarks in the UK and Ireland
It may be assumed that language marking scheme at universities is universal regardless of culture. However, this assumption will be challenged by this presentation. Language assessment criteria are different depending on each higher educational institution even within the British universities and some language teachers may have less workload in marking and grading students’ essay writing than others. This presentation specifically looks at the writing section on the marking scheme which was used for Japanese Level 1 at a British STEM university in 2016/17 and explains the characteristics, strengths, weaknesses and implications for language teachers and students. In the 10 minutes discussion/question, it is hoped to have an opportunity for open discussion to compare the similarities or differences of the assessment criteria of other disciplines or languages.
This chapter focuses on the well-documented misalignment between energy-related behaviors and the personal values of consumers, which has become a major source of angst among policymakers. Despite widespread pro-environmental or green attitudes, consumers frequently purchase non-green alternatives. The chapter identifies 50 theoretical approaches that can be divided almost equally into two types: those that emphasize beliefs, attitudes, and values; and those that also consider contextual factors and social norms. Three principles of intervention are recommended: provide credible and targeted information at points of decision; identify and address the key factors inhibiting and promoting the target behaviors in particular populations; and rigorously evaluate programs to provide credible estimates of impact and opportunities for improvement. The chapter recommends that research on the value-action gap be expanded beyond the traditional focus on individuals to include decision-making units such as households, boards of directors, commercial buying units, and government procurement groups.
The five Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden have aggressive climate and energy policies in place and are largely on track in their decarbonisation of electricity, heat, and buildings. Transportation and mobility, however, remains a pressing challenge. This study asks: what are the greatest national and regional transport challenges facing Nordic countries? To provide an answer, the authors conducted 227 semi-structured interviews with participants from 201 institutions across seventeen cities within the Nordic region. Those interviewed represent a diverse array of stakeholders involved with transport technology, policy and practice. Although respondents identified 44 distinct transport challenges, the fossil fuel intensity of transport was by far the most frequently mentioned by than two-fifths (42%) of the expert sample. Five other challenges were also mentioned the most frequently by respondents: long travel distances (17%), the state of public transport infrastructure (16%), congestion (15%), population density (10%), and electrification of transport (10%). Interestingly, items such as costs and affordability, energy or transport efficiency, consumer knowledge and awareness, and automobile accidents were mentioned by only 3% (or less). The article concludes by what this heterogeneity and prioritization of challenges means for future Nordic research and policy.
Introduction: Inertial sensors generate objective and sensitive metrics of movement disability that may indicate fall risk in many clinical conditions including multiple sclerosis (MS). The Timed-Up-And-Go (TUG) task is used to assess patient mobility because it incorporates clinically-relevant submovements during standing. Most sensor-based TUG research has focused on the placement of sensors at the spine, hip or ankles; an examination of thigh activity in TUG in multiple sclerosis is wanting.
Methods: We used validated sensors (x-IMU by x-io) to derive transparent metrics for the sit-to-stand (SI-ST) transition and the stand-to-sit (ST-SI) transition of TUG, and compared effect sizes for metrics from inertial sensors on the thighs to effect sizes for metrics from a sensor placed at the L3 level of the lumbar spine. Twenty-three healthy volunteers were compared to 17 ambulatory persons with MS (PwMS, HAI ≤ 2).
Results: During the SI-ST transition, the metric with the largest effect size comparing healthy volunteers to PwMS was the Area Under the Curve of the thigh angular velocity in the pitch direction–representing both thigh and knee extension; the peak of the spine pitch angular velocity during SI-ST also had a large effect size, as did some temporal measures of duration of SI-ST, although less so. During the ST-SI transition the metric with the largest effect size in PwMS was the peak of the spine angular velocity curve in the roll direction. A regression was performed.
Discussion: We propose for PwMS that the diminished peak angular velocity during SI-ST directly represents extensor weakness, while the increased roll during ST-SI represents diminished postural control.
Conclusions: During the SI-ST transition of TUG, angular velocities can discriminate between healthy volunteers and ambulatory PwMS better than temporal features. Sensor placement on the thighs provides additional discrimination compared to sensor placement at the lumbar spine.
This article examines the techno-philosophical aspects of how we create and understand musical systems in twenty-first century computational media. Arguing that processor-based media have exploded the compositional language of new music, the article proposes a set of concepts that might help us navigating this new space of musical possibilities. The term ‘ergodynamics’ – with related concepts – is presented as a helpful notion when describing the phenomenological, historical, and aesthetic aspects of musical instruments, as well as a lens for looking at new compositional practices that can be defined as being either ‘idiomatic’ or ‘supra-instrumental.’ The article explores the difference in composing for acoustic, electronic, and digital instruments, and suggests that new musical practice can be characterised by a move from composing work to inventing systems.
Published to accompany the re-opening of the V&A Cast Courts on 27 November 2018, this book reveals a great untold story of enterprise and innovation based on the relationship between the Victoria and Albert Museum, and Elkington & Co., the renowned industrial art and design manufacturer of the 19th-century. The Birmingham-based company pioneered and patented the industrial art of electro-metallurgy to create original artworks, perfect replicas, and mass-reproduced luxury consumer goods that used electricity to ‘grow’ metal into shape at a molecular level. This technological revolution created a profound legacy, which continues to influence the way modern material culture looks and operates today.
Elkington’s syntheses of science and art into industrial manufacturing processes revolutionized the design and production, replication and reproduction of precious metalwork, metal sculpture, and ornamental art metalwork. Elkington & Co. gained huge public acclaim at the Great Exhibition of 1851. They subsequently produced artworks and luxury goods, including world-renowned sports trophies like the Wimbledon Singles Trophies, as well as luxury dining services for great steamships and railways, including tableware that sank with the Titanic.
Elkington played a crucial role in shaping and building the V&A’s permanent collection from its foundation in 1852 (following the Great Exhibition) until the First World War. The V&A’s collections in turn had a profound influence on Elkington’s output. The great success of their relationship cemented both the museum’s status as a leading cultural institution, and the E&Co ‘makers-mark’ as one of the world’s first truly multinational designer brands. Elkington’s electrical alchemy helped spark the electrical revolution that founded the modern world.
Several cellular activities, such as directed cell migration, are coordinated by an intricate network of biochemical reactions which lead to a polarised state of the cell, in which cellular symmetry is broken, causing the cell to have a well defined front and back. Recent work on balancing biological complexity with mathematical tractability resulted in the proposal and formulation of a famous minimal model for cell polarisation, known as the wave pinning model. In this study, we present a three-dimensional generalisation of this mathematical framework through the maturing theory of coupled bulk-surface semilinear partial differential equations in which protein compartmentalisation becomes natural. We show how a local perturbation over the surface can trigger propagating reactions, eventually stopped in a stable profile by the interplay with the bulk component. We describe the behaviour of the model through asymptotic and local perturbation analysis, in which the role of the geometry is investigated. The bulk-surface finite element method is used to generate numerical simulations over simple and complex geometries, which confirm our analysis, showing pattern formation due to propagation and pinning dynamics. The generality of our mathematical and computational framework allows to study more complex biochemical reactions and biomechanical properties associated with cell polarisation in multi-dimensions.
Previous research has reported mixed findings regarding the relationship between therapeutic alliance, engagement and outcomes in e-mental health. This study aims to overcome some of the methodological limitations of previous research and extend our understanding of alliance-outcome relationships in e-mental health by exploring the nature of the relationship triangle between the patient, their care manager and their computerized cognitive behavioural therapy (CCBT) program, accessed with or without an Internet Support Group (ISG).
Positive patient-rated alliance with both their care manager and the CCBT program itself was found and these were significantly associated with measures of engagement and clinical outcome. The magnitude of this association was moderate, and within the range of that reported for traditional face-to-face psychotherapies in recent meta-analyses. Limitations of the study, including the reliance on completer data and a cross-sectional design, and directions for future research are presented. Our findings suggest that both the training and supervision of support staff and the optimization of CCBT interventions themselves to enhance alliance and experience may lead to improved engagement and outcomes.
Globalisation provides novel contexts for individuals to express and transform their identities in ways that may not be available in their local cultures. For gay men living in cultures where traditional masculinity norms prescribe heterosexuality and the rejection of homosexuality, gay-male identity is inherently threatened. However, adopting an identity as a ‘global citizen’ may increase the compatibility between gay and male identities, and hence augment well-being. We conducted an experiment with a community sample of 220 gay men in Turkey, manipulating pro- and anti-globalisation world views. Priming with pro-globalisation world views increased people’s identification as global citizens, and thus indirectly led to higher gay-male identity integration. Identity integration, in turn, predicted higher subjective well-being. This study brings the first experimental evidence on the link between global identification and gay-male identity integration. Beyond its local focus on the cultural context of Turkey, it highlights the importance of an intersectional approach to studying social identities by showing how the compatibility of two social identities can be increased by adopting a third social identity.
Theory holds that as income distribution becomes more equal, the well-being of those of low socioeconomic standing increases, since their relative status is improved. In this study we measure changes in individual subjective well-being (SWB) over a three year period of declining income inequality in Iceland. Using growth mixture modelling, we identified two groups whose well-being trajectories differ. One group (n = 540) whose SWB was initially high but then declined slightly, and a second group (n = 110) whose SWB was initially low, but improved over time. This second group had lower socio-economic status and stronger materialistic values. These differing shifts in SWB coincide with diminishing income inequality and class division and the results are consistent with the status anxiety explanation of the income inequality hypothesis. Our findings suggest the need to examine separate trajectories of distinct socioeconomic groups in societies generally regarded as egalitarian, and examine the role of a materialistic value orientation further.
Aim: This study aimed to assess the consistency and replicability of these process measures during provision of the Italian Medicines Use Review (I-MUR).
Background: Medication review is a common intervention provided by community pharmacists in many countries, but with little evidence of consistency and replicability. The I-MUR utilised a standardised question template in two separate large-scale studies. The template facilitated pharmacists in recording medicines and problems reported by patients, the pharmaceutical care issues (PCIs) they found and actions they took to improve medicines use.
Methods: Community pharmacists from four cities and across 15 regions were involved in the two studies. Patients included were adults with asthma. Medicines use, adherence, asthma problems, PCIs and actions taken by pharmacists were compared across studies to assess consistency and replicability of I-MUR.
Findings: The total number of pharmacists and patients completing the studies was 275 and 1711, respectively. No statistically significant differences were found between the studies in the following domains: patients’ demographic, patients’ perceived problems, adherence, asthma medicines used and healthy living advice provided by pharmacists. The proportion of patients in which pharmacists identified PCIs was similar across both studies. There were differences only in the incidence of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug use, the frequency of potential drug-disease interactions and in the types of advice given to patients and GPs.
Conclusions: The use of a standardised template for the I-MUR may have contributed to a degree of consistency in the issues found, which suggests this intervention could have good replicability.
Background
A longstanding controversy in child protection concerns the range of conditions for which state child protective service (CPS) agencies should have responsibility among economically vulnerable children and families. States have substantial discretion in specifying a range of parental behaviors and conditions that define a child as neglected under the federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act. Currently, 36 U.S. states and territories explicitly exclude children from a CPS response when behaviors defined as neglect occur for financial reasons only. This form of gatekeeping at the point of CPS intake has multiple implications. On the one hand, states with restrictive definitions based on financial capability are able to prioritize limited resources for willfully or intentionally neglected children. On the other hand, children who otherwise meet definitions of neglect for reasons of poverty may not be able to access needed supports, thereby placing them at inordinate risk of harm when other community-based resources are unavailable. The purpose of this study was to estimate the effects of variation in state definitions based on financial capability on child neglect reports, the substantiation of neglect reports, and removals from home for reasons of neglect.
Methods
Child neglect variables were drawn from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) (2005-2015). Control variables included the presence of universal mandated reporting laws, which were drawn from the Children's Bureau (2016), and state population and poverty rates, which were drawn from the U.S. Census Current Population Surveys. The logarithm of child neglect and foster care cases were regressed on the log of population, the log of poverty, and year. Estimates were performed using STATA 14.2 and all standard errors were clustered on state.
Results
After adjusting for universal mandated reporting laws, population size, and state poverty rates, preliminary estimates indicate that states which exclude financial reasons from definitions of neglect have a large increase in the number of children placed in foster care for reasons of neglect. States with more nuanced definitions of neglect have more reports, victims, and more children placed in foster care. Thus, more specific maltreatment definitions that specify a range of conditions are associated with increased neglect caseloads and foster care placements.
Implications
This study contributes to the limited body of research that has examined the relationship of child maltreatment policy to child welfare outcomes using national data. Findings suggest that states with more restrictive definitions based on a caregiver’s financial capability serve more children in foster care when compared to other states, and states that specify a broader range of neglect conditions serve more children at multiple points along the child welfare continuum. Additional research is necessary to determine the impacts of neglect definitions on state CPS agencies and on economically vulnerable children, and the CPS trajectories of neglected children initially excluded from CPS responses for financial reasons.
Background and Purpose:
Within the child welfare (CW) system, birth parent involvement at an agency level is an emerging national trend. Agency-level involvement, where birth parents share their perspective in committees and forums to inform CW system improvements, is a key component of parent partner programs where parents who work as mentors, also represent the parent voice at an agency level. Parent involvement may offer new insight on how to resolve child maltreatment concerns, but little is known about how agency-level involvement is reflected in practice, or what it achieves. This study aims to obtain a deeper understanding of agency-level involvement to inform the development of meaningful involvement practices. Research questions explored the perspectives of parents in parent partner/coordinator roles who are involved at an agency level, specifically what factors contributed to their involvement, how their involvement was reflected in practice, what they hoped to achieve, and how their involvement contributed to CW system improvements.
Methods:
The study used an exploratory qualitative research design (Patton,2015; Padgett 1998). Two sites were selected based on their status as national leaders in parent partner programs. All birth parents in their role for at least six months were invited to participate. Parent partners (n=20) participated in in-depth telephone interviews and Coordinators (n=8) participated in focus groups using a semi-structured interview guide. The final sample was predominantly White, Non-Hispanic (92%) mothers (70%) aged 32 to 60 (M=42) years. Participants experienced multiple and complex social problems, with substance abuse, domestic violence, and mental health difficulties the most common reasons for prior CW involvement. Most participants (96%) were previously receiving CW services for neglect, and 93% experienced child removal. Data was transcribed and themes identified through constant comparison using NVivo 11. Trustworthiness criteria were credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability.
Results:
Data revealed factors and processes that support parents to find their voice in agency level involvement activities. Parents reported initial uncertainty in the purpose and value of their contribution, followed by an eventual realization of the power of their message. Trial and error was used to learn effective strategies to share their perspective, with parents adapting their approach as needed. Many parents integrated “recovery thinking,” which reflected an involvement approach with professionals that was strengths-based and collaborative. Effective involvement strategy themes were transparency, recognizing the perspective of others, and building relationships. Once mastery was achieved, many parents described transitioning from involvement to supporting other parents to ensure continued innovation and sustainability in involvement activities.
Conclusions and Implications:
Parent involvement at an agency level, despite gaining traction in the child welfare field, remains a nascent area of research. This study provides new and important insight into parents’ perceptions of how their agency-level involvement develops and influences system change. Findings highlight approaches and techniques used by parents to establish and strengthen their voice in involvement activities, as well as which approaches they perceive as meaningful and effective. This study identifies practice and policy implications to promote meaningful involvement among some of the most vulnerable parents in society.
Do we have a social and moral duty to ourselves to examine ‘the other side’ of our own lives? The roads we have not taken, the selves we did not become, reflect choices and constraints that hold significance and meaning, persisting throughout our lives. These negative phenomena are the underdogs of social selfhood: transgressive, ghostly forms that haunt us and yet remain unmarked, unexplored, under-studied. Through my project on ‘the sociology of nothing’, I turn over the mirror to consider the biographical importance of these negative symbolic forms: the ‘no-things’ people have not done, had or experienced, the ‘no-bodies’ that they have missed. Analysing narrative data from 24 personal stories, I identify themes of silence, invisibility and emptiness, and explore different emotional reflections upon lost opportunities. Through a symbolic interactionist lens, I consider the micro-social, relational contexts in which the ‘non-events’ of life occur and how they are negotiated. Finally, I suggest that we perform reverse narrative identity work upon our undone selves, imagining the alternate realities a ‘non-Me’ could have known and the social worlds it might inhabit. All of this suggests that negative phenomena are powerful, for nothing really matters.
This paper compares ethnographic experiences of two settings characterised by embodied learning: the African-Brazilian dance/martial-art/game capoeira, and swimming for fitness and leisure, both as practiced in the UK. We consider the ways in which participants in these scenes stage-manage the display of their learning environments, focusing on the rituals and routines of instruction and practice. Applying Scott’s (2018) sociology of nothing as an analytical framework, we identify an inverse relationship between two forms of social action. In capoeira, we notice primarily acts of commission (somebodies enacting somethingness), whereas in swimming, we observe more acts of omission (nobodies enacting nothingness), although the distinction is not absolute. In both contexts, we explore the role of space, community, and the body in the negotiation of omissive and commissive socially meaningful action. This relates to Delamont’s interests in capoeira, ethnography and learning physical practices outside the classroom.
Background:
Evidence shows that the implementation of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) enabled services supporting integrated dementia care represents an opportunity that faces multi-pronged challenges. First, the provision of dementia support is fragmented and often inappropriate. Second, available ICT solutions in this field do not address the full spectrum of support needs arising across an individual’s whole dementia journey. Current solutions fail to harness the potential of available validated e-health services, such as telehealth and telecare, for the purposes of dementia care. Third, there is a lack of understanding of how viable business models in this field can operate. The field comprises both professional and non-professional players that interact and have roles to play in ensuring that useful technologies are developed, implemented and used.
Methods:
Starting from a literature review, including relevant pilot projects for ICT-based dementia care, we define the major requirements of a system able to overcome the limitations evidenced in the literature, and how this system should be integrated in the socio-technical ecosystem characterizing this disease. From here, we define the DEDICATE architecture of such a system, and the conceptual framework mapping the architecture over the requirements.
Results:
We identified three macro-requirements, namely the need to overcome: deficient technology innovation, deficient service process innovation, and deficient business models innovation. The proposed architecture is a three level architecture in which the center (data layer) includes patients’ and informal caregivers’ preferences, memories, and other personal data relevant to sustain the dementia journey, is connected through a middleware (service layer), which guarantees core IT services and integration, to dedicated applications (application layer) to sustain dementia care (Formal Support Services, FSS), and to existing formal care infrastructures, in order to guarantee care coordination (Care Coordination Services, CCS).
Conclusions:
The proposed DEDICATE architecture and framework envisages a feasible means to overcome the present barriers by: (1) developing and integrating technologies that can follow the patient and the caregivers throughout the development of the condition, since the early stages in which the patient is able to build up preferences and memories will be used in the later stages to maximise personalization and thereby improve efficacy and usability (technology innovation); (2) guaranteeing the care coordination between formal and informal caregivers, and giving an active yet supported role to the latter (service innovation); and (3) integrating existing infrastructures and care models to decrease the cost of the overall care pathway, by improving system interoperability (business model innovation).
Yiwu city, located in China's Zhejiang Province, is one of the most important trading nodes around the world for the commercialisation of small commodities of everyday use. In this Chinese city of 2,000,000 inhabitants, 14,000 of them are foreigners. Most foreigners in Yiwu are traders from the Middle East and North Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. In addition, foreigners from different regions of the world provide diverse services especially in the education and restaurant sectors. By gathering the short stories of 35 people (Chinese and from overseas) currently living and working in Yiwu, this video-documentary aims to reflect on the trajectories that brought these diverse population to Yiwu, and attempts to map the multiple languages spoken in the everyday sociality of this global and cosmopolitan city.
There is a legal separation in Jordan between Sharia’ (Islamic) Law and Civil Law. Both types of law come together to create criminal law that has a negative effect on women’s rights. Laws in Jordan are evolving in the right direction but are not going far enough to protect women from violence. This study explores the issues of violence against women in Jordan through a study the Jordanian legal system and the experience of women who suffer violence. The working of the Jordanian justice system is presented by analysing the responses of state and non-state institutions dealing with violence against women. Included in the research is an analysis of feminist concerns with the law and the position of women in society. My concern is with the way in which women’s inferior position impacts on their experience of violence and their ability to obtain redress and access protection. The methods used to complete this study included qualitative data collections such as field observations, and semi-structured participant interviews. It also extended to archival work in which I studied official reports and public policies on VAW. My study attempts to explain the structure of gender relations and women’s experiences of violence in the context of Jordanian society by using feminist theory. The empirical work conducted in Jordan considered the effectiveness of law in serving victims. Further analysis considers how the Jordanian socio-economic and legal environment influences women’s decisions on whether to seek help. The research found that there is a need to introduce better-developed law accompanied by additional policy measures to affect an essential change in attitudes. This requires changing some laws and policy programmes to increase awareness of legal rights. Additionally, I will suggest that applying Islamic law to women’s rights can also give women more freedom and provide them with additional opportunities to access protection. The research identified a need for coherence between Civil and Sharia’ (Islamic) Law in developing civil and criminal remedies which would align Jordan’s domestic law to its international obligations.
Background: Subcutaneous sacral nerve stimulation is recommended by NICE as a second line treatment for patients with faecal incontinence who failed conservative therapy. Sacral nerve stimulation is an invasive procedure associated with complications and reoperations. This study aimed to investigate whether delivering less invasive and less costly percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation prior to sacral nerve stimulation is cost-effective.
Methods: A decision analytic model was developed to estimate the cost-effectiveness of percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation with subsequent subcutaneous sacral nerve stimulation versus subcutaneous sacral nerve stimulation alone. The model was populated with effectiveness data from systematic reviews and cost data from randomized studies comparing both procedures in an NHS setting.
Results: Offering percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation prior to sacral nerve stimulation (compared to delivering sacral nerve stimulation straight away) was both more effective and less costly in all modeled scenarios. The estimated savings from offering percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation first were £662 - £5,697 per patient. The probability of this strategy being cost-effective was around 80% at £20,000 -£30,000 per QALY.
Conclusion: Our analyses suggest that offering patients percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation prior to sacral nerve stimulation can be both cost effective and cost saving in the treatment of faecal incontinence.
Podoconiosis is a neglected tropical disease (NTD) characterized by lower-leg swelling (lymphedema), which is caused by long-term exposure to irritant red-clay soils found within tropical volcanic high-altitude environments with heavy rainfall. The condition places a substantial burden on affected people, their families and communities, including disability, economic consequences, social exclusion, and stigma; mental disorders and distress are also common. This paper focuses on community-based care of podoconiosis, and, in particular, the role that community involvement can have in the reduction of stigma against people affected by podoconiosis. We first draw on research conducted in Ethiopia for this, which has included community-based provision of care and treatment, education, and awareness-raising, and socioeconomic rehabilitation to reduce stigma. Since people affected by podoconiosis and other skin NTDs often suffer the double burden of mental-health illness, which is similarly stigmatized, we then point to examples from the mental-health field in low-resource community settings to suggest avenues for stigma reduction and increased patient engagement that may be relevant across a range of skin NTDs, though further research is needed on this.
Objective To establish the level of opioid prescribing for patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain in a sample of patients from primary care and to estimate prescription costs.
Design Secondary data analyses from a two-arm pragmatic randomised controlled trial (COPERS) testing the effectiveness of group self-management course and usual care against relaxation and usual care for patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain (ISRCTN 24426731).
Setting 25 general practices and two community musculoskeletal services in the UK (London and Midlands).
Participants 703 chronic pain participants; 81% white, 67% female, enrolled in the COPERS trial.
Main outcome measures Anonymised prescribing data over 12 months extracted from GP electronic records.
Results Of the 703 trial participants with chronic musculoskeletal pain, 413 (59%) patients were prescribed opioids. Among those prescribed an opioid, the number of opioid prescriptions varied from 1 to 52 per year. A total of 3319 opioid prescriptions were issued over the study period, of which 53% (1768/3319) were for strong opioids (tramadol, buprenorphine, morphine, oxycodone, fentanyl and tapentadol). The mean number of opioid prescriptions per patient prescribed any opioid was 8.0 (SD=7.9). A third of patients on opioids were prescribed more than one type of opioid; the most frequent combinations were: codeine plus tramadol and codeine plus morphine. The cost of opioid prescriptions per patient per year varied from £3 to £4844. The average annual prescription cost was £24 (SD=29) for patients prescribed weak opioids and £174 (SD=421) for patients prescribed strong opioids. Approximately 40% of patients received >3 prescriptions of strong opioids per year, with an annual cost of £236 per person.
Conclusions Long-term prescribing of opioids for chronic musculoskeletal pain is common in primary care. For over a quarter of patients receiving strong opioids, these drugs may have been overprescribed according to national guidelines.
Novel voriconazole-loaded solid lipid nanoparticles (VRC-SLNs) were prepared via probe-ultrasonication method, and the resultant nanoparticles were tested on A. fumigatus. Voriconazole-loaded solid lipid nanoparticles were prepared using the probe ultrasonication technique. Photon correlation spectroscopy (PCS) was used to determine the average particle size and zeta potential of SLN formulations. Transmission electron microscopy was also used to determine the morphology of solid lipid nanoparticles. To determine MIC for all SLN formulations against strains of Aspergillus the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines was followed. The results showed that SLNs containing voriconazole exhibited almost spherical shape with a diameter and zeta potential of 286.6 ± 4.7 nm and −15 ± 4.1 mV respectively. This novel formulation of VRC led to a significant reduction in MICs for all Aspergillus either VRC-susceptible or VRC-resistant isolates (P < 0.05). The MIC50 drug concentration was obtained as 0.015 μg/ml for both VRC-susceptible strains of A. fumigates while it was 0.25 μg/ml against VRC (p < 0.05). VRC-resistant strains showed a MIC50 of 0.015 μg/ml as well. These novel drug formulations may increase the bioavailability through an increase in the dissolution rate of voriconazole. This study showed, for the first time, VRC-SLNs can be employed as an effective delivery systems for VRC on A. fumigatus isolates.
Tourette syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder, characterised by motor and phonic tics. Tics are typically experienced as avolitional, compulsive, and associated with premonitory urges. They are exacerbated by stress and can be triggered by external stimuli, including social cues like the actions and facial expressions of others. Importantly, emotional social stimuli, with angry facial stimuli potentially the most potent social threat cue, also trigger behavioural reactions in healthy individuals, suggesting that such mechanisms may be particularly sensitive in people with Tourette syndrome. Twenty-one participants with Tourette syndrome and 21 healthy controls underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while viewing faces wearing either neutral or angry expressions to quantify group differences in neural activity associated with processing social information. Simultaneous video recordings of participants during neuroimaging enabled us to model confounding effects of tics on task-related responses to the processing of faces. In both Tourette syndrome and control participants, face stimuli evoked enhanced activation within canonical face perception regions, including the occipital face area and fusiform face area. However, the Tourette syndrome group showed additional responses within the anterior insula to both neutral and angry faces. Functional connectivity during face viewing was then examined in a series of psychophysiological interactions. In Tourette syndrome participants, the insula showed functional connectivity with a set of cortical regions previously implicated in tic generation: the pre-supplementary motor area, premotor cortex, primary motor cortex, and the putamen. Furthermore, insula functional connectivity with the globus pallidus and thalamus varied in proportion to tic severity, while supplementary motor area connectivity varied in proportion to premonitory sensations, with insula connectivity to these regions increasing to a greater extent in patients with worse symptom severity. In addition, the occipital face area showed increased functional connectivity in Tourette syndrome participants with posterior cortical regions, including primary somatosensory cortex, and occipital face area connectivity with primary somatosensory and primary motor cortices varied in proportion to tic severity. There were no significant psychophysiological interactions in controls. These findings highlight a potential mechanism in Tourette syndrome through which heightened representation within insular cortex of embodied affective social information may impact the reactivity of subcortical motor pathways, supporting programmed motor actions that are causally implicated in tic generation. Medicinal and psychological therapies that focus on reducing insular hyper-reactivity to social stimuli may have potential benefit for tic reduction in people with Tourette syndrome.
Digital videos depicting the unboxing of new objects have become a lucrative revenue stream in the YouTube economy and are beginning to attract critical interest from media scholars. Much of this work focuses on the economic and regulatory dimensions of this new digital form, but little has been written regarding the texts themselves or the pleasures they offer viewers. In this article, I contribute to recent scholarship on YouTube genres, by performing a critical ‘unboxing’ of this digital form. Following a brief introduction to this phenomenon, in which I outline the key narrative tropes found in these videos, I unpack the affective intensities and tactile pleasures that structure these texts, in order to consider how and why unboxing has become so popular.
This pioneering book presents a history and ethnography of adventure comic books for young people in India with a particular focus on vernacular superheroism. It chronicles popular and youth culture in the subcontinent from the mid-twentieth century to the contemporary era dominated by creative audio-video-digital outlets.
The authors highlight early precedents in adventures set by the avuncular detective Chacha Choudhary with his ‘faster than a computer brain’, the forays of the film veteran Amitabh Bachchan’s superheroic alter ego called Supremo, the Protectors of Earth and Mankind (P.O.E.M.), along with the exploits of key comic book characters, such as Nagraj, Super Commando Dhruv, Parmanu, Doga, Shakti and Chandika. The book considers how pulp literature, western comics, television programmes, technological developments and major space ventures sparked a thirst for extra-terrestrial action and how these laid the grounds for vernacular ventures in the Indian superhero and superheroine comic genre. It contains descriptions, textual and contextual analyses, excerpts of interviews with comic book creators, producers, retailers and distributers, together with the views, dreams and fantasies of young readers of adventure comics. These narratives touch upon special powers, super-intelligence, phenomenal technologies, justice, vengeance, geopolitics, romance, sex and the amazing potentials of masked identities enabled by navigation of the internet.
With its lucid style and rich illustrations, this book will be essential reading for scholars and researchers of popular and visual cultures, comics studies, literature, media and cultural studies, social anthropology and sociology, and South Asian studies.
I've been a cataloguer for some years but have only just started training to become an indexer with the Society of Indexers. I can now see that there are many parallels between cataloguing and indexing and I am often expanding my knowledge of one activity through the other. The clearest example of a task in which the two areas are intertwined is when I classify theses in our institutional repository. Our current repository platform is EPrints using the Dublin Core Metadata Element Set. This allows us to assign subjects to research outputs so that they are indexed and available to users through access points in our discovery layer (Primo). I’m going to avoid discussion about the systems involved here and their interaction with each other and am going to focus on the details of this task and try to understand some of the benefits and flaws of the current workflow.
After several decades of discussions, mainstream economics still does not recognize the crucial role that energy plays in the economic process. Hence, the purpose of this article is to reformulate a clear and in-depth state of knowledge provided by a thermo-evolutionary perspective of the economic system. First, definitions of essential concepts such as energy, exergy, entropy, self-organization, and dissipative structures are recalled, along with a statement of the laws of thermodynamics. The comprehension of such basics of thermodynamics allows an exploration of the meaning of thermodynamic extremal principles for the evolution of physical and biological systems. A theoretical thermo-evolutionary approach is then used to depict technological change and economic growth in relation to the capture of energy and its dissipation. This theoretical analysis is then placed in a historical context. It is shown that during the entirety of human history, energy has been central to direct the successive phases of technological change and economic development. In particular, energy is crucial to understanding the transition from foraging to farming societies on the one hand, and from farming to industrial societies on the other. Finally, the theoretical and historical insights previously described are used to discuss a possible origin of the economic slowdown of the most advanced economies for the last 40 years. The article concludes that conventional economic growth theories should finally acknowledge the central role that energy plays in the economic process.
Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most aggressive type of primary brain tumours. Anti-angiogenic therapies (AAT), such as bevacizumab, have been developed to target the tumour blood supply. However, GBM presents mechanisms of escape from AAT activity, including a speculated direct effect of AAT on GBM cells. Furthermore, bevacizumab can alter the intercellular communication of GBM cells with their direct microenvironment. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have been recently described as main acts in the GBM microenvironment, allowing tumour and stromal cells to exchange genetic and proteomic material. Herein, we examined and described the alterations in the EVs produced by GBM cells following bevacizumab treatment. Interestingly, bevacizumab that is able to neutralise GBM cells-derived VEGF-A, was found to be directly captured by GBM cells and eventually sorted at the surface of the respective EVs. We also identified early endosomes as potential pathways involved in the bevacizumab internalisation by GBM cells. Via MS analysis, we observed that treatment with bevacizumab induces changes in the EVs proteomic content, which are associated with tumour progression and therapeutic resistance. Accordingly, inhibition of EVs production by GBM cells improved the anti-tumour effect of bevacizumab. Together, this data suggests of a potential new mechanism of GBM escape from bevacizumab activity.
This article builds a bridge between the endogenous economic growth theory, the biophysical economics perspective, and the past and future transitions between renewable and nonrenewable energy forms that economies have had to and will have to accomplish. We provide an endogenous economic growth model subject to the physical limits of the real world, meaning that nonrenewable and renewable energy production costs have functional forms that respect physical constraints, and that technological level is precisely defined as the efficiency of primary-to-useful exergy conversion. The model supports the evidence that historical productions of renewable and nonrenewable energy have greatly influenced past economic growth. Indeed, from an initial almost-renewable-only supply regime we reproduce the increasing reliance on nonrenewable energy that has allowed the global economy to leave the state of economic stagnation that had characterized the largest part of its history. We then study the inevitable transition towards complete renewable energy that human will have to deal with in a not-too-far future since nonrenewable energy comes by definition from a finite stock. Through simulation we study in which circumstances this transition could have negative impacts on economic growth (peak followed by degrowth phase). We show that the implementation of a carbon price can partially smooth such unfortunate dynamics, depending on the ways of use of the income generated by the carbon pricing.
This brief reflection on the work of Dr Ben Goertzel and Dr Julia Mossbridge's Loving AI Project considers the current limitations in developing humanoid robotics that teach human participants how to be more loving, by modelling behaviour in workshop settings. Through a discussion of the historical role of the uncanny in the arts, this paper investigates the places and possibilities for action in what evades calculation and quantification in human and more-than-human relations.
'Race, Racialisation and the Death Penalty in England and Wales, 1900-65͛ is an interdisciplinary project being conducted at the University of Sussex funded by the Leverhulme Trust (RPG-2016-352), 2017-19. It draws on concepts, methodologies and modes of analysis from both history and criminology to explore the over-representation of black and other minority ethnic (BME) people among those capitally punished in the twentieth century (roughly 5% of civilian executions were BME compared to 0.3% of the British population in 1950). Classic Sociological studies have established how, by the 1970s, BME and Afro-Caribbean people in particular were criminalised, ͚over-policed͛ and disproportionately punished, portrayed in the media as synonymous with criminality (Hall et al., 1978; Gilroy, 1987). Indeed, it is well established that the BME population of England and Wales continue to be subjected to disproportionate rates of imprisonment, police brutality and deaths in custody in the present (Pemberton, 2015; Williams and Clarke, 2016). ͚Race and the Death Penalty͛ seeks to provide much needed historical context to this contemporary picture, exploring issues of racial discrimination in relation to capital punishment, including the ways in which prosecutions for capital crimes were in practice made racist. Narratives and stereotypes of racial difference and racialised interpretations of defendant͛s behaviour are explored through critical readings of archival material produced by police and the courts, and newspaper reporting on individual cases. Further, these case studies are situated within their wider social, cultural and political contexts, including colonialism and postcolonialism, shedding new light on the penal culture of contemporary England and Wales. This paper will share some of the cases emerging from the project, highlighting illustrative narratives that can be understood as ͚cultural distance stories͛–contemporary narratives that were told by police, courts, press and public to enable the othering of BME defendants.
As part of a wider project exploring all cases of black and minority ethnic people sentenced to death in England and Wales in the 20thC, this paper analyses surprising examples of cases in which race was given as a reason to respite a capital sentence and allow a defendant to serve a term of imprisonment instead of being hanged for murder. These cases stand in sharp contrast to the apparent over-representation of black and minority ethnic people amongst those hanged. BME individuals accounted for 5% of executions 1900-65, despite comprising less than 1% of the population. The reasons offered for mercy were situated in the context of contemporary racist discourses, such as infantilisation. For example, a ͚simple African͛ could not be held fully accountable for his lack of ability to control his passions. Drawing on a range of cases, this paper identifies the actors and reasons behind such discourses, analysing the apparent utility of such reasons. It examines the racialised justifications for reprieve advanced by the Defence, jury, judge, petitioners, press, and Home Office and pays attention to where these overlapped and where they differed.
As part of a wider project exploring all cases of black and minority ethnic people sentenced to death in England and Wales in the 20thC, this paper analyses surprising examples of cases in which race was given as a reason to respite a capital sentence and allow a defendant to serve a term of imprisonment instead of being hanged for murder. These cases stand in sharp contrast to the apparent over-representation of black and minority ethnic people amongst those hanged. BME individuals accounted for 5% of executions 1900-65, despite comprising less than 1% of the population. The reasons offered for mercy were situated in the context of contemporary racist discourses, such as infantilisation. For example, a ͚simple African͛ could not be held fully accountable for his lack of ability to control his passions. Drawing on a range of cases, this paper identifies the actors and reasons behind such discourses, analysing the apparent utility of such reasons. It examines the racialised justifications for reprieve advanced by the Defence, jury, judge, petitioners, press, and Home Office and pays attention to where these overlapped and where they differed.
Philip Larkin’s work covers a span of life that marks one of the most turbulent and transitional stages in British history: having WW2 at one end and the ‘swinging sixties’ at the other, it serves as a really useful document about not only Larkin’s personal life but also the contemporary cultural, social and political circumstances. With war working as a catalyst, the slow and steady process of secularisation in English society covers a journey of, perhaps, centuries within decades. The old established ways in every sphere of life, challenged by the new generation, emerge in the form of a ‘youth culture’ characterised by a spirit of freedom. Consequently, the pre-war communal values are replaced by the individual and materialistic concerns of an ambitious generation.
The process leaves its marks on Larkin’s work from the very beginning to the very end. His novels and first published collection of poems show his deep concern for the miserable situation of a war-stricken people. The Less Deceived (1955), urged mostly by the unfulfilled war-time promises in the immediate post-war era, is characterised by a rejection of myths. The third collection, The Whitsun Weddings (1964), features the poet’s frustration over the growing materialistic pursuits in the contemporary age. Finally, The High Windows (1974) takes the form of a bitter satire over the excessively libertarian attitude as well as the myth of life as a whole. This pattern has been followed also in the chapter-wise division of the thesis where the argument, taking its initiative from a humanistic approach, deflates the mythical as well as materialistic aspect of life, and concludes in the need for a harmonious whole where individual freedom and communal values, keeping within the rational limits, go hand in hand.
This report presents the first comprehensive review of the status of British mammal populations for over 20 years. The population size, range size, temporal trends and future prospects of Britain’s 58 terrestrial mammals are assessed.
The review presents the most up-to-date assessment of population size and status for the 58 terrestrial mammals in Britain. The report highlights an urgent requirement for more research to assess population densities in key habitats, and to assess the percentage of potentially suitable habitat where a given species actually occurs: at present, uncertainty levels are unacceptably high.
Clear, accessible, objective metrics of species status are critical to communicate the state of biodiversity and to measure progress towards biodiversity targets. However, the population data underpinning current species status metrics is often highly skewed towards particular taxonomic groups such as birds, butterflies and mammals, primarily due to the restricted availability of high quality population data. A synoptic overview of the state of biodiversity requires sampling from a broader range of taxonomic groups. Incorporating data from a wide range of monitoring and analysis methods and considering more than one measure of species status are possible ways to achieve this.
Here, we utilise measures of species’ population change and extinction risk to develop three species status metrics, a Categorical Change metric, a Species Index and a Red List metric, and populate them with a wide range of data sources from the UK, covering thousands of species from across taxonomy. The species status metrics reiterate the commonly reported decline in freshwater and terrestrial species’ status in the UK in recent decades and give little evidence that this rate of decline has slowed.
The utility of species status metrics is further improved if we can extrapolate beyond the species sampled to infer the status of the community. For the freshwater and terrestrial species status metrics presented here we can do this with some confidence. Nevertheless, despite the range and number of species contributing to the species metrics, significant taxonomic bias remained and we report weighting options that could help control for this.
The three metrics developed were used in the State of Nature 2016 report and indications are they reached a large number of audience members. We suggest options to improve the design and communication of these and similar metrics in the future.
This article proposes an enhanced PRIvacy preserVing Opportunistic routing protocol (ePRIVO) for Vehicular Delay-Tolerant Networks (VDTN). ePRIVO models a VDTN as a time-varying neighboring graph where edges correspond to neighboring relationship between pairs of vehicles. It addresses the problem of vehicles taking routing decision meanwhile keeping their information private, i.e, vehicles compute their similarity and/or compare their routing metrics in a private manner using the Paillier homomorphic encryption scheme.
The effectiveness of ePRIVO is supported through extensive simulations with synthetic mobility models and a real mobility trace. Simulation results show that ePRIVO presents on average very low cryptographic costs in most scenarios. Additionally, ePRIVO presents on average gains of approximately 29% and 238% in terms of delivery ratio for the real and synthetic scenarios considered compared to other privacy-preserving routing protocols.
Due to concerns over negative impacts on insect pollinators, the European Union has implemented
a moratorium on the use of three neonicotinoid pesticide seed dressings for mass flowering crops. We assessed the effectiveness of this policy in reducing the exposure risk to honeybees by collecting 130 samples of honey from bee keepers across the UK before (2014: N = 21) and after the moratorium was in effect (2015: N = 109). Neonicotinoids were present in about half of the honey samples taken before the moratorium, and they were
present in over a fifth of honey samples following the moratorium. Clothianidin was the most frequently detected neonicotinoid. Neonicotinoid concentrations declined from May to September in the year following the ban. However, the majority of post-moratorium neonicotinoid residues were from honey harvested early in the year, coinciding with oilseed rape flowering. Neonicotinoid concentrations were correlated with the area of oilseed rape surrounding the hive location. These results suggest mass flowering crops may contain neonicotinoid residues where they have been grown on soils contaminated by previously seed treated crops. This may include winter seed treatments applied to cereals that are currently exempt from
EU restrictions. Although concentrations of neonicotinoids were low (<2.0 ng g-1), and posed
no risk to human health, they may represent a continued risk to honeybees through long-term chronic exposure.
Laboratory studies have shown than neonicotinoid insecticides can cause sub-lethal effects on bees. Field studies are needed to determine whether these effects also occur when bees forage on flowering crops grown from neonicotinoid-treated seeds. However, for many reasons the results of field experiments may be inconsistent. For example, neonicotinoid residues in crop nectar and pollen and the availability of alternative nectar and pollen sources vary. In addition to these practical difficulties, different field experiment designs, especially different controls, address different questions. Most field studies on neonicotinoids have compared the performance of colonies adjacent to a bee-attractive crop grown from treated seeds with control colonies adjacent to the same crop grown from untreated seeds. This makes it possible to determine the cost, C, of any insecticide residues but not the overall effect of the crop, B – C, which includes any benefits, B, of the additional pollen and nectar. An alternative and rarely used design, only 1 of the 12 field studies reviewed, determines the overall effect of the crop by siting control colonies out of foraging range of the crop but in the same landscape. This design may be more relevant because bee-attractive crops, such as oilseed rape, are normally grown as alternatives to arable crops that do not provide bee forage, such as wheat and barley. As a result, it is possible that B – C > 0 (or B – C = 0) even if C > 0. The challenges and merits of alternative experimental designs are discussed in relation to practical considerations and policy making.
Background
Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infection (SAB) is a common, life-threatening infection with a high mortality. Survival can be improved by implementing quality of care bundles in hospitals. We previously observed marked differences in mortality between hospitals and now assessed whether mortality could serve as a valid and easy to implement quality of care outcome measure.
Methods
We conducted a prospective observational study between January 2013 and April 2015 on consecutive, adult patients with SAB from 11 tertiary care centers in Germany, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom. Factors associated with mortality at 90 days were analyzed by Cox proportional hazards regression and flexible parametric models.
Results
1,851 patients with a median age of 66 years (64% male) were analyzed. Crude 90-day mortality differed significantly between hospitals (range 23% to 39%). Significant variation between centers was observed for methicillin-resistant S. aureus, community-acquisition, infective foci, as well as measures of comorbidities, and severity of disease. In multivariable analysis, factors independently associated with mortality at 90 days were age, nosocomial acquisition, unknown infective focus, pneumonia, Charlson comorbidity index, SOFA score, and study center. The risk of death varied over time differently for each infective focus. Crude mortality differed markedly from adjusted mortality.
Discussion
We observed significant differences in adjusted mortality between hospitals, suggesting differences in quality of care. However, mortality is strongly influenced by patient mix and thus, crude mortality is not a suitable quality indicator.
Suppose a researcher observes a finite number of preference comparisons between pairs (x,t) of rewards x delivered at time t. We provide necessary and sufficient conditions under which such a dataset can be rationalised with the most common specifications of the discounted utility model. The distinctive feature of our characterisation is that it refers to notions of stochastic dominance among empirical distributions defined over the observed rewards and time delays.
There are important studies that have directly focused on how, in times of conflict, it is possible for previously law abiding people to commit the most atrocious acts of cruelty and violence. The work of Erich Fromm (Escape from Freedom), Hannah Arendt (Eichmann in Jerusalem), Zygmunt Bauman (Modernity and the Holocaust) and Ernest Becker (Escape from Evil) have all contemplated the driving force of aggression and mass violence to further our understanding of how people are capable of engaging in extreme forms of cruelty and violence. Ervin Staub's (2007) research on the origins of genocide and group violence builds on these theoretical, philosophical and psychoanalytic insights to address the processes and conditions that lead to mass violence and genocide. This paper aims to build on this research by paying particular attention to Staub's work on 'the continuum of destruction'. To understand mass killing and genocide it is important to appreciate how even the smallest, and what may appear to be insignificant acts, can gradually incorporate individuals into an ideologically destructive system. To address these issues this paper discusses C.P Taylor's play Good. This provocative play examines how a seemingly 'good' and intelligent university professor can gradually become caught up in the workings of the Thiurd Reich. The play explores how the main character (Hadler), a devoted husband and loving father, becomes a member of the Nazi party and finally find himself working in Auschwitz. Taylor's important and powerful play highlights how 'initial acts that cause limited harm result in psychological changes that make further destructive actions possible' (Staub 2007:17). In additon to this I argue that the theatre is a powerful medium to explore these complex issues. The audience of Good find themselves confronted with the following question- 'What would you have done?'
In recent years, scholarship on settler colonialism has gained much attention. Many scholars, activists and thinkers have welcomed the “settler colonial turn” because it bridges gaps post-colonial theory cannot adequately cover. While scholarship on settler colonialism has much to offer, however as I argue in this thesis, it has its limitations and risks. Even though this literature is relatively recent and is continually developing, it has an important limitation: there is within it no hope for decolonisation. The reason for this absence of hope is, I argue in this thesis, because the ‘settler colonial turn is rooted in the concept of ‘the logic of elimination’.
The overarching aim of this thesis is to question the distorted image of Palestine in the literature on settler colonialism, and draw attention to the harm that may be inflicted by the absence in that literature of stories of hope and resistance. This thesis adopts the Latin American school of decoloniality and the tradition of standpoint epistemology in feminist scholarship, both of which challenge official versions of history and the hegemony of one way of seeing and knowing the world. The philosophy of decolonial research is crucial in this thesis because it acknowledges and brings uncomfortable questions to the fore. Seen through a decolonial lens, knowledge production can be understood as consisting of multiple ways of knowing, ways that can be colonial or resistive. Decolonial literature appreciates different resources of knowledge and places attention on the relation between material experience, power, and epistemology.
This thesis argues that the hegemony of a singular way of analysis currently employed to understanding the settler colonial situation in Palestine must be carefully re-examined and refuted. In it, I develop the main argument that challenges the settler colonial logic of elimination, and I build the case and develop the argument for alternative ways of conceptualising settler colonialism as seen through, as I call them, the Ahl Al-Ard eyes.¹ I do so by establishing resistance rather than elimination as the primary analytical lens. I situate the case of Palestine as a context of a struggle for liberation rather than an endless “slow-motion Nakba”.
Approaching the research for this thesis from the perspective of hope and resistance, I conducted a ten month period of fieldwork in Palestine in 2013-2014, using a multi-sited “ethnography of hope”. I followed and explored the “spirit of resistance”, as a nomadic science. I uncovered multiple dimensions and manifestations of hope and resistance embodied in spatialities of resistance in various sites in Jerusalem, in life and death moments of the survivors of the Gaza War, and in the defying narratives of the Al-Muwahhidun individuals and defectors from Haifa. Collectively, these sites, moments and life stories challenge the singular narrative of settler colonialism, as put forward in the influential works of the white Australian settler colonial scholars Patrick Wolfe and Lorenzo Veracini, and the distorted images of Palestine in the “Eurocentric mirror” as it appears in the settler colonial studies’ framework. There are, I suggest, wider political implications beyond the academic realm of using the single narrative of settler colonialism. If the elimination story is taken for granted and repeatedly recited without challenging its underlying assumptions, then, it may well be established as the main narrative – the only truth – in other spheres of academic disciplines and political debates. Then, the elimination story may well become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
¹ Ahl Al Ard literally means the land inhabitants. Ahl is also used to refer to family relationship and entitlement.
This study aims to test an effective adaptive e-learning system that uses a coloured concept map to show the learner's knowledge level for each concept in the topic. A fuzzy logic system is used to evaluate the learner's knowledge level for each concept in the domain and produce a ranked concept list of learning materials to address weaknesses in the learner’s understanding. This system will obtain information on a learner's understanding of concepts
by an initial pre-test before the system is used for learning and a post-test after using the learning system. A fuzzy logic system is used to produce a weighted concept map during the learning process. The aim of this research is to prove that such a proposed novel adapted e-learning system will enhance a learner's performance and understanding. In addition, this research aims to increase participants' overall learning level and effectiveness by providing a coloured concept map of understanding followed by a ranked concepts list of learning materials.
A Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) 4H-SiC p-n photodiode (sold as a UV detector) was investigated as detector of electrons (β- particles) over the temperature range 100 °C to 20 °C. The photodiode had an active area of 0.06 mm2. The currents of the photodiode were measured in dark condition and under the illumination of a 63Ni radioisotope β- particle source (endpoint energy = 66 keV). The photodiode was then coupled to a custom-made low-noise charge-sensitive preamplifier to make a direct detection particle counting electron spectrometer. 63Ni β- particle spectra were accumulated with the spectrometer operating at temperatures up to 100 °C. The quantum efficiency of the photodiode as well as the spectrum expected to be detected were calculated via Monte Carlo simulations produced using the CASINO computer program. Comparisons between the simulated and detected 63Ni β- particle spectra are presented. The work was motivated by efforts to apply COTS technologies to develop low-cost space science instrumentation; a low-cost electron spectrometer of this type could be included on a university-led CubeSat mission for space plasma physics and magnetosphere experiments.
Empirical evidence suggests that synesthesia is associated with enhanced sensory processing. A separate body of empirical literature suggests that synesthesia is linked to a specific profile of enhanced episodic and working memory performance. However, whether sensory (iconic) memory performance is also affected by synesthesia remains unknown. Therefore, we tested 22 grapheme-color synesthetes and compared their performance in a partial-report paradigm with 22 individually matched non-synesthete controls. Participants were briefly presented with a circular-letter array and required to report the identity of the letter at a probed target location after various delays. Furthermore, they were required to indicate the subjective clarity of the target letter after every trial. The results suggest that sensory memory performance is enhanced in synesthesia, but only when subjective clarity of the target letter is high. Additional exploratory analyses revealed that synesthetic consistency, which is widely used to confirm the genuineness of synesthesia, correlated significantly with performance in the partial report paradigm. We conclude that synesthesia does not generally enhance sensory memory performance, but that synesthetic experiences may enhance sensory memory performance when perceptual awareness of the target is high. Furthermore, the stability of synesthetic associations may be linked to sensory memory performance.
In an age where hate and prejudice transfer seamlessly from online conversations to our communities, we have a duty to protect the most vulnerable among us. Part of this process involves the effective reporting and distribution of data on hate crimes in our cities and suburbs. Understanding where these crimes are taking place, who the targets are and how themes like race, religion and sexual orientation play a role is essential to creating awareness of the problems we face, and allows us to take steps towards creating safe, equitable environments.
Demos’ partnership with the University of Sussex allowed us to take a look at data collected by the Metropolitan Police Service with the ultimate goal of identifying the existing targets of hate crime, and assisting the Police Service in their efforts to improve the ways in which hate crimes are recorded. Current methods enable officers to flag transgender hate crimes but do not allow them to record the gender identities of either suspects or victims as transgender or non-binary, creating a significant gap within the data. When the most at-risk members of our society are not adequately included in hate crime records, they are effectively silenced. By updating existing systems of classification, there is an opportunity to better identify and protect minority communities within the UK.
This article presents key findings from an EU-funded two-year empirical study into the legal process for hate crime undertaken in England and Wales. The study is the first large-scale review of hate crime legislation since the Home Office review of racially aggravated offences in 2001-2002. This article is one of a series of papers which collectively examine the legal process for hate crime, from evidence gathering through to criminal procedure, legal interpretation and sentencing. We start from the position that hate crime legislation is a crucial mechanism through which identity-based hostility offences must be addressed. Notwithstanding the many criticisms that can be levelled against governments who focus primarily on punitive legislative measures to tackle what is a highly complex social phenomena, there are compelling reasons for legislating against hate which are now well-rehearsed within the extant literature and which will be discussed in more detail below, when outlining the justifications for law reform. The focus of this article is an evaluation of how hate crime laws are currently being applied in practice, to identify limitations in their application, and to determine whether and how hate crime laws should be reformed to improve their effective application.
In our view, the four principles for making evidence synthesis more useful for policy would be strengthened by taking power and bias into account (C. A. Donnelly et al. Nature 558, 361–364; 2018). Otherwise, the principles could fall short for issues that involve uncertain facts, disputed values, high stakes and urgent decisions — as in global biodiversity loss and climate change, for example.
This paper assesses vulnerability from trade in Vietnam by presenting an extended version of Ligon and Schechter’s (2003) Vulnerability as low Expected Utility (VEU) measure. It uses the Vietnam Household Living Standard Surveys (VHLSS) panel data covering the period 2002–06. The empirical results show that risk-induced vulnerability and heterogeneity in trade exposure matter in determining household overall vulnerability and that this is not linked to the actual manifestation of shocks. Although it does not represent, by any means, an argument against free trade, this work is relevant for policymaking since it contributes to deepen our knowledge on the subtle links between trade openness and vulnerability and informs us about suitable instruments to accompany it.
While Maya Angelou has been recognized as a feminist icon and a successful author, publishing more than thirty books and winning numerous awards, the aim of this research is to bring attention to her role as a writer/activist. This thesis analyses her six-volume serial autobiography, which was written over 33 years, and traces the development of Angelou's activism through her life writing. In so doing, this project argues that the success of the first volume, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings has obscured the integrity of the series, which consists in the use of Angelou's political voice that has not been recognised before. This research places Angelou in the African American political autobiography tradition, which combines life writing with consciousness raising from the slave narratives onwards. Following the conceptualisation of Patricia Hill Collins, this research theorises Angelou's political voice as a mode of intellectual activism. Adopting an American Studies approach, it shows how Angelou's self-representation as a black artist seeks to intervene in the social and political context of its writing and demonstrates how her life writing is in turn shaped by African American history and activism. While she is known as a pioneer of black feminism, this research, building on recent scholarship in intersectionality, argues that Angelou's work not only addresses the intersection of race and gender, but also class through what Patricia Hill Collins calls the "matrix of domination". Angelou started her writing career with the Black Arts movement, and this thesis traces the influence of this movement beyond the Black Arts era and shows how the debate of art versus propaganda continued to inform her autobiographical work. Since one of the movement's main principles was "art for people's sake", this thesis reads Angelou's life writing through differentiating the narrating "I" from the narrated "I", in which the former functions didactically as a vehicle for Angelou's political consciousness raising of a younger generation.
The assumption that action and perception can be investigated independently is entrenched in theories, models and experimental approaches across the brain and mind sciences. In cognitive science, this has been a central point of contention between computationalist and 4Es (enactive, embodied, extended and embedded) theories of cognition, with the former embracing the “classical sandwich”, modular, architecture of the mind and the latter actively denying this separation can be made. In this work we suggest that the modular independence of action and perception strongly resonates with the separation principle of control theory and furthermore that this principle provides formal criteria within which to evaluate the implications of the modularity of action and perception. We will also see that real-time feedback with the environment, often considered necessary for the definition of 4Es ideas, is not however a sufficient condition to avoid the “classical sandwich”. Finally, we argue that an emerging framework in the cognitive and brain sciences, active inference, extends ideas derived from control theory to the study of biological systems while disposing of the separation principle, describing non-modular models of behaviour strongly aligned with 4Es theories of cognition.
Paris, London, 4 September 2018. Nuclear power plants added a total of 7-gigawatt (GW) capacity to the world’s electricity grids in 2017 and the first half of 2018, a tiny fraction of the total from all sources, which is estimated at some 257 GW (net) in 2017, including 157 GW of renewable capacity (the largest increase ever). Over that 18-month period, six reactors started up in China, two in Russia and one in Pakistan. For the third year in a row, excluding China, global nuclear power generation has declined, finds the World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2018 (WNISR2018).
Previous research on collective action has suggested that both intra‐ and intergroup interactions are important in producing psychological change. In this study, we examine how these two forms of interaction relate to each other over time. We present results from a longitudinal ethnographic study of participation in an environmental campaign, documenting endurance and prevalence of psychological change. Participants, locals (n = 14) and self‐defined activists (n = 14), connected enduring psychological changes, such as changes in consumer behaviour and attitudes to their involvement in the environmental campaign. Thematic analysis of interviews suggested that participants linked the process of change to categorizing themselves in a new environmental‐activist way that influenced their everyday lives beyond the immediate campaign. This recategorization was a result of a conflictual intergroup relationship with the police. The intergroup interaction produced supportive within‐group relationships that facilitated the feasibility and sustainability of new world views that were maintained by staying active in the campaign. The data from the study support and extend previous research on collective action and are the basis of a model, suggesting that intragroup processes condition the effects of intergroup dynamics on sustained psychological change.
This paper explores how the technique of paper moulding allowed antiquarians and explorers to transport details of monuments, temples and facades from across the world to the museum in the nineteenth century. The technique was particular suitable when access to the site was difficult. The paper examines the role of Lottin de Laval in the refinement of the technique, and its adoption by Alfred Maudslay in copying the Mayan temples of Central America in the 1890s.
Electric vehicles and vehicle-to-grid are one option to achieve the transition to decarbonizing society. Despite perceived advantages of cost-savings and carbon reductions, such technologies have faced various barriers that has prevented wide-scale adoption. While much literature has carefully investigated the techno-economics dimensions to electric mobility, we ask: what are the full set of benefits that EVs and V2G offer? To provide an answer, the authors conducted 227 semi-structured interviews with transportation and electricity experts from over 200 institutions across the Nordic region. Results show that there is an extensive range of benefits for both EVs and V2G, with experts suggesting 29 and 25 categories of benefits for EVs and V2G, respectively. Though the experts covered the obvious benefits of economic savings, emissions, and renewable energy integration, several other novel benefits were identified. The second and third most common discussed EV benefit was noise reduction and better performance, which are typically not widely discussed. Similarly we find that V2G benefits covered topics like vehicle-to-home and solar integration, as well as more novel benefits, like vehicle-to-telescope and emergency power backup. The article concludes with a discussion of future research and benefits in the context of energy research and analysis.
This special section of Discover Society emerges from a two-day gathering of scholars, activists and artists dedicated to the theme at Goldsmiths, University of London, in September of 2017. Its inspiration comes from a certain frustration with the emergent interdisciplinary field of critical finance studies, which, regrettably (and with some noble exceptions), has not yet elected to enter into a vibrant dialogue with fields such as post-colonial criticism, critical race studies and settler-colonial studies. We believe such an avoidance is tragic, given not only the vibrancy of all of these fields but also the reality that many of the phenomena associated with finance, finance capital and financialization cannot be fully understood without reference to imperial, colonial and racialized realities, past and present.
Various theories beyond the standard model of particle physics predict the existence of baryon number violating processes resulting in nucleon decay. When occurring within an atomic nucleus, such a decay will be followed by secondary decays of the daughter nucleus unless its ground state is directly populated. In this paper, we estimate branching ratios for processes associated with dinucleon decays of the 16O nucleus. To this end, we use a simple shell model for the ground state of 16O. For decays from the 1s1/2 configuration, which result in highly excited states in the daughter nucleus, we employ a statistical model with the Hauser-Feshbach theory. Our analysis indicates that the branching ratio for gamma-ray emission in the energy range between 5 and 9 MeV, which is relevant to low-threshold water Cherenkov experiments such as SNO+, is 4.53%, 35.7%, and 20.2% for the nn, pp, and pn decays in 16O, respectively. In particular, emission of 6.09 MeV and 7.01 MeV gamma-rays from 14C, and 6.45 MeV and 7.03 MeV gamma-rays from 14N, have branching ratios as large as 10.9%, 20.1%, 7.73% and 8.90%, respectively.
Identity styles—informational, normative, and diffuse-avoidant—have been studied widely across North America and Europe but infrequently in “non-Western” cultures. We tested the factorial structure of the Identity Styles Inventory-5 (ISI-5) among 479 young adults in Pakistan. Findings supported the predicted three-factor solution, but only when numerous poorly performing items were deleted. We further tested associations among identity styles, identity commitment, and value priorities. As expected, informational and normative styles were associated with higher commitment, whereas diffuse-avoidant style was associated with lower commitment. The three identity styles showed a pattern of divergent associations with value priorities that mostly, but not entirely, replicated the pattern of associations previously found among U.S. and European samples. We conclude that Berzonsky’s three identity styles can be detected in a Pakistani cultural context but that the ISI-5 may not fully capture the breadth and complexity of identity formation processes among Pakistani youth.
Management interventions are necessary to control elephant numbers within fenced wildlife reserves in South Africa. Use of non-lethal control methods is increasing, but information about their suitability and effects are not widely available. Three such methods are currently available; immunocontraception with Porcine Zona Pellucida (PZP) vaccine, vasectomy, and Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone (GnRH) vaccine. Here we consolidate what we know about these methods, using published sources and material shared at a workshop held in South Africa in 2016, in order to provide up-to-date information for future policy decisions concerning the use of these methods in South Africa and elsewhere.
Filmmaking research is developing within the academy and the Filmmaking Research Network (FRN) was set up to provide insight into the conditions and dimensions of filmmaking as research. The assessment of impact is of great interest to the FRN as film is a populist medium and it can be effectively used to disseminate research. For example, ‘Act of Killing’ [Oppenheimer, J. (Dir) 2013. ‘Act of Killing’, Final Cut for Real, UK, Denmark, Norway], which was nominated for an Oscar began its life as an AHRC-funded project. By examining filmmaking practice research success stories presented in 20% of the REF2014 case studies, this paper proposes four pathways to impact using ‘film’, ‘video’ and ‘filmmaking’. These terms were being used to describe a variety of research activities like outputs and new knowledge which warrants deeper attention as impact has become essential criteria for research assessment. Filmmaking research impact disseminates new knowledge and understandings about life and society and is evidenced through the medium, the technology and as a cultural and creative product that affects change firstly in audiences and secondly through organizations and government policies. The findings of this analysis identify ways to improve filmmaking research impact narratives for REF2021.
The assessment of impact is of great interest to filmmaking researchers as film is a populist medium and it can be effectively use to disseminate research, for example ‘Act of Killing’ (Oppenheimer, 2013) which was nominated for an Oscar began its life as an AHRC funded project. There are a number of other filmmaking practice research success stories, and this research examines them by drilling into the REF 2014 database. The results identify ways to improve filmmaking research impact narratives for REF2021.
Work towards producing a radiation-hard and high temperature tolerant direct detection electron spectrometer is reported. The motivation is to develop a low-mass, low-volume, low-power, multi-mission capable instrument for future space science missions. The resultant prototype electron spectrometer employed a GaAs p+-i-n+ mesa photodiode (10 µm i layer thickness; β00 μm diameter) and a custom-made charge-sensitive preamplifier. The GaAs detector was initially electrically characterized as a function of temperature. The detector-preamplifier assembly was then investigated for its utility in electron spectroscopy across the temperature range 100 °C to 20 °C using a laboratory 63Ni radioisotope - particle source (end point energy = 66 keV). Monte Carlo simulations using the computer program CASINO were conducted and showed that the spectrometer had a quantum detection efficiency which increased with increasing electron energy up to 70 keV; a quantum detection efficiency of 73 % was calculated. The accumulated 63Ni - particle spectra together with CASINO simulations of the detected spectra showed that the GaAs based spectrometer could be used for counting electrons and measuring the energy deposited per electron in the detector’s active region (i layer). The development of a GaAs electron spectrometer of this type may find use in future space missions to environments of intense radiation (such as at the surface of Europa for investigation of electron-driven radiolysis of ice) and high temperature (such as at Mercury, and comets passing close to the Sun).
In this paper we summarize the contributions of participants to the Sussex-Huawei Transportation-Locomotion (SHL) Recognition Challenge organized at the HASCA Workshop of UbiComp 2018. The SHL challenge is a machine learning and data science competition, which aims to recognize eight transportation activities (Still, Walk, Run, Bike, Bus, Car, Train, Subway) from the inertial and pressure sensor data of a smartphone. We introduce the dataset used in the challenge and the protocol for the competition. We present a meta-analysis of the contributions from 19 submissions, their approaches, the software tools used, computational cost and the achieved results. Overall, two entries achieved F1 scores above 90%, eight with F1 scores between 80% and 90%, and nine between 50% and 80%.
In this paper we, as part of the Sussex-Huawei Locomotion-Transportation (SHL) Recognition Challenge organizing team, present reference recognition performance obtained by applying various classical and deep-learning classifiers to the testing dataset. We aim to recognize eight modes of transportation (Still, Walk, Run, Bike, Bus, Car, Train, Subway) from smartphone inertial sensors: accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer. The classical classifiers include naive Bayesian, decision tree, random forest, K-nearest neighbour and support vector machine, while the deep-learning classifiers include fully-connected and convolutional deep neural networks. We feed different types of input to the classifier, including hand-crafted features, raw sensor data in the time domain, and in the frequency domain. We employ a post-processing scheme to improve the recognition performance. Results show that convolutional neural network operating on frequency domain raw data achieves the best performance among all the classifiers.
In this paper, we study on a comparative basis the school-to-work transition of young women and young men in six countries in sub-Saharan Africa, and we examine how this has evolved over recent years, based on the data collected by Demographic and Health Surveys. We examine educational attainments and the nature of early jobs young people are able to obtain, as well as considering their relationship to marriage and fertility outcomes, factors which are likely to be particularly relevant for young women. A pooled regression analysis shows that educational levels have increased substantially and gender gaps have narrowed in most countries. Access to better jobs has improved much more slowly with unchanging gender gaps in most countries, so that agriculture is still the dominant sector of employment for most young men and women. We model correlates of key educational outcomes and access to different types of jobs those controlling for individual- and household-level characteristics, including marital status, presence of children and wealth. Attaining a high level of education is unsurprisingly critical for access to the best jobs and is also associated with young women delaying marriage and childbearing.
In this thesis, we classify the cubic surfaces with twenty-seven lines in three dimensional projective space over small finite fields. We use the Clebsch map to construct cubic surfaces with twenty-seven lines in PG(3; q) from 6-arcs not on a conic in PG(2; q). We introduce computational and geometrical procedures for the classification of cubic surfaces over the finite field Fq. The performance of the algorithms is illustrated by the example of cubic surfaces over F13, F17 and F19.
UN Security Council Resolution 2378, which was unanimously adopted on September 20, 2017, is a notable resolution, bringing together, while attempting to drive forward, various ideas and reform proposals that have emerged in recent years in connection with United Nations peacekeeping operations. The fact that it was proposed by Ethiopia, deliberated in Addis Ababa, and adopted during Ethiopia’s presidency of the Security Council are testaments to the central role that this state has played, and continues to play, in UN peacekeeping, perhaps most notably through its position as the leading troop-contributing country to such operations. In this respect, it is notable that the resolution “[u]nderscor[es] the importance of peacekeeping as the most effective tools [sic] available to the United Nations in the promotion and maintenance of international peace and security” while also “[r]eaffirming [the Security Council’s] resolve to strengthen the central role of the United Nations in peacekeeping and to ensure the effective functioning of the collective security system established by the Charter of the United Nations.”
INTRODUCTION: Automated tutoring systems aim to respond to the learner’s cognitive state in order to maintain engagement. The end-user’s state might be inferred by interactive timings, bodily movements or facial expressions. Problematic computerized stimuli are known to cause smiling during periods of frustration.
METHODS: Forty-four seated, healthy participants (age range 18-35, 18 male) used a handheld trackball to answer a computer-presented, formative, 3-way multiple choice geography quiz, with 9 questions, lasting a total of 175 seconds. Frontal facial videos (10 Hz) were collected with a webcam and processed for facial expressions by CrowdEmotion using a pattern recognition algorithm. Interactivity was recorded by a keystroke logger (Inputlog 5.2). Subjective responses were collected immediately after each quiz using a panel
of visual analogue scales (VAS).
RESULTS: Smiling was fie-fold enriched during the instantaneous feedback segments of the quiz, and this was correlated with VAS ratings for engagement but not with happiness or frustration. Nevertheless, smiling rate was significantly higher after wrong answers compared to correct ones, and frustration was correlated with the number of questions answered
incorrectly.
CONCLUSION: The apparent disconnect between the increased smiling during incorrect answers but the lack of correlation between VAS frustration and smiles suggests a trigger-substrate model where engagement is the permissive substrate, while the noises made by the quiz after wrong answers may be the trigger.
The ability to discriminate between emotion in vocal signals is highly adaptive in social species. It may also be adaptive for domestic species to distinguish such signals in humans. Here we present a playback study investigating whether horses spontaneously respond in a functionally relevant way towards positive and negative emotion in human nonverbal vocalisations. We presented horses with positively- and negatively-valenced human vocalisations (laughter and growling, respectively) in the absence of all other emotional cues. Horses were found to adopt a freeze posture for significantly longer immediately after hearing negative versus positive human vocalisations, suggesting that negative voices promote vigilance behaviours and may therefore be perceived as more threatening. In support of this interpretation, horses held their ears forwards for longer and performed fewer ear movements in response to negative voices, which further suggest increased vigilance. In addition, horses showed a right-ear/left-hemisphere bias when attending to positive compared with negative voices, suggesting that horses perceive laughter as more positive than growling. These findings raise interesting questions about the potential for universal discrimination of vocal affect and the role of lifetime learning versus other factors in interspecific communication.
Despite creating an extensive and innovative body of work over the last 30 years, Aki Kaurismäki remains relatively neglected in Anglophone scholarship. This international collection of original essays aims to redress such neglect by assembling diverse critical inquiries into Kaurismäki's oeuvre. The first anthology on Kaurismäki to be published in English, it offers a range of voices responding to his politically and aesthetically compelling cinema. Deploying various methodologies to explore multiple facets of his work, The Films of Aki Kaurismäki will come to be seen as the definitive book on Kaurismäki.
This paper proposes a novel test of productive efficiency in the household that also allows a test of noncooperative decision making. I extend the collective model (Chiappori 1988, 1997) to allow labor choices to affect future bargaining power by raising the value of outside options. Even if household consumption sharing is efficient, labor choices are no longer efficient. Using data on Malawi, where there is predetermined variation in land rights that determine outside options in marriage, I show that individuals spend more time on agricultural labor and less time on wage labor when household land is theirs. They also have lower overall income and consumption. The results are inconsistent with the fully efficient collective model but consistent with a noncooperative model with limited commitment, where individuals allocate their labor supply to maximize future bargaining power. Limited commitment can lead to inefficient allocations that reduce household welfare.
Graphene oxide (GO) thin films and coatings are regarded as superior in quality to other materials especially for biomedical applications. However, the lack of stability and understanding of their structure and defects hinder their use in value added applications. Here, we describe our successful attempt at stabilizing, reducing and functionalizing GO through multiple plasma treatments with polymerizing (to deposit a crosslinking and compressing layer of diamond like carbon, DLC) and non‐polymerizing precursors (H2, O2, and N2). The hybrid GO and DLC coatings on semi crystalline PEEK were evaluated using AFM, SEM, and XPS. The GO deposited layer showed roughness around 70 nm and, despite care, resulted in several wrinkles and particle aggregations. The hybrid coatings conformed to the roughness and crystalline features of PEEK. XPS showed that the DLC layer cross‐linked the GO nano‐flakes while not completely masking which enable the partial exposure of GO. The GO‐DLC hybrid interface is higher in thickness than the PEEK‐GO and is dominating the overall thickness of the hybrid structure ≈13 ± 1 μm. XPS measurements showed that the often unstable CO functional groups on the surface of the hybrid coating can be reduced by effective plasma treatment. Plasma treatments also generated CO functional groups that probably originated from the decomposed carboxyl groups. The plasma treatment also contributed to the reduction of GO. Treatment with H2 was more effective in oxygen reduction than with the N2, however, treatment with N2 increased the reactants on GO as N2 is heavier tending to deposit more on a surface. Plasma treatment with O2 increased the surface oxygen content further and hence more defects on the hybrid surface.
Coatings of graphene oxide over two substrates of glass-fibre and polystyrene were obtained by electrophoretic deposition (EPD). A chemical reduction of graphene oxide by exposure to hydrazine hydrate at 100 °C significantly changes the interfacial interaction with the substrate as well as the tribology. Spectroscopic techniques like Fourier transform infrared, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction showed that the treatment with hydrazine replaces oxygen functional groups and also induces roughness, a structural disorder and decreases the interlayer separation in the transition from graphene oxide (GO) to reduced graphene oxide (rGO). Treatment with hydrazine reduces adhesion and friction force against diamond like carbon coated Si probe (DLC AFM) at the basal plain of the coatings. Investigation at the edges revealed that the presence of oxygenic functional groups leads to higher shear strength with glass-fibre and polystyrene which reduces after treatment with hydrazine.
Forced displacement is the crises of our time as it has reached an unprecedented magnitude and rate, which exceeds the capacity of the international relief system and required efforts from global citizens, institutions, governments and communities. Social psychology has an important role in this needed mass response, to provide a better understanding of how the forcibly displaced people deal with their situation and how they are affected by it. Taking into consideration the sharp gap of resources available to the international relief system, it is especially important to understand the natural mechanisms of support the affected communities have, which can be an effective tool to build more efficient interventions and to empower marginalised communities and individuals.
This research project aims to explore one possible mechanism underlining social support among refugees of conflict in developing countries, and sought to answer three main questions: how refugees help each other? Does sharing an emergent identity of being a “refugee” facilitate support among them, similar to people affected by disasters? Does this shared identity-based support impact their health? After conducting a systematic literature review (Paper 1) of psychosocial support among refugees of conflict in developing countries, we identified that the main challenge was the stressors arising from the exile environment (secondary stressors) and found indications of shared identity-based support among them.
To do further exploration with social identity in mind, we conducted an 8-month ethnography (Paper 2) with Syrian refugees in Jordan that revealed an emergent shared “refugee” identity which seems to stem from a sense of common fate and motivates providing help to other refugees in addition to creating new social networks in exile that facilitates support efficiently. To better understand the secondary stressors (Paper 3), we conducted a survey (N = 305) and combined it with ethnographic data to find that Syrian refugees in Jordan suffer the most from financial stressors, due to loss of income and high living expenses; environmental stressors arise from exile and are either circumstantial (e.g., services and legal requirements) or created by this environment (e.g., instability and lack of familiarity); social stressors, directly related to social relations (e.g., discrimination & exploitation). In order to explore the process of support and the exact role of shared identity, we conducted two surveys (Paper 4) among Syrian refugees in Jordan (N = 156) and Turkey (N = 234) and used path analysis to build a model, which suggested that shared social identity is an important predictor of providing support and collective efficacy, which in turn has a positive association with general health of the refugees. We found indications that such positive associations could have a buffering effect in counter to the negative effect of stressors and stress on the health of refugees.
We do acknowledge the stigmatic nature of a “refugee” identity and that there are other sources of support among the refugees. Nevertheless, we suggest that shared social identity can be a valuable resource in the field of psychosocial support among refugees of conflict in developing countries, especially if incorporated in the design of community level intervention.
This thesis investigates the potential for return migrants to have an impact on development in the small-state case of Guyana, relative to the non-migrant population. To do this in a fairly comprehensive manner, three specific questions are posed. Firstly, what are the differences among return migrants, non-returning migrants, and non-migrants? Secondly, what are the determinants of return migration to Guyana? And thirdly, what are the potential consequences of return migration to Guyana? The first question allows for an understanding of critical differences among return migrants, non-returning migrants, and non-migrants. This provides information on where, potentially, return migrants show important differences relative to the other groups, and if those differences observed would be useful for development in Guyana. Further, I explore the sustainability of return migration through the concept of mixed embeddedness, looking into the influences of return migrants’ desire for re-emigration. Hence, answering the first question is an early signal of where, potentially, return migrants demonstrate attributes that arguably are useful for development in the origin country. In answering the second question, an insight is provided into what determines return. In particular, determinants of return take on a more real-world context, factoring a key eligibility of policy – that of duration of time spent abroad. Lastly, given the multidimensional link between migration and development, the final question tries to understand what the actual nexus between return migration and development is for the case of Guyana. Especially, I explore the direct and indirect impact of return migration, whether return migrants are likely to be of more use in development over non-migrants, and the measurable indicators of this nexus for Guyana.
To facilitate the analysis, the thesis first justifies why it is useful to revisit return migration as a potentially useful impetus for development. Here is where the small state case is presented as still valid. It then delves into the relevance of return migration and development linkages for the particular case of Guyana. In the process, it reveals why Guyana is an interesting case, contextualizing the theoretical perspectives that help to rationalize the general arguments, for and against, why individuals leave and some return. The account then notes, where data are available, existing policy practices in some small states as they relate to how governments demonstrate an interest in return migration as useful for origin-state development. The above summarizes the content of chapters 1 and 2. Chapter 3 explains in detail the mixed-method approach used to collect the qualitative and quantitative data required to develop the critical arguments and research results presented in chapters 4, 5, and 6.
A two-stage stratified sampling approach with disproportionate fractions was used to collect data on 451 return migrants and 528 non-migrants. This data was pooled with 210 non-returning migrants captured in an online survey using an ethno-survey framework. Additionally, qualitative interviews with representatives of several local institutions with responsibility for return migration policy, data, and concessions delivery were conducted to support the quantitative framework. Notwithstanding the fairly large sample size, the return migration and development story told in this thesis not only dwells on averages, but also on individual reflections of return contained in the data.
For the analysis, a mix of standard and novel approaches is utilized. The transnationalism approach, which recognizes the current characterization of the fluidity of migration, combined with the capabilities approach to migration and development, enables a general view on how the nexus is manifested in development outcomes at the individual level. These are the main reference points adapted to guide the conversation on determinants and consequences respectively. Techniques employed for the analysis of determinants and consequences are survival analysis and exploratory factor analysis, including the OLS and Ordered Probit models.
The sample demonstrated that return migrants were different on personal and socioeconomic attributes. Migrants returned mainly from countries within the CARICOM region rather than from those further away such as the North America and Other International areas. Return migrants have a tendency to remit prior to returning, even acquiring personal assets before, which can be linked to their duration spent abroad and their host location. On returning, returnees in the sample differed from non-migrants, especially in the areas of educational attainment and current earnings in terms of monthly household income. International migration in terms of the level of development at the host location is an imperative. Return migrants’ exposure and enhanced capacity are potentially useful for development. But, the jury is still out on whether this is harnessed to fill development gaps in the origin country Guyana. Nevertheless, returnees can be viewed as ‘elites’ which puts this group among those most equipped to (re)-emigrate. Hence, desires for re-emigration are vested not only in the institutional and structural stressors, but also reflect individual attributes of return migrants. Return migration thus does not necessarily complete the migration cycle.
Return, demonstrated in the sample mostly by those in the CARICOM region, has been subjected to a number of personal characteristics – migration status among other reasons. Structural factors have not been captured well to reflect the differences in the host countries to that of origin, but something is definitely happening at host locations that engenders the agency of returnees. Capabilities and achievements of migrants returning are indicative of systems and structures at the host locations. Even in the presence of heterogeneity among returnees, return migrants seem to have a positive impact on development in Guyana relative to non-migrants. Returning was also importantly a function the migrant’s position/membership in the household at origin, as social attachments inclined them to return. But their contribution on return correlates with the duration spent abroad; the longer time giving migrants better opportunities to prepare, remit, and acquire local assets in some cases.
The signal given, therefore, is that, while returnees seem positively related to local development through their human capital, there is no guarantee that they will be contributing to local development if the policy is not designed to extract necessary obligations. While return might be interpreted as success in some cases, migrants juxtapose economic and noneconomic factors in navigating return and re-emigration. As it already obtains, if migrants do not return some still remit which can also contribute to the development of Guyana. This happens if diaspora policy and thoughts of returning are engendered by the non-returning migrant. Transnational ties help to reinforce such thoughts. Notwithstanding, the transnational approach alone cannot explain the many contexts of migration and return. Such would require multiple contextual approaches.
The relationships of the consequences of return migration for development in Guyana has been reflected in the extraction of 13 observable indicators. The variables give ideas into the relationship of return and development, that is to say the capabilities and achievements of returnees as compared to non-migrants. But return migrants’ achievements, even when this is above that of non-migrants, does not guarantee inputs to wider local development in the presence of structural rigidities. In fact, during the period of exchange rate and foreign exchange restrictions, non-returning migrants could not remit formally, intending migrants could not get access to passports at will, inter alia. The result was a massive underground economy as a coping strategy under import substitution development. Notwithstanding, in the presence of liberal policies and transnationalism, at minimum, migration does do something positive for the migrants and/or the households from which they originate, even if the models used in this thesis exaggerate these outcomes.
Ground ice and sedimentary records of a pingo exposure reveal insights into Holocene permafrost, landscape and climate dynamics. Early to mid‐Holocene thermokarst lake deposits contain rich floral and faunal paleoassemblages, which indicate lake shrinkage and decreasing summer temperatures (chironomid‐based TJuly) from 10.5 to 3.5 cal kyr BP with the warmest period between 10.5 and 8 cal kyr BP. Talik refreezing and pingo growth started about 3.5 cal kyr BP after disappearance of the lake. The isotopic composition of the pingo ice (δ18O − 17.1 ± 0.6‰, δD −144.5 ± 3.4‰, slope 5.85, deuterium excess −7.7± 1.5‰) point to the initial stage of closed‐system freezing captured in the record. A differing isotopic composition within the massive ice body was found (δ18O − 21.3 ± 1.4‰, δD −165 ± 11.5‰, slope 8.13, deuterium excess 4.9± 3.2‰), probably related to the infill of dilation cracks by surface water with quasi‐meteoric signature. Currently inactive syngenetic ice wedges formed in the thermokarst basin after lake drainage. The pingo preserves traces of permafrost response to climate variations in terms of ground‐ice degradation (thermokarst) during the early and mid‐Holocene, and aggradation (wedge‐ice and pingo‐ice growth) during the late Holocene.
The early decades of the twentieth century were marked by widespread optimism about biology and its ability to improve the world. A major catalyst for this enthusiasm was new theories about inheritance and evolution (particularly Hugo de Vries's mutation theory and Mendel's newly rediscovered ideas). In Britain and the USA particularly, an astonishingly diverse variety of writers (from elite scientists to journalists and writers of fiction) took up the task of interpreting these new biological ideas, using a wide range of genres to help their fellow citizens make sense of biology's promise. From these miscellaneous writings a new and distinctive kind of utopianism emerged – the biotopia. Biotopias offered the dream of a perfect, post-natural world, or the nightmare of violated nature (often in the same text), but above all they conveyed a sense that biology was – for the first time – offering humanity unprecedented control over life. Biotopias often visualized the world as a garden perfected for human use, but this vision was tinged with gendered violence, as it became clear that realizing it entailed dispossessing, or even killing, ‘Mother Nature’. Biotopian themes are apparent in journalism, scientific reports and even textbooks, and these non-fiction sources shared many characteristics with intentionally prophetic or utopian fictions. Biotopian themes can be traced back and forth across the porous boundaries between popular and elite writing, showing how biology came to function as public culture. This analysis reveals not only how the historical significance of science is invariably determined outside the scientific world, but also that the ways in which biology was debated during this period continue to characterize today's debates over new biological breakthroughs.
Introduction. The popularity of seeking health information online makes information quality (IQ) a public health issue. The present study aims at building a theoretical framework of health information quality (HIQ) that can be applied to websites and defines which IQ criteria are important for a website to be trustworthy and meet users’ expectations.
Methods. We have identified a list of HIQ criteria from existing tools and assessment criteria and elaborated them into a questionnaire that was promoted via social media and mainly the University. Responses (329) were used to rank the different criteria for their importance in trusting a website and to identify patterns of criteria using hierarchical cluster analysis.
Results. HIQ criteria were organized in five dimensions based on previous theoretical frameworks as well as on how they cluster together in the questionnaire response. We could identify a top-ranking dimension (scientific completeness) that describes what the user is expecting to know from the websites (in particular: description of symptoms, treatments, side effects). Cluster analysis also identified a number of criteria borrowed from existing tools for assessing HIQ that could be subsumed to a broad “ethical” dimension (such as conflict of interests, privacy, advertising policies) that were, in general, ranked of low importance by the participants. Subgroup analysis revealed significant differences in the importance assigned to the various criteria based on gender, nationality and whether or not of a biomedical educational background.
Conclusions. We identified criteria of HIQ and organized them in dimensions. We observed that ethical criteria, while regarded highly in the academic and medical environment, are not considered highly by the public.
This article describes experimental and theoretical studies on the cavitation phenomena in the grease lubrication film under pure sliding elastohydrodynamic contact. In-situ observation tests using the optical interferometry technique were conducted, and the growth of cavitation was captured using a high speed camera. The results showed that the cavity grew in two stages, which was similar to the behaviour in the base oil, and that the cavity growth rate in the initial stage was higher than that in the second stage. In the initial stage, the cavity growth time in the grease was longer than that in the base oil, and the cavity length after the growth depended on the base oil viscosity. It was also found in the test using diurea grease that small cavities were formed by the lumps of thickener. The cavity growth in the initial stage was discussed by numerical simulation of pressure distribution based on a simple rheological model.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a tauopathy characterised by pathological fibrillisation of tau protein to form the paired helical filaments (PHFs) which constitute neurofibrillary tangles. The methylthioninium (MT) moiety reverses the proteolytic stability of the PHF core and is in clinical development for treatment of AD in a stable reduced form as leuco-MT (LMT). It has been hypothesised that MT acts via oxidation of cysteine residues which is incompatible with activity in the predominantly reducing environment of living cells. We have shown recently that the PHF-core tau unit assembles spontaneously in vitro to form PHF-like filaments. Here we describe studies using circular dichroism, SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, transmission electron microscopy and site-directed mutagenesis to elucidate the mechanism of action of the MT moiety. We show that MT inhibitory activity is optimal in reducing conditions, that the active moiety is the reduced LMT form of the molecule, and that its mechanism of action is cysteine-independent.
Peptide self-assembly represents a powerful bottom-up approach to the fabrication of new nanomaterials. β3-peptides are non-natural peptides composed entirely of β-amino acids, which have an extra methylene in the backbone and we reported the first fibers derived from the self-assembly of β3-peptides that adopt unique 14-helical structures. β3-peptide assemblies represent a class of stable nanomaterials that can be used to generate bio- and magneto-responsive materials with proteolytic stability. However, the three-dimensional structure of many of these materials remains unknown. In order to develop structure-based criteria for the design of new β3-peptide-based biomaterials with tailored function, we investigated the structure of a tri-β3-peptide nanoassembly by molecular dynamics simulations and X-ray fiber diffraction analysis. Diffraction data was collected from aligned fibrils formed by Ac-β3[LIA] in water and used to inform and validate the model structure. Models with threefold radial symmetry resulted in stable fibers with a triple-helical coiled-coil motif and measurable helical pitch and periodicity. The fiber models revealed a hydrophobic core and twist along the fiber axis arising from a maximization of contacts between hydrophobic groups of adjacent tripeptides on the solvent-exposed fiber surface. These atomic structures of macro-scale fibers derived from β3-peptide-based materials provide valuable insight into the effects of the geometric placement of the side-chains and the influence of solvent on the core fiber structure which is perpetuated in the superstructure morphology.
Smell is a powerful tool for conveying and recalling information without requiring visual attention. Previous work identified, however, some challenges caused by user's unfamiliarity with this modality and complexity in the scent delivery. We are now able to overcome these challenges, introducing a training approach to familiarize scent-meaning associations (urgency of a message, and sender identity) and using a controllable device for the scent-delivery. Here we re-validate the effectiveness of smell as notification modality and present findings on the performance of smell in conveying information. In a user study composed of two sessions we compared the effectiveness of visual, olfactory, and combined visual-olfactory notifications in a messaging application. We demonstrated that olfactory notifications improve users' confidence and performance in identifying the urgency level of a message, with the same reaction time and disruption levels as for visual notifications. We discuss the design implications and opportunities for future work in the domain of multimodal interactions.
Cars provide drivers with task-related information (e.g. "Fill gas") mainly using visual and auditory stimuli. However, those stimuli may distract or overwhelm the driver, causing unnecessary stress. Here, we propose olfactory stimulation as a novel feedback modality to support the perception of visual notifications, reducing the visual demand of the driver. Based on previous research, we explore the application of the scents of lavender, peppermint, and lemon to convey three driving-relevant messages (i.e. "Slow down", "Short inter-vehicle distance", "Lane departure"). Our paper is the first to demonstrate the application of olfactory conditioning in the context of driving and to explore how multiple olfactory notifications change the driving behaviour. Our findings demonstrate that olfactory notifications are perceived as less distracting, more comfortable, and more helpful than visual notifications. Drivers also make less driving mistakes when exposed to olfactory notifications. We discuss how these findings inform the design of future in-car user interfaces.
Physical activity questionnaires are an important means to assess habitual physical activity. It remains unclear what questionnaires are used and whether they are appropriate for people with dementia who have impaired information recall but are also often largely sedentary. This scoping review aimed to identify and quantify the use of physical activity questionnaires within a dementia population. Eighteen studies met the inclusion criteria for this review. The majority of studies used questionnaires that were validated for use within an older adult population (e.g., Modified Baecke Questionnaire for the Elderly), though none had specifically been validated for use in people with dementia. Interestingly, just over half of studies (N= 10, 55.6%) adapted the questionnaires from the original validated version by allowing a proxy to provide input into the responses. Future research needs to robustly validate the use of proxy-report measures of physical activity in people with dementia.
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UNESCO World Heritage sites (WHS) located in coastal areas are increasingly at risk from coastal hazards due to sea-level rise. In this study, we assess Mediterranean cultural WHS at risk from coastal flooding and erosion under four sea-level rise scenarios until 2100. Based on the analysis of spatially explicit WHS data, we develop an index-based approach that allows for ranking WHS at risk from both coastal hazards. Here we show that of 49 cultural WHS located in low-lying coastal areas of the Mediterranean, 37 are at risk from a 100-year flood and 42 from coastal erosion, already today. Until 2100, flood risk may increase by 50% and erosion risk by 13% across the region, with considerably higher increases at individual WHS. Our results provide a first-order assessment of where adaptation is most urgently needed and can support policymakers in steering local-scale research to devise suitable adaptation strategies for each WHS.
This thesis examines where and how children achieve agency in the primary classroom, identifying the conditions that extend and limit the scope and scale of their agency, to understand more of the details of a phenomenon viewed as central to education but often glossed over in research. The study draws on a multimodal ethnography of a Year One classroom, within an ordinary English primary school, including an in-depth focus on the experience of a few carefully selected children. In addition, a week was spent undertaking a ‘rapid’ ethnography in a Year One class in an ‘outstanding’ teaching school.
The research details the conditions of the ‘on-task’ modern primary classroom, a performance-focused environment centred on delivering a knowledge-based national curriculum. There is an emphasis on children’s conformity, including a moral and bodily discipline, with children expected to learn only what the teacher knows. Practices designed to promote agency (e.g. setting by current ability, and promoting learning behaviours such as resilience and aiming high) can promote pupil anxiety and re-inforce existing hierarchies.
The thesis explores what children’s agency looks like in the on-task classroom, drawing on a relational conceptualisation of agency, where children act purposively to achieve outcomes of educational relevance. This includes a focus on children’s agency ‘orientations’ – their cultural, social and emotional experiences and outlooks – as well as discourses, practices and the materiality of classrooms. The thesis identifies children’s competence in understanding what is expected of them, and agency in performing the ‘good’ and ‘clever’ child subject positions, helping to make classroom life more liveable, although this form of agency is limited and unhelpful for dealing with the new and unexpected. Children also deviate, becoming the ‘desiring’ child, finding moments to pursue desires and ways of knowing not provided for within the on-task classroom. Here, children’s many practices, which include to laugh, move, speak, create, collaborate, as well as to sit and listen, offer embodied ways to think about, understand, re-imagine and transform the world. The children’s desires offer a critique of the on-task classroom, with its narrow focus on gaining knowledge and skills, and socialisation in moral rectitude, insinuating a desire to be educated through the transformation of the subject and existing social orders. All children pursue their desires in the classroom, but the middle class, male and oldest children have the greatest scope to deviate.
Through tracing lines of desire, acting with the presumption of equality, I suggest children become political subjects, engaged in the act of ‘dissensus’ through the redistribution of what is understood as ‘sensible’ within the classroom. They also raise a ‘common concern’ about the need for a different type of classroom. The thesis concludes with teacher dilemmas emerging from the research highlighting the inherent complexity in deciding which of the different purposes of education to foreground at any point. It identifies the need for future research on pedagogical spaces that allow for children’s transformation as well as their conformity, and the mental health implications of the on-task classroom.
The thesis draws on post-structuralist perspectives, together with new materialism (e.g. Gert Biesta, Michel de Certeau, Karin Murris, Saba Mahmood, Sevasti-Melissa Nolas, Jo Moran-Ellis, Jacques Rancière).
The foundational theory of quantum enhanced metrology for parameter estimation is of fundamental importance to the progression of science and technology as the scientific method is built upon empirical evidence, the acquisition of which is entirely reliant on measurement. Quantum mechanical properties can be exploited to yield measurement results to a greater precision (lesser uncertainty) than that which is permitted by classical methods. This has been mathematically demonstrated by the derivation of theoretical bounds which place a fundamental limit on the uncertainty of a measurement. Furthermore, quantum metrology is of immediate interest in the application of quantum technologies since measurement plays a central role. This thesis focuses on the role of quantum correlations and uncertainty relations which govern the precision bounds. We show how correlations can be distributed amongst limited resources in realistic scenarios, as permitted by current experimental capabilities, to achieve higher precision measurements than current approaches. This is extended to the setting of multiparameter estimation in which we demonstrate a more technologically feasible method of correlation distribution than those previously posited which perform as well as, or worse than, our scheme. Furthermore, a quantum metrology protocol is typically comprised of three stages: probe state preparation, sensing and then readout, where the time required for the first and last stages is usually neglected. We consider the more realistic sensing scenario of time being a limited resource which is divided amongst the three stages and demonstrate the most efficient use of this resource. Additionally, we take an information theoretic approach to quantum mechanical uncertainty relations and derive a one-parameter class of uncertainty relations which supplies more information about the quantum mechanical system of interest than conventional uncertainty relations. Finally, we demonstrate how we can use this class of uncertainty relations to reconstruct information of the state of the quantum mechanical system.
Visual experience appears richly detailed despite the poor resolution of the majority of the visual field, thanks to foveal-peripheral integration. The recently described Uniformity Illusion (UI), wherein peripheral elements of a pattern take on the appearance of foveal elements, may shed light on this integration. We examined the basis of UI by generating adaptation to a pattern of Gabors suitable for producing UI on orientation. After removing the pattern, participants reported the tilt of a single peripheral Gabor. The tilt after-effect followed the physical adapting orientation rather than the global orientation perceived under UI, even when the illusion had been reported for a long time. Conversely, a control experiment replacing illusory uniformity with a physically uniform Gabor pattern for the same durations did produce an after-effect to the global orientation. Results indicate that UI is not associated with changes in sensory encoding at V1, but likely depends on higher-level processes.
This thesis extends the current scholarship of the social impact of the First World War by analysing the influence of the contribution of the Indian soldiers on the Western Front on civilian and military perceptions of Indian people and how this varied between those who encountered Indian soldiers in person and those who did not. The work sits on the historiographical boundary of the First World War, Empire and the social history of Britain in the post war years and makes use of newspapers, first person accounts and manuscript sources.
The impact upon the civilian population is analysed by examining the manner in which Indian people were represented in the media in the years before the war and comparing this with later representations in the years during and after the war. The work of Porter and Mackenzie and the ongoing debate about the significance of the Empire to the British people is used to ground the argument. The thesis finds that, despite an increased awareness and interest in India and its people during the war, the public soon settled into a pre-war apathy towards its Empire.
The military chapters briefly examine the history of the Indian Army and its time in France and the changes made by the British Army to facilitate the service of the Indian soldiers in Europe. It discusses the negative view of the Indian Corps which has been perpetuated by historians during the twentieth century and provides contradictory arguments against a number of these assertions.
The thesis concludes that, while the Indian Corps’ time in France positively impacted on British civilian and military opinion of Indian people, those who directly encountered them formed the most favourable views.
In this paper, we explore the gendered experiences of, and responses to, socio-economic and environmental change evoked by processes of land acquisition for oil palm plantation development. Drawing upon ethnographic fieldwork in West Kalimantan, Indonesia, we examine the heterogeneous and differentiated nature of women’s lived experiences in resisting, accepting and enacting agrarian change. We find that impacts stretch beyond livelihood opportunities, access to land and resources, and labour conditions: plantation development also affects and changes social relations, leading to insecurity and anxiety and new forms of solidarity. Using an analytical framework of ‘spaces for participation’ we highlight how women are excluded from participation during negotiations and contestations around land acquisition for the development of oil palm plantations. Yet, women also challenge their exclusion by claiming space for participation in different ways, including by engaging in alternative, more subtle forms of resistance that frequently go unnoticed by policies and practices that aim to empower women.
Modern psychology has long focused on the body as the basis of the self. Recently, predictive processing accounts of interoception (perception of the body ‘from within’) have become influential in accounting for experiences of body ownership and emotion. Here, we describe embodied selfhood in terms of ‘instrumental interoceptive inference’, which emphasises allostatic regulation and physiological integrity. We apply this approach to the distinctive phenomenology of embodied selfhood, accounting for its non-object-like character and subjective stability over time. Our perspective has implications for the development of selfhood, and illuminates longstanding debates about relations between life and mind, implying – contrary to Descartes – that experiences of embodied selfhood arise because of, and not in spite of, our nature as ‘beast machines’.
Sex differences in life history, physiology, and behavior are nearly ubiquitous across taxa, owing to sex-specific selection that arises from different reproductive strategies of the sexes. The pace-of-life syndrome (POLS) hypothesis predicts that most variation in such traits among individuals, populations, and species falls along a slow-fast pace-of-life continuum. As a result of their different reproductive roles and environment, the sexes also commonly differ in pace-of-life, with important consequences for the evolution of POLS. Here, we outline mechanisms for how males and females can evolve differences in POLS traits and in how such traits can covary differently despite constraints resulting from a shared genome. We review the current knowledge of the genetic basis of POLS traits and suggest candidate genes and pathways for future studies. Pleiotropic effects may govern many of the genetic correlations, but little is still known about the mechanisms involved in trade-offs between current and future reproduction and their integration with behavioral variation. We highlight the importance of metabolic and hormonal pathways in mediating sex differences in POLS traits; however, there is still a shortage of studies that test for sex specificity in molecular effects and their evolutionary causes. Considering whether and how sexual dimorphism evolves in POLS traits provides a more holistic framework to understand how behavioral variation is integrated with life histories and physiology, and we call for studies that focus on examining the sex-specific genetic architecture of this integration.
Males and females commonly differ in their life history optima and, consequently, in the optimal expression of life history, behavioral and physiological traits involved in pace-of-life syndromes (POLS). Sex differences in mean trait expression typically result if males and females exhibit different fitness optima along the same pace-of-life continuum, but the syndrome structure may also differ for the sexes. Due to sex-specific selective pressures imposed by reproductive roles and breeding strategies, the sexes may come to differ in the strength of correlation among traits, or different traits may covary in males and females. Ignorance of these selective forces operating between and within the sexes may lead to flawed conclusions about POLS manifestation in the species, and stand in the way of understanding the evolution, maintenance, and variability of POLS. We outline ways in which natural and sexual selection influence sex-specific trait evolution, and describe potential ultimate mechanisms underlying sex-specific POLS. We make predictions on how reproductive roles and the underlying sexual conflict lead to sex-specific trait covariances. These predictions lead us to conclude that sexual dimorphism in POLS is expected to be highly prevalent, allow us to assess possible consequences for POLS evolution, and provide guidelines for future studies.
This thesis provides a critical analysis of shifting US foreign policy toward India. The study covers the period from the end of the Second World War up to the end of the first Obama administration. With Indo-US relations since India’s independence in 1947 used as a backdrop, the focus is on policy from the end of the Cold war and, specifically, from the time of the 9/11 attack. The thesis explores, in both conceptual and empirical terms, the reasons for United States growing involvement in the South Asian region and its enhanced engagement with India. The principle aim of the study is to determine whether the ramifications of 9/11 were mainly responsible for present state of Indo-US relations, or whether US policy toward India was driven by the broader changes in international affairs associated with globalisation, among which the rise of China is paramount. The approach taken is a critical historical analysis that has involved review of secondary literature and close examination of a range of primary US and Indian government material, supplemented by field work conducted in the US that involved interviews with policy makers and academics.
This thesis shows that US policy toward India has two major dimensions: the first is the US adaptation of its foreign policy in response to the changed international political climate after the Cold War, a shift in which the question of its relative decline from sole superpower status was critical. The second dimension is India’s rise, which has given it growing geo-strategic importance in the 21st century and has created the potential for India to become an essential partner in US attempts to maintain the stability of the international order and its own hegemonic role with this order. The argument of the thesis is that US policy toward India is more one of continuity than change, and that the driving force behind recent Indo-US relations is not primarily the consequences of 9/11, but is rather the result of power shifts within a more globalised world. In this changed context both the US and India have looked for closer, strategic relationships with countries that share their interests. While far from being united in this respect, their interests are sufficiently common so that from the end of the Cold War the US and India have developed a closer partnership. The effects of 9/11 contributed to an environment conducive to this partnership, but they were not the primary factor.
This study uses organizational support theory to examine how health care employees’ perceptions of teamwork influence patient satisfaction through a serial mediation involving employee well-being and intention to remain. The study also examines the extent to which the training that employees receive might enhance these relationships. Hypothesized assumptions are tested by multilevel analysis using data from 66,930 employees nested within 162 organizations from the British National Health Service (NHS). Our findings indicate that teamwork has a positive indirect association with patient satisfaction through employee well-being (i.e., job satisfaction and work engagement) and intention to remain, in sequence. The strength of this indirect relationship is also enhanced by training provided to employees by the organization.
This paper examines the impact of the use of work–nonwork supports on well-being. It first develops hypotheses regarding how a reduction in job demands, and an increase in both job control and supportive management may explain this relationship. We then test these hypotheses using data from Britain’s Workplace Employee Relations Survey of 2011. The research reveals that the use of work–nonwork supports has a positive association with job control and supportive supervision. These in turn mediate a relationship between the use of supports and three dimensions of employee well-being, job satisfaction, anxiety-contentment and depression-enthusiasm, some of the effect being through their reducing work–to–nonwork conflict. Use of work–nonwork supports is, however, positively associated with job demands, but this effect of use on job demands does not affect well-being. Since job autonomy and supportive supervision are major mediators, and have a direct influence on work–nonwork conflict and well-being, policy should focus on integrating job quality and work–life balance issues.
High-involvement management was introduced as a means of overcoming economic crises, but it has been argued that the inevitability of cost-cutting measures when organizations face such crises would undermine its efficacy. This article first presents theories of why tensions may exist between high-involvement management and actions typically taken by management during recessions, such as wage and employment freezes. It then reports research aimed at testing whether the performance effects of high-involvement management were lower in organizations where management took such actions to combat the post-2008 recession, due to their adverse effects on employees’ job satisfaction and well-being—and even whether high-involvement management still had a performance premium after the recession. Using data from Britain’s Workplace Employment Relations Survey of 2011, the research shows that both dimensions of high-involvement management—role- and organizational-involvement management—continued to be positively associated with economic performance as the economy came out of recession. Recessionary actions were negatively related to both employee job satisfaction and well-being, while job satisfaction mediated the relationship between role-involvement management and economic performance, which is consistent with mutual-gains theory. However, recessionary action reduced the positive effect that role-involvement management had on job satisfaction and well-being and thus may have reduced its positive performance effects. In the case of organizational-involvement management, it reduced the level of job dissatisfaction and ill-being, suggesting that it may provide workers with more information and greater certainty about the future.
Recent policy initiatives in the UK have heightened the degree to which wellbeing can be considered a political construct: The acceptance of different policy options for wellbeing depends on the extent to which those options are responsive to popular wellbeing concerns. Drawing on the views of over 400 people gathered through a variety of methods and across the UK, we outline different stakeholder views of what wellbeing is and the priorities that stakeholders believe should be addressed to improve wellbeing. We draw out the implications for reframing policy debates around wellbeing, the practice of career guidance, academic debates around identified wellbeing priorities, and the best means of developing a policy and a practice-oriented and stakeholder-responsive approach to researching wellbeing.
This thesis examines the impact of banking regulation, external governance and bank-specific variables on commercial and savings bank performance, as estimated by efficiency and financial indicators, in the Asian market, between 2000 and 2012. Furthermore, the thesis analyses the effect of deposit diversification and insurance on the bank’s liquidity risk tolerance in G7 and BRICS countries. It further investigates the impact of expected government support on bank risk-taking in China.
Firstly, we examine the impact of Credit Rating Agencies (CRAs) on bank performance in general, and in particular on how this impact can be moderated by the strict regulation of banking criteria and the quality of investor protection embedded in different institutional environments. We find that CRAs enhances bank performance. CRAs as the flexible governance power, their positive monitoring impact is further enhanced by the quality of investor protection but mitigated by the inflexible and strict banking regulations. Secondly, this research investigates the impact of market power and revenue diversification on bank performance and stability. We find that market power could not only improve banking performance, but also increase individual bank fragility in an emerging market. Although revenue diversification reduces bank efficiency, it improves individual stability.
Thirdly, we study the relationship between liquidity risk, deposit diversification and insurance in 12 countries during the period 2005-2014. We capture liquidity risk by focusing on the unfunded loan commitments. We find that higher diversification in the deposit base can reduce the impact of liquidity demand risk during the crisis by decreasing the cost of funding, increasing the funding inflow, maintaining the total amount of loan lending and enhancing the liquid ratio. Additionally, the results suggest that although deposit insurance has a positive impact during the crisis, its effect cannot mitigate the liquidity demand risk.
Fourthly, this research examines the impacts of expected government support on bank risk-taking behaviour, and in particular how its impact can be stronger in state-owned and large banks. We find that the willingness and capacity of government support enhance bank’s risk-taking behaviour through increasing non-performance loan as well as doubtful loan, and decreasing Z-score as well as liquid ratio. This moral hazard problems are further enhanced in state-owned banks and large banks.
Finally, we outline our conclusions along with the limitations of this research and a plan for any future work.
This thesis focuses on the various manifestations of queerness in video games, and investigates how video games’ queer potential connects and clashes with LGBTQ politics, as well as with gaming culture and hegemonic masculinity. Through the lens of queer theory, I adopt two main angles of approach. Firstly, I concentrate on video game characters and study them as vessels of queer politics. Focusing on two game characters, and their reception within gaming communities, I explore the limits and potentials of the queer politics in video games. As such, despite the prevalence of heteronormative values in video game narratives, I argue that some game characters embody unexpected vessels of queer hope.
Expanding upon this argument, this thesis moves away from queer characters and interrogates the inherent queerness of games themselves. In doing so, I delve into multiple choice dialogue systems and forms of ‘aimless’ game exploration, and argue that games can enfold the player in a queer, timeless bubble where alternative possibilities loom on the horizon. As such, I argue that the player escapes from normative time structures and freely articulates game time and space. In this way, these sequences occur in a queer temporality which runs counter to core game mechanics, such as achievements and rewards. Extending this queering of game, I finally argue that particular counternormative gaming practices, such as intentionally losing, celebrate the failure of heteromasculinity both inside and outside gaming culture.
In this way, and throughout this thesis, I argue that video games operate as a multidimensional medium, providing various instances where queerness manifests itself. While I demonstrate that some of these instances can be found in other popular media such as cinema and literature, I argue that video game queerness also takes unique shapes that are exclusive to the medium. As such, I suggest that video games, as a polysemic medium, gleam with queer potentiality, and are pioneers in revealing new queer embodiments.
This study examines the mediating role of employee outcomes in terms of the relationship between high-performance work practices (HPWP) and organizational performance. The study presents a 2-1-2 multilevel meditation model in which HPWP and organizational performance (staff absenteeism and patient satisfaction) are measured at the organizational level (Level-2), and employee outcomes at the individual level (Level-1). Using secondary data from the British National Health Service, evidence was found for a direct positive relationship between HPWP and employee outcomes (job satisfaction and employee engagement). Both job satisfaction and employee engagement mediated a negative relationship between HPWP and staff absenteeism, but the positive relationship between HPWP and patient satisfaction was mediated by job satisfaction only. We outline the research methodology and discuss practical implications for our findings.
Ultrasound manipulation is growing in popularity in the HCI community with applications in haptics, on-body interaction, and levitation-based displays. Most of these applications share two key limitations: a) the complexity of the sound fields that can be produced is limited by the physical size of the transducers; and b) no obstacles can be present between the transducers and the control point. We present SoundBender, a hybrid system that overcomes these limitations by combining the versatility of phased arrays of transducers (PATs) with the precision of acoustic metamaterials. In this paper, we explain our approach to design and implement such hybrid modulators (i.e. to create complex sound fields) and methods to manipulate the field dynamically (i.e. stretch, steer). We demonstrate our concept using self-bending beams enabling both levitation and tactile feedback around an obstacle and present example applications enabled by SoundBender.
This work explores mechanisms for pattern formation through coupled bulksurface partial differential equations of reaction-diffusion type. Reaction-diffusion systems posed both in the bulk and on the surface on stationary volumes are coupled through linear Robin-type boundary conditions. In this framework we study three different systems as follows (i) non-linear reactions in the bulk and surface respectively, (ii) non-linear reactions in the bulk and linear reactions on the surface and (iii) linear reactions in the bulk and non-linear reactions on the surface. In all cases, the systems are non-dimensionalised and rigorous linear stability analysis is carried out to determine the necessary and sufficient conditions for pattern formation. Appropriate parameter spaces are generated from which model parameters are selected. To exhibit pattern formation, a coupled bulk-surface finite element method is developed and implemented. We implement the numerical algorithm by using an open source software package known as deal.II and show computational results on spherical and cuboid domains. Theoretical predictions of the linear stability analysis are verified and supported by numerical simulations. The results show that non-linear reactions in the bulk and surface generate patterns everywhere, while non-linear reactions in the bulk and linear reactions on the surface generate patterns in the bulk and on the surface with a pattern-less thin boundary layer. However, linear reactions in the bulk do not generate patterns on the surface even when the surface reactions are non-linear. The generality, robustness and applicability of our theoretical computational framework for coupled system of bulk-surface reaction-diffusion equations set premises to study experimentally driven models where coupling of bulk and surface chemical species is prevalent. Examples of such applications include cell motility, pattern formation in developmental biology, material science and cancer biology.
BACKGROUND: The burden of Tuberculosis (TB) has not been comprehensively evaluated over the last 25 years in Ethiopia. In this study, we used the 2016 Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries and Risk Factors (GBD) data to analyze the incidence, prevalence and mortality rates of tuberculosis (TB) in Ethiopia over the last 26 years.
METHODS: The GBD 2016 is a mathematical modeling using different data source for Ethiopia such as verbal autopsy (VA), prevalence surveys and annual case notifications. Age and sex specific causes of death for TB were estimated using the Cause of Death Ensemble Modeling (CODEm). We used the available data such as annual notifications and prevalence surveys as an input to estimate incidence and prevalence rates respectively using DisMod-MR 2.1, a Bayesian meta-regression tool.
RESULTS: In 2016, we estimated 219,186 (95%UI: 182,977-265,292) new, 151,602 (95% UI: 126,054-180,976) prevalent TB cases and 48,910(95% UI: 40,310-58,195) TB deaths. The age-standardized TB incidence rate decreased from 201.6/100,000 to 88.5/100,000 (with a total decline of 56%) between 1990 to 2016. Similarly, the age standardized TB mortality rate declined from 393.8/100,000 to 100/100,000 between 1990 and 2016(with a total decline of 75%).
CONCLUSIONS: Ethiopia has achieved the 50% reduction of most of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) targets related to TB. However, the decline of TB incidence and prevalence rates has been comparatively slow. The country should strengthen the TB case detection and treatment programs at community level to achieve its targets during the Sustainable Development Program (SDGs)-era.
This thesis examines leadership practices in which Kenyan school leaders have engaged to achieve sustainable students’ achievement (SSA). Educational reforms focusing on effective school leadership are of major concern in developing economies seeking to improve their educational systems and enhance educational performance. Kenya, a developing economy, considers education to be a powerful driver of development. One of its immediate education reforms accentuated in Kenya-vision 2030 is the introduction of an expanded institutional leadership framework for the effective delivery and management of education. However, socio-political challenges around educational management have been shown to greatly influence school leadership working environments. Accordingly, school leaders persistently struggle with the problem of fluctuations in students’ achievement and substantial disparities across schools. Reflecting on SDG4, Uwezo-Kenya report contends that learning outcomes are low and extremely inequitably distributed across geographical, socio-economical and school-type levels. While various factors (students, family, schools) inform student achievement trajectories, this thesis principally focuses on analysing how educational leadership, a school-level factor, is emerging in secondary schools in Kenya. The central aim of this research is to illuminate the school leadership contexts in which SSA might occur. To do so, the study adopted a sequential multi-strategy research design, with quantitative analysis of secondary data preceding the qualitative data collection and analysis. The study involved quantitative secondary analysis of students’ achievement data of 300 schools drawn from 3 Counties and qualitative in-depth analysis of data from 9 schools, 9 principals, 92 teachers (holding senior, middle and junior leadership positions), 6 Board of Management and Parents Association chairpersons, 5 Local Education Authority officers.
The overall finding is that context is a powerful mechanism influencing leadership practice in Kenyan schools. Existing contextual mechanisms have implications for school leaders’ actions and decisions, which in turn inform teaching and learning activities. Consequently, this thesis argues for regenerative leadership practices as an alternative approach that creates enabling school environments for SSA to occur in challenging contexts, like those faced in Kenya. Regenerative leadership practices that prioritise the building of school system resilience by recreating structures, cultures, capacities, relations and pedagogical practices might circumvent the socio-political challenges and nurture environments that enhance SSA.
This thesis contributes to existing knowledge by illuminating the importance of the context in educational leadership. Taking a systems perspective, the thesis demonstrates how socio-political demands inform school leadership actions and decisions, which in turn have indirect implications for teaching and learning activities, as well as SSA. Ultimately, justifying claims that encouraging schools to strive for SSA in Kenya and in other similar challenging contexts is complex and requires a comprehensive understanding of both structures and agency. This serves as a reasonable basis for questioning current assumptions about school leadership, which often partially focus on the principal’s agency while ignoring the wider socio-political environment. Secondly, this provides grounds to criticise the blind adoption of educational leadership models created in response to these assumptions, such as approaches to leadership preparation programmes in developing contexts. In response to these findings, this thesis proposes an alternative multiple level conceptual model of educational leadership that better responds to complex leadership and learning needs in challenging contexts. This model emphasises the reflexivity that school leaders need to manage, change and counter complex and often unpredictable socio-political factors to achieve sustainability.
Introduction
The universal test and treat strategy (UTT) was developed to maximize the proportion of all HIV‐positive individuals on antiretroviral treatment (ART) and virally suppressed, assuming that it will lead to a reduction in HIV incidence at the population level. The evolution over time of the cross‐sectional HIV care cascade is determined by individual longitudinal trajectories through the HIV care continuum and underlying population dynamics. The purpose of this paper is to quantify the contribution of each component of population change (in‐ and out‐migration, HIV seroconversion, ageing into the cohort and definitive exit such as death) on the HIV care cascade in the context of the ANRS 12249 Treatment as Prevention (TasP) cluster‐randomized trial, investigating UTT in rural KwaZulu‐Natal, South Africa, between 2012 and 2016.
Methods
HIV test results and information on clinic visits, ART prescriptions, viral load and CD4 count, migration and deaths were used to calculate residency status, HIV status and HIV care status for each individual on a daily basis. Position within the HIV care continuum was considered as a score ranging from 0 (undiagnosed) to 4 (virally suppressed). We compared the cascade score of each individual joining or leaving the population of resident adults living with HIV with the average score of their cluster at the time of entry or exit. Then, we computed the contribution of each entry or exit on the average cascade score and their annualized total contribution, by component of change.
Results
While the average cascade score increased over time in all clusters, that increase was constrained by population dynamics. Permanent exits and ageing into the people living with HIV cohort had a marginal effect. Both in‐migrants and out‐migrants were less likely to be retained at each step of the HIV care continuum. However, their overall impact on the cross‐sectional cascade was limited as the effect of in‐ and out‐migration balanced each other. The contribution of HIV seroconversions was negative in all clusters.
Conclusions
In a context of high HIV incidence, the continuous flow of newly infected individuals slows down the efforts to increase ART coverage and population viral suppression, ultimately attenuating any population‐level impact on HIV incidence.
Clinical Trial Number
NCT01509508 (clinicalTrials.gov)/DOH‐27‐0512‐3974 (South African National Clinical Trials Register).
Intravesical Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) immunotherapy preserves the bladder after resection of high-risk non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). About 30% of patients experience treatment failure, which cannot be predicted a priori and carries a high risk of disease progression. We examined the in vitro tuberculin-responsiveness of CD4+ T cells before BCG immunotherapy in 42 patients with high-risk NMIBC. The frequencies and functionalities of cytokine-expressing CD4+ T cells immediately before and after BCG immunotherapy induction were assessed by flow cytometry after overnight tuberculin stimulation. Tuberculin-induced secreted mediators were measured by electrochemiluminescence. We correlated the results with recurrence-free patient survival 6 months after induction. A tuberculin-induced, secreted, IL2 concentration > 250 pg/ml was the best predictor of recurrence-free survival, providing 79% sensitivity, 86% specificity (AUC = 0.852, P = 0.000), and overall correct classification in 78.6% of cases. In 50% of patients later experiencing recurrence, but not in any of the recurrence-free survivors, IL2 secretion was < 120 pg/ml. Other parameters predicting recurrence-free survival included secreted IFNγ (AUC = 0.796, P = 0.002) and the frequencies of TNF-producing (TNF+) CD4+ T cells (AUC = 0.745, P = 0.010). 'Polyfunctional' CD4+ T cells (IFNγ+/IL2+/ TNF+) were significantly associated with recurrence-free survival (AUC = 0.801, P = 0.002). Thus, the amount of IL2 secretion from CD4+ T cells after overnight in vitro incubation with tuberculin predicted the outcome of BCG immunotherapy. As many as half of potential BCG failures could be identified before induction therapy is begun, enabling better choices regarding treatment.
Twenty-nine teams involving 61 analysts used the same data set to address the same research question: whether soccer referees are more likely to give red cards to dark-skin-toned players than to light-skin-toned players. Analytic approaches varied widely across the teams, and the estimated effect sizes ranged from 0.89 to 2.93 (Mdn = 1.31) in odds-ratio units. Twenty teams (69%) found a statistically significant positive effect, and 9 teams (31%) did not observe a significant relationship. Overall, the 29 different analyses used 21 unique combinations of covariates. Neither analysts’ prior beliefs about the effect of interest nor their level of expertise readily explained the variation in the outcomes of the analyses. Peer ratings of the quality of the analyses also did not account for the variability. These findings suggest that significant variation in the results of analyses of complex data may be difficult to avoid, even by experts with honest intentions. Crowdsourcing data analysis, a strategy in which numerous research teams are recruited to simultaneously investigate the same research question, makes transparent how defensible, yet subjective, analytic choices influence research results.
Doodles were introduced in but were restricted to embedded circles in the 2-sphere. Khovanov, extended the idea to immersed circles in the 2-sphere. In this paper we further extend the range of doodles to any closed oriented surfaces. Uniqueness of minimal representatives is proved, and various example of doodles are given with their minimal representatives. We also introduce the notion of virtual doodles, and show that there is a natural one-to-one correspondence between doodles on surfaces and virtual doodles on the plane.
In PG(2; q), the projective plane over the field Fq of q elements, a (k; n)-arc is a set K of k points with at most n points on any line of the plane. When n = 2, a (k; 2)-arc is called a k-arc. A fundamental question is to determine the values of k for which K is complete, that is, not contained in a (k + 1; n)-arc. In particular, what is the largest value of k for a complete K, denoted by mn(2; q)?
This thesis focusses on using some algorithms in Fortran and GAP to find large com- plete (k; n)-arcs in PG(2; q). A blocking set B is a set of points such that each line contains at least t points of B and some line contains exactly t points of B. Here, B is the complement of a (k; n)-arc K with t = q +1 - n. Non-existence of some (k; n)-arcs is proved for q = 19; 23; 43. Also, a new largest bound of complete (k; n)-arcs for prime q and n > (q-3)/2 is found. A new lower bound is proved for smallest size of complete (k; n)-arcs in PG(2; q). Five algorithms are explained and the classification of (k; n)- arcs is found for some values of n and q. High performance computing is an important part of this thesis, where Algorithm Five is used with OpenMP that reduces the time of implementation. Also, a (k; n)-arc K corresponds to a projective [k; n; d]q-code of length k, dimension n, and minimum distance d = k - n. Some applications of finite geometry to operational research are also explained.
This thesis explores manifestations of the uncanny, bizarre and horrific in Victorian photographs. It follows the broad narrative trajectory of the development of horror as a literary genre, tracking the same path through photographic images. Using close reading and analysis of both texts and pictures I examine the interplay between narrative and image, looking at how these forms influenced each other’s expression of the nineteenth century cultural fascination with the strange and terrifying.
Chapter one examines the spatial character of the horrific in early Gothic writing and includes a close reading of the 1856 publication of A Photographic Tour Among the Abbeys of Yorkshire by Joseph Cundall and Philip H. Delamotte to illuminate how ideas of cultural heritage and picturesque art converged with constructions of the uncanny in photography.
Chapter two looks at the phenomenon of the human freak in the context of Darwinian notions of evolution. I look at the influence of animal imagery and textual representation on the construction of uncanny human-animal hybrids.
Chapter three continues the discussion of how human freaks disrupt the conventional human-animal divide and explores how the freak show was an arena of fantasy influenced by fairytales and children’s fiction of the period.
Chapter four examines early medical photographs from the archives of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital to look at specifically at the abject horrors of the body.
My conclusion argues that all the themes explored in the previous chapters are consolidated in the Victorian cultural perception of the criminal, and points the way toward further research into historical photographs of crime scenes.
We propose a shape analysis suitable for analysis engines that perform automatic invariant inference using an SMT solver. The proposed solution includes an abstract template domain that encodes the shape of a program heap based on logical formulae over bit-vectors. It is based on a points-to relation between pointers and symbolic addresses of abstract memory objects. Our abstract heap domain can be combined with value domains in a straight-forward manner, which particularly allows us to reason about shapes and contents of heap structures at the same time. The information obtained from the analysis can be used to prove reachability and memory safety properties of programs manipulating dynamic data structures, mainly linked lists. The solution has been implemented in 2LS and compared against state-of-the-art tools that perform the best in heap-related categories of the well-known Software Verification Competition (SV-COMP). Results show that 2LS outperforms these tools on benchmarks requiring combined reasoning about unbounded data structures and their numerical contents.
Two novel ferrocene-containing compounds based upon a known MNK1/2 kinase (MAPK-interacting kinase) inhibitor have been synthesized. The compounds were designed to use the unique shape of ferrocene to exploit a large hydrophobic pocket in MNK1/2 that is only partially occupied by the original compound. Screening of the ferrocene analogues showed that both exhibited potent anticancer effects in several breast cancer and AML (acute myeloid leukemia) cell lines, despite a loss of MNK potency. The most potent ferrocene-based compound 5 was further analysed in vitro in MDA-MB-231 (triple negative breast cancer cells). Dose–response curves of compound 5 for 2D assay and 3D assay generated IC50 values (half maximal inhibitory concentration) of 0.55 µM and 1.25 µM, respectively.
British migration is significant, with the numbers of British nationals resident outside of the United Kingdom (UK) estimated to be the equivalent of one in every ten Britons. Research has already established that individual ‘British communities’ in various locations across the globe are internally diverse yet share certain similarities. This collection allows us to deepen this analysis across geographically, politically and socially distinctive research sites. We ask: What is the shape and significance of contemporary British migration? Who are today’s British migrants? How might we understand their everyday lives? What can we learn about Britishness from examining how it unfolds beyond Britain? And, in the context of global and national debates about the nature of citizenships, the ‘Brexit’ vote and debates surrounding mobility and freedom of movement, national, racial and ethnic boundaries, what can we learn about the contemporary British in relation to historical privileges, international relations and senses of national identity
Biotechnology is advancing rapidly and the security context is evolving. Accordingly, there is a need to strengthen the international legal regime prohibiting biological weapons.
This chapter draws on qualitative research with British return migrants to explore the vulnerabilities related to ageing in the Gulf. I examine in depth, the narratives of three Britons who migrated to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, as part of the broader flows of skilled migrants in the 1970s and 1980s responding to opportunities arising from the urbanisation and development of the region. Now in their seventies and living in the UK, these British returnees evoke the sense of vulnerability they felt when reaching formal retirement age in the UAE after several decades of residence with migrant status. They recount their varied success in delaying and navigating reluctant and, in some cases, involuntary returns in later life.
This article makes the case for a new and ambitious research and governance agenda for energy demand reduction. It argues that existing ‘demand-side’ approaches focused on promoting technological efficiency and informed individual consumption are unlikely to be adequate to achieving future carbon emissions reduction goals; it points out that very little attention has so far been paid to the impacts of non-energy policies on energy demand; and it submits that a much fuller integration of energy demand questions into policy is required. It advances a general framework, supported by illustrative examples, for understanding the impacts of ‘non-energy’ policies on energy demand. It reflects on why these connections have been so little explored and addressed within energy research and policy. And it argues that, for all their current ‘invisibility’, there is nonetheless scope for increasing the visibility of, and in effect ‘mainstreaming’, energy demand reduction objectives within other policy areas. Researchers and policymakers, we contend, need to develop better understandings of how energy demand might be made governable, and how non-energy policies might be revised, alone and in combination, to help steer long-term changes in energy demand.
Many patients with neuropathic pain present without signs of nerve injury on routine clinical examination. Some of these patients may have inflamed peripheral nerves (neuritis). In this study, we have examined whether neuritis causes changes within the dorsal horn that may contribute to a central pain mechanism. Comparisons have been made to a model of axonal transport disruption induced using vinblastine, since neuritis disrupts such processes. At the peak of cutaneous hypersensitivities, recordings from wide dynamic range (WDR) neurons revealed increases in wind-up following neuritis but not vinblastine treatment. Ongoing activity from these neurons was unchanged. Vinblastine treatment caused a reduction in the responses of WDR neurons to noxious mechanical stimulation of the receptive field. The response of neurons to innocuous mechanical stimulation was also reduced in WDR neurons that were at a depth ≥550 μm following vinblastine treatment. An examination of the superficial dorsal horn revealed an increase in c-Fos-positive neurons in both groups following electrical stimulation of the sciatic nerve. The area of dorsal horn expressing substance P was also decreased following vinblastine treatment. These findings indicate that a minor nerve insult, such as neuritis, can lead to changes within the dorsal horn that are consistent with a central neuropathic pain mechanism.
The duration, type and structure of connections between individuals in real-world populations play a crucial role in how diseases invade and spread. Here, we incorporate the aforementioned heterogeneities into a model by considering a dual-layer static-dynamic multiplex network. The static network layer affords tunable clustering and describes an individual’s permanent community structure. The dynamic network layer describes the transient connections an individual makes with members of the wider population by imposing constant edge rewiring. We follow the edge-based compartmental modelling approach to derive equations describing the evolution of a susceptible - infected - recovered (SIR) epidemic spreading through this multiplex network of individuals. We derive the basic reproduction number, measuring the expected number of new infectious cases caused by a single infectious individual in an otherwise susceptible population. We validate model equations by showing convergence to pre-existing edge-based compartmental model equations in limiting cases and by comparison with stochastically simulated epidemics. We explore the effects of altering model parameters and multiplex network attributes on resultant epidemic dynamics. We validate the basic reproduction number by plotting its value against associated final epidemic sizes measured from simulation and predicted by model equations for a number of setups. Further, we explore the effect of varying individual model parameters on the basic reproduction number. We conclude with a discussion of the significance and interpretation of the model and its relation to existing research literature. We highlight intrinsic limitations and potential extensions of the present model and outline future research considerations, both experimental and theoretical.
The purpose of this essay is to critically review the design of methods for ethically robust forms of technology appraisal in the regulation of research and innovation in synthetic biology. It will focus, in particular, on the extent to which cost‐benefit analysis offers a basis for informing decisions about which technological pathways to pursue and which to discourage. A further goal is to consider what (if anything) the precautionary principle might offer in enabling better decisions. And this, in turn, raises questions about why mention of precaution can excite accusations of unscientific bias or irrational, “anti‐innovation” extremism. What does the polarized debate tell us about the politics around synthetic biology? In seeking more rigorous, timely, and practical ways to govern these remarkable new technologies, what might we be missing?
The sophistication, diversity, and scope of synthetic biology may seem to make it a rather idiosyncratic area for exploring these general issues. It may seem to be a special case, with the bewildering pace of change amplifying the difficulties. But at root, some of the trickiest issues are just specific instances of familiar and long‐standing conundrums in the governance of science and technology. The basic challenge is how to weigh up, for a wide range of potential options, the various pros and cons, as viewed from divergent perspectives, and find a way to justify the best course of action on behalf of society as a whole. This is the central problem addressed by a number of techniques in CBA. On the face of it, synthetic biology seems to present just one more application of these well‐established and self‐confident prescriptive methods.
But there do emerge several obstinate, even prohibitive, difficulties for CBA. Although they are well acknowledged by the scholarly literature on and around this topic, they are often sidelined in practice. Yet all are central to the case for applying the concept of precaution to a field like synthetic biology. This essay will briefly explore multicriteria mapping, an appraisal method for exploring contrasting perspectives on emerging technologies, as one practical way to address them. The essay focuses on MCM, not because it presents any sort of panacea for appraisal, but because it is illustrative of the concrete implications of precaution. Setting out even just one among potentially many practical alternative methods at least refutes the last‐ditch argument that CBA is the only operational choice.
Over nearly thirty years now, Erik Millstone has been – for me – a greatly valued teacher, mentor, colleague, comrade, protagonist, friend and inspiration. His unique mix of forensic rigour, dogged determination, contagious good humour and deep humanity continues to build a lasting legacy among the many whose paths he has crossed, and also leaves memorably instructive marks on a fair few of the policy agencies and global corporations with which he has tangled. No-one among many candidates encapsulates better the buccaneering SPRU tradition in fearlessly independent interdisciplinary policy research and teaching.
The internationalisation of higher education has influenced the dramatic rise in the mobility of students, academics and knowledge across borders. There has been growing research interest focusing on international students studying abroad. While the student experience is an area of education that is often researched, most research focuses on experiences of undergraduate students. Also in the context of international students, greater research emphasis has been placed on the academic experiences and support available for undergraduates. While such research is important, less attention has been paid to the non-academic experiences of International Post-Graduate Research Students with Families (IPGRSF). This article seeks to fill this gap by focusing on the social worlds of IPGRSF in the UK, examining students’ nuclear family contexts that are often marginalised in discourse. The article legitimises the IPGRSF subaltern world by focusing on how students negotiate its demands; how they negotiate their roles as research students with their other roles as spouses and parents, and the interrelationships among these roles; and how the university as an institution interacts with the students’ subaltern world. The findings show that language plays a significant role in shaping the process of mobility as well as influencing the students’ and their families’ integration and networking in the host country. Also, the findings suggest that students often had positive experiences at departmental level, but felt let down by the wider university support.
This paper argues that processes of self-creation are significantly influenced by experiences of schooling, of which language forms a critical aspect. The school is a central site in which identities are contested, negotiated and affirmed, but it is also imbibed with a particular identity that, in the South African context, often remains expressly raced and classed. Existing research has pointed to the salience of language for questions of identity in education, and moreover the relationship between school cultures and the inculcation of particular norms and values. However, in the South African context research should also be focusing on the relationship between the major medium of instruction in schools, English, the values and behaviour encouraged at the school level, and how these influence learners’ linguistic and social identities. This paper engages with research conducted in three Cape Town schools and develops the idea of “narratives of social cohesion” to articulate the ways in which different school cultures influence learner-identity formation. It posits that the assumed neutrality of the primary medium of instruction, and its historic association with whiteness, represents a continued undervaluation of black learners’ linguistic and social experiences.
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Education for all (EFA) Goals have been replaced by a Sustainable Development Framework with a new set of arguably more ambitious goals and targets. The most recent report Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda For Sustainable Development highlights this framework and outlines the education goals. The overarching goal that has been put forward for education is to Ensure Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education and Promote Lifelong Learning Opportunities for All. The targets associated with this goal between them cover all educational levels from early childhood development and care to scholarships for Higher Education and crucially teachers and teacher supply. In this context, we discuss the continuities and discontinues in the new SDG quality agenda through an analysis of the policy debates and documents about the evolving framework paying particular attention to how quality is conceptualised ,how it is translated into targets and how teachers are located in the global education quality discourse and governance frameworks. The analysis will be rooted in a discussion of what this changed global education agenda means for teacher education, teaching, and teachers. The paper argues for the notion of education quality as a dynamic, process oriented social justice process.
Yusuf Sayed is the Professor of International Education and Development Policy at the University of Sussex He is also a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER), Rhodes University, South Africa. . He was also the South African Research Chair in Teacher Education, and the Founding Director of the Centre for International Teacher Education (CITE), 2014-2017 at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), South Africa. Peviously Yusuf was Senior Policy Analyst at the EFA Global Monitoring Report, UNESCO, Team Leader for Education and Skills, the Department for International Development UK, and Head of Department of Comparative Education at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa. Yusuf is an education policy specialist with a career in international education and development research. He is presently engaged in several research projects on teachers and teacher education including the ESRC/DFID funded project “Engaging teachers in peacebuilding in post conflict contexts: evaluating education interventions in Rwanda and South Africa and several large-scale studies about teacher professionalism, teacher education and continuing professional development in South Africa and globally.
Continuing Professional Teacher Development in Sub-Saharan Africa explores the prospects that the on-going continuous professional development (CPD) of teachers working in schools offers for meaningful change, particularly towards improving the quality of educational provision for the majority of the continent's children. By reflecting on teacher professional development efforts and their place in broader education reforms, the book highlights the challenges of teacher CPD in these education contexts - contexts strongly shaped by endemic poverty, under-development and social upheaval. The collection draws together examples of innovation and resilience, and the valuing of teachers as critical role players, enabled and empowered through their on-going development as education professionals.
Drawing together a wealth of experience, the volume identifies the policy and research implications for the future of CPD across the continent, providing important lessons that can be integrated into a post-2015 development agenda for Africa.
Frameworks that govern the development and application of novel products, such as the products of synthetic biology, should involve all those who are interested or potentially affected by the products. The governance arrangements for novel products should also provide a democratic mechanism that allows affected parties to express their opinions on the direction that innovation does or does not take. In this paper we examine rationales, obstacles and opportunities for public participation in governance of novel synthetic biology products. Our analysis addresses issues such as uncertainties, the considering of alternative innovations, and broader social and environmental implications. The crucial issues in play go beyond safety alone, to include contending social values around diverse notions of benefit and harm. The paper highlights the need for more inclusive social appraisal mechanisms to inform governance of Synthetic Biology and alternative products, and discusses a few practical methods to help achieve this goal.
The self-energy of an electron confined between parallel surfaces with arbitrary dielectric properties is calculated. The mechanism for this effect is the surface-induced modification of the fluctuating quantized vacuum field to which the electron is coupled, thereby endowing it with a surface-dependent self-energy in broad analogy to the Casimir-Polder effect for an atom. We derive a general formula for this self-energy shift and find that its sign is different for two commonly used models of surface response, namely, the plasma model and the Drude model. We propose an experiment which could detect this difference in sign, shedding light on continuing uncertainty about the correct description of the interaction of low-frequency vacuum photons with media.
Single cell mass spectrometry (MS) is uniquely positioned for the sequencing and identification of peptides in rare cells. Small peptides can take on different roles in subcellular compartments. Whereas some peptides serve as neurotransmitters in the cytoplasm, they can also function as transcription factors in the nucleus. Thus, there is a need to analyze the subcellular peptide compositions in identified single cells. Here, we apply capillary microsampling MS with ion mobility separation for the sequencing of peptides in single neurons of the mollusk Lymnaea stagnalis, and the analysis of peptide distributions between the cytoplasm and nucleus of identified single neurons that are known to express cardioactive Phe-Met-Arg-Phe amide-like (FMRFamide-like) neuropeptides. Nuclei and cytoplasm of Type 1 and Type 2 F group (Fgp) neurons were analyzed for neuropeptides cleaved from the protein precursors encoded by alternative splicing products of the FMRFamide gene. Relative abundances of nine neuropeptides were determined in the cytoplasm. The nuclei contained six of these peptides at different abundances. Enabled by its relative enrichment in Fgp neurons, a new 28-residue neuropeptide was sequenced by tandem MS.
Aims. The standard active galactic nuclei (AGN)-galaxy co-evolutionary scenario predicts a phase of deeply ‘buried’ supermassive black hole growth coexisting with a starburst (SB) before feedback phenomena deplete the cold molecular gas reservoir of the galaxy and an optically luminous quasar (QSO) is revealed (called the SB-QSO evolutionary sequence). The aim of this work is to measure the cold gas reservoir of three highly obscured QSOs to test if their gas fraction is similar to that of submillimetre galaxies (SMGs), as expected by some models, and to place these measurements in the context of the SB-QSO framework.
Methods. We target CO(1-0) transition in BzK4892, a Compton thick (CT) QSO at z=2.6, CO(1-0) in BzK8608 and CO(2-1) in CDF153, two highly obscured (NH ≈ 6 × 1023 cm−2 ) QSOs at z = 2.5 and z = 1.5, respectively. For these targets, we place 3σ upper limits on the CO lines, with L 0 CO < (1.5 ÷ 2.8) × 1010 K km/s pc2 . We also compare the molecular gas conditions of our targets with those of other systems at z > 1, considering normal star-forming galaxies and SMGs, and unobscured and obscured AGN from the literature. For the AGN samples, we provide an updated and almost complete collection of targets with CO follow-up at z > 1.
Results. BzK4892 displays a high star formation efficiency (SFE = LIR/L 0 CO > 410 L/(K km s−1 pc2 )) and a gas fraction fgas = Mgas/(Mstar + Mgas) < 10%. Less stringent constraints are derived for the other two targets (fgas < 0.5 and SFE > 10 L
Aims. We present a 69 arcmin2 ALMA survey at 1.1mm, GOODS–ALMA, matching the deepest HST–WFC3 H-band part of the GOODS–South field.
Methods. We tapered the 00024 original image with a homogeneous and circular synthesized beam of 00060 to reduce the number of independent beams – thus reducing the number of purely statistical spurious detections – and optimize the sensitivity to point sources. We extracted a catalog of galaxies purely selected by ALMA and identified sources with and without HST counterparts down to a 5σ limiting depth of H=28.2 AB (HST/WFC3 F160W).
Results. ALMA detects 20 sources brighter than 0.7 mJy at 1.1mm in the 00060 tapered mosaic (rms sensitivity σ ' 0.18 mJy.beam−1 ) with a purity greater than 80%. Among these detections, we identify three sources with no HST nor Spitzer-IRAC counterpart, consistent with the expected number of spurious galaxies from the analysis of the inverted image; their definitive status will require additional investigation. We detect additional three sources with HST counterparts either at high significance in the higher resolution map, or with different detection-algorithm parameters ensuring a purity greater than 80%. Hence we identify in total 20 robust detections.
Conclusions. Our wide contiguous survey allows us to push further in redshift the blind detection of massive galaxies with ALMA with a median redshift of z = 2.92 and a median stellar mass of M? = 1.1 × 1011M. Our sample includes 20% HST–dark galaxies (4 out of 20), all detected in the mid-infrared with Spitzer–IRAC. The near-infrared based photometric redshifts of two of them (z∼4.3 and 4.8) suggest that these sources have redshifts z > 4. At least 40% of the ALMA sources host an X-ray AGN, compared to ∼14% for other galaxies of similar mass and redshift. The wide area of our ALMA survey provides lower values at the bright end of number counts than single-dish telescopes affected by confusion.
We present a "super-deblended" far-infrared to (sub)millimeter photometric catalog in the Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS), prepared with the method recently developed by Liu et al. 2018, with key adaptations. We obtain point spread function (PSF) fitting photometry at fixed prior positions including 88,008 galaxies detected in either VLA 1.4~GHz, 3~GHz and/or MIPS 24~μm images. By adding a specifically carved mass-selected sample (with an evolving stellar mass limit), a highly complete prior sample of 194,428 galaxies is achieved for deblending FIR/(sub)mm images. We performed ``active' removal of non relevant priors at FIR/(sub)mm bands using spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting and redshift information. In order to cope with the shallower COSMOS data we subtract from the maps the flux of faint non-fitted priors and explicitly account for the uncertainty of this step. The resulting photometry (including data from Spitzer, Herschel, SCUBA2, AzTEC, MAMBO and NSF's Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array at 3~GHz and 1.4~GHz) displays well behaved quasi-Gaussian uncertainties, calibrated from Monte Carlo simulations and tailored to observables (crowding, residual maps). Comparison to ALMA photometry for hundreds of sources provide a remarkable validation of the technique. We detect 11,220 galaxies over the 100--1200~μm range, extending to zphot∼7. We conservatively selected a sample of 85 z>4 high redshift candidates, significantly detected in the FIR/(sub)mm, often with secure radio and/or Spitzer/IRAC counterparts. This provides a chance to investigate the first generation of vigorous starburst galaxies (SFRs∼1000M⊙~yr−1). The photometric and value added catalogs are publicly released.
We describe the CO Luminosity Density at High-z (COLDz) survey, the first spectral line deep field targeting CO(1-0) emission from galaxies at z=1.95−2.85 and CO(2-1) at z=4.91−6.70. The main goal of COLDz is to constrain the cosmic density of molecular gas at the peak epoch of cosmic star formation. By targeting both a wide (∼51 arcmin2) and a deep area (∼9 arcmin2), the survey is designed to robustly constrain the bright end and the characteristic luminosity of the CO(1-0) luminosity function. An extensive analysis of the reliability of our line candidates, and new techniques provide detailed completeness and statistical corrections as necessary to determine the best constraints to date on the CO luminosity function. Our blind search for CO(1-0) uniformly selects starbursts and massive Main Sequence galaxies based on their cold molecular gas masses. Our search also detects CO(2-1) line emission from optically dark, dusty star-forming galaxies at z>5. We find a range of spatial sizes for the CO-traced gas reservoirs up to ∼40 kpc, suggesting that spatially extended cold molecular gas reservoirs may be common in massive, gas-rich galaxies at z∼2. Through CO line stacking, we constrain the gas mass fraction in previously known typical star-forming galaxies at z=2-3. The stacked CO detection suggests lower molecular gas mass fractions than expected for massive Main Sequence galaxies by a factor of ∼3−6. We find total CO line brightness at ∼34GHz of 0.45±0.2μK, which constrains future line intensity mapping and CMB experiments.
We present ALMA observations of the 870μm continuum and CO(4-3) line emission in the core of the galaxy cluster ClJ1449+0856 at z=2, a NIR-selected, X-ray detected system in the mass range of typical progenitors of today's massive clusters. The 870μm map reveals six F870μm > 0.5 mJy sources spread over an area of 0.07 arcmin2, giving an overdensity of a factor ~10 (6) with respect to blank field counts down to F870μm > 1 (0.5) mJy. On the other hand, deep CO(4-3) follow-up confirms membership of three of these sources, but suggests that the remaining three, including the brightest 870μm sources in the field (F870μm≳2 mJy), are likely interlopers. The measurement of 870μm continuum and CO(4-3) line fluxes at the positions of previously-known cluster members provides a deep probe of dusty star formation occurring in the core of this high-redshift structure, adding up to a total SFR~700±100 M⊙/yr and yielding an integrated star formation rate density of ~104 M⊙/yr/Mpc3, five orders of magnitude larger than in the field at the same epoch, due to the concentration of star-forming galaxies in the small volume of the dense cluster core. The combination of these observations with previously available HST imaging highlights the presence in this same volume of a population of galaxies with already suppressed star formation. This diverse composition of galaxy populations in ClJ1449+0856 is especially highlighted at the very cluster center, where a complex assembly of quiescent and star-forming sources is likely forming the future Brightest Cluster Galaxy.
One of the most powerful cultural transformations in modern history has been the dramatic expansion of Christianity outside Europe. Recent, yet extensive, literature uses Christian missions established during colonial times as a source of exogenous variation to study the long-term effects of religion, human capital and culture in Africa, the Americas and Asia. We argue that the endogeneity of missionary expansion may be underestimated, thus questioning the link between missions and economic development. Using annual panel data on missions from 1751 to 1932 in Ghana as well as cross-sectional data on missions for 43 sub-Saharan African countries in 1900 and 1924, we show that: (i) locational decisions were driven by economic factors, as missionaries went to healthier, safer, and more accessible and developed areas, privileging the best locations first; (ii) these factors may spuriously explain why locations with past missions are more developed today, especially as most studies rely on historical mission atlases that tend to only report the best mission locations. Our study identifies factors behind the spatial diffusion of religion. It also highlights the risks of omission and endogenous measurement error biases when using historical data and events for identification.
Platform regulation has become the cause celebre of technology regulation: a call to regulate the intermediaries who provide platforms for networked digital services. These include the GAFA giants: Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple. Many policy entrepreneurs are peddling solutions as the policy cycle turns, in a classic Kingdon case of “solutions chasing a problem.” Yet networks are not new, and their platforms have been regulated for hundreds of years, generally unsuccessfully. In this article, I take the long view, focusing on the railways/telegraphy regulation of the 1840s in England and the ‘fake news’ problems of 2011 to date. I offer some historical examples that may be highly relevant to ‘prosumer’ digital capitalism 180 years later.
Prosumers (a term coined by Toffler) are active users who are sharing and producing content, rather than passively consuming it, notably ‘hacking’ content using techniques famously described as “rip, mix, burn.” Any Internet user who has posted content, from Facebook to Twitter to blog posts to podcasts, has become a prosumer—though there are very broad categories, ranging from the occasional tweeter to the fully developed hacker. Over two billion people now use Google to search for content; Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp to share news, gossip, and photos; YouTube to watch and upload videos; and Twitter, Snapchat, and other sites to say just about anything.
We are all becoming ‘prosumers’ sharing intimate details of our personal lives. But this ‘prosumer environment’ is currently either grossly unregulated—leaving users’ data and content at the mercy of the multinational companies who host it and sometimes claim to own it—or is subject to knee-jerk over-regulation, as with the current ‘fake news’ law (“Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetz”) in Germany. The prosumer environment is a new regulatory policy cycle in network regulation.
Despite high uncertainties, strongly diverging values, and often-perverse effects of powerful vested interests, large and complex projects require clear decisions to be made from the outset. Coburn and Stirling introduce multicriteria mapping (MCM) as a problem structuring method for addressing these challenges in project appraisal by engaging with key stakeholders, broadening out the scope of the project, and opening up alternative possible interpretations concerning how to proceed. From defining project goals through to analysing results, two case studies illustrate the MCM process. The resulting interlinked quantitative and qualitative information provides a broader and deeper picture than is usual. Clearly highlighting how different conditions hold contrasting practical implications for action, MCM offers a more robust basis for making decisions under circumstances of uncertainty and complexity.
Overexploitation of the earth’s resources is causing concern for ecosystem health globally and demands clear strategies for biodiversity conservation. The development of non-invasive and cost-effective tools for ecosystem assessment is an urgent global imperative. In this context, the nascent discipline of ecoacoustics provides a new framework to assess the effects of habitat degradation on human and non-human populations. Sound is considered as a core component and indicator of ecological processes and therefore can be investigated to infer ecological information about populations, communities and landscapes. A subfield of this discipline, soundscape ecology, provides fresh perspectives on understanding coupled natural-human dynamics. Despite the contributions of ecoacoustic methods in biodiversity assessment, landscape ecology and conservation biology some factors are constraining their full potential. This is principally due to challenges in interpreting the acoustic community through current acoustic metrics. Moreover, research gaps in understanding coupled natural-human dynamics through soundscape analysis have been identified, which could make significant further contributions to conservation biology in the near future.
This thesis contributes to ecoacoustics from the perspective of conservation biology. The relevance and potential use of acoustic methods for assessing biodiversity and exploring social dimensions within conservation biology are presented throughout. Chapters include both Ecological and Social research components. A systematic review of publications on soundscape and its association with ecological and human wellbeing contextualizes the following empirical work, in chapter 1. Chapter 2 provides an evaluation into how effectively current acoustic metrics (ACI, BI, AE and H) reflect the status of wildlife populations along a gradient of forest disturbance. A novel approach to rapidly assess habitat status using automatic detection of indicator species (IS) is presented in chapter 3. Empirical studies are complemented by an analysis of the cost-effectiveness of acoustic sensors for assessing biodiversity, in chapter 4.
Finally, social factors are addressed in chapter 5, which presents a novel approach for evaluating the human and environment relationship through soundscape perception analysis.
The acoustic analyses explored show potential in analysis of ecological and social research dimensions in conservation biology. The systematic review shows that soundscape, and its association with wellbeing, evolved from an interest in sounds, and their influence on health, into a multidimensional and integrative concept incorporating multiple domains of wellbeing (Health, Social and Cultural Wellness and Ecological Integrity). Within the Ecological component in chapter 2, although significant differences in acoustic biodiversity metrics along sites were found, relevant qualitative biodiversity values that describe the status of wildlife populations were not reflected through the acoustic indices. To tackle this issue, I observed that the tool for automatic detection of IS was effective for rapid evaluation of habitat status; however, it should only be used for obtaining data of presence/absence of species. The combination of community level (acoustic indices) and individual level (automatic detection of indicator species) acoustic analysis showed a great potential as a tool for rapid evaluation of habitats. Moreover, I found that use of acoustic sensors was effective for registering high number of birds and indicator species; however, it is best applied in conducting multiple surveys or long term monitoring due to expensive equipment costs. Within the Social component I observed that soundscape perception analysis generated insights into human-environment relationships and highlighted the implications of habitat degradation on humans. Sounds of social relevance were also identified, which could be used for determining priority areas for conservation. Great potential for investigating social implications of habitat degradation through acoustic methods was revealed.
The acoustic approaches investigated proved to be useful tools in understanding the dynamics of ecosystems, by exploring both ecological and social dimensions, and contribute to knowledge in conservation biology. Further research on the application of acoustic methods in conservation biology is recommended.
Managing integrated social-ecological systems to reduce risks to human and environmental well-being remains challenging in light of the rate and extent of undesirable changes that are occurring. Developing frameworks that are sufficiently integrative to guide research to deliver the necessary insights into all key system aspects is an important outstanding task. Among existing approaches, resilience and nexus framings both allow focus on unpacking relationships across scales and levels in a system and emphasize the involvement of different groups in decision making to different extents. They also suffer weaknesses and neither approach puts social justice considerations explicitly at its core. This has important implications for understanding who wins and loses out from different decisions and how social and ecological risks and trade-offs are shared and distributed, temporally and spatially. This paper conceptually integrates resilience and nexus approaches, developing a combined framework and indicating how it could effectively be operationalized in cases from mountain and mangrove social-ecological systems. In doing so, it advances understanding of complex social-ecological systems framings for risk-based decision making beyond that which could be achieved through use of either resilience or nexus approaches alone. Important next steps in testing the framework involve empirical and field operationalization, requiring interdisciplinary, mixed method approaches
This book explores the emergence of African Union (AU) law as a legal order and its implications for existing order in the region. As an authoritative text on the development of AU law, the book covers such pertinent issues as legislative powers, competences, direct effect in AU law, subsidiarity, interventionism, and enforcement of laws.
Olufemi Amao argues that there is a gradual movement from intergovernmentalism to supranationalism in the African Union legal order, and explores how this trajectory gradually and incrementally de-emphasises the discourse on nation state sovereignty; a concept that has caused many problems in the African context. Drawing upon EU law as a comparison, the book also examines how the development of supranationalism affects crucial issues such as human rights, democratic reforms, territorial matters, tribal and religious disputes, and economic relations.
As a comprehensive examination of the development of law within a union, this book will be of great interest and use to students, scholars and practitioners in international law, international relations, and African studies.
We use volatility impulse response analysis to quantify the size and the persistence of different types of oil price shocks on oil and stock return volatility dynamics. Our results show that precautionary demand followed by aggregate demand-side shocks, compared to supply-side ones, have higher positive and persistent effects on stock return volatility whereas the correlations between the two variables are mostly affected by the former shocks.
In order to solve problems of occlusion and fast motion of small targets in UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) target tracking , an adaptive algorithm which fuses the improved color histogram tracking response and the correlation filter tracking response based on multi-channel HOG features is proposed to realize small target tracking with high accuracy. The state judgment index is used to determine whether the target is in a fast motion or an occlusion state. In the fast motion state, the search area is enlarged, and the color optimal model which suppresses the suspected area is used for rough detection. Then, re-detection in the location of multiple peaks in the rough detection response is carried out using the correlation filter to accurately locate the target. In an occlusion state, the model stops updating, the search area is expanded, and the current color model is used for rough detection. Then, re-detection in the place of multiple peaks in the rough detection response is carried out using the correlation filter to accurately locate the target. Experimental results show that the proposed method can track small targets accurately. The frame rate of the proposed method is 40.23 frames/second, indicating usable real-time performance.
This chapter engages with three important themes of the larger report: the meaning of progress, its uneven nature, and obstacles to future progress. It also considers a number of political and economic alternatives aimed to overcome these obstacles, emphasizing the need for diverse strategies, open-minded experimentation, and scientific assessment. While it may be impossible to ever reach agreement, the effort to calibrate different interpretations of progress remains an important exercise for political deliberation about how to make the world a better place. The very hope of moving forward implies some agreement on a destination. All of us must take responsibility for the future. Our discussion emphasizes the complexity and multidimensionality of the interpretive debate, but also calls attention to its ideological character. Social actors-individuals, groups, and even academic disciplines-tend to define progress in ways that serve their own interests. In a way, distributional conflict undermines our very efforts to better understand and mediate such conflict. The uneven character of progress is manifest in many different domains. Increases in the global reach of formally democratic institutions have been accompanied by growing concerns about their stability, efficacy, and consistency with democratic ideals.
We calculate quantum and classical Fisher informations for gravity sensors based on matterwave interference, and find that current Mach-Zehnder interferometry is not optimally extracting the full metrological potential of these sensors. We show that by making measurements that resolve either the momentum or the position we can considerably improve the sensitivity. We also provide a simple modification that is capable of more than doubling the sensitivity.
CONSPECTUS:
The discovery of materials capable of storing magnetic information at the level of single molecules and even single atoms has fueled renewed interest in the slow magnetic relaxation properties of single-molecule magnets (SMMs). The lanthanide elements, especially dysprosium, continue to play a pivotal role in the development of potential nanoscale applications of SMMs, including, for example, in molecular spintronics and quantum computing. Aside from their fundamentally fascinating physics, the realization of functional materials based on SMMs requires significant scientific and technical challenges to be overcome. In particular, extremely low temperatures are needed to observe slow magnetic relaxation, and while many SMMs possess a measurable energy barrier to reversal of the magnetization (Ueff), very few such materials display the important properties of magnetic hysteresis with remanence and coercivity. Werner-type coordination chemistry has been the dominant method used in the synthesis of lanthanide SMMs, and most of our knowledge and understanding of these materials is built on the many important contributions based on this approach. In contrast, lanthanide organometallic chemistry and lanthanide magnetochemistry have effectively evolved along separate lines, hence our goal was to promote a new direction in single-molecule magnetism by uniting the nonclassical organometallic synthetic approach with the traditionally distinct field of molecular magnetism. Over the last several years, our work on SMMs has focused on obtaining a detailed understanding of why magnetic materials based on the dysprosium metallocene cation building block {Cp2Dy}+ display slow magnetic relaxation. Specifically, we aspired to control the SMM properties using novel coordination chemistry in a way that hinges on key considerations, such as the strength and the symmetry of the crystal field. In establishing that the two cyclopentadienyl ligands combine to provide a strongly axial crystal field, we were able to propose a robust magneto-structural correlation for understanding the properties of dysprosium metallocene SMMs. In doing so, a blueprint was established that allows Ueff and the magnetic blocking temperature (TB) to be improved in a well-defined way. Although experimental discoveries with SMMs occur more rapidly than quantitative theory can (currently) process and explain,
a clear message emanating from the literature is that a combination of the two approaches is most effective. In this Account, we summarize the main findings from our own work on dysprosium metallocene SMMs, and consider them in the light of related experimental studies and theoretical interpretations of related materials reported by other protagonists. In doing so, we aim to contribute to the nascent and healthy debate on the nature of spin dynamics in SMMs and allied molecular nanomagnets, which will be crucial for the further advancement of this vibrant research field.
As 'blue comes on' in these elegies, a unique genre emerges, a lyrical epic that speculates on a world imagined through the physics of blue light… With its charge of blue, the four parts of the poem move from speculation to threnody and even to prophecy as the earth's atmosphere that hosts light gradually takes on ecological terror. This terror penetrates to inner and to civic lives, to networks of finance and to myths of gender. This is a major philosophical poem of our generation. (Isobel Armstrong).
BACKGROUND:
Conventionally, involuntary attentional capture by tobacco cues in smokers are seen as an implicit bias, operating independently of current search goals. Prominent attention research, however, has suggested that search goals can induce an involuntary attentional capture. In the current investigation, we tested whether appetitive and aversive smoking images affected attention through such a mechanism and whether there were group differences based on nicotine dependence.
METHODS:
We instructed non-smokers (NS), occasional smokers (OS; low dependence), and nicotine-dependent smokers (NDS; moderate-high dependence), to hold search goals for either an aversive or appetitive smoking category, or a category of non-smoking images. These images were presented in a stream of briefly appearing filler images, while task-irrelevant distractors were presented outside the stream. Distractors could be aversive or appetitive smoking images or a category of non-smoking images. Therefore, in some conditions, the distractors matched the current category being searched for, while in others it was incongruent.
RESULTS:
Task-irrelevant smoking distractors reduced target detection, compared to the non-smoking distractors, only when they were congruent with the specific category being searched for. There was no effect of either aversive or appetitive smoking distractors on performance when participants were searching for the non-smoking targets. Distractor interference did not differ between smokers and non-smokers.
CONCLUSIONS:
The results support a goal-driven mechanism underpinning involuntary attentional capture by smoking cues. These findings can be used to inform models of addiction and attention, and the display of health warnings.
KEYWORDS:
During summertime Saharan heat low, a region of low pressure system, is formed as a result of large solar insolation superimposed with the convergence of west African South westerly monsoon flow and dry north easterly Harmattan flow along the intertropical discontinuity. This region plays significant role in the initiation and development of the West African Monsoon. The Saharan heat low is co-located with region of maximum load of dust aerosol which is known to have impact on the climate. Further the Saharan heat low plays key role in the global circulations including its role in formation of African Easterly Jets and African Easterly Waves. Despite its role in influencing the dynamic and thermodynamics of the region, the Saharan Heat low is not extensively studied partly due to lack of comprehensive data due to the harsh weather conditions of the region.
Climate system of the Saharan heat low is a result of different complicated atmospheric and land surface processes most dominantly immense solar input at the surface, large convergence of sensible heat flux from the ground into the atmosphere, and low level cooling by horizontal advection of moisture from the surrounding area. These dynamical and thermodynamical processes take part in transport and redistribution of heat and transport of the moisture in the region. This thesis aims at providing a detailed analysis of the physical processes responsible for the development, maintenance, and decadal variability of the Saharan heat low region. I investigate three specific aspects of the Saharan heat low region.
1. Heat and Moisture Budget: Heat and moisture are drivers of dynamics and thermodynamics of a region. Previous studies presented heat and moisture budget of the Saharan heat Low without attributing to the detailed mechanisms by which heat and moisture is transported from the surrounding area to the Sahara heat low and vice versa. This thesis presents components of heat and moisture budget resulting from mean and transient flows that are responsible for heating/cooling and moistening/drying of the Sahara heat low region. Heat and moisture budget are derived using commonly used reanalyses simulations (ERA-I, NCEP, and MERRA) and comparison of the results between the three reanalyses are made. I investigate the mechanisms responsible for the decadal variability of intensity of the Sahara heat low and provide implications. This work has not been done previously to the best of knowledge.
2. Role of Dust and Water vapor in controlling the radiative flux: Recent studies show that water vapour greenhouse forcing is responsible for intensification of the Saharan heat low and as a consequence recovery of Sahel rainfall. Dust aerosol is known to have impact on the climate through its interaction with radiation. The large dust load in the Sahara heat low makes it important in controlling the variability in the radiative budget of the region. Previous studies have quantified the role of dust and water vapour in the region in controlling day to day variability in the radiative flux in the heat low. There is still uncertainty in the radiative forcing and associated variability partly due to lack of observational data. Furthermore separating the radiative effect of dust from that of water vapour is challenging due to the co-variability of dust and water vapour. This thesis quantifies separate and combined effect of dust and water vapour in controlling the radiative flux of the Saharan heat low using the recently made FENNEC observations of meteorological variables and dust loading. Theoretical experiments are made to study sensitivity of radiative flux to variations in dust and water vapour.
3. Characteristics of convective density currents: Convective down drafting density currents (cold pools) are ubiquitous features of the Saharan Heat low region which are shown to play important role in the transport of moisture and emission of dust in the region. Despite this, the characteristics of these atmospheric processes are not well studied in the Sahara Heat Low. Improving our knowledge of properties of convective density currents is imperative to better understand atmospheric processes within boundary layer of the Saharan heat low and thus improve model simulation performance. Here I provide magnitude, spatial distribution, and seasonal variability of cold pools using data from the Automatic weather Station (AWS) spread over the Sahara desert. I implement a unique identification method which is further verified by satellite observations of cold pool signatures. Once cold pools are identified at all stations, statistical description of the occurrence frequency and distribution are presented. Finally I asses reanalyses model simulation of convection triggered cold pool outflows through comparison with measurements.
Alcohol misuse is a major public concern. Impulsivity has been recognised as a significant risk factor predisposing for the initiation of alcohol use, continuation and excessive alcohol use. Evidence suggests that impulsivity is also a result of both acute alcohol intoxication and long-term alcohol abuse. The multifaceted character of impulsivity and the various ways of assessing it in humans and animal models, hampers the full understanding of how impulsivity relates to alcohol use and misuse. Therefore, in this review we evaluate recent developments in the field, trying to disentangle the contribution of different impulsivity subtypes as causes and effects of alcohol use. Moreover, we review a growing body of evidence, including brain imaging, suggesting the importance of emotional states in engaging in alcohol consumption, particularly in highly impulsive individuals. We also present recent insights into how emotional processing is manifested in alcoholism and binge drinking and suggest novel approaches to treatment and prevention opportunities which target emotional-regulation as well as emotional perception and insight.
Objectives: The consequences of impulsive decisions and actions represent a major source of concern to the health and well-being of individuals and society. It is, therefore, crucial to understand the factors which contribute to impulsive behaviors. Here, we examined how personality traits of behavioral tendencies, interoceptive sensibility as well as transient mood states predict behavioral performance on impulsivity and risk-taking tasks.
Method: 574 (121 males; age 18-45) individuals completed self-report personality measures of impulsivity, reward sensitivity, punishment avoidance as well as interoceptive sensibility, undertook a mood assessment and performed a set of cognitive tasks: delay discounting (temporal impulsivity), probability discounting (risk-taking), and reflection impulsivity task. Data were interrogated using principal component analysis, correlations and regression analyses to test mutual relationships between personality traits, interoceptive sensibility, mood state and impulsive behaviors.
Results: We observed a clear separation of measures used, both trait and behavioral. Namely, sensation-seeking, reward sensitivity and probability discounting reflected risk-taking. These were separate from measures associated with impulsivity, both trait (negative and positive urgency, premeditation, perseverance) and behavioral (delayed discounting and reflection impulsivity). This separation was further highlighted by their relationship with the current emotional state: positive affect was associated with increased risk-taking tendencies and risky decision-making, while negative emotions were related to heightened impulsivity measures. Interoceptive sensibility was only associated with negative emotions component.
Conclusions: Our findings support the proposal that risk-taking and impulsivity represent distinct constructs that are differentially affected by current mood states. This novel insight enhances our understanding of impulsive behaviors.
We present a comparison of the observed evolving galaxy stellar mass functions with the predictions of eight semi-analytic models and one halo occupation distribution model. While most models are able to fit the data at low redshift, some of them struggle to simultaneously fit observations at high redshift. We separate the galaxies into ‘passive’ and ‘star-forming’ classes and find that several of the models produce too many low-mass star-forming galaxies at high redshift compared to observations, in some cases by nearly a factor of 10 in the redshift range 2.5 <z< 3.0. We also find important differences in the implied mass of the dark matter haloes the galaxies inhabit, by comparing with halo masses inferred from observations. Galaxies at high redshift in the models are in lower mass haloes than suggested by observations, and the star formation efficiency in low-mass haloes is higher than observed. We conclude that many of the models require a physical prescription that acts to dissociate the growth of low-mass galaxies from the growth of their dark matter haloes at high redshift.
We present a comparison of nine galaxy formation models, eight semi-analytical, and one halo occupation distribution model, run on the same underlying cold dark matter simulation (cosmological box of comoving width 125h−1 Mpc, with a dark-matter particle mass of 1.24 × 109h−1M) and the same merger trees. While their free parameters have been calibrated to the same observational data sets using two approaches, they nevertheless retain some ‘memory’ of any previous calibration that served as the starting point (especially for the manually tuned models). For the first calibration, models reproduce the observed z = 0 galaxy stellar mass function (SMF) within 3σ. The second calibration extended the observational data to include the z = 2 SMF alongside the z ∼ 0 star formation rate function, cold gas mass, and the black hole–bulge mass relation. Encapsulating the observed evolution of the SMF from z = 2 to 0 is found to be very hard within the context of the physics currently included in the models. We finally use our calibrated models to study the evolution of the stellar-to-halo mass (SHM) ratio. For all models, we find that the peak value of the SHM relation decreases with redshift. However, the trends seen for the evolution of the peak position as well as the mean scatter in the SHM relation are rather weak and strongly model dependent. Both the calibration data sets and model results are publicly available.
There is a growing body of research on the performance differences resulting from firms' corporate-level strategies, including international and product diversifications. However, previous studies provide mixed findings, in part due to a lack of consideration of important variables (e.g., location, ownership and product relatedness) in those studies.
The first objective of this PhD thesis is to examine the multinationality-performance relationship in an emerging economy context. Previous research has generally ignored how the location choice and ownership structure shapes the above relationship. Specifically, I analyse whether developed/developing host countries and private/state ownership have different impacts on the multinationality-performance link. Based on more than 1000 firms from 44 emerging economies in 2004-2013, I find that the returns to multinationality are higher for investment in developed countries than in developing countries, and are higher for private-owned enterprises than state-owned enterprises.
The literature on product diversification and financial performance has generally been limited to the impact of product relatedness on the product diversification-performance link, while relatedness itself is a rather broad concept. The second objective of the thesis is to fill this gap by providing a finer classifcation of product relatedness from a value chain perspective. Specifically, we distinguish between horizontal versus vertical relatedness, as well as upstream versus downstream relatedness, and examine whether these diversifications have different impacts on financial performance. Drawing from more than 12,000 firms from 63 countries during the period 2004-2013, the results suggest that vertical and upstream diversifications are superior diversification strategies in terms of improving firm performance.
In addition to examining the above individual effects of international and product diversifications on firm performance, as the third objective of this thesis, I analyse their joint effects. Previous studies pay limited attention to the underlying factors that strengthen or weaken the joint effect. More specifically, I aim to examine how industrial and national contexts shape the joint effects. Drawing on the same dataset, the results suggest that the negative joint effect of international and product diversification is stronger for firms in high-tech than low-tech sectors, and is weaker for developed country firms than emerging economy firms.
The growing trend of cross-border acquisitions, as one establishment mode of foreign direct investment, is increasingly catching scholars' attention. The fourth objective of this thesis is to examine whether a foreign acquisition premium exists. Existing literature on foreign acquisition premium has generally ignored the acquirer's characteristics. My research aims to examine the impact of acquisition type (foreign/domestic) on firm productivity performance, with the consideration of acquirer's characteristics, including acquirer's location and multinationality. Using the dataset for more than 3,000 firm-year observations from 45 economies in 2004-2013, the results indicate the existence of a foreign acquisition premium. This premium is weaker for acquirers from developing economies than developed economies, and is strengthened for acquirers with high multinationality.
Binge drinking is associated with increased impulsivity and altered emotional processing. The current study investigated, in a group of university students who differed in their level of binge drinking, whether the ability to inhibit a pre-potent response and to delay gratification is disrupted in the presence of emotional context. We further tested whether functional connectivity within intrinsic resting-state networks was associated with alcohol use. Higher incidence of binge drinking was associated with enhanced activation of the lateral occipital cortex, angular gyrus, the left frontal pole during successful response inhibition irrespective of emotional context. This observation suggests a compensatory mechanism. However, higher binge drinking attenuated frontal and parietal activation during successful response inhibition within a fearful context, indicating the selective emotional facilitation of inhibitory control. Similarly, higher binge drinking was associated with attenuated frontopolar activation when choosing a delayed reward over an immediate reward within the fearful, relative to the neutral, context. Resting-state functional data analysis revealed that binge drinking decreased coupling between right supramarginal gyrus and Ventral Attention Network, indicating alcohol-associated disruption of functional connectivity within brain substrates directing attention. Together, our results suggest that binge drinking makes response inhibition more effortful, yet emotional (more arousing) contexts may mitigate this; disrupted functional connectivity between regions underlying adaptive attentional control, is a likely mechanism underlying these response inhibition effects associated with binge drinking.
The quest towards the integration of ultra-fast, high-precision optical clocks is reflected in the large number of high-impact papers on the topic published in the last few years. This interest has been catalysed by the impact that high-precision optical frequency combs (OFCs) have had on metrology and spectroscopy in the last decade [1–5]. OFCs are often referred to as optical rulers: their spectra consist of a precise sequence of discrete and equally-spaced spectral lines that represent precise marks in frequency. Their importance was recognised worldwide with the 2005 Nobel Prize being awarded to T.W. Hänsch and J. Hall for their breakthrough in OFC science [5]. They demonstrated that a coherent OFC source with a large spectrum – covering at least one octave – can be stabilised with a self-referenced approach, where the frequency and the phase do not vary and are completely determined by the source physical parameters. These fully stabilised OFCs solved the challenge of directly measuring optical frequencies and are now exploited as the most accurate time references available, ready to replace the current standard for time. Very recent advancements in the fabrication technology of optical micro-cavities [6] are contributing to the development of OFC sources. These efforts may open up the way to realise ultra-fast and stable optical clocks and pulsed sources with extremely high repetition-rates, in the form of compact and integrated devices. Indeed, the fabrication of high-quality factor (high-Q) micro-resonators, capable of dramatically amplifying the optical field, can be considered a photonics breakthrough that has boosted not only the scientific investigation of OFC sources [7–13] but also of optical sensors and compact light modulators [6,14].
Suboptimal land management practices are degrading soils and undermining food production. Sustainable land management (SLM) practices can improve soil and enhance yields. This study identifies variations in SLM uptake, characterising farmers most likely to use SLM practices, identifying when it makes economic sense for farmers to implement particular SLM practices and how long it takes before benefits exceed costs. Using questionnaire data from farmers in western Kenya, we undertake a cost–benefit analysis and analyse determinants of SLM practice use. SLM implementation varied between counties and SLM practice(s), with household and farm characteristics, and access to assets and advice, playing a key role. SLM practices with high upfront and maintenance costs (e.g., terraces and agroforestry) offer low benefit‐to‐cost ratios for individual farmers who must also wait many years to break even on their investments. Nevertheless, over the policy‐relevant time horizon considered (to 2030), Net present value can be positive. Simple SLM practices (manuring and intercropping) have low input costs and offer high benefit to cost ratios, providing a positive net present value up to 2030. Findings suggest that simple practices should be prioritised within policy to improve soil and increase yields. These should be supported by subsidies or other economic measures, facilitating uptake of practices such as agroforestry, which can provide wider societal benefits (e.g., improved water retention and carbon sequestration). Economic mechanisms could be augmented with support for agricultural innovation systems, improved monitoring of land management and yield relationships, and investment in climate and soil information services.
The market conditions in the banking sector, the corporate governance structure of banks, and the financial accounting practices have been highlighted among the key causes of the global financial crisis of 2007-2010. In this thesis, I analyse the ‘dark side’ of competition by casting the spotlight on the relationship between competition, corporate governance, financial stability, and financial misreporting. I also bring corporate governance into the fray by analysing its link to financial misreporting. Probing the interplay between banking sector competition, corporate governance, financial stability and financial misreporting provides a fantastic setting to tap into and provide unique insights across the accounting, banking and finance domains.
In putting together this piece of work, I extracted data from sources including Bankscope, Compustat, SEC enforcement releases and the World Bank Doing Business survey among others. In the 1st chapter, I regress financial stability proxies against various competition/concentration proxies using the GMM estimator with an instrumental variable technique to address potential endogeneity. In the 2nd chapter I use difference-in-difference analysis to analyse how changes in the competitive landscape in the US financial services industry instigated by the financial crisis as an exogenous factor led to an increase in misreporting incidences. The 4th chapter is an evaluation of how five corporate governance dimensions impacted on financial misreporting in US commercial banks subject to SEC enforcement actions from 2000 to 2016.
I uncover strong evidence to support the competition-fragility view, without yet being able to disprove the competition-stability view. My results suggest that greater banking competition yields riskier loan portfolios, but this increased risk is more than offset by banks holding higher capital and liquidity thresholds. I also study the link between competition and incidences of financial misreporting in the US financial services industry and the results suggest a significantly positive association between competition and financial misreporting. Furthermore, there is evidence that an exogenous increase in competition because of the financial crisis also fuelled financial misreporting incidences in the financial services industry. I then investigate the impact of corporate governance on financial misreporting in US commercial banks subject to SEC enforcement actions. My results are mixed across the five corporate governance dimensions utilised for this study. Consistent with the ‘agency cost’ hypothesis, I find a negative association between board size and financial misreporting, yet CEO power asserts a positive association with financial misreporting in violation of both the ‘stewardship’ and ‘entrenchment’ hypotheses. The equity-based portion of executive compensation is negatively related with misreporting, whereas there is a positive association between the cash-based portion and misreporting.
My research not only contributes to literature on competition, market power, bank risk, financial stability, corporate governance, and financial misreporting; but also provide several practical and theoretical implications for regulators, academics, governments and policymakers on the effective and efficient regulation of the governance and competitive landscapes in financial services. I specifically shine the spotlight on emerging literature on the pervasive effects (dark side) of competition from a purely financial services perspective and within the context of the global financial crisis of 2007-2010.
In this interview, Andy Stirling talks to Michael Kattirtzi about what initially drew him to Science and Technology Studies, his account of the impact of the Science Wars on the field, and why it matters that STS researchers do not shy away from challenging incumbents. Through a series of thoughtful reflections on his encounters with STS researchers, Stirling arrives at the conclusion that we should not expect the field to reconcile tensions that are more deeply rooted in society. Nonetheless, he hopes that in the future STS researchers will be more open and admitting of a plurality of epistemic perspectives within the field and avoid overly constraining it––all the while as he continues to demonstrate the value of appreciating such epistemic pluralism to policy-makers and stakeholders. A reflection by Michael Kattirtzi follows the interview.
The High Conservation Value (HCV) and High Carbon Stock (HCS) approaches are used to identify and protect important environmental and social values that should be conserved. This briefing note provides an overview of the commitments to the HCV and HCS approaches made by companies, drawing on SPOTT assessment data from October 2015 to November 2017.
Outbreaks of novel pathogens such as SARS, pandemic influenza and Ebola require substantial investments in reactive interventions, with consequent implementation plans sometimes revised on a weekly basis. Therefore, short-term forecasts of incidence are often of high priority. In light of the recent Ebola epidemic in West Africa, a forecasting exercise was convened by a network of infectious disease modellers. The challenge was to forecast unseen “future” simulated data for four different scenarios at five different time points. In a similar method to that used during the recent Ebola epidemic, we estimated current levels of transmissibility, over variable time-windows chosen in an ad hoc way. Current estimated transmissibility was then used to forecast near-future incidence. We performed well within the challenge and often produced accurate forecasts. A retrospective analysis showed that our subjective method for deciding on the window of time with which to estimate transmissibility often resulted in the optimal choice. However, when near-future trends deviated substantially from exponential patterns, the accuracy of our forecasts was reduced. This exercise highlights the urgent need for infectious disease modellers to develop more robust descriptions of processes – other than the widespread depletion of susceptible individuals – that produce non-exponential patterns of incidence.
The thesis is devoted to non-stationary point process models as generalizations of the standard homogeneous Poisson process. The work can be divided in two parts.
In the first part, we introduce a fractional non-homogeneous Poisson process (FNPP) by applying a random time change to the standard Poisson process. We characterize the FNPP by deriving its non-local governing equation. We further compute moments and covariance of the process and discuss the distribution of the arrival times. Moreover, we give both finite-dimensional and functional limit theorems for the FNPP and the corresponding fractional non-homogeneous compound Poisson process. The limit theorems are derived by using martingale methods, regular variation properties and Anscombe's theorem. Eventually, some of the limit results are verified via a Monte-Carlo simulation.
In the second part, we analyze statistical point process models for durations between trades recorded in financial high-frequency trading data. We consider parameter settings for models which are non-stationary or very close to non-stationarity which is quite typical for estimated parameter sets of models fitted to financial data. Simulation, parameter estimation and in particular model selection are discussed for the following three models: a non-homogeneous normal compound Poisson process, the exponential autoregressive conditional duration model (ACD) and a Hawkes process model. In a Monte-Carlo simulation, we test the performance of the following information criteria for model selection: Akaike's information criterion, the Bayesian information criterion and the Hannan-Quinn information criterion. We are particularly interested in the relation between the rate of correct model selection and the underlying sample size. Our numerical results show that the model selection for the compound Poisson type model works best for small parameter numbers. Moreover, the results for Hawkes processes confirm the theoretical asymptotic distributions of model selection whereas for the ACD model the model selection exhibits adverse behavior in certain cases.
The roundtable on sustainable palm oil (RSPO), the round table on responsible soy (RTRS), the better cotton initiative (BCI), and the forest stewardship council (FSC) are examples of multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs), established to foster sustainable commodity production. While these programs are promoted as collaborative schemes for natural resource management, the significant gap in understanding of MSIs’ effectiveness presents a major concern over the credibility and legitimacy of such programs. We explore stakeholders’ perceptions of the environmental effectiveness of four MSIs in relation to their impacts in reducing agrochemical use and conserving habitats. We found that stakeholders feel positive about the role of the schemes in advocating environmental sustainability in the commodity sectors, and establishing norms of good practice. However, numerous issues, including the inadequate monitoring and evaluation contribute to perceptions of ineffectiveness and a lack of confidence in the schemes’ ability to drive fundamental transformation in environmental performance.
This paper discusses how technology exploitation opportunities can be explored in greater depth by bringing together existing methods for the identification of sustainable value and the assessment of new technology into a practical and configurable approach for industry. There is a need for practical support in technology commercialisation and for approaches that make a clear contribution to long term industrial sustainability. The challenges in the adoption and use of management tools and the significance of industrial/academic collaboration in developing and applying them is also discussed.
The matching process between technology and market is a dynamic ‘balancing’ act, so breaking down a technology offering into several parts and considering how the commercial, environmental and social importance of these parts may change for differing markets and applications is a useful exercise for structuring further development actions. Such approaches based on mapping templates can be brought together in a practical form for effective use by industry. An iterative approach was taken based on combining several existing tools and a multicompany workshop was used to help to explore how useful the combinations were in practice. The workshop resulted in significant learning and a framework for selecting the most appropriate tool combinations in particular situations has been proposed for future applications.
The tool templates are easy to apply and help to structure and guide discussion, promote a consensual way forward and lead to practical action plans. The organisational impact and process learning is discussed, along with implications for improving and further testing of the methods. This paper focuses on a small number of companies but has generic learning points for academics wishing to support industry in making more holistic assessments of technological opportunities. This practical approach to mapping sustainable value for new technological opportunities engages both commercial and technical stakeholders in a wider evaluation of a technology and provides templates for recording tangible outputs from the discussion. Combining sustainability and technology management related tools enables a cross disciplinary exploration of exploitation opportunities and can make a positive contribution towards the development of technological innovations bringing sustainable value to organisations and the overall industrial system.
Background.
The World Health Organization's 2020 goals for Chagas disease are (1) interrupting vector-borne intradomiciliary transmission and (2) having all infected people under care in endemic countries. Insecticide spraying has proved efficacious for reaching the first goal, but active transmission remains in several regions. For the second, treatment has mostly been restricted to recently infected patients, who comprise only a small proportion of all infected individuals.
Methods.
We extended our previous dynamic transmission model to simulate a domestic Chagas disease transmission cycle and examined the effects of both vector control and etiological treatment on achieving the operational criterion proposed by the Pan American Health Organization for intradomiciliary, vectorial transmission interruption (ie, <2% seroprevalence in children <5 years of age).
Results.
Depending on endemicity, an antivectorial intervention that decreases vector density by 90% annually would achieve the transmission interruption criterion in 2-3 years (low endemicity) to >30 years (high endemicity). When this strategy is combined with annual etiological treatment in 10% of the infected human population, the seroprevalence criterion would be achieved, respectively, in 1 and 11 years.
Conclusions.
Combining highly effective vector control with etiological (trypanocidal) treatment in humans would substantially reduce time to transmission interruption as well as infection incidence and prevalence. However, the success of vector control may depend on prevailing vector species. It will be crucial to improve the coverage of screening programs, the performance of diagnostic tests, the proportion of people treated, and the efficacy of trypanocidal drugs. While screening and access can be incremented as part of strengthening the health systems response, improving diagnostics performance and drug efficacy will require further research.
Background
On May 8, 2018, the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo reported an outbreak of Ebola virus disease in Équateur Province in the northwest of the country. The remoteness of most affected communities and the involvement of an urban centre connected to the capital city and neighbouring countries makes this outbreak the most complex and high risk ever experienced by the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We provide early epidemiological information arising from the ongoing investigation of this outbreak.
Methods
We classified cases as suspected, probable, or confirmed using national case definitions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Ministère de la Santé Publique. We investigated all cases to obtain demographic characteristics, determine possible exposures, describe signs and symptoms, and identify contacts to be followed up for 21 days. We also estimated the reproduction number and projected number of cases for the 4-week period from May 25, to June 21, 2018.
Findings
As of May 30, 2018, 50 cases (37 confirmed, 13 probable) of Zaire ebolavirus were reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 21 (42%) were reported in Bikoro, 25 (50%) in Iboko, and four (8%) in Wangata health zones. Wangata is part of Mbandaka, the urban capital of Équateur Province, which is connected to major national and international transport routes. By May 30, 2018, 25 deaths from Ebola virus disease had been reported, with a case fatality ratio of 56% (95% CI 39–72) after adjustment for censoring. This case fatality ratio is consistent with estimates for the 2014–16 west African Ebola virus disease epidemic (p=0·427). The median age of people with confirmed or probable infection was 40 years (range 8–80) and 30 (60%) were male. The most commonly reported signs and symptoms in people with confirmed or probable Ebola virus disease were fever (40 [95%] of 42 cases), intense general fatigue (37 [90%] of 41 cases), and loss of appetite (37 [90%] of 41 cases). Gastrointestinal symptoms were frequently reported, and 14 (33%) of 43 people reported haemorrhagic signs. Time from illness onset and hospitalisation to sample testing decreased over time. By May 30, 2018, 1458 contacts had been identified, of which 746 (51%) remained under active follow-up. The estimated reproduction number was 1·03 (95% credible interval 0·83–1·37) and the cumulative case incidence for the outbreak by June 21, 2018, is projected to be 78 confirmed cases (37–281), assuming heterogeneous transmissibility.
Interpretation
The ongoing Ebola virus outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has similar epidemiological features to previous Ebola virus disease outbreaks. Early detection, rapid patient isolation, contact tracing, and the ongoing vaccination programme should sufficiently control the outbreak. The forecast of the number of cases does not exceed the current capacity to respond if the epidemiological situation does not change. The information presented, although preliminary, has been essential in guiding the ongoing investigation and response to this outbreak.
CD38 is a transmembrane exoenzyme that is associated with poor prognosis in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). High CD38 levels in CLL cells are linked to increased cell migration, but the molecular basis is unknown. CD38 produces nicotinic acid adenine dinucleotide phosphate and adenosine 5′-diphosphate-ribose, both of which can act to increase intracellular Ca2+ levels. Here we show that CD38 expression increases basal intracellular Ca2+ levels and stimulates CLL cell migration both with and without chemokine stimulation. We find that CD38 acts via intracellular Ca2+ to increase the activity of the Ras family GTPase Rap1, which is in turn regulated by the Ca2+-sensitive Rap1 guanine-nucleotide exchange factor RasGRP2. Both Rap1 and RasGRP2 are required for CLL cell migration, and RasGRP2 is polarized in primary CLL cells with high CD38 levels. These results indicate that CD38 promotes RasGRP2/Rap1-mediated CLL cell adhesion and migration by increasing intracellular Ca2+ levels.
Since the advent of the 'War on Terror' British Muslims have been designated as a source of anxiety by politicians, journalists and publics alike. Fears that began over terrorism have extended to the opening of Islamic faith schools, the meaning of clothing and halal slaughter. Critical scholarship that engages with these developments in the fields of politics and international relations tends to view them through paradigms of (in)security. Whilst these contributions have been helpful in understanding the construction of a Muslim 'problem', this article demonstrates how the array of issues incorporated by this problem exceeds the politics of security.
The article develops an original conceptual and analytic framework, drawing upon Slavoj Žižek's Lacanian theory of ideology, to argue that political and media ‘scandals’ about what an imagined 'Muslim community' gets up to are best understood as ideological fantasies. Through analysis of three case studies, we show that these fantasies are mobilised to suture traumatic gaps and conceal contradictions in wider social practices around sexual abuse, education, and food production. We show how the unremitting focus on myriad aspects of British Muslims’ imagined lives is symptomatic of what Žižek calls an ‘unbearable anxiety’. Islamophobic ideological fantasies summon a ‘conceptual Muslim’ figure as a means of preventing confrontation with the Lacanian ‘Real’: antagonistic and anxiety-inducing structures and practices underpinning British society, of which we do not speak.
The acoustically-driven dynamics of isolated particle-like objects in microfluidic environments is a well-characterised phenomenon, which has been the subject of many studies. Conversely, very few acoustofluidic researchers looked at coated microbubbles, despite their widespread use in diagnostic imaging and the need for a precise characterisation of their acoustically-driven behaviour, underpinning therapeutic applications. The main reason is that microbubbles behave differently, due to their larger compressibility, exhibiting much stronger interactions with the unperturbed acoustic field (primary Bjerknes forces) or with other bubbles (secondary Bjerknes forces). In this paper, we study the translational dynamics of commercially-available polymer-coated microbubbles in a standing-wave acoustofluidic device. At increasing acoustic driving pressures, we measure acoustic forces on isolated bubbles, quantify bubble-bubble interaction forces during doublet formation and study the occurrence of sub-wavelength structures during aggregation. We present a dynamic characterisation of microbubble compressibility with acoustic pressure, highlighting a threshold pressure below which bubbles can be treated as uncoated. Thanks to benchmarking measurements under a scanning electron microscope, we interpret this threshold as the onset of buckling, providing a quantitative measurement of this parameter at the single-bubble level. For acoustofluidic applications, our results highlight the limitations of treating microbubbles as a special case of solid particles. Our findings will impact applications where knowing the buckling pressure of coated microbubbles has a key role, like diagnostics and drug delivery.
Convergent phenotypic evolution is often caused by recurrent changes at particular nodes in the underlying gene regulatory networks (GRNs). The genes at such evolutionary ‘hotspots’ are thought to maximally affect the phenotype with minimal pleiotropic consequences. This has led to the suggestion that if a GRN is understood in sufficient detail, the path of evolution may be predictable. The repeated evolutionary loss of larval trichomes among Drosophila species is caused by the loss of shavenbaby (svb) expression. svb is also required for development of leg trichomes, but the evolutionary gain of trichomes in the ‘naked valley’ on T2 femurs in Drosophila melanogaster is caused by reduced microRNA-92a (miR-92a) expression rather than changes in svb. We compared the expression and function of components between the larval and leg trichome GRNs to investigate why the genetic basis of trichome pattern evolution differs in these developmental contexts. We found key differences between the two networks in both the genes employed, and in the regulation and function of common genes. These differences in the GRNs reveal why mutations in svb are unlikely to contribute to leg trichome evolution and how instead miR-92a represents the key evolutionary switch in this context. Our work shows that variability in GRNs across different developmental contexts, as well as whether a morphological feature is lost versus gained, influence the nodes at which a GRN evolves to cause morphological change. Therefore, our findings have important implications for understanding the pathways and predictability of evolution.
One of the key EU-level responses to the 2007-09 financial crisis was the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive 2014/59/EU (BRRD), which put in place a new and comprehensive system for dealing with failing banks and which aimed to enhance stability, reduce moral hazard and, most importantly, put an end to publicly funded bail-outs. This article contributes to the literature on the public v. private debate of financing banking crises by analysing the decision of the UK Government to derogate from the requirement in the BRRD for Member States to build an ex-ante resolution fund via contributions from the private banking sector. A comparative approach is adopted which analyses the practices of Member States in imposing bank levies in the post-crisis climate, with a focus on whether they contribute either ex-post to the general economy (the approach taken in the UK), or ex-ante to a designated resolution fund (the approach taken by Member States operating within the Eurozone). In doing so, this article identifies the potential impact of the decision on the management of future banking crises in the UK, addressing in particular whether it will be the public or private sector that bears the cost.
The main aim of this thesis is to study the pricing of options of Ijārah Sukūk for lifespan. The pricing formulae of mid-term call and put options are derived by computing the expected value under the risk neutral measure and using an appropriate condition of exercising the option at mid-term. The mid-term option prices with continuous Ijārah obtained using these formulae are compared with the prices of European and American options with dividend for lifespan. The comparison is done both analytically and numerically. The same analysis is done for callable and puttable Sukūk with Ijārah and compared with the prices of European and American callable and puttable bond with coupon for lifespan. We also study the relationship between callable Sukūk price and Ijārah rate by computing the duration and convexity of the callable Sukūk price. The same analysis is done for puttable Sukūk.
Background. In many species, males have a lower reproductive investment than females and are therefore assumed to increase their fitness with a high number of matings rather than by being choosy. However, in bi-parental species, also males heavily invest into reproduction. Here, reproductive success largely depends on costly parental care; with style and amount of parental effort in several cases being associated with personality differences (i.e., consistent between-individual differences in behaviour). Nonetheless, very little is known about the effect of personality differences on (male) mate choice in bi-parental species.
Methods. In the present study, we tested male mate choice for the level and consistency of female boldness in the rainbow krib, Pelviachromis pulcher, a bi-parental and territorial West African cichlid. Individual boldness was assumed to indicate parental quality because it affects parental defence behaviour. For all males and females, boldness was assessed twice as the activity under simulated predation risk. Mate choice trials were conducted in two steps. First, we let a male observe two females expressing their boldness. Then, the male could choose between these two females in a standard mate choice test.
Results. We tested for a male preference for behavioural (dis-)similarity vs. a directional preference for boldness but our data support the absence of effects of male and/or female boldness (level and consistency) on male mating preference.
Discussion. Our results suggest female personality differences in boldness may not be selected for via male mate choice.
The p300 and CBP histone acetyltransferases are recruited to DNA double-strand break (DSB) sites where they induce histone acetylation, thereby influencing the chromatin structure and DNA repair process. Whether p300/CBP at DSB sites also acetylate non-histone proteins, and how their acetylation affects DSB repair, remain unknown. Here we show that p300/CBP acetylate RAD52, a human homologous recombination (HR) DNA repair protein, at DSB sites. Using in vitro acetylated RAD52, we identified 13 potential acetylation sites in RAD52 by a mass spectrometry analysis. An immunofluorescence microscopy analysis revealed that RAD52 acetylation at DSBs sites is counteracted by SIRT2- and SIRT3-mediated deacetylation, and that non-acetylated RAD52 initially accumulates at DSB sites, but dissociates prematurely from them. In the absence of RAD52 acetylation, RAD51, which plays a central role in HR, also dissociates prematurely from DSB sites, and hence HR is impaired. Furthermore, inhibition of ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) protein by siRNA or inhibitor treatment demonstrated that the acetylation of RAD52 at DSB sites is dependent on the ATM protein kinase activity, through the formation of RAD52, p300/CBP, SIRT2, and SIRT3 foci at DSB sites. Our findings clarify the importance of RAD52 acetylation in HR and its underlying mechanism.
An increased risk of cardiovascular death in Cytomegalovirus (CMV)-infected individuals remains unexplained, although it might partly result from the fact that CMV infection is closely associated with the accumulation of CD28null T-cells, in particular CD28null CD4 T-cells. These cells can directly damage endothelium and precipitate cardiovascular events. However, the current paradigm holds that the accumulation of CD28null T-cells is a normal consequence of aging, whereas the link between these T-cell populations and CMV infection is explained by the increased prevalence of this infection in older people. Resolving whether CMV infection or aging triggers CD28null T-cell expansions is of critical importance because, unlike aging, CMV infection can be treated.
Methods: We used multi-color flow-cytometry, antigen-specific activation assays, and HLA-typing to dissect the contributions of CMV infection and aging to the accumulation of CD28null CD4 and CD8 T-cells in CMV+ and CMV− individuals aged 19 to 94 years. Linear/logistic regression was used to test the effect of sex, age, CMV infection, and HLA-type on CD28null T-cell frequencies.
Results: The median frequencies of CD28null CD4 T-cells and CD28null CD8 T-cells were >12-fold (p=0.000) but only approximately 2-fold higher (p=0.000), respectively, in CMV+ (n=136) compared with CMV− individuals (n=106). The effect of CMV infection on these T-cell subsets was confirmed by linear regression. Unexpectedly, aging contributed only marginally to an increase in CD28null T-cell frequencies, and only in CMV+ individuals. Interestingly, the presence of HLA-DRB1*0301 led to an approximately 9-fold reduction of the risk of having CD28null CD4 T-cell expansions (OR=0.108, p=0.003). Over 75% of CMV-reactive CD4 T-cells were CD28null.
Conclusion: CMV infection and HLA type are major risk factors for CD28null CD4 T-cell-associated cardiovascular pathology. Increased numbers of CD28null CD8 T-cells are also associated with CMV infection, but to a lesser extent. Aging, however, makes only a negligible contribution to the expansion of these T-cell subsets, and only in the presence of CMV infection. Our results open up new avenues for risk assessment, prevention, and treatment.
In DNA repair, the resection of double-strand breaks dictates the choice between homology-directed repair—which requires a 3′ overhang—and classical non-homologous end joining, which can join unresected ends1,2. BRCA1-mutant cancers show minimal resection of double-strand breaks, which renders them deficient in homology-directed repair and sensitive to inhibitors of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1)3,4,5,6,7,8. When BRCA1 is absent, the resection of double-strand breaks is thought to be prevented by 53BP1, RIF1 and the REV7–SHLD1–SHLD2–SHLD3 (shieldin) complex, and loss of these factors diminishes sensitivity to PARP1 inhibitors4,6,7,8,9. Here we address the mechanism by which 53BP1–RIF1–shieldin regulates the generation of recombinogenic 3′ overhangs. We report that CTC1–STN1–TEN1 (CST)10, a complex similar to replication protein A that functions as an accessory factor of polymerase-α (Polα)–primase11, is a downstream effector in the 53BP1 pathway. CST interacts with shieldin and localizes with Polα to sites of DNA damage in a 53BP1- and shieldin-dependent manner. As with loss of 53BP1, RIF1 or shieldin, the depletion of CST leads to increased resection. In BRCA1-deficient cells, CST blocks RAD51 loading and promotes the efficacy of PARP1 inhibitors. In addition, Polα inhibition diminishes the effect of PARP1 inhibitors. These data suggest that CST–Polα-mediated fill-in helps to control the repair of double-strand breaks by 53BP1, RIF1 and shieldin.
Purpose: Due to the importance of efficiency and responsiveness measures rather than just efficiency measures, this research recognizes both measures when considering overall performance of warehouse operations. Thus, the purpose of this study is to prioritize overall performance measures associated with warehouse operations in manufacturing, third-party logistics (3PL) service provider, and retail industry supply chains.
Design/methodology/approach: The study uses an integrated approach that involves the Q-sort method to group measures into four categories. Fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP) was then used to prioritize individual performance measures within each category and integer liner programming model was used to validate prioritized categories, using the judgement of multiple decision makers across three industries.
Findings: The result shows that the financial category is a dominating performance category in managing warehouse operations across all three industries selected. Within the financial category, cost of insurance accounted for 25% of total weight of the category, and is considered to be a powerful measure. The financial category is verified by multiple decision makers across three industries, as the most important performance category.
Research Limitations/implications: As part of adopting the proposed methodology in practice, it needs to be guided by overall methodology appropriate for industry-specific contexts.
Originality/value: Key novel aspects of this study are to categorize warehouse operations measures and analyze their perspectives in different industries, understand dominant categories of warehouse operations measures in the contemporary supply chain and finally to explore to what extent current practices lead to achieving efficiency and responsiveness in the selected industries.
Objectives
Little attention has been given to the common assessment problem that clinicians assess outcomes of several patients and may rate them in comparison to one another, whereas patients assess only their own outcomes without any comparison. We explored empirically whether this would lead to a greater variability of clinician ratings as compared to patient ratings.
Methods
Data from two independent samples in which clinicians and patients, using consistent instruments, rated their therapeutic relationships. We present descriptive statistics of variability and intracluster correlation coefficients.
Results
The Helping Alliance Scale was completed at baseline and follow‐up by 20 clinicians and 103 patients in an observational study and by 88 clinicians and 431 patients in a trial. Patients tended to rate their relationship 5–10% more highly than their clinicians, but with 50–100% more variability. Intraclinician Helping Alliance Scale ratings were more correlated than those by patients (intracluster correlation coefficients 0.3–0.7 vs. 0.0–0.2).
Conclusion
Contrary to our assumption, clinicians' ratings of therapeutic relationships were in both samples less variable than those of their patients. When clinicians rate outcomes of several patients, a cluster effect of ratings may have to be considered in the design and analysis.
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia and is distinguished from other dementias by observation of extracellular Amyloid-b (Ab) plaques and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles, comprised of fibrils of Ab and tau protein, respectively. At early stages, AD is characterized by minimal neurodegeneration, oxidative stress, nucleolar stress, and altered protein synthesis machinery. It is generally believed that Ab oligomers are the neurotoxic species and their levels in the AD brain correlate with the severity of dementia suggesting that they play a critical role in the pathogenesis of the disease. Here, we show that the incubation of differentiated human neuroblastoma cells (SHSY5Y) with freshly prepared Ab42 oligomers initially resulted in oxidative stress and subtle nucleolar stress in the absence of DNA damage or cell death. The presence of exogenous Ab oligomers resulted in altered nuclear tau levels as well as phosphorylation state, leading to altered distribution of nucleolar tau associated with nucleolar stress. These markers of cellular dysfunction worsen over time alongside a reduction in ribosomal RNA synthesis and processing, a decrease in global level of newly synthesized RNA and reduced protein synthesis. The interplay between Ab and tau in AD remains intriguing and Ab toxicity has been linked to tau phosphorylation and changes in localization. These findings provide evidence for the involvement of Ab42 effects on nucleolar tau and protein synthesis machinery dysfunction in cultured cells. Protein synthesis dysfunction is observed in mild cognitive impairment and early AD in the absence of significant neuronal death.
Tau is known for its pathological role in neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other tauopathies. Tau is found in many subcellular compartments such as the cytosol and the nucleus. Although its normal role in microtubule binding is well established, its nuclear role is still unclear. Here, we reveal that tau localises to the nucleolus in undifferentiated and differentiated neuroblastoma cells (SHSY5Y), where it associates with TIP5, a key player in heterochromatin stability and ribosomal DNA (rDNA) transcriptional repression. Immunogold labelling on human brain sample confirms the physiological relevance of this finding by showing tau within the nucleolus colocalises with TIP5. Depletion of tau results in an increase in rDNA transcription with an associated decrease in heterochromatin and DNA methylation, suggesting that under normal conditions tau is involved in silencing of the rDNA. Cellular stress induced by glutamate causes nucleolar stress associated with the redistribution of nucleolar non-phosphorylated tau, in a similar manner to fibrillarin, and nuclear upsurge of phosphorylated tau (Thr231) which doesn’t colocalise with fibrillarin or nucleolar tau. This suggests that stress may impact on different nuclear tau species. In addition to involvement in rDNA transcription, nucleolar non-phosphorylated tau also undergoes stress-induced redistribution similar to many nucleolar proteins
The study of migration has transformed and expanded massively, especially over the last 30 years, as issues of migration have moved from the relative margins to the core of politics and global societal change. This is not to say that migration and ethnic relations are more important today than before, but issues about movement, mobility, and the increasing cultural, ethnic and religious diversity this brings, are seen as important challenges to states, legal systems, international relations, and how people live with one another. Migration as a topic has become an important interpretive lens through which societies and people understand the core changes that we experience as a consequence of the increasing globalization processes that shape the contemporary world. This can be ‘for good’, for example, in public mobilizations to support refugees and people displaced from their homes by international conflicts, or ‘for bad’ in the reactionary populist politics that attempts to justify anti-immigration policies by stigmatizing groups on religious, ethnic or racial grounds, such as ‘Muslim bans’ and ‘Building walls’. Here is not the place to unpack these complex developments nor explain the role of migration as a driver and outcome of globalization processes. None the less, it is important to flag up the moving target that our research is trying to understand, because this informs our approaches to teaching migration, and shapes the range of perspectives and topics that we select and group together under the label ‘migration studies’ at a particular historical moment. It is important to ask where migration should rightly sit within teaching programmes today. How can we adapt to keep pace with advancing understanding of the world developments that drive, and are driven by, migration, on one side, and the institutional changes within the university sector that delivers teaching and learning, on the other?to understand, because this informs our approaches to teaching migration, and shapes the range of perspectives and topics that we select and group together under the label ‘migration studies’ at a particular historical moment. It is important to ask where migration should rightly sit within teaching programmes today. How can we adapt to keep pace with advancing understanding of the world developments that drive, and are driven by, migration, on one side, and the institutional changes within the university sector that delivers teaching and learning, on the other?
This chapter examines the strength of “symbolic barriers” between majorities and Muslims of immigrant origin over the accommodation of Islam as a minority religion in their European countries of settlement. The study uses original survey data on public attitudes towards religious rights in schooling in four countries with distinct church-state relations and minority policies: Britain, Germany, France, and the Netherlands. We find highly significant “barriers” over religious rights for Muslims in all countries, notwithstanding the different degrees to which they institutionally accommodate Islam. In addition, the strength of majority opposition towards including Islam, compared to Christianity, is especially striking. Conversely, Muslims tend to favour an extension of rights for both religions to the same degree. Although European societies are broadly secular, we conclude that resistant majority views matter a great deal in creating a large socio-cultural distance between majorities and Muslims over accommodating Islam. This is especially the case in Britain, even though the state has been relatively accommodating to Islam. We think the existence of enduring strong “barriers” demarcating Muslims from the rest of society in the public imagination will importantly impact on the chances of the second generation to be full members of society, independently from socio-economic factors.
The projective plane, PG(2;q), over a Galois field Fq is an incidence structure of points and lines. A (k;n)-arc K in PG(2;q) is a set of k points such that no n+1 of them are collinear but some n are collinear. A (k;n)-arc K in PG(2;q) is called complete if it is not contained in any (k+1;n)-arc. The existence of arcs for particular values of k and n pose interesting problems in finite geometry. It connects with coding theory and graph theory, with important applications in computer science. The main problem, known as the packing problem, is to determine the largest size mn(2;q) of K in PG(2;q). This problem has received much attention. Here, the work establishes complete arcs with a large number of points. In contrast, the problem to determine the smallest size tn(2;q) of a complete (k;n)-arc is mostly based on the lower bound arising from theoretical investigations. This thesis has several goals.
The first goal is to classify certain (k;4)-arcs for k = 6,…,38 in PG(2;13). This classification is established through an approach in Chapter 2. This approach uses a new geometrical method; it is a combination of projective inequivalence of (k;4)-arcs up to k = 6 and certain sdinequivalent (k;4)-arcs that have sd-inequivalent classes of secant distributions for k = 7,…,38. The part related to projectively inequivalent (k;4)-arcs up to k=6 starts by fixing the frame points f1;2;3;88g and then classify the projectively inequivalent (5;4)-arcs. Among these (5;4)-arcs and (6;4)-arcs, the lexicographically least set are found. Now, the part regarding sd-inequivalent (k;4)-arcs in this method starts by choosing five sd-inequivalent (7;4)-arcs. This classification method may not produce all sd-inequivalent classes of (k;4)-arcs. However, it was necessary to employ this method due to the increasing number of (k;4)-arcs in PG(2;13) and the extreme computational difficulty of the problem. It reduces the constructed number of (k;4)-arcs in each process for large k. Consequently, it reduces the executed time for the computation which could last for years. Also, this method decreases the memory usage needed for the classification. The largest size of (k;4)-arc established through this method is k = 38. The classification of certain (k;4)-arcs up to projective equivalence, for k = 34,35,36,37,38, is also established. This classification starts from the 77 incomplete (34;4)-arcs that are constructed from the sd-inequivalent (33;4)-arcs given in Section 2.29, Table 2.35. Here, the largest size of (k;4)-arc is still k = 38. In addition, the previous process is re-iterated with a different choice of five sd-inequivalent (7;4)-arcs. The purpose of this choice is to find a new size of complete (k;4)-arc for k > 38. This particular computation of (k;4)-arcs found no complete (k;4)-arc for k > 38. In contrast, a new size of complete (k;4)-arc in PG(2;13) is discovered. This size is k = 36 which is the largest complete (k;4)-arc in this computation. This result raises the second largest size of complete (k;4)-arc found in the first classification from k = 35 to k = 36.
The second goal is to discuss the incidence structure of the orbits of the groups of the projectively inequivalent (6;4)-arcs and also the incidence structures of the orbits of the groups other than the identity group of the sd-inequivalent (k;4)-arcs. In Chapter 3, these incidence structures are given for k = 6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,38. Also, the pictures of the geometric configurations of the lines and the points of the orbits are described.
The third goal is to find the sizes of certain sd-inequivalent complete (k;4)-arcs in PG(2;13). These sizes of complete (k;4)-arcs are given in Chapter 4 where the smallest size of complete (k;4)-arc is at most k = 24 and the largest size is at least k = 38.
The fourth goal is to give an example of an associated non-singular quartic curve C for each complete (k;4)-arc and to discuss the algebraic properties of each curve in terms of the number I of inflexion points, the number jC \K j of rational points on the corresponding arc, and the number N1 of rational points of C . These curves are given in Chapter 5. Also, the algebraic properties of complete arcs of the most interesting sizes investigated in this thesis are studied. In addition, there are two examples of quartic curves C (g0 1) and C (g0 2) attaining the Hasse-Weil- Serre upper bound for the number N1 of rational points on a curve over the finite field of order thirteen. This number is 32.
The fifth goal is to classify the (k;4)-arcs in PG(2;13) up to projective inequivalence for k < 10. This classification is established in Chapter 6. It starts by fixing a triad, U1, on the projective line, PG(1;13). Here, the number of projectively inequivalent (k;4)-arcs are tested by using the tool given in Chapter 2. Then, among the number of the projectively inequivalent (10;4)-arcs found, the classification of sd-inequivalent (k;4)-arcs for k = 10 is made. The number of these sd-inequivalent arcs is 36. Then, the 36 sd-inequivalent arcs are extended. The aim here is to investigate if there is a new size of sd-inequivalent (k;4)-arc for k > 38 that can be obtained from these arcs. The largest size of sd-inequivalent (k;4)-arc in this process is the same as the largest size of the sd-inequivalent (k;4)-arc established in Chapter 2, that is, k = 38.
In addition, the classification of (k;n)-arcs in PG(2;13) is extended from n = 4 to n = 6. This extension is given in Chapter 7 where some results of the classification of certain (k;6)-arcs for k = 9; : : : ;25 are obtained using the same method as in Chapter 2 for k = 7,…,38. This process starts by fixing a certain (8;6)-arc containing six collinear points in PG(2;13).
Cytoplasmic dynein 1 (hereafter referred to simply as dynein) is a dimeric motor protein that walks and transports intracellular cargos towards the minus end of microtubules. In this article, we formulate, based on physical principles, a mechanical model to describe the stepping behaviour of cytoplasmic dynein walking on microtubules from the cell membrane towards the nucleus. Unlike previous studies on physical models of this nature, we base our formulation on the whole structure of dynein to include the temporal dynamics of the individual subunits such as the cargo ( for example, an endosome, vesicle or bead), two rings of six ATPase domains associated with diverse cellular activities (AAAþ rings) and the microtubule-binding domains which allow dynein to bind to microtubules. This mathematical framework allows us to examine experimental observations on dynein across a wide range of different species, as well as being able to make predictions on the temporal behaviour of the individual components of dynein not currently experimentally measured. Furthermore, we extend the model framework to include backward stepping, variable step size and dwelling. The power of our model is in its predictive nature; first it reflects recent experimental observations that dynein walks on microtubules using a weakly coordinated stepping pattern with predominantly not passing steps. Second, the model predicts that interhead coordination in the ATP cycle of cytoplasmic dynein is important in order to obtain the alternating stepping patterns and long run lengths seen in experiments.
This paper reports the first results of a direct dark matter search with the DEAP-3600 single-phase liquid argon (LAr) detector. The experiment was performed 2 km underground at SNOLAB (Sudbury, Canada) utilizing a large target mass, with the LAr target contained in a spherical acrylic vessel of 3600 kg capacity. The LAr is viewed by an array of PMTs, which would register scintillation light produced by rare nuclear recoil signals induced by dark matter particle scattering. An analysis of 4.44 live days (fidicial exposure of 9.87 tonne days) of data taken during the initial filling phase demonstrates the best electronic recoil rejection using pulse-shape discrimination in argon, with leakage <1.2X107 (90% C.L.) between 15 and 31 keVee. No candidate signal events
are observed, which results in the leading limit on WIMP-nucleon spin-independent cross section on argon, <1.21044 cm2 for a 100 GeV/c2 WIMP mass (90% C.L.).
We introduce and discuss optimal control strategies for kinetic models for wealth distribution in a simple market economy, acting to minimize the variance of the wealth density among the population. Our analysis is based on a finite time horizon approximation, or model predictive control, of the corresponding control problem for the microscopic agents' dynamic and results in an alternative theoretical approach to the taxation and redistribution policy at a global level. It is shown that in general the control is able to modify the Pareto index of the stationary solution of the corresponding Boltzmann kinetic equation, and that this modification can be exactly quantified. Connections between previous Fokker-Planck based models and taxation-redistribution policies and the present approach are also discussed.
Objectives: To apply advanced diffusion MRI methods to the study of normal appearing brain tissue in MS and examine their correlation with measures of clinical disability. Methods: A multi-compartment model of diffusion MRI called neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI) was used to study 20 patients with relapsing-remitting (RR-) and 15 with secondary progressive (SP)-MS, and 20 healthy controls. Maps of NODDI were analyzed voxel-wise to assess the presence of abnormalities within the normal appearing brain tissue, and the association with disease severity. Standard diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) parameters were also computed for comparing the two techniques. Results: MS patients showed reduced neurite density and increased orientation dispersion compared to controls in several brain areas (P<0.05), with SPMS patients having more widespread abnormalities. DTI indices were also sensitive to some changes. In addition, SPMS patients showed reduced orientation dispersion in the thalamus and caudate nucleus. These abnormalities were associated with scores of disease severity (P<0.05). The association with the MS functional composite score was higher in SPMS compared to RRMS patients. Conclusions: NODDI and DTI findings are largely overlapping. Nevertheless, NODDI helps to interpret previous findings of increased anisotropy in the thalamus of MS patients, and are consistent with the degeneration of selective axon populations.
We discuss Gauss codes of virtual diagrams and virtual doodles. The notion of a left canonical Gauss code is introduced and it is shown that oriented virtual doodles are uniquely presented by left canonical Gauss codes.
We demonstrate how dispersive atom number measurements during evaporative cooling can be used for enhanced determination of the parameter dependence of the transition to a Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC). In this way shot-to-shot fluctuations in initial conditions are detected
and the information extracted per experimental realization is increased. We furthermore calibrate in situ images from dispersive probing of a BEC with corresponding absorption images in timeof- flight. This allows for the determination of the transition point in a single experimental realization by applying multiple dispersive measurements. Finally, we explore the continuous probing of several consecutive phase transition crossings using the periodic addition of a focused ‘dimple’ potential.
More than any other field of human endeavour, the criminal justice system has spawned a textual machine for knowing. One needs to look no further than the traditional law office or library, with its endless series of published law reports and series of statutes – both a visual claim to authority, and a form of working reference system – to understand that the criminal justice system is built on a foundation formed of its own archive. Its authority lies in recorded precedent and recorded statute; and on the secure record of arrest, trial and punishment. This authority in turn demands a uniquely sophisticated system of preservation and discovery.
Multiple Myeloma (MM) is an incurable hematologic malignancy characterized by abnormal proliferation of plasma cells. Interferon Regulatory Factor 4 (IRF4), a member of the interferon regulatory family of transcription factors, is central to the genesis of MM. IRF4 is highly expressed in B cells and plasma cells where it plays essential roles in controlling B cell to plasma cell differentiation and immunoglobulin class switching. Overexpression of IRF4 is found in MM patients’ derived cells, often as a result of activating mutations or translocations, where it is required for their survival. In this review, we rst describe the roles fi of IRF4 in B cells and plasma cells and then analyse the subversion of the IRF4 transcriptional network in MM. Moreover, we discuss current therapies for MM as well as direct targeting of IRF4 as a potential new therapeutic strategy.
Child welfare administrative data are increasingly used to identify racial/ethnic disproportionality and disparities at various levels of aggregation. However, child welfare agencies typically face challenges in harnessing administrative data to examine racial/ethnic disproportionality and disparities at meaningful levels of analysis due to limited resources and/or tools for reporting. This article describes the process through which a multi-state workgroup designed and developed management reports to monitor racial/ethnic disparities and disproportionality using a web-based child welfare administrative data reporting system. The article provides an overview of the process, outcome, and challenges of the group’s work with the goal of offering a starting point for discussion to others who may be seeking to monitor racial/ethnic disparities and disproportionality, regardless of their reporting system.
Background
For different migrant groups living in an area with few people from the same ethnic background is associated with increased psychosis incidence (the ethnic density effect). We set out to answer the question: are there generational differences in this effect?
Methods
Analysis of a population based cohort (2.2 million) comprising all those born 1st January 1965, or later, living in Denmark on their 15th birthday. This included 90,476 migrants from Africa, Europe (excluding Scandinavia) and the Middle East, with 55% first generation and the rest second-generation migrants. Neighbourhood co-ethnic density was determined at age 15 and we adjusted for age, gender, calendar period, parental psychiatric history and parental income.
Results
For first-generation migrants from Africa, there was no statistically significant difference (p = 0.30) in psychosis rates when comparing lowest with highest ethnic density quintiles, whereas the second generation showed a 3.87-fold (95% CI 1.77–8.48) increase. Similarly, for migrants from the Middle East, the first generation showed no evidence of an ethnic density effect (p = 0.94) while the second showed a clear increase in psychosis when comparing lowest with highest quintiles, incidence rate ratio (IRR) 2.43 (95% CI, 1.18–5.00). For European migrants, there was some limited evidence of an effect in the first generation, (IRR) 1.69 (95% CI, 1.19–2.40), with this slightly raised in the second: IRR 1.80 (95% CI, 1.27–2.56).
Conclusions
We found strong evidence for an ethnic density effect on psychosis incidence for second-generation migrants but this was either weak or absent for the first generation.
Introduction Racial/ethnic inequities in low birth weight (LBW) and preterm birth (PTB) persist in the United States. Research has identified numerous risk factors for adverse birth outcomes; however, they do not fully explain the occurrence of, or inequalities in PTB/LBW. Stress has been proposed as one explanation for differences in LBW and PTB by race/ethnicity. Methods Using the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) data from 2012 to 2013 for 21 states and one city (n = 15,915) we used Poisson regression to estimate the association between acute, financial and relationship stressors and LBW and PTB, and to examine the contribution of these stressors individually and simultaneously to racial/ethnic differences in LBW and PTB. Results Adjusting for age and race/ethnicity, acute (p < 0.001), financial (p < 0.001) and relationship (p < 0.05) stressors were associated with increased risk of LBW, but only acute (p < 0.05) and financial (p < 0.01) stress increased risk of PTB. Across all models, non-Hispanic blacks had higher risk of LBW and PTB relative to non-Hispanic whites (IRR 1.87, 95% CI 1.55, 2.27 and IRR 1.46, 95% CI 1.18, 1.79). Accounting for the effects of stressors attenuated the risk of LBW and PTB by 17 and 22% respectively, but did not fully explain the increased likelihood of LBW and PTB among non-Hispanic blacks. Discussion Results of this study demonstrate that stress may increase the risk of LBW and PTB. While stressors may contribute to racial/ethnic differences in LBW and PTB, they do not fully explain them. Mitigating stress during pregnancy may help promote healthier birth outcomes and reduce racial/ethnic inequities in LBW and PTB.
Existing literature suggests that mixed race/ethnicity children are more likely to experience poor socioemotional wellbeing in both the US and the UK, although the evidence is stronger in the US. It is suggested that this inequality may be a consequence of struggles with identity formation, more limited connections with racial/ethnic/cultural heritage, and increased risk of exposure to racism.
Using data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study (n = 13,734) and the US Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (n ~ 6250), we examine differences in the socioemotional wellbeing of mixed and non-mixed 5/6 year old children in the UK and US and explore heterogeneity in outcomes across different mixed groups in both locations. We estimate a series of linear regressions to examine the contribution of factors that may explain any observed differences, including socio-economic and cultural factors, and examine the extent to which these processes vary across the two nations.
We find no evidence of greater risk for poor socioemotional wellbeing for mixed race/ethnicity children in both national contexts. We find that mixed race/ethnicity children experience socio-economic advantage compared to their non-mixed minority counterparts and that socio-economic advantage is protective for socioemotional wellbeing. Cultural factors do not contribute to differences in socioemotional wellbeing across mixed and non-mixed groups.
Our evidence suggests then that at age 5/6 there is no evidence of poorer socioemotional wellbeing for mixed race/ethnicity children in either the UK or the US. The contrast between our findings and some previous literature, which reports that mixed race/ethnicity children have poorer socioemotional wellbeing, may reflect changes in the meaning of mixed identities across periods and/or the developmental stage of the children we studied.
The research study focuses on how social work Approved Mental Health Professionals (AMHPs) use the law in practice. AMHPs in England and Wales have statutory powers under the Mental Health Act 1983 (MHA) to detain people in hospital for assessment and/or treatment. The stakes in this area of law and social work are high: practitioners deal with important issues concerning individual liberty that have profound implications in relation to the power of the state to intervene in the lives of citizens, where notions of autonomy, protection, coercion and care sit in tension.
The study explores the relationship between law and social work practice by interpreting meanings contained in case stories told by social work AMHPs about recent Mental Health Act assessments that they undertook. Eleven social work AMHPs, purposively selected from three different local authorities in England, participated in the study, which used qualitative in-depth interviews to collect data about using the law in circumstances where compulsory admission to hospital was a possibility. The use of case stories encouraged participants to provide a rich description of events as they unfolded over time. The data were analysed using Framework analysis (Ritchie and Spencer 1994). Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis in the form of NVIVO was utilized to manage the data, and to support data analysis.
Five themes are presented in the findings chapter: understanding the referral situation; understanding the individual; understanding the situation causing concern; community versus containment, and relationships and resources.
The study contributes to knowledge by illuminating how the use of law in practice is an inherently socio-relational undertaking, involving embodied practice. Bourdieu’s (1977) concept of habitus is used to make sense of participants’ accounts of the action that unfolds when they use the law. A further contribution is made to knowledge on legal literacy in social work, where there is little empirical research focusing on how social workers use the law, and still less on how mental health social workers use the law to consider compulsory powers under mental health legislation. The organisational factors impacting on how participants relate to the law are outlined and discussed drawing on legal consciousness theory (Ewick and Sibley 1998; Sibley 2005), together with an account of how participants adapt to this, drawing on street level bureaucracy (Lipsky 1990).
The thesis explores the distinction in practice between medical and social perspectives occupied by AMHPs when they use the law in circumstances where compulsory admission to psychiatric hospital is a possibility. The study findings suggest that AMHPs’ perspectives are holistic and social and can be understood as occupying a socio-medical-juridical perspective. The most important factor in the decision to use compulsory powers in mental health law to detain a person involves the AMHP taking a wide perspective in terms of their understanding of the individual that is relational to the understanding of others, and understanding the person in their environment in relation to how they relate to others. The thesis outlines that the social and family situation of the person assessed, combined with views of others, and particularly the impact of risk on others, is the most influential factor in the decision to detain. This leads to the further argument that notwithstanding a holistic and social perspective, this does not necessarily lead to less coercive interventions. Medical and social perspectives thus often lead to the same conclusions in relation to decisions to use the law to detain.
Purpose
This study develops and empirically tests a framework on how personal values and sustainability conceptions affect students’ sustainability management orientation (SMO). An understanding of this connection gives insight into the question whether students are likely to engage in sustainable business practices in their future work.
Design/methodology/approach
A cross-sectional and comparative research design is employed, using survey data of business students from Germany, Indonesia, and the United States (N=475). The proposed mediation models are tested by bootstrap procedures using Hayes’s (2013) PROCESS macro for SPSS.
Findings
Self-transcendence values translate into more nuanced sustainability conceptions since individuals with self-transcendence values are more likely to conceptualize sustainability beyond their own (narrow) self-interests. In turn, the stronger individuals’ sustainability conceptions, the higher the likelihood that they prefer sustainable management practices in their future professional working field.
Research limitations/implications
Implications arise for researchers to investigate the engagement of future managers with different personal value types in sustainability practices and to gain insights into values and sustainability conceptions as a learning outcome. Limitations of this research—for instance, arising from potential common method bias—are discussed.
Practical implications
The findings point to the need to (re-)design appointment processes for management positions in a way that allows taking into account individuals’ personal values and sustainability conceptions. This research may also help firms and higher education institutions to empower their workforce/students to develop more integrated perspectives on sustainability challenges as well as teaching methods that address students’ effective learning outcomes, e.g. their values.
Originality/value
The paper offers a new framework and a cross-country perspective on psychological antecedents of individuals’ sustainability management orientation as an important prerequisite for responsible behavior in the business context.
In 2011, the author published an article that looked at the state of the art in novice programming environments. At the time, there had been an increase in the number of programming environments that were freely available for use by novice programmers, particularly children and young people. What was interesting was that they offered a relatively sophisticated set of development and support features within motivating and engaging environments, where programming could be seen as a means to a creative end, rather than an end in itself. Furthermore, these environments incorporated support for the social and collaborative aspects of learning. The article considered five environments—Scratch, Alice, Looking Glass, Greenfoot, and Flip— examining their characteristics and investigating the opportunities they might offer to educators and learners alike. It also considered the broader implications of such environments for both teaching and research. In this chapter, the author revisits the same five environments, looking at how they have changed in the intervening years. She considers their evolution in relation to changes in the field more broadly (e.g., an increased focus on “programming for all”) and reflects on the implications for teaching, as well as research and further development.
Does disruption of prefrontal cortical activity using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) impair visual metacognition? An initial study supporting this idea (Rounis, Maniscalco, Rothwell, Passingham, & Lau, 2010) motivated an attempted replication and extension (Bor, Schwartzman, Barrett, & Seth, 2017). Bor et al. failed to replicate the initial study, concluding that there was not good evidence that TMS to dorsolateral prefrontal cortex impairs visual metacognition. This failed replication has recently been critiqued by some of the authors of the initial study (Ruby, Maniscalco, & Peters, 2018). Here we argue that these criticisms are misplaced. In our response, we encounter some more general issues concerning good practice in replication of cognitive neuroscience studies, and in setting criteria for excluding data when employing statistical analyses like signal detection theory. We look forward to further studies investigating the role of prefrontal cortex in metacognition, with increasingly refined methodologies, motivated by the discussions in this series of papers.
Objective
To address the relationship between mutations in the DNA strand break repair protein tyrosyl DNA phosphodiesterase 2 (TDP2) and spinocerebellar ataxia autosomal recessive 23
(SCAR23) and to characterize the cellular phenotype of primary fibroblasts from this disease.
Methods
We have used exome sequencing, Sanger sequencing, gene editing and cell biology, biochemistry,and subcellular mitochondrial analyses for this study.
Results
We have identified a patient in the United States with SCAR23 harboring the same homozygous TDP2 mutation as previously reported in 3 Irish siblings (c.425+1G>A). The current and Irish patients share the same disease haplotype, but the current patient lacks a homozygous
variant present in the Irish siblings in the closely linked gene ZNF193, eliminating this as a contributor to the disease. The current patient also displays symptoms consistent with mitochondrial dysfunction, although levels of mitochondrial function in patient primary skin fibroblasts are normal. However, we demonstrate an inability in patient primary fibroblasts to rapidly repair topoisomerase-induced DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) in the nucleus and profound hypersensitivity to this type of DNA damage.
Conclusions
These data confirm the TDP2 mutation as causative for SCAR23 and highlight the link between defects in nuclear DNA DSB repair, developmental delay, epilepsy, and ataxia.
In Barcelona, high-tech data platforms generate demand for old-fashioned community development.
In comparative governance research, “the end of history” theme has pointed to the convergence of, inter alia, ideology, polity, and economic systems across the world. A similar proclamation has been advocated as “the end of corporate law” in the comparative corporate governance field. Nevertheless, the law of the takeover market, an essential part of external corporate governance, has a documented feature of regulatory heterogeneity among developed economies, such as the United Kingdom and the United States.
This thesis contributes the comparative governance research by expanding the comparative takeover law analysis into one of the major emerging markets. This research serves a two-fold purpose. The first purpose is to investigate the state of the art: the features of the pattern of the takeover regulatory regime in China, as compared to two other economics, the UK and US; the second purpose is to identify the underlying forces contributing to the multiple equilibria of regulatory regimes over takeover markets. To achieve these purposes, the author applies an enhanced theory of path dependency as the analytical framework, which reconciles the legal origins literature and the political economy literature.
The enhanced theory of path dependency includes three fundamental elements: the existence of multiple equilibria of takeover regulations, sensitive dependence on original legal conditions, and reinforcing effects by political economy constraints. Structured along with these elements, this thesis advances three main arguments:
1. Multiple equilibria: law and regulations have presented heterogeneous regulatory patterns in takeover markets of China, the UK and the US.
2. Initial conditions: heterogeneous regulatory regimes are dependent on the origins of the general legal system and corporate regulations in each country.
3. Reinforcing mechanisms: the regulatory heterogeneity contingent upon initial conditions is entrenched by each country’s unique political economy constraints.
As a conclusion, this thesis confirms the path dependent development in one of the key fields of comparative corporate governance. The conclusion of the convergence or divergence debate is inconclusive; a clearer answer is feasible for the particular area under examination. Comparative takeover law provides an example of the anti-convergent, if not divergent, phenomenon within comparative governance research. This research also projects that the enhanced path dependency theory can be a useful analytical framework for other fields of law and development research.
Introduction Multimorbidity, polypharmacy and susceptibility to adverse drug reactions (ADR) are common problems in old age. Understanding the age-related biological changes that occur at a cellular level, may assist in identifying novel therapeutic targets. The nuclear factor erythroid 2-like 2 (Nrf2) transcription factor regulates antioxidant and drug metabolising pathways in the cell. Data from rodent models showed that Nrf2 protein expression declines with age. If similar findings are observed in humans, it may help to explain why older people are vulnerable to multimorbidity and ADRs. This study investigates whether Nrf2 expression (both mRNA and protein) decreases with increasing age in humans.
Methods Fifty-five adults were recruited to our study (age range: 18-75 years). Participants donated 6 mL of venous blood, from which peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were separated and analysed for Nrf2 mRNA and protein expression (real time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay respectively).
Results Our data showed that Nrf2 protein expression was approximately 50% lower in individuals aged >30 years (0.065 ±0.014 EU <30 years vs. 0.033 ±0.0060 EU >30 years, p<0.05). Similarly, mRNA expression declined with advancing age (log2-fold change compared to 18-29 year-olds: 1.08±1.19, 2.14±1.25, -0.69±1.15, 0.45±2.03, -4.76±2.06, in 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, >70 year age categories respectively; p<0.0001).
Conclusions The expression of Nrf2 transcription factor is reduced in old age, potentially contributing to the increased risk of multimorbidity and adverse drug reactions.
Introduction Multimorbidity and adverse drug reactions (ADR) are problems associated with ageing populations. Exploring underlying genetic predispositions might help to risk-stratify patients for early intervention. The nuclear factor erythroid 2-like 2 (Nrf2) protein regulates antioxidant and de-toxifying effectors in the cell. Nrf2 expression declines with age, potentially increasing vulnerability to multimorbidity and ADR. We hypothesise that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at 3 loci in the Nrf2 gene are associated with multimorbidity and ADR in older adults.
Methods One-hundred and twenty-seven patients were recruited from a sub-population of the PRIME study (a multicentre prospective cohort study that followed older adults over 8-weeks post-discharge to determine ADR status). Donated genetic material was sequenced to determine genotype at 3 loci: rs6721961, rs35652124 and rs6706649 and then analysed for association with ADR (Naranjo Algorithm), multimorbidity (3 conditions defined by the Charlson Index (CI)).
Results One-hundred and twelve patients (mean age 76.6±7.3 years, 55.4% female) were successfully genotyped. In patients aged 65-79, those with the rs35652124 A allele showed increased odds of having 3 co-morbidities (OR 9.03 95%CI 1.16-70.2, p=0.0127). Individuals with the CGG haplotype in this age-group showed reduced odds of multimorbidity (OR 0.11, 95% CI 0.01-0.86, p=0.001). No association between Nrf2 geno/haplotype and ADR was identified.
Conclusions Polymorphisms in the Nrf2 gene are associated with multimorbidity, but not ADR, in older adults.
Brazil is a country where many initiatives connected to making have recently emerged. It is also a country in which poverty and social exclusion are still major problems. Seeking to address these problems, experiments in “social technologies” – artefacts, processes and methods oriented towards promoting social inclusion – have developed in the country. There are also interesting examples of “gambiarras”, creative technical solutions produced under scarcity. We review points of connection between these different cultures, making use of the idea of technology scripts to consider how each challenges dominant norms for technology in society, and provides alternative scripts for more inclusive development. The paper then explores the actual and potential role of makerspaces in the city of São Paulo, arguably Brazil’s making capital and the first municipality in the country to create an effective public policy to foster socially inclusive making initiatives. By doing so, we seek a better understanding of how makerspaces may contribute to more socially inclusive relationships with technology.
The translation of personal genomics to precision medicine depends on the accurate interpretation of the multitude of genetic variants observed for each individual. However, even when genetic variants are predicted to modify a protein, their functional implications may be unclear. Many diseases are caused by genetic variants affecting important protein features, such as enzyme active sites or interaction interfaces. The scientific community has catalogued millions of genetic variants in genomic databases and thousands of protein structures in the Protein Data Bank. Mapping mutations onto three-dimensional (3D) structures enables atomic-level analyses of protein positions that may be important for the stability or formation of interactions; these may explain the effect of mutations and in some cases even open a path for targeted drug development. To accelerate progress in the integration of these data types, we held a two-day Gene Variation to 3D (GVto3D) workshop to report on the latest advances and to discuss unmet needs. The overarching goal of the workshop was to address the question: what can be done together as a community to advance the integration of genetic variants and 3D protein structures that could not be done by a single investigator or laboratory? Here we describe the workshop outcomes, review the state of the field, and propose the development of a framework with which to promote progress in this arena. The framework will include a set of standard formats, common ontologies, a common application programming interface to enable interoperation of the resources, and a Tool Registry to make it easy to find and apply the tools to specific analysis problems. Interoperability will enable integration of diverse data sources and tools and collaborative development of variant effect prediction methods.
The recent re-emergence of industrial policy as a legitimate pursuit of governments in Europe and the US has the potential to open up a new realm of policy action for climate change mitigation. This would aim to align efforts to secure national industrial opportunities with the development of low carbon industrial systems, so as to generate both socio-economic and environmental benefits. The paper discusses the role of low carbon industrial strategy in seeking to do this, thereby accelerating transitions to a low carbon economy. It sets out the elements of a more systemic low carbon industrial strategy, including providing a mission-oriented and learning-based approach, drawing on and combining insights from neo-Schumpeterian and ecological economics perspectives.
India’s abundant natural resources are a key feature of its new found status as ‘emerging market’ that attracts foreign investments. As India’s output of these metals and their ores increases, investments pour into India to secure deals over mineral deposits and manufacturing plants. Apart from direct funding for new projects, the new investments pay for a large increase in deployment of security forces, multi-layered ‘briberization’, and ‘protection money’ funding Maoist outfits, in yet another unending war which is fundamentally a resource war around mineral and metal production – primarily steel and aluminum as well as coal and water. In this paper, we examine the mining operations in Central India where Vedanta Resources, a corporation that has become symbolic of neoliberal capitalism in India today, elicits huge new foreign investments to exploit India’s resources under the logic of emerging markets. If a quarter of postcolonial India’s Scheduled Tribe population was displaced by ‘development’ projects, this time it is foreign investments that are causing large scale displacement of indigenous populations.
Background and aims: Electronic audience response systems offer the potential to enhance learning and improve
performance. However, objective research investigating the use of audience response systems in undergraduate education
has so far produced mixed, inconclusive results.We investigated the impact of audience response systems on short and long-term test performance, as well as student perceptions of the educational experience, when integrated into undergraduate anatomy teaching.
Methods and results: A cohort of 70 undergraduate medical students was randomly allocated to one of the two
groups. Both groups received the same anatomy lecture, but one group experienced the addition of audience response
systems. Multiple-choice tests were conducted before, immediately after the lecture and again 10 weeks later.
Self-perceived post-lecture subject knowledge, confidence and enjoyment ratings did not differ between groups. Test
performance immediately following the lecture improved when compared against baseline and was modestly but significantly
superior in the group taught with audience response systems (mean test score of 17.3/20 versus 15.6/20 in the
control group, p ¼ 0.01). Tests conducted 10 weeks after the lecture showed no difference between groups (p ¼ 0.61),
although overall a small improvement from the baseline test was maintained (p¼0.02).
Conclusions: Whilst audience response systems offer opportunities to deliver novel education experiences to students,
an initial superiority over standard methods does not necessarily translate into longer term gains in student
performance when employed in the context of anatomy education.
The fossil fuel divestment movement campaigns for removing investments from fossil fuel companies as a strategy to combat climate change. It is a bottom-up movement, largely based in university student groups, although it has rapidly spread to other institutions. Divestment has been criticised for its naiveté and hard-line stance and dismissed as having little impact on fossil fuel finance. I analyse the impact of divestment through reviewing academic and grey literature, complemented by interviews with activists and financial actors, using a theoretical framework that draws on social movement theory. While the direct impacts of divestment are small, the indirect impacts, in terms of public discourse shift, are significant. Divestment has put questions of finance and climate change on the agenda and played a part in changing discourse around the legitimacy, reputation and viability of the fossil fuel industry. This cultural impact contributed to changes in the finance industry through new demands by shareholders and investors and to changes in political discourse, such as rethinking the notion of ‘fiduciary duty.’ Finally, divestment had significant impact on its participants in terms of empowerment and played a part in the revitalisation of the environmental movement in the UK and elsewhere.
This paper proposes novel randomized gossip-consensus-based sync (RGCS) algorithms to realize efficient time correction in dynamic wireless sensor networks (WSNs). First, the unreliable links are described by stochastic connections, reflecting the characteristic of changing connectivity gleaned from dynamicWSNs. Secondly, based on the mutual drift estimation, each pair of activated nodes fully adjusts clock rate and offset to achieve network-wide time synchronization by drawing upon the gossip consensus approach. The converge-to-max criterion is introduced to achieve a much faster convergence speed. The theoretical results on the probabilistic synchronization performance of the RGCS are presented. Thirdly, a Revised-RGCS is developed to counteract the negative impact of bounded delays, because the uncertain delays are always present in practice and would lead to a large deterioration of algorithm performances. Finally, extensive simulations are performed on the MATLAB and OMNeT++ platform for performance evaluation. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed algorithms are not only efficient for synchronization issues required for dynamic topology changes but also give a better performance in term of converging speed, collision rate, and the robustness of resisting delay, and outperform other existing protocols.
Using the LSMS-ISA Tanzania National Panel Survey by the World Bank, we study the relationship between rural household consumption growth and temperature shocks over the period 2008 – 2013. Temperature shocks have a negative and significant impact on household growth only if their initial consumption lies below a critical threshold. As such, temperature shocks slow income convergence among households. Agricultural yields and labour productivity are the main transmission channels. These findings support the Schelling Conjecture: economic development would allow poor farming households to cope with climate change, and closing the yield gap and modernizing agriculture is crucial for adaptation to the negative impacts of global warming.
The chapter examines the normative approach employed by the EU in its external trade policies known as ‘social conditionality’ that seeks to relocate globalized labour law within the context of international economic law.
Academic commentary of Articles 145-150 TFEU
Hematological parameters have emerged as independent determinants of high serum concentrations of uric-acid and predictive-factors in the evaluation of the total cardiovascular-risk in patients with essential-hypertensive. Here we have investigated the possible relationships between hematological-factors and serum uric-acid levels in hypertensive-patients recruited as part of Mashhad-Stroke and Heart-Atherosclerotic-Disorders cohort study. Two-thousand three-hundred and thirty four hypertensive individuals were recruited from this cohort and these were divided into two groups; those with either high or low serum uric acid concentrations. Demographic, biochemical and hematological characteristics of population were evaluated in all the subjects. Logistic-regression-analysis was performed to determine the association of hematological-parameters with hypertension. Of the 2334 hypertensive-subjects, 290 cases had low uric-acid, and 2044 had high serum uric acid concentrations. Compared with the low uric acid group, the patients with high serum uric acid, had higher values for several hematological parameters, whilst platelet counts (PLT) were lower. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that PLT and serum hs-CRP were correlated with serum uric acid level. Stepwise multiple logistic regression model confirmed that PDW and gender were independent determinant of a high serum uric acid. PDW and PLT appear to be independently associated with serum uric acid level in patients with hypertension.
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancers with a high rate of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The incidence of CRC is similar in men and women but is distributed uniformly globally. It has been demonstrated that epigenetic alterations which may cause changes in the expression of microRNA, DNA methylation and histone acetylation that results in inheritable modifications in gene expression in colorectal epithelial cells, plays a crucial role in the development of CRC. Recently, targeting epigenetic modification has emerged as a potentially important treatment approach in CRC. The US Food and Drug Association has approved the use of some epigenetic drugs that may be able to inhibit or reverse these alterations and also enhance sensitivity to chemotherapeutic agents and radiotherapy in CRC. In this review we have summarized the recent pre-clinical and clinical trial studies investigating the therapeutic value of using epigenetic drugs as novel therapeutic approach in CRC treatment.
Keywords: epigenetic, colorectal cancer, drug, DNA methylation, histone acetylation
Inter-individual differences in drug response are an important cause of failure in anticancer treatment and adverse drug events in cancer patients. Gene polymorphisms related to these outcomes have been investigated in an effort to find new genetic biomarkers to predict toxicity and response to anticancer drugs. Evaluating the value single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the genes involved in transportation, activation and metabolism of anticancer drugs provides a promising approach to select the appropriate therapeutic regimes with at least adverse reactions. This review summarizes the current knowledge about the relationship between of SNPs involved in the transportation, activation and metabolism of anticancer drugs and treatment outcomes in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients.
We find formulas for the macroscopic Minkowski and Hausdorff dimensions of the range of an arbitrary transient walk in the integer lattice. This endeavor solves a problem of Barlow and Taylor (1991).
We study the sequence alignment problem and its independent version,the discrete Hammersley process with an exploration penalty.
We obtain rigorous upper bounds for the number of optimality regions in both models near the soft edge.At zero penalty the independent model becomes an exactly solvable model and we identify cases for which the law of the last passage time converges to a Tracy-Widom law.
Despite creating an extensive and innovative body of work over the last 30 years, Aki Kaurismäki remains relatively neglected in Anglophone scholarship. This international collection of original essays aims to redress such neglect by assembling diverse critical inquiries into Kaurismäki’s oeuvre. The first anthology on Kaurismäki to be published in English, it offers a range of voices responding to his politically and aesthetically compelling cinema. Deploying various methodologies to explore multiple facets of his work, The Films of Aki Kaurismäki will come to be seen as the definitive book on Kaurismäki.
Despite a growing recognition of the significance of farmer-led irrigation, externally engineered and induced schemes remain a popular model for irrigation development in sub-Saharan Africa. These have had a mixed record, and many have been widely critiqued. Nonetheless, schemes that were initiated under colonialism have been rehabilitated and new schemes are still being developed. This paper interrogates the continuing attraction of this model for irrigation, asking how and why it persists. Is the fact that engineering is so central to irrigation schemes another example of ‘high modernism’, as Scott might argue? Analysis of the history and current policy-making context of a new irrigation scheme in Malawi suggests a picture that is more complex, in which practical engineering considerations combine with narratives of modernisation and political imperatives to create momentum and lock-in. Understanding this, and why lessons from the past inadequately shape future-directed planning requires interrogation of the positionality of those involved, including state, donors and private sector actors and the political, economic and discursive fields in which they operate.
Microwave and conductive heating mediated H/D exchange reactions, the latter under continuous flow processing in the presence or absence heterogeneous or homogeneous catalysts have been studied in this thesis. The aim of this study was to validate an efficient way to introduce multiple deuterium atoms into compounds of interest. Such deuterated substrates could be useful for the investigation of pharmacological and metabolic properties. Aniline and aniline derivatives as well as a series of aminopyridine derivatives were used as substrates in this study, due to the importance of the corresponding labelled compounds as drug compounds or as precursors for the synthesis of clinical agents. Pd/C as a heterogeneous catalyst was employed under microwave–assisted and flow chemistry conditions and the %D incorporation and chemical yields were compared. The H/D exchange reaction using platinum as a homogeneous catalyst with aniline derivatives provided the means to incorporate deuterium efficiently at all aromatic positions. Furthermore, metal catalysis was able to facilitate exchange in alkyl side chains with high efficiency, provided that there was no quaternary centre in the alkyl group. The study also demonstrated that the H/D exchange of aniline derivatives in the absence of a metal catalyst proceeded as anticipated and was able, on deuterio-protio exchange under acidic conditions, to deliver meta-deuterated targets. The H/D exchange of aminopyridine derivatives using a platinum catalyst was also highly efficient, giving high deuterium incorporation in many cases. Mechanistic proposals have been put forwards for these processes. This research has provided a new method for the preparation of meta functionalized aniline- and highly functionalized pyridine-derivatives suitable for further elaboration. The Pt-catalyzed process has provided a means for deuteration at multiple aromatic positions in a single cycle, short reaction time and high efficiency.
This récit recounts the experience of the author in engaging with the idea of ‘who is the ethnographer’ to a whole-school assembly, before entering an English primary school to begin a year-long ethnographic study. Its purpose is three-fold. First, to re-visit the intentions, excitements and possibilities of the author, introducing herself to teachers and children alike in this forum as a creative performance. Second, to recount ‘what actually happened’ in the assembly through her re-engagement with an account she made of it immediately following the event. Third, in light of the somewhat unexpected (and certainly chaotic) occurrences, to consider just what this produced and enabled, ethnographically, that may not have otherwise become possible.
Mental health symptoms are a common and functionally impairing feature of rheumatoid arthritis, and increasingly seem to represent an integral part of the inflammatory process. Could treatment with DMARDs affect physical as well as mental health outcomes?
My PhD thesis is an enquiry into the factors that influence the performance of community nutrition workers known as Anganwadi workers (AWWs) employed by the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme in the Indian state of Bihar.
My research question asks: what factors influence the performance of AWWs and how does the addition of a technology augmented intervention influence AWW performance in the context of a state with a high burden of child undernutrition. I use qualitative and quantitative methods to answer my research question. To explore the concept of performance in the AWW context, I developed a conceptual framework informed by a review of frameworks on the performance of community and facility-based health workers.
In my research I utilise the context of a pilot programme – the Bihar Child Support Programme – that introduced mobile phone technology as a job aid for the AWW, combined with a monetary incentive.
As part of the qualitative research, I conducted 30 semi-structured interviews with AWWs including 15 AWWs who received the mobile phone technology and monetary incentives intervention of the BCSP. I used a hybrid method of inductive and deductive thematic analysis to analyse the data.
In the quantitative research, I employed a DifferenceinDifference estimation strategy to assess the influence of the mobile phone technology and monetary incentives intervention on the uptake of ICDS services linked to the intervention.
I found a range of factors that impact on AWW performance. My research identified four new factors to add to the starting framework: family support, beneficiary and AWW service preferences, seasonal migration, and corruption.
The technology augmented intervention examined in this thesis would have been expected to be successful based on the existing frameworks for community and facility-based health worker performance. However, it had no positive impact on household level service delivery outcomes. One of the new factors identified in this thesis – beneficiary and AWW service preferences – is the primary explanatory for this. The intervention sought to strengthen information-oriented nutrition services (weighing and counselling) but this was not a preference for either the beneficiaries (who prefer product-oriented services) or AWWs (who prefer education related services due to their self-identification as pre-school teachers) and as such did not lead to impact. This has implications for the understanding of the motivation and performance of AWWs and similar community health workers and the design of interventions aimed at improving their performance.
Historically, street hawkers and street markets originated, all over the world, as the real first form of retailing. Today we still use the term ‘street markets’ to refer to outdoor spaces that are made up of a set of implicit and explicit traditions and cultural practices, but these are also spaces of sociality and connection (Watson 2009; Watson and Studdert 2006). Although street markets are primarily studied as sites for the exchange of economic goods and tradable products, they play a crucial role in the policies of urban regeneration, tangible and intangible heritage, placemaking, healthy eating, social sustainability, environmental impact, social and community cohesion, and economic innovation (Shepherd 2009; Stillerman 2006; Watson and Wells 2005). Based on the premise that street hawking and street markets are part of a wider socioeconomic and political system, this essay concentrates on the transition from street hawkers to public markets in Hong Kong, and analyses this historical transformation and their consequences within the framework of Hong Kong Government’s strategy to create a modern and sanitized city.
The ideology, propaganda, and political discourse of the Communist Party of China (CPC) have continued to function as key elements of the political system of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in the post-Maoist period since 1978. In the first term of the Xi Jinping leadership (2012–2017), the CPC, for instance, elaborated on its guiding ideological concepts, devised inventive ideational framings of phenomena usually perceived as tangible (such as the BNew Normal^), engaged in complex intellectual debates on crucial topics (such as Beco-civilization^), intensified and diversified its argumentation patterns and discursive strategies, and consolidated ideational governance over some citizens’ individual values, beliefs, and loyalties. Furthermore, it is often no longer possible to differentiate between the CPC’s internal and external propaganda, as seemingly exclusively domestic ideational and discursive issues increasingly correlate with international phenomena. However, the trends in the Xi era do not present paradigmatic shifts, but rather an overall reassertion-cuminnovation of previous Maoist and post-Maoist uses of ideology, propaganda, and political discourse, primarily aiming at strengthening one-party rule.
We experimentally demonstrate the generation of highly coherent Type-II micro-combs based on a microresonator nested in a fiber cavity loop, known as the filter-driven four wave mixing (FD-FWM) laser scheme. In this system, the frequency spacing of the comb can be adjusted to integer multiples of the free-spectral range (FSR) of the nested micro-resonator by properly tuning the fiber cavity length. Sub-comb lines with single FSR spacing around the primary comb lines can be generated. Such a spectral emission is known as a “Type-II comb.” Our system achieves a fully coherent output. This behavior is verified by numerical simulations. This study represents an important step forward in controlling and manipulating the dynamics of an FD-FWM laser.
A series of weaknesses in creativity, research design, and quality of writing continue to handicap energy social science. Many studies ask uninteresting research questions, make only marginal contributions, and lack innovative methods or application to theory. Many studies also have no explicit research design, lack rigor, or suffer from mangled structure and poor quality of writing. To help remedy these shortcomings, this Review offers suggestions for how to construct research questions; thoughtfully engage with concepts; state objectives; and appropriately select research methods. Then, the Review offers suggestions for enhancing theoretical, methodological, and empirical novelty. In terms of rigor, codes of practice are presented across seven method categories: experiments, literature reviews, data collection, data analysis, quantitative energy modeling, qualitative analysis, and case studies. We also recommend that researchers beware of hierarchies of evidence utilized in some disciplines, and that researchers place more emphasis on balance and appropriateness in research design. In terms of style, we offer tips regarding macro and microstructure and analysis, as well as coherent writing. Our hope is that this Review will inspire more interesting, robust, multi-method, comparative, interdisciplinary and impactful research that will accelerate the contribution that energy social science can make to both theory and practice.
A comprehensive framework for the theoretical and experimental investigation of thin conducting films for terahertz applications is presented. The electromagnetic properties of conducting polymers spin-coated on low-loss dielectric substrates are characterized by means of terahertz time-domain spectroscopy and interpreted through the Drude-Smith model. The analysis is complemented by an advanced finite-difference time-domain algorithm, which rigorously deals both with the dispersive nature of the involved materials and the extremely subwavelength thickness of the conducting films. Significant agreement is observed among experimental measurements, numerical simulations, and theoretical results. The proposed approach provides a complete toolbox for the engineering of terahertz optoelectronic devices.
Following evidence of its positive contribution to innovation and company performance, many firms are seeking to elevate design to a strategic level. However, little is known as to how this can be achieved. This study draws on the literatures concerned with elevating organizational functions and with organizational legitimacy, and aims to unravel and detail critical practices and potential tensions influencing the elevation of design’s status in firms. To do so, 53 in-depth interviews were undertaken with key informants, representing a range of functional specialisms, in 12 companies, including large multinational companies as well as SMEs. Findings show how six practices – top management support, leadership of the design function, generating awareness of design’s role and contribution, inter-functional coordination, evaluation of design, and formalization of product and service development processes – affect the design elevation process. In contrast with previous studies on raising the status of organizational functions, this research reveals that the same practive can play both positive and negative roles, and that there are fundamental tensions, which should be reconciled if design’s status is to be elevated. Drawing on the concept of organizational legitimacy, we also examine how design moves beyond being seen as pragmatically useful, to being identified as a relevant, alternative way of operating, to being regarded as essential for success. The article concludes by articulating contributions to design and innovation management theory and practice, and to the body of scholarly work seeking to understand how to elevate the status of a function.
In this work, the low-temperature (≤ 150 °C) fabrication and characterization of flexible Indium-Gallium-ZincOxide (IGZO) top-gate thin-film transistors (TFTs) with channel lengths down to 280 nm is presented. Such extremely short channel lengths in flexible IGZO TFTs were realized with a novel manufacturing process combining two-photon direct laser writing (DLW) photolithography with Ti/Au/Ti source/drain e-beam evaporation and lift-off. The resulting flexible IGZO TFTs exhibit a saturation field-effect mobility of 1.1 cm2V -1 s -1 and a threshold voltage of 3 V. Thanks to the short channel lengths (280 nm) and the small gate to source/drain overlap (5.2 µm), the TFTs yield a transit frequency of 80 MHz (at 8.5 V gate-source voltage) extracted from the measured S-parameters. Furthermore, the devices are fully functional when wrapped around a cylindrical rod with 6 mm radius, corresponding to 0.4 % tensile strain in the TFT channel. These results demonstrate a new methodology to realize entirely flexible nano-structures, and prove its suitability for the fabrication of short-channel transistors on polymer substrates for future wearable communication electronics.
The detailed measurement and characterization of strain induced performance variations in flexible InGaZnO thinfilm transistors (TFTs) resulted in a Spice TFT model able to simulate tensile and compressive bending. This model was used to evaluate a new concept, namely the active compensation of strain induced performance variations in pixel driving circuits for bendable active matrix arrays. The designed circuits can compensate the mobility and threshold voltage shifts in IGZO TFTs induced by bending. In a single TFT, a drain current of 1 mA varies by 83 µA per percent of mechanical strain. The most effective compensation circuit design, comprising one additional TFT and two resistors, reduces the driving current variation to 1.1 µA per percent of strain. The compensation circuit requires no additional control signals, and increases the power consumption by only 235 µW (corresponds to 4.7 %). Finally, switching operation is possible for frequencies up to 200 kHz. This opens a way towards the fabrication of flexible displays with constant brightness even when bent.
Aims
Medication‐related harm (MRH) is common in older adults following hospital discharge. In resource‐limited health systems, interventions to reduce this risk can be targeted at high‐risk patients. This study aims to determine whether (1) doctors can predict which older patients will experience MRH requiring healthcare following hospital discharge, (2) clinical experience and confidence in prediction influence the accuracy of the prediction.
Methods
This was a multicentre observational prospective study involving five teaching hospitals in England between September 2013 and November 2015. Doctors discharging patients (aged ≥65 years) from medical wards predicted the likelihood of their patient experiencing MRH requiring healthcare (hospital readmission or community healthcare) in the initial 8‐week period post‐discharge. Patients were followed up by senior pharmacists to determine MRH occurrence.
Results
Data of 1066 patients (83%) with completed predictions and follow‐up, out of 1280 recruited patients, were analysed. Patients had a median age of 82 years (65–103 years), and 58% were female. Most predictions (85%) were made by junior doctors with less than 5 years' clinical experience. There was no relationship between doctors' predictions and patient MRH (OR 1.10, 95% CI 0.82–1.46, P = 0.53), irrespective of years of clinical experience. Doctors' predictions were more likely to be accurate when they reported higher confidence in their prediction, especially in predicting MRH‐associated hospital readmissions (OR 1.58, 95% CI 1.42–1.76, P < 0.001).
Conclusions
Clinical judgement of doctors is not a reliable tool to predict MRH in older adults post‐discharge.
n this letter, the AC performance and influence of bending on flexible IGZO thin-film transistors, exhibiting a maximum oscillation frequency (maximum power gain frequency) fmax beyond 300 MHz, are presented. Self-alignment was used to realize TFTs with channel length down to 0.5 μm. The layout of this TFTs was optimized for good AC performance. Besides the channel dimensions this includes ground-signal-ground contact pads. The AC performance of this short channel devices was evaluated by measuring their two port scattering parameters. These measurements were used to extract the unity gain power frequency from the maximum stable gain and the unilateral gain. The two complimentary definitions result in fmax values of (304 ± 12)MHz and (398 ± 53) MHz, respectively. Furthermore, the transistor performance is not significantly altered by mechanical strain. Here, fmax reduces by 3.6% when a TFT is bent to a tensile radius of 3.5 mm.
Drawing on 30 semi-structured interviews with women academics based in London higher education institutions in the UK, this paper investigates the gendered nature of the prestige economy in academia. We explore how mid-career academic women strategise their career development and the opportunities and barriers they perceive, particularly in relation to the accrual of academic esteem. Concept maps were used to facilitate dialogue about career plans and provided an artefact from the interviewee’s own perspective. The analysis draws on the concept of prestige, or the indicators of esteem that help advance academic careers, against the backdrop of a higher education context which increasingly relies on quantitative data to make judgements about academic excellence. The interviews indicated that women generally feel that men access status and indicators of esteem more easily than they do. Many women also had ambivalent feelings about gaining recognition through prestige: they understood the importance of status and knew the ‘rules of the game’, but were critical of these rules and sometimes reluctant to overtly pursue prestige. The findings are valuable for understanding how women’s slow access to the highest levels of higher education institutions is shaped by the value that organisations place on individual status.
Transgenic plants expressing insecticidal proteins originating from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) have successfully been used to control lepidopteran and coleopteran pests with chewing mouthparts. However, only a handful of Bt proteins have been identified that have bioactivity against sap sucking pests (Hemiptera), including aphids, whiteflies, plant bugs and planthoppers. A novel Bt insecticidal protein with significant toxicity against a hemipteran insect pest is described here. The gene encoding the 359 amino acid, 40.7 kDa protein was cloned from strain C9F1. After expression and purification of the toxin, its median lethal concentration (LC) values against Laodelphax striatellus and Nilaparvata lugens were determined as 6.89 μg/mL and 15.78 μg/mL respectively. Analysis of the toxin sequence revealed the presence of both Toxin_10 and Ricin_B_Lectin domains.
This first volume in the 4x45 series investigates the work of theatre director Katie Mitchell. Pausing to reconsider a career in progress, it engages with some of Mitchell’s most recent work in the UK and Europe across theatre, opera, and Live Cinema. It also takes a longer view, considering the early turns that Mitchell took at the start of her career in the late 1980s.
This volume gives full scope to the voice of the practitioner, alongside scholarly perspectives, in order to understand the work from within. Interviews with Mitchell’s collaborators get inside her process – and inside the thinking of key artists who help craft the distinctive visual, aesthetic and technological forms of Mitchell’s productions. Three major concerns criss-cross these contributions: the political implications of aesthetic form; the meaning of Mitchell’s interest in the radical project of early Naturalism; and the influence of Europe on Mitchell’s avant-garde experimentalism, which often draws on technology to open up new modes of perception and experience.
An accessible and encompassing examination of one of Europe's most celebrated theatrical talents, 4x45 | The Theatre of Katie Mitchell is a unique resource for scholars,students and practitioners of Theatre Studies, Performance and Directing.
The research described in this thesis investigated the tensions, conflicts, and misunderstandings present in the encounter between Indigenous and Western education systems among the Maasai pastoralists in Monduli by: a) documenting Indigenous knowledge (IK) and its articulations in Maasai society; b) exploring Maasai students’ encounter with formal education in the school contexts c) exploring the Maasai experiences with and responses to Western education in their society; d) establishing how IK might be used to support a more sustainable and culturally relevant education system among the Maasai in Tanzania. The thesis, therefore, looked at whether through using IK, the encounter between Indigenous and Western education might be used as the basis for offering a relevant and meaningful education for the Maasai pastoralists. The thesis is underpinned by postcolonial theory with its emphasis on the subaltern agency, alternative voices, and different ways of knowing; world system theory with its focus on the political and economic structures of the global capitalist system; and social justice framework with its concentration on recognitional, redistributive, and participatory justice in postcolonial countries like Tanzania. The research employed a glocalised methodological approach informed by both indigenous and ethnographic lines of inquiry. Equally, multiple research methods and tools of data collection, including olpûl camping, culture-sharing, participant observation, interviewing/listening, focus groups, visual methods, as well as documentary and electronic resources were used to generate fieldwork data.
The findings showed that the Maasai encounter with formal education in the study contexts is beleaguered not only by strong cultural tensions, hegemonic, and unequal relationship between traditional and Western knowledge, but also by the mixed and contested responses among the Maasai, as well as frequent conflicts and misunderstandings between teachers and students in schools. The findings highlighted that the tensions, conflicts, and misunderstandings, as well as hegemonic and unequal relationship between the two knowledge systems, as well as between teachers and students had been the major obstacles hampering the provision of relevant and meaningful experiences for the Maasai students in schools. In the light of the findings, the thesis concludes that minimising tensions, conflicts, and misunderstandings present in the encounter between Indigenous and Western knowledge might involve the process of dialogue (enkigúɛ́ná) that would allow all stakeholders to reach a consensus on what the Maasai themselves would value as a relevant and meaningful education for their lives, pastoral culture, and livelihoods. The thesis, however, maintains that the localised teaching, constructivist learning, and communitisation approach can be applied not only to minimise tensions, conflicts, and misunderstandings between Indigenous and Western knowledge but also to provide a bridge between the two knowledge systems.
In the light of falling oil prices, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has launched a multifaceted vision for 2030 that seeks to modernise the country’s economy and diversify its revenue base. A key goal of this vision is developing the country’s education system in general and higher education in particular (Reardon, 2016; Vision2030, 2016). The government is determined to achieve inclusive and equitable quality education for all its citizens. Within this context, there is an increased focus on improving the quality of English language teaching and learning in higher education institutions and in the education system generally. However, the lack of essential linguistic and pedagogic skills amongst many Saudi graduates remains a major concern (Albaiz, 2016; British Council, 2016).
The aim of this thesis is to investigate students’ learning experiences in an undergraduate English as a Foreign Language (EFL) programme at City University (CU), KSA from three different perspectives. The first viewpoint draws on Bourdieu’s notions of field, capital and habitus to examine the influences that CU as an institution has on teaching and learning in the EFL programme. The second perspective uses the concept of cultural capital to analyse the influence of family educational background on students’ learning. The third perspective provides insights into the teaching approaches adopted by EFL lecturers and the effects these approaches have on students’ learning. Thus, this study is guided by one main research question: How do students experience learning in the undergraduate EFL programme at CU?
The study uses a qualitative case study approach. Data was gathered from multiple sources: namely, semi-structured interviews with students and lecturers, observations, and a documentary review. The analysis is based on the three research sub-questions that guide this inquiry.
The key findings related to the first perspective highlight the ways in which CU’s institutional policies and practices impact teaching and learning in the EFL programme. The analysis reveals that CU defines its capital as ‘accessible higher education’, which translates into large numbers of students enrolling in its colleges and departments each year. As a result of this open admissions policy, the College of Arts and Humanities (CAH) has been forced to lower its entry requirements to the EFL programme in order to accommodate the number of students. This has resulted in the admission of students who do not possess the minimum entry requirements, and has adversely affected the quality of education in the EFL programme, as manifested in relation to class size, student-teacher relations, the use of English in teaching, and assessment practices.
The second set of findings analyse the influence of family educational background on students’ learning experiences. The findings indicate that this background plays an important role in students’ success in the EFL programme. It was found that families with higher education backgrounds use their learning experiences and resources to support their children’s education. The findings further demonstrate that students from families with no higher education background and a lack of cultural capital have low levels of English language competency. As such, many of them struggle with the linguistic and academic demands of the programme.
The third set of findings reveal the influence of teaching approaches on students’ learning experience. The findings show a distinction between native English speaking (NES) and non-native English speaking (NNES) lecturers in relation to their teaching approaches and interactions with students. It was found that NNES lecturers adopt a teacher-centred approach in their teaching which minimizes students’ interactions. Many students were critical of such practices and felt that it denied them the opportunity to develop their language skills. In contrast, NES lecturers use a student-focused approach and integrate communicative practices into their teaching. These lecturers emphasise the importance of building positive relationships with the students in order to facilitate their learning. Generally, students reacted positively to such practices and were more encouraged to participate in the classroom.
This study provides important insights into students’ learning experiences in higher education in general and EFL programmes in particular. It contributes to existing debates and literature on EFL teaching and learning in higher education, particularly in KSA. The study also provides important suggestions for policymakers to consider, and recommendations to CU and its faculty members, and for further research.
One of the key requirements for successful operation of Stirling pulse tube cryocoolers is to minimise flow mixing within the pulse tube. This requires careful design of the inlet and outlet to the pulse tube. In this study, the ow within the pulse tube of an existing cryocooler is numerically analysed. Thereafter, alternative inlet/outlet designs are suggested and analysed in order to optimise the flow within the pulse tube cryocooler. The numerical simulation have been carried out using CONVERGE CFD, a finite volume Navier-Stokes solver. The standard k − ε RANS turbulence model has been used to account for the effects of turbulence within the pulse tube.
An in-line Stirling pulse tube cryocooler with an active displacer has been built and tested. An active displacer allows the mass flow and the pressure pulse at the cold end of the pulse tube to be easily adjusted for optimum performance. The effect of varying the active displacer phase and stroke on cryocooler performance was examined experimentally. It is demonstrated that both cooling power and efficiency have optimum displacer phase and stroke values. The pulse tube cryocooler can deliver up to 4 W of cooling at 80 K with an input power of 100 W when operating at optimal displacer phase and stroke. Moreover, a numerical Sage model was used to assess how this variation in displacer phase and stroke affects the mass flow and pressure pulse at the cold end. It is shown that the variation in displacer phase affects the cryocooler performance by varying the amplitude of the mass flow at the cold end. On the other hand, changes to the displacer stroke lead to variations in both phase and amplitude of the mass flow at the cold end.
The processes and factors that determine the heave and fracture of frost-susceptible bedrock exposed to temperature cycling above and below 0°C are little known but important to understanding of rock deformation, weathering and ground conditions. To investigate the early stages of heave, settlement and fracture of intact chalk, physical modelling experiments were performed on blocks of Saint Cyr Tuffeau and Totternhoe Clunch. Unidirectional (downward) freezing simulated seasonally frozen bedrock in non-permafrost regions, and bidirectional (upward from permafrost and downward from the surface) simulated an active layer above permafrost.
Heave and settlement of the top of the blocks were monitored in relation to rock temperature and unfrozen water content. Heave and settlement showed complex behavior that varied with moisture content, freezing regime and time. Progressive heave of wet chalk during thaw periods (simulated summers) is attributed to microcracking in near-surface permafrost. Macrocracking was favoured near the rock top during unidirectional freezing and near the permafrost table during bidirectional freezing, producing extensive fracture networks. Four processes, operating singly or in combination, account for the heave and settlement behavior: (1) thermal expansion and contraction in dry chalk; (2) volumetric expansion of freezing water, causing bursts of heave; (3) ice segregation, causing sustained heave and rock fracture; and (4) freeze‒thaw cycling, causing initial consolidation and settling of wet chalk during unidirectional freezing.
The experimental data and field observations of chalk weathering profiles elucidate the nature and origin of chalk brecciation. Type 1 brecciation (angular or subangular rock fragments separated by unfilled fractures with matched sides) is attributed primarily to ice segregation. Type 2 brecciation (subangular to rounded lumps of rock—lithorelicts—set in a fine-grained matrix of the same, but softer and remoulded material) probably resulted from frost weathering and limited ground movement, particularly beneath the sides and bottoms of wet (now dry) valleys.
Ice wedges are a characteristic feature of northern permafrost landscapes and grow mainly by snowmelt that refreezes in thermal contraction cracks that open in winter. In high latitudes the stable‐isotope composition of precipitation (δ18O and δD) is sensitive to air temperature. Hence, the integrated climate information of winter precipitation is transferred to individual ice veins and can be preserved over millennia, allowing ice wedges to be used to reconstruct past winter climate. Recent studies indicate a promising potential of ice‐wedge‐based paleoclimate reconstructions for more comprehensive reconstructions of Arctic past climate evolution. We briefly highlight the potential and review the current state of ice‐wedge paleoclimatology. Existing knowledge gaps and challenges are outlined and priorities for future ice‐wedge research are suggested. The major research topics are (1) frost cracking and infilling dynamics, (2) formation and preservation of the stable‐isotope information, (3) ice‐wedge dating, (4) age‐model development and (5) interpretation of stable‐isotope time series. Progress in each of these topics will help to exploit the paleoclimatic potential of ice wedges, particularly in view of their unique cold‐season information, which is not adequately covered by other terrestrial climate archives.
This article focuses on the trading trajectory of an Uzbek family of merchants from Tajikistan. This family runs businesses in both Tajikistan’s capital, Dushanbe, and China’s famous international trading city: Yiwu. The analysis is centred on the accounts placed by Tajikistan’s Uzbek merchants about their historically sustained experience, often across several generations, in trading activities. These merchants’ claims of belonging to a ‘historical’ trading community rather than being ‘newcomers’ to long-distance commerce are articulated in relation to notions of ‘hierarchies of trade’ as they evolve in a twofold relational model linking Yiwu’s Changchun neighbourhood and Dushanbe. I suggest that the forms of conviviality enacted in Yiwu’s Changchun neighbourhood need to be understood in terms of the historical, multinational and transregional contacts that have occurred within the spaces of the former Soviet Union, as well as along the China-Russia and China-Central Asian borders. Equally, the hierarchies of trade of Uzbek merchants from Tajikistan in Yiwu’s Changchun neighbourhood cut-across markers of identity that juxtapose the roles of Tajik and Uzbek communities in Tajikistan’s contemporary politics and economics.
In Democracy Under Threat, editor Surendra Munshi brings together twenty contributors to explore the challenges facing democracy globally. While the collection largely avoids examining the role of capitalism in undermining democracy, this is a well-edited, stimulating and distinctive book that is highly recommended by Luke Martell.
This thesis is concerned with strongly coupled extensions to the Standard Model. The majority of the thesis is dedicated to the study of Composite Higgs models, which are a proposed solution to the hierarchy problem of the electroweak scale. In these models the Higgs is a composite pseudo-Nambu Goldstone boson which forms a part of a new strongly interacting sector. There are many different variations on the basic Composite Higgs theme { the current status of some of these variations is assessed in light of results from the Large Hadron Collider. A new kind of Composite Higgs model is presented and studied, which features an alternative mechanism for the breaking of electroweak symmetry. A mechanism for deforming one model into another is also discussed, which might find application to the UV completion of Composite Higgs models.
The formalism used in the Composite Higgs literature is also applied to the study of inflation, where the inflaton is assumed to be a pseudo-Nambu Goldstone boson arising from strongly coupled dynamics. A study of the inflaton potential is performed and its cosmological implications discussed.
A different extension to the Standard Model with interesting phenomenological consequences is also studied. Quirks are strongly interacting particles whose masses are significantly higher than their confining scale. If produced in colliders, they leave unusual tracks which current searches are mostly blind to. A new search strategy for these hypothetical particles is proposed.
Information about the quality of local habitat can greatly help to improve an individual’s decision-making and, ultimately, its fitness. Nevertheless, little is known about the mechanisms and significance of information use in reproductive decisions, especially in unpredictable environments. We tested the hypothesis that perceived breeding success of conspecifics serves as a cue for habitat quality and hence influences breeding decisions (nest site choice and clutch size), using the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) as a model species. Zebra finches breed opportunistically in the unpredictable, arid zone of Australia. They often inspect the nests of conspecifics, potentially to prospect on conspecific reproductive success, i.e., to collect social information. We conducted a clutch and brood size manipulation to experimentally create the perception of high and low quality areas. In six areas, clutch sizes of almost 300 zebra finch nests were either all increased (N = 3 areas) or reduced (N = 3 areas) throughout one breeding season. The number of breeding pairs and sizes of newly laid clutches were not significantly affected by the manipulated reproductive success of the areas. Thus, zebra finches did not use social cues for their reproductive decisions, which contrasts with findings of species in temperate zones, and could be an adaptation to the high unpredictability of their habitat. Even the personal experience of rebreeding birds did not directly affect their clutch size. Our study suggests that zebra finches employ a high level of opportunism as a key strategy for reproduction. Further, this is the first study to our knowledge using an experimental approach in the wild to demonstrate that decision-making in unpredictable natural environments might differ from decision-making in temperate environments with seasonal breeding.
Party autonomy is becoming more prevalent in substantive family law, and therefore private international law should find a method of incorporating party autonomy into family law. This should be done in a way that takes account of the specific characteristics of family life. Currently the EU Regulations take a disjointed and incoherent approach to party autonomy in family law, and do not consider specific issues relating to the family. There is no clear explanation of why this is and it appears to be related to the fragmented development of the EU family law instruments. This inconsistency is not only apparent across the instruments but also within the instruments, suggesting that the discrepancies are not context-specific. This article argues that it is possible to have a consistent approach to party autonomy across all areas of family law while catering for family specific issues. A consistent approach will allow families to resolve their disputes within one legal system, rather than the more complicated situation which confronts some families due to the fragmentation of jurisdiction required by the current legal rules.
Purpose
The Patient Roles and Responsibilities Scale (PRRS) was developed to enable a broader evaluation of the impact of cancer and cancer treatment, measuring ‘real world’ roles and responsibilities such as caring for others and financial and employment responsibilities. Here we report the development and initial validation.
Methods
The 29-item PRRS was developed from the thematic analysis of two interview studies with cancer patients and caregivers. In the evaluation study, participants completed the PRRS alongside the Social Difficulties Inventory (SDI), the main criterion measure for concurrent validity, and the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy – General (FACT-G) and WHO Quality Of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) for additional convergent validity data. Questionnaires were completed at baseline, 7-days (PRRS only) and 2-months. Demographic data and patient characteristics were collected at baseline.
Results
One hundred and thirty-five patients with stage III/IV breast, lung or gynaecological cancer or melanoma completed the PRRS at least once. Five items performed poorly and were removed from the scale. The final 16 core items selected comprised 3 dimensions: Family Wellbeing, Responsibilities and Social Life, and Financial Wellbeing, identified in principal component analysis, accounting for 61.5% of total variance. Missing data (0.6%) and floor/ceiling effects were low (0%/1.5%). Cronbach’s alpha was 0.9 for the PRRS-16; 0.79-0.87 for the subscales. PRRS showed good test-retest reliability (ICC-0.86), sensitivity to change and the predicted pattern of correlation with validation measures r=ǀ0.65-0.77ǀ. The standalone 7-item jobs and careers subscale requires further validation.
Conclusions
Initial evaluation shows the PRRS is psychometrically robust with potential to inform the evaluation of new treatments in clinical trials and real world studies.
Battery Electric Energy Storage Systems (BESS) are increasingly entering electric distribution networks. Distribution system operators, suppliers, vendors and policy makers lack a common framework in terms of guidelines and recommended practices on the way BESS should be integrated into the distribution networks. The objective of WG C6.30 entitled "The Impact of Battery Energy Storage Systems on Distribution Networks" is to complement and update earlier work on Electric Energy Storage Systems. The TB produced focuses on:
> Planning and design considerations for BESS in distribution systems;
> Operational considerations for BESS in distribution systems;
> Use-cases and business cases for BESS in distribution systems;
> Standards and Grid Codes for BESS in distribution systems;
> Practical international experiences with BESS in distribution systems.
Research stations in the Antarctic have their own electrical generation facilities and are not interconnected to any grid. Scarcity of fuel and unavailability of interconnection characterize these Antarctic energy systems as mission-critical isolated microgrids. In this work, an energy management strategy has been proposed for South African Antarctic research station SANAE IV for improving fuel efficiency. The proposed strategy consists of optimal dispatch of generation and installation of a thermal load controller for the supply side, and a novel demand response scheme for the demand side. The system was simulated using HOMER Microgrid Analysis Tool. Results showed an 8.30% decrease in fuel consumption, which corresponds to 21,876 litres of diesel annually. These savings can be achieved without major capital expenditure or difficult engineering work.
This paper presents a Virtual Power Plant (VPP) decision making approach which uses fuzzy logic and a novel “insecurity” metric, based on human psychology. The VPP approach is modelled as a multi-agent system, which aims to minimize carbon emissions and/or energy cost, using an aggregation structure similar to energy or carbon markets. The “insecurity factor” reflects the operational flexibility of micro-generators, translated to a numerical value through fuzzy logic. The system was able to create a functional internal VPP market, where the micro-generators were trading autonomously according to external price signals and taking into account their own needs and limitations, as well as short-term forecasts.
Introduction
Older adults are at high risk of medication-related harm (MRH)[1]. Lower socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with polypharmacy and inappropriate medication use [2]. Our study investigated the relationship between SES and MRH in older adults.
Methods
Methods for this study are published.[3] Patients aged 65+ years were recruited at hospital discharge from 5 teaching hospitals in England between 2013 and 2015. Patients were followed up for 8-weeks by senior pharmacists to identify MRH using 3 data sources: hospital readmissions, GP records and patient interviews. Based on residential postcodes, Index of Multiple Deprivation quintiles[4] were used as a standard proxy measure for patient SES (1 least deprived, 5 most deprived). Logistic regression models, adjusting for confounders (age, gender, number of medicines, Charlson index, Barthel index), were used to examine the association between SES and MRH.
Results
1116 patients (median age 82; 58% female) were included. 413 patients experienced MRH, of which 301 (73%) experienced MRH from adverse drug reactions, 45 (11%) from non-adherence, and 67 (16%) from combinations of these and medication errors. In the univariate analysis, lower SES was significantly associated with MRH due to non-adherence (OR=1.27, 95% CI=1.08-1.49, p=0.004). Multivariable logistic regression, controlling for confounders, found this relationship to remain significant (OR=1.39, 95% CI=1.07-1.82, p=0.015). There was no association between lower SES and adverse drug reactions (OR 0.92, 95% CI=0.84-1.01, p=0.092).
Key Conclusions
Lower SES is independently associated with MRH due to non-adherence, but not ADR. This association might be mediated by lower health literacy in patients with low SES.
Introduction
Frailty has been under investigated as a risk factor for medication-related harm (MRH) in older adults[1]. We sought to determine whether frailty is independently associated with MRH in a large multicentre prospective cohort, the PRIME study.
Methods
The PRIME study recruited 1280 older adults at hospital discharge from 5 hospitals in England between 2013 to 2015[2]. MRH and associated healthcare use within 8-weeks post-discharge were identified by senior pharmacists using (1) hospital readmission data, (2) primary care records, (3) patient telephone interviews. Based on the Rockwood approach[3], we developed a frailty index including 55 deficits from multiple domains (morbidity, cognition, mood, strength and mobility, nutrition, daily function). Frailty was defined using the established cut-off of 20% deficits[4], and internally validated using Kaplan-Meier plots comparing survival in frail and non-frail patients. We then used logistic regression analysis to investigate the relationship between frailty and MRH requiring healthcare.
Results
1116 patients completed follow-up (median age 81.9 years, range 65-103 years, 58.4% female). 446 patients (40%) were frail in our cohort. 36% of frail patients experienced MRH compared with 25% in non-frail patients. There was a strong relationship between frailty and MRH (OR 1.67, 95% CI 1.29-2.17, p<0.001). A significant relationship between frailty and MRH remained on multivariable regression, adjusting for polypharmacy, age and gender (OR 1.37, 95% CI 1.04-1.81, p=0.027). Frail patients had significantly reduced 18-month survival (Log-Rank test p<0.001).
Key Conclusions
Frailty is a predictor of MRH requiring healthcare, independent of polypharmacy.
Introduction
Strong evidence exists for a relationship between polypharmacy and mortality[1], independent of comorbidity. The mechanisms underlying this relationship are unclear. Medication-related harm (MRH) may occur due to non-adherence or adverse drug reactions. We sought to determine if MRH due to non-adherence or adverse drug reactions may explain the association between polypharmacy and mortality.
Methods
The PRIME study recruited 1280 older adults at hospital discharge from 5 hospitals in England between 2013 to 2015[2]. Patients were followed up in the community for 8-weeks by senior pharmacists to identify MRH using data from hospital readmissions, GP records and patient interviews. Mortality data at 12 months post-discharge were obtained from hospital records. Non-adherence was determined using a modified version of a validated questionnaire[3]. Adverse drug reactions were assessed using the Naranjo algorithm[4]. Adjusted logistic regression models were used to investigate the relationship between (1) number of medicines and MRH, (2) MRH and mortality.
Results
1116 out of 1280 patients completed follow-up (median age 82 years, range 65-103 years, 58% female). Patients were discharged with a median of 9 medicines (range 0-27). A higher number of medicines was strongly associated with MRH due to non-adherence (p<0.01) and adverse drug reactions (p<0.001). In multivariable analysis, MRH due to non-adherence was associated with one-year all-cause mortality (OR 1.80, 95% CI 1.08-2.99, p=0.02), however MRH due to ADR was not (OR 1.20, 95% CI 0.86-1.68, p=0.28).
Key Conclusions
Harm from non-adherence to medications may explain the relationship between polypharmacy and mortality.
Recent health policy renders patients increasingly responsible for managing their health via digital technology such as health apps and online patient platforms. This paper discusses underlying tensions between empowerment and self-discipline embodied in discourses of technological self-care. It presents findings from documentary analysis and interviews with key players in the English digital health context including policy makers, health designers and patient organisations. We show how discourses ascribe to patients an enterprising identity, which is inculcated with economic interests and engenders self-discipline. However, this reading does not capture all implications of technological self-care. A governmentality lens also shows that technological self-care opens up the potential for a de-centring of medical knowledge and its subsequent communalization. The paper contributes to Foucauldian healthcare scholarship by showing how technology could engender agential actions that operate at the margins of an enterprising discourse.
Session types are a well-established approach to ensuring protocol conformance and the absence of communication errors such as deadlocks in message passing systems. Haskell introduced implicit parameters, Scala popularised this feature and recently gave implicit types first-class status, yielding an expressive tool for handling context dependencies in a type-safe yet terse way. We ask: can type-safe implicit functions be generalised from Scala’s sequential setting to message passing computation? We answer this question in the affirmative by presenting the first concurrent functional language with implicit message passing. The key idea is to generalise the concept of an implicit function to an implicit message, its concurrent analogue. Our language extends Gay and Vasconcelos’s calculus of linear types for asynchronous sessions (LAST) with implicit functions and messages. We prove the resulting system sound by translation into LAST.
Understanding the role of large energy corporations in society is a crucial, yet challenging task for the social
science of energy. Ethnographic methods hold potential for plying into corporations’ own self-representations,
to reveal the relations of power and politics that determine flows of energy and extractive capital at the global
and local level. Ethnography help us move beyond structural analyses, to locate the agents and processes at work
within economies of energy production, and identify tensions and dynamics both within the corporation and at
the interface with society. We argue that a multi-method and reflexive approach can help social scientists reflect
on frictions in corporate encounters, and more importantly that attention to frictions is in fact a gateway to gain
new insights about the field. In our research project about Norwegian energy companies and their corporate social
responsibility work when ‘going global’, applying a multi-method made us question dominant assumptions
within anthropology of what constitutes “access”. We discuss how multiple approaches to “access”, which takes
into account the positionality of the researcher, fluidity of research fields along with attention to power dynamics
can shape the sort of knowledge that is produced when studying energy companies.
The oncogenic microRNA miR-155 is the most frequently upregulated miRNA in Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-positive B cell malignancies and is upregulated in other non-viral lymphomas. Both the EBV nuclear antigen 2 (EBNA2), and B cell transcription factor, interferon regulatory factor 4 (IRF4) are known to activate transcription of the host cell gene from which miR-155 is processed (miR-155HG, BIC). EBNA2 also activates IRF4 transcription indicating that EBV may upregulate miR-155 through direct and indirect mechanisms. The mechanism of transcriptional regulation of IRF4 and miR-155HG by EBNA2 however has not been defined. We demonstrate that EBNA2 can activate IRF4 and miR-155HG expression through specific upstream enhancers that are dependent on the Notch signaling transcription factor RBPJ, a known binding partner of EBNA2. We demonstrate that in addition to activation of the miR-155HG promoter, IRF4 can also activate miR-155HG via the upstream enhancer also targeted by EBNA2. Gene editing to remove the EBNA2- and IRF4-responsive miR-155HG enhancer located 60 kb upstream of miR-155HG led to reduced miR155HG expression in EBV-infected cells. Our data therefore demonstrate that specific RBPJ-dependent enhancers regulate the IRF4-miR-155 expression network and play a key role in the maintenance of miR-155 expression in EBV-infected B cells. These findings provide important insights that will improve our understanding of miR-155 control in B cell malignancies.
Istvan Hont’s classic work on the theoretical links between the seventeenth-century natural jurists Hugo Grotius and Samuel Pufendorf and the eighteenth-century Scottish political economists remains a popular trope among intellectual and economic historians of various stamps. Despite this, a common criticism levelled at Hont remains his relative lack of engagement with the relationship between religion and economics in the early modern period. This paper challenges this aspect of Hont’s narrative by drawing attention to an alternative, albeit complementary, assessment of the natural jurisprudential heritage of eighteenth-century British political economy. Specifically, the article attempts to map on to Hont’s thesis the Christian Stoic interpretation of Grotius and Pufendorf which has gained greater currency in recent years. In doing so, the paper argues that Grotius and Pufendorf’s contributions to the ‘unsocial sociability’ debate do not necessarily lead directly to the Scottish school of political economists, as is commonly assumed. Instead, it contends that a reconsideration of Grotius and Pufendorf as neo-Stoic theorists, particularly via scrutiny of their respective adaptations of the traditional Stoic theory of oikeiosis, steers us towards the heart of the early English ‘clerical’ Enlightenment.
Over the last three decades, the far-infrared emission from distant galaxies has been revealed to us. This far-infrared light is emitted by dust clouds heated by UV radiation from young stars. This reveals to us some of the most remarkable and highly star-forming galaxies in the Universe. The Herschel space observatory was able to capture this light. With this thesis I have attempted to get a better understanding of the underlying galaxy population. I have done this by observing the most extreme forms of star formation in the early Universe seen in maps obtained by the SPIRE instrument and using prior information from deep high resolution surveys. In particular I have examined the dependencies of dusty galaxy properties on their environment.
I have confirmed that star formation is primarily dependent on both galaxy mass and whether a galaxy lies in the "blue cloud". Environment is the primary influence on the fraction of galaxies lying in the blue cloud and has a minor, but significant, affect on the average star formation rate of star forming galaxies. The highest redshift galaxies directly detected in the Herschel SPIRE maps are very rare, but due to the large area of the HerMES surveys we are able to find a statistical significant sample. With the addition of longer wavelength SCUBA-2 data I further confine the redshift of the dusty galaxies and find that the star formation rates of those sources are extremely high and exceed 1000 M_ a year. The observed number counts of these extremely bright sources have been a problem for galaxy evolution models. I am able to explain the observed number count of red SPIRE sources by adding correlated confusion noise and Gaussian instrumental noise to simulated galaxy catalogues. My results emphasise that it is crucial to correct for noise and selection effects for comparison with simulations. I exploit a novel way of fitting the full SPIRE maps using prior information from deep high resolution surveys, obtained from wavelengths ranging from optical to radio. In doing so I obtain the most accurate values of the cosmic infrared background (CIB) at the SPIRE wavelengths. With these results we have a better indication of which sources are producing the CIB, and therefore the bulk of star formation. My results indicate that future large area surveys like LSST are likely to resolve a substantial fraction of the population responsible for the CIB at 250 µm ≤ λ ≤ 500 µm.
Background
Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is a rare neurodegenerative disease for which the genetic contribution is incompletely understood.
Methods
We conducted a joint analysis of 5,523,934 imputed SNPs in two newly-genotyped progressive supranuclear palsy cohorts, primarily derived from two clinical trials (Allon davunetide and NNIPPS riluzole trials in PSP) and a previously published genome-wide association study (GWAS), in total comprising 1646 cases and 10,662 controls of European ancestry.
Results
We identified 5 associated loci at a genome-wide significance threshold P < 5 × 10− 8, including replication of 3 loci from previous studies and 2 novel loci at 6p21.1 and 12p12.1 (near RUNX2 and SLCO1A2, respectively). At the 17q21.31 locus, stepwise regression analysis confirmed the presence of multiple independent loci (localized near MAPT and KANSL1). An additional 4 loci were highly suggestive of association (P < 1 × 10− 6). We analyzed the genetic correlation with multiple neurodegenerative diseases, and found that PSP had shared polygenic heritability with Parkinson’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Conclusions
In total, we identified 6 additional significant or suggestive SNP associations with PSP, and discovered genetic overlap with other neurodegenerative diseases. These findings clarify the pathogenesis and genetic architecture of PSP.
In this short paper we present a detailed analysis of the dynamics of a system of two coupled Fitzhugh-Nagumo neuron equations with tonic descending command signals, suitable for modelling circuits underlying the generation of motor behaviours. We conduct a search of possible attractors and calculate dynamical quantities, such as the Largest Lyapunov Exponents (LLEs), at a fine resolution over the areas of parameter space where complex and chaotic dynamics are most likely, to build a more detailed picture of the dynamical regimes of the system, focusing on the most complex solutions. By building a precise LLE map, we identify a narrow region of parameter space of particular interest, rich with chaotic and multistable dynamics, and show that it is on the border of criticality. This allows us to draw conclusions about possible neural mechanisms underlying the generation of chaotic dynamics. We illustrate the detailed ecology of multiple attractors in the system by listing, characterising and grouping all the stable attractors in the parameter range of interest. This allows us to pinpoint the regions with complex multistability. The greater understanding thus provided is intended to help future studies on the roles of chaotic dynamics in biological motor control, and their application in robotics; particularly by giving a deeper insight into how input signals and control parameters shape the system’s dynamics which can be exploited in chaos driven adaptation.
The activation of C3O2 by the U(III) complex [U(η5-Cp’)3] (Cp’ = C5H4SiMe3) is described. The reaction results in the reductive coupling of three C3O2 units to form a tetranuclear complex with a central cyclobutane-1,3-dione ring, with concomitant loss of CO. Careful control of reaction conditions has allowed the trapping of an intermediate, dimeric bridging ketene complex, which undergoes insertion of C3O2 to form the final product.
In this work we study the coordination chemistry of a series of semi-rigid benzotriazole based ligands (L1-L3) along with the low coordination number but versatile AgI ions. This has led to nine new coordination compounds formulated [Ag(L1)(CF3CO2)] (1), [Ag2(L1T)2(CF3SO3)2]·2Me2CO (2), [Ag(L2T)(ClO4)(Me2CO)] (3), [Ag(L2T)(BF4)(Et2O)] (4), [Ag2(L3T)2(ClO4)2]2 (5), [Ag(L3)(NO3)] (6), [Ag2(L3T)2(CF3CO2)2] (7), [Ag2(L3T)(CF3SO3)2] (8) and [Ag2(L3T)2(CF3CF2CO2)2]·2Me2CO (9). These compounds show structural diversity including dimers (5, 7, 9), one dimensional (1D) (3, 4, 6) and two dimensional (2D) (1, 2, 8) coordination polymers. The presence of the two -CH2- units between the three rigid backbones, benzotriazole/-C6H4-/benzotriazole, provides a limited, but significant, flexibility in L1-L3, influencing their variety coordination abilities. Interestingly, certain structures exhibit an isomerism effect (L1T-L3T) in the benzotriazole unit when in solid state; a series of studies are indicative of the 1,1- form is generally dominant in solution even in cases where the crystal structure does not contain this tautomer. The homogeneous catalytic efficacy of all compounds against the well-known multi component A3 coupling reaction and the hydration of alkynes were investigated. Compound 4 was identified as the optimal catalyst for both reactions, promoting the multicomponent coupling as well as the alkyne hydration reaction under low loadings (0.5 and 3 mol%, respectively) and in high yields (up to 99 and 93% in each case).
Background: The importance of predicting disease progression in multiple sclerosis (MS) has increasingly been recognised, hence reliable biomarkers are needed.
Objectives: To investigate the prognostic role of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) Amyloid beta1-42 (A) levels by the determination of a cut-off value to classify patients in slow and fast progressors. To evaluate possible association with white (WM) and grey matter (GM) damage at early disease stages.
Methods: Sixty patients were recruited and followed-up for three to five years. Patients underwent clinical assessment, CSF analysis to determine Aβ levels, and brain MRI (at baseline and after 1 year). T1-weighted volumes were calculated. T2-weighted scans were used to quantify WM lesion loads.
Results: Lower CSF Aβ levels were observed in patients with a worse follow-up EDSS (r=−0.65, p<0.001). The multiple regression analysis confirmed CSF Aβ concentration as a predictor of patients’ EDSS increase (r=−0.59, p<0.0001). Generating a receiver operator characteristic curve, a cut-off value of 813 pg/ml was determined as the threshold able to identify patients with worse prognosis (95%CI 0.690-0.933, p=0.0001). No differences in CSF tau and NfL levels were observed (p>0.05).
Conclusions: Low CSF Aβ levels may represent a predictive biomarker of disease progression in MS.
Physician Associates (PA) complete a two year postgraduate course, and are expected to graduate with diagnostic skills equivalent to those of newly qualified doctors who have completed a five year course. BSMS has utilised Problem Based Learning (PBL) in an attempt to accelerate the acquisition of these skills by PAs. Weekly PBL sessions were conducted during year 1 of the PA course, focusing on the ‘top 20’ core conditions within the curriculum. Alongside this, students had weekly clinical exposure in General practice. In order to assess the impact of this strategy the ‘Diagnostic Thinking Inventory‘ (DTI) developed by Bordage et al. (1990) was conducted three times across year 1 and the results compared to standardised data for medical students and doctors. This found that PA students had a significantly higher baseline score in terms of flexibility of thinking (equivalent to newly qualified doctors engaged in foundation training) and structure of memory (equivalent to third year medical students). Results showed a statistically significant improvement in structure of memory across year 1: achieving an improvement in score which took over four years to achieve in medical students. This appears to suggest that PBL can facilitate increased assimilation of diagnostic reasoning skills within postgraduate learners.
Keywords: Physician Associate, Diagnostic Reasoning, Problem Based Learning, Postgraduate.
Spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 (SCA2) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disease characterized by a progressive cerebellar syndrome and multiple-domain cognitive impairments. The cerebellum is known to contribute to distinct functional networks related to higher-level functions. The aims of the present study were to investigate the different sub-components of attention and to analyse possible correlations between attention deficits and specific cerebellar regions in SCA2 patients.
To this purpose, 11 SCA2 patients underwent an exhaustive attention battery that evaluated several attention sub-components. The SCA2 group performed below the normal range in tasks assessing selective attention, divided attention, and sustained attention, obtaining negative Z-scores. These results were confirmed by non-parametric Mann-Whitney U tests that showed significant differences between SCA2 and control subjects in the same sub-components of the attention battery, allowing us to speculate on cerebellar involvement when a high cognitive demand is required (i.e., multisensory integration, sequencing, prediction of events, and inhibition of inappropriate response behaviours).
The voxel-based morphometry analysis showed a pattern of significantly reduced grey matter volume in specific cerebellar lobules. In particular, the SCA2 patients showed significant grey matter loss in bilateral regions of the anterior cerebellar hemisphere (I-V) and in the posterior lobe (VI-IX) and posterior vermis (VI-IX).
Statistical analysis found significant correlations between grey matter reductions in the VIIb/VIIIa cerebellar lobules and impairments in Sustained and Divided Attention tasks and between grey matter reduction in the vermal VI lobule and impairment in the Go/NoGo task.
For the first time, the study demonstrated the involvement of specific cerebellar lobules in different sub-components of the attention domain, giving further support to the inclusion of the cerebellum within the attention network.
This paper is rooted in an experimental inquiry of issue-oriented temporary techno-social gatherings or TTGs, which are typically referred to as hackathons, workshops or pop-ups and employ rapid design and development practices to tackle technical challenges while engaging with social issues. Based on a collaboration between three digital practitioners (a producer, a researcher and a designer), qualitative and creative data was gathered across five different kinds of TTG events in London and in Tartu which were held in partnership with large institutions, including Art:Work at Tate Exchange within Tate Modern, the Mozilla Festival at Ravensbourne College and the 2017 Association of Internet Researchers conference hosted in Tartu. By analysing data using an open and discursive approach manifested in both text and visual formats, we reflect on the dynamic and generative characteristics of TTG gatherings while also arriving at our own conclusions as situated researchers and practitioners who are ourselves engaged in increasingly messy webs where new worlds of theory and practice are built.
Makerspaces are subjects in a plurality of institutional advances and developments, catching the imaginations of a wide variety of organisations and other actors drawn to a buzz of enticing possibilities. Depending upon the nature of the encounter, makerspaces are becoming cradles for entrepreneurship, innovators in education, nodes in open hardware networks, studios for digital artistry, ciphers for social change, prototyping shops for manufacturers, remanufacturing hubs in circular economies, twenty-first century libraries, emblematic anticipations of commons-based, peer-produced post capitalism, workshops for hacking technology and its politics, laboratories for smart urbanism, galleries for hands-on explorations in material culture... not forgetting, of course, spaces for simply having fun. What kinds of hybrid arrangements emerge through these encounters, and what becomes of the occupied factories for peer production theory? How are institutions reshaping aspirations for autonomous, even democratic, fabrication and experimentation – aspirations that were – and are – important parts of makerspace narratives? And what do these encounters mean for institutions, whether in education, culture, business, development or some other sphere; how are they too evolving through their exposure to grassroots and community making practices?
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) asymptomatically infects >90% of the world population but is also associated with multiple malignancies. The EBV latent nuclear proteins EBNA2, 3A, 3B and 3C orchestrate changes in host gene transcription to drive B-cell immortalisation by hijacking cellular DNA-binding transcription factors. This project set out to obtain thermodynamic and structural information on host transcription factor RBP-Jkappa, the DNA-binding mediator of the Notch pathway, and its interactions with the EBNAs. EBNA2 activates transcription by binding RBP-Jkappa through the same WΦP motif found in Notch proteins. EBNA3 proteins bind RBP-Jkappa through a distinct motif (TΦGC) and compete with EBNA2 for binding, inhibiting EBNA2-mediated gene activation, but can also use RBP-Jkappa to bind DNA independently. Interestingly, EBNA3C also contains an adjacent WΦP motif (WTP) that can bind RBP-Jkappa in vitro. We used Isothermal Titration Calorimetry (ITC) to measure binding affinities of EBNA2 and EBNA3C peptides containing these motifs to RBP-Jkappa. We found that EBNA2 peptides bound RBPJ-kappa via its WWP motif with an affinity 10-fold less than the WLP motif of Notch 2. Surprisingly, we found that EBNA3 peptides containing TΦGC motifs did not bind to RBP-Jkappa in vitro. Phosphorylation of the threonine in this motif did not lead to any detectable binding. However, EBNA3C peptides containing both the TFGC and WTP motifs bound RBP-Jkappa with a similar affinity to EBNA2 peptides, but this interaction was entirely mediated by the WTP motif. We also demonstrated that the EBNA3C TFGC peptide could not compete with EBNA2 for RBP-Jkappa binding using a fluorescent polarisation binding assay. Interestingly, we found that an EBNA3A peptide bound weakly to RBP-Jkappa via a motif with similar physiochemistry to the Notch WTP motif (FKL) and not its TLFC motif. These data indicate that TΦGC motifs in EBNA3 proteins may only direct RBPJ-kappa binding in the context of other EBNA3C residues in a properly folded full-length protein or may mediate indirect binding.
This paper examines the recent phenomenon of ‘collections makerspaces’, which are defined for the first time as dedicated public sites in cultural institutions with suites of creative tools aimed at inspiring new engagements with a collection through hands-on making and learning practices. Working from the notion of space as a form of power geometry (Massey 1993), its component parts woven together through an ever-evolving constellation of the overlapping histories, imaginaries and cosmopolitics of myriad actors, the paper begins with a genealogy of shared machine shops in the U.K. as viewed through four cumulative waves of innovation, with collections makerspaces located in a fourth wave that is defined by institutional affiliations. The circumstances of collections makerspace sites situated at three museums in London (Tate, the British Museum and the Wellcome Collection) are then explored through an examination of ethnographic observations of practices that are either canonical or distinctive, and the corresponding geometries of power they reveal. In conclusion, it is argued that the collections makerspace is emerging as a key site of critical institutional inquiry which carries the potential to reframe museum hegemonies through peer production practices.
Recent research has highlighted that line management is a critical function when it comes to supporting trans employees.
As an alternative to the hydrocarbons (HCs), R1234yf synthetic refrigerant from the family of the hydrofluoroolefins (HFOs), has emerged recently as a replacement fluid for R134a. The purpose of this study is to investigate the performance of an oil-free linear compressor using R1234yf operated at different pressure ratios for household refrigerators. A mathematical model for the oil-free linear compressor using R1234yf has been developed. The compressor stroke was set as 14 mm for minimum dead volume with the evaporator temperature of – 23 °C. The result shows that the bleed flow rate can be 5% of main flow rate, and the resonant frequency varies between 32.7 Hz and 35.3 Hz for pressure ratios of 5-12. Cylinder mean pressure, shaft power, bleed flow, and clearance seal power loss increase with the pressure ratio. At pressure ratio of 10, and clearance seal power loss represents 8% of shaft power.
The discourse of political counsel in early modern Europe depended on the participation of men, as both counsellors and counselled. Women were often thought too irrational or imprudent to give or receive political advice—but they did in unprecedented numbers, as this volume shows. These essays trace the relationship between queenship and counsel through over three hundred years of history. Case studies span Europe, from Sweden and Poland-Lithuania via the Habsburg territories to England and France, and feature queens regnant, consort and regent, including Elizabeth I of England, Catherine Jagiellon of Sweden, Catherine de’ Medici and Anna of Denmark. They draw on a variety of innovative sources to recover evidence of queenly counsel, from treatises and letters to poetry, masques and architecture. For scholars of history, politics and literature in early modern Europe, this book enriches our understanding of royal women as political actors.
This editorial introduces the purpose of the special issue with the summary of three perspectives of innovations in inclusive manufacturing such as people-oriented, environmental oriented and technology-oriented innovations. The editorial summarises the accepted papers based on the three perspectives of inclusive manufacturing innovation classification. The inclusive manufacturing way forward is discussed in the future research directions section. Overall this call didn’t receive many people-oriented innovation submissions. However, there are a decent amount of work in environmental and technology-oriented innovations. Hopefully, this editorial piece will draw attention towards people-oriented innovation from the manufacturing researchers in the future.
This conclusion picks up on a theme running through the volume—that of the secretive or encoded nature of counsel in the context of queenship—and explores how this plays out in the visual and illustrative counsel of Early Modern Europe. Examining emblems, woodcuts and especially the frontispiece of John Dee’s Generall and Rare Memorials pertayning to the Perfect Arte of Navigation (1577), Joanne Paul demonstrates how symbols and visual references were used to encode counsel about and for queens. She argues that investigating the relationship between queenship and counsel in this period challenges existing understandings of what constitutes “the political”, by expanding the focus to symbol, performance, rhetoric, wardrobe, architecture and other media for counsel about politics.
Scientific advances build on reproducible research which need publicly available benchmark datasets. The computer vision and speech recognition communities have led the way in establishing benchmark datasets. There are much less datasets available in mobile computing, especially for rich locomotion and transportation analytics.
This paper presents a highly versatile and precisely annotated large-scale dataset of smartphone sensor data for multimodal locomotion and transportation analytics of mobile users. The dataset comprises 7 months of measurements, collected from all sensors of 4 smartphones carried at typical body locations, including the images of a body-worn camera, while 3 participants used 8 different modes of transportation in the southeast of the United Kingdom, including in London. In total 28 context labels were annotated, including transportation mode, participant’s posture, inside/outside location, road conditions, traffic conditions, presence in tunnels, social interactions, and having meals. The total amount of collected data exceed 950 GB of sensor data, which corresponds to 2812 hours of labelled data and 17562 km of traveled distance. We present how we set up the data collection, including the equipment used and the experimental protocol.
We discuss the dataset, including the data curation process, the analysis of the annotations and of the sensor data. We discuss the challenges encountered and present the lessons learned and some of the best practices we developed to ensure high quality data collection and annotation. We discuss the potential applications which can be developed using this large-scale dataset. In particular, we present how a machine-learning system can use this dataset to automatically recognize modes of transportations. Many other research questions related to transportation analytics, activity recognition, radio signal propagation and mobility modelling can be adressed through this dataset. The full dataset is being made available to the community, and a thorough preview is already published
The present study explores the functions of code-switching and the factors which motivate speakers to use it in the context of informal conversations among educated, multilingual Sindhi women at four colleges in Hyderabad and Kotri, Pakistan. Following on from such scholars as Blom and Gumperz (1972), Gumperz (1982), Myers-Scotton (1993a), Poplack (1980), this study uses a qualitative methodology consisting of audio recordings of informal interactions, the questionnaires filled in by the participants, which reveal their demographic information and observation notes by the researcher during the audio recordings. The data is then analysed using an interpretive approach.
The findings provide evidence that code-switching is employed as a language strategy to achieve particular social goals. Multilingual code-switching into Sindhi, Urdu and English and a few instances of Arabic and other local languages provide sufficient evidence of participants’ linguistic competence. The majority of participants use Sindhi as their L1 and English as their preferred language for code-switching. However, some participants who are Sindhi by ethnicity but acquired Urdu (their academic language) as their L1 predominantly use Urdu.
The findings suggest that the participants use code switching to achieve particular social goals, such as to construct multiple identities, to express anger and humour, to discuss taboo issues and for specific textual functions such as recycling, self-repair, quotation, and idiomatic expressions. In the current study, the motivational extra-linguistic factors for the use of code-switching are historical-socio-economic factors, participants’ social networks, conversational topics, and the social status of their interlocutor(s). The intra-linguistic factors consist of speakers’ expression of their emotions and their linguistic competence. The most significant factor involved in the presence and absence of the use of codeswitching is the socioeconomic status of the participants. The results show the use of a huge number of English loanwords to fill lexical gaps which exist in Sindhi and Urdu. However, some instances of core borrowing (widespread borrowing in presence of equivalent in native language) from English are also used.
Introduction Major depressive disorders (MDD), diabetes mellitus type 2 (DM2) and coronary heart disease (CHD) are leading contributors to the global burden of disease and often co-occur.
Objectives To evaluate the two-year effectiveness of a stepped-care intervention to prevent MDD compared to usual care and to develop a prediction model for incident depression in DM2 and/or CHD patients with subthreshold depression.
Methods Data of 236 Dutch primary care DM2/CHD patients with subthreshold depression (Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) score ≥6, no current MDD according to the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (DSM-IV criteria)), who participated in the Step-Dep trial were used. A PHQ-9 score of ≥10 at minimally one measurement during follow-up (at 3, 6, 9, 12 and 24 months) was used to determine the cumulative incidence of MDD. Potential demographic and psychological predictors were measured at baseline via web-based self-reported questionnaires and evaluated using a multivariable logistic regression model. Model performance was assessed with the Hosmer–Lemeshow test, Nagelkerke’s R2 explained variance and Area Under the Receiver Operating Characteristic curve (AUC). Bootstrapping techniques were used to internally validate our model.
Results 192 patients (81%) were available at two-year follow-up. The cumulative incidence of MDD was 97/192 (51%). There was no statistically significant overall treatment effect over 24 months of the intervention (OR 1.37; 95% CI 0.52; 3.55). Baseline levels of anxiety, depression, the presence of >3 chronic diseases and stressful life-events predicted the incidence of MDD (AUC 0.80 interquartile range (IQR) 0.79-0.80; Nagelkerke’s R2 0.34 IQR 0.33-0.36).
Conclusion A model with four factors predicted depression incidence during two-year follow-up in patients with DM2/CHD accurately, based on the AUC. The Step-Dep intervention did not influence the incidence of MDD. Future depression prevention programs should target patients with these four predictors present, and aim to reduce both anxiety and depressive symptoms.
Colorectal-cancer (CRC) is the third most common cause of cancer-related-death, and hence there is a need for the identification of novel-agents to improve the efficacy of existing-therapies. There is growing evidence for the anti-tumor-activity of crocin, although its activity and molecular-mechanisms in CRC remains to be elucidated. Here we explored the therapeutic-application of crocin or its combination with 5-Flurouracil in a mouse-model of colitis-associated colon-cancer. The anti-proliferative-activity of crocin was assessed in 2- and 3-dimensional cell-culture-models. The migratory-behaviors were determined, while the expression-levels of several-genes were assessed by qRT-PCR/Western-blotting. We examined the anti-inflammatory properties of crocin by pathological-evaluation and disease-activity-index as well as oxidative/ antioxidant markers: malondialdehyde (MDA) and total-thiols (T-SH) levels and superoxide-dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activity. Crocin suppressed cell-growth and the invasive-behavior of CRC-cells through modulation of the Wnt-pathway and E-cadherin. Moreover, administration of crocin alone, or in combination with 5-FU dramatically reduced the tumor-number and tumor-size in both distal/mid-colon followed by reduction in disease-activity-index. Crocin also suppressed the colonic-inflammation induced by Dextran-sulfate-sodium and notably recovered the increased-levels of MDA, decreased Thiol-levels and activity of CAT-levels. Crocin was able to ameliorate the severe-inflammation with mucosal-ulcers and high grade-dysplastic-crypts as detected by inflammation-score, Crypt-loss, pathological-changes and histology-scores. We demonstrated an antitumor-activity of crocin in CRC and its potential role in improvement of inflammation with mucosal ulcers and high grade dysplastic crypts, supporting the desireability of further investigations on the therapeutic potential of this approach in CRC.
EMBARGOED - expected end date 08.10.2024
Methods for avoiding singularities of closed-loop robot mechanisms have been traditionally based on the value of the determinant or the condition number of the Jacobian. A major drawback of these standard techniques is that the closeness of a robot configuration to a singularity lacks geometric, physical interpretation, thus implying that it is uncertain how changes in the robot pose actually move further away the mechanism from such a problematic configuration. This paper presents a geometric approach of singularity avoidance for kinematically redundant planar parallel robots that eliminates the disadvantages of Jacobianbased techniques. The proposed method, which is based on the properties of instantaneous centres of rotation, defines a mathematical distance to a singularity and provides a reliable way of moving the robot further from a singular configuration without changing the pose of the end-effector. The approach is demonstrated on an example robot mechanism and the reciprocal of the condition number of the Jacobian is used to show its advantages.
The novel, as I will show, has an historic association with the interior. In its emergence through what Ian Watt refers to as ‘realist particularity,’ the novel allowed new access to the interior lives of human beings. As I discuss, this interiority is both real and imagined, a means of giving shape to life in modernity. This shaping, however, not only affects the depiction of interior spaces in fiction, but the space of fiction itself. In this, I suggest, we find a complex literary architecture that is foundational to the western canon.
I trace how this elastic interiority has been imagined in the work of Don DeLillo and J. M. Coetzee. My project reads the work of my chosen others together as a way of drawing attention to their shared investment in literary architecture. I will firstly outline the history of interiority in the novel from the house of fiction of Henry James and the interior architecture of Edith Wharton, to the modernist dismantling of novelistic geography in Franz Kafka. I focus on the work of Samuel Beckett whose radical reimaging of literary geography not only questioned the space of fiction but the ethics of looking for a fictional subject. In my second and third chapter, I outline the legacy literary architecture has had throughout DeLillo and Coetzee’s oeuvre. In my conclusion, I read two novels—Point Omega and Disgrace respectively—as a way of mapping their challenge to the boundaries of contemporary global politics and its invasion into interior life.
Background - A development within the last century in scientific research has been the need for very large apparatus to explore new experimental fields, notably within high-energy physics. These ‘megascience projects’, which have a minimum budget of one billion US dollars are generally undertaken as cooperative ventures by countries seeking to pursue scientific experimental opportunities. Such projects are characterised by high levels of technological uncertainty, because success will likely depend on the development of new, highly-advanced technologies. However, there is a notable lack of research into the leadership of megascience projects.
Objectives and Methods - The projects investigated were the Tevatron at Fermilab, near Chicago in the United States, and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN on the Franco-Swiss border near to Geneva. This research used a combination of archival and interview-based research to answer three research questions: (1) What are the characteristics of those who lead megascience projects? (2) Where were their leadership skills developed? (3) How were their leadership skills developed?
Results - The most important finding was the tailoring of senior leadership selection according to the needs of specific phases of the project. Four phases were identified: initiation, approval, construction, and exploitation. During the project there was a transition in senior leader characteristics from a transformational autocracy to an increasingly laissez-faire style. The characteristics of successful leaders of megascience projects at all organisational levels include 1) the primacy of technical competence, 2) strong management ability, 3) trustworthiness, and 4) team empowerment. This is somewhat unusual compared to other projects on this scale. The experiential nature of leadership training within megascience projects is also critical for success, with formal leadership training programmes acting in a support role at most. This work also has implications for the next generation of megascience projects which is addressed as a conclusion.
The process of RNA degradation is a critical level of regulation contributing to the control of gene expression. In the last two decades a number of studies have shown the specific and targeted nature of RNA decay and its importance in maintaining homeostasis. The key players within the pathways of RNA decay are well conserved with their mutation or disruption resulting in distinct phenotypes as well as human disease. Model organisms including Drosophila melanogaster have played a substantial role in elucidating the mechanisms conferring control over RNA stability. A particular advantage of this model organism is that the functions of ribonucleases can be assessed in the context of natural cells within tissues in addition to individual immortalised cells in culture. Drosophila RNA stability research has demonstrated how the cytoplasmic decay machines, such as the exosome, Dis3L2 and Xrn1, are responsible for regulating specific processes including apoptosis, proliferation, wound healing and fertility. The work discussed here has begun to identify specific mRNA transcripts that appear sensitive to specific decay pathways representing mechanisms through which the ribonucleases control mRNA stability. Drosophila research has also contributed to our knowledge of how specific RNAs are targeted to the ribonucleases including AU rich elements, miRNA targeting and 3’ tailing. Increased understanding of these mechanisms is critical to elucidating the control elicited by the cytoplasmic ribonucleases which is relevant to human disease.
Investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), which makes it possible for foreign investors to sue host states in arbitral tribunals, has been at the centre of recent mobilisations against claimed trade injustices. Critics tend to identify ISDS as epitomising neoliberalism or neo-imperialism in international law, or as a hybrid of these two. My intention in this essay is not to undermine such critiques but rather to examine the work that the concept of sovereignty does within them and to consider the possible tragic quality of proposals that point towards political action focused on reclaiming sovereignty. I argue that, when critiques of ISDS are couched in terms of sovereignty lost by states to corporations, critics find themselves implicitly working with ‘two types of sovereign power: a “bad”, dominative type…and a “good” emancipatory type’. When corporate sovereignty is depicted as a ‘bad’ dominative type, it is often implied that, if returned to states (or communities) sovereignty would function as the ‘good’, emancipatory type. And yet, as Joan Cocks observes, struggles for freedom through sovereignty can be dangerous, frequently recreating the injuries they seek to escape. But we can go further and ask not only about the salience of the concept of sovereignty for critiques of ISDS and international investment law, but also about the temporal mismatch between critiques that appear to respond to historical, anti-colonial concerns about sovereignty, and the coordinates of our own contemporary problem-space.
We extend the public CppTransport code to calculate the statistical properties of fluctuations in multiple-field inflationary models with curved field space. Our implementation accounts for all physical effects at tree-level in the 'in-in' diagrammatic expansion. This includes particle production due to time-varying masses, but excludes scenarios where the curvature perturbation is generated by averaging over the decay of more than one particle. We test our implementation by comparing results in Cartesian and polar field-space coordinates, showing excellent numerical agreement and only minor degradation in compute time. We compare our results with the PyTransport 2.0 code, which uses the same computational approach but a different numerical implementation, finding good agreement. Finally, we use our tools to study a class of gelaton-like models which could produce an enhanced non-Gaussian signal on equilateral configurations of the Fourier bispectrum. We show this is difficult to achieve using hyperbolic field-space manifolds and simple inflationary potentials.
Interoception is the sensing of internal bodily sensations. Interoception is an umbrella term that encompasses (1) the afferent (body‐to‐brain) signaling through distinct neural and humoral (including immune and endocrine) channels; (2) the neural encoding, representation, and integration of this information concerning internal bodily state; (3) the influence of such information on other perceptions, cognitions, and behaviors; (4) and the psychological expression of these representations as consciously accessible physical sensations and feelings. Interoceptive mechanisms ensure physiological health through the cerebral coordination of homeostatic reflexes and allostatic responses that include motivational behaviors and associated affective and emotional feelings. Furthermore, the conscious, unitary sense of self in time and space may be grounded in the primacy and lifelong continuity of interoception. Body‐to‐brain interactions influence physical and mental well‐being. Consequently, we show that systematic investigation of how individual differences, and within‐individual changes, in interoceptive processing can contribute to the mechanistic understanding of physical and psychological disorders. We present a neurobiological overview of interoception and describe how interoceptive impairments at different levels relate to specific physical and mental health conditions, including sickness behaviors and fatigue, depression, eating disorders, autism, and anxiety. We frame these findings in an interoceptive predictive processing framework and highlight potential new avenues for treatments.
Juris-M is a variant of Zotero that adds support for legal writing. This workshop will cover:
1. Zotero + Juris-M: what they are and how they work
2. Getting Started: downloading and syncing Zotero + Juris-M
3. Adding items to your Juris-M Library
3.1. Downloading and importing records from Primo & Desktop
3.2. Using the Juris-M connector to capture web resources
3.3. Manually adding items from Lexis and Westlaw
4. Juris-M Library functionality: collections, notes, and more
5. Adding citations to word with Zotero plugin
6. Further support
This article contributes to current debates on progressive, knowledge-based approaches to the curriculum by addressing the question of what it is that students are entitled to learn in school mathematics. From the outset it recognizes progressive arguments that teaching should be reconnected with the emancipatory ambitions of education. In doing so, it takes the notion of powerful knowledge as a starting point, based on what knowledge school students have the right to have access to. In turn, it considers this as a question of epistemic quality. This is elaborated as a concept by drawing on outcomes from a recent study arising from the Developing Mathematical Thinking in the Primary Classroom (DMTPC) project. This concept is founded on the analysis of a distinction between mathematical fallibilism, based on a heuristic view of mathematics as a human activity, and mathematical fundamentalism, which reflects an authoritarian view of the subject as being infallible, absolutist and irrefutable. The relation between powerful knowledge and epistemic quality is considered further by framing it within a sociological theory of knowledge. This helps to highlight a further distinction between knowing that and knowing how, which is used to illustrate examples of high and low epistemic quality in school mathematics. The first example of high epistemic quality is drawn from the DMTPC project. The second example is of low epistemic quality and comes from the highly promoted Core Knowledge Foundation that has recently been imported into English schools from the USA. Finally, the article considers the role of teachers as curriculum makers at the classroom level where curriculum and pedagogy effectively merge. In conclusion, the implications for both policy and practice are considered, in particular proposals are made in relation to the role and place of subject didactics in teaching and teacher education.
The field of regenerative medicine (RM) faces many challenges, including funding. Framing the analysis in terms of institutional politics, valuation studies and ‘technologies of knowledge’, the paper highlights growing debates about payment for RM in the UK, setting this alongside escalating policy debates about ‘value’. We draw on interviews and publicly available material to identify the interacting and conflicting positions of institutional stakeholders. It is concluded that while there is some common ground between institutional stakeholders such as industry and health system gatekeepers, there is significant conflict about reward systems, technology assessment methodologies and payment scenarios; a range of mostly conditional payment schemes and non-mainstream routes are being experimented with. We argue that current developments highlight a fundamental conflict between a concern for the societal value of medical technologies in a resource-limited system and a concern for engineering new reward and payment models to accommodate RM innovations.
Individual and sexual variation are widespread across the animal kingdom, and can have significant implications for species and population ecology and conservation. Ontogenetic shifts in diet and habitat use are prevalent in species that exhibit large changes in body size from birth/hatching to maturity, and can alter an individual’s role in communities and ecosystems. The role of these phenomenon in the ecology of mobile top predators is especially important to understand, as these species are often vital for maintaining food web stability and ecosystem linkage. White sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) are highly migratory top predators, listed as Vulnerable on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Red List, and are reported to undergo an ontogenetic dietary shift. Despite being protected across parts of their range, they are still subject to multiple anthropogenic threats. This work incorporates tooth shape, stable isotope, and fatty acid analyses to investigate individual and sexual variation in white shark ontogenetic shift dynamics and trophic ecology. Evidence for individual and sexual variation across populations is reviewed, and the associated conservation implications discussed, highlighting important current issues and areas for future research that will benefit white shark conservation management.
Purpose – This paper examines how supply chain integration capabilities inform green design strategy adoption and whether green design strategy can lead to higher levels of environmental and economic performance.
Design/methodology/approach – A survey-based approach was used to empirically test the study hypotheses. Based on 216 usable responses collected from automakers around the globe, we compared the results from two different data groups (i.e., Chinese firms vs. Western firms) using the structural equation modeling approach.
Findings – In the Chinese context, both internal and external supply chain integration capabilities are significantly related to the successful adoption of a green design strategy. However, the relationships are not significant in Western context. Green design is found to positively impact environmental performance in both contexts; however, no significant relationship is revealed between green design and economic performance in either context. Finally, environmental performance was found to have a significant and positive impact on economic performance in both contexts.
Research limitations/implications – The cross-sectional survey design that was focused only on the auto industry may affect the inferences of causality and generalizability of this study.
Practical implications – Managers should understand their specific organizational context first, and then strategically develop their external and internal supply chain integration capabilities in order to maximize their green design efforts for improved environmental performance. Companies can be certain that the more gains made in environmental management, the more economic returns can be expected.
Originality/value – This research contributes to the existing resource-based view literature by linking supply chain integration capabilities to green design strategy adoption in different organizational contexts. It also sheds a light on the association between green design and different performance dimensions, and adds value to the current debate on the association between environmental performance and economic performance.
This paper attempts to demystify the publication process in biomedical journals by offering simple step by step recipes on how to write and get published. The author relies on a narrative review and personal experience as a fellow student of publishing to achieve objective. Five stages in the publication process were identified: Planning, Writing, Submission, Managing editorial decisions and Post-acceptance. Planning is probably the most neglected yet the most important stage. The author begins by making sure that all necessary resources are in place, develops careful outline, decides on authorship
and selects potential journal for publication. The paper will typically have three sections. The title which contains title of the paper and the list of authors and also key words is the first section. The abstract and the body of the paper are also the second and third sections. The title and abstract are critical and are usually revised many more times than the other parts of the paper. Choosing key words carefully increases the chance of the paper being read and cited. The body of the paper follows what is called the Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion structure. Submission begins by writing a cover letter that makes the case for the article. Following all the key steps of the submission process avoids early rejection. Respond speedily and graciously and in sufficient detail to reviewers’ and editors’ comments. Following publication, the author should ensure that the published knowledge is disseminated widely. Overall, writing for biomedical journals is not too mysterious. However, there is no short cut: learning to write successfully takes time and practice.
The recent rapid rise in the availability of big data due to Internet-based technologies such as social media platforms and mobile devices has left many market leaders unprepared for handling very large, random and high velocity data. Conventionally, technologies are initially developed and tested in labs and appear to the public through media such as press releases and advertisements. These technologies are then adopted by the general public. In the case of big data technology, fast development and ready acceptance of big data by the user community has left little time to be scrutinized by the academic community. Although many books and electronic media articles are published by professionals and authors for their work on big data, there is still a lack of fundamental work in academic literature. Through survey methods, this paper discusses challenges in different aspects of big data, such as data sources, content format, data staging, data processing, and prevalent data stores. Issues and challenges related to big data, specifically privacy attacks and counter-techniques such as k-anonymity, t-closeness, l-diversity and differential privacy are discussed. Tools and techniques adopted by various organizations to store different types of big data are also highlighted. This study identifies different research areas to address such as a lack of anonymization techniques for unstructured big data, data traffic pattern determination for developing scalable data storage solutions and controlling mechanisms for high velocity data.
Introduction: Mortality among people with mental illness is higher than the general population. Given the changes in the health service delivery in the past decade in Ethiopia, evaluating the pattern of mortality during this period may provide policy relevant information. The aim of this study was to assess the mortality pattern in a tertiary psychiatric hospital in Ethiopia.
Method: A case-control design was employed. Using the Health Management Information System records and clinical
records kept at the tertiary hospital; data on inpatient mortality was collected respectively for a period of nine years (2006 -2014). Changes in the service configuration were also tracked over the nine years period to explore the potential impact of changes in management upon mortality. Data was analyzed through simple descriptive methods and logistic regression.
Result: A total of 16,081 patients were admitted during the nine year period. The overall mortality rate of inpatients was 2.5/1000 admitted patients. The sex specific all-cause mortality rates were high in females (4.6/1000) than in males (1.8/1000). The mortality rate varied over the nine years between 0.5/1000 to 5.0/1000, with indications of fluctuations commensurate with changes in service organizational changes although these changes were not statistically significant. Although suicide accounted for the death of 12.5% (n=5), most died of natural causes and also primarily of infectious
diseases .
Conclusion:Mortality occurs mainly from preventable causes including suicide. Service reconfigurations may play important role in mitigating mortality. However, further systematic studies are required to determine the impact of service configurations on mortality and general morbidity.
Background: There are dearth of literature on the capacity of the health system to diagnose and treat HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia. In this study we evaluated the capacity of health facilities for HIV/AIDS care, its spatial distribution and variations by regions and zones in Ethiopia.
Methods: We analyzed the Service Provision Assessment plus (SPA+) survey data that were collected in 2014 in all regions of Ethiopia. We assessed structural, process and overall capacity of the health system based on the
Donabedian quality of care model. We included 5 structural and 8 process indicators and overall capacity score was constructed by taking the average of all indicators. Multiple linear regression was done using STATA 14 to assess the association of the location and types of health facilities with overall capacity score. Maps displaying the average capacity score at Zonal level were produced using ArcGIS Desktop v10.3 (Environmental Systems Research Institute Inc., Redlands CA, USA).
Results: A total of 873 health facilities were included in the analysis. Less than 5% of the private facilities provided antiretroviral therapy (ART); had national ART guideline, baseline CD4 count or viral load and tuberculosis screening mechanisms. Nearly one-third of the health centers (34.9%) provided ART. Public hospitals have better capacity score (77.1%) than health centers (45.9%) and private health facilities (24.8%). The overall capacity score for urban facilities (57.1%) was higher than that of the rural (38.2%) health facilities (β = 15.4, 95% CI: 11.7, 19.2). Health centers (β = − 21.4, 95% CI: -25.4, − 17.4) and private health facilities (β = − 50.9, 95% CI: -54.8, − 47.1) had lower overall capacity score than hospitals. Facilities in Somali (β = − 13.8, 95% CI: -20.6, − 7.0) and SNNPR (β = − 5.0, 95% CI: -9.8, − 0.1) regions had lower overall capacity score than facilities in the Oromia region. Zones located in emerging regions such as Gambella and Benishangul Gumz and in remote areas of Oromia and SNNPR had lower capacity score in terms of process indicators.
Conclusions: There is a significant geographical heterogeneity on the capacity of health facilities for HIV/AIDS care and treatment in Ethiopia. Targeted capacity improvement initiatives are recommended with focus on health centers and private health facilities, and emerging Regions and the rural and remote areas.
Background
The transition from medical student to junior doctor is one of the most challenging in medicine, affecting both doctor and patient health. Opportunities to support this transition have arisen from advances in mobile technology and increased smartphone ownership.
Methods
This qualitative study consisted of six in-depth interviews and two focus groups with Foundation Year 1 Trainees (intern doctors) and final year medical students within the same NHS Trust. A convenience sample of 14 participants was recruited using chain sampling. Interviews and focus groups were recorded, transcribed verbatim, analysed in accordance with thematic analysis and presented below in keeping with the standards for reporting qualitative research.
Results
Participants represented both high and low intensity users. They used their smartphones to support their prescribing practices, especially antimicrobials through the MicroGuide™ app. Instant messaging, via WhatsApp, contributed to the existing bleep system, allowing coordination of both work and learning opportunities across place and time. Clinical photographs were recognised as being against regulations but there had still been occasions of use despite this. Concerns about public and colleague perceptions were important to both students and doctors, with participants describing various tactics employed to successfully integrate phone use into their practices.
Conclusion
This study suggests that both final year medical students and foundation trainees use smartphones in everyday practice. Medical schools and healthcare institutions should seek to integrate such use into core curricula/training to enable safe and effective use and further ease the transition to foundation training. We recommend juniors are reminded of the potential risks to patient confidentiality associated with smartphone use.
The Breast Cancer Campaign Gap analysis (2013) established breast cancer research priorities without specific focus on surgical research nor the role of surgeons. The majority of breast cancer patients encounter a surgeon at diagnosis or during treatment, thus surgical involvement in design and delivery of high-quality research to improve patient care is critical. This review aims to identify opportunities and priorities for breast surgical research to complement the previous gap analysis.
Ordinariness was a frequently deployed category in the political debates of 2016. According to one political leader, the vote for Brexit was ‘a victory for ordinary, decent people who’ve taken on the establishment and won’. In making this claim Nigel Farage sought to link a dramatic political moment with a powerful, yet conveniently nebulous, construction of the ordinary person. In this paper I want to historicise recent use of the category by returning to another moment when ordinariness held deep political significance: the years immediately following the Second World War. I will explore the range of values, styles, and specific behaviours that gave meaning to the claim to be ordinary; consider the relationship between ordinariness, everyday experience and knowledge; and map the political work ordinariness was called upon to perform. I argue that the immediate postwar period was a critical moment in the formation of ordinariness as a social category, an affective category, a moral category, a consumerist category and, above all, a political category. Crucially, ordinariness itself became a form of expertise, a finding that complicates our understanding of the ‘meritocratic moment’.
Affordable, autonomous recording devices facilitate large scale acoustic monitoring and Rapid Acoustic Survey is emerging as a cost-effective approach to ecological monitoring; the success of the approach rests on the de- velopment of computational methods by which biodiversity metrics can be automatically derived from remotely collected audio data. Dozens of indices have been proposed to date, but systematic validation against classical, in situ diversity measures are lacking. This study conducted the most comprehensive comparative evaluation to date of the relationship between avian species diversity and a suite of acoustic indices. Acoustic surveys were carried out across habitat gradients in temperate and tropical biomes. Baseline avian species richness and subjective multi-taxa biophonic density estimates were established through aural counting by expert ornithol- ogists. 26 acoustic indices were calculated and compared to observed variations in species diversity. Five acoustic diversity indices (Bioacoustic Index, Acoustic Diversity Index, Acoustic Evenness Index, Acoustic Entropy, and the Normalised Difference Sound Index) were assessed as well as three simple acoustic descriptors (Root-mean-square, Spectral centroid and Zero-crossing rate). Highly significant correlations, of up to 65%, between acoustic indices and avian species richness were observed across temperate habitats, supporting the use of automated acoustic indices in biodiversity monitoring where a single vocal taxon dominates. Significant, weaker correlations were observed in neotropical habitats which host multiple non-avian vocalizing species. Multivariate classification analyses demonstrated that each habitat has a very distinct soundscape and that AIs track observed differences in habitat-dependent community composition. Multivariate analyses of the relative predictive power of AIs show that compound indices are more powerful predictors of avian species richness than any single index and simple descriptors are significant contributors to avian diversity prediction in multi-taxa tropical environments. Our results support the use of community level acoustic indices as a proxy for species richness and point to the potential for tracking subtler habitat-dependent changes in community composition. Recommendations for the design of compound indices for multi-taxa community composition appraisal are put forward, with consideration for the requirements of next generation, low power remote monitoring networks.
The sustainable intensification (SI) of agricultural systems offers synergistic opportunities for the co-production of agricultural and natural capital outcomes. Efficiency and Substitution are steps towards SI, but system Redesign is essential to deliver optimum outcomes as ecological and economic conditions change. We show global progress towards SI by farms and hectares, using seven SI sub-types: integrated pest management, conservation agriculture, integrated crop and biodiversity, pasture and forage, trees, irrigation management, and small/patch systems. From 47 SI initiatives at scale (each >104 farms or hectares), we estimate 163M farms (29% of all worldwide) have crossed a redesign threshold, practising forms of SI on 453Mha of agricultural land (9% of worldwide total). Key challenges include investing to integrate more forms of SI in farming systems, creating agricultural knowledge economies, and establishing policy measures to scale SI further. We conclude that SI may be approaching a tipping point where it could be transformative.
Quantification of flood risk and flood inundation requires accurate numerical simulations, both in terms of the mathematical theory that underpins the methods used and the manner in which the meteorological phenomena that cause flooding are coupled to such systems. Through our research, we have demonstrated how rainfall and infiltration effects can be incorporated into existing flood models in a rigorous and mathematically consistent manner; this approach departs from preceding methods, which neglect terms representing such phenomena in the conservation or balancing of momentum. We demonstrate how the omission of these terms means the solution derived from such models cannot a priori be assumed to be the correct one, which is in contrast to solutions from the extended system we have developed which respect the energetic consistency of the problem.
The second issue we address is determining how we can model these meteorological phenomena that lead to flooding, with a specific interest in how existing observation data from rain gauges can be incorporated into our modelling approach. To capture the random nature of the precipitation, we use stochastic processes to model the complex meteorological interactions, and demonstrate how an accurate representation of the precipitation can be built. Given the specific industrial applications we have mind in regards to flood modelling and prediction, there will be a high computational cost associated with any such simulations, and so we consider techniques which can be used to reduce the computational cost whilst maintaining the accuracy of our solutions. Having such an accurate flood model, coupled with a stochastic weather model designed for efficient computational modelling, will enable us to make useful predictions on how future climate change and weather patterns will impact flood risk and flood damage.
Single crystal blades used in high pressure turbine bladed disks of modern gas-turbine engines exhibit material anisotropy. In this paper the sensitivity analysis is performed to quantify the effects of blade material anisotropy orientation on deformation of a mistuned bladed disk under static centrifugal load. For a realistic, high fidelity model of a bladed disk both: (i) linear, and (ii) non-linear friction contact conditions at blade roots and shrouds are considered. The following two kinds of analysis are performed: (i) local sensitivity analysis, based on first order derivatives of system response w.r.t design parameters, and (ii) statistical analysis using polynomial chaos expansion. The polynomial chaos expansion is used to transfer the uncertainty in random input parameters to uncertainty in static deformation of the bladed disk. An effective strategy, using gradient information, is proposed to address the “curse of dimensionality” problem associated with statistical analysis of realistic bladed disk.
A new method has been developed for sensitivity calculations of modal characteristics of bladed disks made of anisotropic materials. The method allows the determination of the sensitivity of the natural frequencies and mode shapes of mistuned bladed disks with respect to anisotropy angles that define the crystal orientation of the monocrystalline blades using fullscale finite element models. An enhanced method is proposed to provide high accuracy for the sensitivity analysis of mode shapes. An approach has also been developed for transforming the modal sensitivities to coordinate systems used in industry for description of the blade anisotropy orientations.
The capabilities of the developed methods are demonstrated on examples of a single blade and a mistuned realistic bladed disk finite element models. The modal sensitivity of mistuned bladed disks to anisotropic material orientation is thoroughly studied.
The GABAA α4-subunit is found co-assembled with δ subunits in extrasynaptic GABAA receptors (α4-GABAARs). Within the striatum α4-GABAARs are most highly expressed in the Nucleus Accumbens (NAc) where they mediate tonic inhibition thought to control the excitability of accumbal medium spiny neurons (MSNs). Experiments presented in this thesis use genetic techniques in mice to investigate the role of α4-GABAARs in modulating binge-like ethanol consumption and the potentiation of locomotor behaviours by cocaine. We have generated several transgenic mouse lines in which the Gabrα4 gene, encoding the α4 subunit, has been deleted either constitutively or within specific neural populations expressing D1 or D2 type dopamine receptors via cre/loxp recombination. Using quantitative rt-PCR and in-situ-hybridisation methods to compare Gabrα4 mRNA levels in brain sections from each genotype we confirmed that the α4 subunit was deleted either globally or in the expected cell type within conditional knockouts. We also generated an Adeno Associated Virus (AAV) carrying Cre-recombinase to knockdown α4 locally by infusing it into in specific brain regions of ‘floxed’-α4 mice.
Deletion of the α4 subunit in mice significantly reduced alcohol consumption in a pre-clinical model of binge-drinking, known as drinking in the dark (DID). Moreover, targeted deletion of Gabrα4 in the NAc was sufficient to mediate this effect. We did not observe any effects on alcohol consumption in mice where α4 was deleted conditionally in D1 or D2 type neurons. This data indicates that α4- GABAARs in the NAc are an important mediator of alcohol consumption.
Deletion of GABAAR α4-subunits from dopamine D1-expressing neurons facilitated cocaine’s ability to potentiate locomotor activity and operant responding for natural rewards. Deletion of GABAAR α4-subunits from dopamine D2-expressing neurons had no such effects. Deletion of GABAAR α4-subunits from dopamine D1- expressing neurons also accelerated the acquisition of behavioural sensitisation to cocaine. This effect was associated with increased cFos expression in the NAc core following acute cocaine, whilst in cocaine-sensitised mice it was associated with increased cFos in both the NAc Core and Shell. A similar altered pattern of cFos expression was observed in mice with a global knockout of α4 subunits however they showed no behavioural effects. This may imply that a balance of α4-GABAARmediated inhibition in D1 and D2 neurons is required for normal behavioural sensitisation to cocaine. The data presented within this thesis indicate that α4- GABAAR-mediated inhibition of D1- and D2-expressing neurons plays an important physiological role in controlling behavioural responses to cocaine.
A method for parametric analysis of the stability loss boundary has been developed for periodic regimes of nonlinear forced vibrations for a first time. The method allows parametric frequency-domain calculations of the stability loss together with the vibration amplitudes and design parameter values corresponding to the stability boundaries. The tracing algorithm is applied to obtain the trajectories of stability loss points as functions of design parameters. The parametric stability loss is formulated for cases when: (i) the design parameters characterise the properties of nonlinear contact interfaces (e.g. gap, contact stiffness, friction coefficient, etc.) and (ii) the design parameters describe linear components of the analysed structure (e.g. parameters of geometric shape, material, natural frequencies, modal damping etc.) and (iii) these parameters describe the excitation loads (e.g. their level, distribution or frequency). An approach allowing the multiparametric analysis of stability boundaries is proposed. The method uses the multiharmonic representation of the periodic forced response and aimed at the analysis of realistic gas-turbine structures comprising thousands and millions degrees of freedom. The method can be used for the effective search of isolated branches of the nonlinear solutions and examples of detection and search of the isolated branches are given: for relatively small and for large-scale finite element models. The efficiency of the method for calculation of the stability boundaries and for the search of isolated branches is demonstrated on simple systems and on a large-scale model of a turbine blade.
This article analyses 131 articles that have been retracted from peer-reviewed journals in business and management studies. We also draw from six in-depth interviews: three with journal editors involved in retractions; two with co-authors of papers retracted because a fellow author committed research fraud; and one with a former academic found guilty of research fraud. Our aim is to promote debate about the causes and consequences of research misconduct and to suggest possible remedies. Drawing on corruption theory, we suggest that a range of institutional, environmental and behavioural factors interact to provide incentives that sustain research misconduct. We explore the research practices that have prompted retractions. We contend that some widely-used, but questionable research practices, should be challenged so as to promote stronger commitment to research integrity and to deter misconduct. We propose eleven recommendations for action by authors, editors, publishers and the broader scientific community.
The many-electron Schrödinger equation for atoms and molecules still remains
analytically insoluble after over 90 years of investigation. This has not deterred
scientists from developing a large variety of elegant techniques and approximations to
workaround this issue and make many-particle quantum calculations computationally
tractable. This thesis presents an all-particle treatment of three-particle systems
which represent the simplest, most complex, many-particle systems including electron
correlation and nuclear motion effects; meaning they provide a close-up view of
fundamental particle interaction. Fully-Correlated (FC) energies and wavefunctions
are calculated to high accuracy (mJ mol−1 or better for energies); and the central
theme of this work is to use the wavefunctions to study fundamental quantum
chemical physics.
Nuclear motion has not received the same attention as electronic structure theory
and this complicated coupling of electron and nuclear motions is studied in this
work with the use of intracule and centre of mass particle densities where it is found
nuclear motion exhibits strong correlation.
A highly accurate Hartree-Fock implementation is presented which uses a Laguerre
polynomial basis set. This method is used to accurately calculate electron correlation
energies using the Löwdin definition and Coulomb holes by comparing with our FC
data. Additionally the critical nuclear charge to bind two electrons within the HF
methodology is calculated.
A modification to Pekeris’ series solution method is implemented to accurately
model excited states of three-particle systems, and adapted to include the effects
of nuclear motion along with three Non-Linear variational Parameters (NLPs) to
aid convergence. This implementation is shown to produce high accuracy results for
singlet and triplet atomic excited S states and the critical nuclear charge to bind
two electrons in both spin states is investigated.
Geometrical properties of three-particle systems are studied using a variety
of particle densities and by determining the bound state stability at the lowest
continuum threshold as a function of mass. This enables us to better ascertain what
is meant when we define a system as an atom or a molecule.
Poly(ADP-ribose) is synthesized by PARP enzymes during the repair of stochastic DNA breaks. Surprisingly, however, we show that most if not all endogenous poly(ADP-ribose) is detected in normal S phase cells at sites of DNA replication. This S phase poly(ADP-ribose) does not result from damaged or misincorporated nucleotides or from DNA replication stress. Rather, perturbation of the DNA replication proteins LIG1 or FEN1 increases S phase poly(ADP-ribose) more than 10-fold, implicating unligated Okazaki fragments as the source of S phase PARP activity. Indeed, S phase PARP activity is ablated by suppressing Okazaki fragment formation with emetine, a DNA replication inhibitor that selectively inhibits lagging strand synthesis. Importantly, PARP activation during DNA replication recruits the single-strand break repair protein XRCC1, and human cells lacking PARP activity and/or XRCC1 are hypersensitive to FEN1 perturbation. Collectively, our data indicate that PARP1 is a sensor of unligated Okazaki fragments during DNA replication and facilitates their repair.
Increasing dissatisfaction with investor-State dispute settlement has weakened the adversarial approach to international investment law and policy. This article
argues that global initiatives, such as the UNCTAD’s Global Action Menu for Investment Facilitation (the ‘‘Action Menu’’), provide good policy praxis to redirect the development of international investment law from adversarial to a constructive path. The Action Menu suggests rebuilding of future international investment law and policy with a reconciliatory spirit and by promoting investment facilitation for sustainable development. To demystify the Action Menu’s policy praxis, this article addresses the following key questions: How is the Action Menu’s proposed investment facilitation framework different from existing investment promotion and protection strategies? Does the Action Menu propose a fundamental change to existing international investment policy agenda? Are there other comparable initiatives that may enlighten the Action Menu’s approach? To what extent the existing domestic policies
on investment facilitation reflect the Action Menu’s approaches? Would the Action Menu’s investment facilitation framework indeed promote sustainable development? The analysis primarily hinges on the impression that at the time when international investment law is fraught with internal antagonism, the Action Menu’s investment facilitation framework brings positive vibes to international investment law and policy making. Key strengths of the Action Menu are its holistic treatment of all primary foreign investment policy stakeholders (i.e., foreign investors and their home and host States) under one policy framework, and its whole-of-government approach for implementation of investment facilitation policies. The apparent weaknesses are a lack
of attention to curb possible race to the bottom and visible lapses in offering a collaborative sustainable development programme. The article concludes that although the Action Menu sets out great policy initiatives, there are many issues that remain to be addressed.
This paper examines the challenges associated with stimulating large-scale investment in energy efficiency and demand management measures, using residential energy efficiency improving retrofits in the UK as a case study. We consider how issues of energy policy, consumer choice and financial systems intersect, drawing on recent literature including energy policy documents and research reports, and on interviews with stakeholders from the finance sector, energy efficiency practitioners and more. We suggest that following the withdrawal of the Green Deal, there is a need to reconsider the framing of policy for household energy efficiency improvements, and examine three potential aspects of a new framing: energy efficiency as infrastructure; new business and financing models for energy efficiency provision; and decentralised financing institutions for energy efficiency investment.
This would require a long-term commitment from government on energy efficiency, and a need to ensure that projects are attractive and investable from both householders and investors’ perspectives. We conclude that there are important roles for government in any large scale initiative for energy efficient retrofitting of UK homes, even if the mechanisms are market based. These includes signalling long-term policy consistency and reducing risks for financial investment, and intermediating between finance and energy efficiency projects.
Emotionally sensitive research can be multi-layered and complex. Based on the authors’ experiences of conducting sensitive qualitative research with people living with HIV, this presentation identifies sources of support and a range of self-care strategies that may be appropriate for qualitative researchers. Peer support and activities such as; walking, exercise and socialising with friends and family can provide additional supports to the researcher. Holistic self-care activities that promote well-being including a healthy lifestyle during research is imperative. It is therefore essential for researchers to be mindful and attuned to the various range of emotional and physical demands that my arise from engaging in HIV research. Researchers must therefore continuously plan and review how to engage in ongoing and effective strategies to promote self-care during the research process.
In 2012, the UN formally recognised Palestine as a non-member state, upgrading its former status as an entity. General Assembly Resolution 67/19 marked the culmination of a decades-long struggle by the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) to bring its national cause to the UN. Scholars have noted how from the late 1960s, the PLO had made overtures to numerous agencies and organisations in its efforts to secure UN recognition. Yet scholars have largely overlooked its interactions with one organisation in particular: the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
This paper thus takes a new approach to the PLO’s history, by examining its relationship with UNRWA. The latter has played a key role in the politics of the Palestinian diaspora; from 1950, it was responsible for administering the refugee camps that acted as incubators for the nationalist movement in exile. Recognising the importance of UNRWA’s position, the PLO accordingly sought to build a relationship with the Agency as part of its wider objective of putting Palestine on the global agenda. Using evidence from the UN archive, as well as UNRWA’s closed Central Registry in Amman, this paper argues that the PLO’s overtures to the Agency constituted a crucial component of its historical political strategy. It therefore takes a new approach to uncover a highly important yet overlooked aspect of the PLO’s history.
The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a comprehensive, internationally agreed-upon set of objectives aiming to vastly improve economic, social and planetary well-being. How exactly to achieve these goals is now a point of discussion at many fora around the world. At one such forum, a Wilton Park Roundtable, an international group of stakeholders and experts found the efficiency of implementation to be a central issue. This efficiency in turn is related to the fact that the goals are all interconnected: In some cases steps towards achieving one goal may hinder the achievement of one or more other goals, leading to unintended “trade-offs”, or inefficiencies in implementation. But at least as often, actions towards a particular goal can have a positive influence on other goals, setting up beneficial “synergies” among the SDGs. Actions that take advantage of these synergies are key to implementing them efficiently because many different goals can be achieved at the same time and fewer resources are needed to achieve the whole set of goals. Saving resources would be a major payoff to countries confronted with the high costs of implementing the SDGs. The challenge now is to sort through the large number of possible interactions among SDGs to uncover and exploit the most important synergies while minimising the effects of trade-offs. Much can be done to achieve this at all levels, from local to global, including raising awareness about SDG interactions, reorienting investments, and reforming governance.
Peer effects in education matter for student achievement and, hence, for their success later in life. However, economists still disagree about the magnitude and shape of these effects and there is little evidence about the channels through which they might work. The contrasting nature of some research highlights a clear need for further investigation into these key areas. Nonetheless, interventions that manipulate student group composition in ways that improve the educational outcomes of low-achieving students may offer policy options that can simultaneously enhance welfare and reduce inequality.
This study was an exploratory study to understand experiences of people living with HIV (PLWHIV) who accessed adoption services. A small number of adoption successes but significant experiences of perceived stigma and discrimination were reported. The paper recommends better ways of assessing PLWHIV to support their rights to adoption.
This article offers comparative findings of the nature of populist Euroscepticism in political parties in contemporary Europe in the face of the Great Recession, migrant crisis, and Brexit. Drawing on case studies included in the Special Issue on France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom, the article presents summary cross-national data on the positions of parties, the relative importance of the crisis, the framing of Euroscepticism, and the impact of Euroscepticism in different country cases. We use this data to conclude that there are important differences between left- and right-wing variants of populist Euroscepticism, and that although there is diversity across the cases, there is an overall picture of resilience against populist Euroscepticism.
Cities raise major challenges and opportunities for achieving sustainability. Much literature on urban sustainability focuses on specific aspects such as planning practices, urban policy or the diffusion of more sustainable technologies or practices. However, attempts at understanding the mechanisms of structural change towards sustainability have resulted in the emergence of an interdisciplinary field of sustainability transitions research. Transitions research has developed a phase model of transitions in which predevelopment, take-off, acceleration and stabilization phases are distinguished. However, the acceleration phase has received limited attention so far. This is a crucial gap as policy makers are keen to accelerate transitions. This paper aims to enhance our understanding of how local actions contribute towards accelerating urban sustainability transitions. It does so by testing an acceleration mechanisms framework through exploring the collective agency of local initiatives in urban sustainability transitions. Drawing on a case study of the city of Brighton & Hove (UK), the paper finds that despite favourable local political conditions, there is a lack of evidence of acceleration apart from in individual domains such as food or mobility. Progress is found to depend on the agency of initiatives to both scale up sustainable practices and embed these practices into local governance arrangements.
Existing research has demonstrated that capturing stakeholder attitudes to landscape may be most accurately performed in the field, in spite of the challenges this brings (Evans and Jones 2011). The use of innovative walking methods is emerging as a key tool for understanding experiences of and relationships with landscape and place. In conservation biology, these and other mobile methods have used underlying spatial data to develop a landscape typology, then spatially tagged and captured stakeholder attitudes in relation to that typology in-situ (Scott et al. 2009). This poster presentation describes our forthcoming research in Abisko, Sweden, which seeks to blend bio-acoustic methods with participatory mapping in order to comprehensively capture stakeholders’ perceptions of, knowledge about and attitudes towards dynamic Arctic environments. The use of this multi-sensory, participatory mapping methodology, which amalgamates experiential human data with empirical ecological survey data, can advance understanding of the complex interactions between society, environment and place in modern conservation approaches (Zia et al. 2015). This interdisciplinary and collaborative research project aims to engage research subjects in active, sensory roles for the co-creation of mutually beneficial knowledge. By complementing existing geophysical/ ecological surveys with insights into local community land-values using ethnographic methods, we build capacity for understanding the impact of environmental change on local communities within the Arctic, whilst developing a new methodology for broader use in the future co-production of sustainable land-management policies internationally. Furthermore, involving people in co-created conservation tools such as wildness maps may be one way of addressing the multiple conflicts currently surrounding wild land and wild species
It is commonly thought that memory deficits in frontal patients are a result of impairments in executive functions which impact upon storage and retrieval processes. Yet, few studies have specifically examined the relationship between memory performance and executive functions in frontal patients. Furthermore, the contribution of more general cognitive processes such as fluid intelligence and demographic factors such as age, education, and premorbid intelligence has not been considered. Our study examined the relationship between recall and recognition memory and performance on measures of fluid intelligence, executive functions and premorbid intelligence in 39 frontal patients and 46 healthy controls. Recall memory impairments in frontal patients were strongly correlated with fluid intelligence, executive functions and premorbid intelligence. These factors were all found to be independent predictors of recall performance, with fluid intelligence being the strongest predictor. In contrast, recognition memory impairments were not related to any of these factors. Furthermore, age and education were not significantly correlated with either recall or recognition memory measures. Our findings show that recall memory in frontal patients was related to fluid intelligence, executive functions and premorbid intelligence. In contrast, recognition memory was not. These findings suggest that recall and recognition memory deficits following frontal injury arise from separable cognitive factors. Recognition memory tests may be more useful when assessing memory functions in frontal patients.
Two mononuclear Dy(III) compounds formulated as [Dy(PNO)6(H2O)2]Br3 (1) and [Dy(PNO)6(NO3)](ClO4)2 (2) have been synthesized and characterized. Single crystal X-ray diffraction studies show that chiral and kryptoracemic strcuctures are formed when different anions are introduced into the system. 1 crystallizes in the non-polar orthorhombic space group P212121, whereas 2 assembles as a kryptoracemate in the polar monoclinic space group P21. The optical activity of single crystals of these two compounds was confirmed by circular dichroism (CD) studies. Thermal gravimetric analyses (TGA) revealed that they are stable up to 376 K (1) and 428 K (2). Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements demonstrate the absence of structural phase transitions over the investigated temperature range. Magnetic studies show that both compounds are field-induced single molecule magnets (SMMs) with energy barriers of 36 (± 0.8) K for 1 and 32 (± 1.4) K for 2. Furthermore, the dielectric and ferroelectric properties of compound 2 were also investigated.
There has been considerable recent interest in matterwave interferometry with bright solitons in quantum gases with attractive interactions, for applications such as rotation sensing. We model the quantum dynamics of these systems and find that the attractive interactions required for the presence of bright solitons causes quantum phase-diffusion, which severely impairs the sensitivity. We propose a scheme that partially restores the sensitivity, but find that in the case of rotation sensing, it is still better to work in a regime with minimal interactions if possible.
The Refugee Convention was not written with the persecution of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, and intersex (LGBTQI) people in mind. This article shows the dilemmas this creates for LGBTQI asylum seekers and their advocates when establishing the case for protection. It uses the United Kingdom (UK) experience as an example and brings the literature on this topic up to date with reference to recent cases with implications for LGBTQI applicants. While there has been a welcome shift to recognize that LGBTQI persecution is a legitimate basis for asylum, contradictions and tensions between United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, European, and UK guidelines and instruments, as well as between UK policy and practice, have resulted in a lack of consistency and fairness in the treatment of LGBTQI asylum seekers. The article identifies three specific areas of concern and goes on to show what happens when they converge, using a case that exemplifies some of the problems – AR (AP), against a decision of the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) [2017] CSIH 52. It concludes by suggesting a shift in the focus of questioning, from the identity of the asylum seeker to the persecution in the country of origin, as a possible basis for fairer treatment of LGBTQI asylum claims.
The aim of this perspective is to summarise the use of the reported 3d-4f Coordination Clusters (CCs) in catalytic reactions and to demonstrate the potential of this emerging field. The pioneering work of Shibasaki, Matsunaga and others, demonstrated the use of 3d-4f in-situ systems to catalyse asymmetric organic transformations. Our recent studies show that well characterised 3d-4f CCs catalyse numerous organic transformations and useful mechanistic aspects of their catalysis can be obtained. Furthermore, we have shown that by manipulation of the metal ion coordination environment; the nature of the 3d and lanthanide ions and the organic periphery of the ligand can all improve the efficacy of a 3d-4f CC catalyst. All in-situ formed and well characterized 3d-4f CCs involved in catalysis are discussed.
This project concerns a Jewish community in the city of Kobe, Japan and its condition of memory/history. It attempts to create a film of this condition. The project consists of a written thesis and a 40min film. The written thesis describes the process of developing a creative strategy for the film.
There are already many films which choose migration as a subject. And because of the loose meaning of migration, different kind of topics are and can be labeled under migration. In this project, I attempt to make a film which is intrinsic to this case. My research process starts with fieldwork to understand this Jewish community. Through a 10 month period of fieldwork mainly in Kobe, Japan, I discovered the incompleteness of history or memory in this Jewish community. In other words, the fragility of their history and collective memory in this place. I set the research question for this project as: ‘what kind of filmic form can respond to this incomplete memory/history condition?’
To address this research question, I first examine this fragility of memory and history through an interdisciplinary set of references, such as migration studies, memory studies, and urban studies. I argue that ‘trace’ is a useful concept in accessing a past, in spite of the incompleteness of history/memory in this place. I also conceptualize the idea of a geographical trace seeking to understand the nature of migrational traces.
I then move on to discussing how the idea of a material trace is not sufficient to adequately attend to this memory/history condition of the Jewish community in Kobe. I first paid attention to existing material traces such as the synagogue, but there is a limit to this approach since much has disappeared. These traces of the community that still exist and the invisible traces that don’t anymore form a temporal layer of the city. Also, some of the traces were dispersed and located in other places, such as New York City and Washington, D.C. in the USA. These traces were also invisible in a sense that they are out of the purview from Kobe. The traces located in Kobe and found in New York City and Washington, D.C. form a geographical layer mediated by the experience of migration.
Based on this field examination, and also engaging with a corpus of films, documentary theory, and discussions in visual anthropology, I propose what I call a poetics of delay. This poetics of delay seeks to employ cinematic means to translate the condition of history/memory of the Jewish community in Kobe with its gaps and forms of invisibility. I argue that this poetics of delay can communicate the partiality and invisibility of the past through sustaining a literal delay in seeing and knowing within the viewer’s experience. The aim of the film is not to provide an undisputed historical narrative of the Jewish community, though it does reflect on that history. Rather, it attempts to represent the difficulty of retrieving history and recovering memory through the medium of documentary film.
We have learnt a lot about the development and maturation of colour vision in infants, but know comparatively little about the development and structure of colour perception once trichromacy has been established. This thesis aims to characterize infant colour perception in the first year of life over several areas which have previously been well documented in adults; colour categorisation, colour preference, perception of illusions, and infant sensitivity to natural scene statistics.
Paper 1 (Skelton, Catchpole, Abbott, Bosten, and Franklin, 2017) systematically mapped infant colour categories revealing that infant colour categories are related to the retinogeniculate pathways of colour vision. Paper 1 also illustrates and quantifies the correspondence between infant colour categories and commonalities found across the worlds’ colour lexicon. Paper 2 shows that infants look for longer at the colours which adults prefer, and provides evidence for an influence of low-level mechanisms on infant response to colour and adult preference. Paper 3 (under review) reopens the question perception of the Munker-White illusion in infants aged 4 to 8 months, through the replication of a previous study and the use of an alternative method, with discussion of the reasons for studying illusions in infancy. Finally, paper 4 provides the first substantive evidence that infants aged 4 months are sensitive to natural scene statistics, as evidenced though the presence of a blue-yellow discrimination bias commonly associated with the distribution of chromaticities found in natural scenes. Paper 4 also has critical implications for the use of psychophysical methods in infants and adults.
The findings inform our understanding of infant colour perception and general perceptual processes by outlining some of the structure around which infants’ colour perception is built. The early structure of infants’ perception of colour is shown to often have commonalities with adult colour perception.
Through a series of four papers using experimental and correlational methods, this thesis investigates precursors to judging life as meaningful. This thesis extends and tests tripartite models that define meaning in life (MIL) as comprised of the three dimensions of purpose, coherence and significance, while integrating claims derived from the Meaning Maintenance Model and previous research on sources of MIL (e.g., relationships, personal control). In Paper 1, we showed that different kinds of coherence threat (self-uncertainty and general uncertainty) were perceived differently, with self-uncertainty being overall most successful at influencing felt uncertainty; however, neither of the two manipulations influenced MIL judgements. In Paper 2, against our predictions, we did not find evidence that the effects of belongingness and personal control additively increase sense of MIL. In Paper 3, across three studies, we tested whether fulfilment of the three dimensions of MIL (coherence, purpose, significance) predicts MIL judgments contemporaneously and over time. In Study 1, we improved previous measures to create distinct scales of the key constructs. In Studies 2 and 3, we showed that sense of significance was the most consistent predictor of MIL judgments across time, with the effects of purpose and coherence being moderated by religious belief (Study 3). Finally, in Paper 4, we used a multilevel approach to show that different meaning frameworks (i.e., propositions that one holds about oneself and the world; e.g., identities, values) are seen as more meaningful, the more they provide a sense of purpose, significance and coherence. This, in turn, predicted the perceived importance of meaning frameworks.Finally, I discuss implications for the future of the construct of MIL in terms of definition, operationalisation, theoretical utility and future directions.
Commercial actors play a key role in promoting public health agendas as they move into space previously occupied by the state-sponsored health sector and welfare state. This paper examines how marketing of digital self-monitoring devices promotes public health. Existing self-monitoring research often separates or compares positions of commercial actors and users, using a discourse lens to examine commercial actor ‘expectations’ and ‘promises’, and user research focusing on ‘practices’. The research on which this paper is based moves beyond this divide, examining commercial and user worlds through a practice lens. We draw on the research’s first stage which examined self-monitoring device marketing, arguing that marketing can be understood as constituting self-monitoring practices. Much literature on self-monitoring focuses on novel networked devices, resulting in potential over-emphasis on change and innovation. Taking cases of well-established bodily monitoring (weighing and blood pressure), we set self-monitoring within a longer history. We draw on Shove’s practice theory which attends to histories of practices and evolutions in practices’ required elements: materials, meanings and competences. Commercial companies are shown to rework well-embedded practices as they constitute the practice elements of self-monitoring. They thus keep in play continuities and novelty, maintaining connections to health while moving away from clinical associations. We argue that, in constituting self-monitoring practices as ‘shared’, ‘aesthetic’ and ‘enjoyable’, commercial actors address implicit resistances to negative connotations of ‘individualised’, ‘responsibilised’ consumer-citizens implied in neo-liberal health promotion agendas, widening the self-monitoring market and promoting public health by creating more desirable ‘lifestyle’ practices.
The contributors to this Special Issue are concerned by the nature of transregional Asian interactions taking place in the field of commerce. They explore this concern through an examination of the experiences, activities, and histories of commodity traders whose life trajectories criss-cross Asia. The articles share a common geographic point of reference: Yiwu - an officially designated ‘international trade city’ located in China’s eastern Zhejiang province. The introduction to the Special Issue analytically locates the individual papers in relationship to a long-standing body of work in anthropology and history on port cities and trading nodes. In so doing it suggests the importance of considering multiple historical processes to understanding Yiwu and its position in China and the world today, as well as, more generally, for the anthropology of ‘globalisation from below’.
We investigate whether systematic reviews of cost-effectiveness analyses of interventions in low and middle income countries are feasible and useful. To this aim, we systematically review systematic reviews of cost-effectiveness studies and systematic reviews of effectiveness studies. We find 27 systematic reviews of cost-effectiveness studies, predominantly of health interventions. We look at the methodologies employed by these reviews to summarise the results of the original studies and we look at the policy recommendations they provide. We conclude that systematic reviews of cost-effectiveness studies in developing countries are few and that their ability to provide policy recommendations is very limited. The paucity of cost-effectiveness analyses in developing countries and the difficulty to summarise the results of diverse cost-effectiveness analyses in a meaningful way are major problems. We suggest that the collection of cost data along impact evaluations and methodological development in the summary of cost-effectiveness ratios across studies constitute a more promising approach.
Patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) have higher probability to develop Alzheimer's disease (AD) than elderly controls. The detection of subtle changes in brain structure associated with disease progression and the development of tools to identify patients at high risk for dementia in a short time is crucial. Here, we used probabilistic white matter (WM) tractography to explore microstructural alterations within the main association, limbic, and commissural pathways in aMCI patients who converted to AD after 1 year follow-up (MCIconverters) and those who remained stable (MCIstable). Both diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and quantitative magnetization transfer (qMT) parameters have been considered for a comprehensive pathophysiological characterization of the WM damage. Overall, tract-specific parameters derived from qMT and DTI at baseline were able to differentiate aMCI patients who converted to AD from those who remained stable in time. In particular, the qMT exchange rate, RMB0, of the right uncinate fasciculus was significantly decreased in MCIconverters, whereas fractional anisotropy was significantly decreased in the bilateral superior cingulum in MCIconverters compared to MCIstable. These results confirm the involvement of WM and particularly of association fibers in the progression of AD, highlighting disconnection as a potential mechanism.
In recent years, the pharmaceutical industry is going through a period of exceptional changes, where emerging market expansion and technology advances have increased sector growth. Many new drug candidates found in the drug discovery pipeline generally have poor physicochemical and biopharmaceutical properties, such as poor solubility or low chemical compatibility, which severely limits their oral bioavailability and thus therapeutic performance. The reduction in the numbers of new molecules coming to market along with the expiry of the existing patents is also forcing the pharmaceutical industry to invest in and embrace new technologies that can save both costs and time for manufacture. One timely solution to the growing need can be the exploitation of continuous manufacturing and process engineering with better controls and reproducibility and low labour and production cost. Recently, implementation of process analytical tools (PAT) under the Quality by Design (QbD) paradigm has attracted a strong interest by pharmaceutical scientists as well as the regulatory agencies across the globe. The ultimate aims of these QbD approaches are being the science-based design and development of formulation and manufacturing processes for the predefined product quality objects.
Many cybersecurity literature take the 1990s as a starting point to trace the process of securitising cyberspace; implicitly suggesting that it initially emerged as a non-security sector, which was then securitised. Although it is true that ‘cyberspace’ and ‘cybersecurity’ were novel terms at that period, their ontological status cannot be reduced to their mere utterances. If the security of cyberspace as a constructed metaphor signifies the security of computers and networks, with all their associated software, hardware, and data - technologies that have long historical roots - then an ahistorical approach to studying its evolution would be both insufficient and over-simplified. Therefore, this paper aims to prove that security has always been an integral part of the co-production of cyberspace: As a context in which it was developed, as a generative force behind many of its technologies, and as a policy concern in different phases of its evolution, since the emergence of the first computer till the advent of the internet. It seeks to prove that the history of cyberspace is better analysed as a complex process of restructuring, not just technically, but also politically and socially, in which the interests of various actors competed, and security considerations were intertwined with technical ones, and in many respects coproduced them. This analysis is important to show that security was not imposed on cyberspace by political discourses, but has always been intrinsic to the existence of its components and technologies. Besides, it challenges the deterministic accounts of the development of computers and networks, which present them in an idealistic, utopian image as being solely products of civilian and academic efforts.
Peace education in conflict affected societies has achieved widespread popularity amongst international aid agencies seeking to find a place for education in supporting peacebuilding since the 1990s. However, its aims, content, and effectiveness have been critiqued particularly for its failures to address structural causes of grievances. This article draws on empirical research exploring a UNICEF supported peace education related curriculum reform in Sierra Leone developed in 2008 called “Emerging Issues.” The article draws on a critical discourse analysis of its content and qualitative interview data with key informants. It argues that while “Emerging Issues” was well-intentioned, its lack of regard for contextual dynamics generating conflict and a tendency to pathologize the nation served to undermine its transformatory goals.
Political events in 2016 marked a fundamental shift in the world order. The scale of the shift has precipitated claims that the world has entered into a new international order characterised by isolationist policies. This article addresses the validity of these claims with regards to international investment law. The article adopts a human rights perspective to argue that isolationist State conduct in international investment law can often be justified as an exercise of the right to economic self-determination. As the right to self-determination has been invoked in debates regarding international investment law since the 1960s and 1970s, it is suggested that some isolationist State practice is merely the latest manifestation of on-going policy tensions within the international investment law regime.
Addiction has been proposed as a ‘reward deficient’ state, which is compensated for with substance use. There is growing evidence of dysregulation in the opioid system, which plays a key role in reward, underpinning addiction. Low levels of endogenous opioids are implicated in vulnerability for developing alcohol dependence (AD) and high mu-opioid receptor (MOR) availability in early abstinence is associated with greater craving. This high MOR availability is proposed to be the target of opioid antagonist medication to prevent relapse. However, changes in endogenous opioid tone in AD are poorly characterised and are important to understand as opioid antagonists do not help everyone with AD. We used [11C]carfentanil, a selective MOR agonist positron emission tomography (PET) radioligand, to investigate endogenous opioid tone in AD for the first time. We recruited 13 abstinent male AD and 15 control participants who underwent two [11C]carfentanil PET scans, one before and one 3 h following a 0.5 mg/kg oral dose of dexamphetamine to measure baseline MOR availability and endogenous opioid release. We found significantly blunted dexamphetamine-induced opioid release in 5 out of 10 regions-of-interest including insula, frontal lobe and putamen in AD compared with controls, but no significantly higher MOR availability AD participants compared with HC in any region. This study is comparable to our previous results of blunted dexamphetamine-induced opioid release in gambling disorder, suggesting that this dysregulation in opioid tone is common to both behavioural and substance addictions.
An essay on the use of colour and silvered ornament in the interiors of the Amalienburg, one of the most significant examples of eighteenth century silvered interiors in Europe. The Amalienburg is a Rococo hunting lodge in the grounds of Nymphenburg Palace in Munich, designed by François de Cuvilliés (1695 – 1768), with interiors by the stuccoist Johann Baptist Zimmermann (1680-1758) and the woodcarver Joachim Dietrich (1690–1753).
Terahertz (THz) spectroscopy systems are widely employed to retrieve the chemical and material composition of a sample. This is single-handed the most important driving motivation in the field and has largely contributed to shaping THz science as an independent subject. The limited availability of high-resolution imaging devices, however, still represents a major technological challenge in this promising field of research. In this theoretical work, we tackle this challenge by developing a novel nonlinear Ghost Imaging (GI) approach that conceptually outperforms established single-pixel imaging protocols at inaccessible wavelengths. Our methodology combines nonlinear THz generation with time-resolved field measurements, as enabled by state-of-the-art Time Domain Spectroscopy (TDS) techniques. As an ideal application target, we consider hyperspectral THz imaging of semi-transparent samples with nonnegligible delay contribution and we demonstrate how time-resolved, full-wave acquisition enables accurate spatiotemporal reconstruction of complex inhomogeneous samples.
The P2Y12 receptor plays a critical role in the amplification of platelet aggregation in response to various agonists and stable thrombus generation at the site of vascular injury leading to deleterious ischemic complications. Therefore, treatment with a P2Y12 receptor blocker is a major effective strategy to prevent ischemic complications in high-risk patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). The determination of optimal platelet inhibition is based on maximizing antithrombotic properties while minimizing bleeding risk and is critically dependent on individual patient's propensity for thrombotic and bleeding risks. Immediately after ACS and during PCI, where highly elevated thrombotic activity is present, a loading dose administration with a potent P2Y12 receptor blocker such as ticagrelor or prasugrel is preferred. In stable coronary artery disease patients undergoing PCI, clopidogrel is widely used. In addition, in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infraction who cannot take oral medications, a fast acting intravenous glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitor or P2Y12 receptor blocker, cangrelor, may add clinical benefits. During long term therapy, a strategy that prevents ischemic risk while avoiding excessive bleeding risk is similarly desired. Although up to one year dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) is recommended in patients undergoing elective stenting, the available data support the anti-ischemic benefit of prolonged DAPT (more than1 year) in patients with prior MI. In addition to the DAPT risk calculator tool, future risk assessment methods that analyze intrinsic thrombogenicity and atherosclerotic coronary burden may further identify the optimal candidate for prolonged DAPT to improve net clinical outcomes.
Heart failure (HF) and ischaemic heart disease (IHD) are among the leading causes of death globally [1,2]. Despite improvements in the prevention and management of IHD, it remains the commonest cause of HF [2,3]. The prognosis, once a diagnosis of HF is established, is limited with only 50% surviving to 5 years and 10% to 10 years [2]. It is therefore critical that interventional cardiologists not only focus on appropriate revascularisation strategies but also optimal medical therapy to prevent and/or treat HF. Spironolactone, the first available mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist (MRA), has been available for over 50 years when it was used solely in states of hyperaldosteronism [4]. Since then the class has expanded and their role in the medical management and prevention of HF has been firmly established [4]. However, despite the recommendations of both the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and the American Heart Association (AHA) to initiate eplerenone early after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) associated with left ventricular systolic dysfunction, there are concerns that there is a mismatch between the evidence base behind these recommendations and contemporary management of patients with AMI particularly with regard to revascularisation and speed of discharge [5–7].
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how the material nature of legacy technology makes its users passionately prefer it over its digital alternatives.
Design/methodology/approach – This ethnographic study uses data from 26 in-depth interviews with vinyl collectors, augmented with longitudinal participant–observation of vinyl collecting and music store events.
Findings – The findings reveal how the physicality of vinyl facilitates the passionate relationships (with music, the vinyl as performative object and other people) that make vinyl so significant in vinyl users’ lives. Research limitations/implications – As this study examines a single research context (vinyl) from the perspective of participants from three developed, Anglophone nations, its key theoretical contributions should be examined in other technological contexts and other cultures.
Practical implications – The findings imply that miniturisation and automation have lower limits for some products, material attributes should be added to digitised products and that legacy technology products could be usually be reframed as tools of authentic self-expression.
Originality/value – This study explains what can happen beyond the top of the “S” curve in the Technology Acceptance Model, furthering our understanding of consumers’ reactions to the proliferation of digital technology in their lives.
While the body of research on effective interventions for children and young people who experience commercial sexual exploitation is growing, much remains unknown regarding intervention needs, particularly in relation to the role of residential care in meeting those needs. In an effort to fill the gap in this research, this paper will report on a study comparing case files for girls victimized (n = 73) and not victimized (n = 62) by commercial sexual exploitation who were living in a residential care setting in a large southwestern city in the United States. Findings indicate that sexually exploited girls were more likely to report experiences of child sexual abuse, substance misuse/addiction, dating violence, and gang affiliation; they were also significantly more likely to run away from the group home facility and be identified as having an ‘unsuccessful discharge’. In the second part of the article we will consider the results of this study in the context of a wider discourse on how best to intervene in the lives of CSEC survivors in the United States and throughout the world.
Karl Marx's account of the source of 'solidarity between humans' can be extended into an account of the source of 'human solidarity' much more easily than G. W.F. Hegel. For Hegel the source of human solidarity lies in the fact that humans are self-aware beings and that self-awareness has an inherently 'universal' character. The chapter describes the emergence of the view that humans are 'species-beings' in Marx's writings. It shows that how this view is closely related to Hegel's view of human beings as conscious subjects who are rationally driven to become universally self-conscious. In his 1842 writings Marx effectively adopts Hegel's idea that subjects actualize their freedom by establishing and participating in the institutions of right, culminating in the state. In the 1843 'Critique of Hegel's Doctrine of the State' Marx develops a slightly different, though characteristically Hegelian view of the relationship between the human essence and the properly constituted socio-political association.
Background: Men who have sex with men (MSM) are recommended the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination due to their higher risk of genital warts and anal cancer. Purpose: To examine HPV vaccine acceptability amongst MSM in the UK. Methods: Using advertisements via Facebook, MSM were recruited to an online survey measuring motivations for HPV vaccination. Logistic regression was performed to identify predictors of HPV vaccine acceptability. Results: Out of 1508 MSM (median age = 22, range: 14–63 years) only 19% had good knowledge of HPV. Overall, 55% of MSM were willing to ask for the HPV vaccine and 89% would accept it if offered by a healthcare professional (HCP). Access to sexual health clinics (SHCs) [OR = 1.82, 95% CI 1.29–2.89], the disclosure of sexual orientation to a HCP [OR = 2.02, CI 1.39–3.14] and HIV-positive status [OR = 1.96, CI 1.09–3.53] positively predicted HPV vaccine acceptability. After receiving information about HPV, perceptions of HPV risk [OR = 1.31, CI 1.05–1.63], HPV infection severity [OR = 1.89, CI 1.16–3.01), HPV vaccination benefits [OR = 1.61, CI 1.14–3.01], HPV vaccine effectiveness [OR = 1.54, CI 1.14–2.08], and the lack of perceived barriers to HPV vaccination [OR = 4.46, CI 2.95–6.73] were also associated with acceptability. Conclusions: Although nearly half of MSM would not actively pursue HPV vaccination, the vast majority would accept the vaccine if recommended by HCPs. In order to achieve optimal uptake, vaccine promotion campaigns should focus on MSM who do not access SHCs and those unwilling to disclose their sexual orientation.
Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is a leading cause of global mortality. Regional variations in reporting frameworks and survival mean the exact burden of OHCA to public health is unknown. Nevertheless, overall prognosis and neurological outcome are relatively poor following OHCA and have remained almost static for the past three decades. In this Series paper, we explore the aetiology of OHCA. Coronary artery disease remains the predominant cause, but there is a diverse range of other potential cardiac and non-cardiac causes to be aware of. Additionally, we describe how investigators and key stakeholders in resuscitation science have formulated specific Utstein data element domains in an attempt to standardise the definitions and outcomes reported in OHCA research so that management pathways can be improved. Finally, we identify the predictors of survival after OHCA and what primary and secondary prevention strategies can be instigated to mitigate the devastating sequelae of this growing public health issue.
Concerns regarding the impact of neonicotinoid exposure on bee populations recently led to an EU-wide moratorium on the use of certain neonicotinoids on flowering crops. Currently evidence regarding the impact, if any, the moratorium has had on bees’ exposure is limited. We sampled pollen and nectar from bumblebee colonies in rural and peri-urban habitats in three UK regions; Stirlingshire, Hertfordshire and Sussex. Colonies were sampled over three years; prior to the ban (2013), during the initial implementation when some seed-treated winter-sown oilseed rape was still grown (2014), and following the ban (2015). To compare species-level differences, in 2014 only, honeybee colonies in rural habitats were also sampled. Over half of all samples were found to be contaminated (n=408), with thiamethoxam being the compound detected at the highest concentrations in honeybee- (up to 2.29 ng/g in nectar in 2014, median≤0.1 ng/g, n=79) and bumblebee-collected pollen and nectar (up to 38.77 ng/g in pollen in 2013, median ≤0.12 ng/g, n=76). Honeybees were exposed to higher concentrations of neonicotinoids than bumblebees in 2014. While neonicotinoid exposure for rural bumblebees declined post-ban (2015), suggesting a positive impact of the moratorium, the risk of neonicotinoid exposure for bumblebees in peri-urban habitats remained largely the same between 2013 and 2015.
The thesis examines different international figures of dissident female protectors, who resist, challenge, disrupt and/or reinforce the multiple ‘logics of protection’ of/in International Security. Locating the existing approaches to, and explorations of, the notion of ‘logic of masculinist protection’ in feminist security studies, the thesis seeks to expand and pluralise this work by arguing that logics of protection are, in fact, plural and intersecting. It investigates how such logics rely on multiple power relations of not only gender, but also race, sexuality, (settler) coloniality, and so forth. From this point of departure, the thesis identifies and examines different practices and sites of resistance to such plural and intersecting logics. It focuses on the acts of iconic female protectors operating within and beyond official institutions of protection. Mobilising Foucault’s work on parrhesia, understood as a practice that involves speaking fearless truth to power, the thesis thus analyses the ways in which different female protectors become parrhesiastes, in their acts of ‘snapping’ in reaction to logics of protection, by speaking risky truths to their constitutive power. The thesis examines the cases of Malalai Joya, Chelsea Manning, the Gulabi Gang, and Idle No More as parrhesiastic ‘snaps’ that problematise, disrupt, and/or reinforce logics of protection of/in International Security. Finally, the thesis concludes by reflecting on what such analysis means for our understanding of parrhesia as a political and ethical practice today in the context of international security, delineating its implications for feminist security studies and IR more generally.
Residential demand-side response (DSR) is a key strategy for meeting the challenges facing the UK electricity system. Leveraging residential flexibility should help to enhance system reliability, reduce carbon emissions, support the integration of renewables into the energy mix and deliver a lower-cost electricity system. However, the viability of residential DSR hinges on two critical factors: consumers will first need to switch to DSR programmes in sufficient numbers and then successfully respond by adjusting their consumption patterns accordingly.
This thesis explores how to optimise the impact of residential DSR by examining the enablers and constraints of uptake and response. While participation is primarily encouraged through financial incentives, studies suggest that some consumers may be willing to participate for nonfinancial reasons. As such, this thesis also explores how environmental and pro-social motivations could be leveraged to help promote uptake and response.
The thesis contributes to the knowledge on DSR by testing UK consumer preferences for different programme models through a large-scale online survey and identifying measures which could help to maximise uptake. It also explores the potential afforded by dynamic information-only programmes through a trial based on available wind generation. The thesis further makes a theoretical contribution by exploring how the Fogg Behaviour Model (FBM) can be used to conceptualise the enablers and constraints of uptake and response. By mapping these factors to the FBM’s core components of ability, motivation and trigger, the model is refined as a tool for understanding how to optimise the impact of residential DSR.
The research reveals that information-only DSR programmes may represent a significant untapped resource. Approximately 8% of a representative sample of UK consumers indicated a preference for this model over more conventional price-based programmes; while trial households succeeded in reducing electricity consumption by 9.9% on average when asked to consume less and increasing consumption by 4.4% on average when asked to consume more. These promising findings may help to inform policy and programme design as the UK energy system evolves towards a renewables-based future.
Previous studies have identified the factors affecting successful technology commercialization as outcomes of R&D projects. However, most of them have used cross‐sectional data, whereas there is a dearth of literature using longitudinal data analysis. Longitudinal analysis is essential for investigating the characteristics of early‐stage innovative projects due to the inherent time lag between project evaluation and commercialization. Therefore, this study examines the early‐stage project characteristics that can be used as meaningful evaluation criteria for predicting success, particularly in technology commercialization. We collected data on the ex‐ante evaluation results and ex‐post commercialization results of R&D projects pursued by entrepreneurial firms. We then conducted a logistic regression analysis and identified three market‐related factors as significant in driving technology commercialization success in the early stages of technology development: market potential, commercialization plan, and market condition.
A multiple view polarimetric camera is developed. The system uses four separate action cameras and software is employed to map the images onto each other in order to generate the Stokes vectors, the degree of linear polarisation and angle images. To ensure robustness, an automated calibration system has been developed that ensures the pixels are correctly mapped. Video frame synchronisation is also developed.
This thesis has three separate parts. In the first part I report the first ex post study of the economic impact of sea level rise. I apply two econometric approaches to estimate the past effects of sea level rise on the economy of the USA, viz. Barro type growth regressions adjusted for spatial patterns and a matching estimator. The unit of analysis is 3063 counties of the USA. I fit growth regressions for 13 time periods and I estimate numerous varieties for both growth regressions and matching estimator. Although there is some evidence that sea level rise has a positive effect on economic growth, in most specifications the estimated effects are insignificant. Therefore, I cannot confirm the implicit assumption of previous ex-ante studies, in particular that sea level rise has in general negative effect on economies.
In the second part I fit Ricardian regressions of agricultural land values for 2830 counties of the USA on past sea level rise, taking account of spatial autocorrelation and heteroscedasticity. I find a significant, hill-shaped relationship. Hence, the outcomes are mixed. Mild sea level rise increases, while more pronounced sea level rise causes land values to fall. The results are robust to a set of variations.
In the third part I explore an unprecedented dataset of almost 6,000 observations to identify main predictors of climate knowledge, climate risk perception and willingness to pay (WTP) for climate change mitigation. Among nearly 70 potential explanatory variables I detect the most important ones using a multisplit lasso estimator. Importantly, I test significance of individuals' preferences about time, risk and equity. The study is innovative as these behavioural characteristics were recorded by including experimental methods into a live sample survey. This unique way of data collection combines advantages of surveys and experiments. The most important predictors of environmental attitudes are numeracy, cognitive ability, inequity aversion and political and ideological world-view.
A hallmark of the cellular response to DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) is histone H2AX phosphorylation by the protein kinase ATM. H2AX is unevenly distributed throughout chromatin and is rapidly phosphorylated to form γH2AX up to 2 megabases either side of DSBs. Studies in yeast systems have shown that while γH2A can spread in cis surrounding the break site, it can also spread in trans onto unbroken chromosomes located in close spatial proximity. Although the majority of data in the current literature presents the well characterised in cis spread of γH2AX, there are strong indications that it can also occur in trans in mammalian systems; analogous to the findings shown in yeast. This thesis lays out the steps taken to develop a novel system to address the spatial distribution of γH2AX around a nascent DSB.
Since the first published live imaging experiments of the dynamics of chromatin by in vivo single particle tracking there has been extensive investigation into the regulation and biological function of movement of damaged DNA. In yeast, a relative consensus exists that DSB induction increases the movement of a DSB. In contrast to yeast however, data published of DSB movement in higher eukaryotes has been controversial, caused by conflicting results. Here, I developed a cell-based system, and utilised timelapse live cell imaging to show that a chromosomal locus containing a single endonuclease-induced DSB shows confined movement in comparison to an undamaged locus. Furthermore, this confined movement of a damaged locus is compounded by treatment with an ATM kinase inhibitor but not a DNA-PKcs kinase inhibitor, suggesting that the kinase activity of ATM and not the kinase activity of DNA-PKcs plays a significant role in the dynamics of DSBs.
This thesis combines autoethnography (Adams et al., 2015) with a psychosocial (Frosh, 2010; Hollway and Jefferson, 2013) approach to explore notions of self and responsibility in the self-narratives of young people involved in treatment for harmful sexual behaviour (HSB). It reflects an area of professional interest for me as a social worker involved in the assessment and treatment of young people classified as having sexual behaviour problems, and appears to be an under represented area of the research literature. Working with the psychoanalytic concept of transference I also explore how as a researcher I make sense of the ways in which professionals and young people encounter each other in treatment.
Drawing on poststructuralist conceptions of self and an ethical life (Butler, 2005), I suggest that treatment operates as a form of ethical violence, if ethical violence is to require a coherent self-narrative from young people as part-evidence of them taking personal responsibility (Butler, 2005). Rather than focusing on the ‘truth’ of a ‘seamless story’, I am interested in what Butler (2005) calls ‘enigmatic articulations’ that cannot easily be narrated. From this perspective I use autoethnographic methods and psychoanalytic tools to consider how unconscious dynamics might be enacted between practitioners and young people in treatment to produce meaning, and to make sense of discomfiting, and sometimes conflictual experiences.
The empirical study employed a qualitative longitudinal design (Thomson, 2012) gathering narrative data over the course of eight months from six young men aged between sixteen and eighteen, at various stages of treatment for HSB. Interviews were conducted using the ‘Free Association Narrative Interview’ method (Hollway and Jefferson, 2013), and complemented with creative/arts-based techniques, such as music and collage (Thomson, 2008). Personal reflections and insights, aroused through my own transference were also produced during data collection and analysis. Data analysis was inductive, utilising narrative (Doucet and Mauthner, 2008), and psychosocial approaches (Frosh and Baraitser, 2008; Hollway and Jefferson, 2013), informed by psychoanalytic (Laplanche and Pontalis, 1973; Zizek, 2006; Frosh, 2012) and social (Butler, 2004, 2005; Frosh, 2010) theoretical perspectives.
Findings are presented in the form of three case studies, influenced by the psychoanalytic case study tradition (Forrester, 1996) and autoethnography (Ellis and Rawicki, 2013), which serve as exemplars, illustrating themes that emerged from the wider data set. Each presents my understanding and interpretation of the young person’s story, in relation to their experience of treatment as provided over the course of the interviews. The case studies also highlight some of the complex struggles involved for young people in trying to narratively locate themselves between various, and often competing discursive demands, and provide insights from my experience as a practice informed researcher and interlocutor engaged in collaborative meaning making. The narratives are analysed to reveal discordant voices characterised by contradictions and inconsistencies; fears, anxieties and uncertain futures, as well as un-narrated feelings of dangerousness, which are echoed and amplified through my own highly personalised reflections.
The thesis makes a number of original contributions, and develops new substantive knowledge regarding an understanding of young people attending treatment for harmful sexual behaviour, particularly in relation to how they view themselves and their treatment journeys. By writing autoethnographically, and using this to present participant stories as multivoiced narratives I am bringing both a researcher, and practitioner perspective into view regarding young people’s understanding of responsibility, truth and disclosure. The application of Lacanian-influenced, psychosocial, creative, narrative and autoethnographic methods is original in its approach to researching ‘beneath the surface’ with young people involved in treatment for HSB. The thesis also generates valuable insights in terms of the limits of narrative approaches to treatment, and the support needs of practitioners.
This article explores the nature of inter-Asian trade dynamics through a consideration of the role played by traders from northern Afghanistan’s Central Asian borderlands. It explores the role that traders from this region have played in commercial exchanges involving China, the Arabian Peninsula and a range of settings in West Asia. In addition to documenting the inter-Asian scope of these traders’ activities, the article also addresses the shifting nature of their identity formations in relationship to successive waves of migration. The traders often identify themselves in relationship to ethno-national identity categories (Turkmen, Uzbek and Tajik) that are politically salient in Central Asia and Afghanistan today. At the same time, the traders also emphasise their being from families that migrated from the territories of the Emirate of Bukhara during the early years of communist rule in the 1920s and 1930s. In the context of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, many of these families moved from Afghanistan to Saudi Arabia, often staying for several years in cities and towns in Pakistan. Over the past three decades, Central Asian émigré families have increasingly established their businesses and communities in the Arabian Peninsula and Turkey; they also run offices in the trading cities of maritime China.
Primary familial brain calcification (PFBC) is a rare cerebral microvascular calcifying disorder with a wide spectrum of motor, cognitive, and neuropsychiatric symptoms. It is typically inherited as an autosomal-dominant trait with four causative genes identified so far: SLC20A2, PDGFRB, PDGFB, and XPR1. Our study aimed at screening the coding regions of these genes in a series of 177 unrelated probands that fulfilled the diagnostic criteria for primary brain calcification regardless of their family history. Sequence variants were classified as pathogenic, likely pathogenic, or of uncertain significance (VUS), based on the ACMG-AMP recommendations. We identified 45 probands (25.4%) carrying either pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants (n = 34, 19.2%) or VUS (n = 11, 6.2%). SLC20A2 provided the highest contribution (16.9%), followed by XPR1 and PDGFB (3.4% each), and PDGFRB (1.7%). A total of 81.5% of carriers were symptomatic and the most recurrent symptoms were parkinsonism, cognitive impairment, and psychiatric disturbances (52.3%, 40.9%, and 38.6% of symptomatic individuals, respectively), with a wide range of age at onset (from childhood to 81 years). While the pathogenic and likely pathogenic variants identified in this study can be used for genetic counseling, the VUS will require additional evidence, such as recurrence in unrelated patients, in order to be classified as pathogenic.
We report a novel miniature Paul ion trap design with an integrated optical fibre cavity which can serve as a building block for a fibre-linked quantum network. In such cavity quantum electrodynamic set-ups, the optimal coupling of the ions to the cavity mode is of vital importance and this is achieved by moving the ion relative to the cavity mode. The trap presented herein features an endcap-style design complemented with extra electrodes on which additional radiofrequency voltages are applied to fully control the pseudopotential minimum in three dimensions. This method lifts the need to use three-dimensional translation stages for moving the fibre cavity with respect to the ion and achieves high integrability, mechanical rigidity and scalability. Not based on modifying the capacitive load of the trap, this method leads to precise control of the pseudopotential minimum allowing the ion to be moved with precisions limited only by the ion’s position spread. We demonstrate this by coupling the ion to the fibre cavity and probing the cavity mode profile.
Introduction: There have been significant new developments in the treatment of patients with myocardial infarction with respect to oral antithrombotic agents over the past decade. Recent studies have explored the potential utility of targeting the dual pathway inhibition of platelet function with single or dual antiplatelet agents and the thrombin pathway with direct thrombin inhibitors or factor Xa inhibitors.
Areas covered: In this review, the authors focus on the recent developments of oral antithrombotic agents including antiplatelet and antithrombin agents. It is based on literature covering: aspirin, P2Y12 receptor blockers, PAR-1 inhibitors, direct thrombin inhibitors and factor Xa inhibitors from PubMed since 2008.
Expert opinion: Since thrombus formation involves multiple pathways including platelet activation and aggregation and coagulation, simultaneous and optimal blockade of these pathways is essential to prevent thrombotic complications and to avoid excessive bleeding in the myocardial infraction setting. Despite an improved anti-ischemic effect associated with potent P2Y12 inhibitors plus aspirin, the degree of adverse event reduction compared to clopidogrel therapy in large scale trials is modest along with significantly greater bleeding. Recent studies suggest that targeting the thrombin pathway in addition to antiplatelet agents in high risk patients may further mitigate the risk of ischemic event occurrences with improved safety profiles.
Traditionally, mainstream models of attention have neglected the role of motivationally meaningful stimuli (e.g. threat/reward). These stimuli can cause the rapid and involuntary attraction of attention (attentional capture), and can hence be said to have motivational salience. It is sometimes considered that this capture occurs in a stimulus-driven manner (versus goal-driven). I, however, suggest that attentional capture by motivational salience could be caused by a goal-driven mechanism. To test this we asked three overarching questions:
1) Is detecting motivationally salient stimuli considered important?
By using a novel concurrent forced choice task, which isolates the priority of an
individual’s explicit search goals, we found that individuals believed that it was advantageous to detect and search for motivationally salient stimuli.
2) Can voluntary search goals induce attentional capture?
In Chapter 2 we revealed that task-irrelevant threatening stimuli only captured attention, versus neutral distractors, when participants were searching for that category of threatening stimuli. This goal-driven capture effect was robust yet highly specific, affecting only the single specific semantic category, rather than generalising across all related stimuli (Chapter 3). We found an identical pattern of results for reward associated stimuli (alcohol in social drinkers) in Chapter 4, with capture only occurring in the goal-driven condition. The same was true for smoking related images in Chapter 5, and this occurred independently of current nicotine dependence. Additionally, self-selected search goals were capable of inducing attentional capture, not just instructed goals (Chapter 7).
3) How are top-down search goals initially selected?
Chapter 6 revealed that search goal priority was positively predicted by stimulus importance and expectancy. This task also revealed a contextual cueing effect on search goal priority, whereby threat was prioritised more in a threatening context (versus safe). On the basis of my findings we propose a novel Importance-Expectancy model of attentional goal selection.
The lateral line organ in fish and amphibians transforms fluid motion in the animal’s surroundings into a representation of its hydrodynamic environment. This sense is involved in complex behaviors, ranging from rheotaxis to schooling. The primary sensory neurons are hair cells, each of which can tonically transmit a graded ‘analog’ signal to afferent neurons, via highly specialized ‘ribbon’ synapses. Many questions about this first step in sensory coding remain to be answered. For example: What is the relationship between the biologically relevant stimulus and hair cell output? How do the synaptic properties of different hair cells contribute to the signal that is sent to the brain? And how are these signals modulated by top-down (efferent) projections? The first chapter of this thesis describes a newly established preparation including an overview of transgenic fish lines, some of which were newly generated, to study the processing of mechanical information in larval zebrafish at various stages, from the periphery to the hindbrain. The second chapter contains a detailed characterization of the relationship between cupula deflection and hair-cell glutamate release. We show that the population of hair cells in the lateral line is highly heterogeneous in terms of their sensitivity, dynamic range and adaptive properties and that this heterogeneity has functional implications for downstream processing. These results are unique because of how well the biophysical, anatomical and physiological context of the actual sensory transduction is maintained. The third chapter describes the effects of (fictive) locomotion on the processing of mechanical information. We show that an efferent signal, which is highly correlated with motor neuron activity, is present in the neuromast and leads to a strong suppression of mechanically induced activity of afferent neurons. This efference copy appears to selectively reduce the gain to hair cells sensitive to posterior cupula deflections.
Voice pitch (fundamental frequency, F0) is a key dimension of our voice that varies Voice pitch (fundamental frequency, F0) is a key dimension of our voice that varies before and after puberty. While a recent longitudinal study indicates that inter-individual differences in voice pitch remain stable in men during adulthood and may even be determined before puberty [1], whether these differences emerge in infancy remains unknown. Here, using a longitudinal study design, we investigate the hypothesis that inter-individual differences in F0 are already present in the cries of pre-verbal babies. While based on a small sample (n = 15), our results indicate that the F0 of babies’ cries at 4 months of age may predict the F0 of their speech utterances at 5 years of age, explaining 41% of the inter-individual variance in voice pitch at that age in our sample. We also found that the right-hand ratio of the length of their index to ring finger (2D:4D digit ratio), which has been proposed to constitute an index of prenatal testosterone exposure, was positively correlated with F0 at both 4 months and 5 years of age. These findings suggest that a substantial proportion of between-individual differences in voice pitch, which convey important biosocial information about speakers, may partly originate in utero and thus already be present soon after birth.
Males of several species of deer have a descended and mobile larynx, resulting in an unusually long vocal tract, which can be further extended by lowering the larynx during call production. Formant frequencies are lowered as the vocal tract is extended, as predicted when approximating the vocal tract as a uniform quarter wavelength resonator. However, formant frequencies in polygynous deer follow uneven distribution patterns, indicating that the vocal tract configuration may in fact be rather complex. We CT-scanned the head and neck region of two adult male fallow deer specimens with artificially extended vocal tracts and measured the cross-sectional areas of the supra-laryngeal vocal tract along the oral and nasal tracts. The CT data was then used to predict the resonances produced by three possible configurations, including the oral vocal tract only, the nasal vocal tract only, or combining both. We found that the area functions from the combined oral and nasal vocal tracts produced resonances more closely matching the formant pattern and scaling observed in fallow deer groans than those predicted by the area functions of the oral vocal tract only or of the nasal vocal tract only. This indicates that the nasal and oral vocal tracts are both simultaneously involved in the production of a nonhuman mammal vocalisation, and suggests that the potential for nasalization in putative oral loud-calls should be carefully considered.
The level of exposure to a wide range of musical styles through the ever increasing use of mass and social media amongst young people has had a major impact on their musical tastes. In a similar way, the individuals who rapidly gain success through singing in bands, or who make their careers as singers, appear to be impacting in an important way on the aspirations of many young people. In Estonia, private music and singing studios constitute an increasingly popular trend. The differences between classical singing and contemporary pop singing are significant, and the training required to enable students of singing to master these two often contrasting styles requires the presence of a very knowledgeable vocal teacher who can prevent a young singer from harming their voice. The questionnaires were distributed to 45 students of solo singing, and 43 students studying solo singing in three well known singing studios of Estonia returned the completed questionnaires. There were 11 male singers and 28 female singers among the respondents and four respondents chose not to provide details of their gender. The study revealed that solo singing is primarily studied in order to learn vocal technique and develop performance confidence, along with developing the ability to carry the tune and increase their vocal range in a range of vocal styles.
Research in crowd psychology has demonstrated key differences between the behaviour of physical crowds where members are in the same place at the same time, and the collective behaviour of psychological crowds where the entire crowd perceive themselves to be part of the same group through a shared social identity. As yet, no research has investigated the behavioural effects that a shared social identity has on crowd movement at a pedestrian level. To investigate the direction and extent to which social identity influences the movement of crowds, 280 trajectories were tracked as participants walked in one of two conditions: 1) a psychological crowd primed to share a social identity; 2) a naturally occurring physical crowd. Behaviour was compared both within and between the conditions. In comparison to the physical crowd, members of the psychological crowd i) walked slower, ii) walked further, and iii) maintained closer proximity. In addition, pedestrians who had to manoeuvre around the psychological crowd behaved differently to pedestrians who had to manoeuvre past the naturally occurring crowd. We conclude that the behavioural differences between physical and psychological crowds must be taken into account when considering crowd behaviour in event safety management and computer models of crowds.
With a growing call for an increased emphasis on computing in school curricula, there is a need to make computing accessible to a diversity of learners. One potential approach is to extend the use of physical toolkits, which have been found to encourage collaboration, sustained engagement and effective learning in classrooms in general. However, little is known as to whether and how these benefits can be leveraged in special needs schools, where learners have a spectrum of distinct cognitive and social needs. Here, we investigate how introducing a physical toolkit can support learning about computing concepts for special education needs (SEN) students in their classroom. By tracing how the students’ interactions—both with the physical toolkit and with each other—unfolded over time, we demonstrate how the design of both the form factor and the learning tasks embedded in a physical toolkit contribute to collaboration, comprehension and engagement when learning in mixed SEN classrooms.
In this study we investigated effects of the APOE ε4 allele (which confers an enhanced risk of poorer cognitive ageing, and Alzheimer’s Disease) on sustained attention (vigilance) performance in young adults using the Rapid Visual Information Processing (RVIP) task and event-related fMRI. Previous fMRI work with this task has used block designs: this study is the first to image an extended (6-minute) RVIP task. Participants were 26 carriers of the APOE ε4 allele, and 26 non carriers (aged 18–28). Pupil diameter was measured throughout, as an index of cognitive effort. We compared activity to RVIP task hits to hits on a control task (with similar visual parameters and response requirements but no working memory load): this contrast showed activity in medial frontal, inferior and superior parietal, temporal and visual cortices, consistent with previous work, demonstrating that meaningful neural data can be extracted from the RVIP task over an extended interval and using an event-related design. Behavioural performance was not affected by genotype; however, a genotype by condition (experimental task/control task) interaction on pupil diameter suggested that ε4 carriers deployed more effort to the experimental compared to the control task. fMRI results showed a condition by genotype interaction in the right hippocampal formation: only ε4 carriers showed downregulation of this region to experimental task hits versus control task hits. Experimental task beta values were correlated against hit rate: parietal correlations were seen in ε4 carriers only, frontal correlations in non-carriers only. The data indicate that, in the absence of behavioural differences, young adult ε4 carriers already show a different linkage between functional brain activity and behaviour, as well as aberrant hippocampal recruitment patterns. This may have relevance for genotype differences in cognitive ageing trajectories.
Background: UK deaths due to chronic liver diseases such as cirrhosis have quadrupled over the last 40 years, making this condition now the third most common cause of premature death. Most patients with advanced cirrhosis (end–stage liver disease, [ESLD]) develop ascites. This is often managed with diuretics, but if refractory then the fluid is drained from the peritoneal cavity every 10-14 days by large volume paracentesis (LVP), a procedure requiring hospital admissions. As the life expectancy of patients with ESLD and refractory ascites (if ineligible for liver transplantation) is on average ≤ 6 months, frequent hospital visits are inappropriate from a palliative perspective. One alternative is long-term abdominal drains (LTAD), used successfully in patients whose ascites is due to malignancy. Although inserted in hospital, these drains allow ascites management outside of a hospital setting. LTAD have not been formally evaluated in patients with refractory ascites due to ESLD.
Methods: Due to uncertainty about appropriate outcome measures and whether patients with ESLD would wish or be able to participate in a study, a feasibility randomised controlled trial (RCT) was designed. Patients were consulted on trial design. We plan to recruit 48 patients with refractory ascites and randomise them (1:1) to either a) LTAD or b) current standard of care (LVP) for 12 weeks. Outcomes of interest include acceptability of LTAD to patients, carers and healthcare professionals as well as recruitment and retention rates. Palliative care Outcome Scale (IPOS), the Short Form Liver Disease Quality of Life (SF-LDQOL), the EuroQol (EQ-5D) and carer (Zarit Burden Interview [ZBI-12]) reported outcomes will also be assessed. Preliminary data on cost effectiveness will be collected and patients and healthcare professionals will be interviewed about their experience of the trial with a view to identifying barriers to recruitment.
Discussion: LTAD could potentially improve end-of-life care in patients with refractory ascites due to ESLD by improving symptom control, reducing hospital visits and enabling some self-management. Our trial is designed to see if such patients can be recruited, as well as informing the design of a subsequent definitive trial.
Trial registration: ISRCTN30697116, date assigned: 07/10/2015
Google Translate (GT) is a free and accessible on-line translation tool to anyone including students who study languages. However, GT has been also affecting language assessment and language teaching education such as cheating and plagiarism. This study is focused on the coursework writings of three students who have studied Japanese for one year with no basic understanding or knowledge of the Japanese language. The data examined the types of academic offences students committed using GT. The results showed that the three students who were suspected committing plagiarism show several academic infractions in spite of teacher’s warning on plagiarism. The implications of this study are directed at institutions, teachers and students. Institutions should review the information gap between the website written for students and the university’s official website on plagiarism. Institutions may also need to mention GT specifically in the plagiarism documentation. Institutions may also consider adopting an additional coversheet system to use as student’s evidence of plagiarism. For teachers, they also start preparing themselves for students’ evidence of plagiarism. Teachers should learn about the institution specific regulations regarding plagiarism and impart them to the students. Furthermore, teachers should also inform students whether they should focus on either accuracy or creativity so that students can focus on what they need to work on in their formative or summative assessment. For implications to students, students should be responsible of their own learning and their action which they take (i.e. if they decided to plagiarise or not) and face the consequences of their action.
In Argentina and Brazil, the future never seems to arrive. Over the last three decades, successive waves of neoliberal and neodevelopmentalist reforms invariably ended in disappointment. The most relevant question defying the contemporary Brazilian and Argentinian political economy literature is why, despite being repeatedly predicted in economic programs and promised in political discourses, catch-up development never materialises? Neoliberal and neodevelopmentalist authors offer apparently contradictory answers to that question. For the former, economic underachievement is a result of insufficient or ill-conceived pro-market reforms. For the latter, it is a consequence of the lack of state-led national development projects. In this thesis, I challenge both mainstream narratives. I claim that the roots of Brazilian and Argentinian permanent underachievement are intrinsically related to the fragilities of neoliberal and neodevelopmentalist development strategies, which result in inherently inconsistent policies. Although representing themselves as complete opposites, both sides actually share two problematic premises: a narrow view of development, understood as capitalist catch-up, and a simplified opposition between state and market. My critique starts from a radical reappraisal of the very concept of development, informed by Leon Trotsky’s idea of uneven and combined development and its contemporary interpretations. Defining development as the dynamic outcome of the interplay between class disputes and international pressures and opportunities, I argue that the shortcomings of the neoliberal and neodevelopmentalist reforms were determined by the specific responses given by dominant class alliances in the face of successive international crises. The argument is advanced through four in-depth case studies of the state reforms carried out in Brazil and Argentina since the 1990s, with particular attention to macroeconomic and foreign policies. By breaking the oligopoly of narratives about Brazilian and Argentinian development shared by neoliberals and neodevelopmentalists, I aim to contribute to the rise of alternative strategies of development from below.
Higher education in the UK has experienced unprecedented levels of expansion over the last 50 years. This expansion has been underpinned by political and social discourses that expound its value to the social and economic prosperity of the country and more recently, towards the delivery of social justice and the social mobility of individuals. Higher education institutions are channelling increasing amounts of resource into supporting these discourses, largely around widening participation and fair access agendas. In juxtaposition, changes to funding models, including the cessation of maintenance grants and increasing charges for tuition fees, are placing significant financial burdens on graduating students, calling into question just how achievable these agendas can be.
This research seeks to understand if there is a disparity between the social value and benefits that governmental and institutional discourses claim for going to university, and how individuals perceive the value of a contemporary degree. To do so it draws on the narratives of a panel of over 100 volunteer writers submitted as a qualitative survey on their opinions of and interactions with higher education. Drawn from all over the UK, these writers are participants in the Mass Observation Project, an in-depth, qualitative survey of everyday life in Britain established in 1981. The empirical research is embedded within biographical narrative methods, and seeks to create a landscape of perceptions of the social value of a university education and how these are embedded within people’s life stories.
Using the depth and retrospective opportunities provided in the qualitative narratives of Mass Observation allows this research to provide a more nuanced understanding of both the long-term impacts of higher education on individuals and how perceptions of its social and economic value have changed over the decades. It suggests that the ability to derive the greatest benefit from going to university is embedded within social backgrounds and therefore ensuring equality is far more complex than simply providing an opportunity to access higher education. This thesis also illustrates how the use of longitudinal and qualitative methods of research can provide alternative viewpoints that should be considered when creating policies that will ensure the greatest benefit to providing value and equality within higher education.
This Technical Annex should be read alongside the main Fit for Work Process Evaluation report which contains the headline fndings and narrative. Detailed tables are presented throughout the Technical Annex, giving tables for the statistically signifcant differences between results for different groups (e.g. by employee age). The structure of the data tables in the Technical Annex follows the structure of the main report (e.g. tables relating to fndings regarding employer satisfaction with the Fit for Work service can be found in section 7.6.2 in both the main report and the Technical Annex).
The data presented in the tables is weighted, and unweighted bases are given underneath each table. There are instances, therefore, where the ‘Total’ value in the tables differs to the N value given in the base, because weighting has been applied to the survey data to ensure its representativeness.
The totals presented in the tables relating to the same question are consistent between those tables. Where there are missing data for cross-breaks then the total given for all respondents may mean that the data within the table do not sum. For example, if some respondents did not declare their ethnicity, but answered the question, their responses would be reported in the total, but not for responses by ethnicity.
Where the data presented in the base of the table (i.e. the number of responses included) has less than 100 cases this is indicated with an asterisk (*) and results should be treated with caution. Results are not reported where the table base is less than 25 cases, and percentages based on 25-49 unweighted cases (column or row bases as applicable) are presented in square brackets.
Responses giving ‘don’t know’ have been excluded from tables where it is in response to a question seeking an attitudinal answer. Where they indicate a respondent’s lack of awareness or certainty about a categorical issue, ‘don’t know’ responses have been included.
In some instances where very low numbers of individual responses to a specifc category represent a theoretical risk of disclosure, steps have been taken to guard against this by combining two or more categories together and applying a disclosure control process based on ONS guidance for tables produced from administrative sources and surveys.1 Where a cell size is one or two, and in instances where the distribution of zeroes in a table present a risk of disclosure (e.g. where all categories in a column/row except one contain zeroes meaning the reader would know that all members of a particular group belong to that category), then measures have been taken to hide that information. In data tables where there is a risk of disclosure, rounding has been applied to the nearest ten (i.e. zero or ten) for all count cells in the table. Percentages are preserved at their actual values. The affected tables are marked to highlight that rounding has been applied.
The data tables are structured following the Fit for Work Process Evaluation report and mirror the structure of the main report.
• Chapter 2 presents fndings from the employer and employee surveys about their attitudes to work and sickness absence.
• Chapter 3 presents the evidence about awareness and understanding of the service among employers and GPs, and explores referrals to the service, including the process of gaining consent to refer.
• Chapter 4 details the fndings about the occupational health assessment, including the assessment coverage and fndings, and employer contact with case managers.
• Chapter 5 covers the employee and employer experience of the Return to Work Plan (RtWP), including the recommendations contained in the RtWPs and whether or not they are implemented and the reasons for this.
• Chapter 6 examines the reasons employees are discharged from the service, and what affects drop out, both prior to receiving an assessment and afterwards.
• Chapter 7 reports on the outcomes of the Fit for Work service, such as employees returning to work, retention in employment and changes to health and well-being.
• Chapter 8 looks at employer and employee perceptions of the added value of the service, and their suggestions for its improvement.
• Chapter 9 presents data gathered about the Fit for Work advisory services.
• The Research tools for the surveys and the qualitative research are contained in the Appendices.
This report presents the fndings from the process evaluation of Fit for Work. Fit for Work was an occupational health assessment and advice service looking to address long-term sickness absence. The assessment service was for employees who were on (or at risk of entering) long-term sickness absence, defned as four weeks or more, via a referral through their General Practitioner (GP) or their employer. Participation was entirely voluntary. Employees giving their consent took part in a biopsychosocial assessment, which were primarily conducted by telephone. After assessment, a Return to Work Plan (RtWP) would be produced, with recommendations for self-care, workplace adjustments, and/or signposting to further specialist support and therapy services to assist the employee’s return to work. With the employee’s consent, the RtWP could be shared with their employer and/or GP. The service was funded by the Government and was delivered in England and Wales by Health Management Limited (HML) and in Scotland via an agency agreement with the Scottish Government.
The process evaluation aimed to determine whether the Fit for Work service had been implemented as designed, and whether the design met the policy intent to provide support for those on long-term sickness absence to stay in employment.
The research programme was conducted between September 2015 and May 2017 and consisted of: an analysis of management information; 72 in-depth qualitative interviews with employees, employers and GPs; a telephone survey of 504 employers that had had contact with the service; a telephone survey of 1,045 employees that had been discharged from the service and a follow-up survey of 492 of them (only those who received an assessment and who gave permission to be re-contacted for further research). Management information was analysed for employees referred to and discharged from the Fit for Work service between October 2015 and December 2016 inclusive. As this analysis did not cover the whole period of the service, fndings could differ from the overall management information. In some instances, due to small sample sizes, apparent differences between groups (e.g. between countries) may not be statistically signifcant and therefore should be viewed with caution. Following very low referrals, it was announced that the Fit for Work assessment service would come to an end in England and Wales on 31 March 2018 and 31 May 2018 in Scotland. However, employers, employees and GPs will continue to have access to the same Fit for Work helpline, website and web chat, which offer general health and work advice as well as support on sickness absence.
This process evaluation was undertaken before the decision was taken to close the service.
This article analyses the definition of religion adopted by the Court of Justice of the European Union in its latest opinions concerning the wearing of the headscarf in the workplace. It argues that, by adopting a secular/liberal definition of religion and linking religious freedom to individual autonomy, the CJEU creates a fixed legal and religious subject who is free and at the same time compelled to experience religion in a particular way. This, in turn, has two important implications: first, it creates a problem of equality as it distinguishes between different equality grounds. Second, contrary to liberal claims to secure the plurality and respect of religious minorities, it opens the door to the exclusion of veiled Muslim women from the European labour market.
Commentary on judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union on case F v Bevándorlási és Állampolgársági Hivatal, relating to credibility assessment and means of evidence in asylum cases involving sexual orientation.
The purpose of this PhD thesis is to study mesoscopic and macroscopic fluctuations in Interacting Particle Systems. The thesis is split into two main parts. In the first part, we consider a system of Ising spins interacting via Kac potential evolving with Glauber dynamics and study the macroscopic motion of an one-dimensional interface under forced displacement as the result of large scale fluctuations. In the second part, we consider a diffusive system modelled by a Simple Symmetric Exclusion Process (SSEP) which is driven out of equilibrium by the action of current reservoirs at the boundary and study the non-equilibrium fluctuations around the hydrodynamic limit for the SSEP with current reservoirs.
We give a brief summary of the first part. In recent years, there has been significant effort to derive deterministic models describing two-phase materials and their dynamical properties. In this context, we investigate the law that governs the power needed to force a motion of a one dimensional macroscopic interface between two different phases of a given ferromagnetic sample with a prescribed speed V at low temperature. We show that given the mesoscopic deterministic non-local evolution equation for the magnetisation (a non local version of the Allen-Cahn equation), we consider a stochastic Ising spin system with Glauber dynamics and Kac interaction (the underlying microscopic stochastic process) whose mesoscopic scaling limit (intermediate scale between microscale and macroscale) is the given PDE, and we calculate the corresponding large deviations functional which would provide the action functional. We obtain that by deriving upper and lower bounds of the large deviation cost functional. Concepts from statistical mechanics such as contours, free energy, local equilibrium allow a better understanding of the structure of the cost functional. Then we characterise the limiting behaviour of the action functional under a parabolic rescaling, by proving that for small values of the ratio between the distance and the time, the interface moves with a constant speed, while for larger values the occurrence of nucleations is the preferred way to make the transition. This led to a production of two published papers [12] and [14] with my supervisor D. Tsagkarogiannis and N. Dirr.
In the second part we study the non-equilibrium fluctuations of a system modelled by SSEP with current reservoirs around its hydrodynamic limit. In particular, we prove that, in the limit, the appropriately scaled fluctuation field is given by a Generalised Ornstein- Uhlenbeck process. For the characterisation of the limiting fluctuation field we implement the Holley-Stroock theory. This is not straightforward due to the boundary terms coming from the nature of the model. Hence, by following a martingale approach (martingale decomposition) and the derivation of the equation of the variance for this model combined with “good” enough correlation estimates (the so-called v-estimates), we reduce the problem to a form whose Holley-Stroock result in [45] is now applicable. This is work in progress jointly with my supervisor and P. Gonçalves, [13].
Background
In Kenya, most sexual violence survivors either do not access healthcare, access healthcare late or do not complete treatment. To design interventions that ensure optimal healthcare for survivors, it is important to understand the characteristics of those who do and do not access healthcare. In this paper, we aim to: compare the characteristics of survivors who present for healthcare to those of survivors reporting violence on national surveys; understand the healthcare services provided to survivors; and, identify barriers to treatment.
Methods
A mixed methods approach was used. Hospital records for survivors from two referral hospitals were compared with national-level data from the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2014, and the Violence Against Children Survey 2010. Descriptive summaries were calculated and differences in characteristics of the survivors assessed using chi-square tests. Qualitative data from six in-depth interviews with healthcare providers were analysed thematically.
Results
Among the 543 hospital respondents, 93.2% were female; 69.5% single; 71.9% knew the perpetrator; and 69.2% were children below 18 years. Compared to respondents disclosing sexual violence in nationally representative datasets, those who presented at hospital were less likely to be partnered, male, or assaulted by an intimate partner. Data suggest missed opportunities for treatment among those who did present to hospital: HIV PEP and other STI prophylaxis was not given to 30 and 16% of survivors respectively; 43% of eligible women did not receive emergency contraceptive; and, laboratory results were missing in more than 40% of the records. Those aged 18 years or below and those assaulted by known perpetrators were more likely to miss being put on HIV PEP. Qualitative data highlighted challenges in accessing and providing healthcare that included stigma, lack of staff training, missing equipment and poor coordination of services.
Conclusions
Nationally, survivors at higher risk of not accessing healthcare include older survivors; partnered or ever partnered survivors; survivors experiencing sexual violence from intimate partners; children experiencing violence in schools; and men. Interventions at the community level should target survivors who are unlikely to access healthcare and address barriers to early access to care. Staff training and specific clinical guidelines/protocols for treating children are urgently needed.
Purpose: Evidence regarding functional impairment in people with severe mental disorders (SMD) is sparse in low and middle-income countries. The aim of this study
was to identify factors associated with functional impairment in people with enduring SMD in a rural African setting.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at the baseline of a health service intervention trial. A total of 324 participants were recruited from an existing communityascertained cohort of people with SMD (n= 218), and attendees at the Butajira General Hospital psychiatric clinic (n= 106). Inclusion criteria defined people with SMD who had ongoing need for care: those who were on psychotropic medication, currently symptomatic or had a relapse in the preceding two years. The World Health Organization Disability Assessment schedule (WHODAS-2.0) and the Butajira Functioning Scale (BFS), were used to assess functional impairment. Multivariable
negative binomial regression models were fitted to investigate the association between demographic, socio-economic and clinical characteristics, and functional impairment.
Results: Increasing age, being unmarried, rural residence, poorer socio-economic
status, symptom severity, continuous course of illness, medication side effects and internalized stigma were associated with functional impairment across self reported and caregiver responses for both the WHODAS and the BFS. Diagnosis per se was not associated consistently with functional impairment.
Conclusion: To optimize functioning in people with chronic SMD in this setting, services need to target residual symptoms, poverty, medication side effects and internalized stigma. Testing the impact of community interventions to promote recovery will be useful. Advocacy for more tolerable treatment options is warranted.
BACKGROUND:
Early clinical severity assessments during the 2009 influenza A H1N1 pandemic (pH1N1) overestimated clinical severity due to selection bias and other factors. We retrospectively investigated how to use data from the International Network for Strategic Initiatives in Global HIV Trials, a global clinical influenza research network, to make more accurate case fatality ratio (CFR) estimates early in a future pandemic, an essential part of pandemic response.
METHODS:
We estimated the CFR of medically attended influenza (CFRMA) as the product of probability of hospitalization given confirmed outpatient influenza and the probability of death given hospitalization with confirmed influenza for the pandemic (2009-2011) and post-pandemic (2012-2015) periods. We used literature survey results on health-seeking behavior to convert that estimate to CFR among all infected persons (CFRAR).
RESULTS:
During the pandemic period, 5.0% (3.1%-6.9%) of 561 pH1N1-positive outpatients were hospitalized. Of 282 pH1N1-positive inpatients, 8.5% (5.7%-12.6%) died. CFRMA for pH1N1 was 0.4% (0.2%-0.6%) in the pandemic period 2009-2011 but declined 5-fold in young adults during the post-pandemic period compared to the level of seasonal influenza in the post-pandemic period 2012-2015. CFR for influenza-negative patients did not change over time. We estimated the 2009 pandemic CFRAR to be 0.025%, 16-fold lower than CFRMA.
CONCLUSIONS:
Data from a clinical research network yielded accurate pandemic severity estimates, including increased severity among younger people. Going forward, clinical research networks with a global presence and standardized protocols would substantially aid rapid assessment of clinical severity.
In this paper, contributions from scholars working in the field of visual communication and/or online communication are gathered whose scholarly work falls into the BRICS countries realm. The interviews are framed by a brief sketch of the relevance of BRICS countries research in communication and media studies and some prospective comments on this novel field. The contributing scholars in this issue focus on China and Brazil in particular and work across the globe in Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, PR China, the UK and Brazil. They shared their ideas on the subject even though they are scholarly roots lie in fields as diverse as regional studies, political studies, communication and media studies and educational studies. Their thoughts were collected through email interviews and they are presented here in form of a cross-disciplinary dialogue on the issue of visual online communication in BRICS countries and the De-Westernization discourse. Gratefulness goes out to all the ones who have contributed and hopefully this project will contribute to many future dialogues between scholars from across the world.
With the massive advantages of THz radiation and the current technical difficulties in mind, I have chosen to undertake research into terahertz surface phenomena, which is the focal point of my thesis. Ultrathin surface terahertz emitters have many advantages as they have an extremely thin active region, typically hundreds of atomic layers. In this framework, III-V semiconductors, such as InAs and InSb, have record-breaking conversion efficiencies per unit thickness. In addition, the phase mismatch, which commonly limits the generation of terahertz from optical crystal, is negligible and so there is an opportunity for enhancing the emitted bandwidth.
My thesis is born as the core of many research interests of my research lab (Emergent Photonics), which enabled the appropriate availability of resources that made my results possible. It also created several spin-out research lines. All the work presented is my work (with the exception of the background research). Parts of chapters have been published in journals and publications which see me as the first author.
The structure of this thesis is as follows. First I discuss optical pump rectification emission, and the saturation of InAs terahertz emissions. Then I introduce my work on terahertz enhancement emission through graphene. Finally, I present my work on an exotic terahertz emission mechanism, namely the all-optical surface optical rectification and I place my concluding remarks.
Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play an important role in carcinogenesis and cancer progression. lncRNA MEG3 is a tumor suppressor that is down-regulated in several cancers. However, its prognostic value in human malignancies remains controversial. We have therefore undertaken a meta-analysis to explore the relationship between cancer survival and the expression of long non-coding RNA MEG3. A systematic literature search identified 13 potentially eligible investigations comprising 1733 patients in nine different cancer types. In the pooled analysis, a low expression of MEG3 was associated with a low overall survival (OS) in cancer patients with a combined HR of 0.830 [hazard ratio (HR) =0.83; 95% CI: 0.70–0.98; P=0.0.03; random effect model]. However, sub-group analysis according to cancer type revealed that MEG3 expression was not associated with better OS in gastrointestinal cancer (HR = 0.58, 95% CI = 0.33 to 1.03, P = 0.06) and breast cancer patients (HR = 0.85, 95% CI: 0.12 to 5.88, P = 0.87). In conclusion, our results demonstrate that only in the pooled analysis, there was a significant relationship between MEG3 expression and cancer survival. Further investigation of other molecular biomarkers involved in tumorigenesis-related pathways is necessary.
We estimate total mass (M500), intracluster medium (ICM) mass (MICM), and stellar mass (M) in a Sunyaev–Zel’dovich effect (SZE) selected sample of 91 galaxy clusters with masses M500 2.5 × 1014 M and redshift 0.2 < z < 1.25 from the 2500 deg2 South Pole Telescope SPT-SZ survey. The total masses M500 are estimated from the SZE observable, the ICM masses MICM are obtained from the analysis of Chandra X-ray observations, and the stellar masses M are derived by fitting spectral energy distribution templates to Dark Energy Survey griz optical photometry and WISE or Spitzer near-infrared photometry. We study trends in the stellar mass, the ICM mass, the total baryonic mass, and the cold baryonic fraction with cluster halo mass and redshift. We find significant departures from self-similarity in the mass scaling for all quantities, while the redshift trends are all statistically consistent with zero, indicating that the baryon content of clusters at fixed mass has changed remarkably little over the past ≈9 Gyr. We compare our results to the mean baryon fraction (and the stellar mass fraction) in the field, finding that these values lie above (below) those in cluster virial regions in all but the most massive clusters at low redshift. Using a simple model of the matter assembly of clusters from infalling groups with lower masses and from infalling material from the low-density environment or field surrounding the parent haloes, we show that the measured mass trends without strong redshift trends in the stellar mass scaling relation could be explained by a mass and redshift dependent fractional contribution from field material. Similar analyses of the ICM and baryon mass scaling relations provide evidence for the so-called ‘missing baryons’ outside cluster virial regions.
We describe the derivation and validation of redshift distribution estimates and their uncertainties for the populations of galaxies used as weak-lensing sources in the Dark Energy Survey (DES) Year 1 cosmological analyses. The Bayesian Photometric Redshift (BPZ) code is used to assign galaxies to four redshift bins between z ≈ 0.2 and ≈1.3, and to produce initial estimates of the lensing-weighted redshift distributions ni PZ(z) ∝ dni/dz for members of bin i. Accurate determination of cosmological parameters depends critically on knowledge of ni , but is insensitive to bin assignments or redshift errors for individual galaxies. The cosmological analyses allow for shifts ni(z) = niPZ(z − zi) to correct the mean redshift of ni(z) for biases in niPZ. The zi are constrained by comparison of independently estimated 30-band photometric redshifts of galaxies in the Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS) field to BPZ estimates made from the DES griz fluxes, for a sample matched in fluxes, pre-seeing size, and lensing weight to the DES weak-lensing sources. In companion papers, the zi of the three lowest redshift bins are further constrained by the angular clustering of the source galaxies around red galaxies with secure photometric redshifts at 0.15 < z < 0.9. This paper details the BPZ and COSMOS procedures, and demonstrates that the cosmological inference is insensitive to details of the ni(z) beyond the choice of zi . The clustering and COSMOS validation methods produce consistent estimates of zi in the bins where both can be applied, with combined uncertainties of σzi = 0.015, 0.013, 0.011, and 0.022 in the four bins. Repeating the photo-z procedure instead using the Directional Neighbourhood Fitting algorithm, or using the ni(z) estimated from the matched sample in COSMOS, yields no discernible difference in cosmological inferences.
Background and aims
Assessing the resilience of plant-animal interactions is critical to understanding how plant communities respond to habitat disturbances. Most ecosystems experience some level of natural disturbance (e. g., wildfires) to which many organisms are adapted to. Wildfires have structured biotic communities for millennia; however, the effects of fire on interactions such as pollination have only recently received attention. A few studies have shown that generalist plants can buffer the impact of fires by pollinator replacement, suggesting that the resilience to disturbance could depend on the level of specialization of the interactions.
Here, we hypothesize that i) fires could impose negative effects on plants with specialized pollination systems, and ii) in large wildfires, these negative effects will be stronger with increasing distance inside the burnt because pollinators will need more time to recolonize.
Methods
These questions were tested in the specialized pollination system of a widespread Mediterranean palm, Chamaerops humilis. The postfire pollination resilience was assessed in
replicated wildfires representing three postfire ages by measuring the abundance of beetle pollinators and by estimating fruit set (i.e., proportion of flowers setting fruits) in burnt and unburned areas. To test for distance effects, plants were sampled along transects inside the burnt.
Key results
This study revealed that despite a marked postfire decline in the specialist pollinator, exacerbated by the distance from the fire’s edge, the palm’s fruit set was barely affected. The temporary replacement by a sap beetle at burnt sites - an effective pollinator that had not been previously recognized - provided postfire reproductive resilience.
Conclusions
The study shows that differential pollinator responses to disturbance can ensure plant success even in plants with only two functionally similar pollinators. This highlights the importance of pollinator 1 replacement and dynamics for the resilience of interactions and ultimately of plant reproduction in disturbance-prone ecosystems.
This research has developed a methodology for high precision monitoring of coastal chalk sea cliffs using both terrestrial and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) digital photogrammetry. Two contrasting study sites of similar geology at Brighton Marina and Telscombe enabled a comparative assessment of cliff behaviour, for an engineered cliff with toe protection and cliff face stabilisation versus a natural cliff subject to active toe erosion respectively. The site at Brighton Marina was monitored between November 2014 and March 2017, during this period no rockfall was detected above the surface change threshold of 0.07 m. For the Telscombe site, monitored between August 2016 and July 2017, volumetric estimations of rockfalls populated a rockfall inventory. Frequency-magnitude analysis of the monthly inventories demonstrated negative power law scaling over seven orders of magnitude with 10,085 mass wasting events and a total volumetric flux of 3,889.35 m3. Statistically significant correlations were found, for the first time, between significant wave height (Hs) and the power law scaling coefficients, β and s with R2 values of 0.4971 and 0.5793 respectively. The model was an accurate predictor of erosion evidenced by the R2 of 0.9981 between the model predictions and observations over the data collection period.
A Monte Carlo simulation of potential erosion scenarios between 2020 and 2089 was established using these relationships based on Hs probabilities and sea level forecasts derived from the UKCP09 medium emission climate model (A1B) to assess the impact of future climate change on cliff recession. For the most likely cliff recession scenario the model predicts an approximate 6% increase in recession between the current and future (UKCP09 medium emission scenario) conditions from 20.45 m to 21.76 m. The model also estimates the probability of recession breaching the A259 coastal road by 2089, this revealed an increase from 0.0778 to 0.1056 due to the influence of future climate. The photogrammetric models were also used to characterise the Newhaven Chalk cliffs and through kinematic analysis found wedge failure to be the most likely mechanism of failure, with 39.97% of mapped intersections favourable to this mode.
A limit equilibrium analysis of the observed conjugate joint sets within the defended section of cliffs between Brighton Marina and Telscombe was undertaken to assess the risk of any future failure to infrastructure. This revealed that the coastal road would not be at immediate threat (breach) due to any of the modelled wedge failures occurring, however measures would need to be put in place to maintain the road in its current location were any of these failures to occur.
A probabilistic recession model using current industry best practice, in the absence of a rockfall inventory, was used to predict future recession for the defended section of cliffs. Within identified ‘pinch-points’ where the distance between the road and cliff edge was less than 10 m the probability of recession reaching the road over the next 100 years did not exceed 0.0014.
A comparison between approaches identified the benefits of the scientific method presented in this research. The outputs of this research offer a new approach for the collection and processing of coastal monitoring data which ultimately drives the prediction of future coastal cliff recession and facilitates effective planning and mitigation.
The aim of this thesis is to solve two problems: the. trajectory tracking and navigation, for controlling the motion of unmanned ground vehicles (UGV). Such vehicles are usually used in industry for assisting automated production process or delivery services to improve and enhance the quality and efficiency.
With regard to the trajectory tracking problem, the main task is to design a new method that is capable of minimising trajectory-tracking errors in UGV. To achieve this, a comprehensive mathematical model needs to be established that contains kinematic and dynamic characteristics beside actuators. In addition, different trajectories need to be generated and applied individually as a reference input, i.e. continuous gradient trajectories such as linear, circular and lemniscuses or a non-continuous gradient trajectory such as a square trajectory. The design method is based on a novel fractional order proportional integral derivative (FOPID) control strategy, which is proposed to control the movement of UGV to track given trajectories. Two FOPID controllers are required in this design. The first FOPID is constructed in order to control the orientation of UGV. The second FOPID controller is to control the speed of UGV. The particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is used to obtain the optimal parameters for both controllers. The significance of the proposed method is that an observable improvement has been achieved in terms of minimising trajectory-tracking errors and reducing control efforts, especially in continuous gradient trajectories. The stability of the proposed controllers is investigated based upon Nyquist stability criterion. Moreover, the robustness of the controllers is examined in the presence of disturbances to demonstrate the effectiveness of the controllers under certain harsh conditions. The influence from external disturbances has been represented by square pulses and sinusoidal waves. The drawback of this method, however, a highly trajectory tracking error is observed in non-continuous gradient trajectories due to the sharpness of the rotation at the corners of a square trajectory.
To overcome this drawback, a new controller, abbreviated as (NN-FOPID), has been proposed based on a combination of neural networks and the FOPID. The purpose is to minimise the trajectory tracking error of non-continuous trajectories, in particular. The Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) algorithm is used to train the NN-FOPID controller. The neural networks’ cognitive capacities have made the system adaptable to respond effectively to the variants in trajectories. The obtained results by using NN-FOPID have shown a significant improvement of reducing errors of trajectory tracking and increasing control efforts over the results by FOPID.
The other task is to solve the navigation problem of UGV in static and dynamic environments. This can be conducted by firstly constructing workspace environments that contain multiple dynamic and static obstacles. The dynamic obstructing obstacles can move in different velocities. The static obstacles can be randomly positioned in the workspace and all obstacles are allowed to have different sizes and shapes. Secondly, a UGV can be placed in any initial posture on the condition that it has to reach a given destination within the boundaries of the workspace. Thirdly, a method based on fuzzy inference systems (FIS) is proposed to control the motion of the UGV. The design of FIS is based on fuzzification, inference engine and defuzzification processes. The navigation task is divided into obstacle avoidance and target reaching tasks. Consequently, two individual FIS controllers are required to drive the actuators of the UGV, one is to avoid obstacles and the other is to reach a target. Both FIS controllers are combined through a switching mechanism to select the obstacle avoidance FIS controller if there is an obstacle, otherwise choosing reaching target FIS. The simulation results have confirmed the effectiveness of the proposed design in terms of obtaining optimal paths with shortest elapsed time.
Similarly, a new method is proposed based on an adaptive neurofuzzy inference system (ANFIS) to guide the UGV in unstructured environments. This method combines the advantages of adaptive leaning and inference fuzzy system. The simulation results have demonstrated adequate achievements in terms of obtaining shortest and feasible paths whilst avoiding static obstructing obstacles and hence reaching the specified targets speedily.
Finally, a UGV is constructed to investigate the overall performance of the proposed FIS controllers practically. The architecture of the UGV consists of three ultrasonic sensors, a magnetic compass and two quadratic decoders that they are interfaced with an Arduino microcontroller to read the sensory information. The Arduino, who acts as a slave microcontroller is serially connected with a master Raspberry Pi microcontroller. Raspberry Pi and Arduino communicate with each other based on a proposed hierarchical algorithm. Three case studies are introduced to demonstrate the effectiveness and the validation of the proposed FIS controllers and the UGV’s platform in real-time.
This collection explores the centrality of The Who's classic album, and Franc Roddam's cult classic film of adolescent life, Quadrophenia to the recent cultural history of Britain, to British subcultural studies, and to a continuing fascination with Mod style and culture. The interdisciplinary chapters collected here set the album and film amongst critical contexts including gender and sexuality studies, class analysis, and the film and album's urban geographies, seeing Quadrophenia as a transatlantic phenomenon and as a perennial adolescent story. Contributors view Quadrophenia through a variety of lenses, including the Who's history and reception, the 1970s English political and social landscape, the adolescent novel of development (the bildungsroman), the perception of the film through the eyes of Mods and Mod revivalists, 1970s socialist politics, punk, glam, sharp suits, scooters and the Brighton train, arguing for the continuing richness of Quadrophenia's depiction of the adolescent dilemma. The volume includes new interviews with Franc Roddam, director of Quadrophenia, and the photographer Ethan Russell, who took the photos for the album's famous photo booklet.
As well as co-writing and directing Quadrophenia and creating Masterchef, Franc Roddam’s works include the award-winning TV drama Dummy, and BBC documentaries Mini and The Family. Roddam graciously agreed to be interviewed for this book to talk about some of the influences and decisions that went in to making the film.
This thesis examines how constituency candidates are furthering independence from the
national party through new media campaigning, by comparing data from general elections in
two countries with different styles of campaigning – party-centred campaigning in the United
Kingdom (2015) and candidate-centred campaigning Japan (2014). Data collection and
analysis has been conducted in a two-stage process. Firstly, candidates’ website and social
media use (Twitter and Facebook) during election campaigns was examined, establishing the
degree to which candidates are using new media to pursue the personal vote, and what form
this takes. Findings from candidate new media use were also used to formulate the second
stage of research – interviews with candidates and members of parliament in both the UK
and Japan.
A secondary research question has also examines whether personal vote seeking behaviour
has a positive impact on candidates’ electoral performance, or whether party performance
factors are a key factor of performance at the constituency level.
This study confirms that that Japanese candidates use new media to run more candidate
centred campaigns, replicating traditional campaign styles, but also finds that other factors,
namely candidates’ levels of experience and the strength of the national party, play a role in
how candidates utilise new media. This is broadly confirmed through findings from candidate
interviews which also provide a greater understanding of different campaign behaviour not
just between Japanese and UK candidates, but also those representing political parties of
varying strength.
The overexploitation of wild animals is one of the greatest threats to biodiversity and to millions of people depending on wild meat for food and livelihoods, yet broad-scale data to evaluate species’ declines are limited. The aim of my thesis is to create a database of the exploitation of terrestrial animals (hereafter ‘wildlife’) in Africa and, using this database as a tool, explore questions relating to the exploitation of wildlife in Africa.
Following the introduction in Chapter 1, Chapter 2 provides the methods used to develop and populate the database, and collate studies on the exploitation of wildlife in Africa. Descriptive statistics are then presented that highlight different aspects of the collated data.
Using a database of wildlife harvests across Central Africa, I compared three non-spatial and one spatial method of quantifying the total annual biomass of harvested wildlife in Chapter 3. Furthermore, I investigated the socioeconomic and environmental drivers of exploitation, and used this information to spatially map harvested wildlife.
In Chapter 4 I proposed two novel indicators for harvested terrestrial species: the mean body mass indicator assessing whether hunters are relying increasingly on smaller species over time; and the offtake pressure indicator as a measure of harvesting pressure on wild animals within a region.
In Chapter 5, I further developed the indicators of exploitation and investigated trends in taxonomic composition and mean body mass of harvested individuals, in relation to accessibility to urban centres and over time.
Using African pangolins as a case study, I demonstrate that collating local-scale data can provide crucial information on regional trends in exploitation of threatened species to inform conservation actions and policy (Chapter 6) by analysing trends in the number and price of pangolins harvested and sold over time.
The final chapter (Chapter 7) of this thesis contains the discussion of the overall findings from the thesis, and my overall conclusions.
Critical thinking is one of the non-subject related learning goals which students are expected to develop at higher educational institutions. Language teachers are also aware that critical thinking should be developed in teaching languages, but how do they incorporate critical thinking in language teaching? The majority of language teachers use Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) and this study focuses on critical thinking and CLT to investigate if CLT covers the necessary skills to develop students’ critical thinking. This study starts with the background information on CLT which is followed by the definition of culture and critical thinking. The definition of culture was used as this study uses culture as a medium to investigate CLT and critical thinking. The study’s method involves two stages. Firstly, using the Hofstede et al.’s (2010) educational culture as an instrument, the underlying pedagogies were identified for CLT and critical thinking. Secondly, these underlying pedagogies were compared and similarities and differences are discussed. The conclusion is that CLT and critical thinking share the majority of underlying pedagogies and educational culture. In other words, language teachers can teach languages and also develop critical thinking using CLT. However, it was revealed that the underlying pedagogy of independence was not included in CLT. The implication for language teachers is focused on how language teachers can supplement independence during their teaching. It was suggested that teachers should think of the long term benefit for students and give them the opportunity to think for themselves during the class instead of giving students answers.
On 7 June 2018, the Supreme Court delivered their long anticipated ruling on whether the abortion laws in Northern Ireland are compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights. Although the case was dismissed on procedural grounds, a majority of the court held that, obiter, the current Northern Irish law was incompatible with the right to respect for private and family life, protected by Article 8 ECHR, “insofar as it prohibits abortion in cases of rape, incest and fatal foetal abnormality”. This Supreme Court decision, seen alongside the May 2018 Irish referendum liberalising abortion, and the 5 June 2018 Parliamentary debate seeking to liberalise abortion laws in Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, places renewed focus upon the abortion laws of Northern Ireland and Great Britain, which suggests that the ‘halfway house’ of the Abortion Act 1967 Act finally be close to being reformed to hand the decision of abortion to women themselves.
The market for cosmetic surgery tourism is growing with an increase in people travelling abroad for cosmetic surgery. While the reasons for seeking cosmetic surgery abroad may vary the most common reason is financial, but does cheaper surgery abroad carry greater risks? We explore the risks of poorly regulated cosmetic surgery to society generally before discussing how harm might be magnified in the context of cosmetic tourism, where the demand for cheaper surgery drives the market and makes surgery accessible for increasing numbers of people. This contributes to the normalisation of surgical enhancement, creating unhealthy cultural pressure to undergo invasive and risky procedures in the name of beauty. In addressing the harms of poorly regulated surgery, a number of organisations purport to provide a register of safe and ethical plastic surgeons, yet this arguably achieves little and in the absence of improved regulation the risks are likely to grow as the global market expands to meet demand. While the evidence suggests that global regulation is needed, the paper concludes that since a global regulatory response is unlikely, more robust domestic regulation may be the best approach. While domestic regulation may increase the drive towards foreign providers it may also have a symbolic effect which will reduce this drive by making people more aware of the dangers of surgery, both to society and individual physical wellbeing.
Keywords
Cosmetic surgery Regulation Criminal law
Statistical studies of galaxy-galaxy interactions often utilise net change in physical properties of progenitors as a function of the separation between their nuclei to trace both the strength and the observable timescale of their interaction. In this study, we use two-point auto, cross and mark correlation functions to investigate the extent to which small-scale clustering properties of star forming galaxies can be used to gain physical insight into galaxy-galaxy interactions between galaxies of similar optical brightness and stellar mass. The Halpha star formers, drawn from the highly spatially complete Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey, show an increase in clustering on small separations. Moreover, the clustering strength shows a strong dependence on optical brightness and stellar mass, where (1) the clustering amplitude of optically brighter galaxies at a given separation is larger than that of optically fainter systems, (2) the small scale clustering properties (e.g. the strength, the scale at which the signal relative to the fiducial power law plateaus) of star forming galaxies appear to differ as a function of increasing optical brightness of galaxies. According to cross and mark correlation analyses, the former result is largely driven by the increased dust content in optically bright star forming galaxies. The latter could be interpreted as evidence of a correlation between interaction-scale and optical brightness of galaxies, where physical evidence of interactions between optically bright star formers, likely hosted within relatively massive halos, persist over larger separations than those between optically faint star formers.
Populations of farmland butterflies have been suffering from substantial population declines in recent decades. These declines have been correlated with neonicotinoid usage both in Europe and North America but experimental evidence linking these correlations is lacking. The potential for non-target butterflies to be exposed to trace levels of neonicotinoids is high, due to the widespread contamination of agricultural soils and wild plants in field margins. Here we provide experimental evidence that field realistic, sub-lethal exposure to the neonicotinoid imidacloprid negatively impacts the development of the common farmland butterfly Pieris brassicae. Cabbage plants were watered with either 0, 1, 10, 100 or 200 parts per billion imidacloprid, to represent field margin plants growing in contaminated agricultural soils and these were fed to P. brassicae larvae. The approximate digestibility (AD) of the cabbage as well as behavioural responses by the larvae to simulated predator attacks were measured but neither were affected by neonicotinoid treatment. However, the duration of pupation and the size of the adult butterflies were both significantly reduced in the exposed butterflies compared to the controls, suggesting that adult fitness is compromised through exposure to this neonicotinoid.
On 28 April 2018 the European Parliament voted for a complete and permanent ban on all outdoor uses of the three most commonly used neonicotinoid pesticides. With the partial exception of the state of Ontario, Canada, governments elsewhere have failed to take action. Below is a letter, signed by 232 scientists from around the world, urgently calling for global action by policy makers to address this issue.
This research focused on achieving greater understanding of the teaching of speaking within modern foreign languages (MFL) and of Initial Teacher Education (ITE). It is a case study with elements of action research, including an intervention in my own practice and in two classrooms. However, the intervention was not the sole or primary or focus of the research. As a practitioner researcher, my aim was to generate knowledge which might improve practice in schools but could also be applied to my own practice. The thesis addresses the research questions:
To what extent can focused Initial Teacher Education improve speaking skills in secondary Modern Foreign Language classrooms?
How do MFL trainees and secondary school students experience the teaching of speaking skills?
How do trainees plan for input and practice, including target language?
To what extent is MFL subject-specific pedagogic knowledge valued and utilised in secondary schools?
The research consisted of three elements: First a study of three cohorts’ work in the ITE MFL course, including documents generated by the trainees supplemented by group interviews with the trainees. Second, a study of an intervention within the ITE MFL course, involving changes to its curriculum, pedagogy and assessment which were intended to raise the profile of speaking in trainees’ preparation for classroom practice. Third, a study of a classroom intervention in which two trainees prepared and conducted a group talk activity with their Year 8 classes. The lessons and students’ comments on speaking in MFL lessons were recorded and analysed.
The over-arching theoretical framework of the thesis was pragmatism, drawing on the work of Biesta (2010) and Dewey (1936), and the analytical framework was based on Engeström’s (2007) Activity Theory. The data were analysed thematically as part of Quantitative Content Analysis (Silverman, 2011). Students’ language during the classroom intervention was analysed using Halliday’s (1973) linguistic functions and Ellis’ (2005) principles of instructed language learning were used as an evaluative framework for trainees’ lesson plans. The literature review compares key elements of both the Key Stage Three Framework for MFL and the GCSE assessment framework for speaking in MFL with theories of second language acquisition.
The data analysis suggests that subject-specific pedagogy is dominated by generic pedagogy in trainees’ academic writing and in their feedback from school-based subject mentors. This is attributed, in part, to an over-emphasis on measurable outcomes in current objectives-based educational policies. The qualified success of the group talk intervention suggests that incorporating a task-based language teaching approach into school schemes of work would be beneficial, accommodating the meta-cognitive benefits of assessment for learning within an established model of language teaching. An analysis of the Initial Teacher Education partnership using Activity Theory indicates that structural constraints allow limited scope for innovation in the classroom practice of either teachers or trainees. Students expressed anxiety about making errors and appearing foolish to their peers. However, trainees also commented that teachers’ anxieties about poor behaviour prevented them conducting pair work or small group work with some of their classes.
In conclusion, using wider professional content knowledge could avoid an over-emphasis on short-term performance goals when complying with policy initiatives and external assessment frameworks concerning linguistic and professional knowledge. Trainees need to “fit in” with the culture of the host department by adopting its rules and tools but changes in the division of labour to allow increased collaborative work including trainees, mentors and tutors could support innovation. MFL pedagogy should provide sufficient input for the foreign language to be learned, thus enabling speaking in the target language, rather than using speaking as an aspect of performativity.
An original 30 minute score for chamber orchestra and electronics composed by Ed Hughes between 2016 and 2018 as part of a collaboration with film-maker Cesca Eaton, called Cuckmere: A Portrait. The collaboration resulted in a portrait in silent film and music of the river Cuckmere over four seasons. The experience is of a journey through time and space: the visual sequences track the river from source to sea and from ground to aerial shots as the seasons change, just as the music's harmonies and textures modulate with the landscape's colours. There are moments of defamiliarisation where the familiar landscape is radically transformed by snow or an impossibly high birds' eye view: the music embraces these sudden shifts by mapping them through coloristic changes, and orchestral and electronic effects.
Cuckmere Haven is a natural environment of outstanding beauty where coast meets sea on the South Coast of England. Our project depicts a year in the life of Cuckmere in 2016/17 at a time in which change is expected due to changes in policy about sea defences. As artists, silent film-maker and composer, we wanted to use moving images and music to record two main aspects simultaenously through a kind of poetic film: a year in Cuckmere across changing seasons (time); the river's journey from source to sea (space). The intersection of silent film and music produces effects and unique properties which are unavailable in conventional sound film and documentary. These include the potential to reveal landscape through a 'choreography' that interlaces picture and music, to heighten sensitivity to shapes and phenomena of the natural world, and that music in combination with carefully curated images can make the beats and patterns of passing seasons and the passage of time more visible.
The history of British cinema is often approached from the perspective of charting and analysing the history of British film production, taking in the contribution made by directors, actors, writers and studios. In this thesis I assert that a history of British cinema ought to take into consideration what was being presented to British audiences in cinemas. During this period independent distributors imported hundreds of European films into the UK to fill the constant need cinemas had for new product, a need which could not be met from Hollywood or the British film industry alone. This thesis focuses on specific popular genres; the peplum, or sword-and-sandal film, the Eurospy thriller and sexploitation. The latter is further divided into loose sub-genres; the prostitution drama, the “Mondo” documentary and the sex education film.
Taking the lead from the New Film History and the work of Sarah Street in document analysis, material is used from several different archives to reveal information about the practices of these chosen distributors, which enables an original view on the way independent distribution worked in the 1960s and 1970s. Oral history interviews with people who either worked in the sector or who had direct contact with the distributors under discussion are also included, offering new information and historical data. These interviews provide a unique insight into a part of the film industry which has otherwise been neglected by official histories of British cinema. Analysis of some of the key texts has also taken place, in order to present a wider understanding of the genres and the way the marketing material and exploitation techniques often served to misrepresent the texts themselves. Issues around Imperialism and Orientalism have been explored in relation to some of these texts to contextualise the genres under discussion.
The findings of this thesis demonstrate that, for historians, the field is still open to new areas of research.
Previous research has examined a variety of behavioural effects, thought to stem from mental exhaustion, following the prior use of inhibitory control. Here we attempt to examine whether such effects are apparent in unconscious behaviours. Chapter 1 demonstrates no effect of prior use of inhibitory control on subsequent susceptibility to subliminal priming of neutral (Experiment 1) and reward (Experiment 2) terms. Chapter 2 explores whether the prior use of inhibitory control influences the degree of susceptibility to an alternative source of influence, hypnotic induction, and provides the novel finding that inhibitory impairment does not affect hypnotic response. Chapter 3 utilises behavioural and fMRI imaging data to examine changes in a conscious facet of human experience often moderated by unconscious influences: emotion regulation. The results support a period of increased mood lability following a challenging inhibitory control task. However, we were unable to provide evidence of any underlying change in cortical activation and connectivity. Finally, Chapter 4 investigates whether this heightened mood lability following prior inhibitory control would also be mirrored in ratings of emotion attributed to positive and negatively valenced images (Experiment 1) and additionally, whether a mindfulness induction, previously documented to improve emotion regulation, would reduce individuals’ perception of the degree of valence attributed to the same images (Experiment 2). Contrary to predictions, we report substantial evidence for no effect of prior inhibitory control or a brief mindfulness manipulation on subsequent ratings of emotionally valenced stimuli.
Taken together the research indicates that mental exhaustion arising from the use of self-control appears to have no effect on susceptibility to unconscious priming, hypnotic suggestions, and no effect on the perception of emotionally valenced images. However, prior use of inhibitory control does appear to affect the degree of emotional lability experienced following music.
Though human nonverbal vocalisations are widespread, scientific consideration of their mechanisms and communicative functions has been largely overlooked. This is despite their close alignment with the vocal communicative systems of primates and other mammals, whose primary function is to signal indexical information relevant to sexual and natural selection processes. In this thesis, I examine human nonverbal vocalisations from an evolutionary perspective, with the central hypothesis that they are functionally and structurally homologous to nonhuman mammal calls, communicating evolutionarily relevant indexical information that is perceived and utilised by listeners. In Chapter 1, I introduce the methodological framework (source-filter theory) necessary to understand the production of vocal signals in mammals, before summarising the information contained within the acoustic structure of nonhuman mammals and human speech, and the effects these cues have on both vocaliser and listener. I then examine the current evidence for functional and structural homology between human and nonhuman nonverbal vocalisations. In Chapters 2 to 5, I quantitatively analyse the acoustic structure of a number of nonverbal vocalisations, and perform playback experiments to examine their functional effects on listeners. In Chapters 2 and 3, I investigate whether aggressive roars and distress screams communicate acoustic cues to absolute and relative strength and height. In Chapter 4, I analyse the acoustic structure of pain cries of varying intensity, and conduct playback experiments to explore the acoustic and perceptual correlates of pain. In Chapter 5, I examine whether the fundamental frequency of tennis grunts produced during professional tennis matches is dependent on the sex and body posture of the vocaliser, as well as the progress and outcome of the contest, and whether listeners can infer these cues. In Chapter 6, I tie these findings together, arguing that the acoustic structure of human nonverbal vocalisations, in continuity with nonhuman mammal vocalisations, has been selected to support the functional communication of indexical and motivational information.
This work offers a sustained critical reflection an original practice-‐based exploration of the vinyl record called ‘You Sound Like a Broken Record’. It takes up the following research questions: What can personal narratives associated with vinyl records provide in terms of rethinking this icon of the music industry? It asks where the vinyl record may fit into the fluid and fragmentary narratives of musical listening? How does it interface with the other strands of narrative formation over the time of personal ownership, and can a creative intervention help to unpack this complexity? In doing so it interrogates the role of material props of aiding and managing personal identification through music. The research is located with the field of Sound Studies, and explores these questions in dialogue with the theoretical work of Adorno, Attali, (musical commodification), Barthes (authorship), Dillon (palimpsests), De Certeau, Levi-Strauss (resistance and bricolage), Kelly (cracked media), Deleuze (rhizomatic ontology) and Schloss (the art of sampling). The research is based upon ethnographic interviews with fourteen respondents who each donated one of their most treasured vinyl records. Their stories were next carved onto the surface of each record, creating a palimpsest, thereby producing fourteen unique sonic sculptural works. The final outcome is one vinyl record containing sound pieces that use the 'broken records' and the respondents’ narratives as their sonic material. Through the use of this methodology and its resulting practice, the thesis discusses the fragmentary voices that make up the narratives of their musical memories. In doing so, the thesis demonstrates that the vinyl record is a multivalent, interwoven, productive and fluid object. It critically sheds light on the record as a flexible partner to musical identification. The thesis together with the ‘recordworks’ provides valuable insight into the record as a cultural ‘hobo’ that holds a dialectical position as a symbol of cultural subversion, as a product of the music industry, and as a repository for both music and deeply held personal memory and emotions. In doing so, the work also highlights in an original way, how the record provides an opportunity for everyday resistance to canonical narratives and linear formations of musical listening and making practices.
It is one thing to grant the right to access abortion care in Irish law, and another to protect that right in practice. We call on activist groups and stakeholders to continue scrutiny in the following areas.
In Ideology and the Future of Progressive Social Movements, Rafal Soborski provides a punchy and passionate critique of the post-ideology approach of progressive social movements from an anti-neoliberal perspective. While questioning whether all grassroots protest movements have abandoned ideology to the extent described in the book, Luke Martell finds this a distinctive and stimulating contribution recommended to all those interested in social change.
Background: Household food insecurity remained one of the most crucial challenges to economic development and has been aggravated by household health conditions. Nearly one billion people are undernourished of which 98% in developing countries like Ethiopia.
Objective: To assess households’ food insecurity among podoconiosis patients and non-podoconiosis in East and West Gojjam Zone,Ethiopia, 2016.
Method: A community based comparative cross sectional study was conducted in East and West Gojjam, 2016. Multi-stage sampling technique was employed to select 208 podoconiosis and 400 non-podoconiosis household heads. Data was collected by using structured and pretested questionnaires. The collected data was cleaned, coded and entered into Epi data then exported to SPSS version 22. Descriptive and inferential statistics was performed. Both bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses was employed. The association was measured by adjusted odds ratio (AOR), 95%CI (confidence interval) and P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Result: A total of 608 study participants were involved in this study. Food insecurity podoconiosis patients and non-podoconiosis household was 83.7%, 53% respectively (p = 0.0001). Podoconiosis and non- podoconiosis whose heads could not read and write AOR = 5.84, (95% CI: 2.14, 15.95) and AOR = 1.70, (95% CI: 1.06, 2.72) were food insecure respectively. Podoconiosis patients without
off farm activities AOR = 4.90, (95% CI: 1.60, 14.95), not using fertilizer AOR = 4.38, (95% CI: 1.15, 16.67) and living at > 5 kilo meter distance from market AOR = 4.47, (95% CI: 1.38, 14.48) were food insecure. Non-podoconiosis heads with no perennial plant AOR = 2.11, (95% CI: 1.17, 3.34), not using improved seeds AOR = 2.20, (95% CI: 1.25, 3.87), no access to asset building program AOR = 2.07, (95% CI: 1.27, 3.34), living in medium and low altitude AOR = 8.87, (95% CI: 1.81, 43.40) and AOR = 10.04, (95% CI: 1.90,52.93) were food insecure.
Conclusion: Food insecurity was higher among podoconiosis than non-podoconiosis households. Being a female, unable to read and write absence of off farm activities, not using of fertilizers and living in more distance from market were significantly associated with food insecurity among podoconiosis patients. Special emphasis should be given for improvement of food security of podoconiosis
and non-podoconiosis households.
Combinatoric measures of entropy capture the complexity of a graph but rely upon the calculation of its independent sets, or collections of non-adjacent vertices. This decomposition of the vertex set is a known NP-Complete problem and for most real world graphs is an inaccessible calculation. Recent work by Dehmer et al. and Tee et al. identified a number of vertex level measures that do not suffer from this pathological computational complexity, but that can be shown to be effective at quantifying graph complexity. In this paper, we consider whether these local measures are fundamentally equivalent to global entropy measures. Specifically, we investigate the existence of a correlation between vertex level and global measures of entropy for a narrow subset of random graphs. We use the greedy algorithm approximation for calculating the chromatic information and therefore Körner entropy. We are able to demonstrate strong correlation for this subset of graphs and outline how this may arise theoretically.
“Pseudodiagnostic" patterns of information search were first classified by Doherty et al. (1979), predicated on their assertion that only the selection of data that allow for the calculation of Bayseian probability ratios may be considered rational. However, with the exception of Crupi et al. (2009), who have argued for an epistemological explanation loosely based on the de Finetti theorem of exchangeable probability assignments (see, eg., Heath and Sudderth, 1972), the Doherty et al. interpretation of information search patterns has gone unchallenged.
This thesis seeks to answer three questions: can people make reasonable inferences from probabilistic information; is there an identifiable common approach to information selection; and, if not Bayes' theorem, then what mathematics might underlie human decision-making?
A series of experiments demonstrate that people appear to select data not only for their ordinal values, but also to establish the relationships between them. However, since such a holistic approach to decision-making lies beyond the scope of the naïve Bayes' classifier, an alternative expression for the calculation of likelihood ratios is presented. By rejecting the Kolmogorov axioms of classical statistics in favour of the von Neumann mathematical axioms of quantum mechanics, it is shown that not only may probabilistic information be reconceptualised as isomorphic representations of quantised and entangled statistical systems, but that it is only this approach which allows for the assumption free calculation of likelihood ratios. Further, the mathematical derivation demonstrates that Bayes' theorem is a special case of this more general quantum expression, applicable only where the conditional independence of data is guaranteed. Mathematical modelling, combined with the results of another experiment, is used to investigate the plausibility of this expression as an explanation for both information search patterns, and people's estimation of probability.
The nature of this “relational information theory" is both discussed and situated within the wider psychological field of mental models.
Hate crimes against LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans) individuals have been shown to indirectly impact other members of the community (e.g., Noelle, 2002). However, as the LGBT ‘community’ is a diverse grouping of individuals with various sexual and gender identities, we examined experimentally whether reactions were enhanced when participants shared specific sub-identities with the victim (N=126). Results indicate that, while sub-group identities may be important, they do not affect the reactions to anti-LGBT hate crimes above and beyond the superordinate LGBT identity. Instead, further correlational analyses revealed that perceived similarity to the targeted characteristic better explains the community impacts of hate crimes. We show that this similarity increases empathy for the victim which, in turn, heightens subsequent emotional reactions and related behavioural responses. The results show the utility of adding intra-group perceptions to Intergroup Emotions Theory (e.g., Mackie & Smith, 2015) to better understand the community impacts of hate crimes
Background: Following an initial NHS Health Check appointment, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) suggest patients with QRISK2 scores of ≥ 10% should be offered advice on lifestyle and the risks and benefits of starting a statin. NICE recommend GPs should ascertain patients’ pre-existing knowledge of cardiovascular disease risk, explore health beliefs, assess readiness to change, offer support, and engage family members. Condensing this complex discussion into a short consultation may result in inadequate patient understanding of the benefits of preventive measures. An alternative approach is needed. We propose a digital adjunct giving patients the opportunity to interact with their health check results from home before returning to see their GP. Before embarking on funding applications we sought the views of patients and members of the public.
Methods: We consulted the Primary Care Research in Manchester Engagement Resource (PRIMER), an established departmental Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) group (N=9) and then ran a workshop with 19 members of the public, co-facilitated by 4 members of PRIMER. Following a brief presentation on the background to the project, attendees were split into four groups and introduced to Ketso, a toolkit for creative engagement. Ketso was used to encourage group discussions regarding the project idea.
Results: This PPI work improved the study design and proposed intervention. Discussions focussed on three themes: 1) positive feedback, 2) challenges and solutions, and 3) improvements/alternatives. Positive feedback included benefits to the NHS and patients. Challenges identified related to: 1) access, 2) data security, 3) engagement, and 4) negative consequences. Workshop members generated various solutions to these challenges and made additional suggestions for improvement relating to: 1) population (e.g. also including those with QRISK2 scores ≤ 10%), 2) duration (e.g. ongoing access to provide continued feedback), and 3) platform content (e.g. signposting to relevant services).
Conclusions: This PPI work helped identify potential challenges and solutions not previously considered by the research team. Findings have informed the subsequent intervention design and strengthened the bid for funding. We aim to ensure ongoing patient and public involvement in all future stages.
Background: In 2013 the Dutch guideline for management of medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) was published. The aim of this study is to assess medical care for patients with persistent MUS as recorded in their electronic medical records, to investigate if this is in line with the national guideline for persistent MUS and whether there are changes in care over time.
Methods: We conducted an observational study of adult primary care patients with MUS. Routinely recorded health care data were extracted from electronic medical records of patients participating in an ongoing randomised controlled trial in 30 general practices in the Netherlands. Data on general practitioners’ (GPs’) management strategies during MUS consultations were collected in a 5-year period for each patient prior. Management strategies were categorised according to the options offered in the Dutch guideline. Changes in management over time were analysed.
Results: Data were collected from 1035 MUS consultations (77 patients). Beside history-taking, the most frequently used diagnostic strategies were physical examination (24.5%) and additional investigations by the GP (11.1%). Frequently used therapeutic strategies were prescribing medication (24.6%) and providing explanations (11.2%). As MUS symptoms persisted, GPs adjusted medication, discussed progress and scheduled follow-up appointments more frequently. The least frequently used strategies were exploration of all complaint dimensions (i.e. somatic, cognitive, emotional, behavioural and social) (3.5%) and referral to a psychologist (0.5%) or psychiatrist (0.1%).
Conclusions: Management of Dutch GPs is partly in line with the Dutch guideline. Medication was possibly prescribed more frequently than recommended, whereas exploration of all complaint dimensions, shared problem definition and referral to mental health care were used less.
How can we regulate the Internet? This seemingly innocent question has been the subject of countless books and articles for just over the past twenty years. Part of the reason why it continues to be a vibrant and relevant topic is the difference of opinions on what is going on. On the one hand we have those who believe that the Internet is a free and open space that requires no regulation, and/or is incapable of being regulated. On the other hand we have those who think that regulation is not only desirable, but that the Internet as it exists now is completely regulated because of the prevalence of state surveillance, and that all semblance of freedom is a mere illusion.
We show that quantum gravity, whatever its ultra-violet completion might be, could account for dark matter. Indeed, besides the massless gravitational field recently observed in the form of gravitational waves, the spectrum of quantum gravity contains two massive fields respectively of spin 2 and spin 0. If these fields are long-lived, they could easily account for dark matter. In that case, dark matter would be very light and only gravitationally coupled to the standard model particles.
Biofilm formation in wounds is considered a major barrier to successful treatment, and has been associated with the transition of wounds to a chronic non-healing state. Here, we present a novel laboratory model of wound biofilm formation using ex-vivo porcine skin and a custom burn wound array device. The model supports high-throughput studies of biofilm formation and is compatible with a range of established methods for monitoring bacterial growth, biofilm formation, and gene expression. We demonstrate the use of this model by evaluating the potential for bacteriophage to control biofilm formation by Staphylococcus aureus, and for population density dependant expression of S. aureus virulence factors (regulated by the Accessory Gene Regulator, agr) to signal clinically relevant wound infection. Enumeration of colony forming units and metabolic activity using the XTT assay, confirmed growth of bacteria in wounds and showed a significant reduction in viable cells after phage treatment. Confocal laser scanning microscopy confirmed the growth of biofilms in wounds, and showed phage treatment could significantly reduce the formation of these communities. Evaluation of agr activity by qRT-PCR showed an increase in activity during growth in wound models for most strains. Activation of a prototype infection-responsive dressing designed to provide a visual signal of wound infection, was related to increased agr activity. In all assays, excellent reproducibility was observed between replicates using this model
In this paper, we introduce Polyraptor, a novel data transport protocol that uses RaptorQ (RQ) codes and is tailored for one-to-many and many-to-one data transfer patterns, which are extremely common in modern data centres. Polyraptor builds on previous work on fountain coding-based transport and provides excellent performance, by exploiting native support for multicasting in data centres and data resilience provided by data replication.
Introduction: Understanding the number of cases of podoconiosis, its geographical distribution and the population at risk are crucial to estimating the burden of this disease in endemic countries. We assessed each of these using nationwide data on podoconiosis prevalence in Cameroon.
Methods: We analysed data arising from two cross-sectional surveys in Cameroon. The dataset was combined with a suite of environmental and climate data and analysed within a robust statistical framework, which included machine learning-based approaches and geostatistical modelling. The environmental limits, spatial variation of predicted prevalence, population at risk and number of cases of podoconiosis were each estimated.
Results: A total of 214,729 records of individuals screened for podoconiosis were gathered from 748 communities in all 10 regions of Cameroon. Of these screened individuals, 882 (0.41%; 95%CI 0.38-0.44) were living with podoconiosis. High environmental suitability for podoconiosis was predicted in three regions of Cameroon (Adamawa, North West and North). The national population living in areas environmentally suitable for podoconiosis was estimated at 5.2 (95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 4.7-5.8) million, which corresponds to 22.3% of Cameroon’s population in 2015. Countrywide, in 2015, the number of adults estimated to be suffering from podoconiosis was 41,556 (95% CI, 1,170- 240,993). Four regions (Central, Littoral, North and North West) contributed 61.2% of the cases.
Conclusion: In Cameroon, podoconiosis is more widely distributed geographically than was initially expected. The number of cases and the population at risk are considerable. Expanding morbidity management and follow up of cases is of utmost necessity. Promotion of footwear use and regular foot hygiene should be at the forefront of any intervention plan.
Many researchers, policymakers and other stakeholders have explored and supported efforts to transition towards more sustainable forms of low-carbon mobility. Often, discussion will flow from a narrow view of consumer perceptions surrounding passenger vehicles—presuming that they act in rationalist, instrumental, and predictable patterns. In this paper, we hold that a better understanding of the social and demographic perceptions of electric vehicles (compared to other forms of mobility, including conventional cars) is needed. We provide a comparative and mixed methods assessment of the demographics of electric mobility and stated preferences for electric vehicles, drawing primarily on a survey distributed to more than 5,000 respondents across Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. We examine how gender influences preferences; how experience in the form of education and occupation shape preferences; and how aging and household size impact preferences. In doing so we hope to reveal the more complex social dynamics behind how potential adopters consider and calculate various aspects of conventional mobility, electric mobility, and vehicle-to-grid systems. In particular, our results suggest that predominantly men, those with higher levels of education in full time employment, especially with occupations in civil society or academia, and below middle age (30 to 45), are the most likely to buy them. However, our analysis also reveals other market segments where electric vehicles may take root, e.g. among higher income females and retirees/pensioners. Moreover, few respondents were orientated towards V2G, independent of their demographic attributes. Our empirical results can inform ongoing discussions about energy and transport policy, the drivers of environmental change, and deliberations over sustainability transitions.
Homoaromatic compounds are currently viewed more as an interesting novelty with little to no practical application. Based on calculations within density functional theory, we show that the unique charge redirection properties of tricoordinate boron, along with it being isolobal to a carbocation allow for a larger range of two‐electron donors to be utilized, leading to the rational design of homoaromatic compounds better suited to functionalization. Among others, these compounds show a strong dependency on the relative positioning of the hetero‐atoms within the ring system, a modulation control rendered possible by the insertion of the boron centres.
sp2–sp3 diborane species based on bis(catecholato)diboron and N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) are subjected to catechol/bromide exchange selectively at the sp3 boron atom. The reduction of the resulting 1,1-dibromodiborane adducts led to reductive coupling and isolation of doubly NHC-stabilized 1,2-diboryldiborenes. These compounds are the first examples of molecules exhibiting pi-electron delocalization over an all-boron chain.
Background
In order to tackle the considerable treatment gap for epilepsy in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), a task sharing model is recommended whereby care is integrated into primary health services. However, there are limited data on implementation and impact of such services in LMICs. Our study aimed to explore the perspectives of service users and caregivers on the accessibility, experience and perceived impact of epilepsy treatment received in a task-shared model in a rural district of Ethiopia.
Methods
A qualitative study was carried out using interviews with purposively sampled service users (n = 13) and caregivers (n = 3) from a community-ascertained cohort of people with epilepsy receiving integrated services in primary care in rural Ethiopia. Interviews followed a topic guide with questions regarding acceptability, satisfaction, barriers to access care, pathways through care and impact of services. Framework analysis was employed to analyse the data.
Results
Proximity of the new service in local primary health centers decreased the cost of transportation for the majority of service users thus improving access to services. First-hand experience of services was in some cases associated with a willingness to promote the services and inform others of the existence of effective biomedical treatment for epilepsy. However, most service users and their caregivers continued to seek help from traditional healers alongside biomedical care. Most of the care received was focused on medication provision with limited information provided on how to manage their illness and its effects. Caregivers and service users spoke about the high emotional and financial burden of the disease and lack of ongoing practical and emotional support. The majority of participants reported clinical improvement on medication, which in over half of the participants was associated with ability to return to money generating activities.
Conclusions
Task-sharing improved the accessibility of epilepsy care for services users and caregivers and was perceived as having a positive impact on symptoms and productivity. Nonetheless, promotion of self-management, holistic care and family engagement were highlighted as areas requiring further improvement. Future work on implementing chronic care models in LMIC contexts is warranted.
Epstein-Barr virus is a gamma herpesvirus that is present in human adult’s B-lymphocytes infecting 90% of the global population. EBV causes many types of lymphoma and carcinoma. The virus life cycle can be divided in two stages, latency and lytic cycle. Viral gene BZLF1 codes for the viral transcription and replication factor Zta (also known as BZLF1, ZEBRA, EB1, and Z) which is part of the signalling required to switch from latency to the lytic cycle. Zta is part of the bZIP family of proteins, it forms homodimers and can bind to specific sequences termed Zta Response Elements (ZREs). It binds to the EBV lytic origin of replication as well as to specific targeted promoters in the viral genome and regulates its expression. Recent research found and mapped interactions between the key viral transcription factor Zta and the B-cell genome, this showed interactions of Zta proximal (closer than 2Kb) and distal (farther than 2 Kb) to the transcription start site of several genes.
In this work, I asked the questions: Can enhancer properties be found in the sequences where Zta binds to? Is Zta distally regulating expression by looping of DNA? This was approached first by identifying potential sequences that could be conferring enhancing activity, then inserting them into vectors and transfecting them into two different cell lines. In this way, through luciferase reporter assays, any enhancing capabilities of the sequences were tested when placed in a proximal and distal manner to promoters known to be regulated by Zta, as well as mutated promoters not regulated by Zta. This resulted in finding discreet enhancer activity in the sequences analysed, with some being specific to the cell type that was used in the experiment. To answer the second question, chromosome conformation capture (3C) was used to test the possibility of a spatial rearrangement bringing together distal Zta binding regions and promotor regions of selected genes (looping). However, I did not find evidence of looping between Zta binding sites and the neighbouring promoters analysed, in the cell context employed.
Introduction
HIV treatment guidelines now recommend antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation regardless of CD4 count to maximise benefit both for the individual and society. It is unknown whether the initiation of ART at higher CD4 counts would affect adherence levels. We investigated whether initiating ART at higher CD4 counts was associated with sub-optimal adherence (<95%) during the first 12 months of ART.
Methods
A prospective cohort study nested within a two-arm cluster-randomised trial of universal test and treat implemented March 2012 - June 2016 to measure impact of ART on HIV incidence in rural KwaZulu-Natal. ART was initiated regardless of CD4 count in the intervention arm and according to national guidelines in the control arm. ART adherence was measured monthly using a visual analogue scale (VAS) and pill counts (PC). HIV viral load was measured at ART initiation, 3 and 6 months, and six monthly thereafter. We pooled data from participants in both arms and used random-effects logistic regression models to examine the association between CD4 count at ART initiation and sub-optimal adherence, and assessed if adherence levels were associated with virological suppression.
Results
Among 900 individuals who initiated ART ≥ 12 months before study end, median (IQR) CD4 at ART initiation was 350 cells/mm3 (234, 503); median age was 34.6 years (IQR 27.4-46.4) and 71.7% were female. Adherence was sub-optimal in 14.7% of visits as measured by VAS and 20.7% by PC. In both the crude analyses and after adjusting for potential confounders, adherence was not significantly associated with CD4 count at ART initiation (adjusted OR for linear trend in sub-optimal adherence with every 100 cells/mm3 increase in CD4 count: 1.00, 95% CI 0.95-1.05, for VAS, and 1.03, 95%CI 0.99-1.07, for PC). Virological suppression at 12 months was 97%. Optimal adherence by both measures was significantly associated with virological suppression (p<0.001 for VAS; p=0.006 for PC).
Conclusions
We found no evidence that higher CD4 counts at ART initiation were associated with sub-optimal ART adherence in the first 12 months. Our findings should alleviate concerns about adherence in individuals initiating ART at higher CD4 counts, however long-term outcomes are needed.
Generation time varies widely across organisms and is an important factor in the life cycle, life history and evolution of organisms. Although the dou- bling time (DT) has been estimated for many bacteria in the laboratory, it is nearly impossible to directly measure it in the natural environment. How- ever, an estimate can be obtained by measuring the rate at which bacteria accumulate mutations per year in the wild and the rate at which they mutate per generation in the laboratory. If we assume the mutation rate per generation is the same in the wild and in the laboratory, and that all mutations in the wild are neutral, an assumption that we show is not very important, then an estimate of the DT can be obtained by dividing the latter by the former. We estimate the DT for five species of bacteria for which we have both an accumulation and a mutation rate estimate. We also infer the distribution of DTs across all bacteria from the distribution of the accumulation and mutation rates. Both analyses suggest that DTs for bacteria in the wild are substantially greater than those in the laboratory, that they vary by orders of magnitude between different species of bacteria and that a substantial fraction of bacteria double very slowly in the wild.
Granger-Geweke causality (GGC) is a powerful and popular method for identifying directed functional (‘causal’) connectivity in neuroscience. In a recent paper, Stokes and Purdon (2017b) raise several concerns about its use. They make two primary claims: (1) that GGC estimates may be severely biased or of high variance, and (2) that GGC fails to reveal the full structural/causal mechanisms of a system. However, these claims rest, respectively, on an incomplete evaluation of the literature, and a misconception about what GGC can be said to measure. Here we explain how existing approaches resolve the first issue, and discuss the frequently-misunderstood distinction between functional and effective neural connectivity which underlies Stokes and Purdon's second claim.
A macrocyclic receptor molecule containing two viologen species connected by conjugated terphenyl groups has been designed and synthesised. The single-crystal X-ray structure shows that the two viologen residues have a transannular N…N separation of ca. 7.4 Å. Thus, the internal cavity dimensions are suitable for the inclusion of -electron-rich species. The macrocycle is redox active, and can accept electrons from suitable donor species including triethylamine, resulting in a dramatic colour change from pale yellow to dark green as a consequence of the formation of a paramagnetic bis(radical cationic) species. Cyclic voltammetry shows that the macrocycle can undergo two sequential and reversible reduction processes (E1/2 = -0.65 and -0.97 V vs Fc/Fc+). DFT and TD-DFT studies accurately replicate the structure of the tetracationic macrocycle and the electronic absorption spectra the three major redox states of the system. These calculations also showed that during electrochemical reduction, the unpaired electron density of the radical cations remains relatively localised within the heterocyclic rings. The ability of the macrocycle to form supramolecular complexes was confirmed by the formation of a pseudorotaxane with a guest molecule containing a -electron-rich 1,5-dihydroxynaphthalene derivative. Threading and dethreading of the pseudorotaxane was fast on the NMR timescale, and the complex exhibited an association constant of 150 M-1 (± 30 M-1) as calculated from 1H NMR titration studies.
The proliferation of information technology (IT) tools has pervaded industry environment with products that are becoming differentiated, smarter and competitive every day. Following this trend, high-tech small and medium enterprises (SMEs) face precarious pressures to enhance their technological competence continuously to survive. They are required to embed IT ambidexterity – the ability of the firm to simultaneously refine their existing technologies (IT exploitation) and search new technological solutions (IT exploration) – into their organisational strategy.
Owing to limited slack resources and immature firm routines, processes, administrative hierarchy, organisational systems and operational experiences, a key challenge for high-tech SMEs arise in enabling and managing the simultaneous pursuit to exploit existing technology in the short-term and explore new technological breakthroughs for the long-term. This dissertation posits IT ambidexterity as a competitive IT capability and sets out to investigate what are the enabling mechanisms that allow high-tech SMEs to become IT ambidextrous and whether IT ambidexterity is, in fact, a relevant strategy to enable superior performance in high-tech SMEs of the United Kingdom. A survey based dataset of 292 high-tech British SMEs are empirically analysed to test the proposed hypotheses. The study consists of an introduction, a conclusion, and in between four empirical papers, which address specific research gaps in the extant IT ambidexterity literature.
Chapter two examines the role of leadership and organisational configuration in facilitating IT ambidexterity and analyses its implications on projects’ performance. The empirical analysis suggests that both leadership and organizational configuration play a vital role to enable IT ambidexterity, which in turn improves project performance. Chapter three focuses primarily on the role of high-tech SME leaders to understand if leadership decision-making styles initiate IT ambidexterity and examines how and when a particular leadership decision-making style can be more effective by considering organisational diversity and shared vision as two important organisational contingencies. The findings suggest leadership participative as well as directive decision-making styles enable IT ambidexterity; however, the participative decision-making style is more effective with heterogeneous firm members, and the directive decision-making style is preferred when a shared vision is dominant among firm members. Moreover, results show that IT ambidexterity significantly enhances firm performance. Chapter four explicates the effect of IT ambidexterity on IT department performance. This chapter draws on a combination of the resource-based view and contingency theory to investigate the moderating effects of a firm’s internal and external contingencies on the IT ambidexterity-IT department performance relationship. The findings show that the positive effect of IT ambidexterity on IT performance is amplified for the firms with more resources and at higher levels of environmental dynamism, complexity and munificence. Interestingly, the results show that the performance implications of IT ambidexterity are not firm age-dependent. Chapter five develops on the IT-enabled organisational capabilities perspective to examine whether IT ambidexterity enhances speed to market – referred as how quickly product is made available in the market after the product definition stage. This chapter posits operational agility as an IT-enabled organisational capability and that formalisation plays a role of moderator in this equation. The developed model is further examined under the varying conditions of environmental complexity. The empirical analysis suggests that the effect of IT ambidexterity on speed to market is partially mediated by operational agility and the operational agility has a greater impact on speed to market in environments that are more complex. While formalization does not moderate the link between IT ambidexterity and operational agility, our results reveal that this moderation effect is evident and significant in complex environments. Despite of its importance, IT ambidexterity is an IT concept only proposed and investigated very recently, for which our understanding is extraordinarily limited in the field of IS. Altogether, this thesis contributes to the embryonic stage of IT ambidexterity literature by providing an in-depth understanding of the enabling mechanisms and consequences of IT ambidexterity in high-tech SMEs. The findings of this thesis contribute to the debate surrounding how to manage and organise for IT exploitation and IT exploration simultaneously within the same firm. In contrast to prior arguments that ambidexterity can only be enabled with separate exploration and exploitation organisational units, the mechanisms irrelevant to high-tech SMEs, this study highlights the idiosyncratic roles of firm leaders and configurations to develop IT ambidexterity. In addition, against the theoretical concerns that due to resource limitations ambidexterity might become a performance-constraining strategy for high-tech SMEs, this study illustrates that IT ambidexterity not only directly impacts performance outcomes of high-tech SMEs but also provide a foundation for developing a higher-order operational capabilities.
In conclusion, this study responds to the call for greater attention on developing a competitive IT framework. In contrast to several other constructs (e.g. IT spending, IT development, and IT possession) that may not necessarily create competitive advantage due to imitability and substitutability, this study theorises IT ambidexterity as a distinct and valuable IT capability that is hard to emulate. This study contributes to the Information Systems research by clearly identifying the enabling mechanism and impacts of IT ambidexterity, thus, serves as a foundation stone for future research in this important and growing area of research.
This thesis examines the impact of CEO compensation, analysts’ characteristics, earnings management and country governability on the accuracy of analysts’ earnings forecasts. In summary, the thesis includes the following chapters:
Firstly, Chapter 2 examines the interplay between CEO compensation and analysts’ forecast errors over different forecasting horizons. A unique analyst-level sample for U.S. firms covering the period between 1992 and 2015 has been employed. Evidence obtained from this analysis suggests that CEO compensation, measured by various forms such as restricted stock holdings and stock ownership would correct for optimism in analysts’ earnings forecasts, whereas CEO bonus and sensitivity to changes in firm’s value would exacerbate analysts’ optimism. Results also show that CEO compensation would augment the effect of earnings management on analysts’ forecasts with CEO bonus being of importance. The findings of this chapter also indicate that analysts’ characteristics and regulation can affect earnings forecasts.
Next, Chapter 3 investigates the effect of governance on analysts’ earnings forecasts. By employing a comprehensive dataset of 911 U.S. firms for the period 2000 – 2014, this chapter demonstrates a strong positive association between the government effectiveness and analysts’ earnings forecasts. We extend this analysis employing corporate governance variables such as CEO equity incentives and CEO power, whilst a possible cross-term association between governability and the former has also been examined. This chapter explores further the effects of earnings management on analysts’ forecasts accuracy documenting a negative impact of the former on the latter. Lastly, underlying causality strands and endogeneity issues are addressed opting for a flexible panel VAR model.
Finally, Chapter 4 presents evidence of the effects of corruption on the accuracy of analysts’ forecasts. Using a global sample, this chapter reveals that analysts face greater difficulty in forecasting earnings in advanced and emerging countries due to the detrimental effect of corruption. Interestingly, findings suggest that for firms located in developing countries, corruption enhances analysts’ accuracy. This chapter also shows that the effect of earnings manipulation on the accuracy of forecasts is aggravated in the presence of corruption, whilst greater country freedom would enhance analysts’ accuracy when corruption is present.
My thesis contributes to the firms and trade literature, both theoretically and empirically, focusing on the export participation strategy by firms in one particular market, introducing products sequentially. I illustrate differences in export dynamics between firms according to their experience in that destination, and move further in my analysis by exploring how fast that experimentation is. I am particularly interested in the influence of trade liberalisation, as well as differences between products in terms of production effciency.
Chapters 3 and 4 present a two-period analysis on firms' sequential exporting strategy to a single destination. Chapter 3 shows theoretically, inspired by Albornoz et al. (2012), that new exporters in a market tend to grow faster in that destination than expert exporters, both at the intensive and extensive margin, across products; but those newcomers are also more prone to exit that business, while trade liberalisation, as well as the focus on \core competence" products, helps new exporters to remain in the market and continue experimenting. With a rich dataset of Peruvian export transactions to the USA market, Chapter 4 backs most predictions from the theory empirically. In Chapter 5, I go deeper into the sequential exporting strategy with a theoretical framework, based on Nguyen (2012), to explain how quickly exporters in one market move from one product to another. I find, supported by empirical evidence, that trade liberalisation accelerates firms' experimentation in that destination.
The aim of this thesis is to explore the place of physical geography in Scottish Enlightenment accounts of stadial theory. It does this through examining the historical works of the following authors: Adam Ferguson, Henry Home, (Lord Kames), John Millar and Adam Smith. Stimulated by the 1748 publication of Montesquieu’s Spirit of the Laws each of these individuals presented distinctive explanations for historical progress. Conventional interpretations of Scottish Enlightenment accounts of stadial theory have tended to stress how these were informed by debates over moral conduct and political practice in line with the rise of commercial society. However, these approaches have neglected to consider the place of physical geography within Scottish Enlightenment accounts of historical progress. Consequently, this thesis aims to amend this picture and demonstrate how physical geography provided further insight into the arguments deployed by stadial theorists. This thesis will therefore be structured in the following way. In the introductory chapter, the focus will be on Montesquieu’s understanding of physical geography within the Spirit of the Laws, in demonstrating that his account provided key insights into the differences between European and Asiatic societies which Scottish Enlightenment authors would draw from in order to develop their individual arguments. The second chapter will focus on the work of Adam Ferguson and his An Essay on the History of Civil Society. In the process, it will demonstrate how he used physical geography to illustrate the way social stability was rooted in civic virtue. In the third chapter, Henry Home’s (Lord Kames) Sketches of the History of Man will be examined. It will be argued that physical geography allowed Kames to demonstrate a sceptical interpretation of societal progress which culminated in an ambiguous view of humanity. The final chapter considers the place of physical geography in Adam Smith’s Lectures on Jurisprudence and the Wealth of Nations. In addition to this, this chapter will consider the work of John Millar as an example of the legacy of Smith’s argument and how it informed accounts of physical geography in stadial theory written after the Lectures. Doing so it demonstrates Smith’s understanding of physical geography to be concerned with the way historical progress was conditioned by local influences. This thesis will therefore argue that physical geography provides a way of viewing Scottish Enlightenment accounts of stadial theory which use the premise that societal development was intrinsically linked to a range of physical factors including location, climate, topography and fertility.
The category 'sublime', when applied to the natural world, has long been associated in Western culture, with extremes of vastness and power. When encountered, that which is deemed sublime, by virtue of these qualities, has the effect of overwhelming the mind, such that it is thrown simultaneously into a state of astonishment, admiration and horror. We are both humbled and elevated by what we behold and momentarily struck dumb, such that, in its Kantian formulation, our appreciation of that which we take to be sublime, granted us through the powers of reason, has the effect of ennobling us, as moral beings.
The concept of the sublime has continuously evolved from its classical origins right up to its present day post-modern formulations. The diversity of its forms suggests that the sublime can be regarded as polythetic. My thesis examines, how, through its different formulations, the sublime may be meaningfully applied to our perceptions of present day climate change, and the different implications arising from these applications.
My thesis asks: what is the sublime of climate change? When we look at climate change through the lens of the sublime, what do we see, and what is obscured? What is the effect on us, of opening ourselves to climate change as sublime? What implications might the sublime of climate change have for the future direction of society and therefore for the construction of climate policy and for its communication?
Original research, in the form of in-depth, unstructured, one to one interviews was conducted among senior climate scientists, business leaders and policy makers, writers and academics, inviting them to explore the theme of climate change, science and the sublime. My thesis findings are derived from my analysis of these discussions.
To most people, a question like “What colour is the letter A?” may seem nonsensical, but to a grapheme-colour synaesthete, each letter and word has an automatically evoked colour sensation associated with it. This thesis asks whether the synaesthetic colours for letters and words are shaped by the same influences that inform the typical use of language – that is, if grapheme-colour synaesthesia is fundamentally psycholinguistic in nature. If this is the case, the colour experiences of synaesthetes for letters and words can also be used to investigate long-standing questions about how language acquisition and processing work for everyone.
This thesis addresses two aspects of the psycholinguistic roots of synaesthesia: structure/morphology and meaning/semantics. The first two studies on word structure collected colour responses from synaesthetes for compound words (e.g. rainbow), the constituent morphemes of those words separately (e.g. rain and bow), and the letters that in turn form those words (e.g. R, A, B, etc.). These studies showed that synaesthetic word colouring does indeed encode linguistic properties such as word frequency and morphological structure. Furthermore, both linguistic and colour elements of words were important in determining their synaesthetic colour. The second two studies turned to the semantic aspect of language, asking how the meanings associated with words (e.g. red, fire) and even individual letters (e.g. A, Q) can influence the colours that a synaesthete experiences for them. The first of these studies indicated that the synaesthetic colour for a word like red or fire was measurably influenced by the colour that word typically evokes (e.g. the red of red and the orange of fire). The second showed that trends in letter-colour associations in large-scale studies (e.g. A is typically red) may be rooted in connections to particular words (e.g. A is red because A is for apple and apples are red). Overall, this thesis shows that both word structure and meaning have a systematic, measureable effect on synaesthetic colour, which allows these colours to then be used as a new tool to investigate psycholinguistic questions.
This thesis is the result of research that investigated the views of residential care workers (RCWs) working with people with dementia about their perceptions of training for their dementia care role with older people.
Using a constructivist ontology and an interpretivist epistemology, the research investigates how care workers perceive their training and how they feel it can be applied to their working environment. RCWs were asked what they saw as the specific needs of residents with dementia, what training they had received, how useful they perceived the training to be, and what training they felt was still needed. Previous studies had put forward topics for inclusion into dementia care training, but very little research had asked RCWs themselves about their dementia training needs. Nineteen semi-structured interviews were carried out across three care home organisations during the summer of 2013 in the East of England.
Findings from thematic analysis showed that the care workers interviewed had very limited or no dementia training or assessment they could remember, and that training had generally been a negative experience. Dementia care trainers were not considered helpful or knowledgeable enough and RCWs identified that their learning needs had not been taken into consideration. The learning environment was viewed as unsuitable, usually a lounge or a bedroom where it was very cramped and RCWs were pulled out of training when there were limited staff numbers. Many challenges specific to caring with people with dementia were also identified: challenging behaviour, lack of time and resources, poor teamwork and communication and lack of organisational support all inhibited the development of person-centred care and training transfer into practice.
A conceptual model of the training and learning cycle is proposed as a way forward for dementia training. This model illustrates the training process from course creation through to satisfactory completion. Learning into practice is measured by care workers’ knowledge, confidence, and competence. This assessment is a two-way
process between the learner and the mentor to ensure RCWs feel fully supported and recognised. Although this conceptual model has not been tested empirically, such a process is seen as a possible next step.
Analysis in chemistry has always been hindered by the presence of impurities in samples or mixtures that are difficult to separate. Nuclear magnetic resonance has proven to be one of the most powerful analysis techniques to enable the study of mixtures by pseudoseparation using molecular parameters such as the diffusion coefficient through the application of the DOSY technique. In order to extend the application of this technique, an improvement has been proposed know as matrix-assisted DOSY (MAD-DOSY) or chromatographic NMR. This technique is based on the addition of a sample modifier that will interact differently with the molecules, varying and separating their diffusion coefficients, or even changing slightly the chemical shifts.
To extend the application of chromatographic NMR, size exclusion stationary phases have been combined with DOSY experiments. These studies have been applied to analyze mixtures modifying the diffusion coefficient in terms of size exclusion behavior and to increase the understanding of the interactions between the analytes and the stationary phase. These studies have been published in Magnetic Resonance in Chemistry.
One of the main issues when using DOSY is spectral overlapping, which is the main cause of poor resolution. In addition to this problem, a consequence of using stationary phases is the appearance of increased broadening of the signals due to differences in magnetic susceptibility. Thus, to achieve the aim, the study of diffusion properties have been performed under HR-MAS conditions which can help to remove susceptibility effect, but has complicating effects on the DOSY experiment. A method to obtain reliable diffusion measurements under HR-MAS have been developed using a D2O sample. Different conditions have been investigated including different pulse sequences, variation of parameters of the pulse sequence (diffusion delay or gradient strength), spinning rate and synchronization of the pulse sequence with the sample spinning. Also improvements in sample preparation as the addition of spacers in different locations of the sample rotor, to both reduce radial field variations and the sample volume, in order to obtain the most accurate diffusion values. This method have been published in Magnetic Resonance in Chemistry. The method have been applied to a wide range of molecules to extend the understanding of diffusion under HR-MAS conditions.
In order to extend the range of application of NMR chromatography, a complementary study of the analysis of a mixture of different enantiomers including ethylenediamine cobalt complexes, aminoacids and some other organic small molecules adding to the sample a chiral stationary phase as a sample modifier is included in the final chapter of this thesis.
This article takes stock of German foreign policy during Angela Merkel's third term in office (2013–17). It argues that the longer-term significance of Germany's foreign policy during this period is twofold. First, the Merkel government was confronted with multiple European and international crises which worked as a magnifying glass for the growing international expectations on Germany to become more actively engaged on the international stage. Second, the tenure of the Grand Coalition saw a significant shift in the German domestic foreign policy discourse that was marked by a concerted effort of leading decision-makers to make the case for Germany to accept greater international responsibilities. This emerging consensus among foreign policy elites expresses a changed self-conception of German foreign policy which, however, continues to be viewed with scepticism in the broader public. Informed by such a broad two-level perspective that focuses on the interplay between international and domestic expectations on German foreign policy, the article explores the record of the Grand Coalition in the main international crises it had to engage with. It suggests that the Merkel government was better able to live up to its own aspirations in two-level contexts which left it with greater domestic room for manoeuvre.
Contemporary peacebuilding debates centre on questions of effectiveness, relevance,
and sustainability, broadly contrasting a ‘liberal peace’ model and more ‘critical’
perspectives. The critical peacebuilding literature calls for a transformative approach
addressing inequalities and systemic violence underpinning conflict, promoting ‘local’
engagement, and responding to ‘everyday’ priorities. Education systems play central
roles in reproducing or challenging relations of power, privilege, and inequality
associated with violent conflict, and represent key sites of ‘local’ and ‘everyday’
engagement. However, the critical literature has paid limited attention to education’s
potential, and political, peacebuilding role. In this thesis, I explore the importance of
education in peacebuilding and argue that peacebuilding scholarship should seriously
engage with education. Using a case study approach and a critical cultural political
economy framework, I explore links between education, inequality, and peacebuilding
in South Sudan, through analysis of donor and government policies and interviews with
217 education and peacebuilding actors. I suggest that education policies and practices
reproduce political, economic, and cultural inequalities and violence and undermine
peacebuilding aims in three broad ways. First, education resource and service
distribution reproduces, justifies, and institutionalises geographic and intergroup
disparities and grievances associated with ‘real’ and perceived inequalities. Second,
‘local’ participation strategies based on ‘decentralised’ governance reproduce patterns
of political exclusion, exploitation, and mistrust between ‘local’ communities and
authorities. Third, formal education practices and informal narratives concerning
identity and difference, in relation to inequality, conflict, and peace, reproduce colonial
forms of oppression and violence. These findings demonstrate the complexity of
education’s peacebuilding role, expanding critical discussions concerning inequalities,
the ‘local’, and the ‘everyday’ and providing insight into specific sociopolitical
processes through which these can be addressed, both analytically and ‘practically’.
In recent years, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) has attracted growing attention from both academia and industry. Meanwhile, when traditional wireless sensor networks are applied to complex industrial field with high requirements for real time and robustness, how to design an efficient and practical cross-layer transmission mechanism needs to be fully investigated. In this paper, we propose a Q-learning-based dynamic spectrum access method for IIoT by introducing cognitive self-learning technical solution to solve the difficulty of distributed and ordered self-accessing for unlicensed terminals. We first devise a simplified MAC access protocol for unlicensed users to use single available channel. Then, a Q-learning-based multi-channels access scheme is raised for the unlicensed users migrating to other lower cells. The channel with most Q value will be considered to be selected. Every mobile terminals store and update their own channel lists due to distributed network mode and non-perfect sensing ability. Numerical results are provided to evaluate the performances of our proposed method on dynamic spectrum access in IIoT. Our proposed method outperforms the traditional simplified accessing methods without self-learning capability on channel usage rate and conflict probability.
Animal eyes have evolved to process behaviourally important visual information, but how retinas deal with statistical asymmetries in visual space remains poorly understood. Using hyperspectral imaging in the field, in-vivo 2-photon imaging of retinal neurons and anatomy, here we show that larval zebrafish use a highly anisotropic retina to asymmetrically survey their natural visual world. First, different neurons dominate different parts of the eye, and are linked to a systematic shift in inner retinal function: Above the animal, there is little colour in nature and retinal circuits are largely achromatic. Conversely, the lower visual field and horizon are colour-rich and are predominately surveyed by chromatic and colour-opponent circuits that are spectrally matched to the dominant chromatic axes in nature. Second, in the horizontal and lower visual field bipolar cell terminals encoding achromatic and colour opponent visual features are systematically arranged into distinct layers of the inner retina. Third, above the frontal horizon, a high-gain ultraviolet-system piggy-backs onto retinal circuits, likely to support prey-capture.
This thesis defines the neo-historical aesthetic: a post-postmodern literary response to postmodern theories about the limitations of narrative for accessing the past. Variably present in each of the fictional texts considered here, I argue that the neo-historical aesthetic embraces the radical flexibility of postmodernism’s deconstructions of narrative and maintains a commitment to coherent narrative (after historiographic metafiction). My identification of the neo-historical aesthetic is a substantial, original contribution to knowledge, establishing the ongoing development of post-postmodernism in contemporary culture and diagnosing a contemporary relationship to history, fiction, and narrative.
Chapter one defines post-postmodernism as self-contradictory, the product of neoliberal consumer capitalism, via theorists such as Jeffrey T. Nealon, Fredric Jameson, and Peter Boxall. Redefining ‘authenticity’, through #liveauthentic on Instagram, further discerns a changed relationship to ‘truth’ in post-postmodern culture. I demonstrate the neo-historical manifestation of this with analyses of anachronisms and narrative in Emma Donoghue’s Life Mask (2004), Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad (2016), and Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall (2009). Chapter two recognises the longstanding significance of women’s historical fiction, via Diana Wallace, arguing that Sarah Waters’s middlebrowness is (problematically) imbricated within her invention of neo-historical, post-postmodern histories for those marginalised from canonical history. Defining the middlebrow, alongside Beth Driscoll and Nicola Humble, and analysing representations of class in accessible novels The Night Watch (2006) and The Paying Guests (2014) positions that middlebrow as both influenced by and resistant to postmodernism. Chapter three analyses historical fictions about ghosts—novel Dark Matter (2010), and films The Others (2001) and The Awakening (2011)—connecting the neo-historical aesthetic to neo-Victorianism and the Gothic. Using Jacques Derrida’s and Peter Buse and Andrew Stott’s works, I explore how the logic of haunted spectrality, which is ontologically uncertain and combines temporalities, encourages this coexistence of postmodern and pre-postmodern relationships to narrative. This is visible in Derridean spectral, trace meanings (e.g. Waters’s use of ‘queer’) and haunted proleptic ironies in Wolf Hall. Via Buse and Stott, in the fourth chapter I explore how contemporary literary steampunk seeks to resolve this; its solid technologies and bodies effectively de-spectralise those real/not-real neo-historical ontologies.
This thesis articulates a post-postmodern, self-contradictory relationship to history and narrative as manifested in the previously unrecognised neo-historical aesthetic. Haunted and ontologically uncertain, but accessibly middlebrow, the neo-historical aesthetic’s anachronisms, proleptic ironies, and non-chronological temporalities do history in fiction.
Corruption is an important topic for management scholars and practitioners. Given the rise to economic prominence of firms from developing countries, this paper investigates how developing country firms engage with this challenge. Based on a content analysis of 191 codes of conduct, issued by firms from 18 developing countries, we first investigate what anti-corruption commitments developing country firms make in their codes of conduct; we then determine contextual factors at national business system level that drive differences in firm engagement. We provide evidence for a “mirror view” of corporate social responsibility, according to which companies match the quality of national-level institutions in their own anti-corruption commitments. This result stands in contrast to the basic expectation underlying the concept of corporate social responsibility that companies step in to close governance gaps and address wider societal-level challenges. Our findings thus highlight limitations to purely private governance mechanisms aimed at combatting corruption.
Molecular dynamics simulations were used to investigate the hydration and structure of the tripeptide GPG-NH2, and the effect of substituting a fluorine or hydroxyl group onto one of the Ca positions in the glycinamide portion of the molecule. The fluorinated and hydroxylated peptides both display a slight dehydration of the proline and glycinamide residues and a different conformation of the glycinamide
residue backbone than the GPG peptide. These two effects result in a significant decrease in the water-mediated interactions between the Gly1 and glycinamide residues, which had previously been shown to nucleate beta turns in GPG-NH2.
It is not always easy to predict which emerging technologies will also be ephemeral; which will realise their potential and benefit our users, and which will perish. VR (Virtual Reality) technology may not have perished but neither has it greatly advanced in our sector yet. However, the following article proposes that growing expectation and developing infrastructure could lead to a surge in VR popularity over the coming years, bringing with it new opportunities to develop and promote our services. It will share examples from the University of Sussex where colleagues are already using this technology in ways that can be adopted by us all. test
Increasingly you may hear researchers, librarians and other information professionals talk about “text mining”. Although this is a process aligned with information retrieval, it is not always clear how we can support and engage with these related activities. The following post brings together a number of resources that show the value and benefits of text mining, and introduces two free tools to help you start exploring this growing area of work.
Defence against predators is fundamental to increasing an organism’s fitness. My thesis explores this central theme in behavioural ecology using stingless bees as study organisms. The thesis contains a general introduction (Chapter 1), three data chapters (2-4) and a final discussion (5).
Chapter 2 is a comparative study of aggression in nest defence among stingless bee species, and describes a new form of nest defence, suicidal biting, which is most prevalent in the genus Trigona.
Chapter 3 describes a remarkable behaviour in Partamona helleri, which crashes head-first when entering its nest. An experiment suggests that this behaviour helps to avoid predation at the nest entrance.
Chapter 4 studies nest defence in the hovering guards of Tetragonisca angustula, and demonstrates that through coordinated vigilance, a group level behaviour rarely observed in animals, the ability of the group to detect predators is enhanced.
In this thesis, I develop a valuation model to price convertible bonds with call provision. Convertible bonds are hybrid instruments that possess both equity and debt characteristics. The purpose of this study is to build a pricing model for convertible and callable bonds and to compare the mathematical results of the model with real world market performance. I construct a two-factor valuation model, in which both the interest rate and the stock price are stochastic. I derive the partial differential equation of two stochastic variables and state the final and boundary conditions of the convertible bond using the mean reversion model on interest rate. Because it is difficult to obtain a closed solution for the American convertible bond due to its structural complexity, I use the binomial tree model to value the convertible bond by constructing the interest rate tree and stock price tree. As a convertible bond is a hybrid security of debt and equity, I combine the interest rate tree and stock price tree into one single tree. Default risk is added to the valuation tree to represent the event of a default. The model is then tested and compared with the performance of the Canadian convertible bond market. Moreover, I study the duration, convexity and Greeks of convertible bonds. These are important risk metrics in the portfolio management of the convertible bond to measure risks linked to interest rate, equity, volatility and other market factors. I investigate the partial derivative of the value of the convertible bond with respect to various parameters, such as the interest rate, stock price, volatility of the interest rate, volatility of the stock price, mean reversion of the interest rate and dividend yield of the underlying stock. A convertible bond arbitrage portfolio is constructed to capture the abnormal returns from the Delta hedging strategy and I describe the risks associated with these returns. The portfolio is created by matching long positions in convertible bonds, with short positions in the underlying stock to create a Delta hedged convertible bond position, which captures income and volatility.
Purpose – This paper seeks to link location choice and ownership structure to the debate on the multinationality-performance relationship.
Design/methodology/approach – This paper draws on a panel dataset that covers 1,321 emerging economy multinational enterprises (EMNEs) and includes 4,227 observations from 44 emerging economies between 2004 and 2013.
Findings – In our empirical results, we find that multinationality has a positive effect on EMNEs’ performance, and that this positive effect is larger for their investments in developed countries than in developing countries. We also find that this positive effect of foreign operation in developed countries switch to negative at higher levels of multinationality for privately-owned EMNEs than for state-owned EMNEs.
Originality/value – This paper provides new empirical evidence to support an institutional perspective of the internationalisation of EMNEs that are investing in developed countries, contributing to the multinationality-performance literature, highlighting the importance of FDI location decision and ownership structure.
Visceral adipose tissue (VAT) has multiple roles in orchestrating whole-body energy homeostasis. In addition, VAT is now considered an immune site harboring an array of innate and adaptive immune cells with a direct role in immune surveillance and host defense. We report that conventional dendritic cells (cDCs) in VAT acquire a tolerogenic phenotype through upregulation of pathways involved in adipocyte differentiation. While activation of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway in cDC1 DCs induces IL-10 production, upregulation of the PPARγ pathway in cDC2 DCs directly suppresses their activation. Combined, they promote an anti-inflammatory milieu in vivo delaying the onset of obesity-induced chronic inflammation and insulin resistance. Under long-term over-nutrition, changes in adipocyte biology curtail β-catenin and PPARγ activation, contributing to VAT inflammation.
The previously unchartered gene expression territory governed by circular RNAs is becoming clearer with the onset of deeper sequencing technologies. The translation of circular RNAs remained a controversial theory until earlier this year, when two studies [1, 2] showed endogenous circular RNA translation in vitro and in vivo, and have further provided mechanistical evidence. In this edition of Oncogene, Zhang et al., provide evidence for the first circular RNA translated with relevance to cancer; a novel tumour suppressor protein, SHPRH-146aa, produced by circ-SHPRH driven by IRES elements. The novel tumour suppressor protein produced by the circular RNA was found to work in synergy with the full-length protein, behaving as a protective decoy molecule to decrease degradation, and thus increasing the tumour suppressive functionality of the gene. An extended patient survival time was seen in glioblastoma patients with elevated levels of SHPRH-146aa. This study also marks the discovery of the first circular RNA with an overlapping initiation and termination codon, resulting in the translation of the full circRNA, exploring a mechanism not previously found or seen.
Background
Glypican-1 (GPC1) is expressed in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cells and adjacent stromal fibroblasts. Recently, GPC1 circulating exosomes (crExos) have been shown to be able to detect early stages of PDAC. In this study, we investigated the usefulness of crExos GPC1 as a biomarker for PDAC.
Methods
Plasma was obtained from patients with benign pancreatic disease ( = 16) and PDAC ( = 27) prior to pancreatectomy, and crExos were isolated by ultra-centrifugation. Protein was extracted from surgical specimens (adjacent normal pancreas, = 13; and PDAC, = 17). GPC1 levels were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
Results
There was no significant difference in GPC1 levels between normal pancreas and PDAC tissues. This was also true when comparing matched pairs. However, GPC1 levels were enriched in PDAC crExos ( = 11), compared to the source tumors ( = 11; 97 ± 54 vs. 20.9 ± 12.3 pg/mL; < 0.001). In addition, PDACs with high GPC1 expression tended to have crExos with higher GPC1 levels. Despite these findings, we were unable to distinguish PDAC from benign pancreatic disease using crExos GPC1 levels. Interestingly, we found that in matched pre and post-operative plasma samples there was a significant drop in crExos GPC1 levels after surgical resection for PDAC ( = 11 vs. 11; 97 ± 54 vs. 77.8 ± 32.4 pg/mL; = 0.0428). Furthermore, we found that patients with high crExos GPC1 levels have significantly larger PDACs (>4 cm; = 0.012).
Conclusions
High GPC1 crExos may be able to determine PDAC tumor size and disease burden. However, further efforts are needed to elucidate its role as a diagnostic and/or prognostic biomarker using larger cohorts of PDAC patients.
The emerging threat of pollinator declines has motivated research on bee ecology to understand the causes of declines and to develop appropriate conservation strategies. The main drivers of decline are anthropogenic and include: loss of habitat to agricultural intensification; use of pesticides; climate change; and alien species. However, in many parts of the world, knowledge of bee ecology and spatial distributions is scarce and the impacts of these stressors on bee populations are poorly understood. The Iberian Peninsula, located in the south-western part of Europe is one of the regions in Europe where there is large knowledge gap in relation to bee distribution and their conservation status. Additionally, the region has experienced the expansion of farmland abandonment in remote areas due to poor soils and rural depopulation. This thesis investigates how bee distributions in the Iberia Peninsula are shaped by climate using innovative tools such as Species Distribution Modelling (SDMs). It also evaluates how farmland abandonment shapes bee communities and their ecological interactions along an environmental gradient. The main findings reveal a) the climatic distributions of bumblebees, highlighting under-sampled areas in Iberia where rare species are likely to occur; b) the negative effect of land abandonment on bees in the intermediate successional stages such as shrublands; c) great beta diversity, with higher differences in species composition between sites (βRepl) in early-successional stages such as grasslands d) plant-bee interactions become more specialized along a secondary succession triggered by land abandonment. Overall, this thesis provides novel information on the ecology of bees and proposes the best management practices for Iberian bee conservation including the need to control the proliferation of intermediate successional stages in the landscape while preserving grasslands and forests.
The Shor quantum factorization algorithm allows the factorization or large integers in logarithmic squared time whereas classical algorithms require an exponential time increase with the bit length of the number to be factored. The hardware implementation of the Shor algorithm would thus allow the factorization of the very large integers employed by commercial encryption methods. We propose some modifications of the algorithm by employing some simplification to the stage employing the quantum Fourier transform. The quantum Hadamard transform may be used to replace the quantum Fourier transform in certain cases. This would reduce the hardware complexity of implementation since phase rotation gates with only two states of 0 and π would be required.
The excitement around computing technology in all aspects of life requires that we tackle fundamental issues of healthcare, leisure, labor, education, and food to create the society we want. The aim of this satellite event was to bring together a variety of different stakeholders, ranging from local food producers, chefs, designers, engineers, data scientists, and sensory scientists, to discuss the interwoven future of computing technology and food. This event was co-located with the AVI 2018 conference and supported by the ACM Future of Computing Academy (ACM-FCA). The event followed a co-creation approach that encourages conjoined creative and critical thinking that feeds into the formulation of a manifesto on the future of computing and food. We hope this will inspire future discussions on the transformative role of computing technology on food.
Considering the popularity and wide deployment of text passwords, we predict that they will be used as a prevalent authentication mechanism for many years to come. Thus, we have carried out studies on mechanisms to enhance text passwords. These studies suggest that password space and memorability should be improved, with an additional mechanism based on images. The combination of text and images increases resistance to some password attacks, such as brute force and observing attacks. We propose a hybrid authentication scheme integrating text and recognition-based graphical passwords. This authentication scheme can reduce the phishing attacks because if users are deceived to share their key passwords, there is still a chance to save the complete password as attackers do not know the users' image preferences. In addition to the security aspect, the proposed authentication scheme increases memorability as it does not require users to remember long and complex passwords. Thus, with the proposed scheme users will be able to create strong passwords without sacrificing usability. The hybrid scheme also offers an enjoyable sign-in/log-in experience to users.
With an increase in poaching of elephants (Loxodonta africana) across Africa, it is vital to know exactly how many elephants remain and where they occur, to ensure that protection and management are planned appropriately. From a nationwide survey, we provide current population and distribution data for elephants in South Africa. We consider the viability of elephant populations in the country, as well as some of the management techniques implemented and how effective these are in controlling elephant numbers. According to our surveys, there were 28,168 elephants in South Africa as of December 2015, with 78% of these occurring in the Kruger National Park (KNP) and reserves bordering and open to the Park. Of the country’s 78 discrete that host elephants, 77% have populations of <100 elephants, which could mean they are not genetically viable. We discuss our findings in terms of the conservation value of South Africa’s elephant reserves, and the animal welfare implications. We recommend that the current fragmentation of elephant habitat in the country be addressed through a national elephant management strategy that promotes wildlife corridors between existing, neighbouring elephant reserves.
Formulation of right strategies is believed to be able to bring sustainable performance across triple bottom line (TBL), i.e., economic, environmental and social aspects within and across organizations. The purpose of this research is to investigate the role of misaligned collaboration and dynamic capabilities on TBL performance. Misaligned collaboration signifies those configurations of collaboration that deviate from ideal profile of collaboration. The ideal profile of collaboration corresponds to superior performance. Collaboration has been operationalized through joint planning and resource sharing (JPRS) and collaborative culture (CC) which brings relational aspects into collaboration. Specifically, this research provides important extensions to the theory of profile deviation and dynamic capabilities (DC) perspective in the context of sustainable supply chain performance and misaligned collaboration utilizing the empirical evidence. Uniqueness of the proposed model is established by comparing with four other alternate models. We find both JPRSmisalign (misalignment of JPRS from the ideal profile) and CCmisalign (misalignment of CC from the ideal profile) influence all dimensions of TBL through DCs. Only direct influence of CCmisalign on operational and social performance is significant. Results convey the need of building DCs when collaboration is misaligned with its ideal profile, and this misalignment produces detrimental effects on DCs and TBL performance. This research contributes significantly by building unique model to develop and maintain sustainability. Further, theoretical and managerial contributions are highlighted and contested with existing knowledge.
Background
Positive self-care behaviours are more likely in young people who engage with allergy support groups, but reasons for this association are not well understood.
Objectives
This study explored how and why young people engage with allergy support groups to identify what activities and resources are beneficial.
Methods
In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with young people aged 12-21 years who reported engaging with allergy support groups (in person or on-line). Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic content analysis.
Results
The 21 participants had a range of allergies; initially most joined support groups on suggestion of their parent/carer although older participants sought groups independently. Feeling included and sharing experiences with people with similar problems/challenges were highly valued. Through membership, young people reported improved self-esteem and confidence in both managing their allergies and lives generally. Information, such as allergy alerts and hard-hitting video campaigns were reported to positively influence adherence to self-care behaviours such as carrying medication which led to sustained engagement. Participants wanted greater availability of allergy support groups, and higher profiles in healthcare and educational settings, as well as through social media.
Conclusions and clinical relevance
Participants valued the psychological and practical support of networking with others with allergies, and described how membership improved their confidence. This study also provides insight into the ways support groups improve young people’s adherence to medical advice and positive self-care behaviours; participants responded well to hard-hitting video campaigns which appeared to emphasise the severity and susceptibility of anaphylaxis. Participants identified the need for more active promotion of support groups amongst young people and their clinicians, as well as making them available in more localities.
The recent history of perceptual experience has been shown to influence subsequent perception. Classically, this dependence on perceptual history has been examined in sensory adaptation paradigms, wherein prolonged exposure to a particular stimulus (e.g. a vertically oriented grating) produces changes in perception of subsequently presented stimuli (e.g. the tilt aftereffect). More recently, several studies have investigated the influence of shorter perceptual exposure with effects, referred to as serial dependence, being described for a variety of low and high-level perceptual dimensions. In this study, we examined serial dependence in the processing of dispersion statistics, namely variance - a key descriptor of the environment and indicative of the precision and reliability of ensemble representations. We found two opposite serial dependencies operating at different timescales, and likely originating at different processing levels: A positive, Bayesian-like bias was driven by the most recent exposures, dependent on feature-specific decision-making and appearing only when high confidence was placed in that decision; and a longer-lasting negative bias - akin to an adaptation after-effect - becoming manifest as the positive bias declined. Both effects were independent of spatial presentation location and the similarity of other close traits, such as mean direction of the visual variance stimulus. These findings suggest that visual variance processing occurs in high-level areas, but is also subject to a combination of multi-level mechanisms balancing perceptual stability and sensitivity, as with many different perceptual dimensions.
The current study reports on the manufacturing of extended release dosage forms of metoprolol succinate via hot-melt extrusion (HME) technology. Either Eudragit®S100 and Eudragit®L100 alone or in combination with release modifying agent Polyox™ WSR 303 and Eudragit®L100-55 were processed to obtain complete and faster release. Metoprolol succinate with similar solubility parameters to polymer was dispersed in polymer matrix and was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).
Stability of drug after extrusion was confirmed by thermogravimetric analysis and high-performance liquid chromatography. Physical characterization method exhibited that the drug was homogeneously dispersed in non-crystalline state in
Eudragit®L100-55-based formulations whereas in semi-crystalline state in Polyox™ WSR 303. The drug release percentage was below 3 and 40% in 0.1 N HCL with Eudragit®L100-55- and Polyox™ WSR 303-containing formulations, respectively, and exhibited pH-dependent dissolution properties. The drug-release mechanism was anomalous with Polyox™ WSR 303 formulations whereas diffusion through pore formation was obtained with Eudragit®L100-55. Both Eudragit®L100-55 and Polyox™ WSR 303 changed the release mechanism and kinetics of drug release from thermally processed dosage forms. The
optimized stable formulation is similar to the marketed formulation with F2 value of 72.36. Thus, it can be concluded that HME was exploited as an effective process for the preparation of controlled release matrix system based on pH-dependent polymer matrices Eudragit®S100 and Eudragit®L100.
The current study explores the first case of the implementation of solution calorimetry (SolCal) in order to determine the amorphous content of crystalline benzoyl-methoxy-methylindol-acetic acid (BMA)—a model poorly soluble drug, in the amorphous granules prepared via single-step continuous twin-screw dry granulations (TSG). Amorphous magnesium aluminometasilicate (Neusilin®) (US2) was used as a novel inorganic carrier via a TwinLab 10 mm twin-screw extruder. The BMA/US2 blends were processed at 180 °C and varying drug: carrier ratios of 1:4, 1:2.5 and 1:1 (w/w). Physico-chemical characterisation conducted via SEM, DSC and XRPD showed amorphous state of the drug in all granulated formulations. Reverse optical microscopy revealed a meso-porous structure of US2 in which the drug particles are adsorbed and/or entrapped within the porous network of the carrier. This phenomenon can be the underlying reason for the increase of the amorphous content in the extruded granules. Solution calorimetry (SolCal) study revealed amorphous content of the drug in all formulations quite precisely, whereas the dynamic vapour sorption (DVS) analysis complemented the results from SolCal. Furthermore, an attempt has been made for the first time to interrelate the findings from the SolCal to that of the release of the drug from the amorphous granules. It can be concluded that SolCal can be used as a novel technique to precisely quantify and interrelate the amorphous content to its physico-chemical performances such as drug release from the granulated formulations processed via TSG
Chaperones play a pivotal role in protein homeostasis, but with age their ability to clear aggregated and damaged protein from cells declines. Tau pathology is a driver of a variety of neurodegenerative disease and in Alzheimer's disease (AD) it appears to be precipitated by the formation of amyloid-β (Aβ) aggregates. Aβ-peptide appears to trigger Tau hyperphosphorylation, formation of neurofibrillary tangles and neurotoxicity. Recently, dihydropyridine derivatives were shown to upregulate the heat shock response (HSR) and provide a neuroprotective effect in an APPxPS1 AD mouse model. The HSR response was only seen in diseased cells and consequently these compounds were defined as co-inducers since they upregulate chaperones and co-chaperones only when a pathological state is present. We show for compounds tested herein, that they target predominantly the C-terminal domain of Hsp90, but show some requirement for its middle-domain, and that binding stimulates the chaperones ATPase activity. We identify the site for LA1011 binding and confirm its identification by mutagenesis. We conclude, that binding compromises Hsp90's ability to chaperone, by modulating its ATPase activity, which consequently induces the HSR in diseased cells. Collectively, this represents the mechanism by which the normalization of neurofibrillary tangles, preservation of neurons, reduced tau pathology, reduced amyloid plaque, and increased dendritic spine density in the APPxPS1 Alzheimer's mouse model is initiated. Such dihydropyridine derivatives therefore represent potential pharmaceutical candidates for the therapy of neurodegenerative disease, such as AD.
This dissertation is research in the area of political engagement as affected by gender and immigrant status. More specifically, the dissertation examines the political participation of Somali diaspora Muslim women in Minneapolis and London. The topic is of particular significance given the increase in essentialist arguments of inner incompatibility between Islam and Western democratic and liberal culture. No research to date has empirically analyzed the political participation of Somali diaspora women in Minneapolis and London. The goal of the study was twofold: to understand similarities and differences in diaspora women from two different sites and to explore how generational differences affect the forms and levels of political participation of the diaspora woman. To capture the similarities and differences of the respondents, I employed a qualitative approach. This method allows accounts from the perspectives of the women themselves to explain the types of participation factors that hinder or engender their involvement. The empirical analysis is built on semi-structured interviews that were conducted with 40 Somali diaspora Muslim women living in Minneapolis and London. Interview themes involved topics such as discrimination at school, downward mobility, political activism both transnational and local, belonging, and identification. Furthermore, personal observations made during political demonstrations and community gatherings were included in the analysis. The study draws broadly from the following theories: postcolonialism, transnationalism, intersectionality, and social capital. The findings from the study suggest that Somali diaspora women participate in the politics of Minneapolis and London and that generation does affect type and form of political engagement. Moreover, my findings argue that immigrant women have public roles in transnational politics. This research will contribute to the literature on immigrant women and political participation by providing further evidence to explain how generation, locality and religious affiliations impact Somali immigrant women’s political activities in Minneapolis and London.
Purpose – This article investigates how buying firms manage their lower tier sustainability management (LTSM) in their supply networks and what contextual factors influence the choice of approaches. As most of the environmental and social burden is caused in lower tiers we use the iceberg analogy.
Design/methodology/approach – Findings from 12 case studies and 53 interviews, publicly available and internal firm data are presented. In an abductive research approach, Transaction Cost Economics (TCE) conceptually guides the analytical iteration processes between theory and data.
Findings – This study provides eight LTSM approaches grouped into three categories: direct (holistic, product-, region-, and event-specific) indirect (multiplier-, alliance-, and compliance-based) and neglect (tier-1-based). Focal firms choose between these approaches depending on the strength of observed contextual factors (stakeholder salience, structural supply network complexity, product and industry salience, past supply network incidents, socio-economic and cultural distance and lower tier supplier dependency), leading to perceived sustainability risk (PSR).
Research limitations/implications – By depicting TCE’s theoretical boundaries in predicting LTSM governance modes, the theory is elevated to the supply network level of analysis. Future research should investigate LTSM at the purchasing category level of analysis to compare and contrast PSR profiles for different purchase tasks and to validate and extend the framework.
Practical implications – This study serves as a blueprint for the development of firms’ LTSM capabilities that suit their unique PSR profiles. It offers knowledge regarding what factors influence these profiles and presents a model that links the effectiveness of different LTSM approaches to resource intensity.
Originality/value – This study extends the application of TCE and adds empirically to the literature on multi-tier and sustainable supply chain management.
Keywords Case studies, lower tier sustainability management, multi-tier supply chains, sustainability risk, sub-suppliers, Transaction Cost Economics
The key component of a microstructural diffusion MRI 'super-scanner' is a dedicated high-strength gradient system that enables stronger diffusion weightings per unit time compared to conventional gradient designs. This can, in turn, drastically shorten the time needed for diffusion encoding, increase the signal-to-noise ratio, and facilitate measurements at shorter diffusion times. This review, written from the perspective of the UK National Facility for In Vivo MR Imaging of Human Tissue Microstructure, an initiative to establish a shared 300 mT/m-gradient facility amongst the microstructural imaging community, describes ten advantages of ultra-strong gradients for microstructural imaging. Specifically, we will discuss how the increase of the accessible measurement space compared to a lower-gradient systems (in terms of Δ, b-value, and TE) can accelerate developments in the areas of 1) axon diameter distribution mapping; 2) microstructural parameter estimation; 3) mapping micro-vs macroscopic anisotropy features with gradient waveforms beyond a single pair of pulsed-gradients; 4) multi-contrast experiments, e.g. diffusion-relaxometry; 5) tractography and high-resolution imaging in vivo and 6) post mortem; 7) diffusion-weighted spectroscopy of metabolites other than water; 8) tumour characterisation; 9) functional diffusion MRI; and 10) quality enhancement of images acquired on lower-gradient systems. We finally discuss practical barriers in the use of ultra-strong gradients, and provide an outlook on the next generation of 'super-scanners'.
Discusses, with reference to US case law, the jurisdictional challenges posed by transnational counterfeits. Examines the jurisdictional reach of US courts, the mechanisms by which a court can ensure compliance with transnational discovery, and the remaining areas of uncertainty. Reviews the use of comity to restrict extraterritorial applications, China's firewall against US courts, and the extraterritorial liability risks in global governance.
Modelling is an exciting area of consumer psychology, with application to many problems and contexts. We have covered the founding principles and objectives of the modelling process, which have remained largely unchanged over the course of time. What has changed are the constant innovations in methodologies (especially analyses) and software development that keep pushing the boundaries of modelling. These developments have given rise to some interesting opportunities to work in multidisciplinary teams (especially around exploiting big data in a meaningful way) and to the opening up of new and innovative areas of research in understanding the consumer.
Cerebellar dysfunction plays a critical role in neurodevelopmental disorders with long-term behavioral and neuropsychiatric symptoms. A 43-year-old woman with a cerebellum arteriovenous malformation and history of behavioral dysregulation since childhood is described. After the rupture of the cerebellar malformation in adulthood, her behavior morphed into specific psychiatric symptoms and cognitive deficits occurred. The neuropsychological assessment evidenced impaired performance in attention, visuospatial, memory, and language domains. Moreover, psychiatric assessment indicated a borderline personality disorder. Brain MRI examination detected macroscopic abnormalities in the cerebellar posterior lobules VI, VIIa (Crus I), and IX, and in the posterior area of the vermis, regions usually involved in cognitive and emotional processing. The described patient suffered from cognitive and behavioral symptoms that are part of the cerebellar cognitive affective syndrome. This case supports the hypothesis of a cerebellar role in personality disorders emphasizing the importance of also examining the cerebellum in the presence of behavioral disturbances in children and adults.
Abstract
TGF-ß/Activin induces epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and stemness in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). However, the microRNAs (miRNAs) regulated during this response have remained yet undetermined. Here, we show that TGF-ß transcriptionally induces MIR100HG lncRNA, containing miR-100, miR-125b and let-7a in its intron, via SMAD2/3. Interestingly, we find that although the pro-tumourigenic miR-100 and miR-125b accordingly increase, the amount of anti-tumourigenic let-7a is unchanged, as TGF-ß also induces LIN28B inhibiting its maturation. Notably, we demonstrate that inactivation of miR-125b or miR-100 affects the TGF-ß-mediated response indicating that these miRNAs are important TGF-ß effectors. We integrated AGO2-RIP-seq with RNA-seq to identify the global regulation exerted by these miRNAs in PDAC cells. Transcripts targeted by miR-125b and miR-100 significantly overlap and mainly inhibit p53 and cell-cell junctions’ pathways. Together, we uncover that TGF-ß induces an lncRNA, whose encoded miRNAs, miR-100, let-7a and miR-125b, play opposing roles in controlling PDAC tumourigenesis.
Corpus linguistics has now come of age and Corpus Approaches to Discourse equips students with the means to question, defend and refine the methodology. Looking at corpus linguistics in discourse research from a critical perspective, this volume is a call for greater reflexivity in the field. The chapters, each written by leading authorities, contain an overview of an emerging area and a case-study, presenting practical advice alongside theoretical reflection. Carefully structured with an introduction by the editors and a conclusion by leading researcher, Paul Baker, this is key reading for advanced students and researchers of corpus linguistics and discourse analysis.
We study a competition-diffusion model while performing simultaneous homogenization and strong competition limits. The limit problem is shown to be a Stefan type evolution equation with effective coefficients. We also perform some numerical simulations in one and two spatial dimensions that suggest that oscillations in motilities are detrimental to invasion behaviour of a species.
The August of 2011 saw the largest riots in the United Kingdom in decades. Half of London’s boroughs, as well as neighborhoods in several other cities, were impacted through the more than 200 individual riot events that caused £200 ($300) million in property damage. Despite widespread media coverage at the time, we know little about what citizens experienced during the riots. This paper bridges that gap using daily response panel data (from the Mappiness smartphone application) to estimate the beyond-monetary costs of the riots. Based on the difference-in-differences estimation, the disturbances substantially increased unhappiness and stress in areas they affected. This negative effect was even more pronounced in areas with the biggest proportion of Black residents, and it also reached a national scale, as even neighborhoods without riots experienced a pronounced wellbeing loss. The negative effects persisted beyond the end of the disturbances, at least until the end of the summer. Citizens changed their behavior in response to the events, respondents in neighborhoods with riots started seeking information and communicating more, which manifested in higher levels of TV watching, texting, email, and social media use. The English riots form part of a larger trend in current social tensions—with a marked wellbeing loss for the majority of Brits.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the most important causes of morbidity and mortality, and associated with an important economic burden globally. Over the last decade, the prevalence of CVD has been rising globally, and is now associated with millions of death annually in both developed and developing countries. There is good evidence that the immune system is involved in the pathophysiology of CVD. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and their down-stream signaling pathways play an important role in the immune system. Recent studies have suggested that the TLRs are involved in atherogenesis, including stroke, myocardial infarction, ischemia-reperfusion injury, cardiac remodeling and development of heart failure (HF). In this review we have summarized the recent studies investigating the role of TLRs in CVD and the potential for using TLRs signaling pathways as a therapeutic target in CVD.
In this study, we present and apply an interdisciplinary approach that systematically draws qualitative insights from socio-technical transition studies to develop new quantitative scenarios for integrated assessment modelling. We identify the transition narrative as an analytical bridge between socio-technical transition studies and integrated assessment modelling. Conceptual interaction is realised through the development of two contrasting transition narratives on the role of actors in meeting the European Unions' 80% greenhouse gas emission reduction objective for 2050. The first transition narrative outlines how large-scale innovation trajectories are driven by incumbent actors, whereas the second transition narrative assumes more ‘alternative’ strategies by new entrants with strong opposition to large-scale technologies. We use the multi-level perspective to draw out plausible storylines on actor positioning and momentum of change for several technological and social niche-innovations in both transition narratives. These storylines are then translated into quantitative scenarios for integrated assessment modelling. Although both developed transition pathways align with the European Union's low-carbon objective for 2050, we find that each pathway depicts a substantial departure from systems that are known to date. Future research could focus on further systematic (joint) development of operational links between the two analytical approaches, as well as work on improved representation of demand-oriented solutions in techno-economic modelling.
We investigate laser-cooled atoms periodically driven by pulsed standing waves of light tuned close to an open atomic transition. This nonunitary system displays survival resonances for certain driving frequencies. The survival resonances emerge as a result of the matter-wave Talbot-Lau effect, similar to the Talbot effect causing quantum resonances in the atom optics δ-kicked rotor. Since the Talbot-Lau effect occurs for incoherent waves, the survival resonances can be observed using thermal atoms. A microlensing effect can enhance the height and incisiveness of the resonances. This may find applications in precision measurements.
Heritable bacterial symbionts are astonishingly common in insects, yet relatively little is known about how heritable symbionts influence the biology of social insects such as ants, bees, wasps and termites. In this thesis I investigate various aspects of the biology of heritable symbionts in social insects, principally focusing on the relationship between ants, the largest group of social insects, and the symbiont Wolbachia, the archetypal reproductive parasite. In Chapter 1, I begin by reviewing the biology of Wolbachia. In Chapter 2, I show that the sex, caste and size of an individual’s colony determine the likelihood that it is infected with Wolbachia, and I provide correlational evidence that Wolbachia provides small increases in colony productivity in the ant Temnothorax crassispinus. In Chapter 3, I combine colony censuses and antibiotic treatment experiments, finding that Wolbachia neither distorts host sex ratios nor causes strong female mortality type mating incompatibilities in the ant Myrmica scabrinodis. In Chapter 4, I critically evaluate the theory that heritable symbionts should evolve to manipulate caste-fate in social insects, outlining three distinct evolutionary scenarios under which this might occur. In Chapter 5, I provide evidence for negative interactions between Wolbachia and both Spiroplasma and Arsenophonus in M. scabrinodis hosts, and I show that multiple unrelated strains of both Wolbachia and Spiroplasma occur across the Palaearctic. In Chapter 6, I show that one of two strains of Wolbachia infecting the ant Monomorium pharaonis was acquired by hybrid introgression. In Chapter 7, I find that ant species with limited queen dispersal are almost twice as likely to be infected with Wolbachia relative to other ant species, supporting the hypothesis that population structure influences the invasion ability of Wolbachia. Finally, in Chapter 8, I discuss the broader significance of my findings.
In its Notice to stakeholders: withdrawal of the United Kingdom and EU rules in the field of copyright of March 2018, the European Commission indicated that one of the effects of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU is likely to be a reduced degree of reciprocity in the way collective management organisations operate. This article analyses reactions and current collaborative efforts produced by industry stakeholders facing an uncertain legal framework in the field of collective management of music copyright.
A short article reviewing, commenting on, and placing into broader context other articles in a special edition of Media History journal devoted to Radio Modernism. The article identifies common themes, including an interest in collage, the everyday, subjectivity, rhythm and musicality. It also suggests a need to move academic attention towards 'banal' everyday output, suggesting that radio's modernist character resides, above all, in the kaleidoscopic character of its total schedule or output rather than in individual programmes.
Action potential shape is a major determinant of synaptic transmission and mechanisms of spike-tuning are therefore of key functional significance. Here we demonstrate that synaptic activity itself modulates future spikes in the same neuron via a rapid feedback pathway. Using Ca2+ imaging and targeted uncaging approaches in layer 5 neocortical pyramidal neurons we show that the single spike-evoked Ca2+ rise occurring in one proximal bouton or first node of Ranvier drives a significant sharpening of subsequent action potentials recorded at the soma. This form of intrinsic modulation, mediated by the activation of large conductance Ca2+/voltage-dependent K+ channels (BK channels), acts to maintain high-frequency firing and limit runaway spike broadening during repetitive firing, preventing an otherwise significant escalation of synaptic transmission. Our findings identify a novel short-term presynaptic plasticity mechanism that utilizes the activity-history of a bouton or adjacent axonal site to dynamically tune ongoing signalling properties.
Ireland’s 25 May referendum result was a clear mandate to make sexual reproductive health services more comprehensive and accessible.
The result was a cause for celebration because the eighth amendment has forced women to access abortion care abroad or risk a 14-year prison sentence when attempting to control their own fertility. Women’s lives have been lost, and their human rights have been infringed.
Restrictive abortion laws do not stop women from needing access to abortion care, rather women are forced into making possibly dangerous decisions about their health. Men rarely, if at all, are forced to make such decisions about their health. Northern Ireland’s restrictive abortion laws must now be brought into line with the rest of the UK. Politicians opposing abortion law reform have a responsibility to explain why women in Northern Ireland, who are UK citizens, should be treated unfairly, and why they should have to seek care in England, Scotland or possibly Ireland.
Substitutional donor atoms in silicon are promising qubits for quantum computation with extremely long relaxation and dephasing times demonstrated. One of the critical challenges of scaling these systems is determining inter-donor distances to achieve controllable wavefunction overlap while at the same time performing high fidelity spin readout on each qubit. Here we achieve such a device by means of scanning tunnelling microscopy lithography. We measure anti-correlated spin states between two donor-based spin qubits in silicon separated by 16 ± 1 nm. By utilising an asymmetric system with two phosphorus donors at one qubit site and one on the other (2P−1P), we demonstrate that the exchange interaction can be turned on and off via electrical control of two in-plane phosphorus doped detuning gates. We determine the tunnel coupling between the 2P−1P system to be 200 MHz and provide a roadmap for the observation of two-electron coherent exchange oscillations.
Despite the importance of refugee resettlement being frequently emphasised, there is only a limited amount of empirical research on why an increasing number and variety of States admit refugees through resettlement, when it is not an obligation under international law. This article first sets out the four traditional perspectives on States’ motives for resettlement, based on well-established theories of International Relations, namely egoistic self-interest, altruistic humanitarianism, reciprocity, and international reputation. After examining the applicability of each of the traditional perspectives in light of past and recent resettlement practice in a deductive manner, the article puts forward a different hypothesis: that States perceive resettlement as an alternative to asylum in terms of migration management, given the recent empirical and discursive trend. While the article by no means suggests that such a perception is a justifiable explanation for States’ motives for resettlement, the perception seems to add a different and relevant hypothesis when tracing the logic behind States’ increasing interest in resettlement.
The paper addresses the problem of calculating the noise-induced switching rates in systems with
delay-distributed kernels and Gaussian noise. A general variational formulation for the switching
rate is derived for any distribution kernel, and the obtained equations of motion and boundary conditions
represent the most probable, or optimal, path, which maximizes the probability of escape.
Explicit analytical results for the switching rates for small mean time delays are obtained for the
uniform and bi-modal (or two-peak) distributions. They suggest that increasing the width of the distribution
leads to an increase in the switching times even for longer values of mean time delays for
both examples of the distribution kernel, and the increase is higher in the case of the two-peak distribution.
Analytical predictions are compared to the direct numerical simulations and show excellent
agreement between theory and numerical experiment.
In this work we have studied the terahertz spectra of modern artificially aged and ancient paper samples using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy. Hydrothermal artificial ageing was performed in closed and open reactors. Ancient paper samples were produced during the 15th century in European countries. The main aim of the work is the quantitative assessment of spectral feature observed by terahertz spectroscopy as a function of degradation. To this goal, the state of degradation of paper samples was characterized by crystallinity measurements obtained by using X-ray diffraction and by the degree of polymerization of cellulose polymers obtained by size exclusion chromatography. The behavior of the terahertz spectra was formerly investigated as a function of the hydration of paper samples. This allowed discriminating between the spectral features induced by the presence of water and those induced by degradation of paper. Results indicate clear dependences of spectral parameters from the evolution of crystallinity and the degree of polymerization. They can be used as a nondestructive analytical method to assess the state of degradation of ancient paper by terahertz spectroscopy.
In this short paper we discuss the possibility of testing the nature of astrophysical black holes using the recently observed black hole mergers. We investigate the possibility that a secondary black hole is created in the merger of two astrophysical black holes and discuss potential astrophysical signatures. We point out that black hole mergers are a possible astrophysical mechanism for the creation of quantum black holes with masses close to the Planck mass.
We present the dust mass function (DMF) of 15,750 galaxies with redshift z < 0:1, drawn from the overlapping area of the GAMA and H-ATLAS surveys. The DMF is derived using the density corrected Vmax method, where we estimate Vmax using: (i) the normal photometric selection limit (pVmax) and (ii) a bivariate brightness distribution (BBD) technique, which accounts for two selection effects. We fit the data with a Schechter function, and find M* = (4:65 ± 0.18) × 10^7 h^2/70 Mo, α = (-1.22 ± 0:01), Φ*= (6.26 ± 0.28) × 10^-3 h^3/70 Mpc^-3 dex^-1. The resulting dust mass density parameter integrated down to 10^4 M☉ is Ωd = (1.11 ± 0.02) × 10^-6 which implies the mass fraction of baryons in dust is fmb = (2.40 ± 0.04) × 10^-5; cosmic variance adds an extra 7-17 per cent uncertainty to the quoted statistical errors. Our measurements have fewer galaxies with high dust mass than predicted by semi-analytic models. This is because the models include too much dust in high stellar mass galaxies. Conversely, our measurements find more galaxies with high dust mass than predicted by hydrodynamical cosmological simulations. This is likely to be from the long timescales for grain growth assumed in the models. We calculate DMFs split by galaxy type and find dust mass densities of Ωd = (0.88 ± 0.03) × 10^-6 and Ωd = (0.060 ± 0.005) × 10^-6 for late-types and early-types respectively. Comparing to the equivalent galaxy stellar mass functions (GSMF) we find that the DMF for late-types is well matched by the GMSF scaled by (8.07 ± 0.35) × 10^-4.
The credibility of climate policy has been identified as paramount factor for low-carbon investment and innovation and is thus key to achieving the decarbonization objectives set out in the Paris Agreement. Yet, despite its importance, we have only limited insights at present into how such policy credibility is formed. To address this gap, we explore whether and to what extent corporate perceptions of policy credibility depend on the current policy mix. We draw on the case of the German Energiewende and rely on data collected in 2014 in a survey of German manufacturers of renewable power generation technologies. We analyzed the answers of 390 companies using a linear regression model and found that corporate perceptions of policy credibility are mainly shaped by two characteristics of the policy mix: the coherence of policymaking and implementa-tion, and the consistency of the policy mix. Changes in the design of the core demand-pull instrument (in Germany, the Renewable Energy Sources Act, EEG) and the nucle-ar phase-out policy are also important as are Germany’s targets for the expansion of renewable energies. These insights enable us to derive broader policy and research implications concerning climate policy credibility.
Motor actions can be facilitated or hindered by psychophysiological states of readiness, to guide rapid adaptive action. Cardiovascular arousal is communicated by cardiac signals conveying the timing and strength of individual heartbeats. Here, we tested how these interoceptive signals facilitate control of motor impulsivity. Participants performed a stop signal task, in which stop cues were delivered at different time points within the cardiac cycle: at systole when the heart contracts (T-wave peak, approximately 300 ms following the R-wave), or at diastole between heartbeats (R-wave peak). Response inhibition was better at systole, indexed by a shorter stop signal reaction time (SSRT), and longer stop signal delay (SSD). Furthermore, parasympathetic control of cardiovascular tone, and subjective sensitivity to interoceptive states, predicted response inhibition efficiency, although these cardiovascular and interoceptive correlations did not survive correction for multiple comparisons. This suggests that response inhibition capacity is influenced by interoceptive physiological cues, such that people are more likely to express impulsive actions during putative states of lower cardiovascular arousal, when frequency and strength of cardiac afferent signalling is reduced.
Mothers’ use of mental state talk (MST) is linked to young children’s performance on false belief tests of theory of mind (ToM) and to their behaviour in social contexts. However, little is known about MST beyond the early years. This investigation is the first to examine continuity in both mother and child MST from preschool (age 3–4 years) to middle childhood (age 10) and examines the role of early maternal MST in children’s later ToM and use of MST. We examine the novel association between MST and children’s behavioural adjustment from pre‐school into late childhood. Participants were mother–child dyads from a 7‐year longitudinal study. Measures of MST, ToM, and language were administered at home when children were 3 and 4 years old and again at the age of 10. Also at 10, behavioural adjustment was measured using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Mother and child MST were highly stable from preschool to later childhood. Early maternal MST accounted for unique variance in later child MST and behavioural adjustment at 10 years of age; children whose mothers used more MST, specifically references to cognitions, when they were 3 or 4 experienced fewer behavioural difficulties (externalising behaviour) when they were 10 years old.
Google Translate (GT) is a free on-line translation tool and accessible to anyone including students who study languages. Before the advent of GT, dictionaries have been used by language learners, which have only receptive translation function. Unlike dictionaries, GT has two translation functions: receptive and productive. This productive function of GT has been increasingly creating problems in university language assessment and language teachers with students’ cheating, plagiarism or academic infractions. The purpose of this article is to find evidence that GT has a causal effect of students’ cheating, plagiarism or academic infractions. In addition, how coherence also seems to be associated with academic infraction is discussed before the methodology. The study investigated the formative Japanese coursework essay writings of three students who have studied Japanese for 1 year but with no basic understanding or knowledge of the Japanese language at a university of South of England. It is concluded that all the three students were suspected of committing plagiarism in spite of teacher’s warning of plagiarism. The implications of this study are directed at institutions, teachers and students. Institutions should review the information gap between the websites which are written for students and the university’s official published website statement on plagiarism. Institutions may also need to mention GT specifically in the plagiarism documentation. Institutions may also consider adopting an additional coversheet system to use as students’ declaration of plagiarism. Language teacher should be familiar with the differences between plagiarism vs. cheatings, plagiarism vs. academic infractions/offences and the components of academic infractions of the university they work. Students should submit their own work, not using GT or copying and pasting translated sentences from websites.
Amidst growing scholarly interest in global health governance and the securitization of infectious diseases, this thesis presents an analysis of the Chinese government’s response to the influenza A (H1N1) pandemic in 2009-2010. China is a crucial actor because of its growing economic and political influence in global health governance, the comparatively large size of its population, and because China is also considered to be the likely geographic site for the outbreak of a future flu pandemic. Although the existing literature has not explored the Chinese response to the pandemic in much detail, closer analysis reveals that Chinese officials implemented one of the harshest public-health responses in the world - even for Asian standards. Curiously, in contrast to securitization, they did not characterise pandemic influenza as a verified existential threat, but simultaneously as plausibly catastrophic and mild. In explaining the Chinese response to the H1N1 pandemic, the thesis explores three key factors: (1) the wider international context that China was operating in, (2) the political organisation of the country, and (3) its historical experience. Overall, the thesis argues, the harsh accent on containment in the response was motivated by a strong desire to internationally demonstrate the capacity of the country to deal with pandemic influenza, especially as a way of vindicating the tarnished image of China about its poor performance to control other epidemics. On the other hand, the equivocal comprehensive characterisation of the disease resulted from emerging evidence of the mildness of the disease and the caution of Chinese leaders to prevent social panic. The case study contributes to filling a gap in the literature about securitization applied to global health and China. It also highlights the relevance of historical experience to identify patterns of security frameworks. Contradictory evidence may emerge to recognize the occurrence of securitization when the characterisation of the alleged threat is not consistently existential, even when other criteria like the involvement of high authorities, the priority status of an issue, the implementation of disruptive measures, the allocation of special funds and the use of security language are identified. On the other hand, understanding securitization as defined by the existential nature of the threat or as open to an intensified interpretation affects the assessment of the evidence.
Observations of the Milky Way (MW), M31, and their vicinity, known as the Local Group (LG), can provide clues about the sources of reionization. We present a suite of radiative transfer simulations based on initial conditions provided by the Constrained Local UniversE Simulations (CLUES) project that are designed to recreate the Local Universe, including a realistic MW–M31 pair and a nearby Virgo. Our box size (91Mpc) is large enough to incorporate the relevant sources of ionizing photons for the LG. We employ a range of source models, mimicking the potential effects of radiative feedback for dark matter haloes between ∼108 and 109M�. Although the LG mostly reionizes in an inside-out fashion, the final 40 per cent of its ionization shows some outside influence. For the LG satellites, we find no evidence that their redshift of reionization is related to the present-day mass of the satellite or the distance from the central galaxy. We find that fewer than 20 per cent of present-day satellites for MW and M31 have undergone any star formation prior to the end of global reionization. Approximately 5 per cent of these satellites could be classified as fossils,meaning the majority of star formation occurred at these early times. The more massive satellites have more cumulative star formation prior to the end of global reionization, but the scatter is significant, especially at the low-mass end. Present-day mass and distance from the central galaxy are poor predictors for the presence of ancient stellar populations in satellite galaxies.
Today's galaxies experienced cosmic reionization at different times in different locations. For the first time, reionization (50% ionized) redshifts, z R , at the location of their progenitors are derived from new, fully coupled radiation-hydrodynamics simulation of galaxy formation and reionization at z > 6, matched to N-body simulation to z = 0. Constrained initial conditions were chosen to form the well-known structures of the local universe, including the Local Group and Virgo, in a (91 Mpc)3 volume large enough to model both global and local reionization. Reionization simulation CoDa I-AMR, by CPU-GPU code EMMA, used (2048)3 particles and (2048)3 initial cells, adaptively refined, while N-body simulation CoDa I-DM2048, by Gadget2, used (2048)3 particles, to find reionization times for all galaxies at z = 0 with masses M(z = 0) ≥ 108 M ⊙. Galaxies with $M(z=0)\gtrsim {10}^{11}\,{M}_{\odot }$ reionized earlier than the universe as a whole, by up to ~500 Myr, with significant scatter. For Milky Way–like galaxies, z R ranged from 8 to 15. Galaxies with $M(z=0)\lesssim {10}^{11}\,{M}_{\odot }$ typically reionized as late or later than globally averaged 50% reionization at $\langle {z}_{R}\rangle =7.8$, in neighborhoods where reionization was completed by external radiation. The spread of reionization times within galaxies was sometimes as large as the galaxy-to-galaxy scatter. The Milky Way and M31 reionized earlier than global reionization but later than typical for their mass, neither dominated by external radiation. Their most-massive progenitors at z > 6 had z R =9.8 (MW) and 11 (M31), while their total masses had z R = 8.2 (both).
The process of reflection and reflexivity enables researchers to identify emotional involvement during research processes. In HIV related fieldwork, this process may facilitate tensions between the researcher’s professional position, methodological position and personal interests. The use of self-reflexive activities relating to emotions, self-consciousness, awareness and understanding intersubjective context between ethical praxis, participants’ narratives and methodologies, are critical elements of the research dynamic. In the following chapter, I advocate for focused supervision intended to promote the emotional regulation of PhD students during fieldwork. Ethically appropriate methods of supervision will enable researchers to manage emotions that impact on the researcher’s professional, personal and research life.
All the contributors to this book recommend taking a self-conscious decision to use emotional reflexivity as part of their research practice. In practice, much thought has gone in to what it means to do reflexivity and what it means to be transparent about the goings-on in the field. This is important as dual roles such as researcher practitioner can have an impact on the research, especially where practice and research roles collide and influence the data we collect. Having ways to step back and to reflect on subjectivities and practice and research identities enables an analytic eye on our own reactions as practitioner researchers.
Digital breakthroughs continue to challenge prevailing understandings of markets and marketing practices, bringing exciting opportunities to reimagine our offerings. Looking through the lens of digital surrealism, we identify key trends emerging in the field: (1) Is AR (Augmented Reality) for real?; (2) There is no better PR than GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation); (3) A persona is not a persona; (4) Min(e)d your language, and; (4 ¾) Raise your voice. Maybe. Based on these trends we develop an agenda for future research that enables the realization of the opportunities that the digital space offers.
This project is an extended case study design investigating the mentoring programme of Kids Company, an innovative and controversial organisation that closed during fieldwork. The study considers the programme both as a case of the larger category of ‘youth mentoring’ as well as a case in itself – of a unique and situated intervention. Methods employed included participant observation and interviews with professional staff, as well as the analysis of a sample of mentoring records documenting the one-year relationship of six mentoring pairs from the perspective of the mentor. Plans to interview mentoring pairs were curtailed by the unexpected demise of the organisation, but the data set includes interviews with five new mentors and mentees. The project has developed from a collaborative studentship aimed at understanding the mentoring programme, to include a post mortem of an organisation in crisis. Thus, documentation by and about Kids Company during this very public downfall also forms part of the data set. The thesis organises its findings into three chapters with insights on the model of mentoring employed by Kids Company and the reliance of popularised ideas from attachment theory and neuroscience; insights into the mentoring relationships themselves, including the value of a middle stage of everyday ‘being there’; and critical insights into how Kids Company’s approach to young people and communities simultaneously takes on representations of race and class, yet elides them. The thesis draws together critical social policy and childhood studies literature on the history of child saving interventions and representations of the child in need within society, and psychology literature on youth mentoring initiatives, in order to make the argument that mentoring must be understood as an intervention situated in time and place. The messiness, complexity, and variety of youth mentoring experiences needs to be recognised. Nevertheless, youth mentoring also has potential to be powerful and productive for all involved and the thesis reflects on both the strengths and weaknesses of the Kids Company approach to make suggestions for good practice.
Since the 1990s, the European Union (EU) has slowly developed an increasingly sophisticated body of asylum law and policy, known as the Common European Asylum System (CEAS). This framework – both in the shape of legislative instruments and case law – has inevitably also affected those asylum seekers who claim asylum on the basis of sexual orientation and/or gender identity (SOGI). This has been vividly demonstrated by particular norms in EU asylum instruments and judgments of the Court of Justice of EU (CJEU).
The current CEAS can be said to have several shortcomings in relation to SOGI claims, including in relation to: country of origin information; the notion of ‘safe country of origin’; the burden of proof and the principle of benefit of the doubt; the concept of a ‘particular social group’; and the definition of persecution. A new set of proposals for reform of the CEAS was put forward in 2016 by the European Commission, and these also affect SOGI asylum claims in precise and acute ways.
This policy brief scrutinises these proposals of reform, and assesses the extent to which these proposals and different institutional positions address, ignore or aggravate the issues that currently affect asylum seekers who identify as LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex). The policy brief makes fifteen recommendations for European policymakers in regards to the reform of the CEAS, in order to ensure that the needs of LGBTI asylum seekers and refugees are effectively addressed and their rights are respected. Academics from the University of Sussex working on the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Claims of Asylum (SOGICA) project, funded by the European Research Council, are calling for policymakers to implement these recommendations in order to render the CEAS fairer for SOGI asylum seekers.
Non-typhoidal Salmonella strains are responsible for invasive infections associated with high mortality and recurrence in sub-Saharan Africa, and there is strong evidence for clonal relapse following antibiotic treatment. Persisters are non-growing bacteria that are thought to be responsible for the recalcitrance of many infections to antibiotics. Toxin–antitoxin systems are stress-responsive elements that are important for Salmonella persister formation, speci- fically during infection. Here, we report the analysis of persister formation of clinical invasive strains of Salmonella Typhimurium and Enteritidis in human primary macrophages. We show that all the invasive clinical isolates of both serovars that we tested produce high levels of persisters following internalization by human macrophages. Our genome comparison reveals that S. Enteritidis and S. Typhimurium strains contain three acetyltransferase toxins that we characterize structurally and functionally. We show that all induce the persister state by inhibiting translation through acetylation of aminoacyl-tRNAs. However, they differ in their potency and target partially different subsets of aminoacyl-tRNAs, potentially accounting for their non-redundant effect.
Background: Depression and anxiety are significantly associated with systemic inflammation. Moreover, oxidative stress resulting from a disturbance in the prooxidant-antioxidant balance is linked to inflammation-related conditions. Therefore, depression/anxiety symptoms may also be associated with oxidative stress.
Objective: To examine the association between depression/anxiety symptoms and serum prooxidant-antioxidant balance (PAB) in adults who participated in a large population-based, cross-sectional study.
Methods: Serum PAB values were measured in 7,516 participants (62% females and 38% males) aged 35–65 years, enrolled in a population-based cohort study. Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventories were used to evaluate symptoms of depression and anxiety. Multinomial logistic regression was used to examine the effect of confounders on the status of serum PAB change.
Results: Among men, serum PAB values were increased incrementally from 1.55±0.47 to 1.59±0.47, 1.69±0.38, and 1.68±0.38 in the no or minimal, mild, moderate and severe depression groups, respectively (P trend<0.001). Serum PAB values also increased significantly across these four corresponding groups among women [1.70±0.45, 1.73±0.44, 1.75±0.44, and 1.76±0.40, (P trend=0.005)]. About anxiety, serum PAB values increased significantly across the four groups in men (P trend=0.02) but not in women (P trend=0.2). The adjusted odds ratios for serum PAB values among men with severe depression and anxiety symptoms were 1.75 and 1.27, respectively. Moreover, the adjusted odds ratios for serum PAB values among women with severe depression and anxiety symptoms were 1.40 and 1.17, respectively.
Conclusion: Symptoms of depression and anxiety appear to be associated with higher degrees of oxidative stress, expressed by higher serum PAB values.
Background
Demographic data show an increasingly aging HIV population worldwide. Recent concerns over dolutegravir-related neuropsychiatric toxicity have emerged, particularly amongst older HIV patients. We describe the pharmacokinetics (PK) of dolutegravir (DTG) 50mg once daily in people living with HIV (PLWH) aged 60 and older. Additionally, to address the call for prospective neuropsychiatric toxicodynamic data, we evaluate changes in sleep quality and cognitive function after switching to abacavir (ABC)/lamivudine (3TC)/DTG, over 6 months in this population.
Methods
PLWH aged≥60years with HIV-RNA<50copies/mL on any non-DTG based antiretroviral combination were switched to ABC/3TC/DTG. On day 28, 24-hour PK sampling was undertaken. Steady-state PK parameters were compared to a published historical control population aged≤50years. Six validated sleep questionnaires and neurocognitive (Cogstate®) testing were administered pre-switch and over 180 days (NCT02509195).
Results
Forty-three participants were enrolled; 40 completed the PK phase. Overall, five discontinued (two due adverse events, both sleep related, 4.6%). DTG maximum concentration (Cmax) was significantly higher in patients≥60 versus controls (GM 4246ng/mL versus 3402ng/mL, p=0.005). In those who completed day 180 (n=38), sleep impairment was higher at day 28 (PSQI median global score 5.0 versus 6.0 p=0.02) but not at day 90 or 180. Insomnia, daytime function, fatigue test scores did not change statistically over time.
Conclusion
DTG Cmax was significantly higher in older PLWH. Our data provides clinicians with key information on the safety of prescribing DTG in older PLWH.
The control of osteoblast/osteoclast cross-talk is crucial in the bone remodelling process and provides a target mechanism in the development of drugs for bone metabolic diseases. Osteoprotegerin is a key molecule in this biosignalling pathway as it inhibits osteoclastogenesis and osteoclast activation to prevent run-away bone resorption. This work reports the synthesis of a known osteoprotegerin peptide analogue, YCEIEFCYLIR (OP3-4), and its tagging with a gadolinium chelate, a standard contrast agent for magnetic resonance imaging. The resulting contrast agent allows the simultaneous imaging and treatment of metabolic bone diseases. The gadolinium-tagged peptide was successfully synthesised, showing unaltered magnetic resonance imaging contrast agent properties, a lack of cytotoxicity, and dose-dependent inhibition of osteoclastogenesis in vitro. These findings pave the way toward the development of biospecific and bioactive contrast agents for the early diagnosis, treatment, and follow up of metabolic bone diseases such as osteoporosis and osteosarcoma.
Background: More than half of patients in the UK wait between 5 and 15 minutes before seeing the GP, and this time in the waiting room (WR) provides an ideal opportunity for patient education.
Aim: To assess patients’ perceptions of the usefulness, noticeability and attractiveness of health education materials (HEMs); and the variety, number, topics, design and accessibility of these HEMs.
Method: An anonymous questionnaire was distributed to patients in the WR to assess their use of health information and perceptions of HEMs. A survey measured the availability of HEMs in the WR and evaluated their quality against 16 accessibility and design criteria.
Results: A total of 556 questionnaires were completed (response rate 97.9%). On average, WRs contained 72 posters covering 23 topics, and 53 leaflets covering 24 topics. Multivariate analysis showed that patients’ perception of usefulness was significantly associated with reading in the WR, using written HEMs, and not having a university degree; whilst noticeability was associated with reading in the WR, and being female. Attractiveness was associated with not having a university degree and shorter waiting time.
Conclusion: This study suggests that a wide variety of HEMs are available, and that many patients find them useful and noticeable, however, fewer find them well-designed and attractive. Future research should focus on the effectiveness of generally available HEMs at changing knowledge, attitudes, intentions, and behaviours; and utilising technology to deliver innovative means of providing patient health information.
The EU-Turkey Customs Union of 1995 has been economically beneficial for both parties, and its revamping could go a long way towards improving the relationship between Brussels and Ankara, despite the numerous obstacles present. In this article, the authors argue that in its current form, the Customs Union no longer meets the requirements of a 21st century trade agreement. Its modernization should include the signing of a free trade agreement covering agriculture, services, public procurement, investment protection, dispute settlement, and sustainable development. While difficult to achieve for Turkey, these are necessary steps if the country wants to remain a competitive player in the world economy and increase its exports and FDI inflows.
Recent advances in large-scale production of graphene have led to the availability of solution processable platelets at the commercial scale. Langmuir-Schaefer (L-S) deposition is a scalable process for forming a percolating film of graphene platelets which can be used for electronic gas sensing. Here, we demonstrate the use of this deposition method to produce functional gas sensors, using a chemiresistor structure from commercially-available graphene dispersions. The sensitivity of the devices and repeatability of the electrical response upon gas exposure has been characterized. Raman spectroscopy and Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) show doping of the basal plane using ammonia (n-dopant) and acetone (p-dopant). The resistive signal is increased upon exposure to both gases showing that sensing originates from the change in contact resistance between nanosheets. We demonstrate that Arrhenius fitting of the desorption response potentially allows measurements of the desorption process activation energies for gas molecules adsorbed onto the graphene nanosheets.
Well balanced levels of tyrosine phosphorylation, maintained by the reversible and coordinated actions of protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs) and protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs), are critical for a wide range of cellular processes including growth, differentiation, metabolism, migration, and survival. Aberrant tyrosine phosphorylation, as a result of a perturbed balance between the activities of PTKs and PTPs, however, is linked to the pathogenesis of numerous human diseases, including cancer, suggesting that PTPs may be innovative molecular targets for cancer treatment. Two PTPs that have an important inhibitory role in lymphocytes and other haematopoietic cells are SHP-1 and SHP-2 (SH2 domain-containing phosphatases 1 and 2), SHP-1,2 have been shown to promote cell growth and act by both upregulating positive signaling pathways and by downregulating negative signaling pathways. SHIP (SH2 domain-containing inositol phosphatase) is another inhibitory phosphatase that is rather specific for the inositol phospholipid phosphatidylinositol-3,4,5-trisphosphate (PIP3). SHIP acts as a negative regulator of immune response by hydrolysing PIP3, and, as a result, a SHIP defiency results in myeloproliferation and B cell lymphoma in mice. This strong validation of SHP-1,2 and SHIP as oncology targets has generated considerable interest in the development of small molecule inhibitors as potential therapeutic agents for haematologic malignancies and solid tumours, however, SHP-1,2 and SHIP have proven to be an extremely difficult target for drug discovery, due primarily to the highly conserved and positively charged nature of its PTP active site. The majority of reported PTP inhibitors lack either appropriate selectivity or membrane permeability, limiting their utility in modulating the activity of the intracellular PTPs. In order to overcome these caveats novel techniques have been employed to synthesise new inhibitors that specifically attentuate the PTP-dependent signaling inside the cell and amongst them some are already in clinical development (e.g., SHP-1 inhibitor sodium stibogluconate; SHP-2 inhibitor TNO155; SHIP-1 activator AQX-1125). In this review the mechanisms of action and the clinical development of newly available SHP-1,2 and SHIP inhibitors and activators are decribed and the major issues facing this rapidly evolving field are discussed.
DIS3 is the catalytic subunit of the exosome, a protein complex involved in the 3’ to 5’ degradation of RNAs. DIS3 is a highly conserved exoribonuclease, also known as Rrp44. Global sequencing studies have identified DIS3 as being mutated in a range of cancers, with a considerable incidence in multiple myeloma. In this work, we have identified two proteincoding isoforms of DIS3. Both isoforms are functionally relevant and result from alternative splicing. They differ from each other in the size of their N-terminal PIN domain, which has been shown to have endoribonuclease activity and tether DIS3 to the exosome. Isoform 1 encodes a full-length PIN domain, whereas the PIN domain of isoform 2 is shorter and is
missing a segment with conserved amino-acids. We have carried out biochemical activity assays on both isoforms of full-length DIS3 as well as the isolated PIN domains. We find that isoform 2, despite missing part of the PIN domain, has greater endonuclease activity compared to isoform 1. Examination of the available structural information allows us to provide a hypothesis to explain this altered behaviour. Our results also show that multiple myeloma patient cells and all cancer cell lines tested have higher levels of isoform 1 compared to isoform 2 whereas Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) and chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia (CMML) patient cells and samples from healthy donors have similar levels of isoforms 1 and 2. Together, our data indicate that significant changes in the ratios of the two isoforms could be symptomatic of haematological cancers.
S100A8 and S100A9 are both members of the S100 family and have been shown to play roles in myeloid differentiation, autophagy, apoptosis, and chemotherapy resistance. In this study we demonstrate that the BET-bromodomain inhibitor JQ1 causes rapid suppression of S100A8 and S100A9 mRNA and protein in a reversible manner. In addition, we show that JQ1 synergises with daunorubicin in causing AML cell death. Daunorubicin alone causes a dose- and time-dependent increase in S100A8 and S100A9 protein levels in AML cell lines which is overcome by cotreatment with JQ1. This suggests that JQ1 synergises with daunorubicin in causing apoptosis via suppression of S100A8 and S100A9 levels.
Meeting the climate change targets in the Paris Agreement implies a substantial and rapid acceleration of low-carbon transitions. Combining insights from political science, policy analysis and socio-technical transition studies, this paper addresses the politics of deliberate acceleration by taking stock of emerging examples, mobilizing relevant theoretical approaches, and articulating a new research agenda. Going beyond routine appeals for more ‘political will’, it organises ideas and examples under three themes: 1) the role of coalitions in supporting and hindering acceleration; 2) the role of feedbacks, through which policies may shape actor preferences which, in turn, create stronger policies; and 3) the role of broader contexts (political economies, institutions, cultural norms, and technical systems) in creating more (or less) favourable conditions for deliberate acceleration. We discuss the importance of each theme, briefly review previous research and articulate new research questions. Our concluding section discusses the current and potential future relationship between transitions theory and political science.
Our study offers a comparative assessment of the economic, sociopolitical, and environmental implications of the world’s largest source of renewable electricity, hydropower. Theorists from many disciplines have questioned both the proper role and ostensible benefits from the generation of electricity from large-scale hydroelectric dams. In this study, we use 30 years of World Bank data from 1985 to 2014 and a research design with three mutually exclusive reference classes of countries: major hydropower producers, members of OPEC, and all other countries. This is precisely so our analysis moves away from “dam-centric” or single case study approaches to comparative analysis at the international scale. We examine and test six separate hypotheses related to (a) military conflict, (2) poverty, (3) economic growth, (4) public debt, (5) corruption, and (6) greenhouse gas emissions.
Our analysis lends statistical support to the idea that there is such a thing as a “hydroelectric resource curse,” although effects were not always significant and varied from small, medium to large. The possible benefits of hydroelectricity—improved energy access, economic development, positive spillover effects—are real, but they are all too frequently constrained. Planners, investors, and researchers may therefore need to rethink their underlying assumptions about how they evaluate hydropower’s risk.
The Palgrave Handbook of Criminal and Terrorism Financing Law focuses on how criminal and terrorist assets pose significant and unrelenting threats to the integrity, security, and stability of contemporary societies. In response to the funds generated by or for organised crime and transnational terrorism, strategies have been elaborated at national, regional, and international levels for laws, organisations and procedures, and economic systems. Reflecting on these strands, this handbook brings together leading experts from different jurisdictions across Europe, America, Asia, and Africa and from different disciplines, including law, criminology, political science, international studies, and business. The authors examine the institutional and legal responses, set within the context of both policy and practice, with a view to critiquing these actions on the grounds of effective delivery and compliance with legality and rights. In addition, the book draws upon the experiences of the many senior practitioners and policy-makers who participated in the research project which was funded by a major Arts and Humanities Research Council grant. This comprehensive collection is a must-read for academics and practitioners alike with an interest in money laundering, terrorism financing, security, and international relations.
This book argues that there is a strong normative argument for using the criminal law as a primary response to corporate crime. In practice, however, corporate crimes are rarely dealt with through criminal sanctioning mechanisms. Rather, the preference – for both prosecutors and corporates – appears to be on negotiating out of the criminal process. Reflecting this emphasis on negotiation, this book examines the use of Civil Recovery Orders and Deferred Prosecution Agreements as responses to corporate crime, and discusses a variety of UK case studies. Drawing upon legal and criminological backgrounds, and with an emphasis on the conceptual frameworks of ‘negotiated justice’ and ‘legitimacy’, the authors examine the law, policy and practice of these enforcement responses. They offer an original, theoretically-informed analysis which is accessible to practitioners and researchers.
Over the last fifty years, the evolution of organic synthesis has reached a high level of sophistication, allowing for the obtention of highly complex molecules through protocols that provide specific chemo-, regio- and stereoselectivity. Furthermore, in order to be competitive and meet the economic and environmental demands, high atom efficiency and a decrease of waste generated are essential, especially in accordance to the principles of green chemistry. The development of synthetic protocols that can account for these requirements can only be accomplished in many cases using catalysis.
Palladium catalysts are a versatile and very efficient instrument in synthetic chemistry. Although phosphines have played a major role in palladium catalysed coupling reactions, more recently, the use of the relatively new N-heterocyclic carbene ligands, has led to significant improvements in activity, easier handling and better control of metal to ligand stoichiometry.
Chapter 1 Past and present of cross-coupling reactions, with particular emphasis on palladium catalysed couplings. Relevant ligands used including phosphines and N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHC), are explored. The importance of emerging environmental friendly processes and their impact on modern chemistry.
Chapter 2 provides a background on the telomerisation reaction, followed by an account of our investigation of the family of (NHC)PdCl2(TEA) (TEA = trimethylamine)catalysts.1 The reaction was examined by experimental means comparing the use of different telomers and taxogens.
Chapter 3 accounts for the metal catalysed synthesis of conjugated polymers. Background on the interest of water soluble conjugated polymers and methodologies.
Chapter 4 explores the application of NHC-Pd(II) complexes in the asymmetric aldol condensation reaction. An outline of the available organometallic catalysts and the use of chiral and non-chiral ligands is given. Complexes of type [(NHC)PdCl2(OAc)][TBA] have been tested in the condensation of isocyanoacetates with both aldehydes to yield oxazolines and imines to obtain imidazolines.
Chapter 5 future directions.
This article examines the importance of perceptions of police legitimacy in the decision to report hate crime incidents in Australia. It addresses an identified gap in the literature by analysing the 2011-2012 National Security and Preparedness Survey (NSPS) results to not only explore differences between hate crime and non-hate crime reporting but also how individual characteristics and perceptions of legitimacy influence decisions about reporting crime to police. Using the NSPS survey data, we created three Generalised Linear Latent and Mixed Models (Gllamm), which explore the influence of individual characteristics and potential barriers on the decision to report crime/hate crime incidents to police. Our results suggest that hate crimes are less likely to be reported to police in comparison to non-hate crime incidents, and that more positive perceptions of police legitimacy and police cooperation are associated with the victim’s decision to report hate crime victimisation.
In recent decades there has been something of a turn away from critique in anthropology and neighboring disciplines. Rather than confront the fact that the generation of global inequalities has, at its core, an intimate network of human relations, anthropologists and those in neighboring disciplines have begun to present a turn toward critique as an anti-ethnographic move that curtails one’s ability to function properly as an ethnographer or produce sensitive, rich ethnographic work. It is this postcritical turn, most visible in anthropological work with groups that might be considered “elite,” that the contributors to this theme section wish to confront. Rather than choose between a distanced, critical political-economic perspective on elites and an intimate ethnographic approach that whisks political economy out of sight, the contributors to this issue would rather engage with ethical, political, and analytical challenges posed by studying both critically and ethnographically in global elite settings. Th ese settings include the “Alpha Territories” of London, where wealthy families reproduce themselves and their capital through highly gendered forms of labor (Glucksberg, this issue); the family homes of a wealthy Brazilian family concerned with reproducing its members as “socially responsible” industrialists (Sklair, this issue); and the private sector development initiatives that emerge in the encounters between development officials based in London and factory owners based in Dhaka (Gilbert, this issue).
This article draws on ethnographic work carried out in London and Dhaka as part of a multisited project exploring the production of investment opportunities for (predominantly British) companies in Bangladesh. Focusing on the ready-made garments (RMG) sector in the run-up to, and in the wake of, the 2013 Rana Plaza factory collapse, I trace aid-funded attempts to improve Bangladesh’s investment climate and engagements with these initiatives by brokers seeking to “rebrand” Bangladesh as an investment destination and by RMG factory-owning businesspeople based in Dhaka. Writing against the “post-critical turn,” I suggest that responding to the explicit recognition by business elites of their own complicity in the exploitation of garment workers provides an entry point for a critical account of private sector development that enhances, not curtails, ethnographic understanding.
Anthropological interest in critical studies of class, system and inequality has recently been revitalized. Most ethnographers have done this from “below, while studies of financial, political and other professional elites have tended to avoid the language of class, capital and inequality. This themed section draws together ethnographies of family wealth transfers, philanthropy, and private-sector development, to reflect upon the place of critique in the anthropology of elites. While disciplinary norms and ethics usually promote deferral to our research participants, the uncritical translation of these norms “upwards” to studies of elites raises concerns. We argue for a critical approach that does not seek political purity, nor attempt to “get the goods” on elites, but which makes explicit the politics involved in doing ethnography with elites.
Many prominent regularities of stochastic choice, such as the attraction, similarity and compromise effects, are incompatible with Random Utility Maximisation (RUM) as they violate Monotonicity. We argue that these regularities can be conveniently represented by a variation of RUM in which utility depends on only two states and state probabilities are allowed to depend on the menu. We call this model Dual Ran- dom Utility Maximisation (dRUM). dRUM is a parsimonious model that admits vio- lations of Monotonicity. We characterise dRUM in terms of three transparent expan- sion/contraction conditions. We also characterise the important special case in which state probabilities are constant across menus.
In the field of flexible electronics, emerging applications require biocompatible and unobtrusive devices, which can withstand different modes of mechanical deformation and achieve low complexity in the fabrication process. Here, the fabrication of a mesa‐shaped elastomeric substrate, supporting thin‐film transistors (TFTs) and logic circuits (inverters), is reported. High‐relief structures are designed to minimize the strain experienced by the electronics, which are fabricated directly on the pillars' surface. In this design configuration, devices based on amorphous indium‐gallium‐zinc‐oxide can withstand different modes of deformation. Bending, stretching, and twisting experiments up to 6 mm radius, 20% uniaxial strain, and 180° global twisting, respectively, are performed to show stable electrical performance of the TFTs. Similarly, a fully integrated digital inverter is tested while stretched up to 20% elongation. As a proof of the versatility of mesa‐shaped geometry, a biocompatible and stretchable sensor for temperature mapping is also realized. Using pectin, which is a temperature‐sensitive material present in plant cells, the response of the sensor shows current modulation from 13 to 28 °C and functionality up to 15% strain. These results demonstrate the performance of highly flexible electronics for a broad variety of applications, including smart skin and health monitoring.
We introduce the idea of Synthetic Acoustic Ecology (SAC) as a vehicle for transdisciplinary investigation to develop methods and address open theoretical, applied and aesthetic questions in scientific and artistic disciplines of acoustic ecology. Ecoacoustics is an emerging science that investigates and interprets the ecological role of sound. It draws conceptually from, and is reinvigorating the related arts-humanities disciplines historically associated with acoustic ecology, which are concerned with sonically-mediated relationships between human beings and their environments. Both study the acoustic environment, or soundscape, as the literal and conceptual site of interaction of human and non-human organisms. However, no coherent theories exist to frame the ecological role of the soundscape, or to elucidate the evolutionary processes through which it is structured. Similarly there is a lack of appropriate computational methods to analyse the macro soundscape which hampers application in conservation. We propose that a sonically situated flavour of Alife evolutionary agent-based model could build a productive bridge between the art, science and technologies of acoustic ecological investigations to the benefit of all. As a first step, two simple models of the acoustic niche hypothesis are presented which are shown to exhibit emergence of complex spectro-temporal soundscape structures and adaptation to and recovery from noise pollution events. We discuss the potential of SAC as a lingua franca between empirical and theoretical ecoacoustics, and wider transdisciplinary research in ecoacoustic ecology.
The pentalene-ligated dysprosium complex [(8-Pn†)Dy(Cp*)] (1Dy) (Pn† = [1,4-(iPr3Si)2C8H4]2–) and its magnetically dilute analogue are single-molecule magnets, with energy barriers of 245 cm–1. Whilst the [Cp*]– ligand in 1Dy provides a strong axial crystal field, the overall axiality of this system is attenuated by the unusual folded structure of the [Pn†]2– ligand.
We use a newly assembled sample of 3545 star-forming galaxies with secure spectroscopic, grism, and photometric redshifts at z = 1.5–2.5 to constrain the relationship between UV slope (β) and dust attenuation (L IR/L UV ≡ IRX). Our sample significantly extends the range of L UV and β probed in previous UV-selected samples, including those as faint as M 1600 = −17.4 ($\simeq 0.05{L}_{\mathrm{UV}}^{* }$) and −2.6 lesssim β lesssim 0.0. IRX is measured using stacks of deep Herschel data, and the results are compared with predictions of the IRX−β relation for different assumptions of the stellar population model and obscuration curve. We find that z = 1.5–2.5 galaxies have an IRX−β relation that is consistent with the predictions for an SMC curve if we invoke subsolar-metallicity models currently favored for high-redshift galaxies, while the commonly assumed starburst curve overpredicts the IRX at a given β by a factor of gsim3. IRX is roughly constant with L UV for L UV gsim 3 × 109 L ⊙. Thus, the commonly observed trend of fainter galaxies having bluer β may simply reflect bluer intrinsic slopes for such galaxies, rather than lower obscurations. The IRX−β relation for young/low-mass galaxies at z gsim 2 implies a dust curve that is steeper than the SMC. The lower attenuations and higher ionizing photon output for low-metallicity stellar populations point to Lyman continuum production efficiencies, ξ ion, that may be elevated by a factor of ≈2 relative to the canonical value for L* galaxies, aiding in their ability to keep the universe ionized at z ~ 2.
DNA single strand breaks (SSBs) are one of the most common lesions to genomic DNA, arising from various endogenous and exogenous sources. Single strand break repair (SSBR) constitutes a biochemical pathway whereby SSBs are detected, enzymatically processed and ligated. Whilst the general mechanisms of SSBR are relatively well described in vitro, there are remaining questions concerning how the pathway operates in vivo. For example, an early step in SSBR is thought to be the poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP)-dependent modification of SSB-proximal proteins with ADP-ribose, which is a signal for the recruitment of downstream repair factors, including the central scaffold XRCC1. Yet, the presence of multiple DNA-dependent PARP genes (PARP1, PARP2 and PARP3) has caused confusion regarding their specific roles in SSBR. This thesis potentially clarifies some contentious aspects of PARP function in the repair of SSBs induced by reactive oxygen species (ROS) and by Topoisomerase 1 (Top1). By employing PARP1-/-/PARP2-/- cells generated herein using CRISPR-Cas9 technology, in combination with preextraction immunofluorescence imaging and high-content analysis, I demonstrate that both PARP1 and PARP2 contribute towards ROS-induced ADP-ribosylation and XRCC1 chromatin-localization, but that in response to Top1-SSBs, these functions are specifically supported by PARP1 alone. Furthermore, using TDP1-/- and XRCC1-/-/TDP1-/- cells also generated herein, I characterize a striking hyper-ADP-ribosylation phenotype in response to Top1-SSBs. The clinical significance of this was confirmed by co-workers, who observed a similar phenotype in an XRCC1-deficient patient, where mutations in XRCC1 underlie a novel cerebellar neurodegenerative disease. This phenotype could be utilized in future to screen for genes with novel functions in SSBR. Finally, I investigate the functional implications of disrupted SSBR genes for rates of repair and cellular viability using alkaline single-cell electrophoresis and clonogenic survival assay. In doing so, I unexpectedly discovered that deletion of PARP1 suppresses CPT-induced comet tail moments of WT and XRCC1-/- cells.
Researchers often conclude an effect is absent when a null-hypothesis significance test yields a non-significant p-value. However, it is neither logically nor statistically correct to conclude an effect is absent when a hypothesis test is not significant. We present two methods to evaluate the presence or absence of effects: Equivalence testing (based on frequentist statistics) and Bayes factors (based on Bayesian statistics). In four examples from the gerontology literature we illustrate different ways to specify alternative models that can be used to reject the presence of a meaningful or predicted effect in hypothesis tests. We provide detailed explanations of how to calculate, report, and interpret Bayes factors and equivalence tests. We also discuss how to design informative studies that can provide support for a null model or for the absence of a meaningful effect. The conceptual differences between Bayes factors and equivalence tests are discussed, and we also note when and why they might lead to similar or different inferences in practice. It is important that researchers are able to falsify predictions or can quantify the support for predicted null-effects. Bayes factors and equivalence tests provide useful statistical tools to improve inferences about null effects.
Background
Escherichia coli bloodstream infections are increasing in the UK and internationally. The evidence base to guide interventions against this major public health concern is small. We aimed to investigate possible drivers of changes in the incidence of E coli bloodstream infection and antibiotic susceptibilities in Oxfordshire, UK, over the past two decades, while stratifying for time since hospital exposure.
Methods
In this observational study, we used all available data on E coli bloodstream infections and E coli urinary tract infections (UTIs) from one UK region (Oxfordshire) using anonymised linked microbiological data and hospital electronic health records from the Infections in Oxfordshire Research Database (IORD). We estimated the incidence of infections across a two decade period and the annual incidence rate ratio (aIRR) in 2016. We modelled the data using negative binomial regression on the basis of microbiological, clinical, and health-care-exposure risk factors. We investigated infection severity, 30-day all-cause mortality, and community and hospital amoxicillin plus clavulanic acid (co-amoxiclav) use to estimate changes in bacterial virulence and the effect of antimicrobial resistance on incidence.
Findings
From Jan 1, 1998, to Dec 31, 2016, 5706 E coli bloodstream infections occurred in 5215 patients, and 228 376 E coli UTIs occurred in 137 075 patients. 1365 (24%) E coli bloodstream infections were nosocomial (onset >48 h after hospital admission), 1132 (20%) were quasi-nosocomial (≤30 days after discharge), 1346 (24%) were quasi-community (31–365 days after discharge), and 1863 (33%) were community (>365 days after hospital discharge). The overall incidence increased year on year (aIRR 1·06, 95% CI 1·05–1·06). In 2016, 212 (41%) of 515 E coli bloodstream infections and 3921 (28%) of 13 792 E coli UTIs were co-amoxiclav resistant. Increases in E coli bloodstream infections were driven by increases in community (aIRR 1·10, 95% CI 1·07–1·13; p<0·0001) and quasi-community (aIRR 1·08, 1·07–1·10; p<0·0001) cases. 30-day mortality associated with E coli bloodstream infection decreased over time in the nosocomial (adjusted rate ratio [RR] 0·98, 95% CI 0·96–1·00; p=0·03) group, and remained stable in the quasi-nosocomial (adjusted RR 0·98, 0·95–1·00; p=0·06), quasi-community (adjusted RR 0·99, 0·96–1·01; p=0·32), and community (adjusted RR 0·99, 0·96–1·01; p=0·21) groups. Mortality was, however, substantial at 14–25% across all hospital-exposure groups. Co-amoxiclav-resistant E coli bloodstream infections increased in all groups across the study period (by 11–18% per year, significantly faster than co-amoxiclav-susceptible E coli bloodstream infections; pheterogeneity<0·0001), as did co-amoxiclav-resistant E coli UTIs (by 14–29% per year; pheterogeneity<0·0001). Previous year co-amoxiclav use in primary-care facilities was associated with increased subsequent year community co-amoxiclav-resistant E coli UTIs (p=0·003).
Interpretation
Increases in E coli bloodstream infections in Oxfordshire are primarily community associated, with substantial co-amoxiclav resistance; nevertheless, we found little or no change in mortality. Focusing interventions on primary care facilities, particularly those with high co-amoxiclav use, could be effective in reducing the incidence of co-amoxiclav-resistant E coli bloodstream infections, in this region and more generally.
Traditional approaches of major project management take the strategy of selecting a supplier-led prime/systems integrator. Although this strategy pushes a significant amount of risk to the supplier, project performance may suffer due to lower engagement of the customer in the anticipation of potential issues involving a major project. Thus, this research investigates the implications of the customer, as opposed to a selected external supplier, assuming the role of systems/prime integrator, as a Problem Structuring Method (PSM) to better deal with the soft side and uncertainties of the project. A case study approach is conducted on the major project BT 21st Century Network (BT21CN) to demonstrate that customer-led systems integration projects may provide more balance in the relationship and distribution of risks between supplier and customer, having a positive impact on project performance, accelerating the development of BT’s organisational capabilities, and producing better project outcomes in the long term.
Leaving the EU Customs Union will necessitate the UK having an independent trade policy. As part of the process of governing its external trade, the UK must consider how it will integrate its sustainable development objectives into this policy. In this briefing paper, we conceive such objectives broadly, including transparency, political participation and access and consultation, as well as obligations within FTAs to uphold labour standards and environmental protections. Here we consider potential approaches to (1) integrating sustainable development objectives into the negotiating process; and (2) reflecting these objectives through UK trade strategy.
We describe the operation of an electrodynamic ion trap in which the electric quadrupole field oscillates at two frequencies. This mode of operation allows simultaneous tight confinement of ions with extremely different charge-to-mass ratios, e.g., singly ionised atomic ions together with multiply charged nanoparticles. We derive the stability conditions for two-frequency operation from asymptotic properties of the solutions of the Mathieu equation and give a general treatment of the effect of damping on parametric resonances. Two-frequency operation is effective when the two species’ mass ratios and charge ratios are sufficiently large, and further when the frequencies required to optimally trap each species are widely separated. This system resembles two coincident Paul traps, each operating close to a frequency optimized for one of the species, such that both species are tightly confined. This method of operation provides an advantage over single-frequency Paul traps, in which the more weakly confined species forms a sheath around a central core of tightly confined ions. We verify these ideas using numerical simulations and by measuring the parametric heating induced in experiments by the additional driving frequency.
Purpose—This paper explores the current and future role of Augmented Reality (AR) as an enabler of omnichannel experiences across the customer journey. To advance the conceptual understanding and managerial exploitation of AR, the paper synthesises current research, illustrating how a variety of current applications merge online and offline experiences, and provides a future research agenda to help advance the state of the art in AR.
Design/methodology/approach— Drawing on situated cognition theorising as a guiding framework, the paper reviews previously published research and currently deployed applications to provide a roadmap for future research
efforts on AR-enabled omnichannel experiences across the customer journey.
Findings— AR offers myriad opportunities to provide customers with a seamless omnichannel journey, smoothing current obstacles, through a unique combination of i)
embedded, ii) embodied, and iii) extended customer experiences. These three principles constitute the overarching value drivers of AR and offer coherent, theory-driven organising principles for managers and researchers alike.
Originality/value— Current research has yet to provide a relevant, conceptually robust understanding of AR-enabled customer experiences. In light of the rapid development and
widespread deployment of the technology, this paper provides an urgently needed framework for guiding the development of AR in an omnichannel context.
This paper presents combinations of inclusive and differential measurements of the charge asymmetry (AC) in top quark pair (tt¯) events with a lepton+jets signature by the ATLAS and CMS Collaborations, using data from LHC proton-proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV. The data correspond to integrated luminosities of about 5 and 20 fb−1 for each experiment, respectively. The resulting combined LHC measurements of the inclusive charge asymmetry are A C CHC7 = 0.005 ± 0.007 (stat) ± 0.006(syst) at 7 TeV and A C CHC8 = 0.0055 ± 0.0023 (stat) ± 0.0025 (syst) at 8 TeV. These values, as well as the combination of AC measurements as a function of the invariant mass of the tt¯ system at 8 TeV, are consistent with the respective standard model predictions.
A search for heavy resonances decaying into a pair of Z bosons leading to ℓ+ℓ−ℓ+ℓ− and ℓ+ℓ−νν¯ final states, where ℓ stands for either an electron or a muon, is presented. The search uses proton–proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb−1 collected with the ATLAS detector during 2015 and 2016 at the Large Hadron Collider. Different mass ranges for the hypothetical resonances are considered, depending on the final state and model. The different ranges span between 200 and 2000 GeV. The results are interpreted as upper limits on the production cross section of a spin-0 or spin-2 resonance. The upper limits for the spin-0 resonance are translated to exclusion contours in the context of Type-I and Type-II two-Higgs-doublet models, while those for the spin-2 resonance are used to constrain the Randall–Sundrum model with an extra dimension giving rise to spin-2 graviton excitations.
A search for massive coloured resonances which are pair-produced and decay into two jets is presented. The analysis uses 36.7 fb−1 of √s=13 TeV pp collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC in 2015 and 2016. No significant deviation from the background prediction is observed. Results are interpreted in a SUSY simplified model where the lightest supersymmetric particle is the top squark, t~, which decays promptly into two quarks through R-parity-violating couplings. Top squarks with masses in the range 100 GeV<mt~<410 GeV are excluded at 95% confidence level. If the decay is into a b-quark and a light quark, a dedicated selection requiring two b-tags is used to exclude masses in the ranges 100 GeV<mt~<470 GeV and 480 GeV<mt~<610 GeV. Additional limits are set on the pair-production of massive colour-octet resonances.
The modification of the production of J/ψ, ψ(2S), and Υ(nS) (n=1,2,3) in p+Pb collisions with respect to their production in pp collisions has been studied. The p+Pb and pp datasets used in this paper correspond to integrated luminosities of 28 nb−1 and 25 pb−1 respectively, collected in 2013 and 2015 by the ATLAS detector at the LHC, both at a centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of 5.02 TeV. The quarkonium states are reconstructed in the dimuon decay channel. The yields of J/ψ and ψ(2S) are separated into prompt and non-prompt sources. The measured quarkonium differential cross sections are presented as a function of rapidity and transverse momentum, as is the nuclear modification factor, RpPb for J/ψ and Υ(nS). No significant modification of the J/ψ production is observed while Υ(nS) production is found to be suppressed at low transverse momentum in p+Pb collisions relative to pp collisions. The production of excited charmonium and bottomonium states is found to be suppressed relative to that of the ground states in central p+Pb collisions.
A search for high-mass resonances decaying to τν using proton-proton collisions at √s=13 TeV produced by the Large Hadron Collider is presented. Only τ-lepton decays with hadrons in the final state are considered. The data were recorded with the ATLAS detector and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb−1. No statistically significant excess above the standard model expectation is observed; model-independent upper limits are set on the visible τν production cross section. Heavy W′ bosons with masses less than 3.7 TeV in the sequential standard model and masses less than 2.2–3.8 TeV depending on the coupling in the nonuniversal G(221) model are excluded at the 95% credibility level.
A measurement of the mass of the W boson is presented based on proton–proton collision data recorded in 2011 at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC, and corresponding to 4.6 fb−1 of integrated luminosity. The selected data sample consists of 7.8×106 candidates in the W→μν channel and 5.9×106 candidates in the W→eν channel. The W-boson mass is obtained from template fits to the reconstructed distributions of the charged lepton transverse momentum and of the W boson transverse mass in the electron and muon decay channels, yielding
mW=80370±7 (stat.)±11(exp. syst.)
±14(mod. syst.) MeV
=80370±19MeV,
where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second corresponds to the experimental systematic uncertainty, and the third to the physics-modelling systematic uncertainty. A measurement of the mass difference between the W+ and W−bosons yields mW+−mW−=−29±28 MeV.
A search for heavy resonances decaying into a Higgs boson (H) and a new particle (X) is reported, utilizing 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data at collected during 2015 and 2016 with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The particle X is assumed to decay to a pair of light quarks, and the fully hadronic final state is analysed. The search considers the regime of high XH resonance masses, where the X and H bosons are both highly Lorentz-boosted and are each reconstructed using a single jet with large radius parameter. A two-dimensional phase space of XH mass versus X mass is scanned for evidence of a signal, over a range of XH resonance mass values between 1 TeV and 4 TeV, and for X particles with masses from 50 GeV to 1000 GeV. All search results are consistent with the expectations for the background due to Standard Model processes, and 95% CL upper limits are set, as a function of XH and X masses, on the production cross-section of the resonance.
A search is conducted for new resonances decaying into a W or Z boson and a 125 GeV Higgs boson in the νν¯bb¯, ℓ±νbb¯, and ℓ+ℓ−bb¯ final states, where ℓ± = e± or μ±, in pp collisions at √s=13 TeV. The data used correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb−1 collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider during the 2015 and 2016 data-taking periods. The search is conducted by examining the reconstructed invariant or transverse mass distributions of W h and Zh candidates for evidence of a localised excess in the mass range of 220 GeV up to 5 TeV. No significant excess is observed and the results are interpreted in terms of constraints on the production cross-section times branching fraction of heavy W ′ and Z′ resonances in heavy-vector-triplet models and the CP-odd scalar boson A in two-Higgs-doublet models. Upper limits are placed at the 95% confidence level and range between 9.0 × 10−4 pb and 7.3 × 10−1 pb depending on the model and mass of the resonance.
Electric vehicles are an important instrument to decarbonize transportation, offering a range of co-benefits such as reductions in local pollution, noise emissions, and oil dependency. Unfortunately, price, range, infrastructure and technological uncertainty are only some of the barriers to a faster adoption of these vehicles. To overcome these barriers, there is a broad call for public support and a growing body of primarily survey and choice experiment studies to show which policy mechanisms are effective, with mixed outcomes. In response, this paper offers a qualitative comparative analysis that draws on 227 semi-structured interviews with 257 transportation and electricity experts from 201 institutions across 17 cities within the Nordic region to discuss the reasoning and arguments behind EV incentives and policy mechanisms. A frequency analysis of the most coded responses favoured cost reduction mechanisms, in particular taxation exemptions; infrastructure support for public and apartment charging; the importance of consumer awareness, especially information campaigns; certain other specific policy measures like procurement programs and environmental zones; and more general policy principles. More in-depth, our analysis shows the debates around these mechanisms and how the pros and cons of these mechanisms differ per country, per transport segment, per phase of transition or market share, even per city. In short, this paper calls for strong stable national targets and price incentives combined with local flexibility to implement secondary benefits and more attention to awareness campaigns to advance the implementation of electric vehicles.
While the United States is poised to become a major exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG), relatively little attention has been paid to greenhouse gas emission impacts from exporting US natural gas to Asia, a key likely destination. Using bounding scenarios of attributional lifecycle analysis, this study finds that the climate impacts of US exports to China, Japan, India, or South Korea could vary significantly, with annual global lifecycle emissions ranging from -88,000 metric tons CO2e to +170,000 metric tons CO2e per Bcf of exports. Exact emissions will depend on factors such as (a) the final end-use of the LNG, (b) domestic market impacts from increased natural gas prices in the U.S., (c) induced additional energy consumption in importing countries, and (d) methane leakage rates. Country specific GHG outcomes can differ from global GHG outcomes, with major implications for extraction and consumption based emissions accounting. The study’s results indicate the need for more robust consideration of the climate impacts of all energy exports in terms of country specific energy analyses, global climate regulations, and market uncertainty. Thus, how gas is governed becomes of critical importance, for it will determine whether LNG is a net sink or source of additional emissions.
The Smart Meter Implementation Programme (SMIP) is arguably one of the most expansive and complex smart meter programmes globally. The UK government regards smart meters to be enablers of a low-carbon energy grid and has set out ambitious consumer-orientated aims within their programme across England, Scotland, and Wales. Despite considerable amount of research on how consumers will (or not) engage with smart meters, media discourses, where some public debates about smart meters are created and reproduced, have received little attention. This paper presents a content analysis of how smart meters are discussed within 11 years of popular print media coverage. A collection of nine discourses are identified: Four of these – “empowered consumers”, “energy conscious world”, “low-carbon grid”, and “future smart innovation” – depict smart meters as a harbinger of positive social change. Five of these – “hacked and vulnerable grid”, “big brother”, “costly disaster”, “astronomical bills”, and “families in turmoil” – represent smart meters as negative forces on society. The results show that discourses and associated storylines mainly represent continuous struggles over specific issues concerning particular socio-technical promises linked to smart meters. Somewhat missing are attempts to open up the smart energy debate to broader issues of democracy and energy justice within the print media coverage.
We use ALMA and JVLA observations of the galaxy cluster Cl J1449+0856 at z=1.99, in order to study how dust-obscured star-formation, ISM content and AGN activity are linked to environment and galaxy interactions during the crucial phase of high-z cluster assembly. We present detections of multiple transitions of 12CO, as well as dust continuum emission detections from 11 galaxies in the core of Cl J1449+0856. We measure the gas excitation properties, star-formation rates, gas consumption timescales and gas-to-stellar mass ratios for the galaxies.
We find evidence for a large fraction of galaxies with highly-excited molecular gas, contributing >50% to the total SFR in the cluster core. We compare these results with expectations for field galaxies, and conclude that environmental influences have strongly enhanced the fraction of excited galaxies in this cluster. We find a dearth of molecular gas in the galaxies' gas reservoirs, implying a high star-formation efficiency (SFE) in the cluster core, and find short gas depletion timescales τ<0.1-0.4 Gyrs for all galaxies. Interestingly, we do not see evidence for increased specific star-formation rates (sSFRs) in the cluster galaxies, despite their high SFEs and gas excitations. We find evidence for a large number of mergers in the cluster core, contributing a large fraction of the core's total star-formation compared with expectations in the field. We conclude that the environmental impact on the galaxy excitations is linked to the high rate of galaxy mergers, interactions and active galactic nuclei in the cluster core.
The experience of hearing voices ('auditory hallucinations') can cause significant distress and disruption to quality of life for people with a psychosis diagnosis. Psychological therapy in the form of Cognitive Behavior Therapy for psychosis is recommended for the treatment of positive symptoms, including distressing voices, but is rarely available to patients in the UK. Cognitive Behavior Therapy for psychosis has recently evolved with the development of symptom-specific therapies that focus upon only one symptom of psychosis at a time. Preliminary findings from randomized controlled trials suggest that these symptom-specific therapies can be more effective for distressing voices than the use of broad CBT protocols, and have the potential to target voices trans-diagnostically. Whilst this literature is evolving, consideration must be given to the potential for a symptom-specific approach to overcome some of the barriers to delivery of evidence-based psychological therapies within clinical services. These barriers are discussed in relation to the UK mental health services, and we offer suggestions for future research to enhance our understanding of these barriers.
Current attempts to render touch in multimedia technology still represents a challenge. Touch is indeed a complex system and there are many aspects to take into account when trying to rendering it (e.g. the compliance of an object, its weight, orientation, geometric properties and forces on the skin). This is especially true for VR, where touch is an important factor to achieve the embodiment in virtual environments. Recently, new tactile technology has been developed: the mid-air devices, capable of delivering tactile feedback without entering in contact with the skin. One of the contributions of the doctoral research described in this paper is to overcome design challenges and create immersive experiences by applying psychological principles and paradigms, exploiting the advantages of the mid-air technology. We designed possible embodied interaction scenarios in mid-air and physical touch. Findings from these research point to opportunities for designing new immersive experiences. Future work will involve different parts of the body and different tactile properties (e.g. thermal stimulation).
Background: There is a legislation in England outlining the requirements for labels to be applied to dispensed medicines, which include directions for use. The NPSA guide recommends dispensing labels should be no smaller than 35 × 70 mm to allow for adequate font size and states that the direction is the most important information on the dispensing label but gives no specific guidance on the syntax, style, and content of directions.[1] Royal Pharmaceutical Society recommends the use of active verbs and capitals to emphasise the quantity and frequency of dosing (e.g. Take ONE tablet TWICE a day).[2] No work in England has explored the views of the people who need to interpret dispensing labels on their preferences, especially those of ethnic minorities or for whom English is not their first language.
Aim: This study set out to explore the preferences of members of the public for wording of instructions on dispensing labels.
Methods: A focus group was convened of members of the public recruited through posters and leaflets to determine views of standard dispensing labels and alternatives, plus issues that should be considered. The findings were used to develop a short questionnaire that was used to obtain the views of a sample of the general public recruited through street surveys and health‐related websites, aiming to reach a wide range of ethnicities. Mock dispensing labels were provided allowing easy selection of preferences through an on‐line sur- vey. University ethics approval was obtained. Data were analysed in SPSS.
Results: The focus group suggested that preferences for quantity, frequency, timing, indication, and use of “as directed” be studied. The questionnaire designed to investigate these issues also included educational level and language preferences and was administered to 523 individuals. The population comprised a majority of females (64%), with a high proportion being Asian (63%), or other (13%), and 245 white. There were 55% university educated, 34% college, and 12% school‐educated respondents. 196 (41%) used regular medicines; 32% did not have English as a first language, but only 36 individuals indicated they needed dispensing labels in another language, mostly Gujarati. There were clear preferences for the use of words rather than figures for quantity, but general times of day (such as morning and evening) were preferred by more respondents (76%‐81%) compared with generic wording, such as twice a day or daily (19%‐24%). A third preferred specific time, such as 6 PM, compared with two‐thirds preferring general times of day. A small majority (53% of 477 responding) did not like the use of “as directed,” only 21% did, and 26% did not mind. Of 477 giving views on adding the indication, 53% were in favour, 19% were against, and 28% did not mind. The proportion of those in favour was lower amongst respondents using regular medicines (42%) compared with those not (60%) (p=0.001; Chi‐squared).
Conclusion: Guidance should consider preferences for wording of dispensing labels. Labels may benefit from using general times of day, and labels in other languages should be considered. Preferences for indication vary and should be taken into account.
This thesis presents a study of playhouse spaces and the theatre industry in early modern England, and how they developed from 1560-1670. The period considered spans the English civil wars and Commonwealth to complicate the notion of a cessation of theatrical activity in 1642, and argues against the division of theatre history into distinct Renaissance and Restoration periods. The study builds on recent scholarly trends which have productively read early modern playing companies as consistent cultural entities with individual identities, by extending and applying this methodology to playhouse spaces. As such, this thesis proposes that all early modern playhouses had unique identities, and suggests that the frequent division into amphitheatre and indoor playhouses can produce an oversimplified binary with homogenising consequences. Moreover, it argues that a problematic, undertheorized hierarchy of playhouses exists; a key factor being the strength of the playhouse’s connection to Shakespeare, which has led to the prioritisation of the Globe in particular. This thesis problematises the metrics which have been used to assess the importance of playhouses; it offers alternative factors but also suggests it is more important to ascertain unique aspects of playhouse identities than to create a hierarchy between them.
Case studies of the Curtain (c.1577-c.1625), Salisbury Court (1629-1666) and Gibbons’ Tennis Court (1653-c.1669) demonstrate how distinct aspects of playhouses’ identities can be established by proposing dimensions of their unique reputations based on their known repertories. Collectively, these studies also demonstrate how playhouse space developed over time. This study concludes that each of these playhouses have been undervalued in scholarly narratives. By producing substantial accounts of these neglected spaces this thesis contributes towards a rebalancing of emphasis in early modern scholarship, and it also demonstrates that a wider reappraisal of early modern playhouse space is necessary in the future.
The European Border and Coast Guard Agency, commonly known as Frontex, acquired augmented competencies in 2016. Additional operational capacity continues the expansionary trajectory the Agency has travelled since its inception. This paper provides an examination of the security rationalities underpinning and informing Frontex. Frontex is promoted as being ‘intelligence-led’. This claim is reinforced through the pivotal role of Frontex as a producer and distributor of risk analysis for European border control assemblages. The engagement of ‘imagination-based’ techniques in Frontex risk analysis attempts to foresee crises, which in turn mobilises rationalities of precaution, pre-emption and preparedness. The discussion then interrogates the security logics evident in the EUROSUR project, and its aspiration to provide border visualisations in ‘near-real-time’. It is argued that while the EUROSUR project may not represent ‘militarisation’ as such, it is riven with martial rationalities.
With the proliferation of smartphones and their advanced connectivity capabilities, opportunistic networks have gained a lot of traction during the past years; they are suitable for increasing network capacity and sharing ephemeral, localised content. They can also offload traffic from cellular networks to device-to-device ones, when cellular networks are heavily stressed. Opportunistic networks can play a crucial role in communication scenarios where the network infrastructure is inaccessible due to natural disasters, large-scale terrorist attacks or government censorship. Geocasting, where messages are destined to specific locations (casts) instead of explicitly identified devices, has a large potential in real world opportunistic networks, however it has attracted little attention in the context of opportunistic networking.
In this paper we propose Geocasting Spray And Flood (GSAF), a simple and efficient geocasting protocol for opportunistic networks. GSAF follows an elegant and flexible approach where messages take random walks towards the destination cast. Messages that are routed away from the destination cast are extinct when devices’ buffers get full, freeing space for new messages to be delivered. In GSAF, casts do not have to be pre-defined; instead users can route messages to arbitrarily defined casts. GSAF does that in a privacy-preserving fashion. We also present DA-GSAF, a Direction-Aware extension of GSAF in which messages are forwarded to encountered nodes based on whether a node is moving towards their destination cast. In DA-GSAF only the direction of a mobile node is revealed to other devices. We experimentally evaluate our protocols and compare their performance to prominent geocasting protocols in a very wide set of scenarios, including different maps, mobility models and user populations. Both GSAF and DA-GSAF perform significantly better compared to all other studied protocols, in terms of message delivery ratio, latency and network overhead. DA-GSAF is particularly efficient in sparse scenarios minimising network overhead compared to all other studied protocols. Both GSAF and DA-GSAF perform very well for a wide range of device/user populations indicating that our proposal is viable for crowded and sparse opportunistic networks.
The production of a top quark in association with a Z boson is investigated. The proton–proton collision data Collected by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC in 2015 and 2016 at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 13 TeV are used, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb−1. Events containing three identified leptons (electrons and/or muons) and two jets, one of which is identified as a b-quark jet are selected. The major backgrounds are diboson, t¯t and Z + jets production. A neural network is used to improve the background rejection and extract the signal. The resulting significance is 4.2σ in the data and the expected significance is 5.4σ. The measured cross-section for tZq production is 600 ±170 (stat.)±140 (syst.)fb.
Background
Provision of early intervention services has increased the rate of social recovery in patients with first-episode psychosis; however, many individuals have continuing severe and persistent problems with social functioning. We aimed to assess the efficacy of early intervention services augmented with social recovery therapy in patients with first-episode psychosis. The primary hypothesis was that social recovery therapy plus early intervention services would lead to improvements in social recovery.
Methods
We did this single-blind, phase 2, randomised controlled trial (SUPEREDEN3) at four specialist early intervention services in the UK. We included participants who were aged 16–35 years, had non-affective psychosis, had been clients of early intervention services for 12–30 months, and had persistent and severe social disability, defined as engagement in less than 30 h per week of structured activity. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1), via computer-generated randomisation with permuted blocks (sizes of four to six), to receive social recovery therapy plus early intervention services or early intervention services alone. Randomisation was stratified by sex and recruitment centre (Norfolk, Birmingham, Lancashire, and Sussex). By necessity, participants were not masked to group allocation, but allocation was concealed from outcome assessors. The primary outcome was time spent in structured activity at 9 months, as measured by the Time Use Survey. Analysis was by intention to treat. This trial is registered with ISRCTN, number ISRCTN61621571.
Findings
Between Oct 1, 2012, and June 20, 2014, we randomly assigned 155 participants to receive social recovery therapy plus early intervention services (n=76) or early intervention services alone (n=79); the intention-to-treat population comprised 154 patients. At 9 months, 143 (93%) participants had data for the primary outcome. Social recovery therapy plus early intervention services was associated with an increase in structured activity of 8·1 h (95% CI 2·5–13·6; p=0·0050) compared with early intervention services alone. No adverse events were deemed attributable to study therapy.
Interpretation
Our findings show a clinically important benefit of enhanced social recovery on structured activity in patients with first-episode psychosis who received social recovery therapy plus early intervention services. Social recovery therapy might be useful in improving functional outcomes in people with first-episode psychosis, particularly in individuals not motivated to engage in existing psychosocial interventions targeting functioning, or who have comorbid difficulties preventing them from doing so.
We introduce amethod to dispersively detect alkali-metal atoms in radio-frequency-dressed states. In particular, we use dressed detection tomeasure populations and population differences of atoms prepared in their clock states. Linear birefringence of the atomic medium enables atom number detection via polarization homodyning, a form of common path interferometry. In order to achieve low technical noise levels, we perform optical sideband detection after adiabatic transformation of bare states into dressed states. The balanced homodyne signal then oscillates independently of field fluctuations at twice the dressing frequency, thus allowing for robust, phase-locked detection that circumvents low-frequency noise. Using probe pulses of two optical frequencies, we can detect both clock states simultaneously and obtain population difference as well as the total atom number. The scheme also allows for difference measurements by direct subtraction of the homodyne signals at the balanced detector, which should technically enable quantum noise limited measurements with prospects for the preparation of spin squeezed states. The method extends to other Zeeman sublevels and can be employed in a range of atomic clock schemes, atom interferometers, and other experiments using dressed atoms.
In this paper we discuss how transdisciplinary development research (TDR), if approached in particular ways, can not only to produce new knowledge, but also foster deeper systemic changes in the knowledge system itself. We are concerned with systemic change that supports pro-poor sustainability transformations, and conceptualise the processes that contribute to this type of systemic change as 'transformative space making' (TSM).
TDR as TSM can generate possibilities for the integration of diverse knowledges into decision making, whilst also creating new opportunities for subaltern knowledges to achieve greater influence, through enhancing the transformative agency of the poor. Thus, our conceptualization goes beyond the idea of TDR for the co-creation of solution-oriented knowledge, and recognizes the need to address structural injustices in knowledge systems. In TDR as TSM the development of strategies to reveal power relations and navigate the politics of structural injustices becomes as important as refining the principles for robust collaborative knowledge production.
To demonstrate the operationalization of TDR as TSM, we draw insights from our long-term involvement in TDR case studies of emergent environmental and health challenges in peri-urban contexts in India. We identify mechanisms which build legitimacy of pro-poor knowledges, whilst simultaneously creating ‘readiness’ to take advantage of opportunities for interventions to support change in policy and practice at multiple scales. We highlight the politics of alliance building both within and beyond the research team; arguing that attention to alliances is central to understanding the role of TDR in creating possibilities for transformative change. Finally, we argue that development research funding and commissioning agencies should pay attention to the mechanisms of TSM, alongside more recognised aspects of the planning, monitoring and evaluation of TDR initiatives, in order to provide appropriate support for enhanced impact.
Aim
Duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) is considered a key prognostic variable in psychosis. Yet it is unclear whether a longer DUP causes worse outcomes or whether reported associations have alternative explanations.
Methods
Data from two cohorts of patients with first episode psychosis were used (n=2134). Measures of DUP were assessed at baseline and outcomes at 12 months. Regression models were used to investigate associations between DUP and outcomes. We also investigated whether any associations were replicated using instrumental variables analysis to reduce the effect of residual confounding and measurement bias.
Results
There were associations between DUP per 1 year increase and positive psychotic symptoms (7.0% in symptom score increase 95% CI 4.0%,10.0% p<0.001), worse recovery (risk difference (RD) 0.78 95% CI 0.68,0.83 p<0.001) and worse global functioning (0.62 decrease in functioning score 95% CI -1.19,- 0.04 p=0.035). There was no evidence of an association with negative psychotic symptoms (1.0% 95% CI -2.0%,5.0% p=0.455). The instrumental variables analysis showed weaker evidence of associations in the same direction between DUP per 1-year increase and positive psychotic symptoms, recovery and global functioning. However, there was evidence of an inverse association with negative psychotic symptoms (decrease of 15.0% in symptom score 95% CI -26.0% ,-3.0% p=0.016).
Conclusions
We have confirmed previous findings of a positive association between positive psychotic symptoms, global functioning and recovery and DUP using regression analysis. Instrumental variables analysis shows some support for these findings. Future investigation using instrumental variables analysis should be repeated in large datasets.
The differential cross-section for the production of a W boson in association with a top quark is measured for several particle-level observables. The measurements are performed using 36.1fb−1 of pp collision data collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2015 and 2016. Differential cross-sections are measured in a fiducial phase space defined by the presence of two charged leptons and exactly one jet matched to a b-hadron, and are normalised with the fiducial cross-section. Results are found to be in good agreement with predictions from several Monte Carlo event generators.
A search for doubly charged Higgs bosons with pairs of prompt, isolated, highly energetic leptons with the same electric charge is presented. The search uses a proton–proton collision data sample at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV corresponding to 36.1 fb −1 of integrated luminosity recorded in 2015 and 2016 by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. This analysis focuses on the decays H±±→e±e±, H±±→e±μ± and H±±→μ±μ±, fitting the dilepton mass spectra in several exclusive signal regions. No significant evidence of a signal is observed and corresponding limits on the production cross-section and consequently a lower limit on m(H±±) are derived at 95% confidence level. With ℓ±ℓ±=e±e±/μ±μ±/e±μ±, the observed lower limit on the mass of a doubly charged Higgs boson only coupling to left-handed leptons varies from 770 to 870 GeV (850 GeV expected) for B(H±±→ℓ±ℓ±)=100% and both the expected and observed mass limits are above 450 GeV for B(H±±→ℓ±ℓ±)=10% and any combination of partial branching ratios.
This paper presents a direct measurement of the decay width of the top quark using tt¯ events in the lepton+jets final state. The data sample was collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC in proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 20.2 fb−1. The decay width of the top quark is measured using a template fit to distributions of kinematic observables associated with the hadronically and semileptonically decaying top quarks. The result, Γt=1.76±0.33 (stat.) −0.68+0.79 (syst.) GeV for a top-quark mass of 172.5 GeV, is consistent with the prediction of the Standard Model.
A search for long-lived, massive particles predicted by many theories beyond the Standard Model is presented. The search targets final states with large missing transverse momentum and at least one highmass displaced vertex with five or more tracks, and uses 32.8 fb−1 of √s=13 TeV pp collision data collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The observed yield is consistent with the expected background. The results are used to extract 95% C.L. exclusion limits on the production of long-lived gluinos with masses up to 2.37 TeV and lifetimes of O(10−2) − O(10) ns in a simplified model inspired by split supersymmetry.
Just three decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall signifying the end of Cold War aggression and the ascendancy of international liberalism, the world faces even greater uncertainty. In every region of the world, geopolitical shifts are taking place that have brought offensive trade agendas to the fore. The US has withdrawn from underwriting the post-World War Two international economic and foreign policy architecture, instead proposing to build a wall between itself and neighbouring Mexico, imposing unilateral tariff increases while refusing to negotiate new international agreements. In Europe, the project of ever greater integration has been attacked by Brexit, as well as other populist sentiment against the perceived power of EU institutions and the forces of globalisation.
The breakdown of the western coalition advocating global governance has left a power vacuum that other key players such as China are forced to respond to. These current tectonic shifts in power and foreign policy positions impact on every country and every individual in the early 21st century. While many governments strive to maintain international cooperation and further integration, it is an unpredictable era. For trade policy has established itself firmly within the arena of high foreign diplomacy and as a result, traditional assumptions and adherence to international norms can no longer be assumed in such a state of political and economic flux. Yet when trade policy becomes a tool of diplomacy and foreign policy, sound economic reasoning can be lost to political decision making.
This report shines a spotlight on the rise of protectionism in the 21st century. It examines the diplomatic dynamics behind economic nationalism and its attack on the established liberal international institutions that were created after the second World War to settle disputes without recourse to war. Before focusing on the US, UK, EU and China, the first chapter centers on the threat to economic integration and cooperation in promoting sustainable development through the multilateral rules-based system established under the World Trade Organization.
Abstract—Antenna selection (AS) is a promising technology to substantially reduce the complexity of massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. However, spatial correlation and imperfect estimation of channel state information (CSI) are well known to have a direct impact on the capacity of feasible MIMO schemes. In this paper, a tight closed-form approximation of the ergodic capacity for correlated Rayleigh fading multiuser
MIMO channels with receive AS and imperfect CSI is presented. The derived expression takes into account the spatial correlation at both link sides and channel estimation error at the receiver. It can be used for arbitrary numbers of users, antennas, and receive
RF chains. Furthermore, a concise analytical capacity formula is derived in the high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) region. Numerical results validate the accuracy of our closed-form expressions over different channel conditions and SNRs. The new capacity approximation extends the state-of-the-art and enables efficient
performance evaluation of varied multiantenna applications including massive MIMO for 5G systems.
A search is conducted for new resonances decaying into a W W or W Z boson pair, where one W boson decays leptonically and the other W or Z boson decays hadronically. It is based on proton-proton collision data with an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb−1 collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of √s=13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. The search is sensitive to diboson resonance production via vector-boson fusion as well as quark-antiquark annihilation and gluon-gluon fusion mechanisms. No significant excess of events is observed with respect to the Standard Model backgrounds. Several benchmark models are used to interpret the results. Limits on the production cross section are set for a new narrow scalar resonance, a new heavy vector-boson and a spin-2 Kaluza-Klein graviton.
This paper presents a measurement of the polarisation of τ leptons produced in Z/γ ∗ → ττ decays which is performed with a dataset of proton—proton collisions at √s = 8 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.2 fb−1 recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2012. The Z/γ∗ → ττ decays are reconstructed from a hadronically decaying τ lepton with a single charged particle in the final state, accompanied by a τ lepton that decays leptonically. The τ polarisation is inferred from the relative fraction of energy carried by charged and neutral hadrons in the hadronic τ decays. The polarisation is measured in a fiducial region that corresponds to the kinematic region accessible to this analysis. The τ polarisation extracted over the full phase space within the Z/γ∗ mass range of 66 < mZ/γ∗ < 116GeV is found to be Pτ = −0.14±0.02(stat)±0.04(syst). It is in agreement with the Standard Model prediction of Pτ = −0.1517 ± 0.0019, which is obtained from the ALPGEN event generator interfaced with the PYTHIA 6 parton shower modelling and the TAUOLA τ decay library.
A detailed study of multiparticle azimuthal correlations is presented using pp data at √s = 5.02 and 13 TeV, and p+Pb data at √sNN = 5.02 TeV, recorded with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The azimuthal correlations are probed using four-particle cumulants cn {4} and flow coefficients vn {4} = (−cn{4})1/4 for n = 2 and 3, with the goal of extracting long-range multiparticle azimuthal correlation signals and suppressing the short-range correlations. The values of cn {4} are obtained as a function of the average number of charged particles per event, <Nch>, using the recently proposed two-subevent and three-subevent cumulant methods, and compared with results obtained with the standard cumulant method. The standard method is found to be strongly biased by short-range correlations,which originate mostly from jetswith a positive contribution to cn {4}.The threesubevent method, on the other hand, is found to be least sensitive to short-range correlations. The three-subevent method gives a negative c2{4}, and therefore a well-defined v2{4}, nearly independent of <Nch>, which implies that the long-range multiparticle azimuthal correlations persist to events with low multiplicity. Furthermore, v2{4} is found to be smaller than the v2{2} measured using the two-particle correlation method, as expected for long-range collective behavior. Finally, the measured values of v2{4} and v2{2} are used to estimate the number of sources relevant for the initial eccentricity in the collision geometry. The results based on the subevent cumulant technique provide direct evidence, in small collision systems, for a long-range collectivity involving many particles distributed across a broad rapidity interval.
A search for W′-boson production in the W′→tb¯→qq¯′bb¯ decay channel is presented using 36.1fb−1 of 13 TeV proton–proton collision data collected by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider in 2015 and 2016. The search is interpreted in terms of both a left-handed and a right-handed chiral W′ boson within the mass range 1–5 TeV. Identification of the hadronically decaying top quark is performed using jet substructure tagging techniques based on a shower deconstruction algorithm. No significant deviation from the Standard Model prediction is observed and the results are expressed as upper limits on the W′→tb¯ production cross-section times branching ratio as a function of the W′-boson mass. These limits exclude W′ bosons with right-handed couplings with masses below 3.0 TeV and W′ bosons with left-handed couplings with masses below 2.9 TeV, at the 95% confidence level.
Measurements of longitudinal flow correlations are presented for charged particles in the pseudorapidity range |η|<2.4 using 7 and 470 μb −1 of Pb+Pb collisions at √sNN =2.76 and 5.02 TeV, respectively, recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. It is found that the correlation between the harmonic flow coefficients vn measured in two separated η intervals does not factorise into the product of single-particle coefficients, and this breaking of factorisation, or flow decorrelation, increases linearly with the η separation between the intervals. The flow decorrelation is stronger at 2.76 TeV than at 5.02 TeV. Higher-order moments of the correlations are also measured, and the corresponding linear coefficients for the kth-moment of the vn are found to be proportional to k for v3, but not for v2. The decorrelation effect is separated into contributions from the magnitude of vn and the event-plane orientation, each as a function of η. These two contributions are found to be comparable. The longitudinal flow correlations are also measured between vn of different order in n. The decorrelations of v2 and v3 are found to be independent of each other, while the decorrelations of v4 and v5 are found to be driven by the nonlinear contribution from v22 and v2v3, respectively.
A search for the associated production of the Higgs boson with a top quark pair (t¯tH) is reported. The search is performed in multilepton final states using a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb−1 of proton-proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at a center-of-mass energy √s=13 TeV at the Large Hadron Collider. Higgs boson decays to WW*, ττ, and ZZ* are targeted. Seven final states, categorized by the number and flavor of charged-lepton candidates, are examined for the presence of the Standard Model Higgs boson with a mass of 125 GeV and a pair of top quarks. An excess of events over the expected background from Standard Model processes is found with an observed significance of 4.1 standard deviations, compared to an expectation of 2.8 standard deviations. The best fit for the t¯tH production cross section is σ(t¯tH)=790 +230 −210 fb, in agreement with the Standard Model prediction of 507 +35−50 fb. The combination of this result with other t¯tH searches from the ATLAS experiment using the Higgs boson decay modes to b¯b, γγ and ZZ* → 4l, has an observed significance of 4.2 standard deviations, compared to an expectation of 3.8 standard deviations. This provides evidence for the t¯tH production mode.
Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses proton-proton collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb−1 at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV collected in 2015 and 2016 with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Events are required to have at least one jet with a transverse momentum above 250 GeV and no leptons (e or μ). Several signal regions are considered with increasing requirements on the missing transverse momentum above 250 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model predictions. The results are translated into exclusion limits in models with pair-produced weakly interacting dark-matter candidates, large extra spatial dimensions, and supersymmetric particles in several compressed scenarios.
This paper reports searches for heavy resonances decaying into ZZ or ZW using data from proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of √s=13 TeV. The data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb−1, were recorded with the ATLAS detector in 2015 and 2016 at the Large Hadron Collider. The searches are performed in final states in which one Z boson decays into either a pair of light charged leptons (electrons and muons) or a pair of neutrinos, and the associated W boson or the other Z boson decays hadronically. No evidence of the production of heavy resonances is observed. Upper bounds on the production cross sections of heavy resonances times their decay branching ratios to ZZ or ZW are derived in the mass range 300-5000GeV within the context of Standard Model extensions with additional Higgs bosons, a heavy vector triplet or warped extra dimensions. Production through gluon-gluon fusion, Drell-Yan or vector-boson fusion are considered, depending on the assumed model.
A search for the narrow structure, Xð5568Þ, reported by the D0 Collaboration in the decay sequence X → B0sπ±, B0s→J=ψϕ, is presented. The analysis is based on a data sample recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC corresponding to 4.9 fb−1 of pp collisions at 7 TeV and 19.5 fb−1 at 8 TeV. No significant signal was found. Upper limits on the number of signal events, with properties corresponding to those reported by D0, and on the X production rate relative to B0s mesons, ρX, were determined at 95% confidence level. The results are N(X) < 382 and ρX < 0.015 for B0s mesons with transverse momenta above 10 GeV, and N(X) < 356 and ρX < 0.016 for transverse momenta above 15 GeV. Limits are also set for potential B0sπ± resonances in the mass range 5550 to 5700 MeV.
A search for the standard model Higgs boson produced in association with a top-quark pair, t¯tH, is presented. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of pp collision data at √s=13 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider in 2015 and 2016. The search targets the H → b¯b decay mode. The selected events contain either one or two electrons or muons from the top-quark decays, and are then categorized according to the number of jets and how likely these are to contain b-hadrons. Multivariate techniques are used to discriminate between signal and background events, the latter being dominated by t¯t + jets production. For a Higgs boson mass of 125 GeV, the ratio of the measured t¯tH signal cross-section to the standard model expectation is found to be μ = 0.84 +0.64−0.61. A value of μ greater than 2.0 is excluded at 95% confidence level (C.L.) while the expected upper limit is μ < 1.2 in the absence of a t¯tH signal.
There is a now an extensive body of scholarship, both conceptual and empirical, that uses populism as an ideology. While we have some convergence here, and it is a welcome convergence, the elements that make up that consensus have omitted and elided over the relationship of populism to politics. This chapter argues that we need to re-insert a fuller sense of populism’s relationship to politics into the definition of populism. To do this, I suggest that populism has, at its core, an implicit assertion of what I will term ‘unpolitics’. And it is the confrontation of this unpolitics with the functioning of representative politics that makes populism so potent and so provocative to contemporary representative democracy. First, I offer a literature review to try and back up the case that the element of politics has dropped out of the consideration of populism. The chapter then offers a definition of unpolitics that contrasts it with other related concepts, and then the chapter considers three different implications of unpolitics for populism relating to populism's tropes of conspiracy theories, quasi-religious parallels and war metaphors.
The book is the first to cover all areas of privatization in Israel and one of the first to do so in general, including state infrastructure, immigration policy, land, health, education, welfare, regulation, and policy design. As such, it offers a comprehensive volume for students, policy makers, and scholars interested in the economic, sociological, political, and legal perspectives of a major policy trend that has changed the face and character of the modern state. In addition, it is a vital contribution to those who have an interest in changes in Israeli society, politics, and economy.
This chapter focuses on the effect that outsourcing, as a subset of privatization, has had on employment relations in Israel. In particular, chapter highlights the adverse, and perhaps counter-intuitive, effects that the law has had on the plight of Israeli contract workers.
Israeli governmental agencies and local councils have turned to outsourcing as a means to circumventing post limits and due to the Ministry of Finance’s pressures to increase ‘flexibility’ in the civil service. Intriguingly, paradoxically, and tragically, the law’s effort to regulate this growing phenomenon has led employers resorting to tactics which have redefined agency workers (teachers, nurses, etc) as workers subject to the “outsourcing of services” (teaching, nursing, etc). This has moved such workers into a legal void, depriving them of rights and protection.
A search is performed for new phenomena in events having a photon with high transverse momentum and a jet collected in 36.7 fb−1 of proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of √ s = 13 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The invariant mass distribution of the leading photon and jet is examined to look for the resonant production of new particles or the presence of new high-mass states beyond the Standard Model. No significant deviation from the background-only hypothesis is observed and cross-section limits for generic Gaussian-shaped resonances are extracted. Excited quarks hypothesized in quark compositeness models and high-mass states predicted in quantum black hole models with extra dimensions are also examined in the analysis. The observed data exclude, at 95% confidence level, the mass range below 5.3 TeV for excited quarks and 7.1 TeV (4.4 TeV) for quantum black holes in the Arkani-Hamed–Dimopoulos– Dvali (Randall–Sundrum) model with six (one) extra dimensions.
A search for the direct production of charginos and neutralinos in final states with at least two hadronically decaying tau leptons is presented. The analysis uses a dataset of pp collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb−1, recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of 13TeV.Nosignificant deviation from the expected Standard Model background is observed. Limits are derived in scenarios of ˜χ+1 ˜χ−1 pair production and of ˜χ±1 ˜χ02 and ˜χ+1 ˜χ−1 production in simplified models where the neutralinos and charginos decay solely via intermediate left-handed staus and tau sneutrinos, and the mass of the ˜ τL state is set to be halfway between the masses of the ˜χ±1 and the ˜χ01. Chargino masses up to 630 GeV are excluded at 95% confidence level in the scenario of direct production of ˜χ+1 ˜χ−1 for a massless ˜χ01. Common ˜χ±1 and ˜χ02 masses up to 760 GeV are excluded in the case of production of ˜χ±1 ˜χ02 and ˜χ+1 ˜χ−1 assuming a massless ˜χ01. Exclusion limits for additional benchmark scenarios with large and small mass-splitting between the ˜χ±1 and the ˜χ01 are also studied by varying the ˜ τL mass between the masses of the ˜χ±1 and the ˜χ01.
A measurement of the production of three isolated photons in proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy √s=8TeV is reported. The results are based on an integrated luminosity of 20.2fb−1 collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The differential cross sections are measured as functions of the transverse energy of each photon, the difference in azimuthal angle and in pseudorapidity between pairs of photons, the invariant mass of pairs of photons, and the invariant mass of the triphoton system. A measurement of the inclusive fiducial cross section is also reported. Next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD predictions are compared to the cross-section measurements. The predictions underestimate the measurement of the inclusive fiducial cross section and the differential measurements at low photon transverse energies and invariant masses. They provide adequate descriptions of the measurements at high values of the photon transverse energies, invariant mass of pairs of photons, and invariant mass of the triphoton system.
A pill can strengthen national security? The suggestion may seem odd, but many states around the world believe precisely that. Confronted with pandemics, bioterrorism, and emerging infectious diseases, governments are transforming their security policies to include the proactive development, acquisition, stockpiling, and mass distribution of new pharmaceutical defenses. What happens—politically, economically, and socially—when governments try to protect their populations with pharmaceuticals? How do competing interests among states, pharmaceutical companies, regulators, and scientists play out in the quest to develop new medical countermeasures? And do citizens around the world ultimately stand to gain or lose from this pharmaceuticalization of security policy?
Stefan Elbe explores these complex questions in Pandemics, Pills, and Politics, the first in-depth study of the world’s most prominent medical countermeasure, Tamiflu. Taken by millions of people around the planet in the fight against pandemic flu, Tamiflu has provoked suspicions about undue commercial influence in government decision-making about stockpiles. It even found itself at the center of a prolonged political battle over who should have access to the data about the safety and effectiveness of medicines.
Pandemics, Pills, and Politics shows that the story of Tamiflu harbors deeper lessons about the vexing political, economic, legal, social, and regulatory tensions that emerge as twenty-first-century security policy takes a pharmaceutical turn. At the heart of this issue, Elbe argues, lies something deeper: the rise of a new molecular vision of life that is reshaping the world we live in.
Measurements of ZZ production in the ℓ+ℓ−ℓ'+ℓ'− channel in proton–proton collisions at 13 TeV center-of-mass energy at the Large Hadron Collider are presented. The data correspond to 36.1 fb−1 of collisions collected by the ATLAS experiment in 2015 and 2016. Here ℓ and ℓ′ stand for electrons or muons. Integrated and differential ZZ→ℓ+ℓ−ℓ'+ℓ'− cross sections with Z→ℓ+ℓ− candidate masses in the range of 66 GeV to 116 GeV are measured in a fiducial phase space corresponding to the detector acceptance and corrected for detector effects. The differential cross sections are presented in bins of twenty observables, including several that describe the jet activity. The integrated cross section is also extrapolated to a total phase space and to all standard model decays of Z bosons with mass between 66 GeV and 116 GeV, resulting in a value of 17.3±0.9[±0.6(stat)±0.5(syst)±0.6(lumi)] pb. The measurements are found to be in good agreement with the standard model. A search for neutral triple gauge couplings is performed using the transverse momentum distribution of the leading Z boson candidate. No evidence for such couplings is found and exclusion limits are set on their parameters.
The dynamics of isolated-photon production in association with a jet in proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV are studied with the ATLAS detector at the LHC using a dataset with an integrated luminosity of 3.2 fb−1. Photons are required to have transverse energies above 125 GeV. Jets are identified using the anti-kt algorithm with radius parameter R=0.4 and required to have transverse momenta above 100 GeV. Measurements of isolated-photon plus jet cross sections are presented as functions of the leading-photon transverse energy, the leading-jet transverse momentum, the azimuthal angular separation between the photon and the jet, the photon–jet invariant mass and the scattering angle in the photon–jet centre-of-mass system. Tree-level plus parton-shower predictions from Sherpa and Pythia as well as next-to-leading-order QCD predictions from Jetphox and Sherpa are compared to the measurements.
The coupling properties of the Higgs boson are studied in the four-lepton (e, μ) decay channel using 36.1 fb−1 of pp collision data from the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV collected by the ATLAS detector. Cross sections are measured for the main production modes in several exclusive regions of the Higgs boson production phase space and are interpreted in terms of coupling modifiers. The inclusive cross section times branching ratio for H → ZZ∗ decay and for a Higgs boson absolute rapidity below 2.5 is measured to be 1. 73 − 0.23 + 0.24 (stat.) − 0.08 + 0.10 (exp.) ± 0.04(th.) pb compared to the Standard Model prediction of 1.34±0.09 pb. In addition, the tensor structure of the Higgs boson couplings is studied using an effective Lagrangian approach for the description of interactions beyond the Standard Model. Constraints are placed on the non-Standard-Model CP-even and CP-odd couplings to Z bosons and on the CP-odd coupling to gluons.
Trapped atomic ions are ideal single photon emitters with long-lived internal states which can be entangled with emitted photons. Coupling the ion to an optical cavity enables the efficient emission of single photons into a single spatial mode and grants control over their temporal shape. These features are key for quantum information processing and quantum communication. However, the photons emitted by these systems are unsuitable for long-distance transmission due to their wavelengths. Here we report the transmission of single photons from a single 40Ca+ ion coupled to an optical cavity over a 10 km optical fiber via frequency conversion from 866 nm to the telecom C band at 1530 nm. We observe nonclassical photon statistics of the direct cavity emission, the converted photons, and the 10kmtransmitted photons, as well as the preservation of the photons’ temporal shape throughout. This telecommunication-ready system can be a key component for long-distance quantum communication as well as future cloud quantum computation.
This thesis examines local people’s voices and influence in negotiations over large-scale land deals. Drawing on ethnographic work on a case study from southern Madagascar, it highlights the variety of agropastoralists’ responses to, and experienced outcomes of, the implementation of an agribusiness project on their land. The purpose of this research was to understand the conditions under which certain local people get heard, and others silenced, in the context of corporate land access and the processes by which some of these local voices manage to influence the terms and conditions of the deal. It looked at how horizontal and vertical power dynamics interface with situated moral economies and contentious politics to inform variations in local people’s perspectives over, engagement with and experienced outcomes of the land deal.
I argue that local voices and opportunities for influence in the context of land transactions in Madagascar are constructed at the intersection of national and village politics. I draw attention to the practices and discourses through which local state officials produce ‘powers of exclusion’ and ‘powers of compliance’ in their mediation of land deals. I show that, in socially-differentiated local populations, formal compliance with dispossession reflects processes of different natures: “compliance as acquiescence” for some, but also “constrained hope”, and potential challenging of local structures of domination or “compliance as resistance” for others. I explore the moral economies that underpin perspectives on corporate land access as well as choices to express, or suppress, subversive voices and observe a resistance, across social divides, to the “demoralising of land deals”. I show how the vulnerability of state authorities to social movements combined with competition for the resources of patronage and of authority associated with the control of corporate land access open interstices for influence. In a context of institutional bias however, only those who manage to activate key alliances with state officials and to unify village voices beyond inter and intra-class differences stand a chance of being heard.
In this paper, Low Earth Orbit radiation and temperature conditions are mimicked to investigate the suitability of flexible Indium-Gallium-Zinc-Oxide transistors for lightweight space-wearables. Such wearable devices could be incorporated into spacesuits as unobtrusive sensors such as radiation detectors or physiological monitors. Due to the harsh environment to which these space-wearables would be exposed, they have to be able to withstand high radiation doses and low temperatures. For this reason, the impacts of high energetic electron irradiation with fluences up to 1012 e-/cm2 and low operating temperatures down to 78 K, are investigated. This simulates 278 h in a Low Earth Orbit. The threshold voltage and mobility of transistors that were exposed to e- irradiation are found to shift by +0.09 ± 0.05V and -0.6 ± 0.5cm2 V-1 s-1. Subsequent low temperature exposure resulted in additional shifts of +0.38 V and -5.95 cm2 V-1 s-1 for the same parameters. These values are larger than the ones obtained from non-irradiated reference samples. If this is considered during the systems’ design, these devices can be used to unobtrusively integrate sensor systems into space-suits.
Environmental activists are an important voice in public and private politics, urging governmental and corporate responses and solutions to ongoing environmental damage. Scholars have become increasingly interested in understanding environmental movements and the influence of environmental activist organizations. This article describes two literatures that have analyzed the dynamics and outcomes of activism, one based in a sociological examination of social movements and the other in economic analysis of activist nongovernmental organizations. Although the literatures sometimes use different language and methods, they have much in common. We highlight the consistent themes—in particular the shared respect for the rational actor model—the particular strengths of each tradition, and directions for future research where synergies between the disciplines could be more fully exploited.
As predicted by the notion that sister chromatid cohesion is mediated by entrapment of sister DNAs inside cohesin rings, there is perfect correlation between co-entrapment of circular minichromosomes and sister chromatid cohesion. In most cells where cohesin loads without conferring cohesion, it does so by entrapment of individual DNAs. However, cohesin with a hinge domain whose positively charged lumen is neutralized loads and moves along chromatin despite failing to entrap DNAs. Thus, cohesin engages chromatin in non-topological, as well as topological, manners. Since hinge mutations, but not Smc-kleisin fusions, abolish entrapment, DNAs may enter cohesin rings through hinge opening. Mutation of three highly conserved lysine residues inside the Smc1 moiety of Smc1/3 hinges abolishes all loading without affecting cohesin’s recruitment to CEN loading sites or its ability to hydrolyze ATP. We suggest that loading and translocation are mediated by conformational changes in cohesin’s hinge driven by cycles of ATP hydrolysis.
In this thesis, we present three projects that describe the use of the XMM-Newton Cluster Survey (XCS) to investigate exotic astrophysical phenomena. Each project widens the scope of XCS beyond the study of cluster cosmology.
In the first project, we derive correlations between X-ray properties of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) and mass of its Super Massive Black Hole (SMBH). These properties are the X-ray luminosity (LX) and a measure of the variability of the AGN - the normalised excess variance (σ²NXS). We confirm previous results indicating an anti-correlation between black hole mass (MBH) and σ²NXS, as well as anti-correlation between LX and σ²NXS, and a positive correlation between LX and MBH. We investigate whether there is a redshift evolution in these relations. We then develop methods to estimate MBH from short exposure X-ray observations specific to the eROSITA observatory, to allow us to measure LX of millions of AGN.
The second project describes a new method to detect the rarest of X-ray transient sources, X-ray ashes (XRFs), through a serendipitous search of the XCS catalogue. We categorize the detected XRF candidates and look in more detail at one that is most likely to be an XRF. Based on its properties, we estimate an upper limit to their occurrence.
A third project describes our method to search for an unknown emission line in the stacked spectra of galaxy clusters from the XCS extended source catalogue. This line, if found, may be evidence of a hypothetical particle - the sterile neutrino - which has been postulated as a candidate for dark matter.
We review other research that has led to published work, as well as laying the foundation for future collaborations. This includes work on improving the XCS temperature pipeline in order to estimate the temperatures of galaxy clusters.
How do we ready ourselves to intervene responsively in the contingent situations that arise in co-designing to make change? How do we attune to group dynamics and respond ethically to unpredictable developments when working with ‘community’? Participatory Design (PD) can contribute to social transitions, yet its focus is often tightly tuned to technique for designing ICT at the cost of participatory practice. We challenge PD conventions by addressing what happens as we step into a situation to alter it with others, an aspect of practice that cannot be replicated or interchanged. We do so to argue that practices of readiness are constituted by personal histories, experiences, philosophies and culture. We demonstrate this political argument by giving reflexive accounts of our dimensions of preparation. The narratives here are distinct, yet reveal complementary theories and worldviews that shape PD ontologies. We have organized these around the qualities of punctuation and poise as a way to draw out some less easily articulated aspects of PD practice.
Blind and non-cooperative classification of the modulation employed in signals originating from unknown or partly known sources has widespread applications in civilian and military contexts. One of the most recent and interesting approaches to digital modulation which has been enabled by multiantenna transceivers is the spatial modulation, where the indices of the transmit antennas activated in a given symbol period are utilized to transmit information bits. Clearly, existing modulation classification methods, designed for the identification of conventional modulation types, are not capable of classifying the family of spatially modulated signals that make use of the space dimension. In this work, for the first time in the literature, a modulation classification method is proposed for a modulation type belonging to the family of Spatial Modulations: the Binary Space Shift Keying modulation (BSSK)
This article draws on ethnographic research in Tanzania to interrogate the discourse of ‘public’ and ‘private’ in sub-Saharan irrigation development. It contrasts the complexity of social and political relations with narratives suggesting that ‘private’ is necessarily opposed and superior to ‘public’. We argue that support for models of private-sector development obscures access to and control over resources and can result in the dispossession of those least able to resist this. Different interests of ‘entrepreneurial’ individuals and corporate investors and the ways in which these relate to the state are also glossed over. Conversely, the failure of the ‘public’ cannot simply be read from the chequered histories of irrigation schemes within which public and private interests intersect in complex ways.
With the continuing growth of the air traffic sector and a drive towards increasinglyefficient aero engines the overall pressure ratio of such engines is set to climb. As a consequence, blade tip clearances will become proportionally larger as blade size decreases. Accurate sizing of the tip clearance is dependent on knowledge of the radial growth of the compressor discs, which in turn is dependent on their radial temperature gradient. Currently, 2D thermo-mechanical models based upon empirical correlations and scaling laws are used to predict this radial growth and the temperature increase in the secondary air system. These require knowledge of the buoyancy-induced flow that occurs in heated cavities between adjacent co-rotating discs.
This thesis presents experimental and numerical results of the heat transfer and flow structure of a buoyancy-induced rotating cavity flow field undertaken using the University of Sussex TFMRC Multiple Cavity Rig. This rig simulates the rotating components of a gas turbine secondary air system of a high pressure compressor. The objective is to gain a deeper understanding of the flow mechanisms operating within a rotating cavity at low Rossby numbers, representative of non-dimensional engine conditions and demonstrate that the shroud is the dominant source of heat transfer to the axial throughflow. The working conditions cover the range: 1.1×105<Rez<5.1×105,1.7×106<Reθ<3.2×106,0.1<Ro<0.6,0.32< β∆T <0.40 and 3.1×1011<Gr<1.3×1012 in Phase A and 1.2×104<Rez<5.2×104,1.5×106<Reθ<3.2×106,0.05<Ro<1.34,0.33< β∆T <0.51 and 2.4×1011<Gr<1.6×1012 in Phase B. The numerical study uses the working conditions: Gr= 8.94×1011, Rez= 4.4×104, Reθ= 2.83×106,β∆T= 0.35,β∆Tav= 0.14 and Ro = 0.29.
Using experimental measurements of surface temperature, the Nusselt numbers onthe rotating surfaces have been derived using a finite-element conduction solution. MonteCarlo simulation is used to give confidence intervals based on experimental uncertainty. New correlations have been derived for both the shroud and diaphragm and compared to existing literature. The shroud surface is shown to exhibit a magnitude of heat transfersimilar to turbulent levels but with a trend - correlated to Grashof number - indicative of laminar behaviour. This is thought due to unsteady laminar free convection. Also discussed is the shroud corner, the interface between the disc diaphragm and shroud, which has received little previous attention, yet shows a high level of heat transfer. The diaphragm Nusselt number correlation is based on a modified form of the Grashof number that acknowledges the effects of both free and forced convection inside the rotatingcavity.
An accompanying numerical simulation has been conducted using Computational Fluid Dynamics to assess the complex nature of the buoyancy-induced cavity flow field.The 3D Unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes equations with the SST k-ω turbulence model and experimentally measured boundary conditions are solved on a mesh ofapproximately 16 million elements. Validation of the numerical results is presented and includes comparison to measured high-frequency pressures on the static central shaft andair temperatures inside the rotating cavity. A type of Rayleigh-Bénard convection manifesting as a series of propagating streaks along the shroud periphery is identified and shown to modify the local Nusselt number, however their existence cannot be ratified without experimental evidence. Assessment of the cavity surface heat transfer shows that the shroud contributes 36%, the shroud corners 30%, the diaphragms 31% and the cobs 2%. Illustrating the shroud surface as the dominant heat transfer feature in the cavity system.
To address the serious challenge of satisfying explosively increasing multimedia content requests from a massive number of users in mobile networks, deploying content caching in base stations to offload network traffic while satisfying content requests locally has been regarded as an effective approach to enhance the network performance. Moreover, content delivery via wireless transmissions in a cache-enabled mobile network needs to be optimized taking the proactive caching policy into consideration. Accordingly, in this paper, we investigate and propose an efficient resource allocation framework for cache-enabled cloud-based small cell networks (C-SCNs) to achieve the benefits of content caching by considering two phases, i.e., content placement and content delivery. In particular, for the content placement phase, we propose a low-complexity distributed popularity-based framework for allocating cache sizes of SBSs to popular contents, in order to offload network traffic and satisfy content requests locally. For the content delivery phase, we propose a low-complexity joint user association and subcarrier-power allocation scheme for min-rate guaranteed content delivery over orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) based downlink transmissions. Trace-based simulations and numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed schemes in the cache-enabled C-SCNs.
A monolithic 2 × 2 square pixel Al0.2Ga0.8As p+-i-n+ mesa X-ray photodiode array (each photodiode area 200 µm by 200 µm, 3 µm i layer) has been fabricated from material grown by MOVPE. The array was electrically characterised across the temperature range 100 °C to -20 °C. Each pixel’s response to illumination with soft X rays from an 55Fe radioisotope X-ray source (Mn Kα = 5.9 keV; Mn Kβ = 6.49 keV) was investigated across the temperature range 30 °C to -20 °C. The best energy resolution (FWHM at 5.9 keV) achieved at 20 °C was 0.76 keV ± 0.06 keV (with 30 V reverse bias applied to the detector). The measured energy resolution is the best so far reported for AlGaAs X-ray photodiodes at 20 °C. It is also the first time a small AlGaAs X-ray photodiode array has been demonstrated. Due to the temperature tolerance and the radiation hardness of AlGaAs, such detectors are expected to find utility in future space science missions exposed to intense radiation environments, for example missions to study the Jovian or Saturnian aurorae and high temperature planetary surfaces.
Recent advances in the preparation, control and measurement of atomic gases have led to new insights into the quantum world and unprecedented metrological sensitivities, e.g. in measuring gravitational forces and magnetic fields. The full potential of applying such capabilities to areas as diverse as biomedical imaging, non-invasive underground mapping, and GPS-free navigation can only be realised with the scalable production of efficient, robust and portable devices. We introduce additive manufacturing as a production technique of quantum device components with unrivalled design freedom and rapid prototyping. This provides a step change in efficiency, compactness and facilitates systems integration. As a demonstrator we present an ultrahigh vacuum compatible ultracold atom source dissipating less than ten milliwatts of electrical power during field generation to produce large samples of cold rubidium gases. This disruptive technology opens the door to drastically improved integrated structures, which will further reduce size and assembly complexity in scalable series manufacture of bespoke portable quantum devices.
The familiar irony of ‘real existing socialism’ is that it never was. Socialist ideals were used to legitimise regimes that fell far short of realising those ideals – indeed, that violently repressed anyone who tried to realise them. This thesis investigates how the derogatory and depoliticizing concept of the criminal has historically allowed, and continues to allow, liberal ideals to operate in a worryingly similar manner. Across the political spectrum, ‘criminal’ is used as a slur. That which is criminal is assumed to be bad, and what is more, to be bad in a way that is not politically interesting. I show how this serves to prevent deep dissent from the status quo, and particularly from the existing, unjust order of property, from registering as dissent at all. Feminists have long argued that the exclusion of what is deemed ‘personal’ from the sphere of the political is itself a (conservative) political move. I propose that the construction of ‘the criminal’ as a category opposed to the political constitutes a similar barrier to emancipatory social transformation. I suggest, further, that under conditions of ‘real existing liberalism’, some kinds of conflict with the law have the potential not only to manifest but also to forge ‘resistant subjectivities’. I conclude that political philosophy, insofar as its purpose is emancipatory, should be more interested in the perspectives of criminals than it hitherto has been.
In this work an activator-depleted reaction-diffusion system is investigated on polar coordinates with the aim of exploring the relationship and the corresponding influence of domain size on the types of possible diffusion-driven instabilities. Quantitative relationships are found in the form of necessary conditions on the area of a disk-shape domain with respect to the diffusion and reaction rates for certain types of diffusion-driven instabilities to occur. Robust analytical methods are applied to find explicit expressions for the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the diffusion operator on a disk-shape domain with homogenous Neumann boundary conditions in polar coordinates. Spectral methods are applied using chebyshev non-periodic grid for the radial variable and Fourier periodic grid on the angular variable to verify the nodal lines and eigensurfaces subject to the proposed analytical findings. The full classification of the parameter space in light of the bifurcation analysis is obtained and numerically verified by finding the solutions of the partitioning curves inducing such a classification. Spatio-temporal periodic behaviour is demonstrated in the numerical solutions of the system for a proposed choice of parameters and a rigorous proof of the existence of infinitely many such points in the parameter plane is presented under a restriction on the area of the domain, with a lower bound in terms of reaction-diffusion rates.
A search for electroweak production of supersymmetric particles in scenarios with compressed mass spectra in final states with two low-momentum leptons and missing transverse momentum is presented. This search uses proton-proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider in 2015–2016, corresponding to 36.1fb−1 of integrated luminosity at √s=13 TeV. Events with same-flavor pairs of electrons or muons with opposite electric charge are selected. The data are found to be consistent with the Standard Model prediction. Results are interpreted using simplified models of R-parity-conserving supersymmetry in which there is a small mass difference between the masses of the produced supersymmetric particles and the lightest neutralino. Exclusion limits at 95% confidence level are set on next-to-lightest neutralino masses of up to 145 GeV for Higgsino production and 175 GeV for wino production, and slepton masses of up to 190 GeV for pair production of sleptons. In the compressed mass regime, the exclusion limits extend down to mass splittings of 2.5 GeV for Higgsino production, 2 GeV for wino production, and 1 GeV for slepton production. The results are also interpreted in the context of a radiatively-driven natural supersymmetry model with nonuniversal Higgs boson masses.
In telling technology’s stories of social progress, we are right to celebrate unprecedented advances in health and education, transport and computation. But we must point out hidden costs, uneven distributions, and unequal access. We must open our stories to a wider cast of characters, be they heroes, villains, or those with ambiguous intent, and we must confront the individuals, interests, and institutions that propel technological change for better or worse.
For better or worse, science and technology are both deeply entangled in “social progress”. This is the case equally in discourse and practise around the world. In areas such as health, wealth, energy, mobility, and communications, it is widely recognized that remarkable historical improvements— at least for some— all owe much to science and technology. However, it is equally important to acknowledge that not all consequences of research and innovation are positive. Nor do any benefits unfold automatically — especially if they are to be fairly distributed.
This article draws on research findings from an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded PhD psychosocial exploration of child protection social work with emotional abuse. Intrafamilial harm occurs predominantly within the relationship between a parent and their child in the context of this research. Emotional abuse is a complex concept, comprising of many cumulative elements, which may include restricting a child’s psychological autonomy. Emotional abuse is not so clearly observed as other forms of parental harm, but it causes the most significant impairment. The dual overarching goals of this research was to make the less tangible aspects of work with this form of child abuse more visible, and to improve professional understandings of how to work with it more effectively. The focus of this article is to exemplify how the critical realist methodological framework and psychosocial research approach were developed to underpin the data collection and analysis processes. Psychosocial methods incorporate researcher and research participant’s use of self to explore the often deeply subjective, and undocumented process of identifying the presence of emotionally abusive behaviour. The research sought to elicit responses that enabled social workers to share their unconscious thought processes to get under the surface of everyday decision making. Sharing their ‘workings out’. This article draws on one social worker’s narrative of encountering emotional abuse to illuminate some of the professional and personal challenges the work can present. This research provides a methodological template for further research into supporting social workers in effective interventions into intrafamilial emotional abuse.
2LS is a C program analyser built upon the CPROVER infrastructure. 2LS is bit-precise and it can verify and refute program assertions and termination. 2LS implements template-based synthesis techniques, e.g. to find invariants and ranking functions, and incremental loop unwinding techniques to find counterexamples and $k$-induction proofs. New features in this year's version are improved handling of
heap-allocated data structures using a template domain for shape analysis and two approaches to prove program non-termination.
We present a bounded model checking tool for verifying Java bytecode, which is built on top of the CPROVER framework, named Java Bounded Model Checker (JBMC). JBMC processes Java bytecode together with a model of the standard Java libraries and checks a set of desired properties. Experimental results show that JBMC can correctly verify a set of Java benchmarks from the literature and that it is competitive with two state-of-the-art Java verifiers.
New historical introduction that links the work with the trends in the digital economy and algorithmic management. Critical outline of core principles and assumptions on which this work is based. Essential links between the founding principles of management and the future of work. The Principles of Scientific Management is a tremendously important book, the essence of which has had irreversible impact on the way we think about organised labour and management today. It is a product of many years of experimentation, uncertainty and hard work, fused with thoroughly modernist ideals of a pedantic mind. This book is a culmination of Frederick Winslow Taylor’s career as, perhaps, the most famous management consultant. It stands on the shoulders of his previous examinations of the wage system and the operational characteristics of machine tools. In it, he recounts the four principles of scientific management, compares them to what he considers the most developed form of non-scientific management, and gives a number of examples and anecdotes to illustrate how the former is superior to the latter in every way and circumstance.
India uses single member plurality system (SMPS) to elect the members of the lower house of its national parliament and the state assemblies. Under SMPS, elections are conducted for separate geographical areas, known as constituencies or districts, and the electors cast one vote each for a candidate with the winner being the candidate who gets the plurality of votes. SMPS is traditionally defended primarily on the grounds of simplicity and its tendency to produce winning candidates, which promotes a link between constituents and their representatives. It tends to provide a clear-cut choice for voters between two main parties, and is expected to gives rise to single-party rather than coalition governments. It also has the benefit of excluding extremist parties from gaining representation, unless their support is geographically concentrated.
A major contribution to the onset and development of autoimmune disease is known to come from infections. An important practical problem is identifying the precise mechanism by which the breakdown of immune tolerance as a result of immune response to infection leads to autoimmunity. In this paper, we develop a mathematical model of immune response to a viral infection, which includes T cells with different activation thresholds, regulatory T cells (Tregs), and~a cytokine mediating immune dynamics. Particular emphasis is made on the role of time delays associated with the processes of infection and mounting the immune response. Stability analysis of various steady states of the model allows us to identify parameter regions associated with different types of immune behaviour, such as, normal clearance of infection, chronic infection, and autoimmune dynamics. Numerical simulations are used to illustrate different dynamical regimes, and to identify basins of attraction of different dynamical states. An important result of the analysis is that not only the parameters of the system, but also the initial level of infection and the initial state of the immune system determine the progress and outcome of the dynamics.
The spread of an infectious disease is known to change people’s behavior, which in turn affects the spread of disease. Adaptive network models that account for both epidemic and behavioral change have found oscillations, but in an extremely narrow region of the parameter space, which contrasts with intuition and available data. In this paper we propose a simple susceptible-infected-susceptible epidemic model on an adaptive network with time-delayed rewiring, and show that oscillatory solutions are now present in a wide region of the parameter space. Altering the transmission or rewiring rates reveals the presence of an endemic bubble - an enclosed region of the parameter space where oscillations are observed.
This paper analyses aggregate time-series data to estimate the direct rebound effect in UK road freight over the period 1970–2014. We investigate 25 different model specifications, conduct a comprehensive set of diagnostic tests to evaluate the robustness of these specifications and estimate the rebound effect using three different elasticities. Using the mean of the statistically significant estimates from these specifications, we estimate a direct rebound effect of 61% - which is larger than previous estimates in the literature and almost twice as large as the consensus estimate of direct rebound effects in road passenger transport. Using the mean of the estimates from our most robust models, we estimate a slightly lower direct rebound effect of 49%. Our estimates are fairly consistent between different model specifications and different metrics, although individual estimates range from 21% to 137%. We also find that an increasing proportion of UK road freight is being undertaken by foreign registered vehicles, and that increases in the vehicle weight limits have encouraged more freight activity. We highlight the significant limitations imposed by the use of aggregate time series data and recommend that further studies in this area employ data from vehicle use surveys.
This paper identifies and evaluates the explicit and implicit philosophical assumptions underlying the so-called multilevel perspective on sociotechnical transitions (MLP). These include assumptions about the nature of reality (ontology), the status of claims about that reality (epistemology) and the appropriate choice of research methods The paper assesses the consistency of these assumptions with the philosophical tradition of critical realism and uses this tradition to highlight a number of potential weaknesses of the MLP. These include: the problematic conception of social structure and the misleading priority given to intangible rules; the tendency to use theory as a heuristic device rather than causal explanation; the ambition to develop an extremely versatile framework rather than testing competing explanations; the relative neglect of the necessity or contingency of particular causal mechanisms; and the reliance upon single, historical case studies with insufficient use of comparative methods. However, the paper also concludes that the flexibility of the MLP allows room for reconciliation, and provides some suggestions on how that could be achieved – including proposing an alternative, critical realist interpretation of sociotechnical systems.
Background: Healthcare workers experience higher levels of work-related stress and higher rates of sickness absence than workers in other sectors. Psychological approaches have potential in providing healthcare workers with the knowledge and skills to recognise stress and to manage stress effectively. The strongest evidence for effectiveness in reducing stress in the workplace is for stress-management courses based on cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) principles and mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs). However, research examining effects of these interventions on sickness absence (an objective indicator of stress) and compassion for others (an indicator of patient care) is limited, as is research on brief CBT stress-management courses (which may be more widely accessible) and on MBIs adapted for workplace settings.
Methods/Design: This protocol is for two randomised controlled trials with participant preference between the two trials and 1:1 allocation to intervention or waitlist within the preferred choice. The first trial is examining a one-day CBT stress-management workshop and the second trial an 8-session Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Life (MBCT-L) course, with both trials comparing intervention to waitlist. The primary outcome for both trials is stress at post-intervention with secondary outcomes being sickness absence, compassion for others, depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms, wellbeing, work-related burnout, self-compassion, presenteeism, and mindfulness (MBCT-L only). Both trials aim to recruit 234 staff working in the National Health Service in the UK.
Discussion: This trial will examine whether a one-day CBT stress-management workshop and an 8-session MBCT-L course are effective at reducing healthcare staff stress and other mental health outcomes compared to waitlist, and, whether these interventions are effective at reducing sickness absence and presenteeism and at enhancing wellbeing, self-compassion, mindfulness and compassion for others. Findings will help inform approaches offered to reduce healthcare staff stress and other key variables. A note of caution is that individual-level approaches should only be part of the solution to reducing healthcare staff stress within a broader focus on organisational-level interventions and support.
Background: Only about half of people with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) show clinically significant improvement following the recommended therapy, exposure and response prevention (ERP), partly due to poor therapy acceptability. A mindfulness-based approach to ERP (MB-ERP) has the potential to improve acceptability and outcomes.
Methods: This was an internal pilot randomised controlled trial (RCT) of group MB-ERP compared to group ERP. 37 participants meeting DSM-IV OCD criteria were randomly allocated to MB-ERP or ERP.
Results: Both groups improved in OCD symptom severity. However, MB-ERP did not lead to clinically important improvements in OCD symptom severity at post-intervention compared to ERP – the minimum clinically important difference was not contained in the 95% confidence intervals. There were negligible between-group differences in engagement and MB-ERP did not appear to have broader benefits compared to ERP on depression, wellbeing or OCD-related beliefs. Conversely, MB-ERP led to medium/medium-large improvements in mindfulness compared to ERP.
Conclusions: MB-ERP is unlikely to lead to clinically meaningful improvements in OCD symptom severity compared to ERP alone. We underline the importance of adhering to treatment guidelines recommending ERP for OCD. Insufficient attention may have been given to mindfulness practice/discussion in MB-ERP and further research is recommended to explore this possibility.
This paper makes a contribution to the theory of the multinational enterprise (MNE) and, in particular, to why firms undertake foreign direct investment (FDI) rather than alternative strategies. We argue that FDI and its strategic alternatives involve different patterns of costs and returns over time, and hence different levels of risk and uncertainty. Traditional theories of the MNE conceptualize the firm as a risk-neutral decision-making entity with short-term efficiency objectives, and hence do not take these issues into account. This may be reasonable for firms with passive professional managers and widely-dispersed shareholders, operating in countries with the Anglo-American system of corporate governance. But many firms operate under quite different systems of corporate governance where concentrated shareholdings are commonplace and markets for corporate control are weak or non-existent. In these cases, shareholders exert considerable influence on all aspects of firm strategy including FDI. Furthermore, different groups of shareholders (State, family, institutions) are likely to have different objectives, different attitudes towards risk, and different decision-making time horizons. We thus suggest that the traditional theories of the MNE need to be extended to embrace consideration of corporate ownership (and other governance dimensions).
In primary education, concepts are commonly introduced through concrete instantiations, such as physical manipulatives and kinaesthetic activities, with an expectation that learners will gradually move towards working with abstract representations. There has been considerable research in subjects such as mathematics on how children can move from working with concrete to abstract materials, but relatively little research on how this can be achieved in computing, which has recently become a more prominent subject at primary level. This paper reports on the design and evaluation of a low-fidelity prototype learning environment that aims to teach children aged 9-10 about a key computing concept (internet routing), using a concreteness fading approach commonly applied in mathematics. An empirical study with 59 children showed that those following a concreteness fading progression scored significantly higher on a post-test than those using a concrete only prototype, and had an increase in positive attitude towards computing in line with alternative approaches. We highlight the potential for an augmented reality implementation of the prototype to support investigation of further key questions raised by this research.
Observational surveys which probe our universe deeper and deeper into the nonlinear regime of structure formation are becoming increasing accurate. This makes numerical simulations an essential tool for theory to be able to predict phenomena at comparable scales.
In the first part of this thesis we study the behaviour of cosmological models involving a scalar field. We are particularly interested in the existence of fixed points of the dynamical system and the behaviour of the system in their vicinity. Upon addition of spatial curvature to the single-scalar field model with an exponential potential, canonical kinetic term, and a matter fluid, we demonstrate the existence of two extra fixed points that are not present in the case without curvature. We also analyse the evolution of the equation-of-state parameter.
In the second part, we numerically simulate collisionless particles in the weak field approximation to General Relativity, with large gradients of the fields and relativistic velocities allowed. To reduce the complexity of the problem and enable high resolution simulations, we consider the spherically symmetric case. Comparing numerical solutions to the exact Schwarzschild and Lemaître-Tolman-Bondi solutions, we show that the scheme we use is more accurate than a Newtonian scheme, correctly reproducing the leading-order post-Newtonian behaviour. Furthermore, by introducing angular momentum, configurations corresponding to bound objects are found.
In the final part, we simulate the conditions under which one would expect to form ultracompact minihalos, dark matter halos with a steep power-law profile. We show that an isolated object exhibits the profile predicted analytically. Embedding this halo in a perturbed environment we show that its profile becomes progressively more similar to the Navarro-Frenk-White profile with increasing amplitude of perturbations. Next, we boost the power spectrum at a very early redshift during radiation domination on a chosen scale and simulate clustering of dark matter particles at this scale until low redshift. In this scenario halos form earlier, have higher central densities, and are more compact.
Disaster recovery efforts form an essential component of coping with unforeseen events such as earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, and typhoons, some of which will only become more frequent or severe in the face of accelerated climate change. Most of the time, disaster recovery efforts produce net benefits to society. However, depending on their design and governance, some projects can germinate adverse social, political, and economic outcomes. Drawing from concepts in political economy, political ecology, justice theory, and critical development studies, this study first presents a conceptual typology revolving around four key processes: enclosure, exclusion, encroachment, and entrenchment. Enclosure refers to when disaster recovery transfers public assets into private hands or expand the roles of private actors into the public sphere. Exclusion refers to when disaster recovery limits access to resources or marginalize particular stakeholders in decision-making activities. Encroachment refers to when efforts intrude on biodiversity areas or contribute to other forms of environmental degradation. Entrenchment refers to when disaster recovery aggravates the disempowerment of women and minorities, or worsen concentrations of wealth and income inequality within a community. The study then documents the presence of these four inequitable attributes across four empirical case studies: Hurricane Katrina reconstruction efforts in the United States, recovery efforts for the 2004 tsunami in Thailand, Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines, and the Canterbury earthquakes in New Zealand. It then offers three policy recommendations for analysts, program managers, and climate researchers at large: spreading risks via insurance, adhering to principles of free prior informed consent, and preventing damage through punitive environmental bonds. The political economy of disaster must be taken into account so that projects can maximize their efficacy and avoid marginalizing those most vulnerable to those very disasters.
We evaluate dust-corrected far ultraviolet (FUV) star formation rates (SFRs) for samples of star-forming galaxies at $z\sim0$ and $z\sim0.7$ and find significant differences between values obtained through corrections based on UV colour, from a hybrid mid-infrared (MIR) plus FUV relation, and from a radiative transfer based attenuation correction method. The performances of the attenuation correction methods are assessed by their ability to remove the dependency of the corrected SFR on inclination, as well as returning, on average, the expected population mean SFR. We find that combining MIR (rest-frame $\sim$13$\mu$m) and FUV luminosities gives the most inclination independent SFRs and reduces the intrinsic SFR scatter out of the methods tested. However, applying the radiative transfer based method of Tuffs et al. gives corrections to the FUV SFR that are inclination independent and in agreement with the expected SFRs at both $z\sim0$ and $z\sim0.7$. SFR corrections based on the UV-slope perform worse than the other two methods tested. For our local sample, the UV-slope method works on average but does not remove inclination biases. At $z\sim$0.7 we find that the UV-slope correction used locally flattens the inclination dependence compared to the raw FUV measurements but was not sufficient to correct for the large attenuation observed at $z\sim$0.7.
Energetic feedback by Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) plays an important evolutionary role in the regulation of star formation (SF) on galactic scales. However, the effects of this feedback as a function of redshift and galaxy properties such as mass, environment and cold gas content remain poorly understood. The broad frequency coverage (1 to 116 GHz), high sensitivity (up to ten times higher than the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array), and superb angular resolution (maximum baselines of at least a few hundred km) of the proposed next generation Very Large Array (ngVLA) are uniquely poised to revolutionize our understanding of AGNs and their role in galaxy evolution. Here, we provide an overview of the science related to AGN feedback that will be possible in the ngVLA era and present new continuum ngVLA imaging simulations of resolved radio jets spanning a wide range of intrinsic extents. We also consider key computational challenges and discuss exciting opportunities for multi-wavelength synergy with other next-generation instruments, such as the Square Kilometer Array and the James Webb Space Telescope. The unique combination of high-resolution, large collecting area, and wide frequency range will enable significant advancements in our understanding of the effects of jet-driven feedback on sub-galactic scales, particularly for sources with extents of a few pc to a few kpc such as young and/or lower-power radio AGNs, AGNs hosted by low-mass galaxies, radio jets that are interacting strongly with the interstellar medium of the host galaxy, and AGNs at high redshift.
The nexus of security, migration and development in Africa is crucial, but certainly not only because of the flows of migrants coming to Europe. It is evident that development, migration, peace and security are connected in several ways, but more light needs to be shed on the concrete effects of their interactions. In this complex framework, the Sahel region represents an important region where the security– migration–development nexus is particularly present and deserves further analysis. This research aims at re-conceptualizing this nexus through the analysis of this linkage in the Sahel region, and in particular vis-à-vis three case countries: Niger, Senegal and Sudan. The publication also recasts the European Union and the United States approaches to these dynamics and explores current and potential partnerships in the region.
This thesis provides a historical reconstruction of the long-term trajectory of Brazilian state-formation (ca. 1450 - 1889), developed as a contribution to the sub-field of IR Historical Sociology. Theoretically, it is informed by the tradition of Geopolitical Marxism, which emphasises the social conflicts – on both sides of the Atlantic – that inform the geopolitical strategies and disputes between coloniser and colonised, without being determined by them. This account challenges existing theories of IR and Historical Sociology, in which trajectories of state formation are explained through the use of generalising theoretical assumptions foreclosing case-specific particularities, especially in non-European cases. I propose instead a radical historicist approach to social science, reframing social theory as a methodological guideline for historical analysis. Empirically, this amounts to a reinterpretation of Portuguese maritime expansionism, deriving the geopolicies of South American occupation not from generalising notions of colonialism or the expansion of capitalism, but from the situated practices of elite and inter-elite reproduction. The thesis moves on to show how the events that followed Napoleon’s invasion of Portugal in 1807 eventually led to Brazilian independence through an analysis of the competing interests of Portuguese and Brazilian elites, exacerbated by and geopolitically managed through the interference of British strategies of informal imperialism in Latin America. After formal independence, Brazilian policy making is driven not by the aspiration towards a civilizational standard or capitalist modernisation, but by the conflicts between segments of the ruling class, especially regarding the long-delayed transition from slavery towards other forms of labour control. The argument is that the historicist method does not only provide the key to the “peculiarity” of the Brazilian case by questioning the biases towards state-centrism in mainstream IR and towards structuralism in Marxism, but that it also overcomes the challenge of Eurocentrism by incorporating the agency of non-European subjects in the making of their own history.
While animal vocalisations and human speech are known to communicate physical formidability, no previous study has examined whether human listeners can assess the strength or body size of vocalisers relative to their own, either from speech or from nonverbal vocalisations. Here, although men tended to underestimate women’s formidability, and women to overestimate men’s, listeners judged relative strength and height from aggressive roars and aggressive speech accurately. For example, when judging roars, male listeners accurately identified vocalisers who were substantially stronger than themselves in 88% of trials, and never as weaker. For male vocalisers only, roars functioned to exaggerate the expression of threat compared to aggressive speech, as men were rated as relatively stronger when producing roars. These results indicate that, like other mammals, the acoustic structure of human aggressive vocal signals (and in particular nonverbal roars) may have been selected to communicate functional information relevant to listeners’ survival.
Introduction: As the years of displacement accumulate, the burden of secondary stressors (i.e., stressors not directly related to war) increase on the shoulders of millions of refugees, who do not have the option of either returning home due to war or having a sustainable livelihood in the host countries. This paper aims to shed light on the overlooked importance of secondary stressors among refugees of conflict in developing countries; it will do this by highlighting the experience of Syrian refugees in Jordan, and developing a typology of these stressors.
Methods: We approached this issue using two levels of exploration. In study 1, we used participant observation and 15 in-depth interviews in Irbid, Jordan. Data were analysed qualitatively using thematic analysis to explore the different types of stressors. In study 2, a questionnaire survey among Syrian refugees in Jordan (n = 305) was used to collect data about a wide range of stressors. Responses were subjected to factor analysis to examine the extent to which the stressors could be organized into different factors.
Results: The thematic analysis suggested three different types of secondary stressors: financial (money related), environmental (exile structures and feelings created by it), and social (directly related to social relations). The factor analysis of the survey data produced a similar typology, where secondary stressors were found to be grouped into four main factors (financial, services, safety, and relations with out-groups). The final result is a typology of 33 secondary stressors organised in three main themes.
Discussion: Syrian refugees in Jordan suffer the most from financial stressors, due to loss of income and high living expenses. Environmental stressors arise from exile and are either circumstantial (e.g., services and legal requirements) or created by this environment (e.g., instability and lack of familiarity). Social stressors were observed among a considerable section of refugees, varying from stressors due to being targeted as a refugee by the locals (e.g., discrimination) to more traumatic stressors that came from both locals and other refugees (e.g., assault). The typology of secondary stressors suggested by the present analysis needs to be investigated in a larger sample of refugees of conflict in other countries in the Middle East, in order to determine its generality. We suggest that it is a basis for a framework for practitioners and academics working with refugees in the region.
Around 2 million pilgrims attend the annual Hajj to Mecca and the holy places, which are subject to dense crowding. Both architecture and psychology can be part of disaster risk reduction in relation to crowding, since both can affect the nature of collective behaviour – particularly cooperation – among pilgrims. To date, collective behaviour at the Hajj has not been systematically investigated from a psychological perspective. We examined determinants of cooperation in the Grand Mosque and plaza during the pilgrimage. A questionnaire survey of 1194 pilgrims found that the Mosque was perceived by pilgrims as one of the most crowded ritual locations. Being in the plaza (compared to the Mosque) predicted the extent of cooperation, though crowd density did not. Shared social identity with the crowd explained more of the variance than both location and density. We examined some of the process underlying cooperation. The link between shared social identity and giving support to others was stronger in the plaza than in the Mosque, and suggests the role of place and space in modulating processes of cooperation in crowds. These findings have implications for disaster risk reduction and for applications such as computer simulations of crowds in pilgrimage locations.
The human sense of smell is highly sensitive, often conveying important biological signals. Yet, anecdotal evidence suggests that we commonly fail to notice supra-threshold environmental olfactory stimuli. The determinants of olfactory awareness are, as yet, unknown. Here, we adapted the ‘inattentional blindness’ paradigm, to test whether olfactory awareness is dependent on attention. Across three experiments, participants performed a visual search task with either a high or low perceptual load (a well-established attentional manipulation) while exposed to an ambient coffee aroma. Consistent with our hypothesis, task load modulated olfactory awareness: 42.5% fewer participants in the high (vs. low) load condition reported noticing the coffee aroma. Our final experiment demonstrates that, due to unique characteristics of olfactory habituation, the consequences of inattentional anosmia can persist even once attention becomes available. These findings establish the phenomenon of inattentional anosmia, and have applied implications for predicting when people may miss potentially important olfactory information.
Pregnancy, birth and adjusting to a new baby is a potentially stressful time that can negatively affect the health of women. There is some evidence that expressive writing can have positive effects on psychological and physical health, particularly during stressful periods. The current study aimed to evaluate whether expressive writing would improve women’s postpartum health. A randomized controlled trial was conducted with three conditions: expressive writing (n=188), a control writing task (n=213), or normal care (n=163). Measures of psychological health, physical health and quality of life were measured at baseline (6-12 weeks postpartum), 1 month and 6 months later. Ratings of stress were taken before and after the expressive writing task. Intent-to-treat analyses showed no significant differences between women in the expressive writing, control writing and normal care groups on measures of physical health, anxiety, depression, mood or quality of life at 1 and 6 months. Uptake and adherence to the writing tasks was low. However, women in the expressive writing group rated their stress as significantly reduced after completing the task. Cost analysis suggest women who did expressive writing had the lowest costs in terms of healthcare service use and lowest cost per unit of improvement in quality of life. Results suggest expressive writing is not effective as a universal intervention for all women 6-12 weeks postpartum. Future research should examine expressive writing as a targeted intervention for women in high-risk groups, such as those with mild or moderate depression, and further examine cost-effectiveness.
A precisely 230Th-dated stalagmite oxygen isotope (δ18O) record from Dragon Cave,Shanxi Province, northern China, is proposed to reconstruct the millennial-scale changes of the East Asian Summer monsoon (EASM) during the period 53.2-1.3 ka BP (before 1950 AD). Our record shows significant millennial-scale oscillations that match in timing, characteristic, and duration with the Dansgaard/Oeschger (DO)30 events 14-8 and the Heinrich events 5, 4, 2, and 1 (hereafter H5, H4, H2 and H1) in high-latitude regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Especially, the H5 event is well
constrained from 48.1 to 46.9 ka BP with ten 230Th dates. Our chronology supports the NGRIP GICC05 timescale from 50 to 38 ka BP. A comprehensive comparison of the Chinese speleothem records from different regions along a north-south transect shows a unique trend towards more negative δ
18O values from 48.0 to 38.0 ka BP, suggesting that an intensified Asian summer monsoon (ASM) across the whole monsoonal China during the interval. We speculate that the joint effect, from both the cooling of the Southern Hemisphere and the enhanced land-sea temperature contrast
due to the rising summer insolation, is capable to regulate the low-latitude large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns and exert significant influences on the long-term
ASM variations during the middle of Marine Isotope Stage 3.
Previous studies have shown that individuals with heroin and cocaine addiction prefer to use these drugs in distinct settings: mostly at home in the case of heroin and mostly outside the home in the case of cocaine. Here we investigated whether the context would modulate the affective and neural responses to these drugs in a similar way. First, we used a novel emotional task to assess the affective state produced by heroin or cocaine in different settings, based on the recollections of male and female drug users. Then we used fMRI to monitor neural activity during drug imagery (recreating the setting of drug use) in male drug users. Consistent with our working hypothesis, the majority of participants reported a shift in the affective valence of heroin from mostly pleasant at home to mostly unpleasant outside the home (p<0.0001). The opposite shift was observed for cocaine, that is, most participants who found cocaine pleasant outside the home found it unpleasant when taken at home (p<0.0014). Furthermore, we found a double dissociation, as a function of drug and setting imagery, in BOLD signal changes in the left prefrontal cortex and caudate, and bilaterally in the cerebellum (all p's<0.01), suggesting that the fronto-striatal-cerebellar network is implicated in the contextualization of drug-induced affect. In summary, we report that the same setting can influence in opposite directions the affective and neural response to psychostimulants versus opiates in humans, adding to growing evidence of distinct substrates for the rewarding effects of these two drug classes.
Resource efficiency is a crucial step for manufacturing companies to improve their operations performance and to reduce waste generation. However, there is no guarantee of a zero waste scenario and companies need to look for new strategies to complement their resource efficiency vision. Therefore, it is important to enroll in an industrial symbiosis strategy as a means to maximize industrial value capturing through the exchange of resources (waste, energy, water and by-products) between different processes and companies. Within this, it is crucial to quantify and characterize the waste, e.g. to have clear understanding of the potential industrial symbiosis hot spots among the processes. For such characterization, it is proposed to use an innovative process efficiency assessment approach. This empowers a clear understanding and quantification of efficiency that identifies industrial symbiosis hot spots (donors) in low efficiency process steps, and enables a plausible definition of potential cold spots (receivers), in order to promote the symbiotic exchanges.
Distribution, ecology and strategies for the conservation of a critically endangered primate (Ateles fusciceps fusiceps) in Ecuador. Ateles fusciceps occurs from Southern Panama to Ecuador. The subspecies Ateles fusciceps fusciceps is endemic to Ecuador and can be found west of the Andes, from the north of the country to the Manabí Province in the south. Its largest population is found in the Province of Esmeraldas. Deforestation and hunting are the main threats faced by these primates. A.f.fusciceps relies on large tracts of primary forest but can also be found in forest fragments close to human settlements. Illegal logging is having a detrimental effect on the food availability for this primate, who feed mainly on ripe fruit. In this chapter we summarize the conservation status of this taxon and report more than 60 species that are key to A.f.fusiceps survival in Tesoro Escondido, Esmeraldas Province. In order to protect this Critically Endangered primate and its habitat it is crucial to develop conservation actions that enable alternative economic income for local communities.
Culture Wars investigates the relationship between the media and politics in Britain today. It focusses on how significant sections of the national press have represented and distorted the policies of the Labour Party, and particularly its left, from the Thatcher era up to and including Ed Miliband’s and Jeremy Corbyn’s leaderships. Revised and updated, including five brand new chapters, this second edition shows how press hostility to the left, particularly newspaper coverage of its policies on race, gender and sexuality, has morphed into a more generalised campaign against ‘political correctness’, the ‘liberal elite’ and the so-called ‘enemies of the people’. Combining fine-grained case studies with authoritative overviews of recent British political and media history, Culture Wars demonstrates how much of the press have routinely attacked Labour and, in so doing, have abused their political power, distorted public debate and negatively impacted the news agendas of public service broadcasters. The book also raises the intriguing question of whether the rise of social media, and the success of its initial exploitation by Corbyn supporters, followed by Labour as a whole in the 2017 General Election, represent a major shift in the balance of power between Labour and the media, and in particular the right-wing press.
The work described in this thesis involves developing synthetic methods to produce a range of drug-like small molecules that can be used as chemical tools to understand and modulate disease pathophysiology. There are two types of such tools investigated in this thesis: diagnostic tools for imaging experiments, and inhibitory tools for modulating biochemical pathways.
The imaging tools are designed to target apoptosis, accumulating in cells undergoing early-stage apoptotic events, and contain a fluorescent tag, thus providing a realtime technique for observing and monitoring these events and even to modulate them from inside the cell. The imaging agent would then be used to guide the design of a radiolabelled small molecule that can be used alongside traditional cancer therapies, to preferentially enter cells going through apoptosis, ensuring that these cells commit to cell death and do not recover.
The inhibitory tools are designed to study the molecular mechanisms of MK2, a protein that has been implicated in disease progression and cellular ageing events. This worked used the premature ageing syndrome, Werner’s Syndrome as a model for normal human ageing.
In Chapter 2, several fluorescent markers are considered for the development of a real-time imaging tool to target apoptosis. The structures of the fluorescent agents are based on two structures known to preferentially enter cells going through the early stages of apoptosis; didansyl cystine and ML10. The conclusion of this investigation led to ML10 being used as the basis for further development of fluorescent agents. The formation of several novel BODIPY compounds is described, with one compound tested in a cell line for its ability to preferentially enter cells going through the early stages of apoptosis. The results of this test led to an investigation into the lipophilicity of BODIPY compounds versus ML10. This investigation involved the use of software to generate cLogP values as a guide for potential designs of further BODIPY structures. The development of a drug-like structure that can mimic the action of the BODIPY compound is also explored, with the inclusion of a step to insert iodine-131 at a later stage in the development.
In Chapter 3, microwave-assisted organic synthesis was used to develop novel routes toward benzothiophene derivatives, which formed part of a new route towards the Pfizer developed MK2 inhibitor PF-3644022. This work was published in Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry. The full route was proposed in the doctoral thesis of Dr. Jessica Dwyer, and the latter part of this thesis set out to improve the yield of the final step. A collaboration with the Kostakis group led to an investigation into the use of the catalyst Zn2Y2(C21H25NO3)4 for its applicability to the Doebnertype multi-component reaction that would lead to the formation of PF-3644022. Although no conclusive results were obtained from the reactions trialled, the work opened up new channels of collaboration for the Bagley group and potential for further exploration of the use of isoskeletal coordination cluster catalysts in organic multi-component reactions.
Overall, the aim of this work was to deliver rapid routes to these chemical tools so that, through in vivo and in vitro biological studies, we can better understand the role of kinase targets during disease progression and therapy in healthy and diseased cells. In this context, this work establishes novel routes to new chemical tools, validates their identity and action, and explores their application in providing new insights into biochemical processes and new opportunities for chemical intervention in pathophysiological events.
Words change meaning over time. Some meaning shift is accompanied by a corresponding change in subject matter; some meaning shift is not. In this paper I argue that an account of linguistic meaning can accommodate the first kind of case, but that a theory of concepts is required to accommodate the second. Where there is stability of subject matter through linguistic change, it is concepts that provide the stability. The stability provided by concepts allows for genuine disagreement and ameliorative change in the context of conceptual engineering.
In this article, we aim to contribute to the literature on social identification among migrants and minorities by offering a theoretical framework that accounts for the interplay of socio-psychological factors, local and transnational group dynamics, and the socio-political environment in which migrants live. This approach enables us to analyse not only the political significance of identity, but also the psychology of identity formation. Drawing upon qualitative data, we analyse how young Somalis (N: 43) living in the municipalities of Malmö (Sweden) and Ealing (United Kingdom) construct and negotiate their ethnic social identities in relation to: Somali elders living in the same city; Somalis in Somalia and in the diaspora; and the British/Swedish majority society. We show that, to secure a positive self-identity vis-à-vis these referent groups, young Somalis engage in psychological strategies of separation; social competition; and social creativity. The socio-political environment in which they are embedded influences which strategy they adopt.
The complementarity of sustainable energy transitions and energy access provision are one of the key characteristics of both the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on climate change. In this perspective piece, we offer an epistemic and governance agenda to advance the imperative of speed in meeting both ambitions and to acknowledge the plurality of disciplines, actors, and institutions involved. Recognizing that the processes required to achieve these global goals entail navigating tensions, we suggest that shifts in ways knowledge is produced and transitions are governed could be based on a justice framework.
This paper investigates the salience of social-psychological factors in explaining why drivers purchase (or fail to purchase) New Energy Vehicles (NEVs)—including hybrid electric vehicles, battery electric vehicles, and fuel cell electric vehicles—in China. A questionnaire measuring six dimensions (including attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, personal norms, low-carbon awareness and policy) was distributed in Tianjin, where aggressive policy incentives for NEVs exist yet adoption rates remain low. Correlation analysis and hierarchical multiple regression analyses are applied data collected through 811 valid questionnaires. We present three main findings. First, there is an “awareness-behavior gap” whereby low-carbon awareness has a moderating effect on purchasing behavior via psychological factors. Second, subjective norms has a stronger influence on intention to purchase New Energy Vehicles than other social-psychological factors. Third, acceptability of government policies has positive significant impact on adoption of New Energy Vehicles, which can provide reference potential template for other countries whose market for New Energy Vehicles is also in an early stage.
Purpose: Trials of novel drugs used in advanced disease often show only progression free survival or modest overall survival benefits. Hypothetical studies suggest that stabilisation of metastatic disease and/or symptom burden are worth treatment-related side-effects. We examined this premise contemporaneously using qualitative and quantitative methods.
Methods: Patients with metastatic cancers expected to live >6 months and prescribed drugs aimed at cancer control, were interviewed: - at baseline, 6 weeks, at progression and if treatment was stopped for toxicity. They also completed Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (FACT-G) plus Anti-Angiogenesis (AA) subscale questionnaires at baseline then monthly for 6 months.
Results: 90/120 (75%) eligible patients participated: 41 (45%) remained on study for 6 months, 36 progressed or died, 4 had treatment breaks and 9 withdrew due to toxicity. By 6 weeks, 66/69 (96%) patients were experiencing side-effects which impacted their activities. Low QoL scores at baseline did not predict a higher risk of death or drop out. At 6 week interviews, as the side effect severity increased, patients were significantly less inclined to view the benefit of cancer control as worthwhile (X2=50.7 P < 0.001). Emotional well-being initially improved from baseline by 10 weeks, then gradually returned to baseline levels.
Conclusion: Maintaining QoL is vital to most patients with advanced cancer so minimising treatment related side-effects is essential. As side-effect severity increased, drugs that controlled cancer for short periods were not viewed as worthwhile. Patients need to have the therapeutic aims of further anti-cancer treatment explained honestly and sensitively.
With the failure of state-focused anti-corruption reform packages to reduce systemic corruption, the role of citizens in anti-corruption efforts has gained traction in academia and policy-making quarters. Yet, some of the emerging literature questions the prospect of citizens’ demand for accountability in places where corruption is entrenched. In such settings, high perceptions of corruption can reinforce the notion that most people are likely to act corruptly, undermining belief in the ability and willingness of citizens as well as government to tackle corruption. Nevertheless, some of the countries perceived to be highly corrupt have experienced frequent episodes of collective resistance to abuses of power. This has raised a possibility that exposure to corruption can in fact provoke the willingness to get involved in efforts to bring it under control. Furthermore, it seems that there are contextual conditions (other than country-level corruption) that shape the impact of subjective perceptions as well as direct experience of corruption on propensity to engage in anti-corruption tactics based on collective action.
Using analysis of nationally representative public opinion data covering 35 African countries, this dissertation examines individual and contextual level conditions under which perceptions of corruption and personal experiences of bribery might encourage ordinary people to support citizen-centred and collective action methods of curbing corruption. It is the first study to utilise a data set of this magnitude to study the mobilisation potential of exposure to corruption in the African context. One of the key findings is that across different statistical conditions, an increasing experience of paying bribes fosters the support for the use of citizen-centred and collective action methods of anti-corruption. Importantly, there is strong evidence that an increasing frequency of paying bribes is likely to have the same impact in different countries. The effect of the perception of corruption is more ambiguous and indeed strongly influenced by observed and unobserved country-level conditions. These contextual factors include country-level poverty and state-level clientelism. Apart from a focus on the effects of individual-level corruption, the analysis zeroes-in on the extent to which the collective action that arises in highly clientelistic societies represents a demand for impartiality — a lynchpin of good governance and anti-corruption civic engagement.
Background
Scabies outbreaks in residential and nursing care homes for elderly people are common, subject to diagnostic delay, and hard to control. We studied clinical features, epidemiology, and outcomes of outbreaks in the UK between 2014 and 2015.
Methods
We did a prospective observational study in residential care homes for elderly people in southeast England that reported scabies outbreaks to Public Health England health protection teams. An outbreak was defined as two or more cases of scabies (in either residents or staff) at a single care home. All patients who provided informed consent were included; patients with dementia were included if a personal or nominated consultee (ie, a family member or nominated staff member) endorsed participation. Dermatology-trained physicians examined residents at initial clinical visits, which were followed by two mass treatments with topical scabicide as per local health protection team guidance. Follow-up clinical visits were held 6 weeks after initial visits. Scabies was diagnosed through pre-defined case definitions as definite, probable, or possible with dermatoscopy and microscopy as appropriate.
Findings
230 residents were examined in ten outbreaks between Jan 23, 2014, and April 13, 2015. Median age was 86·9 years (IQR 81·5–92·3), 174 (76%) were female, and 157 (68%) had dementia. 61 (27%) residents were diagnosed with definite, probable, or possible scabies, of whom three had crusted scabies. Physical signs differed substantially from classic presentations. 31 (51%) of the 61 people diagnosed with scabies were asymptomatic, and only 25 (41%) had burrows. Mites were visualised with dermatoscopy in seven (11%) patients, and further confirmed by microscopy in three (5%). 35 (57%) cases had signs of scabies only on areas of the body that would normally be covered. Dementia was the only risk factor for a scabies diagnosis that we identified (odds ratio 2·37 [95% CI 1·38–4·07]). At clinical follow-up, 50 people who were initially diagnosed with scabies were examined. No new cases of scabies were detected, but infestation persisted in ten people.
Interpretation
Clinical presentation of scabies in elderly residents of care homes differs from classic descriptions familiar to clinicians. This difference probably contributes to delayed recognition and suboptimal management in this vulnerable group. Dermatoscopy and microscopy were of little value. Health-care workers should be aware of the different presentation of scabies in elderly people, and should do thorough examinations, particularly in people with dementia.
Funding
Public Health England and British Skin Foundation.
Environmental appraisal presents deeper and wider problems than are typically conceded in policy. Strong political pressures for decision justification routinely force the closing down of due deliberation over the real limits to knowledge. Even technical language can become warped – to imply that all environmental dilemmas are susceptible to apparently precise and definitive probabilistic risk analysis. The inconvenient messiness of less tractable aspects of incertitude (strict uncertainty, ambiguity and ignorance) can thereby be suppressed. Reviewing the most serious problems, this chapter outlines practical methods for resisting these pressures and opening up a more rigorous, robust, transparent – and democratically accountable – environmental politics.
The 1998 Lancet paper by Wakefield et al , despite subsequent retraction and evidence indicating no causal link between vaccinations and autism, triggered significant parental concern. The aim of this study was to analyse the online information available on this topic.
Using localized versions of Google, we searched “autism vaccine” in English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Mandarin and Arabic and analyzed 200 websites for each search engine result page (SERP). A common feature was the newsworthiness of the topic, with news outlets representing 25-50% of the SERP, followed by unaffiliated websites (blogs, social media) that represented 27-41% and included most of the vaccine-negative websites. Between 12% and 24% of websites had a negative stance on vaccines, while most websites were pro-vaccine (43-70%). However, their ranking by Google varied. While in Google.com the first vaccine-negative website was the 43rd in the SERP, there was one vaccine-negative webpage in the top 10 websites in both the British and Australian localized versions and in French and two in Italian, Portuguese and Mandarin, suggesting that the information quality algorithm used by Google may work better in English. Many webpages mentioned celebrities in the context of the link between vaccines and autism, with Donald Trump most frequently. Few websites (1-5%) promoted complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) but 50-100% of these were also vaccine-negative suggesting that CAM users are more exposed to vaccine-negative information. This analysis highlights the need for monitoring the web for information impacting on vaccine uptake.
This thesis examines the call for reform in the governance of risk and control within major construction programmes in the UK. Over the next 8 years, Construction 2025 describes aspirations for major improvements in productivity, cost efficiency and delivery lead times. However, the pathway to reform remains unclear. Major infrastructure projects have a history of dissonance where competing value systems can create friction. However, the productive friction from multiple evaluative perspectives can also be a fundamental part of resolving emergent and perplexing problems. Construction 2025 highlights the need to develop stronger delivery relationships with an emphasis on the early engagement of suppliers and “fixing” the front-end of projects through more rigorous procurement strategies. It also notes that “much” of the waste in construction is fundamentally linked to the treatment of risk. Intelligent Clients, such as Heathrow, have been identified as exemplars in developing superior models of risk governance that work “with” suppliers to articulate the nature of value and evaluative purpose (CE, 2009). This thesis is a study of the composition and evolution of control in the construction of Terminal 5 (T5) and the more recent Terminal 2 (T2) at Heathrow.
Terminal 5 is considered a landmark case that challenged traditional self-seeking opportunism with a lean partnering philosophy delivered through integrated teams. A year later Terminal 2 moved away from the partnering with suppliers, engaging a 3rd party integrator managed through an intelligent control system. At the time this raised concerns that T2 represented a relinquishing of the project management capability developed on T5 and a weaker model of integration. However, T2 was a success. This thesis draws on extensive project-based technical data, interviews with industry experts and policy reports to build a comparative picture of the calculative infrastructures. Temporal bracketing is used to trace the patterns of development into “phases of control” as a sequence of evaluative orders. Both cases move the conception of control beyond directive forms of control “over” resources to consider the nature of social integration and the complexity of enrolling allied interests. The findings explore a variety of innovative calculative technologies that translated tensions into productive friction. In both cases Heathrow did not fix the front-end. Instead an adaptive calculative infrastructure mediated collective deliberation, critical inquiry and emergent learning. These findings suggest that the current reform discussion would benefit from more explicit consideration of the importance of architectures of control in making projects valuable, governing risk and shaping conduct towards enterprise and discovery.
Anchored Packed Trees (APTs) are a novel approach to distributional semantics that takes distributional composition to be a process of lexeme contextualisation. A lexeme’s meaning, characterised as knowledge concerning co-occurrences involving that lexeme, is represented with a higher-order dependency-typed structure (the APT) where paths associated with higher-order dependencies connect vertices associated with weighted lexeme multisets. The central innovation in the compositional theory is that the APT’s type structure enables the precise alignment of the semantic representation of each of the lexemes being composed.
Like other count-based distributional spaces, however, Anchored Packed Trees are prone to considerable data sparsity, caused by not observing all plausible co-occurrences in the given data. This problem is amplified for models like APTs, that take the grammatical type of a co-occurrence into account. This results in a very sparse distributional space, requiring a mechanism for inferring missing knowledge. Most methods face this challenge in ways that render the resulting word representations uninterpretable, with the consequence that distributional composition becomes difficult to model and reason about.
In this thesis, I will present a practical evaluation of the Apt theory, including a large-scale hyperparameter sensitivity study and a characterisation of the distributional space that APTs give rise to. Based on the empirical analysis, the impact of the problem of data sparsity is investigated. In order to address the data sparsity challenge and retain the interpretability of the model, I explore an alternative algorithm — distributional inference — for improving elementary representations. The algorithm involves explicitly inferring unobserved co-occurrence events by leveraging the distributional neighbourhood of the semantic space. I then leverage the rich type structure in APTs and propose a generalisation of the distributional inference algorithm. I empirically show that distributional inference improves elementary word representations and is especially beneficial when combined with an intersective composition function, which is due to the complementary nature of inference and composition. Lastly, I qualitatively analyse the proposed algorithms in order to characterise the knowledge that they are able to infer, as well as their impact on the distributional APT space.
Drawing on in-depth empirical research, we explore a project called The Welcome Dinner (WDP). The WDP aims to bring together ‘newly arrived’ people and ‘established Australians’ to meet and ‘share stories’ over a potluck meal in ‘the comfort of their own home’. The purpose is to create meaningful connections, new friendships and social solidarities. In this paper, we focus on the micro-contexts of the dinners and the minute activities and techniques that facilitators use in hosting. Our aim is not to analyse the effects of the project but rather the design and meaning of the activities. As a form of ‘designed everyday multiculturalism’, focused on welcoming new arrivals to Australia, it takes effort, skill and labour to manage the contact between different cultural groups over organised meals. Thus, facilitators take over the hosting of the lunches and dinners to run activities, which are imagined to lubricate social dynamics and relations, and produce convivial commensal affects and behaviours. Drawing on theories of training activities as embodied and cognitive experimentations, which enable new knowledge practices and social relations, we analyse field notes and interviews about the facilitation, structure and activities at the WDP home dinners.
The recent and ongoing refugee crisis in Europe highlights conflicting attitudes about the rights of migrants and refugees to health care in transition and destination countries. Some European and Scandinavian states, such as Germany and Sweden, have welcomed large numbers of migrants, while others, such as the UK, have been significantly less open. In part, this is because of reluctance by certain national governments to incur what are seen as the high costs of delivering aid and care to migrants. In response to these assumptions, some theorists have argued that the appropriate way to view the health needs of migrants is not in terms of rights, but in terms of the interests of destination and transition countries – and have argued that providing care to migrants and refugees will generate benefits for their host countries. However, self-interest alone is less effective at motivating the provision of care for health deprivations which do not pose a threat to third parties, or to migrants and refugees in poor or distant countries. In this paper, I argue that while self-interest is unlikely in itself to motivate the provision of all necessary health care to all migrants and refugees, and may risk stigmatizing already vulnerable persons, it can provide the foundation upon which such motivations can be built. My goal is therefore to show how and why a more just approach to the provision of health care to migrants can and should be derived from narrower, self-interested commitments to preserving citizen health.
Approximately 13% of people living with HIV in the UK are undiagnosed which has significant implications in terms of onward transmission and late diagnosis. HIV testing guidelines recommend routine screening in anyone presenting to healthcare with an HIV indicator condition (IC); however, this does not occur routinely. This study aimed to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of using case note prompts highlighting the presence of an IC to increase HIV testing. Clinicians in three outpatient departments received case note prompts either before or after a period of clinician-led identification. Test offer and uptake rates were assessed. A parallel anonymous seroprevalence study estimated the prevalence of undiagnosed HIV. A total of 4191 patients had an appointment during the study period; 608 (14.5%) had an IC. HIV test offer was significantly higher when a prompt was inserted into notes (34.3% versus 3.2%, p < 0.001). The prevalence of diagnosed HIV in the cohort was 4.1%. No cases of undiagnosed HIV infection were identified. Despite guidelines, offer of HIV testing is low. Strategies to increase routine screening of patients presenting with an IC are needed. Individual case note prompts significantly increase HIV test offer; however, the effect is lost if the strategy is withdrawn.
In this article we present, for the first time, domain-growth induced pat- tern formation for reaction-diffusion systems with linear cross-diffusion on evolving domains and surfaces. Our major contribution is that by selecting parameter values from spaces induced by domain and surface evolution, patterns emerge only when domain growth is present. Such patterns do not exist in the absence of domain and surface evolution. In order to compute these domain-induced parameter spaces, linear stability theory is employed to establish the necessary conditions for domain- growth induced cross-diffusion-driven instability for reaction-diffusion systems with linear cross-diffusion. Model reaction-kinetic parameter values are then identified from parameter spaces induced by domain-growth only; these exist outside the classical standard Turing space on stationary domains and surfaces. To exhibit these patterns we employ the finite element method for solving reaction-diffusion systems with cross-diffusion on continuously evolving domains and surfaces.
This article addresses the role of self-narratives for coping with the laws of captivity. By focusing on how confinement can disrupt narrative coherence, the intention is to examine the role of self-narratives for interpreting previous events and anticipating future actions. Drawing on a range of interdisciplinary research on self-identity, imprisonment, and offender narratives, this article highlights how narrative reconstruction can alter our desires, commitments, behavior, beliefs, and values. By (re)telling a story about our lives, it is possible to reinterpret existing circumstances and make new connections between our past, present, and future selves. Whereas research suggests the importance of narrative reconstruction for protecting against a sense of meaninglessness, this article shows how self-narratives have the potential to be empowering and divisive. The final part of the article examines how the narratives inmates construct about themselves and others can serve to legitimize violence against other prisoners.
In this paper, we provide a statistical analysis of high-resolution contact pattern data within primary and secondary schools as collected by the SocioPatterns collaboration. Students are graphically represented as nodes in a temporally evolving network, in which links represent proximity or interaction between students.
This article focuses on link- and node-level statistics, such as the on- and off-durations of links as well as the activity potential of nodes and links.
Parametric models are fitted to the on- and off-durations of links, inter-event times and node activity potentials and, based on these, we propose a number of theoretical models that are able to reproduce the collected data within varying levels of accuracy. By doing so, we aim to identify the minimal network-level properties that are needed to closely match the real-world data, with the aim of combining this contact pattern model with epidemic models in future work
This study demonstrates the effect of correlation between volatility and statistical properties of realized volatility measured using the daily high-frequency exchange rate data of four representative currencies of the US dollar (Japanese yen, British pound, European euro, Canadian dollar) Respectively. The validity of the distributional and dynamic attributes of realized volatility is consistent with the results of previous studies. In the case of the Japanese yen, however, the correlation between the volatility and the correlation was not observed. This is due to the negative result of the exchange rate and the negative exchange rate during the Japanese government's continuous intervention in the foreign exchange market. These results show that the relationship between volatility and correlation (+) is not a general phenomenon in the presence of foreign exchange market intervention, and that foreign exchange market intervention can distort market efficiency. The results of this study indicate that multivariate measures of real volatility using day - to - day high frequency data can be a useful tool for identifying external interventions to the foreign exchange market.
This paper empirically examines the statistical properties of realized volatility and the relationship between volatility and correlation measurements realized by using intraday high-frequency foreign exchange (FX) rates. Results regarding the distributional and dynamic properties of the volatility are in agreement with the findings of previous studies. However, the positive correlation is present in previous studies. On trading days with low volatility in the FX market, the correlation coefficients between JPY and other currencies have positive values, while the correlation coefficients on trading days with high volatility show negative values. These results are due to the Japanese government's intervention in the FX market, especially during trading days with high volatility. In this regard, our results suggest that the positive relationship between volatility and correlations is not a general phenomenon in the case of government intervention and government intervention. In addition, we show that the multivariate measurement of volatility based on intraday high-frequency data is a useful tool for determining the occurrence of external intervention in the FX market.
This thesis aimed to develop a paradigm for the study of anomaly handling and to investigate the factors that influence success in detecting and classifying anomalies. A simulated anomaly-handling environment was created to mimic an intelligence analysis task in a security setting. A series of experiments was designed to test hypotheses concerning sources of difficulty in detecting potential anomalies and making decisions about appropriate classifications of potentially anomalous events. Results across all experiments showed that complex problems, representing anomalies, were more difficult to solve than simple problems, and that this poor performance was consistent with the use of suboptimal strategies based on recognition of perceptual characteristics rather than inferences drawn from available data. Performance on complex problems was reduced still further when participants were exposed to trials that established a mental set. However, performance was improved when participants were given feedback on the correctness of their responses to each trial, which eliminated the negative effects of exposure to mental set. Another factor that impacted on successful decision-making was the cost of making errors. When participants were faced with a penalty for making incorrect decisions, solution rates improved compared with when performance was not related to reward. This has consequences for anomaly handling industries where the consequence of failure of often high. Unexpectedly, a number of the results indicated that there are situations where mental set may confer a benefit to decision making in a task of anomaly categorisation. Given the dominance of recognition-based strategies, it appears that mental set can refine the detection of perceptually relevant patterns, which can signal sudden changes in pattern that can lead to a switch from recognition-based to inferential task solution strategies. Overall, the merits for the use of simulated environments in critical decision making areas are discussed, and the contributory factors towards successful anomaly handling are analysed.
The role of resistance in the politics of modern representative democracies is historically contested, and remains far from clear. This article seeks to explore historical thinking on this subject through a discussion of what Benjamin Constant and Alexis de Tocqueville had to say about resistance and its relationship to “representative government” and democracy. Neither thinker is usually seen as a significant contributor to “resistance theory” as this category is conventionally understood. But, in addition to their more familiar preoccupations with securing limitations on the exercise of political authority and averting majority tyranny, both thinkers wrote extensively on the nature and meanings of resistance in “representative governments” or democratic societies. Both thinkers are examined in the context of revolutionary and Napoleonic discussions about the legitimacy of resistance or “right to resist” oppression, and against eighteenth-century discussions of the “spirit of resistance” since Montesquieu. The article notes conceptual distinctions between resistance, revolution and insurrection in the period, and addresses the broader question of the extent to which early nineteenth-century French liberals sought to “institutionalise” principles of resistance within modern constitutional frameworks.
We propose and analyse a finite element method with mass lumping (LESFEM) for the numerical approximation of reaction-diffusion systems (RDSs) on surfaces in R3 that evolve under a given velocity field. A fully-discrete method based on the implicit-explicit (IMEX) Euler time-discretisation is formulated and dilation rates which act as indicators of the surface evolution are introduced. Under the assumption that the mesh preserves the Delaunay regularity under evolution, we prove a sufficient condition, that depends on the dilation rates, for the existence of invariant regions (i) at the spatially discrete level with no restriction on the mesh size and (ii) at the fully-discrete level under a timestep restriction that depends on the kinetics, only. In the specific case of the linear heat equation, we prove a semi- and a fully-discrete maximum principle. For the well-known activator-depleted and Thomas reaction-diffusion models we prove the existence of a family of rectangles in the phase space that are invariant only under specific growth laws. Two numerical examples are provided to computationally demonstrate (i) the discrete maximum principle and optimal convergence for the heat equation on a linearly growing sphere and (ii) the existence of an invariant region for the LESFEM-IMEX Euler discretisation of a RDS on a logistically growing surface.
A quantum metrology protocol for parameter estimation is typically comprised of three stages: probe state preparation, sensing and then readout, where the time required for the first and last stages is usually neglected. In the present work we consider non-negligible state preparation and readout times, and the tradeoffs in sensitivity that come when a limited time resource T must be divided between the three stages. To investigate this, we focus on the problem of magnetic field sensing with spins in one-axis twisted or two-axis twisted states. We find that (accounting for the time necessary to prepare a twisted state) no advantage is gained unless the time T is sufficiently long or the twisting sufficiently strong. However, we also find that the limited time resource is used more effectively if we allow the twisting and the magnetic field to be applied concurrently, which possibly represents a more realistic sensing scenario. We extend this result into an optical setting by utilizing the exact correspondence between a spin system and a bosonic field mode as given by the Holstein-Primakoff transformation.
We describe the creation, content, and validation of the Dark Energy Survey (DES) internal year-one cosmology data set, Y1A1 GOLD, in support of upcoming cosmological analyses. The Y1A1 GOLD data set is assembled from multiple epochs of DES imaging and consists of calibrated photometric zero-points, object catalogs, and ancillary data products—e.g., maps of survey depth and observing conditions, star–galaxy classification, and photometric redshift estimates—that are necessary for accurate cosmological analyses. The Y1A1 GOLD wide-area object catalog consists of ~137 million objects detected in co-added images covering ~1800deg^2 in the DES grizY filters. The 10σ limiting magnitude for galaxies is g=23.4, r=23.2, i=22.5, z=21.8, and Y=20.1. Photometric calibration of Y1A1 GOLD was performed by combining nightly zero-point solutions with stellar locus regression, and the absolute calibration accuracy is better than 2% over the survey area. DES Y1A1 GOLD is the largest photometric data set at the achieved depth to date, enabling precise measurements of cosmic acceleration at z < 1.
Galaxy cross-correlations with high-fidelity redshift samples hold the potential to precisely calibrate systematic photometric redshift uncertainties arising from the unavailability of complete and representative training and validation samples of galaxies. However, application of this technique in the Dark Energy Survey (DES) is hampered by the relatively low number density, small area, and modest redshift overlap between photometric and spectroscopic samples. We propose instead using photometric catalogues with reliable photometric redshifts for photo-z calibration via cross-correlations. We verify the viability of our proposal using redMaPPer clusters from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) to successfully recover the redshift distribution of SDSS spectroscopic galaxies. We demonstrate how to combine photo-z with cross-correlation data to calibrate photometric redshift biases while marginalizing over possible clustering bias evolution in either the calibration or unknown photometric samples. We apply our method to DES Science Verification (DES SV) data in order to constrain the photometric redshift distribution of a galaxy sample selected for weak lensing studies, constraining the mean of the tomographic redshift distributions to a statistical uncertainty of z ∼ ±0.01. We forecast that our proposal can, in principle, control photometric redshift
Taking risks is part of everyday life. Some people actively pursue risky activities (e.g., jumping out of a plane), while others avoid any risk (e.g., people with anxiety disorders). Paradoxically, risk-taking is a primitive behaviour that may lead to a happier life by offering a sense of excitement through self-actualization. Here, we demonstrate for the first time that sour - amongst the five basic tastes (sweet, bitter, sour, salty, and umami) - promotes risk-taking. Based on a series of three experiments, we show that sour has the potential to modulate risk-taking behaviour across two countries (UK and Vietnam), across individual differences in risk-taking personality and styles of thinking (analytic versus intuitive). Modulating risk-taking can improve everyday life for a wide range of people.
We investigate the possibility of regulatory institutional distance exerting an asymmetric effect on multinational corporations' (MNCs') subsidiary performance depending on the direction of institutional distance. We use the term ‘institutional ladder’ to differentiate between upward distance, referred to as when the subsidiary is operating in a relatively stronger institutional environment than its parent-firm's home country, and downward distance for vice versa. Combining institutional theory with organisational imprinting and learning perspectives, we argue that the implications of regulatory institutional distance on subsidiary performance are relatively more positive (or less negative) when MNCs are climbing down the institutional ladder as compared to when MNCs are climbing up the institutional ladder. We also argue that subsidiary ownership strategy – i.e. the choice of a wholly owned subsidiary (WOS) versus joint venture (JV) – moderates the above-mentioned implications of institutional distance on subsidiary performance. We test these hypotheses based on a panel data-set of 1936 foreign subsidiaries representing 70 host countries and 66 home countries and spanning the 12-year period: 2002–2013.
Notwithstanding the revamped attention to equity in higher education the world over, it is pertinent to realistically address several fundamental issues if equitable access to higher education for sustainable development is indeed envisaged. What is the understanding of equal in the context of everyday African society and how has this affected access policy implementation? What roles have existing higher education access practices played in achieving inclusion of marginalised groups? Could policy definitions of disadvantage, under-representation and vulnerability have been misplaced, flawed, or outdated? What should new equity reforms be targeted at, or more problematic, how should they be targeted? These profound questions provoke the thinking in this paper using the lingering crisis of university admission in Nigeria as a case study within the context of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The paper critically reflects on the countrys merit-driven application system and ambiguous quota admissions policy to illustrate the possibility of persistent exclusion and heightened inequalities should the status quo remain. It ultimately calls for the need to contextually rethink equity policies and practices towards the achievement of the SDGs.
The last two years have been times of turbulence for the BBC, and other broadcasters, in terms of their coverage of UK politics. Their reporting of the general elections of 2015 and 2017, of the 2016 European Union Referendum and the 2015 election of Jeremy Corbyn to the leadership of the Labour Party have been much criticised (as has that of other mainstream media outlets). And despite the rise of social media, the BBC remains the most used and most trusted source of news in the UK and hence is a vital element in the UK public sphere. Consequently, these journalistic failures—when its political coverage failed to reflect what turned out to be the reality on the ground - are particularly problematic. This brings into focus the issue of “the truth” in election and referendum campaigns. The example quoted here—about the Labour Party and antisemitism—illustrates the difficulties in arriving at the “truth”, even in the less frenetic atmosphere between campaigns. It demonstrates how there can be many truths and this, in itself, raises urgent questions about the nature of political journalism which pose challenges for public broadcasting in Britain with implications that go much wider.
Background: Ovarian suppression in premenopausal women is known to reduce breast cancer risk. This study aimed to assess uptake and compliance with ovarian suppression using the luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (LHRH) analogue, goserelin, with add-back raloxifene, as a potential regimen for breast cancer prevention.Methods: Women at >/=30% lifetime risk breast cancer were approached and randomized to mammographic screening alone (C-Control) or screening in addition to monthly subcutaneous injections of 3.6 mg goserelin and continuous 60 mg raloxifene daily orally (T-Treated) for 2 years. The primary endpoint was therapy adherence. Secondary endpoints were toxicity/quality of life, change in bone density, and mammographic density.Results: A total of 75/950 (7.9%) women approached agreed to randomization. In the T-arm, 20 of 38 (52%) of women completed the 2-year period of study compared with the C-arm (27/37, 73.0%). Dropouts were related to toxicity but also the wish to have established risk-reducing procedures and proven chemoprevention. As relatively few women completed the study, data are limited, but those in the T-arm reported significant increases in toxicity and sexual problems, no change in anxiety, and less cancer worry. Lumbar spine bone density declined by 7.0% and visually assessed mammographic density by 4.7% over the 2-year treatment period.Conclusions: Uptake is somewhat lower than comparable studies with tamoxifen for prevention with higher dropout rates. Raloxifene may preserve bone density, but reduction in mammographic density reversed after treatment was completed.Impact: This study indicates that breast cancer risk reduction may be possible using LHRH agonists, but reducing toxicity and preventing bone changes would make this a more attractive option. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 27(1); 58-66. (c)2017 AACR.
Background:
Lymphatic filariasis (LF) and podoconiosis are neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) that pose a significant physical, social and economic burden to endemic communities. Patients affected by the clinical conditions of LF (lymphoedema and hydrocoele) and podoconiosis (lymphoedema) need access to morbidity management and disability prevention (MMDP) services. Clear estimates of the number and location of these patients are essential to the efficient and equitable implementation of MMDP services for both diseases.
Methodology/Principle findings:
A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Ethiopia using the Health Extension Worker (HEW) network to identify all cases of lymphoedema and hydrocoele in 20 woredas (districts) co-endemic for LF and podoconiosis. A total of 612 trained HEWs and 40 supervisors from 20 districts identified 26,123 cases of clinical morbidity. Of these, 24,908 (95.3%) reported cases had leg lymphoedema only, 751 (2.9%) had hydrocoele, 387 (1.5%) had both leg lymphoedema and hydrocoele, and 77 (0.3%) cases had breast lymphoedema. Of those reporting leg lymphoedema, 89.3% reported bilateral lymphoedema. Older age groups were more likely to have a severe stage of disease, have bilateral lymphoedema and to have experienced an acute attack in the last six months.
Conclusions/Significance:
This study represents the first community-wide, integrated clinical case mapping of both LF and podoconiosis in Ethiopia. It highlights the high number of cases, particularly of leg lymphoedema that could be attributed to either of these diseases. This key clinical information will assist and guide the allocation of resources to where they are needed most.
Background:
Twelve of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are related to malnutrition (both under- and overnutrition), other behavioral, and metabolic risk factors. However, comparative evidence on the impact of behavioral and metabolic risk factors on disease burden is limited in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), including Ethiopia. Using data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study, we assessed mortality and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) attributable to child and maternal undernutrition (CMU), dietary risks, metabolic risks and low physical activity for Ethiopia. The results were compared with 14 other Eastern SSA countries.
Methods:
Databases from GBD 2015, that consist of data from 1990 to 2015, were used. A comparative risk assessment approach was utilized to estimate the burden of disease attributable to CMU, dietary risks, metabolic risks and low physical activity. Exposure levels of the risk factors were estimated using spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression (ST-GPR) and Bayesian meta-regression models.
Results:
In 2015, there were 58,783 [95% uncertainty interval (UI): 43,653-76,020] or 8.9% [95% UI: 6.1-12.5] estimated all-cause deaths attributable to CMU, 66,269 [95% UI: 39,367-106,512] or 9.7% [95% UI: 7.4-12.3] to dietary risks, 105,057 [95% UI: 66,167-157,071] or 15.4% [95% UI: 12.8-17.6] to metabolic risks and 5808 [95% UI: 3449-9359] or 0.9% [95% UI: 0.6-1.1]to low physical activity in Ethiopia. While the age-adjusted proportion of all-cause mortality attributable to CMU decreased significantly between 1990 and 2015, it increased from 10.8% [95% UI: 8.8-13.3] to 14.5% [95% UI: 11.7-18.0] for dietary risks and from 17.0% [95% UI: 15.4-18.7] to 24.2% [95% UI: 22.2-26.1] for metabolic risks. In 2015, Ethiopia ranked among the top four countries (of 15 Eastern SSA countries) in terms of mortality and DALYs based on the age-standardized proportion of disease attributable to dietary risks and metabolic risks.
Conclusions:
In Ethiopia, while there was a decline in mortality and DALYs attributable to CMU over the last two and half decades, the burden attributable to dietary and metabolic risks have increased during the same period. Lifestyle and metabolic risks of NCDs require more attention by the primary health care system of in the country.
This paper analyses businesses' initiatives to influence consumption carbon emissions in home laundering, principally by persuading consumers to wash clothes at lower temperatures. A number of voluntary business initiatives have sought to change consumer practices, coming from detergent manufacturers, their industry association and retailers. This paper analyses their impact at system level, by assessing the coevolutionary interactions between ‘Supply’, from consumer-facing firms, whose principle business is to sell products to consumers, both manufacturing and retailing, and ‘Demand’ from consumers, whose interactions with the businesses arise from shopping, using and receiving consumer messages from the firms. The research analyses the interactions between the business case drivers for presentation of consumer messages to reduce laundry emissions and the drivers of changes in consumer laundry practices. This enables inductive inference of the causal relationships over time between businesses’ strategies to communicate with consumers and changes in users’ laundry temperatures.
The paper concludes that, in spite of considerable efforts and resources, these business initiatives have not resulted in the intended level of change in consumer practice that would deliver significant emissions reductions. Consumption emissions from households are a result of interdependent systems of provision, technologies and infrastructure, so stronger actions by business to influence consumer practices as well as further regulatory drivers are likely to be needed to deliver stricter emission reduction targets. This research contributes to the field of sustainable consumption through bringing together a coevolutionary framework with theories of business model innovation and social practices, in order to analyse whole systems of competing businesses’ strategies in context with technologies, institutions and ecosystems.
Background:
Although podoconiosis is endemic in Cameroon, little is known about its epidemiology and spatial distribution.
Methods:
In this cross-sectional, population-based study, we enrolled all adults (≥15 years) residing in the districts of North-West Region of Cameroon for more than 10 or more years. Participants were interviewed, had physical examination. The study outcomes were prevalence estimates lymphoedema and podoconiosis. House-to-house screening was conducted by Community Health Implementers (CHIs). CHIs registered all individuals with lymphoedema and collected additional individual and household-related information. A panel of experts re-examined and validated all lymphoedema cases registered by CHIs.
Results:
Of the 439,781 individuals registered, 214,195 were adults (≥15 years old) and had lived in the districts of the Region for more than 10 years. A total of 2,143 lymphoedema cases, were identified by CHIs, giving a prevalence of lymphoedema 1.0% (95% confidence interval [CI]; 0.96-1.04) (2,143/214,195). After review by experts, podoconiosis prevalence in the study area was 0.48% (1,049/214,195) (95% CI; 0.46-0.52). The prevalence of podoconiosis varied by health district, from 0.16% in Oku to 1.92% in Bafut (p < 0.05). A total of 374 patients were recruited by stratified random sampling from the validated CHIs’ register to assess the clinical features and socio-economic aspects of the disease. Patients reportedly said to have first noticed swelling at an average age of 41.9 ± 19.1 (range: 6-90 years). Most patients (86.1%) complained of their legs suddenly becoming hot, red and painful. The majority (309, 96.5%) of the interviewees said they had worn shoes occasionally at some point in their life. The reportedly mean age at first shoe wearing was 14.2 ± 10.1 (± Standard Deviation), range (1-77 years). A high proportion (82.8%) of the participants wore shoes at the time of interview. Of those wearing shoes, only 67 (21.7%) were wearing protective shoes.
Conclusion:
This study provides insight into the geographical distribution and epidemiology of podoconiosis in the North West region of Cameroon, yet management is limited. Evidence-informed targeted interventions are needed to manage people with lymphoedema
The UK has been one of the few countries that has successfully decoupled final energy consumption from economic growth over the past 15 years. This study investigates the drivers of final energy consumption in the UK productive sectors between 1997 and 2013 using a decomposition analysis that incorporates two novel features. Firstly, it investigates to what extent changes in thermodynamic efficiency have contributed to overall changes in sectoral energy intensities. Secondly, it analyses how much of the structural change in the UK economy is driven by the offshoring of energy-intensive production overseas. The results show that energy intensity reductions are the strongest factor reducing energy consumption. However, only a third of the energy savings from energy intensity reductions can be attributed to reductions in thermodynamic efficiency with reductions in the exergy intensity of production making up the reminder. In addition the majority of energy savings from structural change are a result of offshoring, which constitutes the second biggest factor reducing energy consumption. In recent years the contributions of all decomposition factors have been declining with very little change in energy consumption after 2009. This suggests that a return to the strong reductions in energy consumption observed between 2001 and 2009 in the UK productive sectors should not be taken for granted. Given that further reductions in UK final energy consumption are needed to achieve global targets for climate change mitigation, additional policy interventions are needed. Such policies should adopt a holistic approach, taking into account all sectors in the UK economy as well as the relationship between the structural change in the UK and in the global supply chains delivering the goods and service for consumption and investment in the UK.
Veterans have long sought to make sense of and capture their wartime experiences through a variety of aesthetic means such as novels, memoirs, films, poetry and art. Increasingly, scholars of IR are turning to these sources as a means to study war experience. In this article we analyze one such sense-making practice that has, despite its long association with war, largely gone unnoticed: military tattoos. We argue that military tattoos and the experiences they capture can offer a novel entry point into understanding how wars are made sense of and captured on the body.
Focusing on a web archive – ‘War Ink’ – curated and collected for and by US veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, we analyze how tattoos perform an important ‘sense-making’ function for participating veterans. We focus on three recurring themes – loss and grief, guilt and anger, and transformation and hope – demonstrating how military tattoos offer important insights into how military and wartime experience is traced and narrated on and through the body. The web archive, however, not only enables a space for veterans to make sense of their war experience through their tattoos, the archive also does important political work in curating the broader meaning of war to the wider public.
Background:
Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) is a serious and relatively common clinical condition. Lack of consensus on defining and staging TRD remains one of the main barriers to understanding TRD and approaches to
intervention. The Maudsley Staging Method (MSM) is the first multidimensional model developed to define and stage treatment-resistance in “unipolar depression”. The model is being used increasingly in treatment and epidemiological studies of TRD and has the potential to support consensus. Yet, standardised methods for rating the MSM have not been described adequately. The aim of this report is to present standardised approaches for rating or completing the MSM.
Method:
Based on the initial development of the MSM and a narrative review of the literature, the developers of the
MSM provide explicit guidance on how the three dimensions of the MSM–treatment failure, severity of depressive
episode and duration of depressive episode– may be rated.
Result: The core dimension of the MSM, treatment failure, may be assessed using the Maudsley Treatment Inventory
(MTI), a new method developed for the purposes of completing the MSM. The MTI consists of a relatively comprehensive list of medications with options for rating doses and provisions treatment for multiple episodes. The second dimension, severity of symptoms, may be assessed using simple instruments such as the Clinical Global Impression, the Psychiatric Status Rating or checklist from a standard diagnostic checklist. The standardisation also provides a simple rating scale for scoring the third dimension, duration of depressive episode.
Conclusion:
The approaches provided should have clinical and research utility in staging TRD. However, in proposing this
model, we are fully cognisant that until the pathophysiology of depression is better understood, staging methods can only be tentative approximations. Future developments should attempt to incorporate other biological/ pathophysiological dimensions for staging.
Introduction: The increasing prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) presents a significant burden on affected individuals and health-care systems internationally. There is, however, no agreed validated measure to infer diabetes severity from electronic health records (EHRs). We aim to quantify T2DM severity and validate it using clinical adverse outcomes.
Methods and Analysis: Primary care data from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD), linked hospitalisation and mortality records between April-2007 and March-2017 for T2DM patients in England will be used to develop a clinical algorithm to grade T2DM severity. The EHR-based algorithm will incorporate main risk factors (severity domains) for adverse outcomes to stratify T2DM cohorts by baseline and longitudinal severity scores. Provisionally, T2DM severity domains, identified through a systematic review and expert opinion are: diabetes duration, HbA1c, microvascular complications, comorbidities, and co-prescribed treatments. Severity scores will be developed by two approaches: i) calculating a count score of severity domains; ii) through hierarchical stratification of complications. Regression models estimates will be used to calculate domains weights. Survival analysis for the association between weighted severity scores and future outcomes: cardiovascular events; hospitalisation (diabetes-related, cardiovascular); and mortality (diabetes-related, cardiovascular, all-cause mortality) will be performed as a statistical validation. The proposed EHR-based approach will quantify the T2DM severity for primary care performance management and inform the methodology for measuring severity of other primary care-managed chronic conditions. We anticipate that the developed algorithm will be a practical tool for practitioners, aid clinical management decision-making, inform stratified medicine, support future clinical trials and contribute to more effective service-planning and policy-making.
Ethics and Dissemination: The study protocol was approved by the Independent Scientific Advisory Committee (ISAC). Some data were presented at the NIHR SPCR Showcase, September-2017, Oxford,UK; the Diabetes UK Professional Conference March-2018, London,UK. The study findings will be disseminated in relevant academic conferences and peer-reviewed journals.
Background
Smartphone-based ecological momentary assessment and intervention (EMA/I) show promise for enhancing psychological treatments for psychosis. EMA has the potential to improve assessment and formulation of experiences which fluctuate day-to-day, and EMI may be used to prompt use of therapeutic strategies in daily life. The current study is an examination of these capabilities in the context of a brief, coping-focused intervention for distressing voice hearing experiences.
Methods/design
This is a rater-blinded, pilot randomised controlled trial comparing a four-session intervention in conjunction with use of smartphone EMA/I between sessions, versus treatment-as-usual. The recruitment target is 34 participants with persisting and distressing voice hearing experiences, recruited through a Voices Clinic based in Melbourne, Australia, and via wider advertising. Allocation will be made using minimisation procedure, balancing of the frequency of voices between groups. Assessments are completed at baseline and 8 weeks post-baseline. The primary outcomes of this trial will focus on feasibility and acceptability of the intervention and trial methodology, with secondary outcomes examining preliminary clinical effects related to overall voice severity, the emotional and functional impact of the voices, and emotional distress.
Discussion
This study offers a highly novel examination of specific smartphone capabilities and their integration with traditional psychological treatment for distressing voices. Such technology has potential to enhance psychological interventions and promote adaptation to distressing experiences.
Trial registration
Australian New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry, ACTRN12617000348358. Registered on 7 March 2017.
Pain might be an important risk factor for common mental disorders. Insight into the longitudinal association between pain and common mental disorders in the general adult population could help improve prevention and treatment strategies. Data were used from the first 2 waves of the Netherlands Mental Health Survey and Incidence Study-2, a psychiatric epidemiological cohort study among the Dutch general population aged 18 to 64 years at baseline (N = 5303). Persons without a mental disorder 12 months before baseline were selected as the at-risk group (n = 4974 for any mood disorder; n = 4979 for any anxiety disorder; and n = 5073 for any substance use disorder). Pain severity and interference due to pain in the past month were measured at baseline using the Short Form Health Survey. DSM-IV mental disorders were assessed at both waves using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview version 3.0. Moderate to very severe pain was associated with a higher risk of mood (odds ratio [OR] = 2.10, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.33-3.29) or anxiety disorders (OR = 2.12, 95% CI = 1.27-3.55). Moderate to very severe interference due to pain was also associated with a higher risk of mood (OR = 2.14, 95% CI = 1.30-3.54) or anxiety disorders (OR = 1.92, 95% CI = 1.05-3.52). Pain was not significantly associated with substance use disorders. No interaction effects were found between pain severity or interference due to pain and a previous history of mental disorders. Moderate to severe pain and interference due to pain are strong risk factors for first-incident or recurrent mood and anxiety disorders, independent of other mental disorders. Pain management programs could therefore possibly also serve as a preventative program for mental disorders.
Objective: Evidence exists for efficacy of collaborative care (CC) against MDD, for efficacy of consequent use of pain medication against pain, and for efficacy of duloxetine against both MDD and neuropathic pain. However, their relative effectiveness in comorbid major depression (MDD) and pain has never been established so far. This study evaluates the effectiveness of CC, pain medication and duloxetine, and CC, pain medication and placebo, compared to duloxetine alone, on depressive and pain outcomes.
Methods:
Three armed cluster randomized multi-centre placebo controlled trial in consecutive patients presented at three specialized mental health outpatient clinics who screened positive for MDD. All interventions lasted 12 weeks. In the CC groups duloxetine or placebo was prescribed. Pain medication was administered according to an algorithm that avoids opiate prescription as much as possible as an alternative to the current WHO pain ladder, with paracetamol, COX inhibitors and pregabalin as steps before opiates are considered. Patients who did not show up for three or more sessions were registered as noncompliant. Explorative, intention-to-treat and per protocol, multilevel regression analyses were performed. The trial is listed in the trial registration (http://www.trialregister.nl/trialreg/admin/rctview.asp?TC=1089; NTR number: NTR1089).
Results:
This study was prematurely terminated because of massive reorganisations and reimbursement changes for mental health care during the study. 60 patients completed the study. Patients in all treatment groups reported significant less depressive and pain symptoms after 12 weeks. CC with placebo condition showed the fastest decrease of depressive symptoms compared to the duloxetine alone group (b = -.78; p = .01), Noncompliant patients did not improve over the 12 weeks period. Pain outcomes did not differ between the three groups.
Conclusions: In MDD and pain, compliance of patients and placebo effects are more important than choice of one of the three treatments. Active pain management in CC with COX inhibitors and pregabalin as alternatives to Tramadol or other opiates might provide an attractive alternative to the current WHO pain ladder as it avoids opiate prescription as much as possible. The study was sufficiently powered to show an exploratory result, but the generalizability is limited due to the small sample size. Larger studies are needed.
Wood ants are a model system for studying visual learning and navigation. They can forage for food and navigate to their nests effectively by forming memories of visual features in their surrounding environment. Previous studies of freely behaving ants have revealed many of the behavioural strategies and environmental features necessary for successful navigation. However, little is known about the exact visual properties of the environment that animals learn or the neural mechanisms that allow them to achieve this. As a first step towards addressing this, we developed a classical conditioning paradigm for visual learning in harnessed wood ants that allows us to control precisely the learned visual cues. In this paradigm, ants are fixed and presented with a visual cue paired with an appetitive sugar reward. Using this paradigm, we found that visual cues learnt by wood ants through Pavlovian conditioning are retained for at least one hour. Furthermore, we found that memory retention is dependent upon the ants’ performance during training. Our study provides the first evidence that wood ants can form visual associative memories when restrained. This classical conditioning paradigm has the potential to permit detailed analysis of the dynamics of memory formation and retention, and the neural basis of learning in wood ants.
Purpose – The urgent challenges of sustainability require novel teaching methods facilitating different types of learning. The purpose of the paper is to examine the important role of experiential learning in higher education programmes relating to sustainability, and to evaluate a number of teaching and learning activities that can be used to leverage this approach.
Design/ Methodology/ Approach - Based on questionnaire surveys carried out over seven years with students from a highly international Masters-level course, this paper describes the utility of experiential learning theory in teaching around ‘innovation for sustainability’. Drawing on Kolb’s theories and subsequent modifications, the paper reviews and evaluates the teaching and learning activities (TLAs) used in the course that have fostered experiential learning in the classroom, including role-play seminars, case study-based seminars and sessions centred around sharing and reflecting on personal professional histories.
Findings - The qualitative data and discussion illustrate the utility of experiential learning approaches in post-graduate education for sustainable development, especially in generating empathy and understanding for different sustainability perspectives and priorities from around the world. In particular, the paper offers novel insights into the strengths and limitations of the TLAs.
Originality/ value – These insights are valuable to ESD practitioners dealing with international student intakes displaying variable levels of professional experience who are looking to foster experiential learning, reflection and inter-cultural empathy. They can inform the design of classroom-based TLAs that are capable of equipping students with not only the analytical skills for career success, but also the inter-cultural sensibility required for international leadership in the sustainable development domain.
Some women attending General Practices (GPs) are at higher risk of unintended pregnancy (RUIP) and sexually transmitted infections (STI) than others. A clinical prediction rule (CPR) may help target resources using psychosocial questions as an acceptable, effective means of assessment. The aim was to derive a CPR that discriminates women who would benefit from sexual health discussion and intervention.
Participants were recruited to a cross-sectional survey from six GPs in a city in South-East England in 2016. On arrival, female patients aged 16–44 years were invited to complete a questionnaire that addressed psychosocial factors, and the following self-reported outcomes: 2+ sexual partners in the last year (2PP) and RUIP. For each sexual risk, psychosocial questions were retained from logistic regression modelling which best discriminated women at risk using the C-statistic. Sensitivity and specificity were established in consultation with GP staff.
The final sample comprised N = 1238 women. 2PP was predicted by 11 questions including age, bingedrinking weekly, ever having a partner who insulted you often, current smoking, and not cohabiting (C-statistic = 0.83, sensitivity = 73% and specificity = 77%). RUIP was predicted by 5 questions including sexual debut < 16 years, and emergency contraception use in the last 6 months (C-statistic = 0.70, sensitivity = 69% and specificity = 57%).
2PP was better discriminated than RUIP but neither to a clinically-useful degree. The finding that different psychosocial factors predicted each outcome has implications for prevention strategies. Further research should investigate causal links between psychosocial factors and sexual risk
There are long-standing assumptions in migration theory about the scales of mobility that matter, privileging long-distance or cross-border over short-distance or internal migration, as well as tendencies to identify migration with the properly economic. Challenging these assumptions, feminist scholars have argued that these efface very significant forms of gendered mobility. This chapter focuses explicitly on women’s experiences of marriage-related mobilities. Moreover, we treat international and internal migration within the same frame. The context is the half-million strong population of Punjabi Sikhs in Britain, the largest ethno-religious community among the 1.4 million Indians living in the country. Punjabi Sikhs contribute one of the largest streams of cross-border spousal migrant settlement into Britain, although the prevailing pattern for Punjabi Sikhs is for marriages to take place between two people born and raised in Britain, and far less is known about such internal marriage migration. Here, drawing from the ‘translocalism’ tradition, which focuses on connections sustained across locales irrespective of whether these cross national borders, and reveals a plurality of spaces and scales in which migrants are emplaced, we explore the parallels and differences in women’s marriage-related international and internal migration, and consider what it is about migration that matters to the people who engage in it.
Background: Endothelial injury is an early and enduring feature of cardiovascular disease. Inflammation and hypoxia may be responsible for this, and are often associated with the up-regulation of several transcriptional factors that include Hypoxia Inducible Factor-1 (HIF-1). Although it has been reported that HIF-1α is detectable in plasma, it is known to be unstable. Our aim was to optimize an assay for HIF-1α to be applied to in vitro and in vivo applications, and to use this assay to assess the release kinetics of HIF-1 following endothelial injury.
Methods: An ELISA for the measurement of HIF in cell-culture medium and plasma was optimized, and the assay used to determine the best conditions for sample collection and storage. The results of the ELISA were validated using Western blotting and immunohistochemistry (IHC). In vitro, a standardized injury was produced in a monolayer of rat aortic endothelial cells (RAECs) and intracellular HIF-1α was measured at intervals over 24 hours. In vivo, a rat angioplasty model was used. The right carotid artery was injured using a 2F Fogarty balloon catheter. HIF-1α was measured in the plasma and in the arterial tissue (0, 1, 2, 3 and 5 days post injury).
Results: The HIF-1α ELISA had a limit of detection of 2.7 pg/ mL and was linear up to 1000 pg/ mL. Between and within-assay coefficient of variation values were less than 15%. HIF-1α was unstable in cell lysates and plasma, and it was necessary to add a protease inhibitor immediately after collection, and to store samples at -800C prior to analysis. The dynamics of HIF-1α release were different for the in vitro and in vivo models. In vitro, HIF-1α reached maximum concentrations approximately 2h post injury, whereas peak values in plasma and tissues occurred approximately 2 days post injury, in the balloon injury model.
Conclusion: HIF-1α can be measured in plasma, but this requires careful sample collection and storage. The carotid artery balloon injury model is associated with the transient release of HIF-1α into the circulation that probably reflects the hypoxia induced in the artery wall.
The study aim was to image severe alcoholic hepatitis (SAH) using 111In-labelled leucocytes with two objectives in mind: firstly for non-invasive diagnosis and secondly to provide a platform for experimental therapies aiming to inhibit intrahepatic neutrophil migration. 111In-leucocyte scintigraphy was performed 30 min and 24 h post-injection in 19 patients with SAH, 14 abstinent patients with alcohol-related cirrhosis and 11 normal controls. Eleven with SAH and 7 with cirrhosis also had 99mTc-nanocolloid scintigraphy. Change in hepatic 111In radioactivity was expressed as decay-corrected 24 h:30 min count ratio and, in SAH, compared with histological grading of steatohepatitis and expression of granulocyte marker, CD15. Hepatic microautoradiography on biopsy specimens obtained 24 h post-injection of 111In-leucocytes was performed in one patient. Median 24 h:30 min hepatic 111In activity ratio was higher in SAH (2.5 [IQR 1.7-4.0] compared with cirrhotics and normal controls (1.0 [0.8-1.1] and 0.8 [0.7-0.9] respectively, P<0.0001). In SAH, it correlated with CD15 expression (r=0.62, P=0.023) and was higher in marked versus mild/moderate steatohepatitis (4.0 [3.0-4.6] versus 1.8 [1.5-2.6], P=0.006). Hepatic-to-splenic 99mTc count rate ratio was reduced in SAH (0.5 [0.4-1.4]) compared with cirrhotics (2.3 [0.6-3.0]) and 3 historic normal controls (4.2 [3.8-5.0]; P=0.003), consistent with impaired hepatic reticuloendothelial function. Scintigraphic findings in SAH included prominent lung radioactivity at 30 min, likely the result of neutrophil primimg. Microautoradiography demonstrated cell-associated 111In in areas of parenchymal neutrophil infiltration. In conclusion, 111In-leucocyte scintigraphy can non-invasively diagnose SAH and could provide a platform for evaluation of novel treatments aiming to inhibit intrahepatic neutrophil migration.
The reaction of the syn-bimetallic bis(pentalene)dititanium complex Ti2(μ:η5,η5-Pn†)2 (Pn† = C8H4(1,4-SiiPr3)2) 1 with carbon suboxide (O=C=C=C=O, C3O2) results in trimerisation of the latter and formation of the structurally characterised complex [{Ti2(μ:η5,η5-Pn†)2}{μ-C9O6}]. The trimeric bridging C9O6 unit in the latter contains a 4-pyrone core, a key feature of both the hexamer and octamer of carbon suboxide which are formed in the body from trace amounts of C3O2 and are, for example, potent inhibitors of Na+/K+-ATP-ase. The mechanism of this reaction has been studied in detail by DFT computational studies, which also suggest that the reaction proceeds via the initial formation of a mono- adduct of 1 with C3O2. Indeed, the carefully controlled reaction of 1 with C3O2 affords [Ti2(μ:η5,η5-Pn†)2 (η2-C3O2)], as the first structurally authenticated complex of carbon suboxide.
There are no reliable figures to help us measure the volume of charitable donations in South Asia but, according to the 2014 World Giving Index, Sri Lanka is ranked ninth in the world for the charitable efforts of its citizens, while other South Asian countries figure in the top 75 out of 135 countries surveyed. According to the same index, India comes first in the world for the overall number of people donating money to charities and volunteering for social causes; Pakistan is ranked sixth for the number of charitable donations; India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh are within the top ten countries for the number of people who have ‘helped a stranger’ in the 12 months prior to the survey. According to a 2001 survey by the Sampradaan Centre for Indian Philanthropy, among members of the A–C socio-economic classes, 96 per cent of respondents donated annually an average of Rs 1,420. The total amount donated was Rs 16.16 billion. Two surveys conducted in West Bengal and Sri Lanka suggest that South Asians across the social spectrum contribute readily to charity.
Leucine-rich repeat-containing G-protein coupled receptor (LGR5 or GPR49) potentiates canonical Wnt/-catenin signalling and is a marker of normal stem cells in several tissues, including the intestine. Consistent with stem cell potential, single isolated LGR5+ cells from the gut generate self-organizing crypt/villus structures in vitro termed organoids or ‘mini-guts’, which accurately model the parent tissue. The well characterised deregulation of Wnt/-catenin signalling that occurs during the adenoma-carcinoma sequence in colorectal cancer (CRC) renders LGR5 an interesting therapeutic target. Furthermore, recent studies demonstrating that CRC tumours contain LGR5+ subsets and retain a degree of normal tissue architecture has heightened translational interest. Such reports fuel hope that specific subpopulations or molecules within a tumour may be therapeutically targeted to prevent relapse and induce long-term remissions. Despite these observations, many studies within this field have produced conflicting and confusing results with no clear consensus on the therapeutic value of LGR5. This review will recap the various oncogenic and tumour suppressive roles that have been described for the LGR5 molecule in CRC. It will further highlight recent studies indicating the plasticity or redundancy of LGR5+ cells in intestinal cancer progression and assess the overall merit of therapeutically targeting LGR5 in CRC.
3D tissue culture provides a physiologically relevant and genetically tractable system for studying normal and malignant human tissues. Despite this, gene-silencing studies using siRNA has proved difficult. In this study, we have identified a cause for why traditional siRNA transfection techniques are ineffective in eliciting gene silencing in situ within 3D cultures and proposed a simple method for significantly enhancing siRNA entry into spheroids/organoids. In 2D cell culture, the efficiency of gene silencing is significantly reduced when siRNA complexes are prepared in the presence of serum. Surprisingly, in both 3D tumour spheroids and primary murine organoids, the presence of serum during siRNA preparation rapidly promotes entry and internalization of Cy3-labelled siRNA in under 2 hours. Conversely, siRNA prepared in traditional low-serum transfection media fails to gain matrigel or spheroid/organoid entry. Direct measurement of CTNNB1 mRNA (encoding β-catenin) from transfected tumour spheroids confirmed a transient but significant knockdown of β-catenin when siRNA:liposome complexes were formed with serum, but not when prepared in the presence of reduced-serum media (Opti-MEM). Our studies suggest a simple modification to standard lipid-based transfection protocols facilitates rapid siRNA entry and transient gene repression, providing a platform for researchers to improve siRNA efficiency in established 3D cultures.
This study investigated immunophenotypic differences in intracellular thiol redox state of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) isolated from trained (TR, n=9, mean {plus minus} SD: age 28 {plus minus} 5 years; BMI 23.2 {plus minus} 2.6 kg·m; VO 56.9 {plus minus} 6.1 ml·kg·min) and recreationally active (RA, n=11, mean {plus minus} SD: age 27 {plus minus} 6 years; BMI 24.2 {plus minus} 3.7 kg·m; VO 45.1 {plus minus} 6.4 ml·kg·min) participants before and after a maximal aerobic exercise tolerance test. Blood samples were taken before (PRE), during (sample acquired at 70% HRmax), immediately (POST+0) and 15 minutes post-exercise (POST+15). PBMCs were isolated and reduced thiol analysis (fluorescein-5 maleimide (F5M)) by immunophenotype (CD3+, CD4+ and CD8) was performed using flow cytometry. A significant increase in cellular F5M fluorescence was observed in CD3+ T-cells at POST+0, with changes driven to a greater extent by CD8 T-cells (fold change in both groups CD4: +2.3, CD8: +2.8; p<0.05). Further analysis revealed a population of highly reduced CD8 T-cells (CD8T-reduced) that significantly increased from PRE to POST+0 in RA participants only (RA: +272 cell/µL, p<0.05). To further understand these results, CD8T-reduced and CD8T-reduced- cells were analysed for immunophenotype in response to the same exercise protocol (n=6, mean {plus minus} SD: age 24 {plus minus} 5 years; BMI 25.7 {plus minus} 4.1 kg·m; VO 41.33 {plus minus} 7.63 ml·kg·min). CD8T-reduced had significantly less lymphoid homing potential (CCR7) POST+0 compared to PRE. This study is the first to demonstrate that lymphocyte populations become more reductive in response to acute exercise.
BACKGROUND
LGR5 serves as a co-receptor for Wnt/β-catenin signalling and marks normal intestinal stem cells; however, its role in colorectal cancer (CRC) remains controversial. LGR5 cells are known to exist outside the stem cell niche during CRC progression, and the requirement for epidermal growth factor (EGF) signalling within early adenomas remains to be fully elucidated.
METHODS
Epidermal growth factor and gefitinib treatments were performed in EGF-responsive LGR5 early adenoma RG/C2 cells. 2D growth assays were measured using an IncuCyte. LGR5 or MEK1/2 silencing studies were executed using siRNA and LGR5 expression was assessed by qRT-PCR and immunoblotting. Ki67 level and cell cycle status were analysed by flow cytometry.
RESULTS
Epidermal growth factor suppresses expression of LGR5 at both the transcript and protein level in colorectal adenoma and carcinoma cells. Suppression of LGR5 reduces the survival of EGF-treated adenoma cells by increasing detached cell yield but also inducing a proliferative state, as evidenced by elevated Ki67 level and enhanced cell cycle progression. Repression of LGR5 further increases the sensitivity of adenoma cells to EGFR inhibition.
CONCLUSIONS
LGR5 has an important role in the EGF-mediated survival and proliferation of early adenoma cells and could have clinical utility in predicting response of CRC patients to EGFR therapy.
Markus and Kitayama (1991) developed self-construal theory, and proposed that independent and interdependent self-construals would account for cultural variations in cognition, emotion and motivation. Based on this theory and Vignoles and colleagues’ (2016) reconsideration of self-construal measurement, this thesis investigates if a multi-dimensional model of self-construal helps explain cultural differences better than previous studies using the conventional two-dimensional model, as well as reporting the development of a scale that unpacks eight different ways of being independent and interdependent in multiple cultures.
The thesis includes three studies. Focusing on the cultures of China and the UK, Study 1 explores if a seven-dimensional self-construal model (Vignoles et al., 2016) helps provide previously missing evidence for the predicted mediation effects of selfconstrual on cultural differences in cognition, emotion and motivation. The results show that Chinese and British participants are significantly different in six dimensions of self-construal, and explicit self-construal significantly mediated cultural differences in certain aspects of cognition, emotion and motivation. In the same two cultures, Study 2 examines individualism and collectivism priming techniques, using the seven-dimensional self-construal model to detect what two commonly used selfconstrual primes actually manipulate. The results indicate that Similarities vs. Differences with Family and Friends task (SDFF) and Sumerian Warrior Story (SWS) cue different aspects of self-construal. Effects of SWS show a similar profile across the two cultures, whereas SDFF has a much stronger effect on Chinese participants than British participants. Study 3 reports the development of a new self-construal scale. By introducing a new factor and extending the participants to 13 countries, the final version is a 48-item eight-dimensional self-construal scale. The importance of the multidimensional model and the new measure are discussed.
In this paper we show a striking contrast in the symmetries of equilibria and extremisers of the total elastic energy of a hyperelastic incompressible annulus subject to pure displacement boundary conditions.Indeed upon considering the equilibrium equations, here, the nonlinear second order elliptic system formulated for the deformation u=(u1,…,uN) :
EL[u,X]=⎧⎩⎨⎪⎪Δu=div(P(x)cof∇u)det∇u=1u≡φinX,inX,on∂X,
where X is a finite, open, symmetric N -annulus (with N≥2 ), P=P(x) is an unknown hydrostatic pressure field and φ is the identity mapping, we prove that, despite the inherent rotational symmetry in the system, when N=3 , the problem possesses no non-trivial symmetric equilibria whereas in sharp contrast, when N=2 , the problem possesses an infinite family of symmetric and topologically distinct equilibria. We extend and prove the counterparts of these results in higher dimensions by way of showing that a similar dichotomy persists between all odd vs. even dimensions N≥4 and discuss a number of closely related issues.
Reliable empirical data on the siting characteristics and operational performance of wind farms are scarce. Knowing more about the technical characteristics of wind farms provides insight into the business mindset of wind farm developers, which can be useful for policymakers or researchers who are intent on designing policy in a way to optimize wind farm investment by creating better alignment between the investment patterns sought by developers and government support designed to attract investment. This study draws on a unique dataset from 32 wind farms, 20 onshore and 12 in forested areas with a total of more than 2.5 GW installed wind capacity to explore development patterns. The paper examines four hypotheses related to characteristics of wind farms in emerging markets and investigating how project delays and progressive technological enhancements shape wind farm development. In this paper, we explain these results and conclude by extracting lessons from this analysis for creating wind power policy better aligned with developers’ interests.
Currently, cyber-security has attracted a lot of attention, in particular in wireless industrial control networks (WICNs). In this paper, the stability of wireless networked control systems (WNCSs) under deception, attacks is studied with a token-based protocol applied to the data link layer (DLL) of WICNS. Since deception attacks cause the stability problem of WNCSs by changing the data transmitted over a wireless network, it is important to detect deception attacks, discard the injected false data and compensate for the missing data (i.e., the discarded original data with the injected false data). The main contributions of this paper are: 1) With respect to the character of the token-based protocol, a switched system model is developed. Different from the traditional switched system where the number of subsystems is fixed, in our new model this number will be changed under deception attacks. 2) For this model, a new Kalman filter (KF) is developed for the purpose of attack detection and the missing data reconstruction. 3) For the given linear feedback WNCSs, when the noise level is below a threshold derived in this paper, the maximum allowable duration of deception attacks is obtained to maintain the exponential stability of the system. Finally, a numerical example based on a linearized model of an inverted pendulum is provided to demonstrate the proposed design.
The surveillance industry has traditionally focused on the use of colour intensity images and then used computer vision methods to extract information. Deep learning methods have been demonstrated successfully but require significant computational resources. Fog and rain still present a problem to these methods. Other non-optical imaging technologies are available but the applications can be cost sensitive. Polarimetric cameras offer a solution to some of these problems. This paper presents a practical and low cost design that uses between two and four HD cameras with a wide field of view. This system has an automatic calibration stage that ensures the video frames are synchronised in time. To produce the Stoke parameters each pixel from one camera must be mapped to the others. To perform this, a homography matrix for each camera is automatically discovered and maps each video stream into the correct spatial coordinates. This attempts to use SIFT keypoint mapping but since each input image is a different polarisation state there are potentially a low number of keypoints so an additional check stage is introduced. Calibration results are presented along with example images, post process methods and feature extraction results.
Contemporary theories of gender conceptualise masculinity as a socially constructed, pluralistic and action-oriented entity. Hegemonic masculinity is the dominant masculinity discourse in many Anglophone societies. Heterosexuality is the bedrock of hegemonic masculinity, and heterosexual expressions of masculinity are more socially desirable than gay masculinities. Although gay men are unable to embody hegemonic masculinity, prior research suggests that their behaviour may nevertheless be guided by its mandates. This may include gay men’s sexual positioning behaviour in anal intercourse – previous research has demonstrated that gay sexual positions are steeped in gender role stereotypes. The mixed-methods programme of studies presented in this dissertation provides a greater understanding of the components of “gay masculinities”, and how positioning in relation to masculinity discourses is associated with how gay men experience their masculinity, including in anal intercourse.
A discursive qualitative approach used in Study 1 identified how gay men could “compensate” for their homosexuality by displaying attributes associated with hegemonic masculinity (e.g., muscularity). It was also found that gay masculinities were notable for their diversity (Chapter 3). Using quantitative methods, Study 2 demonstrated that gay men who are anally-insertive in anal intercourse were perceived as more masculine than those who are receptive, although muscularity and a deep voice were more strongly associated with perceptions of gay men’s masculinity than sexual positioning (Chapter 4). In Study 3, an experiential qualitative approach identified how gay men’s beliefs about masculinity were associated with their gendered perceptions and experiences of anal intercourse (Chapter 5). Insight was also provided into the range of beliefs that gay men have about masculinity, and how these beliefs are related to how gay men negotiate their masculine and gay identities against the dominance of the hegemonic masculinity discourse (Chapters 6 and 7).
Bi-stable perception has been an important tool to investigate how visual input is interpreted and how it reaches consciousness. To explain the mechanisms of this phenomenon, it has been assumed that a mutual inhibition circuit plays a key role. It is possible that this circuit functions to resolve ambiguity of input image by quickly shifting the balance of competing signals in response to conflicting features. Recently we established an in vitro neural recording system combined with computerized connections mediated by model neurons and synapses (“dynamic clamp” system). With this system, mutual inhibition circuit between two pyramidal cells from primary visual cortex were established by model inhibitory neurons and model synapses. Simultaneous injection of depolarizing current to the two pyramidal cells caused bi-stable activities: dominance of neural activities alternated between the two neurons with an interval of several seconds. We report the effect of adding noise to the (real) pyramidal cells and the (model) inhibitory neurons. Both excitatory and inhibitory synaptic conductance noise was modelled and given to these neurons while the pyramidal cells were exhibiting bi-stable activity. The histogram of the dominant activity durations showed gamma-like skewed distributions. The skewedness was enhanced by increasing the standard deviation of the conductance noise and the durations decreased overall. While adaptation of the dominant neuron and recovery (from adaptation) of the suppressed neuron caused a decrease and increase of their excitabilities, the fluctuation of membrane potentials due to the given conductance noise appeared to facilitate the reversal of the dominance.
Background: Ensuring diversity, and that the medical profession is representative of the varied communities it serves is a worldwide equity concern. The widening participation movement in higher education aims to attract more students from non-traditional backgrounds into university. Yet, there is persistent under-representation of students with disabilities in medical education, and subsequently, the profession. The inclusion of these students is greatly influenced by the policies which regulate and accredit medical schools, which demand that educators consider students with disabilities as future doctors. While these policies may aim to promote inclusion, they may also have unintended consequences. In this paper we critically analyse key policies in undergraduate medical education to examine how disability in medical students is represented and problematized, and the educational implications of such representations.
Method: Key policies concerning medical school accreditation and educational standards from the General Medical Council (UK), Australian Medical Council (Australia) were selected for analysis. Carol Bacchi’s ‘What’s the Problem Represented to Be?’ six critical questions approach was applied to conduct a critical interpretive analysis of how disability is problematized in these policies.
Findings: Our analysis revealed a distinctive construction of disability in medicine, supported by themes of containment of disability, disability and competence, and disability and risk. Disability is framed as risk and potential educational burden for schools which must adapt practices to meet legal requirements. Risk is conceptualised as a quality of individuals, rather than being constructed through interactions between persons and environments. The ways in which disability is problematized relates to presuppositions which have the effect of restricting access for learners with disabilities.
Conclusions: The policies which regulate medical education can inadvertently limit inclusion of students with disabilities by being silent on the value of a diverse medical workforce. Bacchi’s six critical questions are an accessible and practical method for identifying the norms and assumptions which may impede change in educational policy and practice. By making visible these hidden suppositions and their consequences for learners, their impact may be ameliorated, and progress made.
Although personality traits can largely affect individual fitness we know little about the evolutionary forces generating and maintaining personality variation. Here, we investigated the hypothesis that personality variation in aggression is sexually selected in the monogamous, bi-parental cichlid Pelvicachromis pulcher. In this species, breeding pairs form territories and they aggressively defend their territory and offspring against con- and heterospecific intruders. In our mate choice study, we followed up two alternative hypotheses. We either expected females to show a directional preference for a high level and high consistency of aggression (potentially indicating mate choice for male parental quality). Alternatively, we expected females to choose males for (dis-)similarity in the level/consistency of aggression (potentially indicating mate choice for compatibility). Individual level and consistency of aggression were assessed for males and females using mirror tests. After eavesdropping on aggressive behaviour of two males (differing in level and consistency of aggression) females were then allowed to choose between the two males. Males, but not females, showed personality variation in aggression. Further, females generally preferred consistent over inconsistent males independent of their level of aggression. We did not detect a general preference for the level of male aggression. However, we found an above average preference for consistent high-aggression males; whereas female preference for inconsistent high-aggression did not deviate from random choice. Our results suggest behavioural consistency of aggression in male rainbow kribs is selected for via female mate choice. Further, our study underlines the importance of considering both the level and the consistency of a behavioural trait in studies of animal behaviour.
Background. Urbanization leads to substantial changes in natural habitats with profound effects on wildlife. Understanding behavioural responses to such environmental change is essential for identifying which organisms may adapt, as behaviour is often the first response to altered conditions. Individuals in more urbanized habitats may be expected to be more exploratory and bolder than their conspecifics in less urbanized habitats as they may be better able to cope with novel challenges. Methods. In a two-year field study we tested ground beetles from differently urbanized forests for their exploratory behaviour (in a novel environment) and their risk-taking (death-feigning). In total, we tested ca. 3,000 individuals of four forest-dwelling ground beetle species from eight within-city forest patches. In the second year, we also transferred ca. 800 tested individuals of two species to the laboratory to test for consistent behavioural differences (i.e. personality differences) under standardised conditions.
Results. Individuals were generally more exploratory in more urbanized than in less urbanized areas but only in one year of the study. Exploratory behaviour was not predicted by population density but increased with temperature or showed a temperature optimum. Exploration was consistent over time and individuals that were more exploratory also took higher risks.
Discussion. We demonstrated that species which are generally less directly exposed to human activities (e.g., most invertebrates) show behavioural responses to urbanization. Effects of urbanization were year-dependent, suggesting that other environmental conditions interacted with effects of urbanization on beetle behaviour. Furthermore, our results indicate that different personality compositions might cause behavioural differences among populations living in differently urbanized habitats.
The impacts of urbanisation on ecosystems and the dependence of urban populations on ecosystem services are widely acknowledged but poorly understood. In the Global South, rural–urban linkages are increasingly shaped and transformed by the processes of peri-urbanisation, through which rural areas become increasingly enmeshed in a mosaic of rural and urban land use and juxtaposed rural and urban livelihoods and overlapping institutions. Peri-urban areas are frontiers of sustainability transformations, where deep and sustained engagement with communities of the poor, and enhanced understanding of dynamic ecosystem service-poverty alleviation interactions, can reveal possibilities to improve the health and livelihoods of both urban and peri-urban residents, whilst also supporting more effective, efficient and equitable management of environmental resources. We demonstrate this through an example of peri-urban food systems in the outskirts of Delhi, India.
The referendum result in Britain in 2016 and the potential loss of EU labour in the advent of a “hard Brexit” has raised pressing questions for sectors that rely on EU labour, such as agriculture. Coupled with the closure of the long-standing Seasonal Agricultural Scheme in 2013, policymakers are grappling with how to satisfy one the one hand employer demands for mobility schemes, and on the other public demands for restrictive immigration policies. Labour shortages in agriculture transcend the immigration debate, raising questions for food security, the future of automation and ultimately what labour market the UK hopes to build. Temporary Migration programmes have been heralded as achieving a triple win, yet they are rightly criticized for breeding bonded labour and exploitation. In lieu of a dedicated EU labour force agricultural employers are calling for the establishment of a new seasonal scheme. In this paper we explore whether the absence of a temporary migration programme resolves the potential exploitation of migrant workers. We argue that the absence of a TMP is not an antidote to migrant exploitation, and that a socially just TMP which is built around migrant agency may be the most palpable solution.
This article draws on metaphor and framing theory to build on our understanding of how metaphor works to frame issues. It suggests that metaphors not only may operate as frames in themselves, but they can also combine in hierarchies of metaphoric frames which together co-construct superordinate metaphoric or non-metaphoric frames. Using insights from theory on mixed metaphor, metaphor hierarchies and scenarios, the article introduces the new concept “metaphoric frame networks” to explain interconnections and relationships between frames and metaphors within the same texts, which could at first appear to be unrelated. The article proposes a set of criteria by which a metaphoric frame network can be defined and distinguished from simpler frames. The argument of the article is then illustrated through an empirical analysis of the process frame in television coverage of the 2015 Catalan regional election.
We critically reflect on insights from our experiences as female researchers on a creative writing project in a men’s prison, including the emotional impact on the men involved and the ways in which our role as participant researchers impacted deeply on us. Juxtaposed starkly with the physical constraints of the prison, a sense of journeys emerged as significant throughout the study, particularly the symbolic crossing of boundaries. We draw on theories of performativity from both Feminist and Symbolic Interactionist perspectives to frame our understanding of the experience of being participant researchers in prison creative writing workshops, and also consider associated ethical issues.
In 1978, an archive of materials documenting the
UK Women’s Liberation Movement—the Feminist
Archive—was established. Meta-Data Diaries 1. The Feminist Archive tells this history through expanded Meta-Data entries, dedicated to the future reader of the feminist archive catalogue.
Euro Women’s Independent Label Distribution (WILD) was a pan-European network of feminist music distributors active in the early 1980s. They were affiliated to WILD, the US-based women’s music distribution network founded in 1979 to disseminate the growing corpus of Women’s Music emerging from the US Women’s Liberation Movement (WLM). This article presents an interpretation of archive materials that document Euro WILD’s activities from the Women’s Revolution Per Minute archive, housed at Women’s Art Library, London. Constrained and enabled by the archive materials on offer, I re-visit some of the practical and political problems the network faced as European distributors of US Women’s Music. Key issues explored include the perception of US cultural imperialism by women based in Europe and the affective politics that circulated trans-nationally between distributors. Finally this article explores how the concept and practice of the Women’s Music Industry changed when women beyond the borders of the US engaged with it.
The long-term decline of wild and managed insect pollinators is a threat to both agricultural output and biodiversity, and has been linked to decreasing floral resources. Further insight into the temporal relationships of pollinators and their flowering partners is required to inform conservation efforts. Here we examined the phenology of British: (i) pollinator activity; (ii) insect-pollinated plant flowering; and (iii) extinct and endangered pollinator and plant species. Over 1 million records were collated from the historical databases of three British insect monitoring organisations, a global biodiversity database and an authoritative text covering the national flora. Almost two-thirds (62%) of pollinator species have peak flight observations during late-summer (July and August). This was the case across three of the groups studied: aculeate wasps (71% of species), bees (60%), and butterflies (72%), the exception being hoverflies (49%). When species geographical range (a proxy for abundance) was accounted for, a clear late-summer peak was clear across all groups. By contrast, there is marked temporal partitioning in the flowering of the major plant groups: insect-pollinated tree species blossoming predominantly during May (74%), shrubs in June (69%), and herbs in July (83%). There was a positive correlation between the number of pollinator species on the wing and the richness of both flowering insect-pollinated herbs and trees/shrubs species, per calendar month. In addition, significantly greater extinctions occurred in late-summer-flying pollinator species than expected (83% of extinct species vs. 62% of all species). This trend was driven primarily by bee extinctions (80% vs. 60%) and was not apparent in other groups. We contend that this is principally due to declines in late-summer resource supplies, which are almost entirely provisioned by herbs, a consequence of historical land-use change. We hypothesize that the seasonality of interspecific competition and the blooming of trees and mass-flowering crops may have partially buffered spring-flying pollinators from the impacts of historical change.
In this paper we consider the second order nonlinear elliptic system
div[A(|x|, |u| 2 , |∇u| 2 )∇u] + B(|x|, |u| 2 , |∇u| 2 )u = [cof ∇u]∇P,
where the unknown vector field u satisfies the incompressibility constraint det ∇u = 1 a.e. along with suitable boundary conditions and P = P(x) is an a priori unknown hydrostatic pressure field. Here, A = A(r, s, ξ) and B = B(r, s, ξ) are sufficiently regular scalar functions satisfying natural structural properties. Most notably in the case of a finite symmetric annulus we prove the existence of a countably infinite scale of topologically distinct twisting solutions to the system in all even dimensions. In sharp contrast in odd dimensions the only twisting solution is the map u ≡ x. We study a related class of systems by introducing the novel notion of a discriminant. Using this a complete and explicit characterisation of all twisting solutions for n ≥ 2 is given and a curious dichotomy in the behaviour of the system and its solutions captured and analyse
Bacterial biofilms are communities of microbial cells encased within a self-produced polymeric matrix. In the Bacillus subtilis biofilm matrix the extracellular fibres of TasA are essential. Here a recombinant expression system allows interrogation of TasA, revealing that monomeric and fibre forms of TasA have identical secondary structure, suggesting that fibrous TasA is a linear assembly of globular units. Recombinant TasA fibres form spontaneously, and share the biological activity of TasA fibres extracted from B. subtilis, whereas a TasA variant restricted to a monomeric form is inactive and subjected to extracellular proteolysis. The biophysical properties of both native and recombinant TasA fibres indicate that they are not functional amyloid-like fibres. A gel formed by TasA fibres can recover after physical shear force, suggesting that the biofilm matrix is not static and that these properties may enable B. subtilis to remodel its local environment in response to external cues. Using recombinant fibres formed by TasA orthologues we uncover species variability in the ability of heterologous fibres to cross-complement the B. subtilis tasA deletion. These findings are indicative of specificity in the biophysical requirements of the TasA fibres across different species and/or reflect the precise molecular interactions needed for biofilm matrix assembly.
What happens in institutions like schools or hospitals when local service provision overlaps with the control of national borders? Such overlap is unavoidable if unlawful residents are to be excluded from mainstream public services. With this explicit aim, governments not only modify the rules and established practices of welfare provision, but also encourage the people who administer and deliver these services to incorporate the logic of immigration control into their everyday work.
To identify and better understand the concrete mechanisms that either help or hinder such internalisation of immigration control, this study systematically compares three spheres of service provision – healthcare, education and social assistance – across two distinctive legal-political environments: Barcelona/Spain and London/UK. Looking at official policies as well as their implementation, it primarily draws on a total of almost 90 semi-structured interviews with irregular residents, providers and administrators of local services, and representatives of NGOs and local government. Its innovative analytical framework helps to map and explain the significant variation in how immigration control works within different institutions and how individual actors occupying key positions in these can reproduce, contest, or readjust formal structures of inclusion and exclusion.
While the way in which national – but also sub-national – governments frame and address irregular migration plays an important role, certain sectors of welfare provision and some categories of ‘street-level-bureaucrats’ are generally more likely to internalise immigration control than others. This reflects different degrees of professionalisation and individual discretion, but also attachment to different institutional logics and objectives. Drawing on organisation theory, the study also traces institutional responses to these external demands, which are key to understand the varying degrees of internal resistance.
The thesis offers an original and empirically grounded perspective on the consequences and inherent limitations of internalised control and contributes to general debates on the effectiveness of immigration policy.
Our hypothesis was that children with mutations in genes coding for Glutathione S-transferases (GST) have worse asthma outcomes compared to children with active type genotype. Data were collected in five populations. The rs1695 single nucleotide polymorphism (GSTP1) was determined in all cohorts (3692 children) and GSTM1 and GSTT1 null genotype were determined in three (2362 children). GSTT1 null (but not other genotypes) was associated with a minor increased risk for asthma attack and there were no significant associations between GST genotypes and asthma severity. Interactions between GST genotypes and SHS exposure or asthma severity with the study outcomes were non-significant. We find no convincing evidence that the GST genotypes studied are related to asthma outcomes.
A trace formulation of the Maclaurin spectral coefficients of the Schwartzian kernel of functions of the spherical Laplacian is given. A class of polynomials Pv/l (X) (l >_ 0, v > −1/2) linking to the classical Gegenbauer polynomials through a differential-spectral identity is introduced and its connection to the above spectral coefficients and their asymptotics analysed. The paper discusses some applications of these ideas combined with the Funk-Hecke identity and semigroup techniques to geometric and variational-energy inequalities on the sphere and presents some examples.
We analyze the status of Canadian oil sands and examine future prospects. Our analysis suggests sustained activity in the sector in the medium- to long-term even with challenging changes in the surrounding economic and policy circumstances (in particular low oil prices and a redoubled commitment to more aggressive climate policies by Canada’s provincial and federal governments). However, a combination of an expectation of a sustained increase in benchmark oil prices and the expected relaxation of transportation constraints will be needed to stimulate significant additional growth in production. We provide an overview of the basic production economics, as well as the economics and politics of getting product to market by pipeline and rail. A review of environmental impacts of Canadian oil sands development reveals significant concerns with respect to air quality, water quality, wildlife and other environmental impacts. However, we find that existing research on the environmental and wider social impacts is insufficient to underpin credible benefit-cost analysis of oil sands activities and development.
The transition towards low-energy buildings in the United Kingdom is challenging. Several policy changes have affected the actions and agency of actors. Drawing on the sustainability transitions literature, we analyse the development of the low-energy homes niche, focusing on the dynamics between intermediary organisations and policy development for low-energy homes. Based on rich interview and secondary data, we note how the existence and activities of transition intermediaries are enabled or curtailed by policy changes. We identify niche development phases along with the position and activities of intermediary organisations. In the predevelopment phase, non-state transition intermediaries have formed when government policy has been weak or market-based. During take-off, targeted policy initiatives have created protective spaces and stimulated the emergence of new intermediaries aiming to consolidate the niche. State-affiliated intermediaries have been established as part of active energy efficiency policy, but later ceased to exist or became privatised. Existing organisations have adopted intermediary functions to advance low-energy homes in response to policy. Furthermore, intermediaries have on occasion influenced policy development, often through cooperation among an ecology of intermediaries. In conclusion, we raise questions regarding intermediaries in the changing governance context.
Large technical systems (LTS) are integral to modern lifestyles but arduous to analyze. In this paper, we advance a conceptualization of LTS using the notion of mature “phases,” drawing from insights into innovation studies, science and technology studies, political science, the sociology of infra- structure, history of technology, and governance. We begin by defining LTS as a unit of analysis and explaining its conceptual utility and novelty, situating it among other prominent sociotechnical theories. Next, we argue that after LTS have moved through the (overlapping) phases proposed by Thomas Hughes of invention, expansion, growth, momentum, and style,mature LTS undergo the additional (overlapping) phases of reconfiguration, contestation (subject to pressures such as drift and crisis), and eventually stagnation and decline. We illustrate these analytical phases with historical case studies and the conceptual literature, and close by suggesting future research to refine and develop the LTS framework, particularly related to more refined typologies, temporal dimensions, and a broadening of system users. We aim to contribute to theoretical debates about the coevolution of LTS as well as empirical discussions about system-related use, socio- technical change, and policy-making.
Satellite communication and navigation applications suffer due to space weather phenomena. The effects are particularly pronounced in the equatorial regions, which are highly ionised and more easily susceptible to space weather effects than the mid latitude regions. Nevertheless, the bulk of the research on TEC profile and behaviour has been carried out with respect to mid-latitude regions.
The contribution of the Upper Plasmasphere (the altitudes above semisynchronous orbit height up to the Plasmapause height) to the Total Electron Content at any given location has been and continues to be an un-quantified component.
The PEACE instrument in the Chinese – European Space Agency Double Star TC1 satellite and its highly eccentric equatorial orbit provides an excellent opportunity to build Upper Plasmaspheric Electron Content (UPEC) components in the Equatorial region from empirical in-situ measurements of electron density along the orbit in the 20000km to 40000km altitude range.
This work develops and presents a methodology for deriving Plasmaspheric Electron Content from In-Situ, empirical electron density measurements in highly eccentric, elongated equatorial orbits, using the data from the Double Star TC1 satellite. As such this thesis also generates a database of Upper Plasmaspheric Electron Content (UPEC) along the orbital path of the TC1. This work also proposes a dedicated mission to be launched with highly eccentric orbits to generate a comprehensive equatorial TEC database based on this methodology.
This works envisions that future mission to be preferably launched in the equatorial belt, thus providing the opportunity to develop an archive of data as well as a real time source for better understanding of the Appleton anomaly Effects on Plasmaspheric Electron Content.
As participants in participatory process, PD academics report on the practices and outcomes of their work and thereby shape what is known of individual projects and the wider field of participatory design. At present, there is a dominant form for this reporting, led by academic publishing models. Yet, the politics of describing others has received little discussion. Our field brings diverging sensibilities to co-design, conducting experiments and asking what participation means in different contexts. How do we match this ingenuity in designing with ingenuity of reporting? Should designers, researchers and other participants all be writing up participatory work, using more novel and tailored approaches? Should we write more open and playful collaborative texts? Within some academic discourse, considerable value is placed on reflexivity, positionality, inclusivity and auto-ethnography as part of reflecting. Yet, PD spends no time in discussing its written outputs. Drawing on the results of a PDC’16 workshop, I encourage us to challenge this silence and discuss “Writing PD”.
We present a computational framework for isolating spatial patterns arising in the steady states of reaction-diffusion systems. Such systems have been used to model many natural phenomena in areas such as developmental and cancer biology, cell motility and material science. In many of these applications, often one is interested in identifying parameters which will lead to a particular pattern for a given reaction-diffusion model. To attempt to answer this, we compute eigenpairs of the Laplacian on a variety of do- mains and use linear stability analysis to determine parameter values for the system that will lead to spatially inhomogeneous steady states whose patterns correspond to particular eigenfunctions. This method has previously been used on domains and surfaces where the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions are found analytically in closed form. Our contribution to this methodology is that we numerically compute eigenpairs on arbitrary domains and surfaces. Here we present examples and demonstrate that mode isolation is straightforward especially for low eigenvalues. Additionally we see that the inhomogeneous steady state can be a linear combination of eigenfunctions. Finally we show an example suggesting that pattern formation is robust on similar surfaces in cases that the surface either has or does not have a boundary.
The idea that the emerging global society is also the age of the “pictorial turn” (Jenks, 1998; Mitchell, 2005; Mirzoeff, 2015) is one in which the use of visual historical sources in the teaching and learning of History in English secondary schools is situated. Yet there has been little research conducted into the ways such sources are experienced by teachers and students in the classroom, and the ways these are mediated by political, cultural and social forces. Despite this dearth of research, the need for further investigation is highlighted by a number of theorists who believe how working with visual images has the potential to develop visual ways of thinking both historically and about the world that are complicated (Schama, 2015), requiring what some see as quite specific “thinking dispositions” (Perkins, 1994).
This investigation explores the ways in which visual historical sources are experienced by teachers, students and education professionals. Three lessons in an English comprehensive school using visual sources were observed, pre and post-lesson interviews were conducted with teachers, as well as three student focus groups to add a student description of their experience with visual sources. A perspective external to schools is added through interviews with three professional educators working with visual sources with students in gallery and museum spaces as opposed to school spaces. This study identifies, analyses and compares different experiences of visual historical sources, and considers the implications these have for teacher pedagogy. As such, the key research question in this investigation is “How do students, teachers and education professionals experience visual sources in the teaching and learning of history?”
This qualitative study draws upon a form of constructivist grounded theory (Charmaz, 2008, 2011, 2014) that moves from the positivist idea of data being ‘discovered’ to one which acknowledges that as researchers we are part of the world we study, and where data collection is seen as not being a neutral process. As such, it seeks to understand the constructs teachers, students, and education professionals use to understand their experiences with visual sources (Gibson & Hartman, 2014). In analysing the data through thematic analysis, a variety of theoretical positions are used to help conceptualise the perceptions described and observed in the research. From notions of “thinking conjuncturally,” (Massey, 2005) to the hybridity of visual sources (Hall, 1990) and of the idea visual sources as “regimes of truth,” (Foucault, 1972), this study draws on theoretical positions from a variety of disciplines to understand the ways experiences with visual historical sources operate.
The findings illustrate how descriptions that emerge around the use of visual sources coalesce around seven main themes; access and engagement, acts of seeing, how images work, truth-claims, historical interpretation, intertextuality and pedagogical praxis. Within these, a number of axes can be used to describe positions that may at times seem paradoxical, such as descriptions of visual sources as being both transparent and opaque. In considering the implications of the use of visual historical sources for teacher pedagogy, it is claimed that they have the capacity to be rich interpretive tools for the construction of History, and can be seen as distinct spatial puzzles and representations that need to be understood as working in the specific context of their medium.
Online communities have gained multidisciplinary attention in both the academic and practitioner literature. Some of this literature has taken a focus on online communities in the healthcare context (aka online health communities), with recent studies highlighting their potential to contribute to social value creation, for example by reducing the divide between regional and other health disparities. In this research-in-progress paper, we present a case study we conducted with MedicineAfrica; an online health community with the aim of improving healthcare education in countries with fragile healthcare systems. Based on interviews, online observations, and documentary analysis, our study explores: (a) the factors that enhance volunteer-members’ commitment to the online community, resulting in them staying longer than they initially expected; and (b) the impact of members’ commitment on the roles they undertake on the online platform. It is found that, with increased commitment, members of online health communities tend to undertake not just more roles but roles with leading responsibilities as well as take on initiatives for new online activities. We discuss our preliminary analysis so far, which is followed by the study’s implications and further research.
While attracting international students is the declared objective of many countries of the global North, the regulation of movements of this migrant group does not escape the tensions that characterise policymaking on migration. This paper compares the evolution of student migration policies in three major European destinations – France, Spain and the UK – since the late 1990s. The aim is to evaluate whether policies in this area have converged or not, and the factors behind their evolution. Our findings suggest that despite common forces encouraging convergence, country-specific factors, such as countries’ migration history and the political force in power, seem crucial in explaining important differences in actual policies across the three countries.
Objectives
Clinical communication is a core component of undergraduate medical training. A consensus statement on the essential elements of the communication curriculum was co-produced in 2008 by the communication leads of UK medical schools. This paper discusses the relational, contextual and technological changes which have affected clinical communication since then and presents an updated curriculum for communication in undergraduate medicine.
Method
The consensus was developed through an iterative consultation process with the communication leads who represent their medical schools on the UK Council of Clinical Communication in Undergraduate Medical Education.
Results
The updated curriculum defines the underpinning values, core components and skills required within the context of contemporary medical care. It incorporates the evolving relational issues associated with the more prominent role of the patient in the consultation, reflected through legal precedent and changing societal expectations. The impact on clinical communication of the increased focus on patient safety, the professional duty of candour and digital medicine are discussed.
Conclusion
Changes in the way medicine is practised should lead rapidly to adjustments to the content of curricula.
Practice implications
The updated curriculum provides a model of best practice to help medical schools develop their teaching and argue for resources.
The employment of the commercial availiable organic ligand 2-mercapto-4-methyl-5-thiazoleacetic acid (H2L) in Zn and Cd chemistry yields two-dimensional (2D) coordation polymers (CPs) with pseudopolymorphic character. Thermal, catalytic and conductivity studies are discussed.
This diagnostic study aims to shed light on the catalytic activity of a library of Cu(II) based coordination compounds with benzotriazole-based ligands. We report herein the synthesis and characterization of five new coordination compounds formulated [CuII(L4)(MeCN)2(CF3SO3)2] (1), [CuII(L5)2(CF3SO3)2] (2), [CuII(L6)2(MeCN)(CF3SO3)]·(CF3SO3) (3), [CuII(L6)2(H2O)(CF3SO3)]·(CF3SO3)·2(Me2CO) (4), [CuI4(L1)2(L1’)2(CF3SO3)2]2·4(CF3SO3)·8(Me2CO) (5), derived from similar nitrogen-based ligands. The homogeneous catalytic activity of these compounds along with our previously reported coordination compounds (6 -13), derived from similar ligands, is tested against the well-known Cu(I)-catalysed azide-alkyne cycloaddition reaction. The optimal catalyst [CuII(L1)2(CF3SO3)2] (10) activates the reaction to afford 1,4-disubstituted 1,2,3-triazoles with yields up to 98% and without requiring a reducing agent. Various control experiments are performed to optimize the method as well as examine parameters such as ligand variation, metal coordination geometry and environment, in order to elucidate the behaviour of the catalytic system.
Much international development assistance has been delivered in the form of statebuilding interventions over the past 20 years, especially in post-conflict or fragile states. The apparent failure of many international statebuilding interventions has prompted a ‘political economy’ turn in development studies. This article critically assesses the key approaches that have emerged to address the interrelations between interveners and recipients, and advances an approach that places the politics of scale at the core of the conflicts shaping the outcomes of international intervention. Different scales privilege different interests, unevenly allocating power, resources and political opportunity structures. Interveners and recipients thus pursue scalar strategies and establish socio-political alliances that reinforce their power and marginalise rivals. This approach is harnessed towards examining the uneven results of the Aceh Government Transformation Programme, financed by the World Bank-managed Multi Donor Trust Fund following the 2005 peace agreement and implemented by the UNDP and the Aceh provincial government.
Taking our cue from an earlier study of East African Asians who ‘onward-migrated’ to the UK in the 1960s and 1970s, this paper looks at the more recent phenomenon of Bangladeshi immigrants in Italy who are onward-migrating to London. We seek to answer three questions. First, why does this migration occur? Second, how does the ethnic group we call ‘Italian-Bangladeshis’ narrate their working lives in London and to what extent do they feel ‘at home’ there? Third, what are the gaps between their expectations held before the move and the actual social and economic conditions they encounter in London? Empirical evidence comes from 40 in-depth interviews with Italian-Bangladeshis who have already onward-migrated or plan to. Most Italian-Bangladeshis move to London to escape socially limiting factory work in Italy, to invest in the educational future of their children, and to join the largest Bangladeshi community outside of their home country. In London, they describe feeling more ‘at home’ than in Italy, due to the size and multiple facilities of the Bangladeshi community, their lack of ‘visibility’ and of racialisation, and the greater sense of religious freedom. But their onward-migration experience has its more negative sides: the inability to access more than low-paid casual work in London’s service economy, the cost of housing, and the difficulty of making social contacts beyond their ethnic community, especially with those they regard as ‘natives’, i.e. ‘white’ British.
It is still not settled when several concurrent wrongdoers are liable for “the same damage” for the purpose of the Civil Liability (Contribution) Act 1978, s 1(1). The Court of Appeal has held that s 1(1) applies whenever payment by one wrongdoer relieves all wrongdoers from liability towards the creditor. In Royal Brompton Hospital NHS Trust v Hammond, the House of Lords appears to have rejected that approach, without laying down an alternative test. This article examines the possible approaches where, as between the wrongdoers, one of them is ultimately supposed to bear the whole of the common liability.
We evaluate the hedging performance of the scheme developed in B. Düring, A. Pitkin, ”High-order compact finite difference scheme for option pricing in stochastic volatility jump models”, 2017. We compare the scheme’s hedging performance to standard finite difference methods in different examples. We observe that the new scheme achieves fourth-order convergence, outperforming a standard, second-order central finite difference approximation in all our experiments.
This thesis examines humanitarian activism facilitated by Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs). Focusing on two coalition campaigns, ENOUGH FOOD IF (2013) and MAKE POVERTY HISTORY (2005), this thesis investigates how popular understandings of humanitarianism are promoted and understood in relation to the politics of poverty. Visual communication, including images, videos and infographics, is the site of investigations. By addressing visual communication in relation to protest campaigns, this thesis contributes new perspectives to a field that predominantly focuses on fundraising appeals.
This thesis mobilises the concept of solidarity, as a descriptive and normative framework, to investigate the production, representation and participation enabled by communicative structures. The study begins by contextualising protest campaigns within a history of humanitarian communication. Secondly, the production of communicative spaces is critiqued using an analysis of campaign communication, internal campaign documents and 10 semi-structured interviews with NGO professionals. This analysis moves the debate beyond the content of the binary frame of ‘negative’ and ‘positive’ images. Instead, the dominant visuals mobilised by campaigns are discussed in relation to NGO practices and the terrain of inter/intraorganisational politics involved in the production of coalition campaigns. Humanitarian communication, this thesis argues, is shaped by relations of power between NGOs, governments and media institutions. Thirdly, based on an analysis of the campaigns’ digital spaces, 155 diary responses to a Mass Observation Directive and 8 in-depth interviews with young people, the practices of participation are explored. By listening to how people experience NGO communications, this thesis provides a contextualised understanding of the emotions, relationships and performances involved in communicating solidarity. Contributing to a gap in audience research, this study shows how people further mediate, negotiate and at times resist humanitarian narratives.
Effective management of melanoma depends heavily on early diagnosis. When detected in early non-metastatic stages, melanoma is almost 100% curable by surgical resection, however when detected in late metastatic stages III and IV, 5-year survival rates drop to ~50% and 10–25%, respectively, due to limited efficacy of current treatment options. This presents a pressing need to identify biomarkers that can detect patients at high risk of recurrence and progression to metastatic disease, which will allow for early intervention and survival benefit. Accumulating evidence over the past few decades has highlighted the potential use of circulating molecular biomarkers for melanoma diagnosis and prognosis, including lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), S100 calcium-binding protein B (S100B) and circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) fragments. Since 2010, circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) have been increasingly recognised as more robust non-invasive biomarkers for melanoma due to their structural stability under the harsh conditions of the blood and different conditions of sample processing and isolation. Several pre-analytical and analytical variables challenge the accurate quantification of relative miRNA levels between serum samples or plasma samples, leading to conflicting findings between studies on circulating miRNA biomarkers for melanoma. In this review, we provide a critical summary of the circulating miRNA biomarkers for melanoma published to date.
Pay structures may not reflect differences in individual productivity and effort; in particular, public pay regulation can distort labour markets. We analyse the impact of nationally regulated pay on the quality of applicants to be police officers across England and Wales, exploiting a unique dataset of individual test scores from the national assessment required of all police applicants and combining this with data on local labour markets and policing conditions. National wage setting impacts on the quality of police applicants through two channels: first, through spatial variations in the relative wage of policing compared to other occupations and second, because national wages cannot compensate for local variations in the disamenity of policing. We also provide preliminary evidence on whether police recruit quality is associated with police force performance.
"This research explores audio time-lapse as a creative musical tool within site-specific interdisciplinary performance, pursued through the creation of sound score for two major multi-media dance theatre collaborations: Summer, Winter, Spring (SWS) and Listening Creates an Opening (LCO). It was disseminated through multiple performances, installations and public presentations.
Ficarra explores audio time-lapse, both as a thing in itself (how best to do it) and as a tool for creating new types of sound score engagements in interdisciplinary contexts. Her focus is on reanimating field recordings, creating processes which mimic visual methods of time lapse photography. A single still photo frame contains a mass of information, but sound takes time to speak – how big a window is required for the ear to make sense of what it hears? What method of reanimation gives a sense of the identity of the sound despite radical compression of time? At what stage do we let go of ‘reference’ and accept sound as an abstract and musical construct?
For these two projects, sound was recorded multiple, site-specific urban locations in San Francisco and Troy, New York, and later manipulated using a software “time-lapse engine” developed by Ficarra in Max MSP. Previous work (e.g. Andrew Spitz’s ‘phonolapse’ object) explores live capture of time-lapse audio. By contrast Ficarra’s work uses audio time-lapse as an aesthetic resource for manipulating pre-recorded sound in live interdisciplinary contexts. Experimenting with different sonic windows (from 40 ms to 1 second) reanimated in a continuous stream, Ficarra created fluttering soundtracks that sketch urban and human activity, and co-exist with other musical elements, live video and performance. In LCO, Ficarra further developed this aesthetic by applying the ‘time-lapse engine’ to recordings of musicians featured in the live score, offering a technological re-think of classical notions of stretto. “
This work explores the relationship between energy efficiency, productivity and exporting for a sample of firms located in thirty Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries. This relationship has not been studied in depth although it is important and relevant to policymaking. We apply a standard constant returns to scale Cobb-Douglas production function with labor, capital, and knowledge expanded to exports and energy efficiency. We also investigate the relationship between energy efficiency and exporting and take heterogeneity by firms and industries into account. Firm-level data come from the national representative World Bank Enterprise Survey (WBES). Our empirical analysis finds heterogeneous results by firm size and industrial sector both in the relationship between energy efficiency and productivity and between energy efficiency and exporting. These outcomes are robust to different measures of energy efficiency and controlling for heterogeneity among countries and provinces. By providing for the first time an extensive investigation of energy intensity and firm performance for such a large sample of LAC countries, this work contributes to the lively debate on LAC energy efficiency and weak productivity. By adopting a broader productivity and international trade perspective, it opens the ground to a rethinking of the priorities of energy saving policies and their environmental impacts.
A Hawza is the establishment responsible for the training of Shia Islam’s Imams, preachers, professors and researchers. Its educational model, for hundreds of years, has involved the teaching of Fikh, Usul, philosophy, Quranic Studies and Arabic language. Over the past few decades, the social sciences, the systematic study of man and society which had emerged in the ‘west’, have been slowly making their way into these institutions, alongside a number of other changes. This paper will investigate, qualitatively, the religious training of Shia men of religion in Lebanon to explore the changes taking place within this institution. Based on a triangulation of participant observation, interviews with professors, students and stakeholders as well as content analysis of certain course material the paper claims a Hawza in metamorphosis. While structural and material alterations have straightforwardly made their way into the institution, content and curricular ones have faced more difficulty. These changes, reveal plenty about Islamic education and Shia Islam in Lebanon’s public sphere. Additionally, the paper raises questions and insights regarding both decolonial theory, Lebanon’s future and the geopolitics of the Arab world.
Since the 2015 launch of the Rockefeller Foundation Lancet Commission on planetary health,1 an enormous groundswell of interest in planetary health education has emerged across many disciplines, institutions, and geographical regions. Advancing these global efforts in planetary health education will equip the next generation of scholars to address crucial questions in this emerging field and support the development of a community of practice. To provide a foundation for the growing interest and efforts in this field, the Planetary Health Alliance has facilitated the first attempt to create a set of principles for planetary health education that intersect education at all levels, across all scales, and in all regions of the world—ie, a set of cross-cutting principles.
Purpose:
This paper positions market sensing, supply chain agility and supply chain adaptability as a coherent cluster of dynamic supply chain capabilities. The purpose of the paper is to understand how dynamic supply chain capabilities interrelate and their effect on supply chain ambidexterity.
Design/methodology/approach:
Based on a survey of Pakistani manufacturing firms, a theoretically-derived model was tested in a structural equation model.
Findings:
The results of the study show that a market-sensing capability is an antecedent of supply chain agility and supply chain adaptability. Furthermore, supply chain agility, directly, and supply chain adaptability, indirectly, affect supply chain ambidexterity. Supply chain agility therefore mediates the relationship between supply chain adaptability and supply chain ambidexterity.
Originality/value:
The contribution of this study lies in: (1) identifying dynamic capability clusters relevant for achieving supply chain ambidexterity;(2) evaluating performance implications of dynamic capabilities in the supply chain, specifically supply chain agility and adaptability; and (3) proposing a unique measurement of supply chain ambidexterity in the light supply chain theory, and empirically evaluating the relationship between dynamic
capabilities and supply chain ambidexterity.
This thesis offers a feminist theorisation of a vital—yet understudied—cultural institution of modernism: the salon. Taking existing feminist scholarship on the 17th- and 18th-century salon as a point of departure, I analyse how the modernist salon—namely, its female host(s) and the body of work it inspired—problematises masculinist histories of modernism’s development and canon. To do this, I take three American women-led salons from the first half of the 20th century as case studies: Gertrude Stein’s salon at 27 rue de Fleurus; Natalie Clifford Barney’s salon at 20 rue Jacob; and Florine, Ettie, and Carrie Stettheimer’s salon in New York’s Upper West Side. With each case study, I combine archival research with literary and artistic analysis to: a) recreate the salon’s atmosphere and gender dynamics; b) analyse how the salonière(s)’s beliefs and goals influenced her salon’s format; and, c) assess the salon’s influence on its host(s)’s and habitués’ cultural output, examining how salon-inspired art and literary works subvert gendered codes of behaviour and appearance. In doing so, I argue that the modernist salon worked to deconstruct sexual and artistic hierarchical binaries—such as male/female, masculine/feminine, heterosexual/queer, ‘high’ art/’low’ art, and public/domestic—and advance a subversive feminist politics; yet, the form these politics adopted depended entirely upon the practices, goals, and values of the individual salonière.
The thesis consists of five sections. The introduction situates the thesis within existing salon theory and modernist studies, highlighting its unique contribution to research (as a feminist theorisation of the modernist salon), and outlines the thesis’ theoretical underpinnings, methodology, and structure. The first chapter focuses on how Stein’s gender-segregated salon provided her with the tools for her own self-promotion and subversive word portraits. The second chapter analyses Barney’s women-centric salon and how its explicitly feminist mandate to build and empower a community of (mostly queer) women writers influenced (and derived from) Barney’s feminist pensées and memoirs and habitué Djuna Barnes’ Ladies Almanack. The third chapter examines the Stettheimer salon and how its three sister hosts designed their salon as the medium for establishing their feminist legacy through an expansive literary and artistic oeuvre. The conclusion highlights the stark contrast between the Stein, Barney, and Stettheimer salons in order to emphasise the role of the salonière in curating the salon’s feminist politics and proposes directions for further research.
International investment law balances public and private interests within the broader framework of international law. Consequently, when water supply services, which constitute a public good, are privatized and operated by foreign investors, questions arise regarding whether foreign investors could be held responsible for the right to water under international law. This article considers how the tribunal in Urbaser v. Argentina allocated responsibility for compliance with the right to water between the host State and the foreign investor when resolving a dispute over privatized water services. It highlights how the tribunal in Urbaser v. Argentina supports different understandings of public and private based on whether the human rights obligation is framed in terms of the duty to respect or protect. It is argued that the tribunal's rationale overcomplicates the process of allocating responsibility for violations of the human right to water when water supply services have been privatized.
For humans, facial expressions are important social signals and how we perceive specific individuals may be influenced by subtle emotional cues that they have given us in past encounters. A wide range of animal species are also capable of discriminating the emotions of others through facial expressions [1–5], and it is clear that remembering emotional experiences with specific individuals could have clear benefits for social bonding and aggression avoidance when these individuals are encountered again. While there is evidence that non-human animals are capable of remembering the identity of individuals who have directly harmed them [6,7], it is not known whether animals may form lasting memories of specific individuals simply by observing subtle emotional expressions that they exhibit on their faces. Here we conducted controlled experiments in which domestic horses were presented with a photograph of an angry or happy human face and several hours later saw the person who had given the expression in a neutral state. Short-term exposure to the facial expression was enough to generate clear differences in subsequent responses to that individual (but not to a different mismatched person), consistent with the past angry expression having been perceived negatively and the happy expression positively. Both humans were blind to the photograph the horses had seen. Our results provide clear evidence that some non-human animals can effectively eavesdrop on the emotional state cues that humans reveal on a moment-to-moment basis, using their memory of these to guide future interactions with particular individuals.
This thesis describes investigations of how chemicals present on the cuticle of ants impact three important features of social living in insects: hygiene and disease resistance; navigation; and interspecies chemical signalling.
Eusociality brings many benefits, but also has the potential to make insect colonies vulnerable to disease. In Chapter 2 of this thesis I investigate the role of the antimicrobial agent micromolide, in the Yellow meadow ant, Lasius flavus. Micromolide is found to be present on the cuticle of L. flavus workers, and is also found to be deposited onto a substrate by walking ants, revealing a possible mechanism for maintenance of sanitary nest conditions. Chapter 3 of this thesis focuses on navigation in L. flavus, specifically route-memory formation and the possibility of home-range markings providing a chemical cue via which ants can navigate from a food source to the nest. It was found that allowing ants to follow a pheromone trail to food increased the number of navigational errors made by returning ants, and that home-range markings did not provide effective guidance to ants returning to the nest. In Chapter 4, I report on a project undertaken during field work in Brazil into how cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) of the ant Camponotus arborious can act as kairomones when detected by Nasutitermes corniger, a common termite species. Experiments showed that N. corniger is less likely to repair experimentally opened tunnels in the presence of C. arborious CHCs, with 4 of 7 colonies tested blocking up tunnels, rather than rebuilding over CHC marked areas. Finally, Chapter 5 of this thesis discusses potential future projects, following on from the work presented in Chapters 2, 3 and 4.
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is conventionally seen as resulting from single-system neurodegeneration affecting nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons. However, accumulating evidence indicates a multi-system degeneration and neurotransmitter deficiencies, including cholinergic neurons which degenerate in a brainstem nucleus, the pedunculopontine nucleus (PPN), resulting in motor- and cognitive impairments. The neuropeptide galanin can inhibit cholinergic transmission, whilst being upregulated in degenerating brain regions associated with cognitive decline. Here we determined the temporal-spatial profile of progressive expression of endogenous galanin within degenerating cholinergic neurons, across the rostro-caudal axis of the PPN, by utilising the lactacystin-induced rat model of PD. First, we show progressive neuronal death affecting nigral dopaminergic and PPN cholinergic neurons, reflecting that seen in PD patients, to facilitate use of this model for assessing the therapeutic potential of bioactive peptides. Next, stereological analyses of the lesioned brain hemisphere found that the number of PPN cholinergic neurons expressing galanin increased by 11%, compared to sham-lesioned controls, increasing by a further 5% as the neurodegenerative process evolved. Galanin upregulation within cholinergic PPN neurons was most prevalent closest to the intra-nigral lesion site, suggesting that galanin upregulation in such neurons adapt intrinsically to neurodegeneration, to possibly neuroprotect. This is the first report on the extent and pattern of galanin expression in cholinergic neurons across distinct PPN subregions in both the intact rat CNS and lactacystin lesioned rats. The findings pave the way for future work to target galanin signaling in the PPN, to determine the extent to which upregulated galanin expression could offer a viable treatment strategy for ameliorating PD symptoms associated with cholinergic degeneration.
Chance to make Ireland safer place for women
With the May 25 Referendum quickly approaching, voters will no doubt feel anxious about where they sit in the intensely polarising ‘pro-choice’ or ‘pro-life’ debates. This one or the other approach to abortion care misses out the fact that voters can look at the referendum as an opportunity to make our healthcare services fit for purpose. That means healthcare services which are enabling of fair and just societies. From a public health perspective, providing free, safe, legal and regulated abortion care is an important way to make sure women in Ireland are treated equitably. That means giving women access to the specific services they need in order to participate fairly in society. In countries with restrictive abortion laws, like Ireland, women are forced into making possibly unsafe decisions and feel they can’t tell their doctors about important issues which may require follow-up care. The law prevents healthcare professionals from meeting the needs of women and providing the level of woman-centred care they committed themselves to training for.
So the May 25 referendum is an opportunity for us to make Ireland a fairer and safer place for women by having abortion care available and accessible for those who need it.
Dr BEN KASSTAN
University of Sussex, Brighton, England
Traditional quantitative research methods of data collection in programming, such as questionnaires and in- terviews, are the most common approaches for researchers in this eld. However, in recent years, eye-tracking has been on the rise as a new method of collecting evidence of visual attention and the cognitive process of programmers. Eye-tracking has been used by researchers in the eld of programming to analyze and under- stand a variety of tasks such as comprehension and debugging. In this article, we will focus on reporting how experiments that used eye-trackers in programming research are conducted, and the information that can be collected from these experiments. In this mapping study, we identify and report on 63 studies, published be- tween 1990 and June 2017, collected and gathered via manual search on digital libraries and databases related to computer science and computer engineering. Among the ve main areas of research interest are program comprehension and debugging, which received an increased interest in recent years, non-code comprehen- sion, collaborative programming, and requirements traceability research, which had the fewest number of publications due to possible limitations of the eye-tracking technology in this type of experiments. We nd that most of the participants in these studies were students and faculty members from institutions of higher learning, and while they performed programming tasks on a range of programming languages and program- ming representations, we nd Java language and Uni ed Modeling Language (UML) representation to be the most used materials. We also report on a range of eye-trackers and attention tracking tools that have been utilized, and nd Tobii eye-trackers to be the most used devices by researchers.
The N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors (NMDAR) are a subtype of ionotropic glutamate receptors that are highly expressed in the central nervous system (CNS) and are involved in the excitatory synaptic transmission and synaptic plasticity that underpin many critical CNS functions. NMDAR dysfunction has been implicated in Alzheimer’s disease, neuropathic pain, schizophrenia, and depression, among others. Most non-selective NMDAR antagonists (e.g. ketamine) have undesirable side-effects that restrict their clinical utility for relieving symptoms of neuropathic pain and treatment-resistant depression, but indirect modulators of NMDAR function offer the potential to have reduced side-effects relative to non-selective antagonists. One approach is to inhibit the production of the NMDAR co-agonist, D-serine, which is produced endogenously by conversion of L-serine to D-serine by the enzyme serine racemase (SR). Inhibitors of SR that reduce the production of D-serine may therefore have therapeutic benefits in disorders associated with NMDAR hyperfunction. In this thesis, human SR(hSR) was expressed in a bacterial host and isolated to a high degree of purity (>90%). The crystal structure of SR was solved in-house using the purified protein, to a resolution of 2.2Å (in complex with malonate) and 1.9Å (holoenzyme). To measure SR activity, a coupled biochemical assay was optimised, in which produced D-serine is degraded by D-amino acid oxidase (DAO) and the resulting H2O2 is quantified by a chemiluminescence reaction with HRP and luminol to produce light. Assay parameters such as Kmand IC50 were determined, and following further optimisation to enable medium-through put screening, a single-point screen of 3000 fragments was performed to identify novel inhibitory hit matter. A final list of 61 specific hits was collated of fragments that did not exhibit nonspecific inhibition in a DAO counter screen, and demonstrated IC50 values against SR approximately 1mM or below. These specific hits were characterised with biophysical methods adapted for SR (thermal shift, microscale thermophoresis) to determine binding affinities and structure stabilisation. Finally, via crystal soaking, the crystal structure of SR bound to an inhibitory fragment (KD=960μM) was revealed to a resolution of 1.8Å.
The ability to respond to hypnotic suggestibility (hypnotisability) is a stable trait which can be measured in a standardised procedure consisting of a hypnotic induction and a series of hypnotic suggestions. The SWASH is a 10-item adaptation of an established scale, the Waterloo-Stanford Group C Scale of Hypnotic Suggestibility (WSGC). Development of the SWASH was motivated by three distinct aims: to reduce required screening time, to provide an induction which more accurately reflects current theoretical understanding and to supplement the objective scoring with experiential scoring. Screening time was reduced by shortening the induction, removing two suggestions which may cause distress (dream and age regression) and by modifications which allow administration in lecture theatres, so that more participants can be screened simultaneously. Theoretical issues were addressed by removing references to sleep, absorption and eye fixation and closure. Data from 418 participants at the University of Sussex and the Lancaster University are presented, along with data from 66 participants who completed a re-test screening. The subjective and objective scales were highly correlated. The subjective scale showed good reliability and objective scale reliability was comparable to the WSGC. The addition of subjective scale responses to the post-hypnotic suggestion (PHS) item suggested a high probability that responses to PHS are inflated in WSGC screening. The SWASH is an effective measure of hypnotisability, which reflects changes in conscious experience and presents practical and theoretical advantages over existing scales.
The current study investigated whether people can simultaneously acquire knowledge about concrete chunks and abstract structures in implicit sequence learning; and whether the degree of abstraction determines the conscious status of the acquired knowledge. We adopted three types of stimuli in a serial reaction time task in three experiments. The RT results indicated that people could simultaneously acquire knowledge about concrete chunks and abstract structures of the temporal sequence. Generation performance revealed that ability to control was mainly based on abstract structures rather than concrete chunks. Moreover, ability to control was not generally accompanied with awareness of knowing or knowledge, as measured by confidence ratings and attribution tests, confirming that people could control the use of unconscious knowledge of abstract structures. The results present a challenge to computational models and theories of implicit learning.
Staff working paper no. 711:
A key issue raised by the rapid growth of computerised algorithmic trading is how it responds in extreme situations. Using data on foreign exchange orders and transactions that includes identification of algorithmic trading, we find that this type of trading contributed to the deterioration of market quality following the removal of the cap on the Swiss franc on 15 January 2015, which was an event that came as a complete surprise to market participants. In particular, we find that algorithmic traders withdrew liquidity and generated uninformative volatility in Swiss franc currency pairs, while human traders did the opposite. However, we find no evidence that algorithmic trading propagated these adverse effects on market quality to other currency pairs.
The ways in which institutions are reconfigured to change mainstream selection pressures to favour sustainability is central to research on sustainability transitions but has only recently begun to receive more attention. Of this existing work, empirical attention has mainly focused on the national level with less attention to local dynamics. Attending to this gap, we mobilise theory on institutionalisation processes and insights from the politics of transitions literature and take an actor perspective to investigate the agency of local sustainability initiatives to navigate local governance processes and reconfigure selection environments at the urban scale. Our work subsequently demonstrates the importance of diverse actor tactics, of networking for advocacy and of networking for the creation of informal, ad hoc governance arenas.
Ideas about sets are foundational to our understanding of many knowledge domains. And cognitive science tells us that the representation (notation or visualization) we use to encode the knowledge of a domain substantially determines what we can think and how easily we can reason about that do-main. Therefore, how a representation encodes ideas about sets may sub-stantially determine how readily we can comprehend, solve problems and learn about its domain. So, how should we design representations for knowledge rich domains to ensure that concepts about sets are readily ac-cessible and also effectively integrated with the domain’s other concepts? A case study is presented in which a representation for sets (Set Space Dia-grams) is taken as a foundation for a representation for probability theory (Probability Space Diagrams) and then further extended as a representation for statistical distributions (Distribution Space Diagrams). Together the three representations constitute a unified framework that conceptually inte-grates knowledge across the three domains.
This thesis investigates how labour markets respond to a range of national policies in Thailand. It deepens understanding of the behavioural changes of households towards internal migration and of labour market dynamics during the 2000s. It focuses on two policy themes, one on the access to credit and the other on the minimum wage policy.
The first essay investigates the relationship between borrowing and internal migration. It evaluates the short and medium term effects of the introduction of a villagebased micro-finance scheme (Village Fund), assessing the impact of borrowing on households' migration decision. Using a panel instrumental variables model, the essay shows that internal migration is not a credit constrained decision in Thailand. Migration interacts with credit over time. While not affecting migration at introduction of the scheme, borrowing is found to reduce the likelihood of migration in the medium term.
The second and third essays investigate the effects of the minimum wage policy in Thailand from two complementary angles. The essays provide insights on labour market responsiveness to changes in the minimum wage during the last decade (2002-2013), also focusing on the short term effects of the recent introduction of a National Minimum Wage (2012-2013) which generated an unprecedented hike in the country. The essays evaluate the policy effects on the private sector, focusing on the wage distribution and employment.
The second essay evaluates the impact of the minimum wage on the wage distribution. Its novelty is to propose a variant of the Unconditional Quantile Regression, in which the Recentered Inuence Function is applied to the provincial wage distributions. The method allows for the identification of the wage response while accounting for the geographic heterogeneity of Thai wage schedules. It shows that provincial wage distributions are affected by the minimum wage policy up to the 60th percentile, suggesting that minimum wage levels act as a numeraire for wage renegotiation. The evidence further suggest that the 2012-2013 policy change was especially beneficial for workers between the 15th and 45th percentiles. However, the results show no discernible effects of the policy change on the lowest quantiles, suggesting some degree of non-compliance with the law.
The third essay explores the employment effects of the minimum wage policy. Using a panel of provincial employment measures, it finds that aggregate private sector employment is not affected by the minimum wage policy. However, the results for 2002-2013 show minor adjustments in youth low-skilled employment, stronger for the female population. The findings also suggest that the latest policy change (2012-2013) had no immediate negative effects on employment.
This thesis investigates how political or religious leaders have an impact on several socio-economic outcomes in two different countries, the United States and Italy.
In the first empirical chapter I analyse how the race of a politician can have an impact on the incidence of crime. I answer this question by focusing on large US cities, where active participation in the political life of the African-American candidates has undergone a strong upsurge since 1965. In order to deal with the endogeneity of black candidates to city characteristics, a regression discontinuity is used, exploiting the multi-racial elections decided by a narrow margin of victory. The results show that the number of motor vehicles stolen increases considerably the year after the election of an African-American candidate. I investigate, as a possible channel of influence, how police employment responds to the election of a black mayor, finding a negative effect the year after the electoral race.
The second empirical chapter studies how electoral outcomes can shape individuals' migration decisions. Using the Italian mayoral elections data from 2001 to 2014, I study how foreign citizens' internal migration with a regular residency permit in North Italy can be affected by the election of a mayor affiliated to the Northern League (Lega Nord) party, a far-right political movement characterised by a strong federalist, populist and anti-immigration ideology. To deal with the endogeneity of the Northern League to city characteristics, a sharp regression discontinuity is used. Overall the results show that a mayor affiliated to the Northern League party causes an increase in the foreign out-migration rate one year after the election.
The third empirical chapter investigates the impact of papal visits to Italian provinces on abortions and live births from 1979 to 2012. Using an event study methodology, we find a strong decrease in the number of abortions following papal visits. This effect commences at about the 3rd month and persists until about the 11th month after the visits. However, we find no significant change in the number of live births. We argue that a fall in the incidence of unplanned pregnancies best explains our results. This fall appears to be concentrated among married women, a demographic that shows the biggest jump in religiosity when the pope visits.
Red wood ants (Formica rufa) are visual navigators whose colonies contain workers that differ substantially in size. By investigating the allometry of the ants’ compound eyes, and the regions within them, I showed that facets in particular regions scaled differently: both grade and slope shifts occurred. Facets in some eye regions were absolutely larger than others, while other facet regions scaled at different rates with body size.
I next compared eye scaling between nests from the same population. Nevertheless, the method by which ants increased their eye size differed between nests. I found that ants from some nests primarily increased eye size through facet number and others through facet diameter. This showed that scaling rules at the cellular levels can differ even within a single population.
Comparisons among Formica species revealed that differential eye scaling was not restricted to just F. rufa. Differential scaling was found in F. sanguinea but not F. lugubris or F. fusca. Surprisingly, scaling between facet diameter and number was conserved across all four species, demonstrating that whole-organ scaling among species can be conservative whilst differing vastly between organ-regions.
Moving beyond morphology, I next investigated whether physiological scaling was equally as variable among nests. Metabolic rate scaling was negatively allometric and the same among four nests. Respiratory water loss was found to be determined solely by metabolic rate. Metabolic rate co-varies with different ventilation types, however, switches in ventilation type are driven by movement. This demonstrates that increases in metabolic rate are not sufficient to explain changes in ventilation type but are sufficient to explain respiratory water loss.
Filming Revolution investigates documentary and independent filmmaking in Egypt since the Egyptian Revolution began in 2011. It brings together the collective wisdom and creative strategies of thirty filmmakers, artists, activists, and archivists who share their thoughts and experiences of filmmaking in those heady times. Rather than merely building an archive of video interviews, Alisa Lebow constructs a collaborative project, joining her interviewees in conversation to investigate questions about the evolving forms of political filmmaking. The interviews can be explored via their connections to each other, across parameters such as themes, projects, or people. Each constellation of material allows users to engage in a curated conversation that creates a dialogue between filmmakers operating in the same space but who may not necessarily know of each other's work or ideas. Topics highlighted range from the role of activism in filming to the limits of representation or the impact of practical considerations of production and distribution. The innovative constellatory design of Filming Revolution makes an aesthetic commentary about the experience of the revolution, its fragmented development, and its shifting meanings, thereby advancing arguments about political documentary via both content and form, simultaneously re-imagining formats of political documentary and scholarly communication.
To compare information and reach decisions effectively, our brain uses multiple heuristics, which can, however, induce biases in behavior. An elegant study by Akrami et al. (2018) finds evidence for one such heuristic in a sensory-based comparison task and identifies its location to the posterior parietal cortex.
Banks, like other business firms, must attract outside funding within competitive capital markets, must face competition in product, and must deal with corporate governance issues deriving from agency problems and asymmetric information. Corporate governance in banks is unique compared to non-financial firms, with factors such as higher opaqueness, heavy regulations, and government interventions, which thus require distinct analysis. Although it is well recognised that corporate governance can affect bank value, in this thesis I combine external and internal corporate governances by considering board composition and ownership structure, as well as trading behaviour on stock markets. The main objective of this thesis is to study empirically the impact of various governance mechanisms on bank stability, in terms of capital strategy, risk-taking and performance.
The finding is that there exists a significantly positive relationship between market discipline and bank capital structure. In addition, over-performing banks attract a high level of informed trading, which in turn leads to a higher level of capital buffer held by a bank. Also, banks with strong corporate governance are associated with higher risk-taking. More specifically, banks that have an intermediate board size, a separation between the CEO and the chairman of board, and are audited by the Big Four audit firm, are likely to take higher risks. Banks with more state shareholders also tend to have poorer performances, and banks with higher domestic and private shareholders generally operate more profitably. Ownership type diversity is associated with better bank performance, while banks with concentrated ownership are worse performing. Finally, banks with political connections distribute more credit than nonpolitically connected banks. The results have certain policy implications for understanding the role of governance in affecting bank operations that, in turn, could improve bank prudency and assist the design of an enhanced regulation framework. Regulators should reduce protection, improve banks’ asset quality, and strengthen market discipline.
We present a novel UV/visible reflection-absorption spectrometer for determining the refractive index, n, and thicknesses, d, of ice films. Knowledge of the refractive index of these films is of particular relevance to the astrochemical community, where they can be used to model radiative transfer and spectra of various regions of space. In order to make these models more accurate, values of n need to be recorded under astronomically relevant conditions, that is, under ultra-high vacuum (UHV) and cryogenic cooling. Several design considerations were taken into account to allow UHV compatibility combined with ease of use. The key design feature is a stainless steel rhombus coupled to an external linear drive (z-shift) allowing a variable reflection geometry to be achieved, which is necessary for our analysis. Test data for amorphous benzene ice is presented as a proof of concept, the film thickness, d, was found to vary linearly with surface exposure and a value for n of 1.43 ± 0.07 was determined.
Previous research has examined public views on climate change and pro-environmental behaviour; however, there has been little focus on in-depth qualitative examination of views on mitigation strategies carried out by different social actors. This paper examines how people discuss strategies to mitigate climate change and the relative responsibilities of individuals, the UK government and corporations. Twenty people were interviewed about what they thought should be done to reduce the degree of climate change. Three main themes in their responses are identified: (1) representations of climate change, (2) responsibility for action, and (3) opposing environmental and economic interests. Overall, there was support for a variety of climate change mitigation strategies. There was some emphasis on individual behaviour change combined with suggestions about greater information provision and the importance of personal choice. Although some participants criticised economic and profit-oriented structures, there was a strong sense among participants that change in this regard was unlikely. An expansion of examples of alternative strategies to address climate change could contribute towards transcending individualised approaches, and accentuate perceptions of possibilities for significant social change.
Innovation management is inherently inter-disciplinary, but it is much more than simply applying business and management disciplines to innovation, and over time the field has developed a distinct body of knowledge. However, in this paper we argue that the field of innovation management has failed to fully-benefit from the proliferation of relevant research because much of this work has not been sufficiently coherent and cumulative. One reason we for this, we propose, is the propensity to follow and fit research and publications into contemporary fads, rather than to ground work in more fundamental themes and challenges. We present two examples of such fads, open innovation and business model innovation, to illustrate the trend. Finally, we suggest some more fundamental integrating themes and management challenges.
In this contribution we discuss how the series solution method can be used effectively to probe the bound state stability of three-particle systems. We demonstrate the versatility of the method by presenting results of a variational method for calculating the threshold values of particle mass or particle charge for the formation of a bound state. By treating all the particles on an equal footing, we explore the effects of nuclear motion in diatomic ions and electron correlation in two-electron atomic systems.
We propose and analyze an all-magnetic scheme to perform a Young's double slit experiment with a micron-sized superconducting sphere of mass $\gtrsim {10}^{13}$ amu. We show that its center of mass could be prepared in a spatial quantum superposition state with an extent of the order of half a micrometer. The scheme is based on magnetically levitating the sphere above a superconducting chip and letting it skate through a static magnetic potential landscape where it interacts for short intervals with quantum circuits. In this way, a protocol for fast quantum interferometry using quantum magnetomechanics is passively implemented. Such a table-top earth-based quantum experiment would operate in a parameter regime where gravitational energy scales become relevant. In particular, we show that the faint parameter-free gravitationally-induced decoherence collapse model, proposed by Diósi and Penrose, could be unambiguously falsified.
Australia and Britain share many common aspects in their democratic political and media systems, but there are also important differences. Perhaps the single most important media difference is that television has been a much more important element in the UK political communication system than it has been in Australia. The British Broadcasting Corporation is a much bigger and more central institution than the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and commercial TV in Britain has a much stronger public service mandate. The British press has a national structure which can give it a substantive collective role, although its right-wing dominance means it has been a less-than-benign influence on public life. Both countries are facing rapid changes, with partisan political divisions in flux and the digital environment disrupting traditional media models. In this article, we seek to interrogate the commonalities and differences between the media and political systems operating in Australia and the United Kingdom. After tracing some important differences in their institutional structures, the dominant theme of our later analysis is that in both systems, and in both countries, the overarching narrative is one of disruption. And we pose the question – Will the current disruptions widen or narrow these differences?
My harmonic approach is founded on two premises, pertaining especially to chordal spacing. First, that for each of the 4,096 possible sets of pitch-classes within equal temperament, without exception, certain spacing principles and techniques, if consistently applied, will generate clear, or relatively clear chordal roots. Typically, the resulting sonorities will possess more than one root – that is, be heard as polychords. Second, that one may control the level of inherent sensory dissonance of any given set of pitch-classes, presented as a chord, through register.
These two factors combine to induce both harmonic coherence and euphony. For most listeners, rightly or wrongly, these are not qualities normally associated with music written using the 4,096 – that is, ostensibly ‘atonal’, ‘non-tonal’ or ‘post-tonal’ music. Through my harmonic method, since chordal roots are consistently clarified, one may compose progressions of chordal roots – an asset on which the coherence of diatonic tonality also fundamentally depends. Within a non-diatonic context, the expressive and technical consequences are far-reaching.
The following textual commentary demonstrates all of the above, supported by analyses of numerous musical extracts. These are drawn primarily from four of the compositions included in the portfolio – Madame de Meuron, The Art of Thinking Clearly, Velvet Revolution and Nevermore.
1. Worldwide declines in pollinators, including bumblebees, are attributed to a multitude of stressors such as habitat loss, resource availability, emerging viruses and parasites, exposure to pesticides, and climate change, operating at various spatial and temporal scales. Disentangling individual and interacting effects of these stressors, and understanding their impact at the individual, colony and population level is a challenge for systems ecology. Empirical testing of all combinations and contexts is not feasible. A mechanistic multi-level systems model (individual-colony-population-community) is required to explore resilience mechanisms of populations and communities under stress.
2. We present a model which can simulate the growth, behaviour and survival of six UK bumblebee species living in any mapped landscape. Bumble-BEEHAVE simulates, in an agent-based approach, the colony development of bumblebees in a realistic landscape to study how multiple stressors affect bee numbers and population dynamics. We provide extensive documentation, including sensitivity analysis and validation, based on data from literature. The model is freely available, has flexible settings and includes a user manual to ensure it can be used by researchers, farmers, policy-makers, NGO's or other interested parties.
3. Model outcomes compare well with empirical data for individual foraging behaviour, colony growth and reproduction, and estimated nest densities.
4. Simulating the impact of reproductive depression caused by pesticide exposure shows that the complex feedback mechanisms captured in this model predict higher colony resilience to stress than suggested by a previous, simpler model.
5. Synthesis and applications. The Bumble-BEEHAVE model represents a significant step towards predicting bumblebee population dynamics in a spatially explicit way. It enables researchers to understand the individual and interacting effects of the multiple stressors affecting bumblebee survival and the feedback mechanisms that may buffer a colony against environmental stress, or indeed lead to spiralling colony collapse. The model can be used to aid the design of field experiments, for risk assessments, to inform conservation and farming decisions and for assigning bespoke management recommendations at a landscape scale.
An essay which assesses the likelihood of the recommendations on the 2016 Putnam Report being introduced, and focuses on the BBC as a case study. The article identifies the major challenges as (a) ideological opposition to the BBC from the current Tory government, and (b) internal cultural issues within BBC News, which have damaged the BBC's claims to impartiality in its news coverage.
Researchers with interests in human eating behaviour from disciplines as diverse as nutrition, food science, sensory science and psychology all need reliable and reproducible measures of appetite and intake. Current approaches to measuring intake and appetite are summarised in this chapter, putting these measures into historical context. The initial focus is on food intake, noting the differences in approach between acute intake typically measured under laboratory conditions and long-term free-living intake estimated by diet diaries and food frequency questionnaires. The strengths and weaknesses inherent in each approach are discussed, along with an evidence-based assessment of the critical issues that need to be addressed for successful study design. The use of microstructural techniques based around the Universal Eating Monitor approach allows discussion of the added value of collecting information on meal duration, eating rate, bite-size etc. Focus then switches to measures of appetite, detailing different scales used to measure the subjective experience of hunger and fullness, the two key measures of appetite, again with consideration of strengths and weaknesses of each approach. However, although measurement of either intake or appetite alone can be informative, the chapter shows how studies that examine inter-relationships between measures provides the most detailed account of ingestion, and allows greater clarity when examining mechanisms underlying behaviour. The chapter ends with a case study which illustrates the stages needed to design a detailed appetite investigation to provide the reader with an example of best practice.
This cultural history explores how the sounds, rhythms and quietude of the natural world were listened to, interpreted and used amid the pressures of modernising Britain between 1914 and 1945. By engaging with the sounds of nature as objects of study, the meanings of modern noise have been considered in relation to the much older sounds and listening practices rooted in English pastoral traditions. But this is also a broader exploration of human perceptions of and responses to mechanised modern life. The thesis concentrates on four listening scenarios during the period that illuminate the perspectives of soldiers, civilians, broadcasting and sound recording authorities, as well as natural historians, especially ornithologists. First, the Western Front trench experience, in which the fantasies and realities of birdsong are set alongside the cultivation of battle ‘sonic mindedness’. Second, the debates about the return of shell-shocked officers and rank-and-file soldiers to the quietude of the pastoral as a recuperative environment. Third, the ideas associated with nature’s sounds, stillness and silence – earthly and cosmic – that were part of the philosophy of early BBC broadcasting. And lastly, the place of recorded and broadcast British birdsong on the home front during the Second World War. This investigation has drawn upon diverse primary sources that include soldiers’ writings, the archives of shell shock hospitals, natural history texts, together with broadcasting accounts in wireless magazines, the publications of BBC personnel and the BBC’s Written Archive. The core question addressed is this: in what ways have the sounds of nature been part of the British social and cultural consciousness in times of chaos and threat from war and its shadow? The thesis argues that mechanised modernity has been endured and managed in part by drawing upon the security and harmony found in the sounds and rhythms of nature.
Previous research has found that the attention of social drinkers is preferentially oriented towards alcohol related stimuli (attentional capture). This is argued to play a role in escalating craving for alcohol that can result in hazardous drinking. According to Incentive theories of drug addiction, the stimuli associated with the drug reward acquire learned incentive salience, and grab attention. However, it is not clear whether the mechanism by which this bias is created is a voluntary or an automatic one, although some evidence suggests a stimulus-driven mechanism. Here we test for the first time whether this attentional capture could reflect an involuntary consequence of a goal-driven mechanism. Across three experiments, participants were given search goals to detect either an alcoholic or a non-alcoholic object (target) in a stream of briefly presented objects unrelated to the target. Prior to the target, a task-irrelevant parafoveal distractor appeared. This could either be congruent or incongruent with the current search goal. Applying a meta-analysis, we combined the results across the three experiments and found consistent evidence of goal-driven attentional capture; whereby alcohol distractors impeded target detection when the search goal was for alcohol. By contrast, alcohol distractors did not interfere with target detection while participants were searching for a non-alcoholic category. A separate experiment revealed that the goal-driven capture effect was not found when participants held alcohol features active in memory but did not intentionally search for them. These findings suggest a strong goal-driven account of attentional capture by alcohol cues in social drinkers.
The past 30 years have witnessed a continued and growing interest in the production and comprehension of manual pointing gestures in nonhuman animals. Captive primates with diverse rearing histories have shown evidence of both pointing production and comprehension, though there certainly are individual and species differences, as well as substantive critiques of how to interpret pointing or “pointing-like” gestures in animals. Early literature primarily addressed basic questions about whether captive apes point, understand pointing, and use the gesture in a way that communicates intent (declarative) rather than motivational states (imperative). Interest in these questions continues, but more recently there has been a dramatic increase in the number of papers examining pointing in a diverse array of species, with an especially large literature on canids. This proliferation of research on pointing and the diversification of species studied has brought new and exciting questions about the evolution of social cognition, and the effects of rearing history and domestication on pointing production and, more prolifically, comprehension. A review of this work is in order. In this paper we examine trends in the literature on pointing in nonhumans. Specifically, we examine publication frequencies of different study species from 1987 to 2016. We also review data on the form and function of pointing, and evidence either supporting or refuting the conclusion that various nonhuman species comprehend the meaning of pointing gestures.
Verbruggen, Chambers, Lawrence & McLaren (2017) recently challenged the view that individuals act with greater caution following the experience of a negative outcome by showing that a gambled loss resulted in faster reaction time on the next trial. Over three experiments, we replicate and establish the boundary conditions of this effect in the context of a simple game (Rock, Paper, Scissors). Choice responding against unexploitable opponents replicated the link between failure and faster responding. However, individuals with high win-rates against exploitable opponents initiated slower rather than faster responding following loss. The data suggest that the link between failure and impulsivity is limited to contexts where participants cannot exert control over outcomes.
While evidence suggests that pain cries produced by human babies and other mammal infants communicate acoustic cues to pain intensity, whether the pain vocalisations of human adults also encode pain intensity, and which acoustic characteristics influence listeners’ perceptions, remains unexplored. Here, we investigated how trained actors communicated pain by comparing the acoustic characteristics of nonverbal vocalisations expressing different levels of pain intensity (mild, moderate, and severe). We then performed playback experiments to examine whether vocalisers successfully communicated pain intensity to listeners, and which acoustic characteristics were responsible for variation in pain ratings. We found that the mean and range of voice fundamental frequency (F0, perceived as pitch), the amplitude of the vocalisation, the degree of periodicity of the vocalisation, and the proportion of the signal displaying nonlinear phenomena all increased with the level of simulated pain intensity. In turn, these parameters predicted increases in listeners’ ratings of pain intensity. We also found that while different voice features contributed to increases in pain ratings within each level of expressed pain, a combination of these features explained an impressive amount of the variance in listeners’ pain ratings, both across (76%) and within (31-54%) pain levels. Our results show that adult vocalisers can volitionally simulate and modulate pain vocalisations to influence listeners’ perceptions of pain in a manner consistent with authentic human infant and nonhuman mammal pain vocalisations, and highlight potential for the development of a practical quantitative tool to improve pain assessment in populations unable to self-report their subjective pain experience.
Cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) is a major health challenge. Therapeutic approaches remain limited, hampered by the lack of mechanistic understanding and identification of therapeutic targets. Relevant animal models could provide a cornerstone to basic scientific studies of disease mechanisms and pre-clinical studies of potential therapies, but there is a critical need to improve the current translational gap that exists between pre-clinical research and treatments in patients. The Medical Research Council Dementias Platform UK (MRC DPUK) Vascular Experimental Medicine Theme identified that a comprehensive assessment of the latest developments in animal models and of their contribution to understanding of cerebral microvascular disease would reduce the translational gap. In response to this, a two day workshop took place in late January 2017 at the British Heart Foundation Centre of Research Excellence in Glasgow, Scotland in conjunction with MRC DPUK and brought together experts from several disciplines in cerebrovascular disease, dementia and cardiovascular biology, to highlight current advances in these fields, explore synergies and scope for development. There were presentations from UK and international researchers and a specific focus on animal models of cerebral microvascular disease and dementia, considering vascular biology, neurogliovascular coupling, blood-brain barrier function, neuroinflammation, cerebral drainage pathways, and methodological and translational challenges (see Figure 1 for the general organisation of the meeting including the key topics and themes discussed). This overview provides a summary of the key talks, with a particular focus on mechanisms of cerebral vascular disease (see Figure 2) and improving translation. These talks were followed by related themed discussion groups on the gaps in knowledge and requirements to advance knowledge, the outcomes of which are highlighted in Table 1. Additional related articles are published in the Special Edition of Clinical Science (http://www.portlandpresspublishing.com/cc/small-vessels).
Through a series of four studies using qualitative, correlational, and experimental methods, this thesis identifies sources of identity threat in sexual and ethnic minorities in Turkey, where these identities are highly stigmatised and subject to ongoing prejudice, and examines coping strategies and their implications for well-being. In Paper 1, extending previous qualitative findings, I show using structural equation modelling that identifying as a ‘global citizen’ helps gay men integrate their incompatible sexual (gay) and gender (male) identities in a traditional society, and this increased gay-male identity integration predicts higher well-being. In Paper 2, I substantiated these findings with an experiment, whereby participants primed with pro-globalisation worldviews increased their identification as global citizens, which then increased their gay-male identity integration. Here, I also found that access to gay-affirmative social spaces, where gay men can express their identity comfortably, also helps increase gay men’s well-being. In Paper 3, I present findings from an interview study with Kurdish ethnic minority members from Turkey, identifying key sources of identity threat for this group as well as key coping strategies that might form a basis for potential interventions to improve well-being. Finally, in Paper 4, I tested one of these coping strategies–collective ethnic nostalgia–investigating its effects on identity motives at personal and group levels, and on well-being; here, discuss potential reasons why collective nostalgia may fail to serve as a psychological resource for coping in a highly threatened group. Together, these studies contribute to the developing social psychological literatures on identity threat and coping, multiple identities, identity motives, and nostalgia. Moreover, they provide practical implications regarding how the well-being of stigmatised minority group members could be improved with bottom-up coping strategies, in contexts where minority group rights are not ensured by legal protection.
This thesis begins with the claim that to fully recognise the notion of ‘life’ in D.H. Lawrence’s writing, we must radically reconsider the ways in which we approach his texts. I argue that Lawrence’s ‘life’ cannot be confined to the auto/biographical life of an author, or to merely anthropocentric concerns, but extends to the nonhuman and what I propose to call the ‘life of writing’. The majority of Lawrence scholarship—in limiting its readings to the auto/biographical, humanist, narrative and character-based—has effectively worked to disavow and neutralise the elements of his writing that are most strange, hidden, unfathomable, contradictory, nonhuman, unconscious, resistant, disruptive, and, ultimately, dangerous. Each of my critical chapters and creative sections explores and seeks to avow the nonhuman, dangerous, unknowable life of Lawrence’s oeuvre, approaching his texts with a focus on letters (epistolary and alphabetic) and nonhuman (as well as human) life. My reading of Lawrence works to foreground the materiality of his writing, that which takes place between letters, exposing a semantic playfulness and experimentation in his texts that has long been ignored or insufficiently appreciated. My first chapter reads the question of life and animation in Lawrence’s letters (which have rarely been studied by scholars outside of their relation to Lawrence’s biography and the exegesis of his novels and other work). My second chapter looks at plants and writing in Sons and Lovers, considering how the presence of a kind of vegetal life in the novel works to undermine traditional concepts of narrative and character. In Chapter Three, I investigate the ways in which Lawrence writes against himself, his own narratives. Reading the novella St. Mawr, I demonstrate that material, crypt-like elements of the writing work to resist the kind of teleological reading to which the text is usually subjected. In my fourth and final chapter, I think about the way the poems of Birds, Beasts and Flowers produce uncalculated effects in order to ensure their own survival, living on like postcards that never fully reach their destination.
In addition to this critical investigation, my thesis includes a creative writing element. Taking inspiration from Lawrence’s letters and postcards, I seek to countersign him through a series of fragmented postcards that play with the various features of ‘the life of writing’ explored in the critical part of my thesis. These postcards are interspersed between the chapters in five sections (‘Eastwood’, ‘Croydon’, ‘Sicily’, ‘Zennor’, Texas’), responding to and in dialogue with certain Lawrencian gestures and tropes. They acknowledge a sense of Lawrence’s (and my own) auto/biographical life in the sense that they are often written from the places he lived or visited (which I also visited as part of my research), while always drawing away from notions of authorship, narrative and human lived experience, towards a more impersonal, unconscious, nonhuman life of writing.
Arable field margins are often sown with wild flowers to encourage pollinators and other beneficial or desirable insects such as bees and butterflies. Concern has been raised that these margins may be contaminated with systemic pesticides such as neonicotinoids used on the adjacent crop, and that this may negatively impact on beneficial insects. The use of neonicotinoids has been linked to butterfly declines, and species such as the common blue butterfly (Polyommatus icarus) that feed upon legumes commonly sown in arable field margins, may be exposed to such toxins. Here, we demonstrate that the larval foodplants of P. icarus growing in an arable field margin adjacent to a wheat crop treated with the neonicotinoid clothianidin, not only contain the pesticide at concentrations comparable to and sometimes higher than those found in foliage of treated crops (range 0.2 to 48 ppb), but remain detectable at these levels for up to 21 months after sowing the crop. Overall, our study demonstrates that non-target herbivorous organisms in arable field margins are likely to be chronically exposed to neonicotinoids. Under laboratory conditions, exposure to clothianidin at 15ppb (a field-realistic dose) or above reduced larval growth for the first 9 days of the experiment. Although there was evidence of clothianidin inducing mortality in larvae, with highest survival in control groups, the dose-response relationship was unclear. Our study suggests that larvae of this butterfly exhibit some deleterious sublethal and sometimes lethal impacts of exposure to clothianidin, but many larvae survive to adulthood even when exposed to high doses.
This study examines the role of paternal emotional support as a resilience promoter in offspring of mothers with depression by considering the role of fathers’ mental health and the quality of the couple relationship. Two hundred and sixty-five mothers with recurrent unipolar depression, partners and adolescents from Wales were assessed. Paternal emotional support, couple relationship quality, and paternal depression were assessed at baseline; adolescent mental health symptoms were assessed using the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Assessment at follow-up. Results showed evidence of an indirect pathway whereby couple relationship quality predicted paternal emotional support (β=-.21, 95% CI [-.34, -.08]; p=.002) which in turn predicted adolescent depression (β=-.18, 95% CI [-.33, -.04]; p=.02), but not disruptive behaviours (β=-.10, 95% CI [-.26, .40]; p=.21), after controlling for relevant confounders. The findings highlight that fathers and the broader family system play an important role in enhancing resilience to depression symptoms in at-risk adolescents.
1. There is growing concern that declines in some managed and wild bee pollinator populations threaten biodiversity, the functioning of vital ecological processes and sustainable food production on a global scale.
2. In recent years, there has been increasing evidence that sub-lethal exposure to the neurotoxic class of insecticides (neonicotinoids) can undermine pollinator immunocompetence and amplify the effects of diseases, which have been suspected to be one of the drivers of pollinator declines. However, exactly how neonicotinoids might inhibit pollinator immunity remains elusive.
3. Here we put forward a mechanistic framework to explain the effects of neurotoxic pesticides on insect immunocompetence. We propose that there is a close ontogenetic connection between the cellular arm (haemocytes) of the insect immune and nervous systems, and that this connection makes the immune system of pollinators and other insects inherently susceptible to interference by neurotoxins such as neonicotinoids at sublethal doses.
4. Investigation of this connection is urgently needed to confirm the validity of this framework, and develop a clear, mechanistically-informed understanding of the interplay between neonicotinoids and disease ecology in pollinators. This in turn may enable us to develop strategies to mitigate impacts of neurotoxins on pollinators and/or enhance their impacts on pests.
We develop a method to project missing sectoral services output and trade. For OECD countries, projected and observed output data match well. The basis is a structural gravity model to estimate barriers to services trade across sectors, countries and time. The model fits well and reveals key differences across service sectors. Border barriers fall over time but unevenly. Inferred border barriers are fitted to national geography, technology, income and endowments, and institutional determinants. The fitted model including fitted border barriers is used to project missing internal or bilateral trade flows, aggregating to projected output.
The work presented in this thesis deals with the employment of Schiff base ligands used to synthesise novel 3d-4f polynuclear coordination clusters (PCCs) and the investigation into their potential magnetic, luminescent and catalytic properties.
Chapter one provides a general introduction to the chemistry described in the thesis. It includes a general overview of 3d-4f PCC chemistry and the applications of these materials and previous synthetic strategies for the preparation of Schiff base PCCs. A rationale is presented for the ligands employed in the thesis and a synthetic strategy is devised for the synthesis of specific materials.
The initial chapters are focused on the synthesis of 3d-4f PCCs with novel core topologies and the study of their magnetic properties. Several novel series of 3d-4f PCCs are presented with unique core topologies which are previously unobserved in 3d-4f PCC chemistry. In addition, some of the presented PCCs display single-molecule magnet (SMM) properties or a significant magnetocaloric effect (MCE).
Chapter five bridges synthetic aspects discussed in the previous chapters, with a synthetic study targeting 3d-4f PCCs with a defect dicubane core (2,3M4-1) and introduces the term “isoskeletal” to describe PCCs which possess the same topology or related organic structures with the same host framework but different guests.
Chapters seven to nine are focused on the development of a well characterised isoskeletal family of 3d-4f PCCs with a defect dicubane core and the investigation of their potential catalytic properties in a range of organic reactions including Michael Addition, Friedel-Crafts alkylations and multicomponent reactions. Characterisation of the 3d-4f PCCs is emphasised and verifies the stability of the 2,3M4-1 core in solution. An attempt at understanding the catalytic system and mechanistic aspects is undertaken, which is not explored in previously reported 3d-4f PCC co-operative catalysis.
Chapter ten provides an overall conclusion to the work presented in the thesis, whilst highlighting the contributions of this work to the reported literature.
This paper discusses how network theory and social capital can help explain different patterns of inclusion of small-scale and medium sized producers in agri-food clusters. We make the argument that despite the centralized nature of practices, the manner in which inclusion takes place can vary significantly depending on structural features of local networks and governance factors, especially social capital and the role of lead organisations. Social network analysis allows us to investigate how different patterns of bonding, bridging and centrality of key actors in agricultural clusters can influence diffusion of knowledge. We frame this discussion through a typology that allows us to identify diverse scenarios of inclusion of small-scale producers. This is then used to guide an empirical analysis of two agri-food clusters of small-scale producers in Peru (mango) and Colombia (palm oil). Judicious use of mixed methods and the typology can prove useful to explain diverse patterns of inclusion which have important implications for small-scale agricultural producers.
The game‐changing role of graphene oxide (GO) in tuning the excitonic behavior of conjugated polymer nanoparticles is described for the first time. This is demonstrated by using poly(3‐hexylthiophene) (P3HT) as a benchmark conjugated polymer and employing an in situ reprecipitation approach resulting in P3HT nanoparticles (P3HTNPs) with sizes of 50–100 nm in intimate contact with GO. During the self‐assembly process, GO changes the crystalline packing of P3HT chains in the forming P3HTNPs from H to H/J aggregates exhibiting exciton coupling constants as low as 2 meV, indicating favorable charge separation along the P3HT chains. Concomitantly, π–π interface interactions between the P3HTNPs and GO sheets are established resulting in the creation of P3HTNPs–GO charge‐transfer complexes whose energy bandgaps are lowered by up to 0.5 eV. Moreover, their optoelectronic properties, preestablished in the liquid phase, are retained when processed into thin films from the stable aqueous dispersions, thus eliminating the critical dependency on external processing parameters. These results can be transferred to other types of conjugated polymers. Combined with the possibility of employing water based “green” processing technologies, charge‐transfer complexes of conjugated polymer nanoparticles and GO open new pathways for the fabrication of improved optoelectronic thin film devices.
Borders are dividing lines – traditionally geographic, but also social – associated with a sense of identity: sameness on one side, and otherness across the threshold. People who inhabit borderlands are particularly attuned to the minutiae that define these edges, arguably more so than people who live deeper inland. This heightened awareness makes borderlands fundamentally interesting to sociolinguists because of the significance of language in defining category boundaries (e.g., Watt & Llamas 2014).
The inherent variability of language poses an analytical puzzle, however: how should we separate social correlates of structural change from socially-driven, identity-laden variation? Structural changes can move through a language system without becoming imbued with strong social meaning (e.g., Labov 1994), such that patterns coinciding with social categories aren’t necessarily indexical of those categories. Stereotypes can offer a starting point for investigating social meaning, but language attitude (e.g., Baker 1992) and dialectology (Labov, Ash & Boberg 2006) have demonstrated that we attune to more than easily-articulated stereotypes (e.g., Preston 2002). In any given borderland, how do we know which variation is doing locally-meaningful identity work?
This paper presents an analytical approach focusing on the linguistic practices of liminal people – border-crossers – as a way of identifying which features are perceptually relevant to the border in question. I explore the socially-reified borderland of gender, considering liminality within the context of transsexuality. A sociophonetic analysis of young trans men (female-to-male transsexuals) in urban New Zealand shows that they are selective in which variables they have adapted in their transition: they have triaged their linguistic landscape and picked out which features are interpretable in their community as indexing gender. This methodological approach is extendable to linguistic exploration of more traditional borders, by drawing on geo-politically liminal people to identify variation that is likely to be relevant in the borderland communities themselves.
With the developing acceptance of gay equality in the west,, it is assumed that we live in a post-shame era, with ‘the world we have won’. However, this is a chimeric cliché of neoliberalism (rather like the idea that we are all postfeminist now). The ‘proud’ homosexual of the west is discursively constructed against the ‘shamed’ homosexual of the east, a typecasting resonant with postcolonial clichés of the primal, religious and homophobic savagery of the global south in contrast with the civilising, liberal evolution of the secular global north. Shame displacement is of course a dynamic of shame itself. The perceived failure in achieving the ‘proud iconic gay’ of media cultures in the global North results in a double bind of being ashamed of being ashamed. This article will reconsider the cultural politics and temporality of shame for primarily white gay identities after the ‘War on Terror’. As Islamophobia has exponentially increased, some western gays translocate their unacknowledged shame onto a misconceived ‘brown threat’ in a complex, aggressive, and racist shame loop (Lewis 1971, Scheff & Retzinger 1991).
The contemporary modern age is marked less by relations that take place within national borders and far more by those that transcend these frontiers. This chapter presents ethnographic research on HIV in South Africa and Brazil alongside a literature in international relations (IR). It highlights how global institutions are themselves implicated in people's embodied vulnerability and how they draw attention to the intersecting forms of inequality, linked to race, class, and gender, that undermine improved and equitable health—with a focus on access to AIDS medicines—across the scale from the molecular to the global. Drawing on this ethnographic research in South Africa, alongside qualitative and secondary research in Brazil and India, the chapter details current debates in global health in light of the networked threads that weave HIV-positive women's embodied vulnerability into the governance of biomedical technologies and the technologies of governance.
This special issue focuses on the rapid recent growth of solar PV across various geographies and scales in Africa. Herein we summarise the contributions of the component papers and position them within the context of the literature on sustainable energy access. We argue that there is an urgent need for greater attention to the neglected socio-cultural and political dimensions of sustainable energy access, dimensions that are vital to understand if ambitious global SDG commitments to achieving sustainable energy for all (ever, let alone by 2030) are to be achieved. This special issue includes papers on the: systemic and socio-technical nature of energy access transitions; politics and political economy of energy access; gendered dimensions of energy access; critical STS perspectives on the dominant, technologically determinist framing of energy access and implications for marginalising local actors, and; (for the first time in the energy access literature), application of social practice perspectives on energy access. The result is a diverse range of empirically grounded, theoretically and methodologically novel (in relation to the existing literature) approaches, providing important new insights into how to understand the neglected socio-cultural and political dimensions of sustainable energy access, whilst simultaneously increasing our understanding thereof.
This chapter analyzes contemporary film stardom in Latin America through three stars who represent not just a gender and geographical sweep of the continent (Brazilian Sonia Braga, Mexican Gael Garcia Bernal, and Argentine Ricardo Darin), but also the key discourses that define how Latin American stardom currently works. Although this chapter relates these discourses to individual stars and their careers, it also acknowledges that these concepts apply as well to other contemporary Latin American stars (e.g. Salma Hayek, Wagner Moura)
In the late 1990s and early 2000s Latin American films like Amores perros, Diarios de motocicleta, Y tu mamá también and Cidade de Deus enjoyed an unprecedented level of critical and commercial success in global markets. Benefiting from external financial and/or creative input, these films were considered examples of transnational cinema. Through a textual analysis of six filmmakers (Alejandro González Iñárritu, Alfonso Cuarón, Guillermo del Toro, Fernando Meirelles, Walter Salles and Juan José Campanella), this book examines these and other transnational films including the subsequent wave of commercially successful ‘deterritorialized’ films by the same directors. It argues that although the films produced within the structures of the United States film industry may have been commercially successful, they are not necessarily apolitical nor totally divorced from key notions of national or continental identity. Bringing a new perspective to the films of Latin America’s transnational auteurs, New Transnationalisms in Contemporary Latin American Cinemas is a major contribution towards understanding how different genres function across different cultures.
International agreements on energy access and climate change, formulated according to neoliberal orthodoxy, will drive significant finance to developing countries for clean technology investments. But critics call for more active state intervention – a developmental approach – arguing that free markets alone will not deliver what is required. This creates the potential for confrontation between contradictory ideologies in national policymaking and implementation: neoliberalism in global agreements versus developmentalism in national policy.
The Kenyan photovoltaics (PV) market has long-experienced neoliberal-developmental policy interactions, reflecting on which can illuminate how such encounters might unfold in the future. We construct a new ‘niche political economy’ theoretical framework to analyse these past interactions, constituting one of three contributions we offer. The second is empirical, showing how PV practitioners, national policymakers and global development actors have negotiated their policymaking encounters over time. Our third contribution offers reflections on the issues explored, discussing what this might mean for future neoliberal-developmental encounters.
We find that action on the ground will emerge from messy negotiated interactions between competing ideologies rather than be determined by powerful neoliberal actors. As such, realising global energy and climate ambitions becomes even more uncertain unless long-term active niche-building resources are secured in international agreements.
Empirical assessment of the links between market chain participation and food security is characterized by
conflicting evidence. Our goal is to deal with this issue at different points of the commercialization chain by
providing a sound identification strategy using the Uganda World Bank Living Standards Measurement Study-
Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA) panel data. By looking at the dynamics of farmers’ consumption
over time and controlling for a variety of household and production characteristics as well as possible confounding
factors, our results show that farmers’ food security is positively affected by participation in the market
chain, irrespective of the choice of outlet. This provides two key messages for policymaking: farmers selling to
the market are better off and intermediaries do not hamper food security.
Background: In Switzerland, the issue of young carers and young adult carers - young people under the age of 18 and 24 respectively, who take on significant or substantial caring tasks and levels of responsibility that would usually be associated with an adult - has not been researched before. The number of these younger carers is unknown, as is the extent and kind of their caring activities and the outcomes for their health, well-being, psycho-social development, education, transitions to adulthood, future employability and economic participation.
Methods: The project is comprised of three stages:
1. A national Swiss-wide online survey to examine awareness of the issue of younger carers amongst professional populations in the education, health and social services sectors;
2. An online survey of 4800 Swiss pupils in schools using standardised instruments to identify the proportion and characteristics of pupils who are carers; and
3. Semi-structured interviews with 20 families comprising family members with care needs and younger carers, to consolidate and validate the other stages of the study; and to hear directly from care-dependent family members and younger carers about their experiences of the issues identified in the surveys and in previous published research.
Discussion: The needs of younger carers and their ill and disabled family members in Switzerland have not been systematically investigated. This will be the first study in the country to investigate these issues and to develop evidence-based recommendations for policy and practice, drawing also on international research. The present study therefore fills an important national and international research gap. It will collect important data on the awareness, extent, kind and impact of caring amongst children and young people in Switzerland, and cross-link these findings with robust evidence from other countries. The study will reveal (a) the extent of awareness of the issue of young carers amongst medical, social, health, educational, and other groups in Switzerland; (b) the proportion and number of young carers amongst a normative child population, and what these young carers ‘do’ in terms of their caring roles; and (c) direct accounts by families of their care-giving and receiving experiences.
The role of alternative justice mechanisms (AJMs) in international criminal justice (ICJ) has been the subject of rigorous debate in recent years. This thesis joins the discussion by investigating whether AJMs can achieve the aims of ICJ that are attributed to criminal prosecutions. If AJMs can attain ICJ goals, there are important implications for the entire complementarity regime at the International Criminal Court (ICC), requiring ICC judges to defer prosecutions in their favour. By establishing a framework against which ICC trials and AJMs can be evaluated, the thesis contributes to the debate and aims to provide an element of consistency in an area which is dominated by creative ambiguity.
Arguing that criminal prosecutions have a limited impact on ICJ aims, the thesis considers AJMs generally before undertaking an in-depth historical and comparative analysis of the Mato Oput process in Uganda and the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (SATRC). It concludes that Mato Oput does not satisfy the goals of ICJ and therefore would be unlikely to persuade the Court to defer prosecutions. It suggests, however, that an AJM based on the SATRC model would have the potential to attain many ICJ goals and therefore the ICC should declare a situation where the state adopts this method of justice and accountability inadmissible to the ICC.
Finally, the thesis examines the decisions of the ICC judges in previous admissibility challenges and argues that they must demonstrate a broader and more flexible approach when interpreting the ICC’s mandate if AJMs are to satisfy the complementarity principle. Doing so would also help to avert the growing antipathy of many African states towards the ICC and ensure the future support and co-operation of states parties.
As a result of the high cost of drug discovery, it is imperative that promising targets with strong disease association are identified and validated before embarking on costly molecule discovery and development phases. Chemical inhibitors provide an excellent tool for target validation. This project was initiated with the aim of designing and characterising tool inhibitors of proteins involved in the DNA damage response, to enable detailed mechanistic biological investigation, disease validation and initiation of translational drug discovery projects.
The SMC complexes are critically important in coordinating chromosome condensation, sister chromatid cohesion, DNA repair, homologous recombination and transcriptional regulation. They represent interesting oncology targets and are compelling targets for tool inhibitor development. The core SMC proteins and NSE subunits of SMC5/6 and cohesin SMC1 and SMC3 were modelled and their druggabilities assessed, with an aim to advance to inhibitor development for any of the proteins that proved druggable. Unfortunately, the SMC5/6 and cohesin complexes were established as not druggable.
BAF180 represents a major clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) cancer gene, exhibiting truncating mutations in 41% of samples in a series of primary ccRCCs.1 It has therefore been highlighted as a promising opportunity to target ccRCC using a synthetic lethal therapeutic approach.2 Hopkins et al. utilised a novel screening technique to identify several genes that are synthetic lethal with BAF180.3 In this work, the druggabilities of three of these genes were assessed, and KAT2A was identified as a promising target for tool inhibitor development.
Druggable pockets were identified at the KAT2A histone acetyltransferase (HAT) domain and bromodomain. The catalytically active HAT domain was prioritised as the preferred target. Potential KAT2A HAT domain inhibitors were available from a high-throughput screen (HTS), which utilised a fluorescence based activity assay.4,5 Unfortunately, this assay format proved prohibitively unreliable, and moreover, after discounting the hits from the HTS as likely false positives, the inventory of KAT2A inhibitors was quickly exhausted and the target abandoned.
Focus turned to the KAT2A bromodomain. Available X-ray crystal structures were utilised in a computational drug design effort, and Tm shift, TR-FRET, ITC and X-ray crystallography techniques were optimised and established in-house to enable characterisation of prospective KAT2A tool inhibitors. Over 3000 small molecules and fragments were screened, and an assortment of novel KAT2A bromodomain binders were identified. The optimised assays, novel chemical matter and ligand-bound crystal structures afford an exciting opportunity to develop potent and selective KAT2A bromodomain tool inhibitors.
Background: Primary endocrine therapy (PET) is used as an alternative to surgery in up to 40% of UK women with early breast cancer over age 70. This study has investigated the impact of surgery versus PET on breast cancer specific survival (BCSS) in older women.
Methods: Cancer registration data were obtained from two English regions from 2002 to 2010 (n=23,961). A retrospective analysis was performed for women with ER positive disease, using statistical modelling to show the effect of treatment (surgery or PET) and age/health status on BCSS. Missing data was handled using multiple imputation.
Results: After data pre-processing, 18,730 (78.5%) were identified as having ER positive disease; of these, 10,087 (54%) had surgery and 8,643 (46%) had PET. BCSS was worse in the PET group compared with the surgical group (5 year BCSS: 69% v 90% respectively). This was true for all strata considered, though the differential was lessened in the cohort with the greatest degree of comorbidity. For older, frailer patients the hazard of breast cancer death has less relative impact on overall survival. Selection for surgery on the basis of predicted life expectancy may permit selection of women for whom surgery confers little benefit. This model is being used to develop an on-line algorithm to aid management of older women with early breast cancer (Age Gap Risk Prediction Tool).
Conclusion: BCSS in older women with ER positive disease is worse if surgery is omitted. This treatment choice may, therefore, contribute to inferior cancer outcomes.
Engaging with archaeologists, as well as artists exploring the issue of 'race' representation, this book reviews the taxonomies and culture in place at national museums in Britain and New Zealand and considers a postcolonial account of curatorial practice. It argues that the current taxonomies are remnants of 19th century scientific racism which are now being revised at the British Museum, London and Te Papa, Wellington. Using research with two artist/curators and a live exhibition, the book proposes a new approach to race at the museum for the 21st century. As part of an ongoing exercise in assessing the place of critical race theory within a museum context, the book's author curated an exhibition entitled "An Archaeology of Race" from July 2009-Jan 2011. She co-curated this exhibition with Kahutoi Te Kanawa and Rosanna Raymond, two art practitioners - one Polynesian and the other Maori - whose work confronts the general exclusion of their own art and their societies' cultural heritage from modern accounts of art, and the delimitation of it to an 'ethnographic' categorisation of everyday cultural artifacts. The book is in three sections. Section one is based on questions of race within an archaeological case study of an UNESCO world heritage site of Hadrian's Wall. Representation of race in the archaeological, historical and curatorial accounts is examined through the Emperor Septimius Severus, the very first African Imperial ruler of the Roman Empire, including Britain. Collaborating with artist Rosanna Raymond, the author uses an ethnographic approach in Section Two to examine how the museum presents a naturalization of race discourse when exhibiting South Sea Islanders, and Polynesians both within and without Britain. The racialisation of Polynesian culture, art and life is critiqued through a project in the new galleries of the British museum. The final section of this book is based on the ethnography of the artist Kahutoi Te Kanawa and her own critique of the racialisation of Maori culture and art which is located in the colonial legacy of Captain Cook and the museum cultures in the UK and Aotearoa.
It is now well established that severe mental illness (SMI) is associated with a reduced lifespan and increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Individuals with SMI often have abnormalities of lipid metabolism, glucose homeostasis, an increased prevalence of obesity and hypertension. They also have an increased prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome (MetS). The reasons for this are not entirely clear, but are likely to be multifactorial. Whilst there have been numerous studies investigating the prevalence of MetS in patients with SMI, many have been in small, mixed population samples, that have not been adequately controlled for the background population from which they have been drawn. This is important because of the wide range of prevalence estimates that have been reported, and variations of MetS prevalence with ethnicity. The negative impact of treatment with second-generation antipsychotic (SGA) drugs on the risk of MetS also appears clear in most populations, although the mechanisms accounting for this increased risk are yet to be clarified. Despite this high prevalence of CVD risk factors in patients with SMI, most studies report a poor implementation of screening for CVD risk factors at baseline, and following initiation of treatment with SGAs. Not all patients with SMI are susceptible to the adverse effects of SGAs, but in those that are, switching to an anti-psychotic that is less likely to cause metabolic disturbance, starting statin therapy and a reduction in CVD risk factors through changes in lifestyle may all be important strategies.
New ventures that innovate are much more likely to create
value, both private and social, but few new ventures are successful,and fewer manage to grow and prosper. Part of the challenge lies in the way we bridge the gap between a great idea and realizing its value, whether commercial or social. We now have a great deal of research understanding about the process of entrepreneurship, and this resource is an attempt to integrate that in a practical fashion for a wide audience. It is targeted at the needs of a growing body of students enrolled in degree programs around entrepreneurship and innovation, but is of interest to a wider group of people concerned with taking ideas forward, whether as start-ups or as part of new ventures within established organizations.
We draw upon the latest theories, research, and practice of entrepreneurship, including business model canvas, lean startups, and entrepreneurial effectuation, and propose tools and exercises to support understanding, training, and practice.
The present thesis aims to contribute to the understanding of labour economics in Mexico. In particular, the decisions of individuals to enter a job in the formal or informal sector and how workers differ in terms of wage and time spent unemployed. Also analysing the effect of high levels of violence on wages.
In the first chapter, search channels are analysed. The results reveal that women benefit more in securing formal jobs when searching on-line, newspaper and via allocation offices. Men benefit from friends and family to secure informal jobs. Searching online for jobs implies a wage premium of 12.3% for formal workers and 7.0% for informal ones. Searching for jobs in the newspaper, implies a wage penalty of 5.24%. These results are robust after the correction for the potential issue of selection bias.
In the second chapter, the duration of unemployment is analysed. Both the single and multiple destination models permit us to conclude that going directly to the workplace and searching for jobs via newspaper reduce the time unemployed for those exiting into a formal job. Asking friends and relatives increases the hazard for those securing an informal job. These results are robust to the inclusion of unobserved heterogeneity in the estimation.
The third chapter offers an explanation of the impact that the presence of Drug Trafficking Organizations in Mexican municipalities on the wages of individuals. It also offers an explanation of the impact for both formal and informal workers. The estimation results of the preferred specification after instrumenting violence and the presence of DTOs to address reverse causality, yields a positive effect of the presence of DTOs, but no effect of violence. More specifically, an additional DTO per municipality increases wages by 5.7%. The impact on wages is not statistically different for formal and informal workers.
This thesis first examines the role of banks in the transmission mechanism of monetary policy by focusing on the eight European new member States of Central and Eastern Europe over the 2004-2013 period. We specifically investigate the influence of monetary policy changes on bank lending activity and if this potential influence is contingent on bank characteristics, such as banks’ size, capital, liquidity, risk factor and market power. Moreover, we focus on the prospective role of banks in the monetary policy transmission mechanism in order to reveal any clear trends in banks’ lending behaviour during the 2008-2011 financial crisis.
Secondly, we investigate the impact of a protracted period of low monetary policy rates on loosening of banks’ credit standards regarding enterprises, households and consumer loans through concentrating on the nine Eurozone countries involved since the initiation of the Euro area Bank Lending Survey in the three distinct time frames of pre- (2002Q4-2008Q3), mid- (2008Q4-2010Q4) and post- (2011Q1-2014:Q4) financial crisis. Furthermore, we test the fundamental concept of the risk taking channel by examining excessive risk-taking behaviour by banks in stressed vs. non-stressed countries of the Eurozone. In an additional analysis, the efficacy of the European Central Bank’s 3 year Long-Term Refinancing Operations is evaluated in great depth in order to determine whether banks’ credit standards have been softened and the degree to which demand for loans has increased.
Thirdly, we explore the financing structure of bank lending constrained Small and Medium Sized Enterprises in the eleven Eurozone countries by utilising firm-level data over the period of 2009 to 2014. We estimate if bank lending constrained firms demonstrate relatively more usage or requests for alternative financing. Additionally, a comprehensive investigation is presented by unveiling the impact and determinants of various financing constraints including credit lines, bank loans, trade credit and other lending on Eurozone firms. Furthermore, the notion of discouraged borrowers originally formulated by Kon and Storey (2003) is empirically evaluated.
Finally, we present the conclusion of our research by further outlining its limitations and prospective scope for future studies
The research in this thesis has examined the use of texture and shape analysis to characterise Magnetic Resonance (MR) images of peripheral nerves in order to provide a potential quantitative tool for better diagnosis and treatments.
Texture and shape can be considered as inherent properties of all surfaces and have the potential to provide sensitive information which cannot be quantitatively perceived by human vision. Texture analysis has been successfully used in image classification of aerial and satellite imagery and the diagnosis and prognosis of several types of cancer. However, to date, it has never been used in investigating peripheral nerve damage. In this thesis, we study the application of texture and shape analysis to the peripheral nerves in the upper extremities of patients suffering from Whiplash Associated Disorders (WAD).
Specifically, quantitative texture analysis was performed on MR images of the carpal tunnel which contains the median nerve. The median nerve was studied to identify differences in textural patterns. Texture methods such as: first order features; co-occurrence matrices; run-length matrices and autocorrelation function were applied and their performance was assessed. Texture analysis was also performed to investigate nerve damage in the MR images of the brachial plexus, both in controls and patients.
Further, spatial domain shape metrics were used to quantify and study the morphological differences of the median nerve in controls and patients. This highlighted that some significant differences exist between groups and thus could potentially be reliably used in combination with clinical scale metrics to identify possible nerve damage.
As MR images contain noise, locating the median nerve accurately to perform image analysis is very important. Therefore, we further investigated the application of an enhanced correlation filtering method that could be trained on images of the median nerve and then applied to detect the median nerve in test images. The Optimal Trade-off Maximum Average Correlation Height (OT-MACH) filter includes the expected distortions in the target in the construction of the filter reference function. The OT-MACH filter was tuned in a bandpass to maximize the correlation peak and thereby successfully locate the position of the median nerve in the carpal tunnel.
This study has successfully demonstrated that texture and shape analysis can be used to investigate possible peripheral nerve damage. Further research is required using larger datasets to establish a quantitative image analysis tool to support clinical decision making and thereby improve patient care and treatment outcome.
Vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs) can help reduce traffic accidents through broadcasting emergency messages among vehicles in advance. However, it is a great challenge to timely deliver the emergency messages to the right vehicles which are interested in them. Some protocols require to collect nearby real-time information before broadcasting a message, which may result in an increased delivery latency. In this paper, we proposed an improved position-based protocol to disseminate emergency messages among a large scale vehicle networks. Specifically, defined by the proposed protocol, messages are only broadcasted along their regions of interest, and a rebroadcast of a message depends on the information including in the message it has received. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed protocol can reduce unnecessary rebroadcasts considerably, and the collisions of broadcast can be effectively mitigated.
The thesis argues that for Jean-Paul Sartre and Martin Heidegger, the free will debate has been rendered intractable by a fundamental misunderstanding of the terms involved. This is exacerbated by a failure to identify and adopt an appropriate methodological approach to the problem. Both philosophers argue that this error in the free will debate is symptomatic of a broader misunderstanding of philosophical enquiry and the method it necessitates. For Heidegger, the entire history of ‘analytic/western’ ontology has been fatally misconceived as a result of an effort to define the being of entities in static terms. The insistence on the question of what a being ‘is’ obstructs any meaningful enquiry by conceding its existence at the outset of the investigation. Sartre’s project is founded on Heidegger’s argument, pushing it into a definitive claim about the nature of consciousness. He argues that as the only being for whom ‘meaning’ is possible, consciousness is distanced from beings by ‘nothingness’ which ensures its ontological freedom. The thesis will argue that Sartre has misconstrued Heidegger’s work, making comprehension of his freedom all the more complicated. We propose that a thorough investigation of their projects will reveal an account of ontological freedom that does not suffer from the shortcomings of existentialism whilst avoiding the methodological missteps of the traditional discourse.
Extremely dry conditions were experienced across most of southern Africa during the austral summer (October-March) of 2015/16, associated with one of the strongest observed El Niño events in the Pacific. Dry conditions peaked in the early austral summer months (October-December) producing the most intense drought in the 116 year historical record, as measured by the intensity of the Standardized Precipitation Index across all spatial scales up to the sub-continental. We estimate the return period of this extreme early summer drought to be greater than 200 years. The interior and eastern parts of South Africa were particularly hard-hit with station data showing rainfall totals being at their lowest since at least 1950. The early summer dry conditions make the 2015/16 event atypical compared to past El Niño events of similar magnitude. We find that key regional circulation patterns, influenced by planetary scale processes, play an important role in modulating the spatial and temporal evolution of the summer rainfall during these El Niño events. Specifically, (i) the Angola Low and the South Indian Ocean High, two dominant low level circulation features that drive moisture convergence to support convective precipitation in the region, were anomalously weakened in early austral summer of 2015/16 resulting in less moisture being transported over the continent, and (ii) the mid-level Botswana High was stronger than in previous El Niño years further producing unfavourable conditions for rainfall through stronger subsidence in the mid- to upper levels over southern Africa.
The R2TP/Prefoldin-like co-chaperone, in concert with HSP90, facilitates assembly and cellular stability of RNA polymerase II, and complexes of PI3-kinase-like kinases such as mTOR. However, the mechanism by which this occurs is poorly understood. Here we use cryo-EM and biochemical studies on the human R2TP core (RUVBL1–RUVBL2–RPAP3–PIH1D1) which reveal the distinctive role of RPAP3, distinguishing metazoan R2TP from the smaller yeast equivalent. RPAP3 spans both faces of a single RUVBL ring, providing an extended scaffold that recruits clients and provides a flexible tether for HSP90. A 3.6 Å cryo-EM structure reveals direct interaction of a C-terminal domain of RPAP3 and the ATPase domain of RUVBL2, necessary for human R2TP assembly but absent from yeast. The mobile TPR domains of RPAP3 map to the opposite face of the ring, associating with PIH1D1, which mediates client protein recruitment. Thus, RPAP3 provides a flexible platform for bringing HSP90 into proximity with diverse client proteins.
Ontological Narratives is a research project that explores philosophy through film making practice. The project is concerned to extend and complicate notions of practice as research, through the production of a group of films which both represent and interrogate theoretical issues raised by specific philosophical texts. It aims to both pursue specific research themes — questions concerning ontology and its relation to film narrative — and to question what we mean, and might mean, when we talk of practice as research. The project has forged interdisciplinary connections between film and philosophy through practice as research, carving out a unique position in the field. The project has made this intervention into philosophy from a position of creative practice, and from a feminist standpoint, which interrogates philosophy ontologically and epistemologically. In terms of philosophical content, the films from Ontological Narratives contain subject matter derived from readings of philosophers that are transformed and interrogated viafictional stories. The project has resulted in three fiction films, a monograph and two journal articles, alongside video documentation, research sketches and a personal journal. The fiction films produced sit between the genres of drama, documentary, artcinema, experimental film and essay film. The research process for Ontological Narratives was an organic one that responded through iterative cycles to developments and outcomes within the sub-projects and the films resulting. In this way knowledge generation is derived from process and outcome, evident in the artefacts created and also expressible through associated commentary. Ontological Narratives has been disseminated through public screenings, conference presentations, exhibitions and online distribution.
Podoconiosis is a debilitating chronic swelling of the foot and lower leg, caused by long term exposure to irritant red volcanic clay soil in highland regions of Africa, Central America, and India. In this paper we consider the human rights violations which cause, and are caused by, podoconiosis in Ethiopia. Specifically, we discuss the way in which the right to an adequate basic standard of living is not met in endemic regions, where the following basic necessities are not readily available: robust footwear, education and health literacy, and affordable, accessible healthcare. Those living with podoconiosis experience disablement, stigma and discrimination, and mental distress, contributing to greater impoverishment and a reduced quality of life. We suggest that while identifying rights violations is key to characterising the scale and nature of the problem, identifying duties is critical to eliminating podoconiosis. To this end, we describe the duties of the Ethiopian government, the international community, and those sourcing Ethiopian agricultural products in relation to promoting shoe-wearing, providing adequate health care, and improving health literacy.
This paper examines the social costs and benefits of potential configurations of electric vehicle deployment, including and excluding vehicle-to-grid. To fully explore the benefits and costs of different electric vehicle pathways, four different scenarios are devised with both today’s and 2030 electricity grid in Denmark. These scenarios combine different levels of electric vehicle implementation and communication ability, i.e. smart charging or full bi-directionality, and then paired with different levels of future renewable energy implementation. Then, the societal costs of all scenarios are calculated, including carbon and health externalities to find the least-cost mix of electric vehicles for society. The most cost-effective penetration of electric vehicles in the near future is found to be 27%, increasing to 75% by 2030. This would equate to a $34 billion reduction to societal costs in 2030, a decrease of 30% compared to business as usual. This represents a projected annual savings per vehicle of $1,200 in 2030. However, current vehicle capital cost differences, a lack of willingness to pay for electric vehicles, and consumer discount rates are substantial barriers to electric vehicle deployment in Denmark in the near term.
We present Tangible Drops, a visio-tactile display that for the first time provides physical visualization and tactile feedback using a planar liquid interface. It presents digital information interactively by tracing dynamic patterns on horizontal flat surfaces using liquid metal drops on a programmable electrode array. It provides tactile feedback with directional information in the 2D vector plane using linear locomotion and/or vibration of the liquid metal drops. We demonstrate move, oscillate, merge, split and dispense-from-reservoir functions of the liquid metal drops by consuming low power (450mW per electrode) and low voltage (8–15 V). We report on results of our empirical study with 12 participants on tactile feedback using 8mm diameter drops, which indicate that Tangible Drops can convey tactile sensations such as changing speed, varying direction and controlled oscillation with no visual feedback. We present the design space and demonstrate the applications of Tangible Drops, and conclude by suggesting potential future applications for the technique.
Fitbit is an app that pairs with a health and fitness tracking device. In this essay I make three key arguments about apps, particularly Fitbit. My first argument is that apps have become the interface environment for proliferating hardware devices. In Fitbit’s case, automated data collection is made meaningful through the address of the app to the person using the device. Second, Fitbit constructs an ideal gendered subject for automated fitness tracking. Third, although Fitbit promises a more active lifestyle, the automation of recording directly modulates a more constrained and eviscerated subject than other forms of tracking such as journaling and diaries. I bring in English writer Dorothy Wordsworth’s diaries as a case study to offer a historical perspective to the measuring of women’s footsteps over time and the changing notion of the fit feminine subject.
Nrf2 project:
The protein nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) is a transcription factor that provides protection against oxidative stress and the dysfunction of this pathway has been suggested to be implicated in many neurodegenerative diseases. The aim of this thesis was to identify novel Nrf2 activators that disrupt the protein-protein interaction between Nrf2 and Keap1 and thereby induce increased expression of antioxidant enzymes and protective genes. The crystal structure of the Keap1-Nrf2 interface was used to perform a virtual screen and compounds from the screen were assayed using a cellular nuclear complementation assay that measures the nuclear translocation of Nrf2 from the cytosol. Although two novel compounds were found to increase the Nrf2 nuclear translocation, they had low activity and further characterisation did not provide sufficient evidence of a Nrf2-Keap1 robust interaction.
iGluRs project:
AMPA and kainate receptors are ionotropic glutamate receptors (iGluRs) that are important for excitatory transmission and synaptic plasticity and are linked to several neurological disorders such as epilepsy, schizophrenia and autism. This project aimed to find novel allosteric modulators binding in the ligand-binding domain (LBD) of the GluA2 and GluK1 and GluK2 subtypes of AMPA and kainate receptors, respectively, using protein purification and X-ray crystallography methodologies. Fragment screening for GluA2 identified eight novel fragments, five of which were located at the dimer interface and three located in a novel site near the glycine-threonine dipeptide linker. As regards kainate receptors, structural information on the Gluk1 and GluK2 LBD was obtained, both proteins were soaked with in-house fragments with one compound displaying 20% occupancy in the GluK2 dimer interface. These data form the basis of future studies in the search for novel drugs for the treatment of epilepsy and schizophrenia.
The organic Rankine cycle (ORC)-based waste heat recovery (WHR) system operating under a supercritical condition has a higher potential of thermal efficiency and work output than a traditional subcritical cycle. However, the operation of supercritical cycles is more challenging due to the high pressure in the system and transient behavior of waste heat sources from industrial and automotive engines that affect the performance of the system and the evaporator, which is the most crucial component of the ORC. To take the transient behavior into account, the dynamic model of the evaporator using renowned finite volume (FV) technique is developed in this paper. Although the FV model can capture the transient effects accurately, the model has a limitation for real-time control applications due to its time-intensive computation. To capture the transient effects and reduce the simulation time, a novel fuzzy-based nonlinear dynamic evaporator model is also developed and presented in this paper. The results show that the fuzzy-based model was able to capture the transient effects at a data fitness of over 90%, while it has potential to complete the simulation 700 times faster than the FV model. By integrating with other subcomponent models of the system, such as pump, expander, and condenser, the predicted system output and pressure have a mean average percentage error of 3.11% and 0.001%, respectively. These results suggest that the developed fuzzy-based evaporator and the overall ORC-WHR system can be used for transient simulations and to develop control strategies for real-time applications.
OBJECTIVE:
High blood pressure (BP) is associated with reduced pain sensitivity, known as BP-related hypoalgesia. The underlying neural mechanisms remain uncertain, yet arterial baroreceptor signaling, occurring at cardiac systole, is implicated. We examined normotensives using functional neuroimaging (fMRI) and pain stimulation during distinct phases of the cardiac cycle to test the hypothesized neural mediation of baroreceptor-induced attenuation of pain.
METHODS:
Eighteen participants (10 women; 32.7 ± 6.5 years) underwent BP monitoring over one week at home, and individual pain thresholds were determined in the lab. Subsequently, participants were administered unpredictable painful and non-painful electrocutaneous shocks (stimulus type), timed to occur either at systole or diastole (cardiac phase) in an event-related design. After each trial, participants evaluated their subjective experience.
RESULTS:
Subjective pain was lower for painful stimuli administered at systole compared to diastole, F1, 2283 = 4.82; p = 0.03. Individuals with higher baseline BP demonstrated overall lower pain perception, F1, 2164 = 10.47; p < 0.0001. Within the brain, painful stimulation activated somatosensory areas, prefrontal cortex, cingulate cortex, posterior insula, amygdala, and the thalamus. Stimuli delivered during systole (concurrent with baroreceptor discharge) activated areas associated with heightened parasympathetic drive. No stimulus type x cardiac phase interaction emerged except for a small cluster located in the right parietal cortex.
CONCLUSIONS:
We confirm the negative associations between BP and pain, highlighting the antinociceptive impact of baroreceptor discharge. Neural substrates associated with baroreceptor/BP-related hypoalgesia include superior parietal lobule, precentral and lingual gyrus, regions typically involved in the cognitive aspects of pain experience.
Scenario development is widely used to support the formation of energy policy, but many energy scenarios consider environmental interactions only in terms of climate change. We suggest that efforts to develop more holistic energy pathways, going beyond post hoc analysis of environmental and social implications, can usefully draw on environmental scenarios. A detailed content analysis of UK energy and environmental scenarios was therefore undertaken, with energy scenarios selected on the basis that they were recent, had a direct link to energy policy, and covered a range of scenario types. The energy scenarios rarely considered societal drivers beyond decarbonisation and focused on quantifiable parameters such as GDP, while the environmental scenarios provided a richer narrative on human behaviour and social change. As socio-economic issues remain fundamental to the success of energy policies, this is a key area which should be better addressed within energy scenarios. The environmental impacts of energy scenarios were rarely considered, but could have a significant bearing on the likelihood of pathway outcomes being realised. Fuller evaluation of the environmental interactions of energy systems is therefore required. Although the analysis focuses on the UK, some international scenarios show similar limitations, suggesting that the conclusions are more widely applicable.
This special section builds on previous scholarship on geographies of ageing, and on relational and transnational approaches to age and migration, to assert the significance of the ageing–migration nexus in human geography. Our primary goal is to examine the intricate relationships between ageing, migration, space and place. By bringing empirical research on ageing and migration into dialogue with existing conceptual work within Geography, we also aim to critically contribute to current debates in both areas. The contributors explore a wide range of migration processes and experiences through an intersectional lens, and demonstrate the importance of a diverse set of epistemological and methodological approaches to explore the spatialities of the ageing–migration nexus. Key dimensions examined include, but are not limited to, the spaces and places of ageing and migration, the multi‐scalar nature of the geographies of the ageing–migration nexus, their (im)mobilities, fluid boundaries, and emotional geographies.
This paper is concerned with the security control problem of the networked control system (NCSs) subjected to denial of service (DoS) attacks. In order to guarantee the security performance, this paper treats the influence of packet dropouts due to DoS attacks as a uncertainty of triggering condition. Firstly, a novel resilient triggering strategy by considering the uncertainty of triggering condition caused by DoS attacks is proposed. Secondly, the event-based security controller under the resilient triggering strategy is designed while the DoS-based security performance is preserved. At last, the simulation results show that the proposed resilient triggering strategy is resilient to DoS attacks while guaranteing the security performance.
This special section builds on previous scholarship on geographies of ageing, and on relational and transnational approaches to age and migration, to assert the significance of the ageing-migration nexus in human geography. Our primary goal is to examine the intricate relationships between ageing, migration, space and place. By bringing empirical research on ageing and migration into dialogue with existing conceptual work within geography, we also aim to critically contribute to current debates in both areas. The contributors explore a wide range of migration processes and experiences through an intersectional lens, and demonstrate the importance of a diverse set of epistemological and methodological approaches to explore the spatialities of the ageing–migration nexus. Key dimensions examined include, but are not limited to, the spaces and places of ageing and migration, the multi-scalar nature of the geographies of the ageing–migration nexus, their (im)mobilities, fluid boundaries, and emotional geographies.
This article explores home materialities and home imaginaries in later life, to provide insight into the dialectical relation between the spatial processes of ageing and migration. The article draws on empirical research with British return migrants in older age. The analysis purposively selects four participants from among a wider sample of interviewees to highlight some of the diversity among British returnees and their varied experiences of remaking home upon return. The article explores both the privilege and vulnerabilities of all British returnees as the meaning of home transforms in later life.
Poland is a particularly interesting case of truth revelation and transitional justice in a post-communist country. This is because of the radical change of trajectory in its approach to dealing with the communist past, and the profound effect this had on Polish politics. The approach moved from 'communist-forgiving' in the early 1990s, to a mild law vetting individuals for their links with the communist-era security services at the end of the decade, through to a more radical vetting and opening up of the communist security service files in the mid-2000s. This book examines the detail of this changing approach. It explains why disagreements about transitional justice became so prominent, to the extent that they constituted one of the main causes of political divisions. It sets the Polish approach in the wider context of transitional justice and truth revelation, drawing out the lessons for newly emerging democracies, both in Eastern Europe and beyond.
Rationale
Previous studies have shown that children may take on higher extents of caring activities if their parents are affected by severe illness or disability, especially when their parents lack access to formal and informal care.
Aims and objectives
This study examined the extent and nature of caring activities done by patients’ children; differences in caring activities between different types of parental illness; factors associated with caring activities.
Design
An explorative cross‐sectional multicentre study.
Methods
Parents as patients in specialised healthcare services, and their children, were recruited from five health trusts in Norway. The sample included 246 children aged 8–17 years and their 238 parents with severe physical illness (neurological disease or cancer) (n = 135), mental illness (n = 75) or substance abuse (n = 28).
Main outcome measure
Multidimensional Assessment of Caring Activities (MACA‐YC18).
Results
A large number of children with ill parents are performing various caring activities. Increased caring activities among children due to their parent's illness were confirmed by their parents, especially with regard to personal care. We found no significant differences in the extent of caring activities between illness types, but there were some differences in the nature of these activities. Factors significantly associated with the extent and nature of caring activities were as follows: better social skills and higher external locus of control among the children; and poorer physical parental health. Parent's access to home‐based services was limited.
Study limitations
In recruitment of participants for the study, a sampling bias may have occurred.
Conclusion
To promote coping and to prevent inappropriate or extensive caring activities among children with ill parents, there is a need for increased access to flexible home‐based services adapted to the type of parental illness.
Independent medical research into glioblastoma funded by business people in the legal European cannabis industry. A study of sporting philanthropy that shows personal motivations to bring change to the law and medical research.
Asserting that recipes are textual evidences reflecting the society that produced them, this article explores the evolution of the recipes of the iconic Christmas pudding in the United States, Australia, New Zealand and India between the mid-nineteenth and the mid-twentieth centuries. Combining a micro-analysis of the recipes and the cookbook that provided them with contemporary testimonies, the article observes the dynamics revealed by the preparation and consumption of the pudding in these different societies. The findings demonstrate the relevance of national iconic dishes to the study of notions of home, migration and colonization, as well as the development of a new society and identity. They reveal how the preservation, transformation and even rejection of a traditional dish can be representative of the complex and sometimes conflicting relationships between colonists, migrants or new citizens and the places they live in.
Objective: The primary aim was to determine what, if any, relationships exist between communication and quality of life in patients receiving orthognathic treatment since this has not been explored. A secondary aim was to compare the Quality of Life (QoL) of a pre-treat sample with those at 2 years post-surgery.
Design: A cross-sectional questionnaire method was used.
Setting: Outpatient clinics providing orthognathic treatment at four UK hospital sites.
Participants: Two separate samples of pre-treatment (n=73) and 2 year post-surgery (n=78) patients participated in the study.
Methods: At clinic appointments all eligible patients were invited to complete the Orthognathic Quality of Life Questionnaire (OQLQ), a previously validated condition-specific quality of life measure. At the same time participants at the 2 year post-surgery stage also completed a second short questionnaire, the Communication Assessment Tool-Team (CAT-T), where they rated the quality of communication they had received during treatment.
Results: One hundred and fifty-one complete responses were received. The average age was 24.5 years (S.D. 9.77) and the majority (67%) were female in both groups. Statistically significant associations were found between QoL and quality of communication in the treated sample. Findings also showed a comparatively poorer QoL for the pre-treatment participants. This reduced QoL was more pronounced in females than males for all aspects except dentofacial appearance.
Conclusions: There was an improvement in QoL for patients at 2 years post-surgery compared to pre-treatment. There is an association between QoL and quality of communication as reported by participants at 2 years post-surgery. These novel findings are similar to outcomes in other patient settings such as oncology, but further investigation is required to establish the direction of cause and effect.
This thesis examines several important aspects of the impact of religiosity, national culture, corporate governance, BIG4 auditors and legal environment on earnings management practices in the U.S. and 63 other countries.
First, the study investigates the extent to which religious socials norms of the firms’ environment interact with corporate governance and BIG4 audit to affect managers’ motivation to engage in expense and revenue misclassification in order to influence reported core earnings. The results show that religiosity decreases misclassification and complements corporate governance and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (2002) to mitigate classification shifting in high, rural and geographically centralised segment areas. In a religious social norm environment, the study finds that managers have a disincentive to shift revenue items from, and core expenses into, special items to inflate reported core earnings to avoid market penalties and beat analysts’ forecasts, even more so in the presence of board independence. In addition, the study shows that the interactive term between religiosity and audit from the big four auditors also lowers the presence of misclassification. Overall, the results show that religiosity lessens misclassification and complements corporate governance and audit against the misclassification of revenue items or core expenses.
Second, the study examines the extent to which religiosity, firms’ legal environment, and the interaction between these two variables affect accrual-based and real-activities earnings management. The results suggest that religiosity, legal environment and the interaction between them mitigate accrual-based earnings management. In contrast, the study observes a positive association between religiosity and real-activities earnings management, suggesting that religious social norms facilitate real-activities earnings management. However, the positive effect of religiosity on real activities is subdued when the study interacts the legal environment with religiosity. The results also indicate that firms’ corporate governance mechanism mitigates both accrual-based and real activities earnings management.
Finally, in Chapter four, the study provides new international evidence by examining the relationship between the misclassification of core expenses into special items and country-wide religiosity, the national dimensions of culture, and the legal environment in developed, emerging and developing countries. The study observes that the interaction between religiosity and legal environment, or national cultural dimensions and legal environment, mitigates expense misclassification in developed, emerging and developing countries. Therefore, the positive effect of power distance, masculinity and uncertainty avoidance on earnings management can no longer be demonstrated when national dimensions of culture interact with the legal environment. In Chapter five, the study concludes, summarises and discusses some of its major findings and contributions. The limitations of the study, policy implications and suggestions for future research are also provided.
A new detailed mathematical model for dynamics of immune response to hepatitis B is proposed, which takes into account contributions from innate and adaptive immune responses, as well as cytokines. Stability analysis of different steady states is performed to identify parameter regions where the model exhibits clearance of infection, maintenance of a chronic infection, or periodic oscillations. Effects of nucleoside analogues and interferon treatments are analysed, and the critical drug efficiency is determined.
In this thesis I have investigated variation in the effective population size (Ne) between species, and the impact that this population genetics parameter has on molecular evolution.
In Chapter 1 I review literature in order to outline our present understanding of variation in Ne, both between species and within a genome.
In Chapter 2 I determine whether island species have lower effective population sizes than their mainland counterparts. I found that island species did not differ substantially from mainland species in terms of molecular evolution, despite their considerably smaller ranges.
Chapter 3 examines the role of life history and demographic traits in shaping molecular evolution in mammals. Using mitochondrial DNA, I found significant correlations with species range for both genetic diversity (pS) and the efficiency of selection (pN/pS). Both latitude and body mass are also predictive of pS. However, these relationships are surprisingly weak. Additionally, no trait was predictive of nuclear molecular evolution.
In Chapter 4 I determine whether there is adaptive evolution in animal mitochondrial DNA using McDonald-Kreitman style tests. While mitochondrial evolution is dominated by deleterious mutations, mitochondria also experience adaptive evolution, such that 26% of all nonsynonymous mutations are fixed by adaptive evolution. I also found evidence to suggest that the rate of adaptive evolution is correlated to Ne.
In Chapter 5 I explore the relationship between pN/pS and pS, two variables that are expected to depend on Ne. I quantified the relationship between pS and pN/pS, after controlling for the statistical nonindependence between the two, to show that as πS doubles, πN/πS is reduced by 34%. I also investigated whether the slope of the regression between these variables is predicted by the shape parameter of the distribution of fitness effects.
In Chapter 6 I give a general overview of my research, and bring together the key findings of this thesis.
Women’s voice pitch (the perceptual correlate of fundamental frequency, F0) varies across the menstrual cycle and lowers after menopause, and may represent a putative signal of women’s fertility and reproductive age. Yet, despite dramatic changes in women’s sex hormone levels and bodies during and after pregnancy, previous between-subject and case studies have not found systematic changes in F0 due to pregnancy. Here, we tracked within-individual variation in 20 mothers’ voices during their first pregnancy, as well as up to 5 years before conception and 5 years postpartum. Voice recordings from 20 age-matched nulliparous women were measured as a control. Linear Mixed Models indicated that F0 mean, range and variation changed significantly following pregnancy in mothers, controlling for age at time of recording, whereas we did not observe any F0 changes across corresponding timeframes in our sample of nulliparous controls. Mothers’ voices became significantly lower-pitched and more monotonous during the first year postpartum compared to during pregnancy or before. These F0 parameters did not decrease within-individuals over a 5-year period prior to conception above and beyond the effects of ageing. Although voice pitch decreased following pregnancy, mothers’ F0 parameters reverted after the first year postpartum, approaching pre-pregnancy levels. Our results demonstrate that pregnancy has a transient and perceptually salient masculinizing effect on women’s voices.
Interoception, i.e. the perception and appraisal of internal bodily signals, is related to the phenomenon of craving, and is reportedly disrupted in alcohol use disorders. The hormone oxytocin influences afferent transmission of bodily signals and, through its potential modulation of craving, is proposed as a possible treatment for alcohol use disorders. However, oxytocin’s impact on interoception in alcohol users remains unknown.
Healthy alcohol users (N=32) attended two laboratory sessions to perform tests of interoceptive ability (heartbeat tracking: attending to internal signals and, heartbeat discrimination: integrating internal and external signals) after intranasal administration of oxytocin or placebo. Effects of interoceptive accuracy, oxytocin administration and alcohol intake, were tested using mixed-effects models.
On the tracking task, oxytocin reduced interoceptive accuracy, but did not interact with alcohol consumption. On the discrimination task, we found an interaction between oxytocin administration and alcohol intake: Oxytocin, compared to placebo, increased interoceptive accuracy in heavy drinkers, but not in light social drinkers.
Our study does not suggest a pure interoceptive impairment in alcohol users but instead potentially highlights reduced flexibility of internal and external attentional resource allocation. Importantly, this impairment seems to be mitigated by oxytocin. This attentional hypothesis needs to be explicitly tested in future research.
This study examines the impact of Sutlej Valley Project (SVP) – a colonial mega canal colonisation scheme implemented by the British rulers of India in the years 1921- 1947, in order to bring upland crown waste areas of the British Punjab, and the princely states of Bahawalpur and Bikaner, under cultivation. This study covers only that part of the project which was implemented in Bahawalpur State and investigates the impact of this phase of hydraulic engineering on the state, society and its environment through the nexus of hydro-politics, land settlement, migration, demography, agricultural development and ecological change.
The implementation of the SVP opened up large wasteland areas to reclamation, areas which were subsequently colonised by both local and immigrant peasant communities from different parts of India – though predominantly from the Punjab. This thesis argues that the state – through the ownership of extensive colony lands and a large network of perennial canals – monopolised the means of production and thus took control of both society and landscape in order to reshape them to its own advantage. Through the project the state was able to wield power not only over the environment, but also its people and society. Prospective colonists, whose loyalty was ensured by the allotment of land, were carefully selected, not only for their ability to improve cultivation but on the basis of fitness for citizenship.
The SVP – implemented in a desert area – brought about radical changes in ecology. The creation of new agricultural villages and mandi (market) towns, criss-crossed by a large network of perennial canals that extended cultivation to one million acres of new colony lands, turned a desert into a productive agricultural region and made it a new commercial centre of the arid region of North-West India. The project, however, along with its positive contributions to economy and society, created significant environmental and social problems: polluting the pure desert environment and dividing the local Bahawalpuri society along ethnic lines. Through the investigation of historical materials, this thesis critically examines all these developments and looks to assess their effects on the social, political, economic and cultural life of the state. Furthermore, the analysis of the SVP presented here is conceived of as an instructive case study, and the project itself as a microcosm of wider colonial hydraulic endeavours.
In the main, this analysis utilises governmental publications issued in the form of reports, gazetteers, census reports and surveys, along with the secondary sources published as books and articles by contemporary writers. The construction of irrigation works, colonisation of wastelands, and their economic, political, social and ecological implications are analysed in order to explore whether a project of such magnitude was justified in Bahawalpur State at the time. The project is furthermore analysed in terms of the achievement – or failure to achieve – its stated objectives, which, along with an assessment of its contribution to the material progress of the princely state and the impact of this project on the state, society and its environment, form the core of the research.
We investigate how audio augmented reality can engender new collective modes of musical expression in the context of a sound art installation, Listening Mirrors, exploring the creation of interactive sound environments for musicians and non-musicians alike. Listening Mirrors is designed to incorporate physical objects and computational systems for altering the acoustic environment, to enhance collective listening and challenge traditional musician-instrument performance. At a formative stage in exploring audio AR technology, we conducted an audience experience study investigating questions around the potential of audio AR in creating sound installation environments for collective musical expression.
We collected interview evidence about the participants' experience and analysed the data with using a grounded theory approach. The results demonstrated that the technology has the potential to create immersive spaces where an audience can feel safe to experiment musically, and showed how AR can intervene in sound perception to instrumentalise an environment. The results also revealed caveats about the use of audio AR, mainly centred on social inhibition and seamlessness of experience, and finding a balance between mediated worlds to create space for interplay between the two.
Carbon nanofoam (CNF) is a low-density, high-surface-area material formed by aggregation of amorphous carbon nanoparticles into porous nanostructures. We report the use of a pulsed infrared laser to prepare CNF from a graphene oxide (GO) target material. Electron microscopy shows that the films consist of dendritic strings that form web-like three-dimensional structures. The conductivity of these structures can be modified by using the CNF as a nanostructured scaffold for gold nanoparticles deposited by sputter coating, controllably increasing the conductivity by up to 4 orders of magnitude. The ability to measure the conductivity of the porous structures allows electrochemical measurements in the environment. Upon decreasing humidity, the pristine CNF exhibits an increase in resistance with a quick response and recovery time. By contrast, the gold-sputtered CNF showed a decrease in resistance, indicating modification of the doping mechanism due to water adsorption. The sensitivity to humidity is eliminated at the percolation threshold of the metal on the CNF.
Cognitive and emotional processes are influenced by interoception (homeostatic somatic feedback), particularly when physiological arousal is unexpected and discrepancies between predicted and experienced interoceptive signals may engender anxiety. Due to the vulnerability for comorbid psychological symptoms in forms of orthostatic intolerance (OI), this study investigated psychophysiological contributions to emotional symptomatology in 20 healthy control participants (13 females, mean age 36 ± 8 years), 20 postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTS) patients (18 females, mean age 38 ± 13 years) and 20 vasovagal syncope (VVS) patients (15 females, mean age 39 ± 12 years). We investigated indices of emotional orienting responses (OR) to randomly presented neutral, pleasant and unpleasant images in the supine position and during the induced interoceptive threat of symptom provocation of head-up tilt (HUT). PoTS and VVS patients produced greater indices of emotional responsivity to unpleasant images and, to a lesser degree, pleasant images, during interoceptive threat. Our findings are consistent with biased deployment of response-focused emotion regulation (ER) while patients are symptomatic, providing a mechanistic underpinning of how pathological autonomic overexcitation predisposes to anxiogenic traits in PoTS and VVS patients. This hypothesis may improve our understanding of why orthostasis exacerbates cognitive symptoms despite apparently normal cerebral autoregulation, and offer novel therapeutic targets for behavioural interventions aimed at reducing comorbid cognitive-affective symptoms in PoTS and VVS.
The human gamma herpes virus Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) exploits multiple routes to evade the cellular immune response. During the EBV lytic replication cycle, viral proteins are expressed that provide excellent targets for recognition by cytotoxic T cells. This is countered by the viral BNLF2a gene. In B cells during latency, where BNLF2a is not expressed, we show that its regulatory region is embedded in repressive chromatin. The expression of BNLF2a mirrors the expression of a viral lytic cycle transcriptional regulator, Zta (BZLF1, EB1, ZEBRA), in B cells and we propose that Zta plays a role in up-regulating BNLF2a. In cells undergoing EBV lytic replication, we identified two distinct regions of interaction of Zta with the chromatin-associated BNLF2a promoter. We identify five potential Zta-response elements (ZREs) in the promoter that are highly conserved between virus isolates. Zta binds to these elements in vitro and activates the expression of the BNLF2a promoter in both epithelial and B cells. We also found redundancy amongst the ZREs. The EBV genome undergoes a biphasic DNA methylation cycle during its infection cycle. One of the ZREs contains an integral CpG motif. We show that this can be DNA methylated during EBV latency and that both Zta binding and promoter activation are enhanced by its methylation. In summary, we find that the BNLF2a promoter is directly targeted by Zta and that DNA methylation within the proximal ZRE aids activation. The implications for regulation of this key viral gene during the reactivation of EBV from latency are discussed.
This study investigates the role of car dealerships in the electrification of passenger transport, namely their sales advice about the purchase and use of electric vehicles (EVs). Because most consumers do not have pre-existing knowledge of EVs, and current market conditions favour petrol and diesel vehicles, car dealership experiences may strongly influence EV purchasing decisions. Here we show that car dealerships pose a significant barrier at the point of sale due to a perceived lack of business case viability in relation to petrol and diesel vehicles. In 126 shopping experiences at 82 car dealerships across Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, we find dealers were dismissive of EVs, misinformed shoppers on vehicle specifications, omitted EVs from the sales conversation and strongly oriented customers towards petrol and diesel vehicle options. Dealer’s technological orientation, willingness to sell, and displayed knowledge of EVs were the main contributors to likely purchase intentions. These findings combined with expert interviews suggest that government and industry signalling affect sales strategies and purchasing trends. Policy and business strategies that address barriers at the point of sale are needed to accelerate EV adoption.
Purpose
Exercise levels often decline following cancer diagnosis despite growing evidence of its benefits. Treatment side-effects, older age, lack of confidence and opportunity to exercise with others in similar circumstances influence this. Our study explored the experiences of people attending a cancer-specific community-based exercise programme (CU Fitter™).
Methods
A survey distributed to those attending the programme gathered demographic/clinical information, self-reported exercise levels, information provision and barriers to/benefits of exercise.
Results
Sixty surveys were evaluable from 65/100 returned (62% female, 68% >60yrs, 66% breast/prostate cancer). Most (68%) were receiving treatment. 68% attended classes once or twice weekly. 55% received exercise advice after diagnosis, usually from their hospital doctor/nurse. More (73%) had read about exercising, but less used the internet to source information (32%). Self-reported exercise levels were higher currently than before diagnosis (p=0.05). 48% said their primary barrier to exercising was the physical impact of cancer/treatment. Improving fitness/health (40%) and social support (16%) were the most important gains from the programme. Many (67%) had made other lifestyle changes and intented to keep (50%), or increase (30%) exercising.
Conclusions
This community-based cancer-specific exercise approach engaged people with cancer and showed physical, psychological, and social benefits.
Implications for cancer survivors
Community grown exercise initiatives bring cancer survivors together creating their own supportive environment. Combining this with instructors familiar with the population and providing an open-ended service may prove particularly motivating and beneficial. Further work is required to provide evidence for this.
Aims
Polypharmacy is increasingly common in older adults, placing them at risk of medication-related harm (MRH). Patients are particularly vulnerable to problems with their medications in the period following hospital discharge due to medication changes, and poor information transfer between hospital and primary care. The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence, severity, preventablitiy and cost of medication-relate harm (MRH) in older adults in England post-discharge.
Methods
An observational multicentre prospective cohort study recruited 1280 older adults (median age 82 years) from five teaching hospitals in Southern England, UK. Participants were followed up for eight weeks by senior pharmacists, using 3 data sources (hospital readmission review, participant telephone interview and primary care records), to identify MRH and associate health service utilisation.
Results
Four hundred and thirteen participants (37%) experienced MRH (556 MRH events per 1000 discharges). Three hundred and thirty-six (81%) cases were serious, and 214 (52%) potentially preventable. Four participants experienced fatal MRH. The most common MRH events were gastrointestinal (n=158, 25%) and neurological (n=111, 18%). Medicine classes associate with the highest risk of MRH were opiates, antibiotics, and benzodiazepines. Three hundred and twenty-eight (79%) participants with MRH sought healthcare over the eight-week follow-up. The incidence of MRH associated hospital readmission was 78 per 10000 discharges. Post-dischare MRH in older adults is estimated to cost the National Health Service £396 million annually, f which £243 million is potentially preventable.
Conclusions
MRH is common in older adults following hospital discharge, and results in substantial use of healthcare resources.
It has long been suspected that the rate of mutation varies across the human genome at a large scale based on the divergence between humans and other species. However, it is now possible to directly investigate this question using the large number of de novo mutations (DNMs) that have been discovered in humans through the sequencing of trios. We investi- gate a number of questions pertaining to the distribution of mutations using more than 130,000 DNMs from three large datasets. We demonstrate that the amount and pattern of variation differs between datasets at the 1MB and 100KB scales probably as a consequence of differences in sequencing technology and processing. In particular, datasets show differ- ent patterns of correlation to genomic variables such as replication time. Never-the-less there are many commonalities between datasets, which likely represent true patterns. We show that there is variation in the mutation rate at the 100KB, 1MB and 10MB scale that can- not be explained by variation at smaller scales, however the level of this variation is modest at large scales–at the 1MB scale we infer that ~90% of regions have a mutation rate within 50% of the mean. Different types of mutation show similar levels of variation and appear to vary in concert which suggests the pattern of mutation is relatively constant across the genome. We demonstrate that variation in the mutation rate does not generate large-scale variation in GC-content, and hence that mutation bias does not maintain the isochore struc- ture of the human genome. We find that genomic features explain less than 40% of the explainable variance in the rate of DNM. As expected the rate of divergence between spe- cies is correlated to the rate of DNM. However, the correlations are weaker than expected if all the variation in divergence was due to variation in the mutation rate. We provide evidence that this is due the effect of biased gene conversion on the probability that a mutation will become fixed. In contrast to divergence, we find that most of the variation in diversity can be explained by variation in the mutation rate. Finally, we show that the correlation between divergence and DNM density declines as increasingly divergent species are considered.
Although long evading scientific scrutiny, the emotion awe has recently come under sustained analysis by experimental social psychologists. Nevertheless, very little is known about its nature, function, elicitors and effects on human behavior. This thesis offers a data-driven experimental analysis of awe, exploring the theme that the emotion involves a transcendence from mental maps of the self and the world. From this central motif, we explore more narrowly-defined questions, such as whether awe is associated with transcendence from implicit social cognition, the desire to conform, and the need for social inclusion. We also explore whether other techniques that elicit self-transcendence serve to amplify the awe experience.
Utilizing a randomized control trial methodology, we found that awe, compared to other positive emotions and neutral states, was causally associated with lower implicit prejudice towards groups based on gender and ethnicity. We also proposed and successfully detected a mechanism for this effect, namely the strengthening of an identification with all humanity. We found mixed support for the idea that awe is associated with a lesser need to conform and be socially included. Finally, in exploring possible elicitors and amplifiers, we detected a positive association between dispositional awe and mindfulness and found that experimentally-elicited mindfulness can activate awe even towards relatively ordinary stimuli.
This thesis builds upon and refines the idea of awe as a self-transcending emotion, offering insights on particular aspects of cognition and behavior that are changed by the experience. We have also located some promising new paths of investigation that future researchers may find useful to follow further. In summary, the present work helps extend the exploration of the nature and function of an undeniably profound human experience.
Existing literature on industry destabilization has relatively neglected the embeddedness of industries to their regional and national contexts. This might result in overestimating the potential for industry destabilization in specific localities. Combining the Dialectic Issue LifeCycle (DILC) model and the geography of transitions literature this article analyses the developments in the Estonian oil shale energy industry between 1995-2016. We show that the ties between the industry and its local context serve as an important stabilizing mechanism offsetting the destabilizing pressures as conceptualized by the DILC model. The cancelling out of two mechanisms on a local level leads to a misalignment of scales where the continued presence of global pressure of climate change is not matched by local dynamics. Hence in contrast to what the DILC model implies, there is no straightforward transmission of international pressures on local industries: instead this process is mediated through and likely heavily influenced by national and regional considerations. The findings imply that for industry destabilization and energy transitions to occur, not only the regime but also its connections to the local context need to be destabilized and transformed.
Europe is confronted by an intimidating triple challenge – economic stagnation, climate change, and a governance crisis. This paper demonstrates how the three challenges are closely inter-related, and discusses how they can be dealt with more effectively in order to arrive at a more economically secure, environmentally sustainable and well governed Europe. In particular, a return to classic economic growth cannot come at the expense of greater risk of irreversible climate change. Instead, what is required is a fundamental transformation of the economy to a new ‘green’ trajectory based on rapidly diminishing emission of greenhouse gases. Following this path would mean turning Europe into a veritable laboratory for sustainable growth, environmentally as well as socially.
Calls for better use of scientific evidence to inform policy decisions stem from the belief that enhanced outcomes for the society can be expected. Yet the introduction of evidence-based practices in innovation policy making has not come without criticism. This introductory article sets the scene for the short collection of papers that address specific issues regarding the prospect of better evidence-based policy in the area of industrial research and innovation (IRI). It identifies and discusses key challenges for the transition towards evidence-based industrial research and innovation policy. It then introduces the three papers, which build upon and depart from related assumptions or narratives reflecting the current state of practices in IRI policy.
In the context of an ageing population, understanding the transmission of infectious diseases such as scabies through well-connected sub-units of the population, such as residential care homes, is particularly important for the design of efficient interventions to mitigate against the effects of those diseases. Here, we present a modelling methodology based on the efficient solution of a large-scale system of linear differential equations that allows statistical calibration of individual-based random models to real data on scabies in residential care homes. In particular, we review and benchmark different numerical methods for the integration of the differential equation system, and then select the most appropriate of these methods to perform inference using Markov chain Monte Carlo. We test the goodness-of-fit of this model using posterior predictive intervals and propagate forward the resulting parameter uncertainty in a Bayesian framework to consider the economic cost of delayed interventions against scabies, quantifying the benefits of prompt action in the event of detection. We also revisit the previous methodology used to assess the safety of treatments in small population sub-units—in this context ivermectin—and demonstrate that even a very slight relaxation of the implicit assumption of homogeneous death rates significantly increases the plausibility of the hypothesis that ivermectin does not cause excess mortality based upon the data of Barkwell and Shields [1].
The conclusion of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Buenos Aires ministerial conference (10-13 December 2017) was immediately celebrated and derided in equal measure. For its supporters, Buenos Aires opened the way toward negotiations in e-commerce, investment facilitation for development, and measures designed to help micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs). For its detractors, the meeting underscored the gridlock that continues to blight the WTO’s negotiating function and underlined the organisation’s declining credibility as a mechanism for governing global trade. In this paper we provide one of the first full length critical evaluations of the Buenos Aires conference and its outcome. In so doing, we offer answers to three questions. What accounts for such dramatically different assessments of the meeting’s outcome? How should the outcome be interpreted? What is its significance for the future of the WTO and the multilateral trading system? We argue that the meeting’s outcome was indeed significant. It has consolidated the process of reconfiguring the WTO’s negotiating function; and it enables members to tackle more effectively a range of pressing economic and social issues as well as to navigate blockers and blockages in the negotiations. However, it also poses challenges for the WTO’s poorest constituents.
In her first monograph, European Sexual Citizenship: Human Rights, Bodies and Identities, Ammaturo offers us an authoritative and fluid analysis of the intersections between citizenship, human rights and sexual minorities. The book has a strong Foucauldian flavour, exploring the ways in which power relationships are produced in this context. Ammaturo crafts a smooth flow of ideas, arguments and sources that address in a comprehensive fashion how these intersections need to be unpacked, dissected and brought to daylight for everyone’s benefit. And she does so in an accessible and ambitious way, without ever becoming simplistic or obscure – no mean feat.
Ammaturo’s starting point is Europe as a continent defined as ‘an aspirational entity and symbolic space of belonging’ (p. 1, original italics). In this space, gender and sexual minorities (referred throughout the book as LGBTQI persons) arguably play a crucial role in the definition of ‘European identity’ and ‘European Citizenship’ and contribute to Europe having increasingly adopted a ‘symbolic position of catalyst for social change’ (p. 2) for these minorities. Both human rights and citizenship frameworks and discourses have contributed to these developments. Ammaturo is keen to explore the grey areas in these developments and unleash the potential for radical transformation of current constraints on the citizenship and rights of gender and sexual minorities. To do this, Ammaturo chooses the Council of Europe – and the European Court of Human Rights (Strasbourg Court) in particular – as the context in which a ‘European sexual and gendered citizenship’ can be tested and put to its limits. In doing this, Ammaturo offers particular attention to a specific group within the diverse gender and sexual minorities that exist: LGBTQI asylum seekers and refugees.
In this review essay, I will explore some of the book’s key arguments and touch on some differences of opinion. Perhaps, these differences are mostly the result of different disciplinary backgrounds: while Ammaturo is fundamentally an international relations and social sciences scholar – thus perhaps more concerned with broader policy and institutional mechanisms – I am fundamentally a lawyer – thus more inclined by training to concentrate on particular policymaking areas and require strong evidence to substantiate final conclusions. This review essay will thus reflect the challenges faced by all of us academics in the field of sociolegal studies and interdisciplinary research more generally.
Major depressive disorder (MDD) in older people is a relatively common, yet hard to treat problem. In this study, we aimed to establish if a single nucleotide polymorphism in the 5-HT1A receptor gene (rs6295) determines antidepressant response in patients aged > 80 years (the oldest old) with MDD.
Nineteen patients aged at least 80 years with a new diagnosis of MDD were monitored for response to citalopram 20 mg daily over 4 weeks and genotyped for the rs6295 allele.
Both a frequentist and Bayesian analysis was performed on the data. Bayesian analysis answered the clinically relevant question: ‘What is the probability that an older patient would enter remission after commencing selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) treatment, conditional on their rs6295 genotype?’
Individuals with a CC (cytosine–cytosine) genotype showed a significant improvement in their Geriatric Depression Score (p = 0.020) and cognition (p = 0.035) compared with other genotypes. From a Bayesian perspective, we updated reports of antidepressant efficacy in older people with our data and calculated that the 4-week relative risk of entering remission, given a CC genotype, is 1.9 [95% highest-density interval (HDI) 0.7–3.5], compared with 0.52 (95% HDI 0.1–1.0) for the CG (cytosine–guanine) genotype. The sample size of n = 19 is too small to draw any firm conclusions, however, the data suggest a trend indicative of a relationship between the rs6295 genotype and response to citalopram in older patients, which requires further investigation.
An iterative synthesis has been used to produce conjugated, monodisperse, viologen-based aromatic oligomers containing up to 12 aromatic/heterocyclic rings. The methoxy-substituted oligomers were soluble in common organic solvents and could be processed by spin coating. The conductivities of the resulting films (30 to 221 nm thick) increased by more than an order of magnitude as the oligomer length increased from unimer (1, 2.20×10-11 S cm-1) through dimer (2) to trimer (3, 6.87×10-10 S cm-1). The bandgaps of the materials were estimated from the absorption spectra of these thin films. The longest oligomer, 3, exhibited a noticeably narrower bandgap (2.3 eV) than the shorter oligomers (1 and 2 both 2.7 eV). Oligomer 3 also showed photoconductivity under irradiation across a wide range of wavelengths in the visible spectral region. In conjunction with DFT calculations of these systems our results suggest that structurally related viologen-type oligomers may find use in optoelectronic devices.
Surveys show a lack of trust in political actors and institutions across much of the democratic world. Populist politicians and parties attempt to capitalise on this political disaffection. Commentators worry about our current 'age of anti-politics'. Focusing on the United Kingdom, using responses to public opinion surveys alongside diaries and letters collected by Mass Observation, this book takes a long view of anti-politics going back to the 1940s. This historical perspective reveals how anti-politics has grown in scope and intensity over the last half-century. Such growth is explained by citizens' changing images of 'the good politician' and changing modes of political interaction between politicians and citizens. Current efforts to reform and improve democracy will benefit greatly from the new evidence and conceptual framework set out in this important study.
This thesis is about how complex change processes requiring collective action happen. Its concern is with connecting the technicalities of change (doing X to influence Y) to the human factors that move people to act. It draws learning from the efforts of a diverse group of volunteers and residents to protect a water ecosystem on a disasterstricken island in the Philippines. It analyses the relational structures and wellbeing dynamics of people’s interactions to bring new insights into the interpersonal experiences that mobilise and sustain collective endeavours.
Despite long-standing interest in the psychology of individual motivation and group dynamics, the integration of these fields to consider the role of motivation in rewarding and adaptive interpersonal interactions is a very recent focus (O’Hara & Rutsch, 2013; Weinstein, 2014). The way individuals approach one another – and the emotional effects of interpersonal interactions on motivation – is not recognised in rational and cognitive conceptualisations of collective action (Hoggett, 2000) in social-ecological systems (Head, 2016; Anderson, 2017). To address this gap, the research is concerned with the existence of social networks, their wellbeing qualities and the interplays which contextualise collective action. The core questions driving this research are:
* How are networks for collective action built and strengthened?
* Which network experiences motivate individuals while building their momentum as a collective?
* What qualities sustain a network of people?
Looking at how volunteering works, when it works, the study examines the social networks of volunteers and the patterns of wellbeing created through network interactions, tracing what possibilities relational structures and the wellbeing dynamics they amplify create for social-ecological systems change.
To accomplish an examination of ‘relationships for change’, I use a participatory methodology informed by system and complexity concepts to illuminate interrelationships between context, experiences and relationships, which helped me and co-participants to understand and build from what works. To accomplish an analysis of the data generated, I integrate two fields of research: social networks with human wellbeing to understand collective action. I also integrate research from natural resource management and volunteering to situate an examination of collective action in a real-world context. Both the data collection and sense-making processes are anchored in a belief that human development and the challenges that stand in its way – climate change, inequality and poverty – are inherently complex phenomena (Ramalingam et al., 2008; Apgar et al., 2009; Marks, 2011; Bellagio Initiative, 2012; Ramalingam, 2013) requiring that we increase our capacity to work with this complexity rather than simplify the way things are (O’Hara & Lyon, 2014).
This thesis is about agricultural intensification and the role of smallholder farmers in the future of agriculture in Rwanda. Intensification of agriculture has been the central objective of policy in Rwanda since independence in 1962. Over five decades, one of the dominant approaches to achieving this goal has been through mixed farming, i.e. the integration of crop and livestock production. However, despite continued efforts to transform agricultural and rural livelihood through mixed farming, many farmers have not achieved intensification. Thus, there seems to be a critical disjuncture between the government’s vision of modern agriculture based on increasing levels of intensification and commercialisation, and the ability of many smallholders to engage with this intensification and commercialisation agenda. In this thesis, I argue that the disjuncture between the long-standing policy objective and Rwanda’s rural realities poses serious repercussions to the rural development and the livelihoods of millions of smallholder farmers. I substantiate the argument by addressing the following question: “how does the integration of crop and livestock production contribute to agricultural intensification for smallholder farmers in Rwanda?” Firstly, I situate the research context within the historical development of agricultural policies promoting the mixed farming agenda. Secondly, I study two villages in Rwamagana district as rural and peri-urban cases. Various patterns of interactions between crop and livestock production systems are identified, characterised and analysed within the broader household livelihood strategies. Thirdly, I incorporate the life history accounts of farmers with diverse background and capabilities to engage in mixed farming to better understand the wide-ranging issue of livestock-based asset accumulation which is crucial for the crop-livestock integration. Finally, I discuss the implications for the government’s continued efforts to transform agriculture and rural livelihoods through mixed farming and possible ways to assist many farmers who lack the resources required for intensification through integrated crop-livestock production.
Sexuality is a complex and multifaceted domain – encompassing bodily, contextual and subjective experiences that resist ready categorisation. To claim the sexual as a viable research object therefore raises a number of important methodological questions: what is it possible to know about experiences, practices and perceptions of sex and sexualities? What approaches might help or hinder our efforts to probe such experiences?
This collection explores the creative, personal and contextual parameters involved in researching sexuality, cutting across disciplinary boundaries and drawing on case studies from a variety of countries and contexts. Combining a wide range of expertise, its contributors address such key areas as pornography, sex work, intersectionality and LGBT perspectives. The contributors also share their own experiences of researching sexuality within contrasting disciplines, as well as interrogating how the sexual identities of researchers themselves can relate to, and inform, their work. The result is a unique and diverse collection that combines practical insights on field work with novel theoretical reflections.
Practitioners must be able to listen, talk, communicate and engage with children and young people if they are going to make a real difference to their lives. The key principles of collaborative, relational, child-centred working underpin all the ideas in this bestselling, practice-focused textbook.
Using an innovative ‘Knowing, Being, Doing’ model, it features reflective exercises, practice examples, vignettes, cutting-edge research findings and theoretical perspectives.
This new edition includes:
Updated references to policy, legislation, professional requirements, practice tools and research, including around unaccompanied young refugees and asylum seekers, and child sexual exploitation;
New learning from ethnographic and observational research of social workers’ direct practice with children;
Added focus on the context for practice, including the role of supervision and organisational containment in developing practitioners’ emotional capabilities.
With detailed coverage of key skills, this book will equip students and practitioners with the critical thinking and tools needed for effective practice in order to promote the welfare, protection and rights of children and young people.
Several power allocation algorithms for cooperative relay networks are presented in the literature. These contributions assume perfect channel knowledge and capacity achieving codes. However in practice, obtaining the channel state information at a relay or at the destination is an estimation problem and can generally not be error free. The investigation of the power allocation mechanism in a wireless network due to channel imperfections is important because it can severely degrade its performance regarding throughput and bit error rate. In this paper, the impact of imperfect channel state information on the power allocation of an adaptive relay network is investigated. Moreover, a framework including Automatic Repeat reQuest (ARQ) mechanism is provided to make the power allocation mechanism robust against these channel imperfections. For this framework, the end-to end SNR is calculated considering imperfect channel knowledge using ARQ analytically. The goal is to emphasize the impact of imperfect channel knowledge on the power allocation mechanism. In this paper, the simulation results illustrate the impact of channel uncertainties on the average outage probability, throughput, and consumed sum power for different qualities of channel estimation. It is shown that the presented framework with ARQ is extremely robust against the channel imperfections.
This article explores the experiences of UK medical students with dyslexia, using an interpretive phenomenological approach. This project began with a review of the literature, highlighting a void of qualitative research. We then conducted a collaborative autoethnography. This paper forms the next stage in this series of research. We aimed to to elicit meaning and understanding from the lived experiences of our participants. Eight UK junior doctors with dyslexia were interviewed over the telephone in an in-depth, unstructured manner. Audio-recordings were transcribed verbatim and thematically analyzed with the aid of a template analysis. Experiences of helplessness and hopelessness were common. These may be a result of a fear of stigmatization, and personal feelings of inadequacy. They may also be fuelled by the incidents of bullying and belittling from other medical students that were reported. An important meta-theme was of fear and lack of understanding. A lack of pastoral support was also reported. Their experiences of medical school assessments are also reported. More may need to be done to educate teachers and clinical supervisors on dyslexia.
This speculative paper proposes a terminology of ergomimesis for engaging with the way new musical instruments derive their design from previous music technologies. What new instruments translate from earlier technologies are not simply the simulation of an interface, but a whole constellation of embodied contexts, where trained movements, musical actions, human-instrument relationships and other processes are translated to a technology of a different material substratum (from the organic to the digital material). The concept of ergodynamics in a musical instrument is subsequently contextualised in relation to the semiotics of mapping, from the background of the Peircian analysis of the sign.
Humour has been a surprisingly neglected topic in philosophy. However, Noah Greenstein has recently given an intuitive schema for modelling the logical structure of puns. Having this logical structure is indeed what makes a pun punny, but I argue that it is not what makes a pun funny. In order for a pun to be funny, the components comprising its logical structure must be related to one another such that certain conditions are satisfied. By using Graeme Ritchie's linguistic model of jokes, I give these conditions in terms of those components.
We conduct a systematic study of the impact of new physics in quark-level b→cc ̅s transitions on B physics, in particular rare B decays and B-meson lifetime observables. We find viable scenarios where a sizable effect in rare semileptonic B decays can be generated, compatible with experimental indications and with a possible dependence on the dilepton invariant mass, while being consistent with constraints from radiative B decay and the measured Bs width difference. We show how, if the effect is generated at the weak scale or beyond, strong renormalization-group effects can enhance the impact on semileptonic decays while leaving radiative B decay largely unaffected. A good complementarity of the different B-physics observables implies that precise measurements of lifetime observables at LHCb may be able to confirm, refine, or rule out this scenario.
The DNA damage response is an important barrier to tumorigenesis. Impairment of p53 function is crucial to tumorigenesis by allowing evasion of p53 dependent responses. The mechanisms involve either (i) missense mutations, (ii) partial abrogation of signaling pathways or effector molecules that regulate p53, (iii) epigenetic deregulation.
The tyrosine to cysteine mutation, Y220C, in p53 is found in around 100,000 new cancer cases per annum. This mutation destabilizes the core domain by 4 kcal mol-1 and destabilizes p53 under physiological conditions. The large to small mutation results in the fusing of two shallow pockets to create an extended surface cleft that a number of different fragments bind.
The small molecule PK083, 1-(-ethyl-9H-carbazol-3-yl)-N-methanamine, binds the mutant-specific crevice with a KD = 150 μM and raised the protein mutant’s half-life to over 15 minutes vs. 4 minutes in the absence of the ligand. This presents an ideal starting point towards the design of a p53 rescuing drug.
A library of carbazoles was designed and synthesized, guided by SAR studies, crystallographic information and computational chemistry, with the aim of optimizing the structure toward a more potent PK083 analogue. Affinity gains were achieved by exploitation of direct fluorine-protein interactions between PK9255 (N-methyl-1-(9- (2,2,2-trifluoroethyl)-9H-carbazol-3-yl)methanamine), and the backbone carbonyls of Leu145 and Trp146 and the thiol of Cys220, resulting in a Kd = 28 μM.
Further affinity gains were achieved through SAR studies targeting the proline-rich subsite II. Chemistry was optimized to allow a diversity-oriented synthesis toward 2,6,9- substituted carbazoles. A small library of PK083 analogues, where the subsite II targeting group was a halogen, ether, ester, amide or heterocycle were synthesized, identifying the heterocyclic compounds as most potent. A scan of heterocyclic compounds was carried out to identify the most potent heterocyclic substitution.
This thesis focuses on Albanian-Italian and Albanian-Romanian couples in Italy. Through application of the boundary-making framework to integration and intermarriage, this study looks at the processes by which partners in mixed unions deal with socially constructed boundaries inside and outside the couple and family sphere. The thesis is based on multiple qualitative methods, but primarily on in-depth interviews with 61 Albanian-Italian/Romanian couples in Italy. These research-participant couples differ in terms of marital and family status, place of origin and settlement, education and occupation. The core sample is composed of an Albanian in-between generation, now in their 30s, who emigrated during adolescence for various reasons (asylum, family reunification, healthcare, study, work). Thence, I moved towards an Italian or a Romanian partner of these primary participants.
The original contribution of my study is both empirical and theoretical. From an empirical point of view, it explores the topic of intermarriage, which has not been previously examined in the existing literatures on the Albanian and Romanian migrations and is still understudied in Italy. In addition to this, the study specifically takes into account the combination of minority-majority (Albanian-Italian) and minority-minority (Albanian-Romanian) partnerships and marriages, whose conjoint analysis has been largely absent in intermarriage research. From a theoretical point of view, my research shows instead the importance of adopting a relational approach in migration studies through the inclusion of a plurality of social actors within the research design. In fact, while intermarriage in immigrant societies is usually interpreted as an indicator/agent of integration and through the essentialisation of the category of culture, my thesis proposes a novel understanding of intermarriage. I view intermarriage as a site of integration, and I see integration as a multi-way process of boundary change, which involves the national majority as well as multiple immigrant minorities interacting with and identifying each other in the construction of a common social space.
This paper argues that conceiving of paid domestic labour as ordinary work constitutes a hermeneutical injustice against domestic workers, whose work differs from other occupations in morally significant ways. Amongst other distinctive properties, outsourced domestic work inevitably rests on gendered and racialised asymmetries of wealth and social status, consists of affective labour which is not remunerable, and occurs in a necessarily private realm which cannot be easily regulated. The obfuscation of these features by discourses which cast domestic work as ordinary work obstructs attempt to form and respond to justice claims relating to domestic work, and prevents domestic workers from recognising the innate challenges of their work. The inadequacy of this discourse seems to counsel towards condemning the practice of outsourcing domestic work, rather than attempting to recuperate it.
Industrial society has not only led to high levels of wealth and welfare in the Western world, but also to increasing global ecological degradation and social inequality. The socio-technical systems that underlay contemporary societies have substantially contributed to these outcomes. This paper proposes that these socio-technical systems are an expression of a limited number of meta-rules that, for the past 250 years, have driven innovation and hence system evolution in a particular direction, thereby constituting the First Deep Transition. Meeting the cumulative social and ecological consequences of the overall direction of the First Deep Transition would require a radical change, not only in socio-technical systems but also in the meta-rules driving their evolution – the Second Deep Transition. This paper develops a new theoretical framework that aims to explain the emergence, acceleration, stabilization and directionality of Deep Transitions. It does so through the synthesis of two literatures that have attempted to explain large-scale and long-term socio-technical change: the Multi-level Perspective (MLP) on socio-technical transitions, and Techno-economic Paradigm (TEP) framework.
If you need a helping hand with Shakespeare, this book provides it. Cedric Watts offers a broad introductory survey of Shakespeare's works and techniques.
This thesis presents a hermeneutic phenomenological study into how social work students develop the skills required for professional judgement. Professional judgement is an important and complex facet of social work. A review of the literature indicates that there has been a recent increase in empirical research into the sensemaking and reasoning of social workers’ decision making and professional judgement, yet little research exists into the development of this expertise. One of the Standards of Proficiency of the Health and Care Professionals Council is that a registered social worker in England should “Be able to practise as an autonomous professional exercising their own professional judgement” (HCPC 2017 p6). It is therefore incumbent upon social work education to enable students to develop this expertise and research is needed in order to understand how this can best be achieved. The intention of the research was to seek answers to the following questions
•How do social work students develop skills for professional judgement?
•What enables, facilitates and enhances this development?
The research was framed within a constructionist epistemological paradigm and conceptually influenced by a combination of Authentic Professional Learning, Appreciative Inquiry and Practice-based Research. The methodology was hermeneutic phenomenology and the method was semi-structured interviews constructed around critical incidents of learning on placement. The participants were 14 MSc Social Work students from a university in England who were at the point of graduation. Nvivo10 was used to code the data and the data were analysed thematically. The findings indicate that the phenomenological essence of the development of skills for social work professional judgement lies in the presence and interrelation of three domains. These are professional responsibility, facilitation of the professional voice and learner agency. Philosophical and psychological concepts of autonomy are discussed and presented as a means to understand what is taking place for social work students. I suggest that a re-appraisal of autonomy as relational and a consideration of the value of autonomy-supportive learning and teaching could prove instructive to understanding both the development of skills for professional judgement for social work students and the way in which this can be enabled.
Objectives To determine the incidence, severity, preventability and risk factors for medication-related harm (MRH)in community-dwelling older adults following hospital discharge.
Design: Systematic review
Setting: A search of Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL, and the Cochrane Library was undertaken without time restrictions
Participants Older adults (average age 65 years) participating in observational studies investigating adverse drug reactions (ADR) or adverse drug events (ADE)post-discharge within a defined follow-up period
Measurements The abstracts of all articles were initially screened by one author to exclude obviously irrelevant articles. The remaining articles were independently screened by two authors for inclusion. Data extraction,including study characteristics, MRH incidence and risk factors, and, critical appraisal was performed by two authors independently, and verified by a third reviewer. Disagreements were resolved through discussion.
Results Out of 584 potentially relevant articles, eight studies met our inclusion criteria; five
North American and three European. Most of the included studies were of moderate quality.
There was a wide range in MRH incidence, from 0.4% to 51.2% of patients, and 35% to 59% of MRH was preventable. The MRH incidence within 30 days post-discharge ranges from 167 to 500 events per 1000 patients discharged (17-51% of patients. Substantial methodological heterogeneity exists across multiple domains of the studies, including ADR and ADE definitions, characteristics of recruited populations, the follow-up duration post-discharge, and data collection.
Conclusions Medication-related harm is common following hospital discharge in older adults. However, a clear understanding of the epidemiology is hampered by methodological inconsistencies between studies and a paucity of data on risk factors. There is need for international consensus on conducting and reporting MRH studies.Data from large, multicentre studies examining a range of biopsychosocial risk factors could add insight to this important area of patient safety.
Transposable elements (TEs) compose the majority of angiosperm DNA. Plants counteract TE activity by silencing them epigenetically. One form of epigenetic silencing requires 21-22 nt small interfering RNAs that act to degrade TE mRNA and may also trigger DNA methylation. DNA methylation is reinforced by a second mechanism, the RNA-dependent DNA methylation (RdDM) pathway. RdDM relies on 24 nt small interfering RNAs and ultimately establishes TEs in a quiescent state. These host factors interact at a systems level, but there have been no system level analyses of their interactions. Here, we define a deterministic model that represents the propagation of active TEs, aspects of the host response and the accumulation of silenced TEs. We describe general properties of the model and also fit it to biological data in order to explore two questions. The first is why two overlapping pathways are maintained, given that both are likely energetically expensive. Under our model, RdDM silenced TEs effectively even when the initiation of silencing was weak. This relationship implies that only a small amount of RNAi is needed to initiate TE silencing, but reinforcement by RdDM is necessary to efficiently counter TE propagation. Second, we investigated the reliance of the host response on rates of TE deletion. The model predicted that low levels of deletion lead to few active TEs, suggesting that silencing is most efficient when methylated TEs are retained in the genome, thereby providing one explanation for the large size of plant genomes.
This chapter presents a systematic interaction control framework for robot-assisted training in neurologically impaired individuals. The human-robot relationship is considered as the interaction of two agents with respective control described by a cost function, which enables us to express and implement various interaction strategies. Implementation of this method for training arm reaching in chronic stroke survivors exhibits smooth motion guidance, neither disrupting movement nor preventing the inter-trials variability critical to learning. The human-robot interaction is further analyzed by using differential game theory with an algorithm to identify the human user’s behavior, providing stable, reactive and adaptive movement assistance demonstrated in simulations
Humans can skilfully use tools and interact with the environment by adapting their movement trajectory, contact force, and impedance. Motivated by the human versatility, we develop here a robot controller that concurrently adapts feedforward force, impedance, and reference trajectory when interacting with an unknown environment. In particular, the robot's reference trajectory is adapted to limit the interaction force and maintain it at a desired level, while feedforward force and impedance adaptation compensates for the interaction with the environment. An analysis of the interaction dynamics using Lyapunov theory yields the conditions for convergence of the closed-loop interaction mediated by this controller. Simulations exhibit adaptive properties similar to human motor adaptation. The implementation of this controller for typical interaction tasks including drilling, cutting, and haptic exploration shows that this controller can outperform conventional controllers in contact tooling.
In this paper, an admittance adaptation method has been developed for robots to interact with unknown environments. The environment to be interacted with is modeled as a linear system. In the presence of the unknown dynamics of environments, an observer in robot joint space is employed to estimate the interaction torque, and admittance control is adopted to regulate the robot behavior at interaction points. An adaptive neural controller using the radial basis function is employed to guarantee trajectory tracking. A cost function that defines the interaction performance of torque regulation and trajectory tracking is minimized by admittance adaptation. To verify the proposed method, simulation studies on a robot manipulator are conducted.
Background
Eczema and asthma are chronic diseases with onset usually before the age of 5 years. More than 50% of individuals with eczema will develop asthma and/or other allergic diseases. Several loss‐of‐function mutations in filaggrin (FLG) have been identified in patients with eczema. However, the association of FLG with healthcare use is unknown.
Objectives
To determine whether FLG mutations are associated with increased prescribing for eczema and asthma and whether increased prescribing is associated with increased healthcare costs.
Methods
A secondary analysis of BREATHE, a cross‐sectional study of gene–environment associations with asthma severity, was undertaken. BREATHE data was collected for 1100 participants with asthma, in Tayside and Fife, Scotland during the period 2003–2005. Through collaboration with the Health Informatics Centre in Dundee, BREATHE was linked to accident and emergency, community prescribing and Scottish morbidity records. The data linkage allowed longitudinal exploration of associations between genetic variation and prescribing.
Results
An association was found between FLG mutations and increased prescribing for mild and moderate eczema, asthma‐reliever medicine and asthma exacerbations. A strong association was found between FLG mutations and prescribing of emollients [incidence rate ratio (IRR) 2·19, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1·36–3·52], treatment for severe eczema (IRR 2·18, 95% CI 1·22–3·91) and a combination of a long‐acting β2‐agonist and corticosteroids (IRR 3·29, 95% CI 1·68–6·43).
Conclusions
The presence of FLG mutations in this cohort is associated with increased prescribing for eczema and asthma. Randomized controlled trials are required to determine if these individuals could benefit from management strategies to reduce morbidity and treatment costs.
Slow-paced but urgent, John Gianvito’s incendiary nine-hour diptych For Example, The Philippines is a stunning feat of political filmmaking. Emotionally gripping, historically revelatory, and at times vividly beautiful, this indictment of American imperialism and militarism, and the toxic environmental footprint it has left in many parts of the globe, intertwines a previously submerged history of the Philippine-American war with searing contemporary footage of impoverished families confronted with appalling health problems and birth defects due to working on, or living near, US military facilities. Vapor Trail (Clark) (264 mins, 2010) centres on an air base and Wake (Subic) (277 mins, 2015) a naval base, both now abandoned parts of what was, until the Gulf war, America’s largest overseas military presence.
This report outlines the findings of a workshop organised by the Collections Information Team at Wellcome Collection and the Department of History at the University of Sussex, to bring together researchers and archival professionals to explore methods for providing access to born-digital archives.
10000 neural oscillators conspire to make a bad approximation of a one second video loop, while their internal networks are stretched and twisted by their own sound and their neighbours.
This is an improvised performance, where a video is resynthesised by an ensemble of neural conceptor networks, each of which has learnt (with varying degrees of success) to approximate the behaviour of an individual pixel in the original. The ghostly result is manipulated live, to send this mass of miniature feedback systems into collective overdrive.
This contribution to the ‘Britain Votes 2017’ special issue of Parliamentary Affairs focuses on the Conservative Party’s campaign. It was a campaign at which everything that could go wrong for the Conservatives did go wrong. The manifesto, which May’s Chief of Staff Nick Timothy believed would be an asset, turned into a liability, confirming the belief of her campaign consultant Lynton Crosby that the contest between the parties needed to be framed in terms of leadership. Unfortunately, however, Theresa May simply wasn’t the kind of presidential politician who could carry that kind of campaign. Nor did Brexit do her or her party as much of a favour as everyone had expected. For one thing, she seemed to think she could get away with mouthing mantras and platitudes about leaving the EU, opening up a vacuum that other issues rushed in to fill. For another, the number of UKIP, older, poorly-educated and working-class voters that the party gained as a result of the government’s tough talk on Europe seems to have been outweighed by the number of younger, better-educated, middle-class, Remain voters who were alienated and infuriated by it. More generally, the Tories suffered because they were unable or unwilling, ideologically or otherwise, to respond convincingly to increasing voter concern about ongoing cuts to key public services.
What can an analysis of power in local communities contribute to debates on women’s legal empowerment and the role of paralegals in Africa? Drawing upon theories of power and rights, and research on legal empowerment in African plural legal systems, this article explores the challenges for paralegals in facilitating women’s access to justice in Tanzania, which gave statutory recognition to paralegals in the Legal Aid Act 2017. Land conflicts represent the single-biggest source of local legal disputes in Tanzania and are often embedded in gendered land tenure relations. This article argues that paralegals can be effective actors in women’s legal empowerment where they are able to work as leaders, negotiating power relations and resisting the forms of violence that women encounter as obstacles to justice. Paralegals’ authority will be realised when their role is situated within community leadership structures, confirming their authority while preserving their independence.
This article explores the background of anatomical educational research. It draws together research and our own personal experiences to propose a best practice piece for novice researchers in anatomical education. The article explores the domains of both qualitative, and quantitative methods as applied to anatomy pedagogy. It takes into consideration validity and what might be undertaken to increase validity and reliability. The article explores how both qualitative and quantitative data can be analysed and recommends top tips including: Identify your research questions and theoretical framework. Map out how you are going to answer your research questions. Consider collaborating with like-minded researchers in other countries:
multi-centre studies have a better chance of getting published and carefully consider your target
journal and suggestions for peer review, taking into consideration individuals expertise and
potential conflicts of interests. This article is designed to be a guide to anyone starting
anatomical research or experienced researchers looking for new methods and ideas.
In this paper, a human-robot co-transport system is studied where an object is transported from one position to a target position with two control inputs from a human and a robot. Motion synchronization is achieved when the human and the robot’s motion intentions are identical. The human partner’s motion intention is estimated based on his/her control input to the system, while his/her control input is estimated by developing an observer. The proposed method enables the robot to collaborate with its human partner efficiently and it does not require the force sensing at the interaction point. Simulation results are presented to illustrate the feasibility and advantages of the proposed method.
Scholars and practitioners agree that virtual teams (VTs) have become commonplace in today's digital workplace. Relevant literature argues that learning constitutes a significant contributor to team member satisfaction and performance, and that, at least in face-to-face teams, team cohesion fosters team learning. Given the additional challenges VTs face, e.g. geographical dispersion, which are likely have a negative influence on cohesion, in this paper we shed light on the relationship between team cohesion and team learning. We adopted a quantitative approach and studied 54 VTs in our quest to understand the role of feedback in mediating this relationship and, more specifically, the role of personality traits in moderating the indirect effect of team feedback and guided reflection intervention on TL through team cohesion within the VT context. Our findings highlight the importance of considering aspects related to the team composition when devising intervention strategies for VTs, and provide empirical support for an interactionist model between personality and emergent states such as cohesion. Implications for theory and practice are also discussed.
This study aimed to determine whether there are seasonal changes in the performance of QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube (QFT-GIT) assays, an interferon-gamma release assay widely used for the diagnosis of tuberculosis infection. Results of 31,932 QFT-GIT assays performed at a large independent, accredited diagnostic service provider in London, UK over a 4.5-year-period were analysed. The proportion of positive results was significantly lower in autumn (14.8%) than in spring (16.0%; p=0.0366) and summer (17.5%; p < 0.0001), but similar to winter (15.2%; p=0.4711). The proportion of indeterminate results was significantly higher in autumn (8.2%)than in spring (6.2%; p < 0.0001), summer (4.8%; p < 0.0001), and winter (6.2%; p < 0.0001). The highest proportions of indeterminate results were observed in October (8.4%) and November (8.8%), the lowest in June (4.5%). Our data show that significant seasonal variation occurs in the performance of QFT-GIT assays in a
temperate climate setting. Potential underlying mechanisms, including host and environmental factors, are discussed.
In this paper, the effect of weak lensing magnification on galaxy number counts is studied by cross-correlating the positions of two galaxy samples, separated by redshift, using the Dark Energy Survey Science Verification data set. This analysis is carried out for galaxies that are selected only by its photometric redshift. An extensive analysis of the systematic effects, using new methods based on simulations is performed, including a Monte Carlo sampling of the selection function of the survey.
Clusters of galaxies gravitationally lens the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation, resulting in a distinct imprint in the CMB on arcminute scales. Measurement of this effect offers a promising way to constrain the masses of galaxy clusters, particularly those at high redshift. We use CMB maps from the South Pole Telescope Sunyaev–Zel’dovich (SZ) survey to measure the CMB lensing signal around galaxy clusters identified in optical imaging from first year observations of the Dark Energy Survey. The cluster catalogue used in this analysis contains 3697 members with mean redshift of z¯ = 0.45. We detect lensing of the CMB by the galaxy clusters at 8.1σ significance. Using the measured lensing signal, we constrain the amplitude of the relation between cluster mass and optical richness to roughly 17 per cent precision, finding good agreement with recent constraints obtained with galaxy lensing. The error budget is dominated by statistical noise but includes significant contributions from systematic biases due to the thermal SZ effect and cluster miscentring.
Context. Deep far-infrared (FIR) cosmological surveys are known to be affected by confusion, causing issues when examining the main sequence of star forming galaxies (MS). In the past this has typically been partially tackled by the use of stacking. However, stacking only provides the average properties of the objects in the stack. Aims. This work aims to trace the MS over 0.2 ≤ z < 6.0 using the latest de-blended Herschel photometry, which reaches ≈ 10 times deeper than the 5σ confusion limit in SPIRE. This provides more reliable star formation rates (SFRs), especially for the fainter galaxies, and hence a more reliable MS. Methods. We built a pipeline that uses the spectral energy distribution (SED) modelling and fitting tool CIGALE to generate flux density priors in the Herschel SPIRE bands. These priors where then fed into the de-blending tool XID+ to extract flux densities from the SPIRE maps. In the final step, multi-wavelength data were combined with the extracted SPIRE flux densities to constrain SEDs and provide stellar mass (M☉) and SFRs. These M☉ and SFRs were then used to populate the SFR-M☉ plane over 0.2 ≤ z < 6.0. Results. No significant evidence of a high-mass turn-over was found, resulting in the best fit being a simple two-parameter power law of the form log(SFR) = α(log(M☉) - 10:5] + β. The normalisation of the power law increased with redshift, rapidly at z ≲ 1.8, from 0.58 ± 0.09 at z ≈ 0:37 to 1.31 ± 0.08 at z ≈ 1.8. The slope was also found to increase with redshift, perhaps with an excess around 1.8 ≤ z < 2.9. Conclusions. The increasing slope indicates that galaxies become more self-similar as redshift increases. This implies that high-mass galaxies’ specific SFR increases with redshift, from 0.2 to 6.0, becoming closer to that of low-mass galaxies. The excess in the slope at 1.8 ≤ z < 2.9, if present, coincides with the peak of the cosmic star formation history.
A magazine article examining the contemporary image of the Black Panther Party in American political and popular culture.
BACKGROUND: There is relatively little information about endogenous biochemical changes in a response to plateletpheresis in healthy donors. We aimed to investigate the changes in different biochemical parameters including glycemic status, insulin resistance, iron status, lipid profile and inflammatory markers after plateletpheresis in healthy male donors with normal glycemic status. METHODS: In this study we enrolled 10 male subjects. The glycemic status in all subjects was assessed using an oral glucose tolerance test pre- and post-plateletpheresis at different time intervals (1, 8 and 22 days). Different biochemical parameters including glucose, HbA1c, insulin, lipids, uric acid, transferrin, ferritin, C-reactive protein and insulin resistance were measured. Repeated ANOVA was utilized for the purpose of statistical comparison of means between different days. RESULTS: Fasting glucose, transferrin, cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL-C, and LDL-C were significantly altered (-3.9%, p<0.05; -2.7%, p<0.05; -3.9%, p<0.05; 23.9%, p<0.05; -5.5%, p<0.01; and -9.2%, p<0.05 respectively) at day 1 following plateletpheresis. There was a gradual reduction in HbA1c and ferritin levels during the time-course of the study, and by day 22, both were significantly lower (-2.0%, p<0.01; -18.1%, p<0.05 respectively) when compared to the pre-plateletpheresis levels. CONCLUSIONS: Post-plateletpheresis, several biochemical parameters may change significantly in healthy donors. The changes were particularly evident one and 22 days after donation. The potential effects of plateletpheresis need to be considered when interpreting biochemical tests.
This overview of the prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) in Iran considers the reports on regional and ethnic variation, international comparisons, and within specific groups, including children, diabetics and women at different stages of their life-course. The reported impact of lifestyle is also discussed. One particular controversy has been the definition of MetS, and this remains a difficulty across ethic groups and in children and adolescents. The changes in the criteria being applied to determine the presence of MetS, also makes trends in prevalence difficult to interpret.
Background
Globally, about 1 billion people have inadequate levels of serum vitamin D and it is prevalent in all ethnicities and age groups. Few foods naturally contain sufficient vitamin D; therefore, most people get their requirements through supplementation. Hence vitamin D status is affected by genetic and environmental determinants including season of measurement, diet habitual, health status, body mass index and concurrent medication. Further studies are necessary to understand how genetic variation influences vitamin D metabolism. We aimed to explore the association between a potential vitamin D-related polymorphism (the rs10766197 polymorphism in the CYP2R1 gene) with the response to supplementation of vitamin D in 253 healthy Iranian girls.
Material and method
A total of 253 healthy subjects received 50,000 IU of vitamin D3 weekly for 9 weeks. Serum 25(OH)D concentrations and metabolic profiles were measured at baseline and after 9 weeks of supplementation. The genotypes of the CYP2R1 variant (rs10766197) were identified using TaqMan genotyping assays.
Results
Serum 25(OH)D during the supplementation, increased in all individuals. Subjects with a AA major genotype at this locus had higher vitamin D concentrations after intervention (Changes (%) 448.4% ± 425% in AA vs 382.7% ± 301% in GG). This genetic variant modulated the response to supplementation (p < 0.001 and p-value SNP = 0.05). Regression analysis showed that the probability of affecting serum 25(OH)D, in individuals who had homozygous major allele GG was two-fold higher than carriers of the uncommon allele A (OR = 2.1 (1–4.2); p = 0.03). Interestingly, the Hs-CRP was reduced in AA carries while was elevated in individuals with GG and AG genotypes, after high-dose vitamin D supplementation.
Conclusion
Changes in serum vitamin D and metabolic profile following high dose supplementation with vitamin D were associated with CYP2R1 polymorphism. Although carriers of the common G allele showed a greater response in the serum vitamin D.
Purpose: The objectives of this study are to examine how contractual and relational governance mechanisms influence total value created in a buyer-supplier relationship and to investigate how supplier's information sharing and information sharing asymmetry between two exchange parties differentially moderate these associations.
Design/methodology/approach: The study is conducted with a sample of 110 buyer-supplier matched dyads in various industries in Vietnam.
Findings: This study confirms that contractual governance and relational governance have curvilinear effects on total relationship value. Governance mechanisms have distinct interactions with supplier’s information sharing and information sharing asymmetry to influence total relationship value.
Research limitations/implications: Future study could expand the sample to various countries to investigate the role of cultural factors in the effects of contractual and relational governance.
Practical implications: The study draws implications for supplying managers about how to govern a relationship with a buying firm with which they are sharing information. It also provides implications about how to use contractual and relational governance to control the effects of supplier’s information sharing, information sharing asymmetry, on total relationship value.
Originality/value: The study extends the information sharing literature by looking into the effect of supplier’s information sharing on both parties’ relationship value. It contributes to the governance literature by investigating curvilinear effects of contractual and relational governance on relationship performance.
On the basis of the perceived failure of multiculturalism, a shift towards ‘interculturalism’ has been advocated by politicians in Western Europe and international organisations including UNESCO and the Council of Europe. While seemingly benign from a human rights perspective, critics of interculturalism warn that in practice this shift can be used to justify the adoption of assimilationist policies. Forced or unwanted assimilation violates the rights of persons belonging to minorities. Consequently, this article explores the compatibility of interculturalism with international human rights law. It argues that when adopted within a minority rights (multiculturalist) framework, such as the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, interculturalism is broadly compatible with human rights standards. However, when adopted outside this framework, for example, within the European Court on Human Rights’ jurisprudence, interculturalist concepts can easily be used to legitimize the violation of the rights of persons belonging to minorities.
We present the results of a process to attempt to identify 100 questions that, if answered, would make a substantial difference to terrestrial and marine landscape restoration in Europe. Representatives from a wide range of European governmental and non-governmental conservation organizations, universities, independent ecologists and land managers compiled 677 questions relating to all aspects of European landscape restoration for nature and people. The questions were shortlisted by an email vote, followed by a two-day workshop, to produce the final list of 100 questions. Many of the final questions evolved through a process of modification and combination as the workshop progressed. The questions are divided into eight sections: conservation of biodiversity; connectivity, migration and translocations; delivering and evaluating restoration; natural processes; ecosystem services; social and cultural aspects of restoration; policy and governance; and economics. We anticipate that these questions will help identify new directions for researchers and policy-makers and assist funders and programme managers in allocating funds and planning projects, resulting in improved understanding and implementation of landscape-scale ecological restoration in Europe.
The human emotional reactions to stimuli delivered by different sensory modalities is a topic of interest for many disciplines, from Human-Computer-Interaction to cognitive sciences. Different databases of stimuli eliciting emotional reaction are available, tested on a high number of participants. Interestingly, stimuli within one database are always of the same type. In other words, to date, no data was obtained and compared from distinct types of emotion-eliciting stimuli from the same participant. This makes it difficult to use different databases within the same experiment, limiting the complexity of experiments investigating emotional reactions. Moreover, whereas the stimuli and the participants’ rating to the stimuli are available, physiological reactions of participants to the emotional stimuli are often recorded but not shared. Here, we test stimuli delivered either through a visual, auditory, or haptic modality in a within participant experimental design. We provide the results of our study in the form of a MATLAB structure including basic demographics on the participants, the participant’s self-assessment of his/her emotional state, and his/her physiological reactions (i.e., skin conductance).
Self-identity often predicts behavioural intentions after standard theory of planned behaviour (TPB) components are accounted for (Rise, Sheeran, & Hukkelberg, 2010). However, Fishbein and Ajzen (2010) claim this is due to conceptual similarity between self-identity and perceived importance of the behaviour. We examined this claim within the context of recycling food waste. Participants (N = 113) completed questionnaires assessing intentions, attitude, perceived behavioural control, perceived norms, perceived importance, self-identity, and past behaviour. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that self-identity and perceived importance were distinct constructs. Further, after accounting for TPB components and perceived importance, self-identity explained a significant amount of additional variance in intentions. The present findings therefore do not support Fishbein and Ajzen’s (2010) argument against the predictive utility of self-identity.
This research reports a novel investigation into the comparative effects of positive and negative direct and extended intergroup contact on intergroup orientations. It tested the generality of the positive-negative asymmetry effect among majority (N = 357) and minority (N = 101) group members in Iceland. Little evidence of asymmetry was observed: the beneficial effects of positive contact were mostly as strong as the detrimental effects of negative contact, for both direct and extended contact. However, evidence was found for alternative interaction models in which positive contact buffers the negative effects of negative contact, and negative contact enhances the benefits of positive contact. These interaction effects were found only for direct contact and principally in the majority group, but were also found for the minority group, though more weakly. No interaction was observed for extended contact. It appeared that differential group salience elicited by positive and negative contact could partly contribute to the explanation of the observed effects, at least in the majority sample.
Objective: Self-affirmation has repeatedly been shown to reduce adverse psychological and physiological responses to stress. However, it is plausible that self-affirmation could exacerbate negative reactions to stress under certain conditions. The current research explored whether self-affirmation would increase negative psychological responses to a stressor occurring in a central life domain characterised by low levels of control.
Design: Female participants (Study 1 N = 132; Study 2 N = 141) completed baseline measures of anxiety and mood. They were then randomly allocated to complete a self-affirmation or control task, before reading a narrative documenting a stressful birth and imagining themselves in the place of the woman giving birth. After completing this task, participants again reported their levels of anxiety and positive mood.
Main outcome measures: Anxiety and positive mood assessed at follow-up.
Results: Study 1 demonstrated that self-affirmed women experienced increased anxiety and less positive mood at follow-up, compared both to baseline and to women in the control condition. Study 2 revealed that the effect of self-affirmation on outcomes was moderated by fear of childbirth.
Conclusion: These results provide preliminary evidence that self-affirmation may worsen negative responses to stressors under certain conditions and for certain individuals.
The complexity of supplier-partner networks in the Information Technology (IT) sector where large suppliers utilize thousands of authorized partners, requires that organizations reconsider their approach to governing and managing the relationships involved. Traditional dyadic approaches to governance are likely to prove inadequate. This paper investigates the relationship between network governance mechanisms and relationship performance. Specifically, we examine the contingent effect of certification of partners and the use of partner communities (as formal and informal mechanisms of network governance, respectively), on complex and embedded networks of relationships. A model examining the effect of formal and informal network governance on the relationship between embeddedness (structural and relational) and relationship performance is developed. Data was collected from a sample of partners of leading IT suppliers in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Three-way interactions assess the contingent effect of certification and partner communities on the relationship between embeddedness and relational performance. Results support the use of a combination of certification and partner communities to strengthen the link between network structure (structural embeddedness) and relational embeddedness, as well as relationship performance. Certification requires the sharing of explicit knowledge with partners whereas partner communities aid the creation and dissemination of more tacit, contextual knowledge. Furthermore, partner communities reinforce positive perceptions of fairness in suppliers’ network management practices, overcoming any perceptions of lock-in or coercive control that certification may suggest. Certification, despite all its procedural and reputational benefits, damages partner relationships and needs to be supported by partner communities, which themselves show particularly strong benefits in enhancing network relationships. Despite the emerging prevalence of certification and partner communities in business-to-business relationships, to date there is a paucity of research on their effects on partner relationships and performance. Organizations with an extensive network of similar partners may suffer network overload. This research shows that such organizations can manage their partner network more effectively through network governance mechanisms, thereby addressing the challenge of overload.
BACKGROUND:
Cockayne syndrome (CS) is a rare, autosomal recessive multisystem disorder characterised by prenatal or postnatal growth failure, progressive neurological dysfunction, ocular and skeletal abnormalities and premature ageing. About half of the patients with symptoms diagnostic for CS show cutaneous photosensitivity and an abnormal cellular response to UV light due to mutations in either the ERCC8/CSA or ERCC6/CSB gene. Studies performed thus far have failed to delineate clear genotype-phenotype relationships. We have carried out a four-centre clinical, molecular and cellular analysis of 124 patients with CS.
The challenge of facilitating a shift towards sustainable housing, food and mobility has been taken up by diverse community-based initiatives ranging from ‘top-down’ approaches in low-carbon municipalities to ‘bottom-up’ approaches in intentional communities. This paper compares intervention measures of these two types, focusing on their potential of re-configuring daily housing, food and mobility practices. Taking up critics on dominant intervention framings of diffusing low-carbon technical innovations and changing individual behaviour, we draw on social practice theory for the empirical analysis of four case studies. Framing interventions in relation to re-configuring daily practices, the paper reveals differences and weaknesses of current low-carbon measures of community-based initiatives in Germany and Austria. Low-carbon municipalities mainly focus on introducing technologies and offering additional infrastructure and information to promote low-carbon practices. They avoid interfering into residents’ daily lives and do not restrict carbon-intensive practices. In contrast, intentional communities base their interventions on the collective creation of shared visions, decisions and rules and thus provide social and material structures, which foster everyday low-carbon practices and discourage carbon-intensive ones. The paper discusses the relevance of organisational and governance structures for implementing different types of low-carbon measures and points to opportunities for broadening current policy strategies.
This article explores the modernism of pre-war radio in terms of the framing device of the schedule, rather than exceptional texts or ‘features’. It suggests the flow of broadcasting could be experienced as a montage of remediations that invited reflexive engagement with the conditions and contradictions of modernity. The schedule thus appears not only as a site for the mediation of modern experience and a new sensorium, but as a modernist text in its own right that produced, and was expressive of, a pervasive and insistent vernacular modernism.
Sequence-selective intercalation of pyrene into the chain-folds of a random, binary copolyimide under fast-exchange conditions results in the development of self-similar structure in the diimide region of the 1H NMR spectrum. The resulting spectrum can be described by the mathematics of fractals, an approach that is rationalised in terms of a dynamic summation of ring-current shielding effects produced by pyrene molecules intercalating into the chain at progressively greater distances from each "observed" diimide residue. The underlying set of all such summations is found to be a defined mathematical fractal namely the fourth-quarter Cantor set, within which the observed spectrum is embedded. The pattern of resonances predicted by a geometric construction of the fourth-quarter Cantor set agrees well with the observed spectrum.
Computational models that predict the spectral sensitivities of primate cone photoreceptors have focussed only on the spectral, not spatial, dimensions. On the ecologically valid task of foraging for fruit, such models predict the M-cone (“green”) peak spectral sensitivity 10–20 nm further from the L-cone (“red”) sensitivity peak than it is in nature and assume their separation is limited by other visual constraints, such as the requirement of high-acuity spatial vision for closer M and L peak sensitivities. We explore the possibility that a spatio-chromatic analysis can better predict cone spectral tuning without appealing to other visual constraints. We build a computational model of the primate retina and simulate chromatic gratings of varying spatial frequencies using measured spectra. We then implement the case study of foveal processing in routinely trichromatic primates for the task of discriminating fruit and leaf spectra. We perform an exhaustive search for the configurations of M and L cone spectral sensitivities that optimally distinguish the colour patterns within these spectral images. Under such conditions, the model suggests that: (1) a long-wavelength limit is required to constrain the L cone spectral sensitivity to its natural position; (2) the optimal M cone peak spectral sensitivity occurs at ~525 nm, close to the observed position in nature (~535 nm); (3) spatial frequency has a small effect upon the spectral tuning of the cones; (4) a selective pressure toward less correlated M and L spectral sensitivities is provided by the need to reduce noise caused by the luminance variation that occurs in natural scenes.
Existing debates around the emergence of the so-called 4th industrial Revolution in Europe tend to consider the interrelation between labour bargaining power and the digital infrastructure. Indeed, a number of Chapters in this volume explicitly build their analysis around these two factors. Latvia, in this respect, is an interesting case worth paying attention to. On the one hand, low degree of unionisation, strong business lobbying powers, and an above-average IT infrastructure relative to other EU member states, gives Latvia good odds to make decisive progress towards digitally revolutionising its economy on par with larger Western liberal capitalist countries. On the other hand, poor digital literacy of the population and indecisive digitalisation by businesses, compounded by a ‘blockbuster’ policy for digital innovation, makes it seem unlikely that Latvia will be able to undergo a 4th Industrial Revolution effectively. So where does this leave Latvia? Intent on becoming a regional entrepreneurship hub, Latvia is at risk of moving to a place where government policy and labour legislation begin moving into a digital economy with no one in it.
Introduction
Possible dementia is usually identified in primary care by general practitioners (GPs) who refer to specialists for diagnosis. Only two-thirds of dementia cases are currently recorded in primary care, so increasing the proportion of cases diagnosed is a strategic priority for the UK and internationally. Clinical entities in the primary care record may indicate risk of developing dementia, and could be combined in a predictive model to help find patients who are missing a diagnosis. We conducted a meta-analysis to identify clinical entities with potential for use in such a predictive model for dementia in primary care.
Methods and Findings
We conducted a systematic search in PubMed, Web of Science and primary care database bibliographies. We included cohort or case-control studies which used routinely collected primary care data, to measure the association between any clinical entity and dementia. Meta-analyses were performed to pool odds ratios. A sensitivity analysis assessed the impact of non-independence of cases between studies.
From a sift of 3836 papers, 20 studies, all European, were eligible for inclusion, comprising >1 million patients. 75 clinical entities were assessed as risk factors for all cause dementia, Alzheimer’s (AD) and Vascular dementia (VaD). Data included were unexpectedly heterogeneous, and assumptions were made about definitions of clinical entities and timing as these were not all well described. Meta-analysis showed that neuropsychiatric symptoms including depression, anxiety, and seizures, cognitive symptoms, and history of stroke, were positively associated with dementia. Cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension, heart disease, dyslipidaemia and diabetes were positively associated with VaD and negatively with AD. Sensitivity analyses showed similar results.
Conclusions
These findings are of potential value in guiding feature selection for a risk prediction tool for dementia in primary care. Limitations include findings being UK-focussed. Further predictive entities ascertainable from primary care data, such as changes in consulting patterns, were absent from the literature and should be explored in future studies.
In 2015 the offence of possessing extreme pornography (Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, s63) was extended to cover the possession of pornographic images of rape. Proponents of the legislation claim that rape pornography is ‘culturally harmful’, because it normalizes and legitimates sexual violence. Critics have dismissed ‘cultural harm’ as poorly defined and lacking evidence. However, critical engagement with, and development of, this concept has been limited on both sides of the debate.
This article fills that gap through a sustained theoretical exposition of the concept of cultural harm and detailed analysis of its role in justifying the criminalization of rape pornography. It makes the case that at least some rape pornography is culturally harmful, but nevertheless concludes that criminalization of the possession of rape pornography is not an appropriate response to that harm.
This paper identifies, evaluates and analyses the resulting impact of mandatory expensing of share‐based compensation (SBC) under IFRS2/FASB123R on a set of widely used performance measures in the EU and US banking industry. The paper shows that the accounting treatment of SBC schemes, following the mandatory adoption of IFRS2/FAS123R, has a statistically significant negative impact on the selected performance measures over the period 2004–11. The impact also seems to be material, yet modest, for US banks and only for large and high‐growth EU banks, indicating that earlier public concerns and criticisms of the implementation of IFRS2/FAS123R are largely unsubstantiated. The findings also show that banks continue to use SBC, but there is a reduction, albeit insignificant, in the recognised SBC expense over the period 2009–11. That is, earlier public concerns that firms would curtail employing SBC in their employees’ compensation schemes to avoid the effect of SBC expense recognition on their financial ratios came to light after the first option life‐cycle in the post‐adoption period was over. The findings also show a marked movement towards using cash‐settled‐based payments, possibly due to their manipulative accounting treatment, a potentially interesting issue for related accounting research and accounting standard setters.
Fika is the Swedish practice of assembling for a coffee break at work or home. This paper investigates the material, social and temporal investments in fika in accelerated and accountable organizational cultures, and asks what purpose it serves in neoliberalised academic employment regimes today. Analysis of our thirteen interviews with administrators and academics in a Faculty of Education in a large research-intensive Swedish university suggests that there are multiple interpretations of fika. Traditionally, fika has been used as a site for team-building, democratization, and well-being at work, but might have been re-purposed and incorporated in neoliberal surveillance and normalization technologies in which one's corporate loyalty and interpersonal skills are made visible for assessment. We noted an affective and gendered economy with fika eliciting feelings of pleasure in the social and recreational aspects, but shame and anger at what was perceived as coercion to perform a particular type of sociable subjectivity.
Studies of the writing of Herman Melville are often divided among those that address his political, historical, or biographical dimensions and those that offer creative theoretical readings of his texts. In Herman Melville and the Politics of the Inhuman, Michael Jonik offers a series of nuanced and ambitious philosophical readings of Melville that unite these varied approaches. Through a careful reconstruction of Melville's interaction with philosophy, Jonik argues that Melville develops a notion of the 'inhuman' after Spinoza's radically non-anthropocentric and relational thought. Melville's own political philosophy, in turn, actively disassembles differences between humans and nonhumans, and the animate and inanimate. Jonik has us rethink not only how we read Melville, but also how we understand our deeply inhuman condition.
This thesis examines expressions of affluence and modernity in the context of nineteenth-century Indian Territory, with a particular focus on the Oklahoma Cherokee Nation. It does so through a consideration of the portraiture, material culture and photography of one of the most influential political families in Cherokee history; namely, the Ross family, who were considered to be the dynasty of the Cherokee Nation in the nineteenth century. The thesis examines the art and objects that were commissioned and circulated within the family between 1843-1907, a period in which the categories of ‘modernity’ and ‘Indigeneity’ were presented as antagonistic in troubling anthropological ventures and visual forays into salvage ethnography. The thesis seeks to challenge this narrative with the Ross family as a primary case study, and to explore the ways in which modernity was produced and encouraged within Indigenous contexts.
The project brings together previously unexamined materials from important archives in the Cherokee Nation, including the Jennie Ross Cobb and Anne Ross Piburn collections, the archives of the Cherokee Female Seminary, and the object and archive collections of the historic George M. Murrell Home where generations of Rosses lived throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. To this end, the objects under consideration include painted portraiture, the domestic objects that have been preserved in the Ross family home, and photography. Though the family’s most famous member, Chief John Ross, has been featured in a number of important historical studies, current scholarship has yet to pay serious attention to the collections generated and preserved within the family. As such, this thesis contributes original art historical research, and explores the fascinating ways in which the Ross family’s active participation in visual culture establishes an alternative narrative within nineteenth-century Indian Territory.
This Handbook is a compilation of the training materials used on EJTN EU competition law and linguistics courses.
This essay suggests that we can think about the autobiographical techniques of Stuart Hall’s Familiar Stranger as an experiment in history writing. The article uses Familiar Stranger as a lens through which to consider some of Hall’s key ideas, particularly around the nature of historical conjunctures. It suggests how historians might use this approach to think, in particular, about the connection between historical processes and ‘inner life’.
This paper examines the dynamic nature in which independent accountability mechanisms operate. Focusing on the World Bank, the paper argues that its Inspection Panel evolves according to internal and external pressures. In seeking to achieve equilibrium, and protect its authority and independence, the Panel has gone through several distinct phases: negotiation, emergence, protracted resistance, assertion of independence and authority, renewed tension and contestation. The core novelty of the paper is its application of concepts from outside of development studies—notably that of institutional accountability from the governance literature, and judicialization from the legal studies literature—to the topic of the Panel. Examining the Panel in this way reminds us that accountability mechanisms represent a hybrid of transnational governance influenced by requestors and project affected peoples, national governments, Bank managers, and other development donors. In such a complex and multi-scalar system, the IP is not only about delivering seemingly careful, well-researched investigation reports, it is also an entity seeking to ensure its own survival, an arbiter of its own brand of legitimacy and accountability. Effectiveness itself is a subjective, dynamic, and contested concept. Development finance becomes about both competing interests as well as competing conceptions and expectations of accountability.
When using electronic patient records (EPR) from UK primary care for research, it is not possible to tell the difference between “negative” and “positive, but unlabeled” cases. Using the exemplar of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), we developed a logistic regression model which could be used to identify cases of RA which are unlabeled. Combining symptom, referral and test information from codes and free text, our model discriminated between RA cases and controls with an AUROC of 0.923. This method for identifying “positive, unlabeled” cases in patient records has the potential to improve case ascertainment for a range of EPR studies.
Donor countries have been using international aid in the field of energy for at least three decades now. The stated objective of this policy is to reduce emissions and promote sustainable development in the global south. In spite of the widespread use of this policy tool,very little is known about its effect on emissions. In this paper we perform an empirical audit of the effectiveness of energy related aid in tackling CO2 and SO2 emissions. Using a global panel dataset covering 128 countries over the period 1971 to 2011 and estimating a parsimonious model using the Anderson and Hsiao estimator we do not find any evidence of a systematic effect of energy related aid on emissions. We also find that the non-effect is not conditional on institutional quality or level of income. Countries located in Europe and Central Asia do better than others in utilising this aid to reduce CO2 emissions. Our results are robust after controlling for the Environmental Kuznets Curve, country fixed effects, country specific trends, and time varying common shocks.
People with sequence-space synaesthesia visualize sequential concepts such as numbers and time as an ordered pattern extending through space. Unlike other types of synaesthesia, there is no generally agreed objective method for diagnosing this variant or separating it from potentially related aspects of cognition. We use a recently-developed spatial consistency test together with a novel questionnaire on naïve samples and estimate the prevalence of sequence-space synaesthesia to be around 8.1% (Study 1) to 12.8% (Study 2). We validate our test by showing that participants classified as having sequence-space synaesthesia perform differently on lab-based tasks. They show a spatial Stroop-like interference response, they show enhanced detection of low visibility Gabor stimuli, they report more use of visual imagery, and improved memory for certain types of public events. We suggest that sequence-space synaesthesia develops from a particular neurocognitive profile linked both to greater visual imagery and enhanced visual perception.
The aim of this article is to contribute to the debate on global prosperity in the postGDP world, with specific attention given to the political discourse and intellectual debate on ecological civilization in China. I will first assess the national and international implications of assuming that China as a whole is a 'locality'. I will then focus specifically on one of the most significant political and intellectual debates in Chinese studies today, namely the social and environmental challenges linked to China's political and socio-economic development. In this light, I will engage with the debate on the Anthropocene - the era during which humans have become an earthaltering force - and its interrelationship with the discourse on ecological civilization. In China, the term 'ecological civilization' appeared in the 1980s in the academic domain and was then appropriated by political discourse. This article proves that the concept of eco-civilization, in a similar way to the Anthropocene, has a significant discursive power: it allows for a shift from the binary political economy discourses of 'growth' versus 'development', and 'socialism' versus 'capitalism', to the inquiry of eco-socially sustainable prosperity. The final aim of this article is both to offer a more nuanced analysis of the relationship between the political discourse and academic debate, and to substantiate the rhetoric trope of 'Advancing Ecological Civilization and Building a Beautiful China'.
Systems medicine has a mechanism-based rather than a symptom- or organ-based approach to disease and identifies therapeutic targets in a nonhypothesis-driven manner. In this work, we apply this to transcription factor nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (NRF2) by cross-validating its position in a protein-protein interaction network (the NRF2 interactome) functionally linked to cytoprotection in low-grade stress, chronic inflammation, metabolic alterations, and reactive oxygen species formation. Multiscale network analysis of these molecular profiles suggests alterations of NRF2 expression and activity as a common mechanism in a subnetwork of diseases (the NRF2 diseasome). This network joins apparently heterogeneous phenotypes such as autoimmune, respiratory, digestive, cardiovascular, metabolic, and neurodegenerative diseases, along with cancer. Importantly, this approach matches and confirms in silico several applications for NRF2-modulating drugs validated in vivo at different phases of clinical development. Pharmacologically, their profile is as diverse as electrophilic dimethyl fumarate, synthetic triterpenoids like bardoxolone methyl and sulforaphane, protein-protein or DNA-protein interaction inhibitors, and even registered drugs such as metformin and statins, which activate NRF2 and may be repurposed for indications within the NRF2 cluster of disease phenotypes. Thus, NRF2 represents one of the first targets fully embraced by classic and systems medicine approaches to facilitate both drug development and drug repurposing by focusing on a set of disease phenotypes that appear to be mechanistically linked. The resulting NRF2 drugome may therefore rapidly advance several surprising clinical options for this subset of chronic diseases.
Abstract
Background: Pregnancy, birth and adjusting to a new baby is a potentially stressful time that can negatively affect women’s mental and physical health. Expressive writing, where people write about a stressful event for at least 15 minutes on three consecutive days, has been associated with improved health in some groups but it is not clear whether it is feasible and acceptable for use with postpartum women. This study therefore examined the feasibility and acceptability of expressive writing for postpartum women as part of a randomised controlled trial (RCT).
Methods: The Health After Birth Trial (HABiT) was an RCT evaluating expressive writing for postpartum women which included measures of feasibility and acceptability. At 6 to 12 weeks after birth 854 women were randomised to expressive writing, a control writing task or normal care, and outcome measures of health were measured at baseline, one month later and six months later. Feasibility was measured by recruitment, attrition, and adherence to the intervention. Quantitative and qualitative measures of acceptability of the materials and the task were completed six months after the intervention.
Results: Recruitment was low (10.7% of those invited to participate) and the recruited sample was from a restricted sociodemographic range. Attrition was high, increased as the study progressed (35.8% at baseline, 57.5% at one month, and 68.1% at six months) and was higher in the writing groups than in the normal care group. Women complied with instructions to write expressively or not, but adherence to the instruction to write for 15 minutes per day for three days was low (Expressive writing: 29.3%; Control writing: 23.5%). Acceptability measures showed that women who wrote expressively rated the materials/task both more positively and more negatively than those in the control writing group, and qualitative comments revealed that women enjoyed the writing and/or found it helpful even when it was upsetting.
Conclusions: The feasibility of offering expressive writing as a universal self-help intervention to all postpartum women 6 to 12 weeks after birth in the HABiT trial was low, but the expressive writing intervention was acceptable to the majority of women who completed it.
The objective of this thesis is to develop the quantum theory of the motional degrees of freedom of a charged particle in a Penning trap. The theory is treated within the formalism of quantum optics, and explores the use of dressed-atom methods by exploiting the threefold SU(N) algebraic structure of the problem. The quantum form of the experimental techniques of sideband coupling and driving to the ultra-elliptical regime are examined in this context, and resulting future applications considered. Interpretation of the quantum dynamics of the separate x and y motions of an electron is discussed, motivated by the desire to modify the trapping potential without changing the basic experimental configuration. A detailed discussion of operator methods which exploit the algebraic structure of the problem is given. This results in a clearer understanding of the physical manifestations of a range of unitary transformations upon a general three-dimensional system, and a novel interpretation of the mapping between canonical angular momentum components of isotropic and anisotropic trapping systems. The results highly promote future use of these methods in Penning trap theory, detailing a robust formulation of unitary operations which can be used to prepare the quantum state of a charged particle. The majority of the results can be applied to any Penning trap, but the theory is based throughout upon the “Geonium Chip" trap at Sussex; the scalability and planar design of this trap promotes it as natural candidate in experimental quantum optics and Gaussian quantum information studies. The work in this thesis aims to provide framework for such future applications.
The POU1F1 (Pit-1) transcription factor is important in regulating expression of growth hormone, prolactin and TSH β-subunit, and controlling development of the anterior pituitary cells in which these hormones are produced. POU1F1 is a conserved protein comprising three main domains, an N-terminal transcription activation domain (TAD), a POU-specific domain and a C-terminal homeodomain. Within the TAD, a β-domain can be inserted by alternative splicing, giving an extended 'β-variant' with altered properties. Here sequence data from over 100 species were used to assess the variability of POU1F1 in mammals. This showed that the POU-specific domain and homeodomain are very strongly conserved, and that the TAD is somewhat less conserved, as are linker and hinge regions between these main domains. On the other hand, the β-domain is very variable, apparently evolving at a rate not significantly different from that expected for unconstrained, neutral evolution. In several species stop and/or frameshift mutations within the β domain would prevent expression of the β-variant as a functional protein. In most species expression of the β-variant is low (<5% of total POU1F1 expression). The rate of evolution of POU1F1 in mammals shows little variation, though the lineage leading to dog does show an episode of accelerated change. This comparative genomics study suggests that in most mammalian species POU1F1 variants produced by alternative splicing may have little physiological significance.
This paper examines the growing pressures and incentives encouraging research misconduct, along with the consequences, as illustrated by the case of business school research. Drawing on a review of the literature on different theoretical approaches to analysing organizational misconduct, we develop a formal taxonomy distinguishing appropriate conduct from blatantly inappropriate misconduct but with a specific focus on the ‘grey’ areas between these extremes in the form of questionable and inappropriate behaviour. We identify various sources of research misbehaviour and different categories of those affected. The aim is to provide a clearer understanding of what research behaviour is deemed appropriate or not, which stakeholders it affects, and the pressures and incentives likely to exacerbate such misconduct. We conclude with a discussion of how the taxonomy can help shape future good research practice (thereby setting a better example to students), and offer some propositions for future research
Open licensing has become a very important legal subject in the last decade, with topics such as open data, open access, and open source software gaining mainstream recognition outside intellectual property circles. Most of these topics have one thing in common, they protect only copyright works, which leaves open the question of what licences (if any) are available to protect registrable rights such as patents and trade marks. This chapter explores the recent history of open licensing schemes from the perspective of registered and unregistered rights, concluding that in the future the basis for allowing re-use and re-share of works will be less of an issue of licensing, and more about business models.
This chapter explores how certain elisions occurred in the experimental biographical film which aimed precisely to highlight the processes of projection with which representing one’s own family – and especially one’s own mother – must inevitably be imbued. It focuses on Marianne Hirsch’s analysis of feminist authors’ difficulties in representing mother as a subject rather than an object, not least because of their own struggles for control over their own lives, bodies and ‘plots’. In both Un’Ora Sola Ti Vorrei and Histoire d’un secret, film-maker daughters investigate lives of their respective mothers, who both died young, Marazzi’s from suicide following mental illness and Otero’s from complications after a self-induced abortion. The chapter argues the original statement that accompanied the film that the multi-vocal narration is intended to suggest aspects of projection and encryption – that is, blurring of boundaries between the lives of mother, grandmother and daughter and the nostalgic desire for reunion and recognition of each by the other.
The project, originally conceived as a live cinema event for the Brighton Festival, 2016 re-interprets 'the city symphony', a key film genre of the silent era through a collaboration between Thynne as director and Ed Hughes as composer. It explores how the symphonic might be conceived to evoke a modern city in images and music through commenting on and mimicking Berlin: Symphony of a City (Ruttmann, 1927), a film at the heart of discussions about the relation of the 'poetic' and 'political' in documentary. It is inspired by Guy Maddin's suggestion that the potential of one technology, in the case silent film is never usually exhausted before another - here the 'talkies' succeeds it, and addresses the challenge of a purely visual evocation where meaning is created through graphic montage, and musical juxtaposition. By producing a musical, associative structure rather than one led by sound, speech and narrative it draws on the marginalized strand of documentary history represented by Berlin, A propos de Nice (Vigo, 1929) and Rain (Ivens,1930) which emphasizes the visual potential of the medium to imagine space and place. Symphonic form - the bringing together of diverse elements of the city into a set of movements - gives shape and pace to disparate activities and events; freedom from conventional story form allows for the serendipitous and the everyday to be foregrounded creating what Taussig suggests is 'a peripheral vision' not studied contemplation, a knowledge that is imageric and sensate rather than ideational.' Shortlisted for BAFTSS practice-led research awards, 2017. Reviews: Screenworks 7.2. Main feature on the dvd 'Symphonic Visions' from Metier, 2018.
The novel Pd(0)-azobenzene complex (ITMe)2Pd(PhN=NPh) (5) (ITMe = 1,3,4,5-tetramethylimidazol 2-ylidene) has been isolated and characterized in the solid state and by cyclic voltammetry. Its reactivity towards E-E’ bonds (E, E’= Si, B, Ge) has been compared with that of the known palladium carbene complex (ITMe)2Pd(PhC≡CPh) (2). Whereas 2 reacts with all E-E’ bonds studied, 5 only reacted with B-B and B-Si moieties, echoing our previous catalytic studies on azobenzenes.
Abstract
DNA is labile and constantly subject to damage. In addition to external mutagens, DNA is continuously damaged by the aqueous environment, cellular metabolites and is prone to strand breakage during replication. Cell duplication is orchestrated by the cell division cycle and specific DNA structures are processed differently depending on where in the cell cycle they are detected. This is often because a specific structure is physiological in one context, for example during DNA replication, while indicating a potentially pathological event in another, such as interphase or mitosis. Thus, contextualising the biochemical entity with respect to cell cycle progression
provides information necessary to appropriately regulate DNA processing activities.
We review the links between DNA repair and cell cycle context, drawing together
recent advances.
Recent attempts to improve science teaching and learning in Tanzania required teachers to adopt a learner-centred pedagogy. Although researchers widely acknowledge a lack of sustained success in science teachers’ adoption of learner-centred pedagogy, the reasons for teachers’ reluctance to adopt learner-centred pedagogy remain debated. Various contextual constraints, including resource shortages, overcrowded classrooms, ineffective teacher education, and high-stakes exams, render learner-centred pedagogy unsuccessful. However, in the Tanzanian context, teacher educators and researchers seem to overlook the critical role science teachers’ beliefs about science knowledge, teaching, and learning play in their teaching practices. Thus, attempts to identify and address Tanzanian science teachers’ deeply held beliefs are uncommon. Therefore, I interviewed six secondary school science teachers to explore their beliefs about science knowledge, teaching and learning and to show how these forms. I also observed their lessons to examine how the teachers’ beliefs manifest in their classroom practices.
The findings showed that teachers largely espoused ‘traditional beliefs’ about science knowledge, teaching, and learning. They viewed science as a fixed body of discrete facts that mirrors natural phenomena. They believe the body of science knowledge is absolute and handed down by omniscient authorities, such as textbooks and teachers. The teachers consistently described teaching science as conveying textbook facts for students to accumulate and reproduce during exams.
Social and contextual factors, including teachers’ childhood, schooling, and training experiences, as well as the bureaucratic demands, paradoxical curriculum, and students’ reticence reinforced these beliefs. Teachers’ beliefs, though consistent with their teaching practices, were largely antithetical to the principles and practices of learner-centred pedagogy. Therefore, I propose that Tanzanian secondary school teachers consider their beliefs and the social and contextual conditions of the schools in adopting learner-centred pedagogy. They weigh their beliefs against the social and contextual conditions to decide how to teach. These results suggest that teacher educators and policy makers should seek to transform teachers’ beliefs about science knowledge, teaching, and learning through learning trajectories that require teachers to articulate and interrogate their beliefs. Such attempts should consider the social, cultural, and material contexts of the schools in which teachers teach.
Music is a time-based art form often characterised by patternings; manipulations of sequences overtime. Composers and performers may think in terms of patterns, although the structure of patternedsequences are often not made explicit in musical notation. This chapter explores how musical sequencescan be created and transformed in real-time performance through patterning functions. Topics relatedto the use of algorithms for pattern-making are discussed, and two systems are introduced - ixi langand TidalCycles, as high level and expressive mini-languages for musical pattern.
The Internet is an ideal platform for most forms of musicking (Small, 1998): it is now used extensively in the composition, performance, dissemination, and listening of music. The ecology of media musicians operate in today is substantially different from the one where music was written on physical media, released by a relatively small number of major labels, sold in shops, selected for play by radio DJs, and reviewed by established writers in the printed press. We have moved from this hierarchical situation to one where music-sharing websites, video channels, social media, and online artist profiles on the Web provide listeners with greater access to the world’s music via both commercial and alternative channels. Our new musical media have three key characteristics that separate it from older formats: they are networked, multimedia, and processor-based. This enables us to write music in the form of code, opening up the potential for interactivity and non-linear music that might include visuals and tactile outputs via the screens, sensors, and motors of our player devices. For this reason, the Internet is not merely a different conduit for distributing and communicating about music: it presents a drastic change in terms of which media properties musicians have at their fingertips for composing, performing, and listening to new music.
Towards an Opera for VR systems in the field of conflict resolution
Current Stage 1 of 4: R and D
Imagine two people with opposing viewpoints. They might be neighbours, or from different countries, or might never have met. They immerse themselves in a virtual reality environment and reimagine each other through something never seen before – an opera they make together. They feel empathetic connections musicians can feel when they make music together.
Partners
V&A
Glyndebourne
Artists and Engineers
NMC
University of Sussex
Supported by Arts Council England
Background: Prophylactic or ‘risk-reducing’ mastectomy refers to the procedure of completely removing a healthy breast in order to reduce the risk of developing breast cancer. This may be bilateral or may be performed to the contralateral breast as part of the treatment of a proven breast cancer. The rate of this procedure being performed has been shown to be increasing over the last two decades. Recent guidance for Breast clinicians has been issued over the last 12 months by both The Association of Breast Surgery of Great Britain and Ireland (ABSGBI) and the American Society of Breast Surgeons (ASBrS). This review aims to look at the evidence behind the current decision making for patients requesting to undergo this increasingly popular procedure. Method: We undertook a review of the relevant literature via Medline using the PubMed interface for the key words ‘Breast Cancer’, ‘Mastectomy’, ‘Prophylactic’, ‘Contra-lateral’ and ‘Risk-reducing’ for papers from October 1991 to 2016. The Association of Breast Surgery guidance on the topic was published this year and was therefore included and referenced. Following review of the evidence, we have categorised patients into different groups, based on their background and evidence currently available to support the decision. Results: Clear evidence exists to support offering contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM) to women who are high-risk gene carriers for Breast cancer. For those without, no survival benefit is evident however other quality of life measures may be improved with access to the procedure. Conclusion: For those women who are not high-risk gene carriers for breast cancer but have other factors that may increase their risk (strong family history, tumour characteristics) more evidence is needed as the benefit of CPM and all decisions to undertake it should occur through a multidisciplinary team approach.
Sarcomas are rare heterogenous malignancies of mesenchymal origin characterised by complex karyotypes but no specific abnormalities. Recurrence is common and metastatic disease carries poor survival despite standard DNA-damaging radiotherapy or chemotherapy. DNA double strand breaks (DSB) are either repaired by mechanisms such as homologous recombination (HR); or result in cell death by apoptosis. Endogenous γH2AX and SCE formation are early and late events, respectively and their levels are considered surrogate measures of genomic instability. Combined γH2AX and SCE analysis were used to evaluate endogenous DNA DSB levels (and their subsequent repair) in 9 primary sarcoma cell lines and compared with well-established commercial lines. All the sarcoma cell lines had elevated γH2AX and SCE levels, but there was no correlation between the DNA DSB frequency and subsequent SCE. Typically radio-resistant osteosarcoma cells had relatively low γH2AX frequency, but high SCE counts suggestive of efficient DNA repair. Conversely, liposarcoma cells derived from a radio-sensitive tumour had high H2AX but relatively lower SCE levels that may imply inefficient DNA DSB repair. To our knowledge, this is the first report that correlates H2AX and SCE levels in primary sarcoma cell lines and may provide insight into potential response to DNA damaging-treatments.
We argue that escape foreign direct investment (FDI) happens when unknown future “rules of the game” cause concern about the continued productive capacity of the economy. Adapting the stress-strain-fail model of materials failure, we argue that escape FDI is a process with three cumulative phases. Conditions for escape FDI (stress) are created by institutional deterioration and contained contestation. Limited escape FDI (strain) results from periods of societal instability and/or inadequate institutional reforms. Extensive escape FDI (failure) results from pervasive societal instability and/or fundamental changes in institutions. Using a historical approach, we develop these propositions for South Africa, 1956 to 2012.
Citizen users play important roles in the acceleration phase of energy transitions, during which small-scale renewable energy technologies (S-RET) become taken up more widely. From users’ perspective, turning the early, and typically slow, proliferation into a more rapid and widespread diffusion requires not only the adoption of S-RET but also the adaptation, adjustment, intermediation and advocacy of S-RETs. These activities become necessary because S-RET face a variety of market, institutional, cultural and environmental conditions in dif- ferent countries. New Internet-based energy communities have emerged and acted as key user-side transition intermediaries that catalyse these activities by qualifying market information, articulating demand and helping citizen users to reconfigure the standard technology to meet the specificities of different local contexts. In doing so, Internet communities foster an appreciatively critical discourse on technology. Such user intermediation is important in expanding the markets for S-RET beyond that of enthusiasts, environmentalists and other early adopters, to the early majority of adopters who demand more exposure, clearer information and less uncertainty about new technology options.
Insect pollination is a vital ecosystem service, essential for both wild and domesticated plants, yet to-date there are no standardised national schemes to monitor its status. Thus this PhD focused on assessment of pollination provision in UK urban green spaces, using a combination of citizen science and field/laboratory methods. Each of the following thesis chapters considers a specific pollination-related theme:
The need for pollination.
Demonstrating how much gardeners need insect pollination is important to underpin public support for pollinator conservation. During 2014-2015, online questionnaires were used to collect information about the crops grown in domestic green spaces and gardening practices used. Participants highly valued ‘growing their own’, and three of five crops grown by the majority (tomatoes, apples, strawberries) have high requirements for insect pollination. A ‘garden shop calculator’ spreadsheet was also tested (positively) as a quick way to calculate the equivalent bought-value of garden crops and the proportion directly attributable to insect actions.
Assessment of pollination provision.
Citizen science volunteers undertook a simple direct pollination experiment (exclusion, hand pollination, local), requiring treatment randomisation and accurate yield recording. The main ‘Bees ‘n Beans’ projects used Vicia faba to monitor bumblebee pollination, detecting no national deficit during 2014-2016. This suggests that the domestic pollination needs of V. faba are currently met, and that urban populations of long-tongued bumblebees are sufficient to provide it. The potential of using other plants to cover wider pollinator populations was also explored, identifying Allium hollandicum as suitable.
The effects of companion planting.
Using tomato plants to examine whether co-planting crops with flowering plants boosts pollination provision (‘magnet species’ effects), or distracts insects. Provided plants were hosted in volunteered gardens and school grounds in Brighton in 2015 & 2016. No effect (improved or detrimental) of co-flowering plants was found on tomato yields at either site type.
Using citizen science to monitor pollination services.
This chapter combined findings from other chapters and a final questionnaire, which focused on participants’ motivations and willingness to make behavioural changes after taking part. It concludes that the projects have demonstrated volunteers’ ability and willingness to follow experimental protocols under guidance, to collect meaningful data at otherwise-impractical geographical scales.
Suggested protocol.
This details the finalised Bees ‘n Beans approach and how it relates to other potential pollination monitoring methods. I propose that this style of project is suitable for incorporation into national monitoring scheme development.
Carbon emissions have always been a key issue in agricultural production. Because of the specific natural factors in the soil of saline agriculture, there are distinctive characteristics in saline agricultural production as compared with traditional agricultural zones. Here, we have adopted the theory of life cycle assessment, and employed the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) greenhouse gas (GHG) field calculation to estimate the GHG emissions, derived from the staple crop productions (i.e., barley, wheat, corn and rice). In addition, our study further analyzed the main driving forces of carbon emissions, and proposed some effective measures to reduce them. Our results have showed that: (1) Carbon footprint from the four crops in the study area varies from 0.63 to 0.77 kg CO2 eq•kg-1, which is higher than that from traditional agriculture; (2) GHG emissions from Fertilizer-Nitrogen (N) manufacture and inorganic N application have contributed to the greatest percentage of carbon footprint. Compared with traditional agricultural zones, fertilizer-N application and paddy irrigation involved with crop productions have overall greater contributions to carbon footprint; (3) Carbon emissions from saline agriculture can be reduced significantly by planting-breeding combination to reduce the amount of N fertilizer application, improving the traditional rotation system, and developing water-saving agriculture and ecological agriculture.
New modes of neoliberal and rights-based reproductive governance are emerging across the world which either paradoxically foreclose access to universal health services or promote legislative reform without providing a continuum of services on the ground. These shifts present new opportunities for the expansion but also the limitation of abortion provision conceptually and ‘on-the-ground’, both in the Global North and South. The collection of papers in this special issue examine current abortion governance discourse and practice in historical, socio-political contexts to analyse the threat posed to women's sexual and reproductive health and rights globally. Focusing on abortion politics in the context of key intersectional themes of morality, law, religion and technology, the papers conceptually ‘re-situate’ the analysis of abortion with reference to a changing global landscape where new modes of consumption, rapid flows of knowledge and information, increasingly routinised recourse to reproductive technologies and related forms of bio-sociality and solidarity amongst recipients and practitioners coalesce.
The question of how migration patterns will be influenced by environmental and climate change has received much attention within policy and academic circles. This focus can be explained in part by fears voiced by an alarmist group of migration scholars regarding uncontrolled population movements over country borders at the hands of a changing climate. This chapter explores the undercurrents driving widespread interest in the interaction between climate change and migration. In so doing, it explores how narratives around migration have been shaped by the use of certain terminology or ways to define, theorise, facilitate and problematise the movement of people. Current understanding of the interactions between the environment and human migration are characterised by a high degree of complexity and uncertainty. A wide range of methods and theoretical frameworks have thus been developed that seek to expand our understanding of its dynamics. Despite methodological and conceptual advances within the field, we propose that future research and policy must consider the loaded nature of language and the ways in which terms such as ‘climate change’ and ‘migration’ are interpreted. Care must be taken to ensure that the development of actions and policy initiatives truly serve to protect and benefit affected people, whether they are on the move, have arrived in a new destination, or are immobile and want but are unable to move.
People with mirror-touch synaesthesia (MTS) report experiencing tactile sensations on their own body when seeing another person being touched. Although this has been associated with heightened empathy and emotion perception, this finding has recently been disputed. Here, we conduct two experiments to explore this relationship further. In Study 1, we develop a new screening measure for MTS. We show that MTS is related to vicarious experiences more generally (including to itch and pain), but is not a simple exaggerated version of normality. For example, people with MTS report videos of scratching as ‘touch’ rather than ‘itchiness’ and have localized sensations when watching others in pain. In Study 2, we show that MTS is related to increased emotional empathy to others and better ability to read facial expressions of emotion, but other measures of empathy are normal-to-low. In terms of theoretical models, we propose that this is more consistent with a qualitative difference in the ability to selectively inhibit the other and attending to the self, which leads to heightened activity in shared self-other representations (including a mirror system for touch, but also includes other kinds of vicarious experience).
Urban experimentation with sustainability has been gaining prominence in policy and academic discourses about urban transformations, spurring the creation of urban living laboratories and transition arenas. However, the academic literature has only begun examining why experimentation flourishes in particular cities, and why it conforms to place-specific styles. Meanwhile, the strategic niche management (SNM) tradition has extensively explored how protective spaces for experimentation emerge but has dealt only tangentially with why this happens in particular places. In this paper, we develop an approach for unpacking the formation of favourable environments for experimentation in specific places. We adopt an abductive research design to create a dialogue between distinct theoretical positions and one in-depth case study. Our case examines the formation of the Bristol energy scene, which hosts a variety of experimental initiatives concerning civic energy alternatives. Based on our findings, we refine the understanding of the processes shaping this experimental setting. There is value in characterising the ‘genealogy’ of experimental spaces and acknowledging their antecedents, path-dependencies and place-specificities. Efforts to foster urban transformation demand nuanced accounts of how places become experimental because they are not static backgrounds for experimentation.
When we encounter a new word, there are often multiple objects that the word might refer to [1]. Nonetheless, because names for concrete nouns are constant, we are able to learn them across successive encounters [2, 3]. This form of “cross-situational” learning may result from either associative mechanisms that gradually accumulate evidence for each word-object association [4, 5] or rapid propose-but-verify (PbV) mechanisms where only one hypothesized referent is stored for each word, which is either subsequently verified or rejected [6, 7]. Using model-based representation similarity analyses of fMRI data acquired during learning, we find evidence for learning mediated by a PbV mechanism. This learning may be underpinned by rapid pattern-separation processes in the hippocampus. Our findings shed light on the psychological and neural processes that support word learning, suggesting that adults rely on their episodic memory to track a limited number of word-object associations
The Rubber Hand Illusion (RHI) paradigm has been widely used to investigate the sense of body ownership. People who report experiencing the pain of others are hypothesised to have differences in computing body ownership and, hence, we predicted that they would perform atypically on the RHI. The Vicarious Pain Questionnaire (VPQ), was used to divide participants into three groups: 1) non-responders (people who report no pain when seeing someone else experiencing physical pain), 2) sensory-localised responders (report sensory qualities and a localised feeling of pain) and 3) affective-general responders (report a generalised and emotional feeling of pain). The sensory-localised group, showed susceptibility to the RHI (increased proprioceptive drift) irrespective of whether stimulation was synchronous or asynchronous, whereas the other groups only showed the RHI in the synchronous condition. This is not a general bias to always incorporate the dummy hand as we did not find increased susceptibility in other conditions (seeing touch without feeling touch, or feeling touch without seeing touch), but there was a trend for this group to incorporate the dummy hand when it was stroked with a laser light. Although individual differences in the RHI have been noted previously, this particular pattern is rare. It suggests a greater malleability (i.e. insensitivity to asynchrony) in the conditions in which other bodies influence own-body judgments.
In order for a species to engage in and reap the evolutionary benefits of sexual reproduction, a subset of cells in each individual must undergo a complex ordeal known as meiosis—a specialised cell division. By halving the genome content and “shuffling the deck”, meiosis generates genetically diverse haploid gametes (eggs, sperm) or spores from diploid cells. Such a monumental task is by no means easy or risk free: during the meiotic programme, cells intentionally damage their own genomes through widespread induction of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) in order to initiate homologous recombination—a DNA-repair process—and subsequent crossover (CO) formation. The success of meiosis is, however, not left up to chance. Rather, a complicated web of regulation acts at multiple stages to ensure this dangerous tradeoff pays dividends. Notably, the spatial pattern of meiotic recombination across the genome is complex and non-random. Whilst ultimately stochastic in nature, recombination events within any given meiotic cell display relatively even distributions along each chromosome—a phenomenon mediate by processes of “interference” acting at two key stages in meiosis: DSB and CO formation. Despite wide ranging historical observation, relatively little is known about how either form of interference is accomplished. Genome-wide mapping of recombination within S. cerevisiae has, however, provided a unique opportunity to investigate the underlying mechanisms. By computationally and mathematically analysing genome-wide data, work presented throughout this thesis seeks to: (i) investigate CO distribution and CO interference within various DNA damage response and DNA repair mutants (Tel1ATM, Mec1ATR, Rad24, Msh2) (Chapter 2) (ii) develop novel approaches to DSB mapping (Chapter 3) (iii) characterise the hyperlocal regulation of DSB formation (Chapter 3) and (iv) examine the mechanics of DSB interference (Chapter 4). Moreover, widely applicable simulation platforms for investigating DSB and CO formation have been developed (Chapter 2, 4). Collectively, this thesis further elucidates the mechanisms that underpin the spatial regulation of meiotic recombination in S. cerevisiae.
This thesis investigates the identity and motivation processes involved in the association of well-being with consumer products (material or experiential). Through a series of four empirical studies looking at consumer spending behaviours, it both tests and extends some of the theoretical claims made by motivated identity construction theory (MICT, Vignoles, 2011), which postulates that the satisfaction of identity motives (such as self-esteem, distinctiveness or effectiveness) enhance well-being, and self-determination (SDT, Deci & Ryan, 2002), which postulates that the pursuit of the extrinsic goals (such as wealth, image and fame) leads to lower well-being. The current thesis suggests that it might not be so much what consumers buy (material or experiential purchases), but how consumer products are thought to transform or enhance one’s extended sense of self by satisfying identity motives (MICT) (Paper 1 and 3), and why people are motivated to make a spending behaviour that drives the effects on well-being that consumers associate with a purchase (SDT: intrinsic or extrinsic goals; paper 2). As a result, the present research contributes to the literature on material and experiential consumption by providing a theoretically-driven explanation for the differences in well-being found between the different types of consumer products as identity processes mediate the relationship between what consumers buy and the well-being associated with a purchase, and that goal orientations predict both those identity processes and the initial choice of spending behaviour. Moreover, it provides a behavioural explanation for the extended body of literature that has found a negative relationship between extrinsic goals and well-being (i.e., Dittmar, Bond et al., 2014) as it fills in the gap between goals and well-being by suggesting that concrete behaviours concerning the allocation of economic resources mediatethe relationship between goals pursued and the well-being experience.
This research is concerned with Langston Hughes’ professional and personal contacts and their impact on his cultural production.One of the foremost African American writers of his generation, Hughes has been mainly considered in the context of the Harlem Renaissance, with scholars critically assessing his writings. This thesis, by contrast, takes a ‘network approach’ to Hughes’ work and argues that his inter and intra-racial relationships, international collaborations and friendships, and the strategies (e.g. professional contacts, financial resources) served to sustain and protect first Hughes’ black cultural production and second, to build a ‘black cultural infrastructure’.In the introduction, ‘network’ and social capital are theorized using the work of Pierre Bourdieu and Mark Granovetter. The first chapter examines Hughes’ working relationship with his black and white patronsand their impact on his early years as a poet. In Chapter Two, this thesis examines how Hughes,in an effort to find other means than just private patronage to sustain his literary career,became involved in the wider political networks of the American left. In Chapter Three, I continue the examination of Hughes’ efforts to find alternative means tosustain his literary career but also create more opportunities for black artistic expression in the dominant literary fieldby assessing his professional network ties. In Chapter Four, I examine how Hughes, during the last two decades of his life, in the face ofpolitical persecution, reclaimed control over his artistic rights, and engaged through his writings, speeches and mentoring a new generation of black writers and artists. The thesis as a whole thus demonstrates how, with the expansion of his socialcapital (aka network ties), Hughes was able to build a writing career, defend his artistic rights, create alternative black cultural spaces, and nurture the development of future black writers and artists.
We sought to understand why many homeless people own pets despite the associated costs. Thematic analyses of interviews with seven homeless pet-owners indicated that interviewees perceived—not always accurately—that their pets limited their mobility and access to services. However, this was seen as a worthwhile cost for the companionship and sense of responsibility their pets provided, which increased resilience and enabled a reduction in substance abuse. Pet ownership also rendered interviewees psychologically vulnerable as the loss of a pet was highly traumatic and ignited coping mechanisms. We discuss the implications for homeless support services in the UK.
This thesis is about the boundaries that surround, and hierarchies that structure, Britain’s national community. In contrast to existing work, the research investigates boundaries and hierarchies of belonging through in-depth qualitative enquiry of their (re)production among people for whom national identity is broadly taken-for-granted and unquestioned, that is, Britain’s white middleclasses. How do they imagine Britain as a nation and national community? How do they understand and recognise other people as British (or not), and as belonging (or not) in and/or to Britain? And how do they position differently racialised people in relation to boundaries and hierarchies of belonging?
The thesis draws on data collected over fifteen months in the suburbs of North East London and West Essex, including successive qualitative interviews conducted with twenty-six local residents. It contributes to migration geographies by revealing the narrative power of the white middle-classes in processes of integration and belonging, while also resisting the homogenisation of this group through exploration of some of its diversity. The thesis includes chapters on the extent to which Britain is imagined as a plural nation, on participants’ narratives of local ethnic diversity, everyday interaction and encounter, on markers of belonging and economies of recognition, and on the role of historical imaginaries in reproducing nation.
Overall, the thesis challenges the idea that people can integrate into society in the full and substantive way desired by governments. It provides empirical evidence of the normative whiteness of Britain’s core national imaginary and the markers of Britishness, as well as the significance of the past in shaping understandings of nation and belonging in the present. Meanwhile, by interrogating the national through the local, the research highlights the multi-scalar nature of belongings and adds a suburban perspective to what is a predominantly urban literature on multiculture.
The deployment of Teaching Assistants (TAs) to support learning has been the subject of much critical debate, including the particular concern that TAs too often becomes a less skilled replacement for the teacher rather than acting as an additional source of support. Despite efforts to encapsulate the TAs contribution to learning within specific models of deployment, wide variations in practices make the role and its contribution to learning difficult to define. Drawing on data gathered in four secondary schools in England, this paper explores TA deployment practices through six typologies: The Island; The Container; The Separate Entity; The Conduit for Learning; The Partner and The Expert. Illustrated graphically, these bring key elements together in a more contextualised and dynamic way. The paper concludes that the spatial and relational dimensions of deployment warrant more nuanced treatment and that more emphasis on partnership and mutuality and rather less on difference and hierarchy might be productive
This article analyses how British counter-radicalization policy in general, and the Channel project in particular, constitute individuals who are vulnerable to radicalization as visible, producing them as subjects of intervention. It thus asks, how can potential terrorists be identified and made knowable? The article first argues that to understand Channel, it is crucial to develop a conceptual account of the security politics of (in)visibilization that draws attention to the ways in which security regimes can, at times, function primarily through the production of regimes of (in)visibility. Using this approach, the article focusses on the role of ‘indicators’ as a technology of (in)visibilization. This role is central to the functioning of Channel, visibilizing certain subjects as threatening. Yet such a production is political. In bringing together a politics of care and a politics of identity, it is a regime of (in)visibility that produces new sites of intervention, contains significant potential consequences for the expression of certain identities, and raises new and troubling possibilities for how contemporary life may be secured.
Higher education's policy demands and pedagogical practices often take as their ‘desirable’ subject an unspecified body, failing to interrogate who the student is (and is not) in relation to differentiated access to power, privilege, and opportunity structures. This paper offers a feminist critique of such decontextualised theorisations of students and their critical thinking.
Observation, focus group and interview data were collected with undergraduate social-science students at a UK university. This data revealed how students experience critical thinking as embodied, contingent and specifically gendered – with 90% of students naming a male when asked to describe a critical thinker. Consequently, this paper argues that who occupies a desirable position as a student critical thinker is not neutral or given, but intersects with students’ embodied characteristics and the (increasingly divisive) socio-political context in which criticality is performed. Access to this key intellectual premium is therefore differentiated, raising questions around epistemic inclusion.
This paper addresses the shortage of studies on the ‘success’ of care-experienced young people in Higher Education (HE) internationally. It draws on the findings of a study of a near-peer, pre-entry coaching intervention developed in England to address stakeholders’ concerns around a lack of ‘success’ post entry to university, linked to gaps in knowledge and the challenge of providing on going support. In delivering reciprocal benefits to the coaches, some of whom were care experienced themselves, the HE Champions model promoted the possibility of longer term ‘success’. The personalised nature of the young people’s programme experiences and difficulties in recruitment highlighted the need for ‘success’ to be conceptualised as ‘small steps’ despite pressure to deliver more measurable outcomes. The research also highlighted the importance of reflexive, human-scale systems that put care and relationships at the centre.
The European Union has been recently exposed to the multiple shocks of the Great Recession, the migrant crisis, and Brexit. Populist parties have been, either directly or indirectly, considered the principal beneficiaries of these crises in light of their Eurosceptic profiles. In this introductory article, we lay out the conceptual and analytical tools necessary to identify populist Eurosceptic actors, and systematically tackle the under-explored link between populist Eurosceptic framing and the unfolding of the different European crises. While we provide a framework to assess (alleged) changes in the framing of these parties, we also contend that these parties may have released effects in the political process by conditioning shifts in the positions on Europe of their mainstream competitors. In doing so, we define a set of possible interactive scenarios.
Objectives: To understand whether people attending sexual health (SH) clinics are willing to participate in a brief behavioural change intervention (BBCI) to reduce the likelihood of future sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and to understand their preferences for different service designs.
Methods: A discrete choice experiment (DCE) with young heterosexual adults (aged 16-25 years), and men who have sex with men (MSM) aged 16 or above, attending SH clinics in England.
Results: Data from 368 participants showed that people particularly valued BBCIs that involved talking (OR 1.45; 95%CI 1.35, 1.57 compared with an ‘email or text’ based BBCI), preferably with a health care professional rather than a peer. Findings also showed that 26% of respondents preferred ‘email / texts’ to all other options; the remaining 14% preferred not to participate in any of the offered BBCIs.
Implications: These results suggest that most people attending SH clinics in England are likely to participate in a BBCI if offered, but the type / format of the BBCI is likely to be the single important determinant of uptake rather than characteristics such as the length and the number of sessions. Moreover, participants generally favoured ‘talking’ based options rather than digital alternatives, which are likely to require the most resources to implement.
Polycentric governance networks are on the rise in global energy and climate governance, but we know surprisingly little about their effectiveness. This paper analyzes the performance of four such transnational energy and climate governance networks. In the realm of sustainable energy, our cases are the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP) and the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves (GACC). In the climate sphere, we examine the effectiveness of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI). Using principles from governance and public administration about the effectiveness of institutions, we examine the extent to which four networks have contributed to improving governance outcomes in the spheres of climate and sustainable energy. Our evaluation focuses on the clarity of purpose, funding, institutional formality, efficacy, and level of resilience of these networks. Some differences between the networks notwithstanding, we find that the transnational governance networks generally fail to meet the criteria about what constitutes an effective institution. The paper concludes with a reflection on what could be done to enhance the performance of these governance networks.
Objectives: To identify aspects of healthcare that are most valued by people with HIV; and to describe their concerns and preferences for the future delivery of services for non-HIV related illness amongst people living with HIV (PLWHIV).
Methods: Twelve focus groups of people receiving HIV care were conducted in community settings in South-East England. Groups were quota sampled based on age, sex, sexual orientation, and ethnicity. Data were analysed using Framework Analysis.
Results: Among the 74 respondents (61% male) a preference for maintaining all care within specialist HIV clinics was commonplace, but was highest among participants with more extensive histories of HIV and comorbidities. Participants valued care-coordination, inter-service communication, and timely updates to medical notes. There were high levels of concern around HIV skills in general practices and the capacity of general practitioners (GP) to manage patient confidentiality or deal appropriately with the emotional and social changes of living with HIV.
Implications: Participants valued, and had an overall preference for, the specialist knowledge and skills of HIV services, suggesting that non-HIV-specialist services will need to build their appeal if they are to have a greater future role in the care of people with HIV. Particular concerns that should be addressed include: patient confidence in the HIV knowledge and skills of non-specialist service providers; clear processes for prescribing and referrals; improved levels of care-coordination and communication between services; increased patient confidence in the capacity of primary care to maintain confidentiality and to appreciate the stigma associated with HIV.
Syphilis is a resurgent sexually transmitted infection in the UK that is disproportionately diagnosed in patients living with HIV, particularly in men who have sex with men. Syphilis appears to present differently in patients with HIV, particularly in those with severe immunosuppression. Progression to neurosyphilis is more common in HIV coinfection and can be asymptomatic, often for several years. The presentations of neurosyphilis vary but can include meningitis, meningovascular disease, general paresis and tabes dorsalis. There is debate about the circumstances in which to perform a lumbar puncture, and the current gold standard diagnostics have inadequate sensitivity. We recommend a pragmatic approach to lumbar punctures, interpreting investigations and deciding when to consider treatment with a neuropenetrative antibiotic regimen.
This study highlights the clinical significance of both depression and pain complaints in patients with cancer in a low income country. Exploration of the impact of depressive disorders on quality of life and outcome of cancer is an important area for further research in low income countries.
Background:
Most women with postpartum depression (PPD) in low- and middle-income countries remain undiagnosed and untreated, despite evidence for adverse effects on the woman and her child. The aim of this study was to identify the coping strategies used by women with PPD symptoms in rural Ethiopia to inform the development of socio-culturally appropriate interventions.
Methods:
A population-based, cross-sectional study was conducted in a predominantly rural district in southern Ethiopia.
All women with live infants between one and 12 months post-partum (n = 3147) were screened for depression symptoms using the validated Patient Health Questionnaire, 9 item version (PHQ-9). Those scoring five or more, ‘high PPD
symptoms’, (n = 385) were included in this study. The Brief Coping with Problems Experienced (COPE-28) scale was used
to assess coping strategies. Construct validity of the brief COPE was evaluated using confirmatory factor analysis.
Results:
Confirmatory factor analysis of the brief COPE scale supported the previously hypothesized three dimensions of
coping (problem-focused, emotion-focused, and dysfunctional). Emotion-focused coping was the most commonly employed coping strategy by women with PPD symptoms. Urban residence was associated positively with all three dimensions of coping. Women who had attended formal education and who attributed their symptoms to a physical cause were more likely to use both problem-focused and emotion-focused coping strategies. Women with better subjective wealth and those who perceived that their husband drank too much alcohol were more likely to use emotion-focused coping. Dysfunctional coping strategies were reported by women who had a poor relationship with their husbands.
Conclusions:
As in high-income countries, women with PPD symptoms were most likely to use emotion-focused and dysfunctional coping strategies. Poverty and the low level of awareness of depression as an illness may additionally impede problem-solving attempts to cope. Prospective studies are needed to understand the prognostic significance of coping styles in this setting and to inform psychosocial intervention development.
Background:
The Programme for Improving Mental Health Care (PRIME) sought to implement mental health care
plans (MHCP) for four priority mental disorders (depression, alcohol use disorder, psychosis and epilepsy) into routine primary care in five low- and middle-income country districts. The impact of the MHCPs on disability was evaluated through establishment of priority disorder treatment cohorts. This paper describes the methodology of
these PRIME cohorts.
Methods:
One cohort for each disorder was recruited across some or all five districts: Sodo (Ethiopia), Sehore (India)
, Chitwan (Nepal), Dr. Kenneth Kaunda (South Africa) and Kamuli (Uganda), comprising 17 treatment cohorts in total
(N = 2182). Participants were adults residing in the districts who were eligible to receive mental health treatment according to primary health care staff, trained by PRIME facilitators as per the district MHCP.
Patients who screened positive for depression or AUD and who were not given a diagnosis by their clinicians (N = 709) were also recruited into comparison cohorts in Ethiopia, India, Nepal and South Africa. Caregivers of patients with epilepsy or psychosis were also recruited (N = 953), together with or on behalf of the person with a mental disorder, depending on the district. The target sample size was 200 (depression and AUD), or 150 (psychosis and epilepsy) patients initiating treatment in each recruiting district. Data collection activities were conducted by PRIME research teams. Participants
completed follow-up assessments after 3 months (AUD and depression) or 6 months (psychosis and epilepsy), and
after 12 months. Primary outcomes were impaired functioning, using the 12-item World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS), and symptom severity, assessed using the Patient Health
Questionnaire (depression), the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUD), and number of seizures (epilepsy).
Discussion:
Cohort recruitment was a function of the clinical detection rate by primary health care staff, and did not meet all planned targets. The cross-country methodology reflected the pragmatic nature of the PRIME cohorts:
while the heterogeneity in methods of recruitment was a consequence of differences in health systems and
MHCPs, the use of the WHODAS as primary outcome measure will allow for comparison of functioning recovery
across sites and disorders.
This thesis argues against the Humean theory of practical reasons, criticising its foundations in philosophical and moral psychology. It develops a realist account of value-based reasons, underpinned by a distinctive cognitivist moral psychology, and a non-causalist account of the rational explanation of action.
Contemporary Humeans reject Hume’s own theory of thought, but this leaves the Humean theory of practical reasons without justification for a conception of desire as non-cognitive and not open to fundamental rational evaluation. Two possible strategies for filling this justificatory gap are (i) an appeal to grammatical considerations about the attribution of desires and their content, or (ii) an appeal to distinctions in respect of direction of fit. I argue that neither is successful.
Kant’s moral psychology provides the key to an alternative account, but is unsatisfactory due to its acceptance of a theory of thought which is relevantly similar to Hume’s, and of non-compulsory rationalist presuppositions. Separated from these aspects, Kant’s insights open a path to developing a conception of desire as essentially rationally evaluable. I argue that, in addition to such a conception, we should accept an account of rational attitudes as constitutively normative. On the basis of these two views, I argue that desire is a kind of evaluative belief.
An independently plausible account of reasons takes them to be evaluative facts, and this neatly connects to the normative philosophical psychology. I consider the implications of such a view for the rational explanation of action, arguing that while causal theories of action and action-explanation are unacceptable, the normative philosophical psychology allows the development of non-causal alternatives to them. The non-causal account of action and action-explanation leaves space for an explanatory role for reasons themselves, beyond that provided by merely psychological explanation, as well as an explanatory role for an agent’s character and emotions.
The NOvA experiment consists of two functionally identical tracking calorimeter detectors which measure the neutrino energy and flavour composition of the NuMI beam at baselines of 1 km and 810 km. Measurements of neutrino oscillation parameters are extracted by comparing the neutrino energy spectrum in the far detector with predictions of the oscillated neutrino energy spectra that are made using information extracted from the near detector. [For full abstract see PDF]
Purpose of review
The aim was to synthesize recent evidence on schizophrenia illness experience and outcomes and models of care in low and middle-income countries (LMICs).
Recent findings
There is a plurality of explanatory models for psychosis and increasing evidence that context influences experiences of stigma. People with schizophrenia in LMICs are vulnerable to food insecurity, violence and physical health problems, in addition to unmet needs for mental healthcare. Family support may help to improve outcomes if present, but caregivers may be overwhelmed by the challenges faced. Despite efforts to increase availability, evidence-based care remains inaccessible to many people with schizophrenia. Non-randomized evaluations in South Africa and Mexico indicate that psychosocial support groups for people with schizophrenia and caregivers may be acceptable and useful. Randomized controlled trials in Pakistan and China show that culturally adapted cognitive-behavioural therapy can reduce symptom severity. There is emerging evidence that alternative medicine, such as Tai Chi, may be beneficial, but to date most studies are of low quality. The challenges of biomedical-traditional provider collaborations have been highlighted. Evaluations of integrated mental healthcare in primary care are underway and promise to provide vital information about how to scale-up quality care.
Summary
Acceptable and effective responses to schizophrenia in LMICs should be cognisant of both cultural context and universal concerns. Efforts to enhance the quality of family support should be central to models of care.
Background
Podoconiosis (endemic, non-filarial elephantiasis) affects ~4 million subsistence farmers in tropical Africa. Limited awareness of the condition and lack of evidence for treatment mean that no endemic-country government yet offers lymphoedema management for podoconiosis patients. Among patients with filarial lymphoedema, trials suggest that limb care is effective in reducing the most disabling sequelae: acute dermatolymphangioadenitis (ADLA) episodes.
Methods
We conducted a pragmatic randomised controlled trial to test the hypothesis that a simple, inexpensive lymphoedema management package would reduce the incidence of ADLA in adult podoconiosis patients in northern Ethiopia. Patients were individually randomised to a package comprising instruction in foot hygiene, skin care, bandaging, exercises, use of socks and shoes, with support by lay Community Podoconiosis Agents at monthly meetings; or no intervention. The primary outcome was incidence of ADLA, measured using a validated patient-held pictorial diary. Assignment was not masked, but those performing the primary analysis were. The trial was registered at the International Standard Randomised Controlled Trials Number Register, number ISRCTN67805210.
Findings
A total of 350 patients were randomised to the intervention and 346 to the control group, with 93.4% follow-up at one year. During the 12 months of follow up, 16,550 new episodes of ADLA occurred during 765.2 person years observed. The incidence of ADLA was 19.4 (95% CI 18.9 to 19.9) and 23.9 (95% CI 23.4 to 24.4) episodes per person year in the intervention and control groups respectively; incidence rate ratio 0.81 (95% CI 0.69 to 0.96, p=0.02), rate difference -4.5 (95% CI -5.1 to -3.8) episodes per person year. No important adverse events related to the intervention were reported.
Interpretation
A simple, inexpensive package of lymphoedema self-care is effective in reducing frequency and duration of ADLA. We recommend its implementation by endemic-country governments.
Background.
We use the example of the Gojjam Lymphoedema Best Practice Trial (GoLBeT), a pragmatic trial in a remote rural setting in northern Ethiopia, to extract lessons relevant to other investigators balancing the demands of practicality and community acceptability with internal and external validity in clinical trials.
Methods.
We explain in detail the preparation for the trial, its setting in northern Ethiopia, the identification and selection of patients (inclusion and exclusion criterion, identifying and screening of patients at home, enrollment of patients at the health centres and health posts), and randomisation. Results. We describe the challenges met, together with strategies employed to overcome them.
Conclusions.
Examples given in the previous section are contextualised and general principles extracted where possible. We conclude that it is possible to conduct a trial that balances approaches that support internal validity (e.g. careful design of proformas, accurate case identification, control over data quality and high retention rates) with those that favour generalisability (e.g. ‘real world’ setting and low rates of exclusion). Strategies, such as Rapid Ethical Assessment, that increase researchers’ understanding of the study setting and inclusion of hard-to-reach participants are likely to have resource and time implications, but are vital in achieving an appropriate balance.
This thesis consists of three stand-alone papers. It examines the economic and political effects of natural resources in Africa. In the first paper, we investigate the effect of mining activity on subnational economic development by using satellite data on night lights as a measure of economic development. We find that mineral production and discovery improves local economy. However, we do not observe (strong) general equilibrium effect beyond the confines of a district.
In the second paper, we test the link between natural resources and multiethnic power sharing coalitions in Africa. We find that resource discoveries and rising commodity prices increase the probability of representation at the executive branches of government. Our finding supports the idea that resource discoveries and rising commodity prices provide rulers with more revenues to expand the state cabinet sizes; hence they build broader multi-ethnic coalitions. In the third paper, we investigate the association between natural resources and intra-state local armed conflict in Africa. We find that natural resource discoveries do not trigger armed conflict in Africa at the local level. Consistent with the finding in the first paper (positive economic effect) and second paper (positive political effect), resource discovery appears to reduce the likelihood of armed conflict by increasing the opportunity cost of joining armed rebellion.
Leprosy and podoconiosis (podo) are neglected tropical diseases that cause severe disfigurement and disability, and may lead to catastrophic health expenditure and hinder economic development of affected persons and households. This study compared economic costs of both diseases on affected households with unaffected neighboring households in the Northwest Region (N.W.R.) of Cameroon. A matched comparative cross-sectional design was used enrolling 170 households (43 podo case households, 41 podo control households, 43 leprosy case households, and 43 leprosy control households) from three health districts in the N.W.R. Direct treatment costs for podo averaged 142 United State dollar (USD), compared with zero for leprosy (P < 0.001). This was also reflected in the proportion of annual household income consumed (0.4 versus 0.0, respectively, P < 0.001). Both diseases caused considerable reductions in working days (leprosy 115 versus podo 135 days. P for comparison < 0.001). The average household income was considerably lower in podo-affected households than unaffected households (410 versus 913 USD, P = 0.01), whereas income of leprosy-affected households was comparable to unaffected households (329 versus 399 USD, P = 0.23).
Both leprosy and podo cause financial burdens on affected households, but those on podo-affected families are much greater. These burdens occur through direct treatment costs and reduced ability to work. Improved access to public health interventions for podo including prevention, morbidity management and disability prevention are likely to result in economic returns to affected families. In Cameroon, one approach to this would be through subsidized health insurance for these economically vulnerable households.
Background
Podoconiosis is one of the few diseases that could potentially be eliminated within one generation. Nonetheless, the global distribution of the disease remains largely unknown. The global atlas of podoconiosis was conceived to define the epidemiology and distribution of podoconiosis through dedicated surveys and assembling the available epidemiological data.
Methods
We have synthesized the published literature on the epidemiology of podoconiosis. Through systematic searches in SCOPUS and MEDLINE from inception to February 14, 2018, we identified observational and population-based studies reporting podoconiosis. To establish existence of podoconiosis, we used case reports and presence data. For a study to be included in the prevalence synthesis, it needed to be a population-based survey that involved all residents within a specific area. Studies that did not report original data were excluded. We undertook descriptive analyses of the extracted data. This study is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42018084959.
Results
We identified 3,260 records, of which 27 studies met the inclusion criteria. Podoconiosis was described to exist or be endemic in 32 countries, 18 from the African Region, 3 from Asia and 11 from Latin America. Overall, podoconiosis prevalence ranged from 0·10% to 8.08%, was highest in the African region, and was substantially higher in adults than in children and adolescents. The highest reported prevalence values were in Africa (8.08% in Cameroon, 7.45% in Ethiopia, 4.52% in Uganda, 3.87% in Kenya and 2.51% in Tanzania). In India, a single prevalence of 0.21% was recorded from Manipur, Mizoram and Rajasthan states. None of the Latin American countries reported prevalence data.
Conclusion
Our data suggest that podoconiosis is more widespread in the African Region than in the rest of the regions, although this could be related to the fact that most podoconiosis epidemiological research has been focused in the African continent. The assembled dataset confirms that comprehensive podoconiosis control strategies such as promotion of footwear and personal hygiene are urgently needed in endemic parts of Africa. Mapping, active surveillance and a systematic approach to the monitoring of disease burden must accompany the implementation of podoconiosis control activities.
The purpose of this research is to gain a better understanding about the imprinting effects of institutional dimensions on the adoption of Environmental Management System (EMS) by MNC subsidiaries in a host location, in this case, Hong Kong. The increasing importance of environment management by MNC firms because of globalisation has been the motivating factor to undertake this research. The study employs a cross-sectional quantitative research strategy and carries out a secondary data analysis technique to examine the imprinting effects of the home country’s formal institutions on the adoption of ISO 14001 standard. The study contributes to the International Management discipline in environmental management, highlighting the role of the home country in environmental standards adoption at the subsidiary level. It provides an explanation about the imprinting effect of different dimensions of the home country formal institution on the adoption of ISO 14001 standard byMNC subsidiaries. It also makes a methodological contribution by accounting for the variable effects of institutional conditions of different home countries. The findings of the study partially validate proposed hypotheses suggesting that the home country’s institutions do influence MNC subsidiaries to adopt environmental management standards, i.e. ISO 14001 standard, due to the imprinting effect. Further, these effects are observed to increase in the case of high polluting industry and home countries with high level of Greenhouse Gas Emission.
Compassion is an emotional response to the suffering of others. Once felt, it entails subsequent action to ameliorate their suffering. Recently, ‘compassion’ has become the flagship concept to be fostered in the delivery of end-of-life care, and a rallying call for social action and public health intervention. In this paper, we examine the emerging rhetorics of compassion as they relate to end-of-life care and offer a critique of the expanding discourse around it. We argue that, even where individuals ‘possess’ compassion or are ‘trained’ in it, there are difficulties for compassion to flow freely, particularly within Western society. This relates to specific sociopolitical structural factors that include the sense of privacy and individualism in modern industrialised countries, highly professionalised closed health systems, anxiety about litigation on health and safety grounds, and a context of suspicion and mistrust within the global political scenario. We must then ask ourselves whether compassion can be created intentionally, without paying attention to the structural aspects of society. One consequence of globalisation is that countries in the global South are rapidly trying to embrace the features of modernity adopted by the global North. We argue that unrealistic assumptions have been made about the role of compassion in end-of-life care and these idealist aspirations must be tempered by a more structural assessment of potential. Compassion that is not tied to to realistic action runs the risk of becoming empty rhetoric.
This thesis investigates socio-economic drivers and impacts of internal migration in two countries, Brazil and Ghana.
The first empirical chapter analyses the choice of Brazilian workers to move out of metropolitan cities. This direction of movement is substantial in the Brazilian context and leading against standard models of rural-to-urban migration. I estimate the role of living costs and local amenities in the determination of the destination choice of metropolitan out-migrants. Furthermore, I quantify the returns to migrating out of a metropolis by computing counterfactual wages applying matching techniques. The metropolitan out-migrants prefer to move to smaller towns where their real wage gain is positive. They minimize the physical and social costs of migration by moving to closer towns within their state of birth. Living costs in big cities appear to be a main driver for workers to leave these, especially if they are low-skilled.
In the second empirical chapter, I investigate the effect of internal migration on homicide rates in Brazil in the period from 2005 to 2010. I construct a retrospective panel of migration rates between municipalities and use local labour demand shocks in the manufacturing sector at the origins of migrants as instrument for immigration rates. An increase in immigration rates of 1% translates in an increase of 1.2% in crime rates at the local level. The effect is predominant in municipalities with historically higher homicide rates and there is no effect in locations with a large informal sector. While internal migration puts pressure on destination labour markets, these results suggest that it is the presence of a criminal or lack of a flexible sector that channel this pressure into negative outcomes. The third empirical chapter explores dynamic patterns of internal migration from rural areas in Ghana. With a new household panel survey collected in 2013 and again in 2015, I document that many households have multiple migrants moving at different points in time and for various reasons. Conditional on having had a migrant in the past, I estimate the effect of having a new migrant on the asset welfare of origin households. The findings suggest that due to prior migration experience and consequently lower migration costs for new migrants, there is no decline in welfare from having a new migrant.
The paper proposes the foundations of an analytical framework to map different innovation pathways and explain how innovation leads to inclusive structural change in low-income countries. Innovation pathways depend on how actors, interactions, and variables affect the origin of innovation; the uptake of the innovations (adoption and diffusion); the impact of this diffusion on upgrading, structural change and inclusion; the complementarity between these processes; the potential trade-offs between structural change and inclusion. The paper offers a set of novel applications to test the proposed framework, through different examples of innovation pathways: (a) international technology transfer, based on an extensive systematic literature review; (b) product and process innovation in the dairy sector in Kenya, based on a secondary case study; (c) an organisational innovation in the provision of antiretroviral treatment in Mozambique, also a case study; (d) a systematisation of metrics and indicators of innovation, structural change and inclusion and an empirical exploration of their relationship. The learning generated will support a multidisciplinary, multi-methods research agenda to map the dynamics around innovation, structural change, and inequality and generate an integrated platform of evidence on these processes. In doing so, we respond to the recently increasing demand coming from international institutions, inter-departmental research funds, NGOs and national ministries, for better knowledge to shape a more effective innovation policy for sustainable and inclusive development in low income countries.
Structural change can be both, a cause or a consequence of innovation, while structural change and innovations are usually accompanied by short-term outcomes of social inclusion or exclusion. Inclusion may in turn have an impact on further innovations. Yet, we find little evidence in the literature on the three-way relations between innovation, structural change and inclusion. This paper advances a first exercise in this direction. Given the multidimensionality of each (innovation, structural change, and inclusion), we extract the underlying unobserved common factor structure from various well-known macro indicators. With a structural vector auto regression (SVAR) model for a short panel of developing countries over 13 years, we nd the following main results. First, we con rm the virtuous cycle between innovation and structural change, aligning with existing literature. Second, the strongest result is the positive effect of inclusion on both innovation and structural change, that suggests policy to improve inclusion beyond poverty and inequality. Third, on decomposing the innovation index (formal, firm-level and ICT), we find each related differently to both structural change and inclusion, that suggests specific policy roles in their infl uence on inclusion and structural change.
Adjustment of the mechanical properties (apparent elastic modulus and compressive strength) in porous scaffolds is important for artificial implants and bone tissue engineering. In this study, a top-down design method based on Voronoi-Tessellation was proposed. This method was successful in obtaining the porous structures with specified and functionally graded porosity. The porous specimens were prepared by selective laser melting technology. Quasi-static compressive tests were conducted as well. The experiment results revealed that the mechanical properties were affected by both porosity and irregularity. The irregularity coefficient proposed in this study can achieve good accommodation and balance of “irregularity” and “controllability”. The method proposed in this study provides an efficient approach for the bionic design and topological optimization of scaffolds.
Herein we report the discovery that two bottleable, neutral, base-stabilized diborane(5) compounds are able to bind strongly to a number of copper(I) complexes exclusively through their B-B bond. The resulting complexes represent the first known complexes containing unsupported, neutral σB-B diborane ligands. Single-crystal X-ray analyses of these complexes show that the X-Cu moiety (X = Cl, OTf, C6F5) lies opposite the bridging hydrogen of the diborane and is near perpendicular to the B-B bond, interacting almost equally with both boron atoms and causing a B-B bond elongation. DFT studies show that σ donation from and π backdonation to the pseudo-π-like B-B bond account for their formation. Astoundingly, these copper σB-B-complexes are inert to ligand exchange with pyridine under either heating or photoirradiation.
There is an almost Europewide trend that party funding regime change - or proposed regime change - manifests itself in a move from private to public subsidisation. There are a number of drivers that have been identified as a reason for this such as institutional proximity to other states enacting reform, explicit financial/electoral strategy and wider party organisational change. In recent years, however, it has generally been accepted that corruption is an increasingly important variable in explaining this change. In this sense the change from a system of private funding to state subsidisation is seen as a remedy against corrupt practice. As an almost necessarily less corrupt form of party financing. Research shows that the empirical evidence on this is both patchy and unclear. This thesis considers whether different types of corruption are prevalent in differenttypes of party funding regime (i.e. those that are predominantly privately financed and those that are predominantly state financed). The analysis utilises the elite interview, extensive documentary research and operationalises the logic of appropriateness to answer the central research question: does the amount of state subsidisation in a country have an effect on the type of corruption? Drawing on evidence from a comparison of Great Britain and Denmark, this thesis argues that the level of state subsidy is, in fact, unrelated to the type of corruption that we find, perceived or otherwise. Thus, if subsidies are to be introduced or sustained they must be done so for other reasons - they are not a cure for corruption, or importantly, perceived corruption. They can, however, be justified on public utility grounds. Anti-corruption measures should focus on other regulations, but even then we should not expect such measures to impact on perceptions of corruption.
Coastal cliff erosion represents a significant geohazard for people and infrastructure. Forecasting future erosion rates is therefore of critical importance to ensuring the resiliency of coastal communities. We use high precision monitoring of chalk cliffs at Telscombe, UK to generate monthly mass movement inventories between August 2016 and July 2017. Frequency-magnitude analysis of our inventories demonstrate negative power law scaling over 7 orders of magnitude and, for the first time, we report statistically significant correlations between significant wave height (Hs) and power law scaling coefficients (r2 values of 0.497 and 0.590 for β and s respectively). Applying these relationships allows for a quantitative method to predict erosion at the site based on Hs probabilities and sea level forecasts derived from the UKCP09 medium emission climate model (A1B). Monte-Carlo simulations indicate a range of possible erosion scenarios over 70 years (2020-2090) and we assess the impact these may have on the A259 coastal road which runs proximal to the cliffs. Results indicate a small acceleration in erosion compared to those based on current conditions with the most likely scenario at the site being 21.7 m of cliff recession by 2090. However, low-probability events can result in recession an order of magnitude higher in some scenarios. In the absence of negative feedbacks, we estimate an ~11% chance that the A259 will be breached by coastal erosion by 2090.
The UltraSTEEL® forming process forms plain steel sheets into dimpled steel sheets. During the forming process both geometry and mechanical properties are considerably altered. This study aims to understand the response of the dimpled steel columns to low velocity lateral impact loads. Explicit finite element (FE) models were created and validated, including boundary conditions, element types and element sizes. Plain, dimpled columns and columns with dimpled geometry and plain material (DGPM) were analysed under lateral impact, to find out the difference between plain and dimpled columns, and the influence of the introduced dimpled geometry. Comparisons were made based mainly on the mean impact force, crush efficiency, and ability to maintain stability. A series of numerical analysis was carried out under different axial compressive loads. The dimpled columns have shown an up to 32.5% greater mean force and an up to 24.4% greater crush efficiency over the plain ones. The dimpled columns have also shown a better stability under axial compressive loads. A further investigation on the support conditions indicated that the dimpled geometry contributes to the reduction of the maximum impact force and therefore increasing the crush efficiency, where at least one end of the column is fully fixed.
Lemur tyrosine kinase 3 (LMTK3) is an oncogenic kinase that is involved in different types of cancer (breast, lung, gastric, colorectal) and biological processes including proliferation, invasion, migration, chromatin remodeling as well as innate and acquired endocrine resistance. However, the role of LMTK3 in response to cytotoxic chemotherapy has not been investigated thus far. Using both 2D and 3D tissue culture models, we found that overexpression of LMTK3 decreased the sensitivity of breast cancer cell lines to cytotoxic (doxorubicin) treatment. In a mouse model we showed that ectopic overexpression of LMTK3 decreases the efficacy of doxorubicin in reducing tumor growth. Interestingly, breast cancer cells
overexpressing LMTK3 delayed the generation of double strand breaks (DSBs) after exposure to doxorubicin, as measured by the formation of γH2AX foci. This effect was at least partly mediated by decreased activity of ataxia-telangiectasia mutated kinase (ATM) as indicated by its reduced phosphorylation levels. In addition, our RNA-seq analyses showed that
doxorubicin differentially regulated the expression of over 700 genes depending on LMTK3 protein expression levels.
Furthermore, these genes were found to promote DNA repair, cell viability and tumorigenesis processes / pathways in LMTK3-overexpressing MCF7 cells. In human cancers, immunohistochemistry staining of LMTK3 in pre- and postchemotherapy breast tumor pairs from four separate clinical cohorts revealed a significant increase of LMTK3 following both doxorubicin and docetaxel based chemotherapy. In aggregate, our findings show for the first time a contribution of LMTK3 in cytotoxic drug resistance in breast cancer.
This paper investigates why, in 1494, the Franciscan friar and teacher of mathematics, Luca Pacioli, published an instructional treatise describing the system of double entry bookkeeping. In doing so, it also explores the rhetoric and foundations of double entry through the lens of Pacioli’s treatise. Recent findings on Pacioli’s life and works, his writings, and the medieval accounting archives are combined to identify how he was inspired by his faith and his humanist beliefs to give all merchants access to the practical mathematics and the bookkeeping they required. The paper finds that Pacioli’s teaching method was inspired by Euclid, his Franciscan education, and his humanist beliefs, and that Pacioli reveals a simplicity in the then-unrecognized axiomatic foundation of double entry that has been largely overlooked. The findings represent a paradigm shift in how we perceive Pacioli, his treatise, and double entry.
Currently, human society is predominantly powered by fossil fuels—coal, oil and natural gas—yet also ultimately depends on goods and services provided by biodiversity. Fossil fuel extraction impacts biodiversity indirectly through climate change and by increasing accessibility, and directly through habitat loss and pollution. In contrast to the indirect effects, quantification of the direct impacts has been relatively neglected. To address this, we analyse the potential threat to > 37,000 species and > 200,000 protected areas globally from the locations of present and future fossil fuel extraction in marine and terrestrial environments. Sites that are currently exploited have higher species richness and endemism than unexploited sites, whereas known future hydrocarbon activities will predominantly move into less biodiverse locations. We identify 181 ‘high‐risk’ locations where oil or gas extraction suitability coincides with biodiversity importance, making conflicts between extraction and conservation probable. In total, protected areas are located on US$3‐15 trillion of unexploited hydrocarbon reserves, posing challenges and potentially opportunities for protected area management and sustainable financing.
In May 2013, the World Health Organization (WHO) Secretariat produced its first-ever report regarding health issues related to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in preparation for an agenda item of the 2013 WHO Executive Board (EB) meeting. The debate resulted in the removal of the item from the adopted agenda. Since then, LBGT health has never been brought up again. Drawing on the debate, there are three ‘lacks’ causing the deadlock in the WHO: (1) the lack of consensus between universalists and cultural relativists on implementing the right to health, (2) the lack of capacity of the WHO in addressing political controversies, and (3) the lack of evidence thwarting the claim for health justice for LGBT people. However, in this paper, I argue that it is the lack of globalism, in contrast to internationalism, that prevents the WHO from achieving the health-for-all goal. While the EB is authorized to determine the global health policy agenda by the WHO Constitution, its prioritization of national interests has made human rights protection rhetorical rather than obligatory. Combating such institutional obstacles to LGBT health, I conclude that it is urgent to promote the people-centered approach to global health governance by accommodating the ‘polyvocality’ of civil societies.
We explore how the group environment may affect the evolution of star-forming galaxies. We select 1197 Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) groups at 0.05≤z≤0.2 and analyze the projected phase space (PPS) diagram, i.e. the galaxy velocity as a function of projected group-centric radius, as a local environmental metric in the low-mass halo regime 10 12 ≤(M200/M⊙)<10^14. We study the properties of star-forming group galaxies, exploring the correlation of star formation rate (SFR) with radial distance and stellar mass. We find that the fraction of star-forming group members is higher in the PPS regions dominated by recently accreted galaxies, whereas passive galaxies dominate the virialized regions. We observe a small decline in specific SFR of star-forming galaxies towards the group center by a factor ∼1.2 with respect to field galaxies. Similar to cluster studies, we conclude for low-mass halos that star-forming group galaxies represent an infalling population from the field to the halo and show suppressed star formation.
Learned associations between rewarding stimuli and environmental cues which predict their availability play an important role in guiding behaviour. These learned associations are thought to be encoded by neuroadaptations in disperse sets of strongly activated neurons, termed neuronal ensembles, located throughout motivationally-relevant brain areas. However to date, the nature of the adaptations which occur selectively on neuronal ensembles encoding appetitive associative memories remain largely unknown. Using the Fos-GFP mouse, which expresses green fluorescent protein (GFP) in recently activated neurons, we investigated the intrinsic and synaptic excitability of neurons activated following exposure to stimuli associated with food (sucrose) or drug (cocaine) exposure.
We observed that in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) shell, but not orbitofrontal cortex, neurons activated following exposure to a food-associated stimulus were more intrinsically excitable than surrounding, non-activated neurons. These neurons also demonstrated increased spontaneous excitatory transmission suggestive of potentiated synaptic strength. Following extinction of the food-cue association, NAc shell neurons activated following cue exposure were no longer more excitable than surrounding neurons. This suggests that the intrinsic excitability of striatal neurons activated by a food-associated cue is dynamically modulated by changes in associative strength.
We also examined the intrinsic excitability of striatal neurons (including neurons in the NAc shell, core and dorsal striatum) activated by cocaine-associated stimuli. Interestingly, NAc shell neurons activated by cocaine-associated stimuli were not more excitable compared to the surrounding neurons regardless of extinction learning experience, possibly indicating differences between drug and food conditioning. Similar results were obtained for dorsal striatal neurons. However, NAc core neurons activated by cocaine-associated stimuli displayed an enhanced excitability which persisted following extinction, indicating that core and shell neuronal ensembles differentially encode the cocaine associative memories.
Overall, by selectively recording from stimuli-activated neurons, this work reveals novel adaptations at the intrinsic and synaptic levels on neuronal ensembles following appetitive learning with both food and drug rewards.
Introduction: Metacognition, or “thinking about thinking”, is a higher-order thought process that allows for the evaluation of perceptual processes for accuracy. Metacognitive accuracy is associated with the grey matter volume (GMV) in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), an area also impacted in schizophrenia. The present study set out to investigate whether deficits in metacognitive accuracy are present in the early stages of psychosis.
Methods: Metacognitive accuracy in first-episode psychosis (FEP) was assessed on a perceptual decision making task and their performance compared to matched healthy control participants (N = 18). A novel signal detection theory approach was used to model metacognitive sensitivity independently from objective perceptual performance. A voxel-based morphometry investigation was also conducted on GMV.
Results: We found that the FEP group demonstrated significantly worse metacognitive accuracy compared to controls (p = .039). Importantly, GMV deficits were also observed in the superior frontal gyrus. The findings suggest a specific deficit in this processing domain to exist at first episode; however, no relationship was found between GMV and metacognitive accuracy.
Conclusions: Our findings support the notion that an inability to accurately scrutinise perception may underpin functional deficits observed in later schizophrenia; however, the exact neural basis of metacognitive deficits in FEP remains elusive.
Computational models of reinforcement learning have helped dissect discrete components of reward-related function and characterize neurocognitive deficits in psychiatric illnesses. Stimulus novelty biases decision making, even when unrelated to choice outcome, acting as if possessing intrinsic reward value to guide decisions toward uncertain options. Heightened novelty seeking is characteristic of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, yet how this influences reward-related decision-making is computationally encoded, or is altered by stimulant medication, is currently uncertain. Here we used an established reinforcement-learning task to model effects of novelty on reward-related behaviour during functional MRI in 30 adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and 30 age-, sex- and IQ-matched control subjects. Each participant was tested on two separate occasions, once ON and once OFF stimulant medication. OFF medication, patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder showed significantly impaired task performance (P = 0.027), and greater selection of novel options (P = 0.004). Moreover, persistence in selecting novel options predicted impaired task performance (P = 0.025). These behavioural deficits were accompanied by a significantly lower learning rate (P = 0.011) and heightened novelty signalling within the substantia nigra/ventral tegmental area (family-wise error corrected P < 0.05). Compared to effects in controls, stimulant medication improved attention deficit hyperactivity disorder participants’ overall task performance (P = 0.011), increased reward-learning rates (P = 0.046) and enhanced their ability to differentiate optimal from non-optimal novel choices (P = 0.032). It also reduced substantia nigra/ventral tegmental area responses to novelty. Preliminary cross-sectional evidence additionally suggested an association between long-term stimulant treatment and a reduction in the rewarding value of novelty. These data suggest that aberrant substantia nigra/ventral tegmental area novelty processing plays an important role in the suboptimal reward-related decision-making characteristic of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Compared to effects in controls, abnormalities in novelty processing and reward-related learning were improved by stimulant medication, suggesting that they may be disorder-specific targets for the pharmacological management of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms.
Interoception refers to the process by which the nervous system senses, interprets, and integrates signals originating from within the body, providing a moment-by moment mapping of the body’s internal landscape across conscious and unconscious levels. Interoceptive signaling has been considered a component process of reflexes, urges, feelings, drives, adaptive responses, and cognitive and emotional experiences, highlighting its contributions to the maintenance of homeostatic functioning, body regulation, and survival. Dysfunction of interoception is increasingly recognized as an important component of different mental health conditions, including anxiety disorders, mood disorders, eating disorders, addictive disorders, and somatic symptom disorders. However, a number of conceptual and methodological challenges have made it difficult for interoceptive constructs to be broadly applied in mental health research and treatment settings. In November 2016, the Laureate Institute for Brain Research organized the first Interoception Summit, a gathering of interoception experts from around the world, with the goal of accelerating progress in understanding the role of interoception in mental health. The discussions at the meeting were organized around four themes: interoceptive assessment, interoceptive integration, interoceptive psychopathology, and the generation of a roadmap that could serve as a guide for future endeavors. This review article presents an overview of the emerging consensus generated by the meeting.
The local level has gained prominence in climate policy and governance in recent years as it is increasingly perceived as privileged arena for policy experimentation and social and institutional innovation. Yet, the success of local climate governance in industrialised countries has been limited so far. One reason may be that local communities focus too much on strategies of technology-oriented ecological modernisation (EM) and individual behaviour change and too little on strategies that target unsustainable social practices and their embeddedness in complex patterns of practices. In this paper we assess and compare the strategies of ‘low-carbon municipalities’ (top-down initiatives) and those of ‘intentional communities’ (bottom-up initiatives). We are interested to find out to what extent and in which ways each community type intervenes in social practices to curb carbon emissions and to explore the scope for further and deeper interventions on the local level. Employing an analytical framework based on social practice theory we identify characteristic patterns of intervention for each community type. We find that low-carbon municipalities face tenacious difficulties in transforming carbon-intensive social practices. While offering some additional low-carbon choices, their ability to reduce carbon-intensive practices is very limited. Their focus on efficiency and individual choice shows little transformative potential. Intentional communities, by contrast, have more institutional and organisational options to intervene into the web of social practices. Finally, we explore to what extent low-carbon municipalities can learn from intentional communities and propose strategies of hybridisation for policy innovation to combine the strengths of both models.
Debates on women’s rights and gender equality in Africa often centre on how international norms are interpreted at a local level. This book, which is written and edited by African women activists, presents an alternative vision. Aiming to ‘challenge the stereotype that African women are passive, underprivileged and simply under the domination of patriarchy’ (p.22), this edited collection shows not only how African women’s movements have contributed to shaping and defining global approaches to women’s advancement, but also how they have brought about positive changes in national constitutional and legal reforms, women’s political representation, business leadership, peace-making and peace-building.
After the perceived failure of global approaches to tackling climate change, enthusiasm for local climate initiatives has blossomed world-wide, suggesting a more experimental approach to climate governance. Innovating Climate Governance: Moving Beyond Experiments looks critically at climate governance experimentation, focusing on how experimental outcomes become embedded in practices, rules and norms. Policy which encourages local action on climate change, rather than global burden-sharing, suggests a radically different approach to tackling climate issues. This book reflects on what climate governance experiments achieve, as well as what happens after and beyond these experiments. A bottom-up, polycentric approach is analyzed, exploring the outcomes of climate experiments and how they can have broader, transformative effects in society. Contributions offer a wide range of approaches and cover more than fifty empirical cases internationally, making this an ideal resource for academics and practitioners involved in studying, developing and evaluating climate governance.
This paper examines the link between recent EU crises and the development of party-based Euroscepticism across Europe. It draws on data from expert surveys with qualitative data to outline the way in which we can empirically see the link between the impacts of the crises in European states, and how far, and in what ways, Euroscepticism has been mobilized by political parties in those states. It identifies four main frames through which the EU is contested in European states which focus on: economic factors, immigration, democracy/sovereignty and national factors. It also shows that there has been a clear difference between the impacts of the different crises. While the Eurozone crisis had a particularly powerful effect in the party systems of those countries most affected by the bailout packages and the migration crisis had a particularly strong effect on party politics in the post-communist states of central Europe, Brexit has had a very limited impact on national party politics, although this may change in the longer-term.
This book explains how and why the New Labour governments transformed Britain’s immigration system from a highly restrictive regime to one of the most expansive in Europe, otherwise known as the Managed Migration policy. It offers the first in-depth and candid account of this period of dramatic political development from the actors who made policy during ‘the making of the migrant state.’
Drawing on document analysis and over 50 elite interviews, the book sets out to explain how and why this radical policy change transpired, by examining how organized interests, political parties and institutions shaped and changed policy. This book offers valuable insights to anyone who wants to understand why immigration is dominating the political debate, and will be essential reading for those wanting to know why governments pursue expansive immigration regimes.
This article examines how members of the Scottish newspaper industry view the current crisis of the print press and the future of their titles. It looks at how newspaper companies are attempting to address the challenges posed by digital transition and competition in a small market, and where they believe the solution to this problem lies. The analysis is based on input from interviews with editors and managers as well as circulation data from the last fifteen years. Findings suggest that, in line with the characteristics of a liberal media system, newspaper organisations believe that it is up to the industry, rather than the state, to resolve this systemic issue and to ensure the survival of their products.
This chapter examines the news coverage of the EU referendum on BBC Scotland and compares it to the equivalent BBC network coverage produced in London. It argues that the framing of the referendum in the two parts of the UK was different. Although the volume of the Scottish coverage was smaller, the focus was more varied than that of the English coverage, with less emphasis on the game of the political campaign and more discussion of a broader range of policy implications of the vote. The chapter proposes possible reasons for the differences in the focus of the Scottish coverage and discusses its findings within the context of public opinion and the outcome of the vote in Scotland.
Compared with conventional reciprocating compressor for vapour compression refrigeration (VCR) system, linear compressor offers higher energy efficiency and oil-free operation, which allows the use of mini/micro-channel heat exchangers. However, there are key challenges when oil-free linear compressors are used for household refrigeration with typical high pressure ratios (above 10), such as high clearance loss, high piston offset, and very nonlinear gas spring. Previous papers by the author have demonstrated the feasibility of oil-free linear compressor for electronics cooling at lower pressure ratios (below 3.5). This paper presented comprehensive analysis of these issues as a key step towards developing oil-free linear compressor for household refrigeration. The model of non-linear gas spring at high pressure ratios is validated by measurements of a previous prototype linear compressor with minimum flow. Piston offset can be effectively controlled by solenoid valve at 1 Hz. Gas leakage increases by a factor of 2.5 if the piston is fully eccentric in the cylinder. The gas leakage loss can be 27% of power input for pressure ratio of 13.6 using R600a.
The two-fold reduction of (cAAC)BHX2 (cAAC = 1-(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)-3,3,5,5-tetramethylpyrrolidin-2-ylidene); X = Cl, Br) provides a facile, high-yielding route to the dihydrodiborene (cAAC)2B2H2. The (chloro)hydroboryl anion reduction intermediate was successfully isolated using a crown ether. Overreduction of the diborene to its dianion [(cAAC)2B2H2]2– causes a decrease in the B-B bond order whereas the B-C bond orders increase.
Cyclic diboranes(4) based on a chelating monoanionic benzylphosphine linker were prepared by boron-silicon exchange between arylsilanes and B2Br4. Coordination of Lewis bases to the remaining sp2 boron atom yielded unsymmetrical sp3-sp3 diboranes, which were reduced with KC8 to their corresponding trans-diborenes. These compounds were studied by a combination of spectroscopic methods, X-ray diffraction and DFT calculations. PMe3-stabilized diborene 6 was found to undergo thermal rearrangement to gem-diborene 8. DFT calculations on 8 reveal a polar boron-boron bond, and indicate that the compound is best described as a borylborylene.
Future projections of precipitation at regional scales are vital to inform climate change adaptation activities. Therefore, is it important to quantify projected changes and associated uncertainty, and understand model processes responsible. This paper addresses these challenges for Southern Africa and adjacent Indian Ocean focusing on the local wet season. Precipitation projections for the end of the 21st century indicate a pronounced dipole pattern in the CMIP5 multi-model mean. The dipole indicates future wetting (drying) to the north (south) of the climatological axis of maximum rainfall, implying a northward shift of the ITCZ and South Indian Ocean Convergence Zone, and therefore not consistent with a simple ‘wet-get-wetter’ pattern. This pattern is most pronounced in early Austral summer suggesting a later and shorter wet season over much of southern Africa. Using a decomposition method we determine physical mechanisms underlying this dipole pattern of projected change, and the associated inter-model uncertainty. The projected dipole pattern is largely associated with the dynamical component of change indicative of shifts in the location of convection. Over the Indian Ocean, this apparent northward shift in the ITCZ may reflect the response to changes in the north-south SST gradient over the Indian Ocean, consistent with a ‘warmest-get-wetter’ mechanism. Over land subtropical drying is relatively robust, particularly in the early wet season. This has contributions from dynamical shifts in location of convection, which may be related to regional SST structures in the Southern Indian Ocean, and the thermodynamic decline in relative humidity. Implications for understanding and potentially constraining uncertainty in projections are discussed.
Impulsivity received considerable attention in the context of drug misuse and certain neuropsychiatric conditions. Because of its great health and well-being importance, it is crucial to understand factors which modulate impulsive behaviour. As a growing body of literature indicates the role of emotional and physiological states in guiding our actions and decisions, we argue that current affective state and physiological arousal exert a significant influence on behavioural impulsivity. As 'impulsivity' is a heterogeneous concept, in this paper, we review key theories of the topic and summarise information about distinct impulsivity subtypes and their methods of assessment, pointing out to the differences between the various components of the construct. Moreover, we review existing literature on the relationship between emotional states, arousal and impulsive behaviour and suggest directions for future research.
William (Bill) Donald Hopkins is a Professor of Neuroscience in the Institute of Neuroscience, Georgia State University, Georgia, U.S.A. Professor Hopkins has published over 310 journal articles, book chapters, and edited books. He specializes in functional asymmetries in brain organization and in behavior, especially in great apes, and has pioneered the use of non-invasive imaging techniques to directly measure details of brain organization, including both positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Professor Hopkins has also made fundamental discoveries in communication dynamics in great apes, building on these findings to support an emerging new theoretical perspective on the evolution of language. Great apes are humans’ closest living relatives in the animal kingdom, and therefore they serve as a scientifically important comparison group for the elucidation of the evolutionary changes that have occurred in the human lineage, since we last shared a common ancestor with the great apes, approximately seven million years ago.
This paper uses equipment standardisation as a lens for examining power relationships and the importance of military identity in framing the development of NATO conventional capability. In the face of the Warsaw Pact's overwhelming military capacity the logic of standardisation was compelling. Standardising equipment and making military forces interoperable reduced logistics overlap, increased the tempo of operations and allowed partners to optimise manufacturing capacity. Applied carefully, standardisation would help NATO mount a successful conventional defence of Western Europe, a crucial aspect of the Alliance's flexible response strategy. In this paper we apply Actor Network Theory to standardisation discussions thereby revealing the incoherence and volatility of NATO's collective strategic thinking and the vast networks of countervailing interests on which this is based.
This thesis investigates two thematic lines of research, both underpinned by non-Markovian system-reservoir interactions in quantum optics. The overarching focus is on modelling the open system dynamics in a non-perturbative fashion, broadly on - though not restricted to - instances when the environment is structured.
A theory is developed by means of enlarging the open system over environmental degrees of freedom to include memory effects in its dynamics. This is achieved using an established technique that involves mapping a bosonic environment onto a 1D chain of harmonic oscillators. Within this setting, we apply a Heisenberg equation-of-motion approach to derive an exact set coupled differential equations for the open system and a single auxiliary oscillator of the chain. The combined equations are shown to have their interpretation rooted in a quantum Markov stochastic process. Including the auxiliary chain oscillator as part of the original system then enables us to obtain an exact master equation for the enlarged system, avoiding any need for the Born-Markov approximations. Our method is valid for a dissipative two-state system, with cases of multiple excitations and added driving discussed.
Separately, we apply the framework of quantum Darwinism to an atom-cavity system, and, subsequently, to a more general multiple-environment model. In both cases, the time-dependent spread of correlations between the open system and fractions of the environment is analysed during the course of the decoherence process. The degree to which information is redundant across different fractions is checked to infer the emergence of classicality. In the second case, we go further and present a decomposition of information in terms of its quantum and classical correlations. A quantitative measure of redundancy is also studied with regard to its ability to witness non-Markovian behaviour.
Besides fundamental interest, our results have application to quantum information processing and quantum technologies, keeping in mind the potential beneficial use of non-Markovian effects in reservoir engineering.
In this chapter I counter the claim that free speech is under threat in universities, and instead submit that new opportunities have arisen to make knowledge exchange more inclusive. I begin by outlining the epistemic privileges of academics, specifically: that (a) they benefit from the privilege of being able to access a variety of platforms of considerable reach, and (b) they are deemed to be highly credible. These epistemic privileges suggest the need for regulation of academic speech, both to safeguard against potential harms, but also to ensure that epistemic privileges are deployed in producing a more equitable knowledge community, which is liable to produce better epistemic outcomes. I suggest that academics should endorse restrictions on permissible academic speech, with the aim of producing educational spaces within which epistemic outcomes are optimised for all social groups. One concrete strategy is to seriously engage the potent, but currently much-maligned, regulatory functions of “safe spaces” and “no platforming,” which I define and defend against common objections.
The key questions about today’s elites are easy to ask. How did a few spectacularly wealthy bankers and fund managers, whose magic money-tree crumbled to sawdust in 2008, get themselves bailed out with public funds that no health service or infrastructure commission could dream of? Why did democratically elected governments allow the ‘1%’, and those at even more exquisite decimal places, to flee further enriched from a market meltdown that would traditionally have culled their ‘capital’? Why, when voters in America, Europe and Asia turned against governments that had made them pay twice for corporate excess, did they rally behind dissenting members of the elite, rather than traditional anti-elitist parties? What enables the domination of politics and business by an unchosen few – skewing the distributions of power, wealth and status even further skywards – when such pyramids were meant to be flattened long ago by democratization, meritocratic selection and social mobility?
‘Greedy Elites’ derives answers from the latest empirical evidence on rising concentrations of economic and political power, allied to new theories of how elites maintain, apply and justify their ascent over the rest of the society. It traces contemporary turbulence to the membership and internal dynamics of elites – economic, political and social – and the way they manage their connections to the rest of society. The composition and conduct of decision-making ‘higher circles’ remains central to explaining how national and multilateral political arrangements remain stable for long periods, interspersed with phases of abrupt change. ‘Greedy Elites’ also sheds light on why the patterns of change are often common across countries that differ in strength of democracy and civil society, and why they typically raise fractions of the previous elite to greater prominence, despite mass protest aimed at bringing the whole elite down to earth. Sixty years after C. Wright Mills’s pioneering probe of the Power Elite in the US, ‘Greedy Elites’ offers new and internationally applicable ideas on the importance of frictions within the elite in sparking and steering wider social change; the shifting relationship between power and money within elites; the alternative ways in which elite fractions enrol ‘middle’ and ‘working’ class elements in their power struggles, and the typical developmental consequences of elites alternately forming and breaking up distributional class coalitions.
Transitional justice mechanisms employed in post-conflict and post-authoritarian contexts have largely focused upon individual violations of a narrow set of civil and political rights, as well as the provision of legal and quasi-legal remedies, such as truth commissions, amnesties and prosecutions. In contrast, this book highlights the significance of structural violence in producing and reproducing rights violations. The book further argues that, in order to remedy structural violations of human rights, there is a need to utilise a different toolkit from that typically employed in transitional justice contexts. The book sets out and applies a definition of transformative justice as expanding upon, and providing an alternative to, transitional justice. Focusing on a comparative study of social movements, nongovernmental organisations and trade unions working on land and housing rights in South Africa, and their network relationships, the book argues that networks of this kind make an important contribution to processes advancing transformative justice. Providing an opportunity for affected communities to articulate their concerns over socioeconomic rights issues, such networks provide a vital means by which existing structures and practices may be contested.
ISP and commercial networks are complex and thus difficult to characterise and manage. Network operators rely on a continuous flow of event log messages to identify and handle service outages. However, there is little published information about such events and how they are typically exploited. In this paper, we describe in as much detail as possible the event logs and network topology of a major commercial network. Through analysing the network topology, textual information of events and time of events, we highlight opportunities and challenges brought by such data. In particular, we suggest that the development of methods for inferring functional connectivity could unlock more of the informational value of event log messages and assist network management operators.
Upon its release, American Graffiti (George Lucas, 1973) was much admired by critics and audiences alike. Yet, in subsequent years, the film became known for its supposed “flattening of history,” and celebration of patriarchal values. This article demonstrates that such a judgement owes much to Fredric Jameson’s historically contingent work on postmodernism, which argues that American Graffiti constitutes the paradigmatic nostalgia film. In contrast, using close textual analysis, I demonstrate that American Graffiti provides a more complex construction of the past, and of gender, than has hitherto been acknowledged. Far from blindly idealising the early 1960s, the film interrogates the processes through which the period and its gender relations come to be idealised. This article has consequences not only for our understanding of Lucas’ seminal film, but also for the American New Wave, and the “nostalgia” text.
Cases of human trafficking are known to be difficult to prosecute. In this article we identify several issues in the law of evidence that may contribute to these difficulties. We argue for the victims' rights as an important factor in evidential decisions, coupled with an insistence that such rights cannot trump the defendant's right to a fair trial. Restrictions on evidence of a witness's bad character or sexual history should not be interpreted in such a way as to prevent the defence from introducing evidence, or asking questions, that are of substantial probative value, even if they are potentially distressing to witnesses; but such evidence and questioning should be limited to what is necessary for a fair trial. The protection of victims and witnesses may also justify a relatively flexible approach to the admission of hearsay evidence, which avoids prejudging the truth of a witness's evidence in order to establish that s/he is in fear.
This book offers the first systematic study of the multiple and contested ways in which protest is remembered. Drawing on work in social and cultural history, cultural and historical geography, psychology, anthropology, critical heritage studies, and memory studies, Remembering Protest focuses on the dynamic and lived nature of past protests, asking how conflicted communities and individuals made sense of and mobilized protest past in forging the future. Written by several of the leading historians and historical geographers of protest in early modern and modern Britain, the chapters span the period from 1500 to c.1850 while also speaking to the politics of past protests in the present. In so doing, it also offers the first showcase of the variety of approaches that comprises the vibrant and intellectually fecund ‘new protest history’. Empirically rich but conceptually sophisticated, this book will appeal to those with an interest in protest history, and early modern and modern British history, and historical geography more generally.
In recent years, a number of garment factory fires and building collapses have taken place in countries where the statutory provision of workers’ compensation for death and injury at work is weak or non-existent. In response to these disasters, industry stakeholders have developed innovative new schemes to award compensation to injured workers and the families of those killed, consistent with international standards for compensating occupational death or injury. This report compares three major compensation schemes of this kind: the Rana Plaza Arrangement, the Tazreen Claims Administration Trust, and the Ali Enterprises compensation arrangement. It draws out guiding principles, lessons learned, and best practices for workers’ compensation for death or injury in global supply chains in the absence of a reliable, rights-based national employment injury insurance system in the producer country. With the commitment and cooperation of industry, government, and civil society, survivors of garment factory disasters can be compensated to internationally recognised standards, even in the absence of a national employment injury insurance system. However, these kinds of post facto compensation schemes should not interfere with the establishment of national employment injury insurance systems in garment-producing countries, and indeed can be used as an opportunity to help develop technical capacity, administrative infrastructure, and political will for such national-level systems.
Through-conjugation of two phosphaalkyne moieties within an
isolable molecule is demonstrated for the first time with the synthesis of [{Ru(dppe)2}2{μ-(CC)2C6H4-p}(CP)2], via base induced desilylation of [{Ru(dppe)2}2{μ-(CC)2C6H4 p}Cl2]. The nature of the cyaphide ligands and their influence upon the bimetallic core are studied electrochemically.
Background
Riluzole is the only drug to prolong survival for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and, at a dose of 100 mg, was associated with a 35% reduction in mortality in a clinical trial. A key question is whether the survival benefit occurs at an early stage of disease, late stage, or is spread throughout the course of the disease. To address this question, we used the King's clinical staging system to do a retrospective analysis of data from the original dose-ranging clinical trial of riluzole.
Methods
In the original dose-ranging trial, patients were enrolled between December, 1992, and November, 1993, in Belgium, France, Germany, Spain, Canada, the USA, and the UK if they had probable or definite ALS as defined by the El Escorial criteria. The censor date for the riluzole survival data was set as the original study end date of Dec 31, 1994. For this analysis, King's clinical ALS stage was estimated from the electronic case record data of the modified Norris scale, UK Medical Research Council score for muscle strength, El Escorial category, vital capacity, and gastrostomy insertion data. The lowest allocated stage was 2 because the original trial only included patients with probable or definite ALS. We used a χ2 test to assess the independence of stage at trial enrolment and treatment group, Kaplan-Meier product limit distribution to test the transition from each stage to subsequent stages, and Cox regression to confirm an effect of treatment group on time in stage, controlling for covariates. We did sensitivity analyses by combining treatment groups, using alternative strategies to stage, stratifying by stage at trial enrolment, and using multistate outcome analysis of treatments (MOAT).
Findings
We analysed the case records of all 959 participants from the original dose-ranging trial, 237 assigned to 50 mg/day riluzole, 236 to 100 mg/day, 244 to 200 mg/day, and 242 to daily placebo. Clinical stage at enrolment did not significantly differ between treatment groups (p=0·22). Time in stage 4 was longer for patients receiving 100 mg/day riluzole than for those receiving placebo (hazard ratio [HR] 0·55, 95% CI 0·36–0·83; log-rank p=0·037). Combining treatment groups and stratifying by stage at enrolment showed a similar result (HR 0·638, 95% CI 0·464–0·878; p=0·006), as did analysis with MOAT where the mean number of days spent in stage 4 was numerically higher for patients given riluzole at higher doses compared with patients receiving placebo. Time from stages 2 or 3 to subsequent stages or death did not differ between riluzole treatment groups and placebo (p=0·83 for stage 2 and 0·88 for stage 3).
Interpretation
We showed that riluzole prolongs survival in the last clinical stage of ALS; this finding needs to be confirmed in a prospective study, and treatment effects at stage 1 still need to be analysed. The ALS stage at which benefit occurs is important for counselling of patients before starting treatment. Staging should be used in future ALS clinical trials to assess the stage at which survival benefit occurs, and a similar approach could be used for other neurodegenerative diseases.
City-regions as sites of sustainability transitions have remained under-explored so far. With our comparative analysis of five diverse European city-regions, we offer new insights on contemporary sustainability transitions at the urban level. In a similar vein, the pre-development and the take-off phase of sustainability transitions have been studied in depth while the acceleration phase remains a research gap. We address this research gap by exploring how transitions can move beyond the seeding of alternative experiments and the activation of civil society initiatives. This raises the question of what commonalities and differences can be found between urban sustainability transitions. In our explorative study, we employ a newly developed framework of the acceleration mechanisms of sustainability transitions. We offer new insights on the multi-phase model of sustainability transitions. Our findings illustrate that there are no clear demarcations between the phases of transitions. From the perspective of city-regions, we rather found dynamics of acceleration, deceleration, and stagnation to unfold in parallel. We observed several transitions—transitions towards both sustainability and un-sustainability—to co-evolve. This suggests that the politics of persistence—the inertia and path dependencies of un-sustainability—should be considered in the study of urban sustainability transitions
We develop a theoretical model in which an industry and NGO play salience games - they act strategically to influence public attention to social impacts in the sector. Salience stimulates extra donations for the NGO, and thus firms have incentives to hide the damage they do to avoid public attention. How can an NGO design its mission (how to divide income between campaigning and other projects, and what sorts of campaigns to run) to thrive in such a setting?
We show that when public attention is scarce, a greater campaign orientation induces industry to invest in greater obfuscation, starving the NGO of funds. The NGO in turn strategically biases its mission away from campaigns, and in favor of sector-wide versus firm-specific campaigns, but not by as much as a welfare-motivated planner would want. When public attention is avoided by a mixture of substantive and symbolic action, we show that a greater weight on the former induces the NGO to become more campaign-oriented, with social damage lower.
Linear elasticity can be rigorously derived from finite elasticity under the assumption of small loadings in terms of Gamma-convergence. This was first done in the case of one-well energies with super-quadratic growth and later generalised to different settings, in particular to the case of multi-well energies where the distance between the wells is very small (comparable to the size of the load). In this paper we study the case when the distance between the wells is independent of the size of the load. In this context linear elasticity can be derived by adding to the multi-well energy a singular higher order term which penalises jumps from one well to another. The size of the singular term has to satisfy certain scaling assumptions whose optimality is shown in most of the cases. Finally, the derivation of linear elasticty from a two-well discrete model is provided, showing that the role of the singular perturbation term is played in this setting by interactions beyond nearest neighbours.
Aim: Exploring how negative symptoms are experienced and understood by individuals with lived experience of psychosis has the potential to offer insights into the complex psychosocial processes underlying negative symptom presentations. The aim of the current study was to investigate lived experiences of negative symptoms through secondary analysis of interviews conducted with individuals recovering from first-episode psychosis.
Method: Transcripts of in-depth interviews with participants (n = 24) recruited from Early Intervention in Psychosis services were analysed thematically with a focus on participants’ experiences and personal understandings of features corresponding to the negative symptoms construct.
Results: Descriptions of reductions in expression, motivation and sociability were common features of participants’ accounts. Several participants described the experience of having difficulty interacting as like being a ‘zombie’. Some participants experienced diminished capacity for emotion, thought or drive as underlying these experiences. However, participants typically attributed reductions in expression, motivation and sociability to medication side-effects, lack of confidence or active avoidance intended to protect them from rejection or ridicule, sometimes linked to internalised stigma.
Conclusions: Personal accounts of experiences of reduced expression, motivation and sociability during first-episode psychosis highlight the personal meaningfulness and role of agency is these features, challenging the framing of negative symptoms as passive manifestations of diminished capacity.
Sporting a mix of blue, yellow, white, green and black, the unmistakable Blue Tit reflects the colours of a planet affected by a burgeoning human population. Fortunately, Blue Tits are adapting well to modern humanity, taking advantage of our propensity to feed birds in our gardens and provide boxes for them to nest in. In turn, this feisty little species provides an excellent model for biological research. This book is the result of a personal quest by author Martyn Stenning to bring together a range of discoveries into one accessible volume.
The Blue Tit begins by inviting readers into the intimate lives of these birds as they attempt to reproduce, describing the many challenges they face when rearing their offspring. The story moves on to the fluid state of Blue Tit classification across the native Palearctic range, before progressing into population structure, lifetime ecology and an exploration of factors that determine breeding success. It culminates with an in-depth look at research over the years, followed by a selection of personal anecdotes and an overview of Blue Tit appearances in folklore and poetry.
This book provides a definitive record of the biology and ecology of one of our most popular, intelligent and charismatic birds.
Membrane proteins remain challenging targets for structural biology, despite much effort, as their native environment is heterogeneous and complex. Most methods rely on detergents to extract membrane proteins from their native environment, but this removal can significantly alter the structure and function of these proteins. Here, we overcome these challenges with a hybrid method to study membrane proteins in their native membranes, combining high-resolution solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and electron cryotomography using the same sample. Our method allows the structure and function of membrane proteins to be studied in their native environments, across different spatial and temporal resolutions, and the combination is more powerful than each technique individually. We use the method to demonstrate that the bacterial membrane protein YidC adopts a different conformation in native membranes and that substrate binding to YidC in these native membranes differs from purified and reconstituted systems
Using effective field theoretical methods, we show that besides the already observed gravitational waves, quantum gravity predicts two further massive classical fields leading to two new massive waves. We set a limit on the masses of these new modes using data from the E¨ot-Wash experiment. We point out that the existence of these new states is a model independent prediction of quantum gravity. We then explain how these new classical fields could impact astrophysical processes and in particular the binary inspirals of neutron stars or black holes. We calculate the emission rate of these new states in binary inspirals astrophysical processes.
Background: Esophageal-cancer is the seventh most common-cause of cancer-related-deaths in men. Cytochrome-P450-family-1-subfamily-B-polypeptide-1 (CYP1B1) plays a role in the metabolism of xenobiotics, and is associated with several cancers. Here we investigated the association between a genetic-variant, CYP1B1-rs1056836, with the clinical-characteristics of patients with esophagus-squamous-cell-carcinoma (ESCC).
Method: 117-patients with ESCC and 208 healthy-subjects were recruited. DNA was extracted and genotyped. Kaplan-Meier curves were utilized to assess overall and progression-free survival. The relationship between clinicopathological-data, disease-prognosis, and survival, were evaluated with the genotypes.
Results: the genotypic frequency for GG, GC, and CC were 58.6%, 29.8%, 11.5% respectively in the healthy subjects and 51.8%, 36.14% and 12% in the ESCC group. An association between the GG genotype and stage of ESCC was found.
Conclusion: Our findings suggest a relationship between the CYP1B1-rs1056836 genetic polymorphism and clinical features of ESCC, supporting further studies in larger-populations in different-ethnic groups, taking into account potentially important environmental-factors.
The Japanese economy is infamous for the magnitude of bank nonperforming loans that have originated back in the 1990s, whereas they are still causing controversies. Japan is also known for an extended quantitative easing programme of unprecedented scale. Yet the links between risk-taking activities, quantitative easing and bank competition are largely unexplored. This paper employs, for the first time, the Boone indicator to measure bank competition in Japan to examine these underlying linkages. Given the scale of nonperforming loans, we explicitly measure bank risk-taking based on a new data set of bankrupt and restructured loans. The dynamic panel threshold and panel Vector Autoregression analyses show that enhancing quantitative easing and competition would reduce bankrupt and restructured loans, but it would negatively affect financial stability. Given the recent adoption of negative rates in January 2016 by the Bank of Japan, our study provides new insights as clearly there is a trade-off between quantitative easing and financial stability beyond a certain threshold. Caution, therefore, regarding further scaling up quantitative easing is warranted.
High-redshift, luminous, dusty star forming galaxies (DSFGs) constrain the extremity of galaxy formation theories. The most extreme are discovered through follow-up on candidates in large area surveys. Here we present extensive 850 µm SCUBA-2 follow-up observations of 188 red DSFG candidates from the Herschel Multi-tiered Extragalactic Survey (HerMES) Large Mode Survey, covering 274 deg2. We detected 87 per cent with a signal-to-noise ratio > 3 at 850 m. We introduce a new method for incorporating the confusion noise in our spectral energy distribution fitting by sampling correlated flux density uctuations from a confusion limited map. The new 850 µm data provide a better constraint on the photometric redshifts of the candidates, with photometric redshift errors decreasing from σz=(1 + z) ≈ 0:21 to 0:15. Comparison spectroscopic redshifts also found little bias (<(z-zspec)=(1+zspec)> = 0:08). The mean photometric redshift is found to be 3.6 with a dispersion of 0:4 and we identify 21 DSFGs with a high probability of lying at z > 4. After simulating our selection effects we find number counts are consistent with phenomenological galaxy evolution models. There is a statistically significant excess of WISE-1 and SDSS sources near our red galaxies, giving a strong indication that lensing may explain some of the apparently extreme objects. Nevertheless, our sample should include examples of galaxies with the highest star formation rates in the Universe (>> 103 M☉yr-1).
BACKGROUND: IL-7 promotes the generation, expansion and survival of memory T cells. Previous mouse and human studies showed that IL-7 can support immune cell reconstitution in lymphopenic conditions, expand tumor-reactive T cells for adoptive immunotherapy and enhance effector cytokine expression by autoreactive T cells. Whether pathogen-reactive T cells also benefit from IL-7 exposure remains unknown. METHODS: Here we investigated this issue in cultures of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) derived from patients infected with various endemic pathogens. After short-term exposure to IL-7, we measured PBMC responses to antigens (Ag) derived from pathogens, such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), Candida albicans (Ca) and Cytomegalovirus (CMV), and to the superantigen Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxin B (SEB). RESULTS: We found that IL-7 favoured the expansion and, in some instances, the uncovering of pathogen-reactive CD4 T cells, by promoting pathogen-specific IFNɣ, IL-2 and TNF recall responses. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that IL-7 unveils and supports re-activation of pathogen-specific T cells with possible diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic significance, of clinical value especially in conditions of pathogen persistence and chronic infection
Contemporary Western cities are not uniform but display a variety of different housing forms and tenures, both between and within countries. We distinguish three general city types in this paper: low rise, single-family dwelling cities where owner-occupation is the most prevalent tenure form; multi-dwelling building cities where tenants comprise the majority and; multi-dwelling building cities where owner occupation is the principal tenure form. We argue that historical developments beginning in the nineteenth century are crucial to understanding this diversity in urban form and tenure composition across Western cities. Our path-dependent argument is twofold. First, we claim that different housing finance institutions engendered different forms of urban development during the late-nineteenth century and had helped to establish the difference between single-family dwelling cities and multi-dwelling building cities by 1914. Second, rather than stemming from countries’ welfare systems or ‘variety of capitalism’, we argue that these historical distinctions have a significant and enduring impact on today’s urban housing forms and tenures. Our argument is supported by a unique collection of data of 1095 historical cities across 27 countries.
This article critically examines the legal arguments presented on behalf of Charlie Gard’s parents, Connie Yates and Chris Gard, based upon a threshold test of significant harm for intervention into the decisions made jointly by holders of parental responsibility. It argues that the legal basis of the argument, from the case of Ashya King, was tenuous. It sought to introduce different categories of cases concerning children’s medical treatment when, despite the inevitable factual distinctions between individual cases, the duty of the judge in all cases to determine the best interests of the child is firmly established by the case law. It argues that the focus should not have been upon a threshold for intervention but upon whether his parents had established that the therapy they wanted was a viable alternative therapeutic option. In the April hearing, Charlie’s parents relied upon the offer of treatment from a US doctor, by July they had an independent panel of international experts supporting their case although by this time the medical evidence was that it was too late for Charlie. One of Charlie’s legacies for future disputes may be that his case highlighted the need for evidence as to whether the treatment parents want for their child is a viable alternative therapeutic option before a court can determine which therapeutic option is in the best interests of the child.
Air travel has been highlighted as a key environmental behaviour contributing to climate change. Given this, there is a surprising lack of theory-based research aimed at identifying factors that underpin motivation to reduce the number of flights taken. This study explored whether an extended theory of planned behaviour (TPB) model could be usefully applied to identify significant predictors of intentions to reduce the number of flights taken for leisure, holidays or to visit family or friends. Results supported the predictive utility of the TPB; the extended model was able to account for 52% of the variance in intentions over and above past behaviour and socio-demographic variables. Attitudes, subjective norms and behaviour-specific self-identity emerged as significant linear predictors. Findings support the utility of applying the TPB to air travel and suggest key variables which could be targeted in interventions to promote motivation to reduce the number of flights taken.
Neonicotinoid use has increased rapidly in recent years, with a global shift toward insecticide applications as seed coatings rather than aerial spraying. While the use of seed coatings can lessen the amount of overspray and drift, the near universal and prophylactic use of neonicotinoid seed coatings on major agricultural crops has led to widespread detections in the environment (pollen, soil, water, honey). Pollinators and aquatic insects appear to be especially susceptible to the effects of neonicotinoids with current research suggesting that chronic sublethal effects are more prevalent than acute toxicity. Meanwhile, evidence of clear and consistent yield benefits from the use of neonicotinoids remains elusive for most crops. Future decisions on neonicotinoid use will benefit from weighing crop yield benefits versus environmental impacts to nontarget organisms and considering whether there are more environmentally benign alternatives.
In this paper, we address the issue of green innovation by the overseas subsidiaries of multinational corporations (MNCs). Drawing upon stakeholder theory and institutional theory, we propose a conceptual model to explain how stakeholder pressures in host countries prompt MNC subsidiaries to undertake green product and process innovations. Our findings indicate that MNC subsidiaries need to meet market stakeholders’ pressures in order to achieve social legitimacy in host countries, and that the implementation of formal environmental management systems (EMS) is an important mechanism translating these pressures into green innovation initiatives. Furthermore, we find that the positive relationship between market stakeholder pressures and EMS implementation is reinforced by global ‘green’ institutional pressures in the different host countries.
This review provides an overview and new integration of recent research that has formed the basis of a social identity explanation of supportive collective behaviour among survivors in emergencies and disasters. I describe a model in which a sense of common fate in the emergency or disaster is the source of an emergent shared social identity among survivors, which in turn provides the motivation to give social support to others affected. In addition, by drawing on the concept of relational transformation in psychological crowds, I show how an emergent shared social identity can engender a range of further behavioural and cognitive consequences that contribute to collective self-organisation in emergencies, including increases in expected support, coordination of behaviour, and collective efficacy. It will be argued that the model can been applied to explaining how potentially dangerous crowd events avoid disaster: shared social identity operates as the basis of spontaneous self-organisation in these cases, as in many emergencies and disasters.
In the midst of an unprecedented refugee crisis and the shortfall of aid organization resources, a shift toward utilizing the capacity for collective resilience in refugee communities could be helpful. This paper explores experiences of psychosocial social support among a community of Syrian urban refugees in Jordan, especially the kind of support that helps them deal with secondary stressors. We were specifically interested in the role of shared social identity as a basis of support and the sources of such shared identity. We conducted an 8-month ethnography that included observations and semi-structured interviews with 13 refugees. We found many examples of support among refugees, on both personal and collective levels. Some of this support was based on sharing the identity of “refugee” that stemmed from a sense of common fate. This is similar to the process identified in the literature on disasters. Psychological membership in the refugee group is stigmatic, but it can also lead to positive outcomes in line with the social cure perspective. However, we also found examples of support that were value-based or based on pre-existing interpersonal networks. Implications of the findings for models of group processes in stressful situations and the practical question of refugee support are discussed.
Cross-modal correspondences describe the widespread tendency for attributes in one sensory modality to be consistently matched to those in another modality. For example, high pitched sounds tend to be matched to spiky shapes, small sizes, and high elevations. However, the extent to which these correspondences depend on sensory experience (e.g. regularities in the perceived environment) remains controversial. Two recent studies involving blind participants have argued that visual experience is necessary for the emergence of correspondences, wherein such correspondences were present (although attenuated) in late blind individuals but absent in the early blind. Here, using a similar approach and a large sample of early and late blind participants (N=59) and sighted controls (N=63), we challenge this view. Examining five auditory-tactile correspondences, we show that only one requires visual experience to emerge (pitch-shape), two are independent of visual experience (pitch-size, pitch-weight), and two appear to emerge in response to blindness (pitch-texture, pitch-softness). These effects tended to be more pronounced in the early blind than late blind group, and the duration of vision loss among the late blind did not mediate the strength of these correspondences. Our results suggest that altered sensory input can affect cross-modal correspondences in a more complex manner than previously thought and cannot solely be explained by a reduction in visually-mediated environmental correlations. We propose roles of visual calibration, neuroplasticity and structurally-innate associations in accounting for our findings.
We present the first rest-frame UV population study of 17 heavily reddened, high-luminosity [E(B − V)QSO ≳ 0.5; Lbol > 1046 erg s−1] broad-line quasars at 1.5 < z < 2.7. We combine the first year of deep, optical, ground-based observations from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) with the near-infrared VISTA Hemisphere Survey and UKIDSS Large Area Survey data, from which the reddened quasars were initially identified. We demonstrate that the significant dust reddening towards the quasar in our sample allows host galaxy emission to be detected at the rest-frame UV wavelengths probed by the DES photometry. By exploiting this reddening effect, we disentangle the quasar emission from that of the host galaxy via spectral energy distribution fitting. We find evidence for a relatively unobscured, star-forming host galaxy in at least 10 quasars, with a further three quasars exhibiting emission consistent with either star formation or scattered light. From the rest-frame UV emission, we derive instantaneous, dust-corrected star formation rates (SFRs) in the range 25 < SFRUV < 365 M⊙ yr−1, with an average SFRUV = 130 ± 95 M⊙ yr−1. We find a broad correlation between SFRUV and the bolometric quasar luminosity. Overall, our results show evidence for coeval star formation and black hole accretion occurring in luminous, reddened quasars at the peak epoch of galaxy formation.
Children in foster care are at high risk of experiencing mental health problems and tackling this issue is a key priority. Previous research suggests that the transition from primary to secondary school can be particularly challenging, as well-being declines and mental health problems increase in early adolescence.
However, there is insufficient understanding of variations in the well-being and mental health of this group of children, and particularly the role played by their social interactions, relationships, and psychological attributes. This thesis includes three papers reporting on a programme of empirical research conducted to address this gap in knowledge and better understand the risk and protective factors, particularly in the peer context, for changes in mental health and well-being.
The first paper focuses on current provision and reports the findings from a national survey of Virtual Schools that support the education of children in care. The second paper presents the findings of a longitudinal study with children not in care (aged 10-13 years), to test our conceptual model in the general population. This demonstrated that peer factors predict changes in mental health problems and well-being over and above parental and other adult support. The third paper presents findings from a longitudinal study of children in foster care (aged 10-14 years), to test these key pathways in our focus population. This revealed a pattern of differentiated links from peer and adult support to mental health and well-being, and identified self-efficacy as a key longitudinal predictor of change, especially when moderated by peer relationship quality.
The thesis demonstrates the importance of supportive relationships with both adults and peers for the mental health and well-being of children in care. This has important implications for future work where social activities and relationship quality with peers should be considered as potential protective factors, especially in school settings.
We construct the largest curved-sky galaxy weak lensing mass map to date from the DES first-year (DES Y1) data. The map, about 10 times larger than the previous work, is constructed over a contiguous ≈1500 deg2, covering a comoving volume of ≈10 Gpc3. The effects of masking, sampling, and noise are tested using simulations. We generate weak lensing maps from two DES Y1 shear catalogues, METACALIBRATION and IM3SHAPE, with sources at redshift 0.2 < z < 1.3, and in each of four bins in this range. In the highest signal-to-noise map, the ratio between the mean signal to noise in the E-mode map and the B-mode map is ∼1.5 (∼2) when smoothed with a Gaussian filter of σG = 30 (80) arcmin. The second and third moments of the convergence κ in the maps are in agreement with simulations. We also find no significant correlation of κ with maps of potential systematic contaminants. Finally, we demonstrate two applications of the mass maps: (1) cross-correlation with different foreground tracers of mass and (2) exploration of the largest peaks and voids in the maps.
We present observations of DES16C2nm, the first spectroscopically confirmed hydrogen-free superluminous supernova (SLSN-I) at redshift z » 2. DES16C2nm was discovered by the Dark Energy Survey (DES) Supernova Program, with follow-up photometric data from the Hubble Space Telescope, Gemini, and the European Southern Observatory Very Large Telescope supplementing the DES data. Spectroscopic observations confirm DES16C2nm to be at z = 1.998, and spectroscopically similar to Gaia16apd (a SLSN-I at z = 0.102), with a peak absolute magnitude of U =- 22.26 0.06. The high redshift of DES16C2nm provides a unique opportunity to study the ultraviolet (UV) properties of SLSNe-I. Combining DES16C2nm with 10 similar events from the literature, we show that there exists a homogeneous class of SLSNe-I in the UV (lrest » 2500 Å), with peak luminosities in the (rest-frame) U band, and increasing absorption to shorter wavelengths. There is no evidence that the mean photometric and spectroscopic properties of SLSNe-I differ between low (z < 1) and high redshift (z > 1), but there is clear evidence of diversity in the spectrum at lrest < 2000 Å, possibly caused by the variations in temperature between events. No significant correlations are observed between spectral line velocities and photometric luminosity. Using these data, we estimate that SLSNe-I can be discovered to z = 3.8 by DES. While SLSNe-I are typically identified from their blue observed colors at low redshift (z < 1), we highlight that at z > 2 these events appear optically red, peaking in the observer-frame z-band. Such characteristics are critical to identify these objects with future facilities such as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, Euclid, and the Wide-field Infrared Survey Telescope, which should detect such SLSNe-I to z = 3.5, 3.7, and 6.6, respectively.
Background: At a low geographical level, little is known about the associations between population characteristics and deprivation, and their trends, which would be directly affected by the house market, labour pressures and government policies. We describe temporal trends in health and overall deprivation in England by age, sex, urbanity and ethnicity.
Methods: Repeated cross-sectional whole population study for England, 2004-2015, at a low geographical level (average 1500 residents). We calculated weighted medians of the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD), for each subgroup of interest.
Results: Over time, we observed increases in relative deprivation for people aged under 30, and aged 30 to 59, while median deprivation decreased for those aged 60 or over. Subgroup analyses indicated that relative overall deprivation was consistently higher for young adults (aged 20-29) and infants (aged 0-4), with increases in deprivation for the latter. Levels of overall deprivation in 2004 greatly varied by ethnicity, with the lowest levels observed for White British and the highest for Blacks. Over time, small reductions were observed in the deprivation gap between White British and all other ethnic groups. Findings were consistent across overall IMD and its health and disability subdomain, but large regional variability was also observed.
Conclusions: Government policies, the financial crisis of 2008, education funding and the increasing cost of houses relative to real wages are important parameters in interpreting our findings. Socio-economic deprivation is an important determinant of health and the inequalities this work highlights may have significant implications for future fiscal and healthcare policy.
Keywords: deprivation; Index of Multiple Deprivation; IMD; health; age; sex; ethnicity; rurality; England.
OBJECTIVES:
To explore the intra- and inter-rater agreement of superior vena cava (SVC) flow and right ventricular (RV) outflow in healthy and unwell late preterm neonates (33-37 weeks' gestational age), term neonates (≥37 weeks' gestational age), and neonates receiving total-body cooling.
METHODS:
The intra- and inter-rater agreement (n = 25 and 41 neonates, respectively) rates for SVC flow and RV outflow were determined by echocardiography in healthy and unwell late preterm and term neonates with the use of Bland-Altman plots, the repeatability coefficient, the repeatability index, and intraclass correlation coefficients.
RESULTS:
The intra-rater repeatability index values were 41% for SVC flow and 31% for RV outflow, with intraclass correlation coefficients indicating good agreement for both measures. The inter-rater repeatability index values for SVC flow and RV outflow were 63% and 51%, respectively, with intraclass correlation coefficients indicating moderate agreement for both measures.
CONCLUSIONS:
If SVC flow or RV outflow is used in the hemodynamic treatment of neonates, sequential measurements should ideally be performed by the same clinician to reduce potential variability.
This paper studies the effect of increased product market competition on executive compensation and incentives. We use a reform that simplified firm entry regulation in Portugal as a quasi-natural experiment, and exploit its staggered implementation across municipalities for identification. Using employer-employee data, we find that increased competition following the reform raised total pay but reduced the sensitivity of pay to firm performance. This is consistent with theoretical results showing that a fall in entry costs weakens managerial incentive provision. Entry deregulation also increased performance induced CEO turnover and firms’ probability of exit, suggesting that competition provides direct incentives for managerial effort.
Cross-border transactions are generating corresponding globalisation of law enforcement efforts. Culture has significantly influenced the legal analysis of anti-bribery law. With the increase of transnational bribery, benefits from globalisation will be undermined unless an effective legal regime can mitigate the harm of bribery. It is perceived that corruption in China is more prevalent than in the West given its embedded place in Chinese culture. It is further alleged that Chinese multinational companies (MNCs) are taking advantage of an unlevel playing field, as they are not subject to stringently-enforced anti-bribery laws. This hypothesis
creates a myriad of anti-bribery problems in terms of legislation and enforcement, which particularly manifest in China’s perceived cultural toleration of bribery. Cultural assumptions undermine the global anti-bribery regime and compromise potential collaborative anti-bribery efforts across jurisdictions in a rapidly globalizing world. The Chinese culture does not necessarily impede China’s criminalisation of paying bribes to foreign officials. It is argued that the cultural role should not be overestimated, otherwise the hazard of the ethnocentric engagement with the Chinese culture would affect the ability of foreign MNCs to integrate their global compliance programmes. Multinationals can only mitigate their exposure to criminal liability globally, provided that they comply robustly with anti-bribery laws of both home and host jurisdictions.
Global health funding bodies are increasingly promoting and offering specific funding support for public and community engagement activities, in addition to research and programme funding. In the context of this growing commitment to engagement work, we need to find ways to better support contextually appropriate and meaningful exchanges between researchers and community members. I argue that, rather than focusing solely on how to involve communities in engagement with global health research, we should also pay attention to the quality and depth of the involvement of researchers themselves. This is an often overlooked dimension of community engagement in both practice and the literature. In this paper, I present three contextual factors, which created logistical and attitudinal obstacles for researchers’ involvement in meaningful engagement in a global health research unit in Nepal. These comprised implicit and explicit messages from funders, institutional and disciplinary hierarchies and educational experiences. Lessons were drawn from an exploration of the successes and failures of two participatory arts projects connected to the research unit in 2015 and 2016. Both projects intended to foster mutual understanding between researchers and members of their research population. As an engagement practitioner and ethnographic researcher, I documented the processes.
SpiNNaker is a digital neuromorphic architecture, designed specifically for the low power simulation of large-scale spiking neural networks at speeds close to biological real-time. Unlike other neuromorphic systems, SpiNNaker allows users to develop their own neuron and synapse models as well as specify arbitrary connectivity. As a result SpiNNaker has proved to be a powerful tool for studying different neuron models as well as synaptic plasticity—believed to be one of the main mechanisms behind learning and memory in the brain. A number of Spike-Timing-Dependent-Plasticity(STDP) rules have already been implemented on SpiNNaker and have been shown to be capable of solving various learning tasks in real-time. However, while STDP is an important biological theory of learning, it is a form of Hebbian or unsupervised learning and therefore does not explain behaviors that depend on feedback from the environment. Instead, learning rules based on neuromodulated STDP (three-factor learning rules) have been shown to be capable of solving reinforcement learning tasks in a biologically plausible manner. In this paper we demonstrate for the first time how a model of three-factor STDP, with the third-factor representing spikes from dopaminergic neurons, can be implemented on the SpiNNaker neuromorphic system. Using this learning rule we first show how reward and punishment signals can be delivered to a single synapse before going on to demonstrate it in a larger network which solves the credit assignment problem in a Pavlovian conditioning experiment. Because of its extra complexity, we find that our three-factor learning rule requires approximately 2× as much processing time as the existing SpiNNaker STDP learning rules. However, we show that it is still possible to run our Pavlovian conditioning model with up to 1 × 104 neurons in real-time, opening up new research opportunities for modeling behavioral learning on SpiNNaker.
OBJECTIVE:
Girls with micronutrient deficiencies may have impaired growth and development, and furthermore this may also impact on their childbearing. We have investigated the relationship between serum zinc and copper concentrations, dietary zinc and copper intake and anthropometric and demographic parameters, and cardiovascular risk factors, in 408 girls living in northeastern Iran.
METHODS:
A total of 408 healthy girls, aged 12-18 years old, were included in our study. Serum zinc and copper concentrations were measured by flame atomic absorption (Varian AA240FS) and zinc and copper intake were assessed using a 3-day dietary record.
RESULTS:
There was a weak correlation between serum and dietary zinc intake (r = 0.117, p = 0.018). The correlation between serum and dietary copper approached significance (r = -0.094, p = 0.056). The mean serum zinc and copper concentrations were 14.61 ± 2.71 μmol/L and 19.48 ± 8.01 μmol/L respectively. Height, total cholesterol (TC) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) were positively correlated with serum copper concentration. Subjects with high serum copper concentrations (>24 μmol/L) were found to have a significantly higher fasting blood glucose (FBG) compared to subjects with normal, or low serum copper concentrations (p = 0.033). Girls who were in the 5th percentile or greater for height were found to have higher serum copper concentrations than girls in other height categories.
CONCLUSION:
There was a weak relationship between dietary and serum concentrations of zinc. Copper status was associated with anthropometric and biochemical parameters, including FBG and lipid profile. Further studies are required to define the role of copper in metabolic health.
This essay suggests that one can detect a shift in the function of tautological forms in Don DeLillo’s post-millennial novels, a shift that is central to the ways in which he reconceives the relationship between consciousness, history and embodiment under 21st century conditions. DeLillo’s later work, it argues, is concerned with the possibility that the terms in which we have experienced and represented the human are shifting, in response both to the technological production of artificial life, and to the imminent threat of eco-catastrophe. The scantness of the novels since Underworld is, in part, a response to the perception that the historical forms in which we have narrated the human life world are reaching exhaustion. The essay traces the persistence of tautological utterances into the late work as a symptom of this exhaustion. But at the same time, it argues, DeLillo finds in the emptiness of tautological forms the means of producing nearly imperceptible historical and biomaterial possibilities – the stirring of a new and barely imaginable future.
We draw on rational crime theory to help analyse 55 articles that have been retracted from 734 peer-reviewed journals in the field of economics. We highlight and discuss what these findings indicate regarding the nature and pattern of research malpractice in that discipline. Particular attention is given to exploring “no reason” retractions and the policy guidelines of publishers regarding retracted papers. We conclude that the frequent vagueness of retraction statements, and a reluctance to signal research malpractice, generally results in little damage to the reputation of caught, and known, offenders. Thus, a key deterrent to engaging in research malpractice is lacking. To reduce the incidence of research malpractice, we offer several recommendations for publishers and journal editors.
This thesis develops an ethnographic approach that draws upon multispecies ethnography to provide insights into the lives of people living to the south and east of Lake Turkana.
The thesis is based upon twenty-two months of fieldwork with Samburu, Rendile and Turkana communities in Samburu and Marsabit Counties. However, most time was spent with a community of Samburu pastoralists living at Mt Nyiro. Information was gathered during fieldwork through participant observation and various types of interviews.
Through engagement with people’s perspectives, analyses, and where possible their cosmologies, the thesis provides insights into the ways historical context, (‘timeless’ notions of) identities, belonging and custodianship are inter-connected, emerge and are contested as a part of people’s lives and changing relationships (including violence) within and between communities, the state and investment companies - in an arena of political reforms, patronage networks and perceived rights to benefit from recent large-scale investments.
The large amount of time spent with one Samburu pastoralist community at Mt Nyiro enabled me to gain insights into the ways their lives are entwined with the landscapes that they and their livestock live in and shape, through networks of relations and the associated cosmological ways of lkerreti, in which humans and non-humans (including ‘supernatural’ entities) are inter-dependent agents. The thesis exemplifies how these lived entanglements are a part of and inform this community’s ‘timeless truths’ relating to past and present lineage, ethnicity, belonging and custodianship. Also shown are the ways these ‘timeless’ portrayals and associated cosmologies emerge through contestations with, and analyses of, others’ portrayals of lineage, ethnicity, belonging and custodianship, and how these are forwarded as a part of, emerge from and inform patronage politics and contested ‘rights’ to benefit from investments. The thesis demonstrates how changing relationships between people living within the Samburu community at Nyiro and between people of this and other communities, in light of political and economic changes, can also only be understood as a part of people’s entanglements with humans and non-humans, and the associated cosmological ways of lkerreti.
Poverty, climate change and energy security demand awareness about the interlinkages between energy systems and social justice. Amidst these challenges, energy justice has emerged to conceptualize a world where all individuals, across all areas, have safe, affordable and sustainable energy that is, essentially, socially just. Simultaneously, new social and technological solutions to energy problems continually evolve, and interest in the concept of sociotechnical transitions has grown. However, an element often missing from such transitions frameworks is explicit engagement with energy justice frameworks. Despite the development of an embryonic set of literature around these themes, an obvious research gap has emerged: can energy justice and transitions frameworks be combined? This paper argues that they can. It does so through an exploration of the multi-level perspective on sociotechnical systems and an integration of energy justice at the model’s niche, regime and landscape level. It presents the argument that it is within the overarching process of sociotechnical change that issues of energy justice emerge. Here, inattention to social justice issues can cause injustices, whereas attention to them can provide a means to examine and potential resolve them.
This paper reports on the findings of an ESRC-funded Knowledge Exchange project designed to explore the contribution of an innovative approach to supervision to social work practitioners’ assessment and decision-making practices. The Cognitive and Affective Supervisory Approach (CASA) is informed by cognitive interviewing techniques originally designed to elicit best evidence from witnesses and victims of crime. Adapted here for use in childcare social work supervision contexts, this model is designed to enhance the quantity and quality of information available for decision-making. Facilitating the reporting of both ‘event information’ and ‘emotion information’, it allows a more detailed picture to emerge of events, as recalled by the individual involved, and the meaning they give to them.
Practice supervisors from Children’s Services in two local authorities undertook to introduce the CASA into supervision sessions and were supported in this through the provision of regular reflective group discussions. The project findings highlight the challenges for practitioners of ‘detailed looking’ and for supervisors of ‘active listening’. The paper concludes by acknowledging that the CASA’s successful contribution to decision-making is contingent on both the motivation and confidence of supervisors to develop their skills and an organisational commitment to, and resourcing of, reflective supervisory practices and spaces.
The standard approach to L2 bounds uses theH1 bound in combination to a duality argument, known as Nitsche’s trick, to recover the optimal a priori order of the method. Although this approach makes perfect sense for quasi-uniform meshes, it does not provide the expected information for unstructured meshes since the final estimate involves the maximum mesh size. Babuška and Osborn, [1], addressed this issue for a one dimensional problem by introducing a technique based on mesh-dependent norms. The key idea was to see the bilinear form posed on two different spaces; equipped with the mesh dependent analogs of L2 and H2 and to show that the finite element space is inf-sup stable with respect to these norms. Although this approach is readily extendable to multidimensional setting, the proof of the inf-sup stability with respect to mesh dependent norms is known only in very limited cases. We establish the validity of the inf-sup condition for standard conforming finite element spaces of any polynomial degree under certain restrictions on the mesh variation which however permit unstructured non quasiuniform meshes. As a consequence we derive L2 estimates for the finite element approximation via quasioptimal bounds and examine related stability properties of the elliptic projection.
1) Self-pollination by geitonogamy is likely in self-compatible plants that simultaneously expose large numbers of flowers to pollinators. However, the progeny of these plants is often highly allogamous. Although mechanisms to increase cross-pollination have been identified and studied, their relative importance has rarely been addressed simultaneously in plant populations.
(2) We used Rosmarinus officinalis to explore the factors that influence the probability of self-fertilization due to geitonogamy or that purge its consequences, focusing on their effect on seed germination and allogamy rate. For doing this, we experimentally tested the effects of geitonogamy on the proportion of filled seeds and how it influences germination rates. Then during two field seasons, we studied how life-history and flowering traits of individuals influence seed germination and allogamy rates of their progeny in wild populations at the extremes of the altitudinal range. The traits considered were plant size, population density, duration of the flowering season, number of open flowers, flowering synchrony among individuals within populations, and the proportion of male-sterile flowers.
(3) We found that most seeds obtained experimentally from self-pollinations were apparently healthy but in fact empty, and that the presence of filled seeds drove the differences in germination rates between self- and cross-pollination experiments. Plants from wild populations consistently showed low germination rates and high rates of allogamy as determined with microsatellites. Germination rates related positively to the length of the flowering season, flowering synchrony and the rate of male-sterile flowers whereas the rate of allogamous seedlings was positively related only to the rate of male-sterile flowers.
(4) Rosemary plants purge most of the inbreeding caused by its pollination system by aborting seeds. This study showed that the rates of seed germination and of the resulting allogamy are a function of a complex combination of factors that vary in space and time. Male sterility of flowers, length of the flowering season and flowering synchrony of individuals within populations all favor high rates of cross-pollination, therefore increasing germination and allogamy rates. These flowering traits appear to be highly plastic and respond to local and seasonal environmental conditions.
Four Zn/4f polynuclear coordination clusters (PCCs) formulated as [ZnII2DyIII2L2(CO3)2(NO3)2] (1), [ZnIIYIIIL(NO3)2(o-van) (MeOH)] (MeOH) [2 (MeOH)] and [ZnIILnIIIL(NO3)2Cl(EtOH)] where Ln is Dy (3) and Y (4) and where H2L is the dinucleating Schiff base ligand N,N′ bis(3-methoxysalicylidene)cyclohexane-1,2-diamine and o-van is ortho-vanillin, were prepared and fully characterised for the first time. These air-stable heterometallic PCCs, obtained in high yields from commercially available materials, were shown to remain stable in solution in their dinuclear [ZnIILnIIIL] form. Their catalytic activity was evaluated in various catalytic transformations including the Friedel-Crafts alkylation of 2 acyl imidazoles with indoles
Biomarkers are widely used not only as prognostic or diagnostic indicators, or as surrogate markers of disease in clinical trials, but also to formulate theories of pathogenesis. We identify two problems in the use of biomarkers in mechanistic studies. The first problem arises in the case of multifactorial diseases, where different combinations of multiple causes result in patient heterogeneity. The second problem arises when a pathogenic mediator is difficult to measure. This is the case of the oxidative stress (OS) theory of disease where the causal components are reactive oxygen species (ROS) that have very short half-lives. In this case, it is usual measure the traces left by the reaction of ROS with biological molecules, rather than the ROS themselves. Borrowing from the philosophical theories of signs, we look at the different facets of biomarkers and discuss their different value and meaning in multifactorial diseases and system medicine, to inform their use in patient stratification in personalized medicine.
Ideas and practices of “the commons” have been urgently explored in recent years in attempts to forge alternatives to global capitalism and its privatizing enclosures of social life. Contemporary queer energies have been directed to commons-forming initiatives that sustain queer lives otherwise marginalized by heteronormative society and mainstream LGBTQ politics: from activist provision of social services to the maintenance of networks around queer art, protest, public sex, and bar cultures. However, such instances of queer political action and imagination have rarely been recognized within extant discourses of the commons. This introduction sets out differing genealogies of thought within scholarship on the commons and, building on the work of the performance studies scholar José Esteban Muñoz, it asks how, if at all, it is possible to theorize a queer commons.
The conventional idea of the commons—a resource managed by the community that uses it—might appear anachronistic as global capitalism attempts to privatize enclosures of social life. Against these trends, contemporary queer energies have been directed toward commons-forming initiatives that sustain queer lives otherwise marginalized by heteronormative society and mainstream LGBTQ politics, from activist provision of social services to the maintenance of networks around queer art, protest, public sex, and bar cultures. This issue forges a connection between the common and the queer, asking how the category “queer” might open up a discourse that has emerged as one of the most important challenges to contemporary neoliberalization at both the theoretical and practical level.
Contributors look to radical networks of care, sex, and activism present within diverse queer communities including HIV/AIDS organizing, the Wages for Housework movement, New York’s Clit Club community, and trans/queer collectives in San Francisco. The issue also includes a dossier of shorter contributions that offer speculative provocations about the radicalism of queer commonality across time and space, from Gezi Park uprisings in Turkey to future visions of collectivity outside of the internet.
Vehicle to Grid (V2G) holds the promise of cheap, flexible, and fast-responding storage through the use of electric vehicle batteries. Unfortunately, infrastructure, battery degradation and consumer awareness are only some of the challenges to a faster development of this technology. This paper offers a qualitative comparative analysis that draws on a subsample of 227 semi-structured interviews on electric vehicles with both transportation and electricity experts from 201 institutions and 17 cities within the Nordic region to discuss the reasoning and arguments behind V2G incentives and policy mechanisms. A frequency analysis of the most coded V2G responses favoured an update of the electricity market regulation – in particular in relation to electricity taxation and aggregator markets – and support for pilot projects. However, the analysis overall implies that V2G, in contrast to EVs, is a technology for the market and by the market. One that will develop on its own over time. More in-depth, our analysis shows the debates around V2G and how its perspective differs per country, pending available frequency capacity and flexible production (hydro power). The paper calls for a further development of flexible electricity markets, support for pilot projects, and attention to information and planning.
This paper has an empirical and theoretical focus: to empirically assess electric bicycle development in China, and to theoretically test and apply the “Multi-Level Perspective” on transitions and innovation. We examine the electric bicycle (e-bike) sector in China to understand the future prospects for urban mobility and the interaction of e-bikes as a form of vernacular technology within the existing transport regime. For this purpose, we address the following questions: 1) What factors will influence the future adoption of e-bikes? 2) How are alternative travel modes evaluated against e-bikes? 3) Will e-bikes become a popular sustainable mobility mode in the future or only an intermediary mode to cars? To provide answers, we conducted a survey in Nanjing city in order to assess the attitude of e-bike users, other mode users (e.g. pedestrians; bicycle users), and the traffic police. We then analyse responses from this survey through the lens of sociotechnical transitions theory, notably the “Multi-Level Perspective” notions of niches, regimes, and landscape. The paper explores the influential factors underpinning future e-bike adoption and the decision-making calculus behind alternative mode choices. Generalised Linear Models are used to investigate the factors influencing future e-bike adoption and alternative mode choices based on the survey data. We conclude that e-bikes are an intermediary mode on Nanjing’s motorisation pathway, and that they therefore may eventually reflect a dying regime.
Background
Primary care provides the foundation for most modern health-care systems, and in the interests of equity, it should be resourced according to local need. We aimed to describe spatially the burden of chronic conditions and primary medical care funding in England at a low geographical level, and to measure how much variation in funding is explained by chronic condition prevalence and other patient and regional factors.
Methods
We used multiple administrative data sets including chronic condition prevalence and management data (2014/15), funding for primary-care practices (2015-16), and geographical and area deprivation data (2015). Data were assigned to a low geographical level (average 1500 residents). We investigated the overall morbidity burden across 19 chronic conditions and its regional variation, spatial clustering and association with funding and area deprivation. A linear regression model was used to explain local variation in spending using patient demographics, morbidity, deprivation and regional characteristics.
Results
Levels of morbidity varied within and between regions, with several clusters of very high morbidity identified. At the regional level, morbidity was modestly associated with practice funding, with the North East and North West appearing underfunded. The regression model explained 39% of the variability in practice funding, but even after adjusting for covariates, a large amount of variability in funding existed across regions. High morbidity and, especially, rural location were very strongly associated with higher practice funding, while associations were more modest for high deprivation and older age.
Conclusions
Primary care funding in England does not adequately reflect the contemporary morbidity burden. More equitable resource allocation could be achieved by making better use of routinely available information and big data resources. Similar methods could be deployed in other countries where comparable data are collected, to identify morbidity clusters and to target funding to areas of greater need.
Background: Young people’s compliance with carriage of adrenaline auto-injectors (AAI) may be as low as 41%, yet we lack research exploring their preferences regarding these devices.
Objective: This qualitative study explored young people’s ideas about AAI design and features which may facilitate their carriage and use.
Methods: Young people aged 13-18 years prescribed an AAI for severe allergic reaction were invited to participate in in-depth, semi-structured, face-to-face interviews about AAI design. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and analyzed using thematic content analysis.
Results: From 23 interviews, seven major themes were identified: accessibility and carriage, comprehensibility of
instructions, indication of correct administration, safety, speed of administration, visibility and identification and
precise drug delivery. Young people made several suggestions for how AAIs may be adapted to improve carriage, including reduced size to enable pocket-carriage. Comprehensibility was thought to be enhanced by the use of pictographic instructions and audio-prompts to encourage prompt and accurate administration. Needle guards were seen as beneficial to reduce needle phobia, prevent accidental injury and provide reassurance that the device had
been administered. Young people were conflicted between wanting a device which enabled discreet carriage, versus
an AAI which was bold and clearly identifiable as a medical device in case of emergency.
Conclusion: This study identified key AAI features important to young people, together with design issues deterring day-to-day carriage of AAIs and their emergency, time-pressured usage. We demonstrated considerable
scope for AAI design modifications to improve young peoples’ perception of devices and facilitate their carriage and
use.
Subtle semantic deficits can be observed in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients even in the early stages of the illness. In this work, we tested the hypothesis that the semantic control network is deregulated in mild AD patients. We assessed the integrity of the semantic control system using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging in a cohort of patients with mild AD (n = 38; mean mini-mental state examination = 20.5) and in a group of age-matched healthy controls (n = 19). Voxel-wise analysis spatially constrained in the left fronto-temporal semantic control network identified two regions with altered functional connectivity (FC) in AD patients, specifically in the pars opercularis (POp, BA44) and in the posterior middle temporal gyrus (pMTG, BA21). Using whole-brain seed-based analysis, we demonstrated that these two regions have altered FC even beyond the semantic control network. In particular, the pMTG displayed a wide-distributed pattern of lower connectivity to several brain regions involved in language-semantic processing, along with a possibly compensatory higher connectivity to the Wernicke's area. We conclude that in mild AD brain regions belonging to the semantic control network are abnormally connected not only within the network, but also to other areas known to be critical for language processing.
Spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 (SCA2) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disease involving the cerebellum and characterized by a typical motor syndrome. In addition, the presence of cognitive impairment is now widely acknowledged as a feature of SCA2. Given the extensive connections between the cerebellum and associative cerebral areas, it is reasonable to hypothesize that cerebellar neurodegeneration associated with SCA2 may impact on the cerebellar modulation of the cerebral cortex, thus resulting in functional impairment. The aim of the present study was to investigate and quantitatively map the pattern of cerebellar gray matter (GM) atrophy due to SCA2 neurodegeneration and to correlate that with patients' cognitive performances. Cerebellar GM maps were extracted and compared between SCA2 patients (n = 9) and controls (n = 33) by using voxel-based morphometry. Furthermore, the relationship between cerebellar GM atrophy and neuropsychological scores of the patients was assessed. Specific cerebellar GM regions were found to be affected in patients. Additionally, GM loss in cognitive posterior lobules (VI, Crus I, Crus II, VIIB, IX) correlated with visuospatial, verbal memory and executive tasks, while additional correlations with motor anterior (V) and posterior (VIIIA, VIIIB) lobules were found for the tasks engaging motor and planning components. Our results provide evidence that the SCA2 neurodegenerative process affects the cerebellar cortex and that MRI indices of atrophy in different cerebellar subregions may account for the specificity of cognitive symptomatology observed in patients, as result of a cerebello-cerebral dysregulation.
Is dependency theory dead as an explanation of underdevelopment in today’s global economy? Has the rise of new economic powerhouses and an increasing share of higher value-added manufacturing in the global south cast the notions of subordination, peripherality and dependence into the dustbin of history? Today, a broad consensus answers these questions in the affirmative. In stark contrast to this commonly-held contention in the current development discourse, this study aims to bring these notions back to critical development studies by offering an up-to-date and analytically valid conceptualisation of dependency in today’s global south. Taking the historical-structural dependency perspective as a point of departure, the study revisits and builds upon the notion of dependent development by drawing on a set of conceptual insights derived from Schumpeter’s theory of innovation, Global Value Chain analyses and a class-relational articulation of the developmental state. In doing so, the study shows how core-like and periphery-like activities have clustered in time and space, leading to polarisation in today’s global economy, and how new forms of dependency have been spatially re-produced along hierarchically-structured global value chains through the interplay of transnational corporations, states and classes. Based on this framework, the study then explores the limits and prospects of capitalist development and its implications for wider society in today’s global south. With occasional references to cases of dependent development in Latin America and East Asia, the study examines changing dynamics and rise of new forms of dependency relations in Turkey and the Turkish automotive industry. Adding a sense of change and movement, the study shows how dependent nature of Turkish capitalist development has concretised and taken new forms along automotive value chains through shifting configurations of class forces and state-society relations, and their manifold interactions with the world economy, from the early years of modern Turkey to the present.
Neoliberal processes have been wrought on the body, and have formed an effective oppression against ‘deviant’ bodies that do not, or cannot, maintain the idealised, heterosexual and able-bodied, neoliberal figure. By engaging with feminist, queer, and crip theoretical framings of the body, and the impact of neoliberal governmentality on non-normative sexuality, I find varied sites where queer, crip, or crip-queer bodies can challenge dominant discourses of heteronormativity and compulsory able-bodiedness. These challenges are crucial to creating counter-publics and counter-discourses to undermine the neoliberal-neoconservative complex. Exploring theorisings of the body and agency further, I look toward a crip/queer alterity, suggesting areas for further research, collaborating with postcolonial theories to examine the neoliberal body in globalised contexts.
Objectives
To compare the effects of rituximab versus placebo on salivary gland ultrasound (SGUS) in primary Sjögren’s syndrome (PSS) in a multicentre, multiobserver phase III trial substudy.
Methods
Subjects consenting to SGUS were randomised to rituximab or placebo given at weeks 0, 2, 24 and 26, and scanned at baseline and weeks 16 and 48. Sonographers completed a 0–11 total ultrasound score (TUS) comprising domains of echogenicity, homogeneity, glandular definition, glands involved and hypoechoic foci size. Baseline-adjusted TUS values were analysed over time, modelling change from baseline at each time point. For each TUS domain, we fitted a repeated-measures logistic regression model to model the odds of a response in the rituximab arm (≥1-point improvement) as a function of the baseline score, age category, disease duration and time point.
Results
52 patients (n=26 rituximab and n=26 placebo) from nine centres completed baseline and one or more follow-up visits. Estimated between-group differences (rituximab-placebo) in baseline-adjusted TUS were −1.2 (95% CI −2.1 to −0.3; P=0.0099) and −1.2 (95% CI −2.0 to −0.5; P=0.0023) at weeks 16 and 48. Glandular definition improved in the rituximab arm with an OR of 6.8 (95% CI 1.1 to 43.0; P=0.043) at week 16 and 10.3 (95% CI 1.0 to 105.9; P=0.050) at week 48.
Conclusions
We demonstrated statistically significant improvement in TUS after rituximab compared with placebo. This encourages further research into both B cell depletion therapies in PSS and SGUS as an imaging biomarker.
This service failure/recovery emotions’ synthesis showed: 1) Conceptual models of emotions affect the relationship between emotions and their correlates; 2) Perceived fairness is most important in triggering negative/positive emotions; 3) Recovery satisfaction and loyalty are stronger related to positive emotions; 4) Methodological characteristics explain systematic variation in the effect sizes.
Although single-trial induced long-term memories (LTM) have been of major interest in neuroscience, how LTM can form after a single episode of learning remains largely unknown. We hypothesized that the removal of molecular inhibitory constraints by microRNAs (miRNAs) plays an important role in this process. To test this hypothesis, first we constructed small non-coding RNA (sncRNA) cDNA libraries from the CNS of Lymnaea stagnalis subjected to a single conditioning trial. Then, by next generation sequencing of these libraries, we identified a specific pool of miRNAs regulated by training. Of these miRNAs, we focussed on Lym-miR-137 whose seed region shows perfect complementarity to a target sequence in the 3’ UTR of the mRNA for CREB2, a well-known memory repressor. We found that Lym-miR-137 was transiently up-regulated 1 h after single-trial conditioning, preceding a down-regulation of Lym-CREB2 mRNA. Furthermore, we discovered that Lym-miR-137 is co-expressed with Lym-CREB2 mRNA in an identified neuron with an established role in LTM. Finally, using an in vivo loss-of-function approach we demonstrated that Lym-miR-137 is required for single-trial induced LTM.
Ever larger parts of life and nature are integrated in our socioeconomic system as future cash flows, augmenting obscure, unstable and unsustainable debt structures. The larger and deeper these debt structures grow, the larger, more multifaceted and destructive the inequality divide in our societies becomes. It is now normal for people to live indebted, as it is normal for young students to have their future monetised through student loans, the debt implications of which may never escape. What forces normalise these abnormal and unsustainable patterns and our rather admissive/submissive response to them? How our lives and future have been monetised and where have our social consent and agency been in these processes? Is there a way out, before crossing the boundary of social sustainability and environmental collapse? The three books examined here offer refreshing and complementary perspectives on these ‘big questions’ on which our monetised future depends.
This introduction analyses the nature and characteristics of global debt dynamics in the post global financial crisis (GFC) period. First, we attempt to map the ways in which debt has been moving from sector to sector, and from one group of countries to another within the global economy. By capturing this inter-sectorial, inter-national, inter-regional movements of global debt we aspire to contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of global debt and its mode of operation. Second, we attempt to analyse what is wrong with global debt dynamics, i.e. we examine the broken link between what global debt was supposed to do and what it does. Here, we point to three interrelated dynamics: the accumulation of unproductive debt, growing inequalities of income and wealth, and the increase in privately-created, interest-bearing money. We conclude by discussing how each paper in this special issue contributes to the current state of the art on the analysis of global debt dynamics in emerging and developing economies.
This paper analyses the nature and characteristics of global debt dynamics in the post global financial crisis (GFC) period. First, we attempt to map the ways in which debt has been moving from sector to sector, and from one group of countries to another within the global economy. By capturing this inter-sectorial, inter-national, inter-regional movements of global debt we aspire to contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of global debt and its mode of operation. Second, we attempt to analyse what is wrong with global debt dynamics, i.e. we examine the broken link between what global debt was supposed to do and what it does. Here, we point to three interrelated dynamics: the accumulation of unproductive debt, growing inequalities of income and wealth, and the increase in privately-created, interest-bearing money.
Local nerve inflammation (neuritis) leads to ongoing activity and axonal mechanical sensitivity (AMS) along intact nociceptor axons, and disrupts axonal transport. This phenomenon forms the most feasible cause of radiating pain, such as sciatica. We have previously shown that axonal transport disruption without inflammation or degeneration also leads to AMS, but does not cause ongoing activity at the time point when AMS occurs, despite causing cutaneous hypersensitivity. However, there have been no systematic studies of ongoing activity during neuritis or non-inflammatory axonal transport disruption. In this study, we present the time course of ongoing activity from primary sensory neurons following neuritis and vinblastine-induced axonal transport disruption. Whereas 24% of C/slow Aδ-fiber neurons had ongoing activity during neuritis, few (<10%) A- and C-fiber neurons showed ongoing activity 1-15 days following vinblastine treatment. In contrast, AMS increased transiently at the vinblastine treatment site, peaking on day 4-5 (28% of C/slow Aδ-fiber neurons) and resolved by day 15. Conduction velocities were slowed in all groups. In summary, the disruption of axonal transport without inflammation does not lead to ongoing activity in sensory neurons, including nociceptors, but does cause a rapid and transient development of AMS. Since it is proposed that AMS underlies mechanically-induced radiating pain, and a transient disruption of axonal transport (as previously reported) leads to transient AMS, it follows that processes that disrupt axonal transport, such as neuritis, must persist to maintain AMS and the associated symptoms.
We collect examples of boundary-value problems of Dirichlet and Dirichlet–Neumann type which we found instructive when designing and analysing numerical methods for fully nonlinear elliptic partial differential equations. In particular, our model problem is the Monge–Ampère equation, which is treated through its equivalent reformulation as a Hamilton– Jacobi–Bellman equation. Our examples illustrate how the different notions of boundary conditions appearing in the literature may admit different sets of viscosity sub- and supersolutions. We then discuss how these examples relate to the application of comparison principles in the analysis of numerical methods.
The existence of a unique numerical solution of the semi-Lagrangian method for the simple Monge-Ampere equation is known independently of the convexity of the domain or Dirichlet boundary data - when the Monge-Ampere equation is posed as a Bellman problem. However, the convergence to the viscosity solution has only been proved on strictly convex domains. In this paper, we provide numerical evidence that convergence of numerical solutions is observed more generally without convexity assumptions. We illustrate how in the limit multivalued functions may be approximated to satisfy the Dirichlet conditions on the boundary as well as local convexity in the interior of the domain
This project began back in 2013. It has sought to understand the life worlds and biographies of young urban people engaged with life on road; oscillating between the minutia of their day to day lives and broader structural happenings connected with the continued onslaught of neo-liberalism. The use of the term road is a UK specific expression which is more broadly understood as ‘street culture’.
The findings of this study reveal a group who in many ways strongly embody neo-liberal values of consumerism, meritocratic status attainment and individualism; yet are broadly seen as anti-establishment and often find themselves at the centre of moral panics. The heightened presence of; poverty, non-corporate masculinities, violence and criminality associated with road life (issues which many participants felt acutely) are often used as the metaphoric irons wielded by the powerful to brand the mark of abjection on urban youth. However, by examining the spectacular and everyday stories of those on road this study identifies a situated ‘logic of practice’ in actions which more powerful observers claim symbolise individual deficit and failing.
What becomes evident is that young people on road are engaged in a ceaseless symbolic struggle of performative negotiation with abjection and material deprivation. Coining the terminology ‘munpain’ (shorthand for pain of the mundane) I demonstrate how many exceptional young people navigate treacherous trajectories whilst striving all the time for recognition, respect and dignity. On this journey they seek to ameliorate their situations, negotiating stigmas attached to; unemployment, poverty, drug use, familial breakdown, race, gender, single parenthood and many more. This process involves a wide array of strategies and forms of cultural expression including; crime, violence, coolness, music and conspicuous consumption – creating a vibrant but often transient and destructive cultural landscape.
This study suggests that monocultural hegemony, expressed through the preservation of an outdated and inaccurate canon in contemporary Britain, unleashes vast waves of symbolic violence on those who personify forms of cultural and stylistic difference. In a globalised world moving through the late modern period we live in a nation bursting with difference, as many struggle to come to terms with it, the powerful seem to have mobilised around this crisis by enforcing an externally imposed narrative. Embodying difference in Britain today can entrench and exacerbate material hardships adding to exclusion and abjection. Those on road however exhibit a ceaseless ambition for equitable inclusion (often described as ‘going legit’) via cultural and economic projects aimed at adjusting the status quo; epitomizing ways in which class struggle, albeit more complex and individualised, lives on in 21st century Britain.
Disk galaxies at intermediate redshift ($z\sim0.7$) have been found in previous work to display more optically thick behaviour than their local counterparts in the rest-frame B-band surface brightness, suggesting an evolution in dust properties over the past $\sim$6 Gyr. We compare the measured luminosities of face-on and edge-on star-forming galaxies at different wavelengths (Ultraviolet (UV), mid-infrared (MIR), far-infrared (FIR), and radio) for two well-matched samples of disk-dominated galaxies: a local Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS)-selected sample at $z\sim0.07$ and a sample of disks at $z\sim0.7$ drawn from Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS). We have derived correction factors to account for the inclination dependence of the parameters used for sample selection. We find that typical galaxies are transparent at MIR wavelengths at both redshifts and that the FIR and radio emission is also transparent as expected. However, reduced sensitivity at these wavelengths limits our analysis; we cannot rule out opacity in the FIR or radio. Ultra-violet attenuation has increased between $z\sim0$ and $z\sim0.7$, with the $z\sim0.7$ sample being a factor of $\sim$3.4 more attenuated. The larger UV attenuation at $z\sim0.7$ can be explained by more clumpy dust around nascent star-forming regions. There is good agreement between the fitted evolution of the normalisation of the SFR$_{\text{UV}}$ versus 1-cos(i) trend (interpreted as the clumpiness fraction) and the molecular gas fraction/dust fraction evolution of galaxies found out to $z<1$.
We studied the molecular gas properties of AzTEC/C159, a star-forming disk galaxy at z = 4.567, in order to better constrain the nature of the high-redshift end of the sub-mm selected galaxy (SMG) population. We secured ^12CO molecular line detections for the J=2→1 and J=5→4 transitions using the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) and the NOrthern Extended Millimeter Array (NOEMA) interferometer. The broad (FWHM∼ 750 km s−1 ) and tentative double-peaked profiles of both ^12CO lines are consistent with an extended molecular gas reservoir, which is distributed in a rotating disk as previously revealed from [CII] 158 µm line observations. Based on the ^12CO(2→1) emission line we derived L’CO = (3.4 ± 0.6) × 10^10 K km s^⁻1pc^2, that yields a molecular gas mass of MH2 (αCO/4.3) = (1.5 ± 0.3) × 10^11 M and unveils a gas-rich system with µgas(αCO/4.3) ≡ MH₂ /M∗ = 3.3 ± 0.7. The extreme star formation efficiency (SFE) of AzTEC/C159, parametrized by the ratio L_IR/L’_CO = (216 ± 80) L⊙ (K km s^⁻1pc^2) ⁻1, is comparable to merger-driven starbursts such as local ultra-luminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) and SMGs. Likewise, the ^12CO(5→4)/CO(2→1) line brightness temperature ratio of r_52 = 0.55 ± 0.15 is consistent with high excitation conditions, similar to that observed in SMGs. Based on mass budget considerations we constrained the value for the L 0 CO – H2 mass conversion factor in AzTEC/C159, i.e. αCO = 3.9 ^+2.7 _−1.3 M⊙K^ ⁻1 km s^⁻1pc^2, that is consistent with a self-gravitating molecular gas distribution as observed in local star-forming disk galaxies. Cold gas streams from cosmological filaments might be fueling a gravitationally unstable gas-rich disk in AzTEC/C159, which breaks into giant clumps forming stars as efficiently as in merger-driven systems and generate high gas excitation. These results support the evolutionary connection between AzTEC/C159-like systems and massive quiescent disk galaxies at z ∼ 2.
We imaged with ALMA and ARGOS/LUCI the molecular gas and the dust and stellar continuum in XID2028, an obscured QSO at z=1.593, where the presence of a massive outflow in the ionized gas component traced by the [O III]5007 emission has been resolved up to 10 kpc. This target represents a unique test case to study QSO 'feedback in action' at the peak epoch of AGN-galaxy coevolution. The QSO has been detected in the CO(5-4) transition and in the 1.3mm continuum, at ~30 and ~20 {\sigma} significance respectively, with both emissions confined in the central (<4 kpc) radius area. Our analysis suggests the presence of a fast rotating molecular disc (v~400 km/s) on very compact scales, and well inside the galaxy extent seen in the rest-frame optical light (~10 kpc, as inferred from the LUCI data). Adding available measurements in additional two CO transitions, CO(2-1) and CO(3-2), we could derive a total gas mass of ~1010 M⊙, thanks to a critical assessment of CO excitation and the comparison with Rayleigh-Jeans continuum estimate. This translates into a very low gas fraction (<5%) and depletion time scales of 40-75 Myr, reinforcing the result of atypical gas consumption conditions in XID2028, possibly due to feedback effects on the host galaxy. Finally, we also detect at ~5{\sigma} the presence of high velocity CO gas, which we interpret as a signature of galaxy-scale molecular outflow, spatially coincident with the ionised gas outflow. XID2028 represents therefore a unique case where the measurement of total outflowing mass (~500-800 M⊙/yr) including the molecular and atomic components, in both the ionised and neutral phases, has been attempted for a high-z QSO.
Early type galaxies (ETG) contain most of the stars present in the local Universe and, above a stellar mass of ~5e10 Msun, vastly outnumber spiral galaxies like the Milky Way. These massive spheroidal galaxies have, in the present day, very little gas or dust, and their stellar populations have been evolving passively for over 10 billion years. The physical mechanisms that led to the termination of star formation in these galaxies and depletion of their interstellar medium remain largely conjectural. In particular, there are currently no direct measurements of the amount of residual gas that might be still present in newly quiescent spheroids at high redshift. Here we show that quiescent ETGs at z~1.8, close to their epoch of quenching, contained 2-3 orders of magnitude more dust at fixed stellar mass than local ETGs. This implies the presence of substantial amounts of gas (5-10%), which was however consumed less efficiently than in more active galaxies, probably due to their spheroidal morphology, and consistently with our simulations. This lower star formation efficiency, and an extended hot gas halo possibly maintained by persistent feedback from an active galactic nucleus (AGN), combine to keep ETGs mostly passive throughout cosmic time.
We investigate the connection between star formation and molecular gas properties in galaxy mergers at low redshift (z$\leq$0.06). The study we present is based on IRAM 30-m CO(1-0) observations of 11 galaxies with a close companion selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The pairs have mass ratios $\leq$4, projected separations r$_{\mathrm{p}} \leq$30 kpc and velocity separations $\Delta$V$\leq$300 km s$^{-1}$, and have been selected to exhibit enhanced specific star formation rates (sSFR). We calculate molecular gas (H$_{2}$) masses, assigning to each galaxy a physically motivated conversion factor $\alpha_{\mathrm{CO}}$, and we derive molecular gas fractions and depletion times. We compare these quantities with those of isolated galaxies from the extended CO Legacy Data base for the GALEX Arecibo SDSS Survey sample (xCOLDGASS, Saintonge et al. 2017) with gas quantities computed in an identical way. Ours is the first study which directly compares the gas properties of galaxy pairs and those of a control sample of normal galaxies with rigorous control procedures and for which SFR and H$_{2}$ masses have been estimated using the same method. We find that the galaxy pairs have shorter depletion times and an average molecular gas fraction enhancement of 0.4 dex compared to the mass matched control sample drawn from xCOLDGASS. However, the gas masses (and fractions) in galaxy pairs and their depletion times are consistent with those of non-mergers whose SFRs are similarly elevated. We conclude that both external interactions and internal processes may lead to molecular gas enhancement and decreased depletion times.
We present a new technique to measure multi-wavelength “super-deblended” photometry from highly confused images, which we apply to Herschel and ground-based far-infrared (FIR) and (sub-)millimeter (mm) data in the northern field of the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey. There are two key novelties. First, starting with a large database of deep Spitzer 24 μm and VLA 20 cm detections that are used to define prior positions for fitting the FIR/submm data, we perform an active selection of useful priors independently at each frequency band, moving from less to more confused bands. Exploiting knowledge of redshift and all available photometry, we identify hopelessly faint priors that we remove from the fitting pool. This approach significantly reduces blending degeneracies and allows reliable photometry to be obtained for galaxies in FIR+mm bands. Second, we obtain well-behaved, nearly Gaussian flux density uncertainties, individually tailored to all fitted priors for each band. This is done by exploiting extensive simulations that allow us to calibrate the conversion of formal fitting uncertainties to realistic uncertainties, depending on directly measurable quantities. We achieve deeper detection limits with high fidelity measurements and uncertainties at FIR+mm bands. As an illustration of the utility of these measurements, we identify 70 galaxies with z≥slant 3 and reliable FIR+mm detections. We present new constraints on the cosmic star formation rate density at 3< z< 6, finding a significant contribution from z≥slant 3 dusty galaxies that are missed by optical-to-near-infrared color selection. Photometric measurements for 3306 priors, including more than 1000 FIR+mm detections, are released publicly with our catalog.
What kind of mental state is trust? It seems to have features that can lead one to think that it is a doxastic state (cf. Adler 1994, Baier 1986, Hieronymi 2008, Keren 2014, McMyler 2011) but also features that can lead one to think that it is a non-doxastic state (cf. Baker 1987, Faulkner 2011, Jones 1996, McLeod 2011). This has even lead some philosophers to think that trust is a unique mental state that has both mind-to-world and world-to-mind direction of fit (Holton 1996), or to give up on the idea that there is a univocal analysis of trust to be had (Hardin 2004, Simpson 2012). Here, I propose that ‘trust’ is the name we give to mental states that we would think of as beliefs if belief was to be thought of in ‘pragmatist’ terms (that is, as a state posited primarily to explain agents’ actions) and belief resists ‘pragmatist’ treatment. Only such an account, I argue, can univocally account for all the diverse features of trust. As such, I also propose that the explanation of trust provides us with a case for understanding the limitations of a comprehensively ‘pragmatist’, or ‘Neo-Wittgensteinian’ conception of the mental.
Asthma prevalence is increasing and the economic loss due to lack of asthma control is €72 billion in EU 28. Pharmacists have a role to play, and a bespoke novel pharmacist-led intervention for asthma patients, called Italian Medicines Use Review (I-MUR), has shown both effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. The I-MUR intervention enables asthma patients to optimise the effect of their medications. This study aimed at assessing the mismatch between patients’ attitude-perception towards their medications and their complaints during the I-MUR service provision. The I-MUR was provided in four different Italian locations; data were collected and analysed using descriptive statistics, optimal scaling and contingency tables. The number of pharmacists and asthma patients involved in the study was 74 and 895 respectively. The majority of patients (72%) did not believe that they had problems with their medications, 78% confirmed that they had full knowledge and understanding of their medications, 75% said that their medications were working and 45% confirmed that they missed a dose. The number of patients who raised complaints was 683 (76%) and the number of complaints raised by each patient ranged between 1 to 5. Only 18% of the patient population reporter having neither medicine-related problems nor asthma-related complaints. The use of optimal scaling and contingency tables unveiled the mismatch between patients’ attitude-perception towards their medicines and the type and number of complaints raised by them during the I-MUR service provision.
The sense of agency is the experience of being the initiator of our intentional actions and their outcomes. According to higher order thought theory, a representation becomes conscious when there is a higher order state about it. Thus conscious experience, including that of intentions, is metacognitive. The experience of involuntariness characteristic of hypnotic responding may be attributable to the formation and maintenance of inaccurate metacognitive higher order states of intending. Conversely, the practice of Buddhist mindfulness meditation may develop accurate metacognition, including higher order states of intending. Highly hypnotisable people and mindfulness meditators may therefore occupy two ends of a spectrum of metacognitive ability with regard to unconscious intentions. The presented research investigated predicted trait differences in cognitive tasks which directly or indirectly reflect metacognition of intentions: the timing of an experience of an intention to move and the compressed time interval between a voluntary action and its outcome, known as intentional binding. As an implicit measure of sense of agency, intentional binding was also employed to investigate the veridicality of reports of the experience of involuntariness in hypnotic responding. Additionally, while hypnosis presents a unique opportunity to investigate reliable changes in agentic experience, existing hypnosis screening instruments are time consuming and present a barrier to wider adoption of hypnosis as an instrument for studying consciousness. Here a revised, time-efficient hypnosis screening procedure (the SWASH) is presented.
Consistent with predictions, highly hypnotisable groups reported later awareness of motor intentions than less hypnotisable groups and meditators earlier awareness than non-meditators. In an intentional binding task, high hypnotisables showed less binding of an action-outcome toward an action (outcome binding) than low hypnotisables and meditators more outcome binding than non-meditators. Outcome binding was reduced in post-hypnotic involuntary action compared to voluntary action. It is proposed that intentional binding is driven by a cue combination mechanism and that these differences reflect varying precision of motor intention related information in reported timing judgements. The SWASH was found to be a reliable hypnosis screening instrument.
This paper begins with the assumption that the argument for the inclusion of children with disabilities in mainstream schools, championed by Sustainable Development Goal 4 and Article 24 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), has largely been accepted nationally and internationally by policy makers, and is increasingly being accepted by teachers. In interrogating the complex craft of developing inclusive and equal learning environments for children with disabilities, this paper draws upon Kershner’s ‘core aspects of teachers’ knowledge and knowing’, and in particular, ‘the school as a site for the development of teaching expertise and the creation of knowledge’. Data is presented from in-depth interviews following videoed lesson observations with experienced teachers in 15 rural, urban and coastal primary schools in four districts in Tanzania. Findings indicate that the teachers’ practice is moving unevenly towards disability equality, and involves processes of inclusions and exclusions. This involves teacher autonomy, agency and reflective practice in the context of material, attitudinal, structural, pedagogic and curricular barriers. The teachers’ expertise has potential to inform national and international policy developments, and so reduce the evident rhetoric-reality gap. In conclusion, it is argued that inclusive education needs to grapple with disability as a social construct, and lessons are drawn for the further fulfilment of the rights of children with disabilities to equal participation in education.
This article questions the analytical value of “spheres of influence” for understanding power and the state in the post-Soviet region and beyond, based on a critical deconstruction of the ontological and epistemological assumptions inherent in the concept. It proposes an alternative reading of power and the state, drawing on the concept of “seductive power” at a distance and Timothy Mitchell’s “state effect.” Rather than the concept of a sphere of influence, a highly politicized concept that conveys an ontology that flattens and divides space, essentializes the state, and relies on an intentionalist account of power, we need an analytical framework that can help us make sense of the multiple, varied spatialities and historical legacies that produce the state and power. I demonstrate this through an extended discussion of Russian power in Kyrgyzstan, a country often described as a Russian client state. Mobilizing recent re-conceptualizations of state and power in anthropology and political geography, I present an analysis of Russia’s seductive power in Kyrgyzstan and the way it contributes to producing Kyrgyz state-ness. I also show how Russia’s Great Power myth is itself evolving and conclude that the differentiated, relational production of space and power in either Kyrgyz or Russian myths of the state is not captured by a the concept of a return to spheres of influence.
We introduce a model of multi-agent dynamics for self-organised motion; individuals travel at a constant speed while trying to adopt the averaged body attitude of their neighbours. The body attitudes are represented through unitary quaternions. We prove the correspondance with the model presented in Ref. [16] where the body attitudes are represented by rotation matrices. Differently from this previous work, the individual based model (IBM) introduced here is based on nematic (rather than polar) alignment. From the IBM, the kinetic and macroscopic equations are derived. The benefit of this approach, in contrast to Ref. [16], is twofold: firstly, it allows for a better understanding of the macroscopic equations obtained and, secondly, these equations are prone to numerical studies, which is key for applications.
The Trump Administration’s recent attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act have reignited long-running debates surrounding the nature of justice in health care provision, the extent of our obligations to others, and the most effective ways of funding and delivering quality health care. In this paper I respond to arguments that individualist systems of health care provision deliver higher quality health care, and promote liberty more effectively than the cooperative, solidaristic approaches that characterize health care provision in most wealthy countries apart from the USA. I argue that these claims are mistaken, and suggest one way of rejecting the implied criticisms of solidaristic practices in health care provision they represent. This defence of solidarity is phrased in terms of the advantages solidaristic approaches to health care provision have over individualist alternatives in promoting certain important personal liberties, and delivering high-quality, affordable health care.
In August 1945 the social investigative organisation, Mass-Observation, asked its panel of volunteer writers to ‘Describe in detail your own feelings and views about the atom bomb, and those of the people you meet.’ This article uses the responses to explore the emotional politics of ‘nuclearity’ in the immediate aftermath of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. First it examines the impact that the atomic explosions had upon ways of narrating, and managing, the emotional self. Second it explores the influence of nuclear knowledge on felt social relations. The article argues that first use of the atom bomb had a profound impact upon British people’s understandings of the past, the present and the political future; and that the responses of ordinary people in turn helped to shape a messy and contradictory popular nuclear culture within which feeling operated as a way of knowing, and intervening in, the world.
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to apply the aspects of decision theory to performance measurement and management (PMM), thereby enabling the theoretical elaboration of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity in the business environment, which are identified as the barriers to effective PMM.
Design/methodology/approach – A review of decision theory and PMM literature establishes the Cynefin framework as the basis for extending the performance alignment matrix. Case research with seven companies explores the relationship between two concepts underexamined in the performance alignment matrix – internal dominant logic (DL) as the attribute of organisational culture affecting decision making, and the external environment – in line with the concept of alignment or fit in PMM. A focus area is PMM related to sustainable operations and supply chain management.
Findings – Alignment between DL, external environment and PMM is found, as are instances of misalignment. The Cynefin framework offers a deeper theoretical explanation about the nature of this alignment. Other findings consider the nature of organisational ownership on DL.
Research limitations/implications – The cases are exploratory not exhaustive, and limited in number. Organisations showing contested logic were excluded.
Practical implications – Some organisations have cultures of predictability and control; others have cultures that recognise their external environment as fundamentally unpredictable, and hence there is a need for responsive, decentralised PMM. Some have sought to change their culture and PMM. Being attentive to how cultural logic affects decision making can help reduce the misalignment in PMM.
Originality/value – A novel contribution is made by applying decision theory to PMM, extending the theoretical depth of the subject.
Despite the on-set on new divisions, there is a strong case to be made for the view that ultimately Europe is more united than divided. There is still significant continuity with the post-war project of reconstruction and peace and that this common ground that constitutes the European heritage needs to be given greater recognition. One of the defining features of European self-understanding is opposition to war.
A technology abbreviated as DREADDs (designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs) uses synthetically derived receptors and selective, otherwise inert, exogenous ligands to transiently activate or inactivate targeted neuronal types within specific brain regions. A range of transfer strategies (but principally using viral vector infection methods) are used for delivering DREADD receptors into neural tissue, with stereotaxic microinjection of the virus into a particular location that refines spatial specificity of DREADD expression.
Designer Receptors Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs section of the current chapter will serve readers with a basic overview of the principles underlying the workings of DREADDs (Fig. 24.1), but it does not intend to be exhaustive as to the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying application of DREADDs. Interested readers seeking greater details pertaining to DREADDs' molecular mechanisms of action are referred to several excellent review articles, e.g., by Armbruster et al.1; Ferguson and Neumaier2; Rogan and Roth3; Sternson and Roth;4 and Roth.5 Designer Receptors Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs section also reviews recent advances to the DREADD toolbox. Neurodegenerative Disease section seeks to highlight the tremendous potential held by the DREADD approach in many research areas relating to neurodegenerative disease, by highlighting recently developed approaches and applications. In particular, after an overview of the causes and features of two prominent neurodegenerative diseases, namely Alzheimer disease (AD) and Parkinson disease (PD), we review highlights from studies that have applied DREADD technologies to answer questions relating to both diseases, by making use of preclinical models, presented as a series of case studies. The findings from such studies pave the way toward use of DREADDs for relatively noninvasive, selective, reversible responses by neuronal populations and circuits, by means of a dose-responsive orally administered agonist that targets the human brain. Hence, the chapter ends (Translational Potential of Chemogenetics for Treating Neurodegenerative section) by reflecting on the potential that DREADDs offer to aid in the development of novel therapeutic treatments against neurodegenerative disease.
A search is presented for the direct pair production of the stop, the supersymmetric partner of the top quark, that decays through an R-parity-violating coupling to a final state with two leptons and two jets, at least one of which is identified as a b-jet. The data set corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb−1 of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of √s=13 TeV, collected in 2015 and 2016 by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. No significant excess is observed over the Standard Model background, and exclusion limits are set on stop pair production at a 95% confidence level. Lower limits on the stop mass are set between 600 GeV and 1.5 TeV for branching ratios above 10% for decays to an electron or muon and a b-quark.
The accuracy of computational fluid dynamic (CFD)-based heat transfer predictions have been examined of relevance to liquid cooling of IC engines at high engine loads where some nucleate boiling occurs. Predictions based on (i) the Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) solution and (ii) large eddy simulation (LES) have been generated. The purpose of these simulations is to establish the role of turbulence modeling on the accuracy and efficiency of heat transfer predictions for engine-like thermal conditions where published experimental data are available. A multiphase mixture modeling approach, with a volume-of-fluid interface-capturing method, has been employed. To predict heat transfer in the boiling regime, the empirical boiling correlation of Rohsenow is used for both RANS and LES. The rate of vapor-mass generation at the wall surface is determined from the heat flux associated with the evaporation phase change. Predictions via CFD are compared with published experimental data showing that LES gives only slightly more accurate temperature predictions compared to RANS but at substantially higher computational cost.
Background
Since 2013, local authorities in England have been responsible for commissioning preventative public health interventions. The aim of this systematic review was to support commissioning by collating published data on economic evaluations and modelling of local authority commissioned public health preventative interventions in the UK.
Methods
Following the PRISMA protocol, we searched for economic evaluations of preventative intervention studies in four different areas: overweight and obesity, physical inactivity, alcohol and illicit drugs use and smoking cessation. The systematic review identified studies between January 1994 and February 2015, using five databases. We synthesized the studies to identify the key methods and examined results of the economic evaluations.
Results
The majority of the evaluations related to cost-effectiveness, rather than cost-benefit analyses or cost-utility analyses. These analyses found preventative interventions to be cost effective, though the context of the interventions differed between the studies.
Conclusions
Preventative public health interventions in general are cost-effective. There is a need for further studies to support justification of continued and/or increased funding for public health interventions. There is much variation between the types of economically evaluated preventative interventions in our review. Broader studies incorporating different contexts may help support funding for local authority-sponsored public health initiatives.
Practitioners working to widen participation to universities in England are an increasingly important and professionally diverse group but surprisingly absent from the academic literature and lacking in access to bespoke professional development pathways in HE. In England current approaches within policy and research also tend to position them as gatherers of evidence with a mission to inform change rather than developing their capacity to be(come) agents of change in their own right. Drawing on the perspectives of three widening participation practitioners who had recently completed a research-based MA, this paper explores the opportunity that this provided to illuminate the complexities encountered in routine practice, contributing to positive change. Rather than being methodologically inferior, practitioner research emerged as highly complementary and in the case of WP its transformative potential is currently hugely under-tapped.
BACKGROUND: Whiplash following a motor vehicle accident can result in chronic neck and arm pain. Patients frequently present with cutaneous hypersensitivities and hypoesthesia but without obvious clinical sign of nerve injury. T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has previously been used to identify nerve pathology.
OBJECTIVES: To determine whether there are signs of peripheral nerve pathology on MRI in patients with chronic arm and neck pain following whiplash injury.
METHODS: This study used T2-weighted MRI to examine the brachial plexus and median nerve in patients and age-matched healthy control subjects. Clinical examination included tests of plexus and nerve trunk mechanical sensitivity.
RESULTS: T2 signal was greater in the brachial plexus and median nerve at the wrist in the patient group (mean intensity ratio = 0.52 (0.13 SD) and 2.09 (0.33 SD) respectively) compared to the control group (mean intensity = 0.45 (0.07 SD) and 1.38 (0.31 SD) respectively; p<0.05). Changes in median nerve morphology were also observed, which included an enlargement (mean area = 8.05 (1.29 SD) mm2 in the patient group and 6.52 (1.08 SD) mm2 in the control group; p<0.05) and flattening at the proximal carpal row (mean aspect ratio = 2.46 (0.53 SD) in the patient group and 1.62 (0.30 SD) in the control group; p < 0.05). All patients demonstrated signs of nerve trunk mechanical sensitivity.
CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that patients with chronic whiplash may have inflammatory changes and/or mild neuropathy, which may contribute to symptoms.
Social disability in youth is an important precursor of long-term social and mental health problems. Social inclusion is a key policy driver and fits well within a new paradigm of health and well-being rather than illness-oriented services, yet little is known about social inclusion and its facilitators for “healthy” young people. We present a novel exploratory structural analysis of social inclusion using measures from 387 14- to 36-year-olds. Our model represents social inclusion as comprising social activity and community belonging, with both domains predicted by hopeful and dysfunctional self-beliefs but hopefulness more uniquely predicting social inclusion in adolescence. We conclude that social inclusion can be modeled for meaningful comparison across spectra of development, mental health, and functioning.
Objective: Social inclusion and vocational activity are central to personal recovery for young people with psychosis. Studies with people experiencing long term psychosis suggest negative self-beliefs are important, but less is known about whether this association is present for young service users or about the potential influence of positive self-beliefs such as hopefulness. The aim of the current paper was to investigate the direct and indirect associations between dysfunctional attitudes, self-stigma, hopefulness, social inclusion and vocational activity for young people with psychosis.
Method: A 5-month longitudinal study was conducted with young psychosis service users. Measures of dysfunctional attitudes and self-stigma and vocational activity were obtained at baseline. Measures of hopefulness, social inclusion and vocational activity were obtained at follow-up.
Results: Hopefulness mediates the associations between self-stigma, social inclusion and vocational activity. Self-stigma may have a greater influence on social inclusion with age. Dysfunctional attitudes do not significantly predict social inclusion or change in vocational activity status.
Conclusion: Findings suggest that the impact of self-stigma may extend beyond social and occupational withdrawal and undermine subjective community belonging. Findings encourage an increased emphasis on facilitating hopefulness for young people who experience psychosis.
Background – hearing voices can be a common and distressing experience. Psychological treatment in the form of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Psychosis (CBTp) is effective, but is rarely available to patients. The barriers to increasing access include a lack of time for clinicians to deliver therapy. Emerging evidence is suggesting that CBTp delivered in brief forms can be effective and offer one solution to increasing access. Aims – we adapted an existing form of CBTp, Coping Strategy Enhancement (CSE), to focus specifically on distressing voices in a brief format. This intervention was evaluated within an uncontrolled study conducted in routine clinical practice. Methods - This was a service evaluation comparing pre-post outcomes in patients who had completed CSE over four sessions within a specialist outpatient service within NHS Mental Health Services. The primary outcome was the Distress scale of the Psychotic Symptoms Rating Scale – Auditory Hallucinations (PSYRATS-AH). Results – data were available from 101 patients who had completed therapy. A reduction approaching clinical importance was found on the PSYRATS distress scale post-therapy when compared to the baseline. Conclusions – the findings from this study suggest that CSE, as a focussed and brief form of CBTp can be effective in the treatment of distressing voices within routine clinical practice. Within the context of the limitations of this study, brief CSE may best be viewed as the beginning of a therapeutic conversation and a low-intensity intervention in a stepped approach to the treatment of distressing voices.
Party organisation is about more than structure and power: it is an important means through which political elites define a party and its political identity. This thesis examines narratives of organisational reform in the British Labour Party between 1979 and 2014, at times of significant debate about methods of leadership election, party governance, processes of policy-making and the union link. When arguing for particular kinds of organisational reform, elites within the Party have constructed different stories in order to contest proposals and present their visions for structural change. In doing so, they have tied together interpretations of Labour’s past, present and future with particular notions of what makes for ‘democratic’ and ‘legitimate’ politics. This temporal and cultural politics lies at the heart of the transformation the Party underwent in this period and underpins the challenges posed to its identity in recent years.
In the course of this thesis, three related arguments are made. First, it is argued that the organisational debates that took place between 1979 and 2014 offer a unique perspective on the complicated and fractious identity politics of the Party as being historically rooted in collectivism or individualism, movement politics or parliamentarism. Second, it is argued that Labour’s elites have increasingly sought to individualise party structures since the decline of the left in the ‘80s. In contrast to other accounts of Labour’s organisation that focus on its structures, this thesis argues that this individualisation was as much about party identity as it was process. Third, this thesis argues that the prolonged debates about Labour’s organisational identity demonstrate how unsettled and divided the Party has been throughout its recent history. The lack of a common sense understanding of the Party's organisational character can help to explain its fractured internal dynamics since its loss in the General Election of 2015.
The Heisenberg scaling is typically associated with nonclassicality and entanglement. In this work, however, we discuss how classical long-range correlations between lattice sites in many-body systems may lead to a 1=N scaling in precision with the number of probes in the context of quantum optical dissipative systems. In particular, we show that networks of coupled single qubit lasers can be mapped onto a classical XY model, and a Heisenberg scaling with the number of sites appears when estimating the amplitude and phase of a weak periodic driving field.
This paper decomposes two effects on a firm’s stock and bond returns - the effect of firm’s future cash flow and the effect of business risk to study the relationship between the returns of stocks and bonds issued by the same firm. Based on the contingent claims option pricing theory, we employ firm-level data and an event study methodology, and generate hypotheses regarding the stock-bond return relationship. We show that, by controlling for firm’s leverage, firm’s future cash flow has a simultaneous positive effect on firm’s stock and bond returns, whereas firm’s business risk has a decoupling effect on stock and bond returns. In addition, we provide evidence for the “flight to quality” hypothesis at a firm-specific level. Our findings complement the literature of stock and bond correlation within a theoretical framework.
The mortality rate of opioid users is about 5 to 10 times greater than that of the general population, and the overdose represents the most common cause of death. When timely treated with the opioid antagonist naloxone, the opioid overdose is rarely lethal. Unfortunately, many opioid overdoses occur in isolated, hidden, hard to reach location. To circumvent this problem, Villa Maraini Foundation in Rome has created a rescue team, the Street Unit, to provide basic life support and administer naloxone for the treatment of opioid overdose in urban environments. The aim of this paper is to review the cost-effectiveness of our Street Unit. We evaluated the cost of 90 overdose interventions provided by the Street Unit to that provided by the Accident & Emergency departments of the Italian National Health System. The Street Unit not only successfully treated all overdoses but also provided a dramatic reduction in costs, ranging from €123,367.05 (best-case scenario) to €203,377.05 (worst-case scenario). This finding suggests that the treatment of opioid overdose in the street context represents a safe and cost-effective strategy to reduce opioid overdose related mortality.
Fluency influences grammaticality judgments of visually presented strings in artificial grammar learning (AGL). Of many potential sources that engender fluency, symmetry is considered to be an important factor. However, symmetry may function differently for visual and auditory stimuli, which present computationally different problems. Thus, the current study aimed to examine whether objectively manipulating fluency by speeding up perception (i.e. manipulating the inter-stimulus interval, ISI, between each syllable of a string) influenced judgments of tonal strings; and thus how symmetry-based fluency might influence judgments. In experiment 1, with only a test phase, participants were required to give their preference ratings of tonal strings as a measurement of fluency. In experiment 2, participants were instructed to make grammaticality judgments after being incidentally trained on tonal symmetry. Results of experiment 1 showed that tonal strings with shorter ISI were liked more than those with longer ISI while such difference was not found between symmetric and asymmetric strings without training. Additionally, experiment 2 found both main effects of symmetry and ISI as well as an interaction. In particular, only asymmetric strings were more likely to be judged as grammatical when they were presented at a shorter ISI. Taken together, participants were sensitive to the fluency induced by the manipulation of ISI and sensitive to symmetry only after training. In sum, we conclude that objective speed influenced grammaticality judgments, implicit learning of tonal symmetry resulted in enhanced fluency, and that fluency may serve as a basis for grammaticality judgments.
Background: Historically, research investigating neural correlates of mentalizing deficits in schizophrenia has focused on patients who have been ill for several years with lengthy exposure to medication. Little is known about the neural and behavioural presentations of theory-of-mind deficits in schizophrenia, shortly after the first episode of psychosis.
Methods: We investigated social cognition in seventeen recently diagnosed first-episode schizophrenia (FES) patients with little or no exposure to antipsychotic medication and 1:1 matched healthy controls. We recorded behavioural and neural responses to the Animated Triangles Task (ATT), which is a non-verbal validated mentalizing task that measures the ascription of intentionality to the movements of objects.
Results: FES patients under-interpreted social cues and over-interpreted non-social cues. These effects were influenced by current intelligence (IQ). Control group and FES neural responses replicated earlier findings in healthy adults. However, a region of anterior medial prefrontal cortex (amPFC) of FES patients showed a different response pattern to that of controls. Unlike healthy controls, patients increased activity in this social cognition region while studying ‘random’ movements of shapes, as compared to the study of movements normally interpreted as ‘intentional’.
Conclusions: Mentalizing deficits in FES consists of hypo- and hyper-mentalizing. The neural pattern of FES patients is consistent with deficits in the ability to switch off mentalizing processes in potentially social contexts, instead increasing them when intentionality is not forthcoming. Overall, results demonstrate complexities of theory of mind deficits in schizophrenia that should be considered when offering social cognitive training programs.
The geophysical phenomena of climate change impacts upon the existing organisation of energy economies and their attendant politics in multiple ways: At times magnifying and at other times dampening pressures on contemporary energy systems. Rather than viewing climate change as a ‘threat multiplier’, the geophysical phenomena of climate change are socially and politically mediated by actors with uneven power, capacity and divergent interests in order to support either incumbent or competing energy pathways. While climate change intensifies and magnifies existing tensions and contradictions in the global politics of energy around the simultaneous pursuit of the objectives of growth, security and sustainability, it does not do so in any straightforward or unmediated way. Instead, it gives rise to new concerns in relation to the imperatives of de-carbonisation and the resilience of energy systems to the effects of climate change. Understanding the impact of climate change on energy systems requires that we take seriously the necessary role of energy within the global political economy and the relationship between fossil fuels and capitalism. It must be analysed both directly through climate change impacts, and indirectly through the uses of political narratives of climate change to sometimes unsettle, and sometimes reinforce, particular energy pathways.
The suggestion that the capacity of audiovisual integration has an upper limit of 1 was challenged in 4 experiments using perceptual factors and training to enhance the binding of auditory and visual information. Participants were required to note a number of specific visual dot locations that changed in polarity when a critical auditory stimulus was presented, under relatively fast (200-ms stimulus onset asynchrony [SOA]) and slow (700-ms SOA) rates of presentation. In Experiment 1, transient cross-modal congruency between the brightness of polarity change and pitch of the auditory tone was manipulated. In Experiment 2, sustained chunking was enabled on certain trials by connecting varying dot locations with vertices. In Experiment 3, training was employed to determine if capacity would increase through repeated experience with an intermediate presentation rate (450 ms). Estimates of audiovisual integration capacity (K) were larger than 1 during cross-modal congruency at slow presentation rates (Experiment 1), during perceptual chunking at slow and fast presentation rates (Experiment 2), and, during an intermediate presentation rate posttraining (Experiment 3). Finally, Experiment 4 showed a linear increase in K using SOAs ranging from 100 to 600 ms, suggestive of quantitative rather than qualitative changes in the mechanisms in audiovisual integration as a function of presentation rate. The data compromise the suggestion that the capacity of audiovisual integration is limited to 1 and suggest that the ability to bind sounds to sights is contingent on individual and environmental factors.
The article adds to the debate around the ‘premature deindustrialization’ of developing countries by analyzing the contribution of services to aggregate productivity and output growth within a Kaldorian framework. We revisit Kaldor´s Growth Laws (KGL) and empirically test them for a number of economic activities, including four service branches, across twenty-nine developing economies in Asia, Latin-America and Sub-Saharan Africa over three decades (1975-2005). Panel data estimations are complemented by a shift-share decomposition of labour productivity growth. We find support to the Kaldorian argument for both manufacturing and business services contribution to aggregate productivity growth. Conversely, other services slow down aggregate productivity and output growth. We suggest qualifying and repositioning the debate on premature deindustrialization within a broader reflection on the opportunities for development linked to structural change. We claim that these opportunities might include not only manufacturing sectors but also business services.
Chromosome missegregation acts as one of the driving forces for chromosome instability and cancer development. Here, we find that in human cancer cells, HeLa and U2OS, depletion of 53BP1 (p53-binding protein 1) exacerbates chromosome non-disjunction resulting from a new type of sister-chromatid intertwinement, which is distinct from FANCD2-associated ultrafine DNA bridges (UFBs) induced by replication stress. Importantly, the sister DNA intertwinements trigger gross chromosomal rearrangements through a distinct process, named sister-chromatid rupture and bridging. In contrast to conventional anaphase bridge-breakage models, we demonstrate that chromatid axes of the intertwined sister-chromatids rupture prior to the breakage of the DNA bridges. Consequently, the ruptured sister arms remain tethered and cause signature chromosome rearrangements, including whole-arm (Robertsonian-like) translocation/deletion and isochromosome formation. Therefore, our study reveals a hitherto unreported chromatid damage phenomenon mediated by sister DNA intertwinements that may help to explain the development of complex karyotypes in tumour cells.
This paper examines the Taylor rule in five emerging economies, namely Indonesia, Israel, South Korea, Thailand, and Turkey. In particular, it investigates whether monetary policy in these countries can be more accurately described by (i) an augmented rule including the exchange rate, as well as (ii) a nonlinear threshold specification (estimated using GMM), instead of a baseline linear rule. The results suggest that the reaction of monetary authorities to deviations from target of either the inflation or the output gap differs in terms of the size and/or statistical significance of the coefficients in the high and low inflation regimes in all countries. In particular, the exchange rate has an impact in the former but not in the latter regime. Overall, an augmented nonlinear Taylor rule appears to capture more accurately the behaviour of monetary authorities in these countries.
The thesis addresses the research question of how and why ‘prosuming’ solar electricity evolves over time among social housing tenants with prepayment electricity meters. Prosuming is defined here as deliberately and simultaneously producing and consuming electricity. Using a Social Practice Theory framework, but also drawing on Time Geography, the thesis analyses prosuming as a ‘project’. This sees practitioners actively mobilising elements (meanings, skills and materials), as well as orchestrating everyday practices (i.e. laundering) and projects (i.e. 'Feeding-the-Meter') to the fulfilment of the 'Prosuming Project'.
The overarching research question is ‘How and why does prosuming evolve for social housing tenants?’ It is broken down into four subsidiary questions that firstly explore the period before solar panels, and then the three stages of the conceptual framework – adopting, establishing and committing to the Prosuming Project. The first question addresses how householders use electricity prior to the installation of solar panels and the role of two dominant, institutional projects: 'Feeding-the-Meter' and 'Maintaining-Family-Routines'. The second examines the features of households adopting the Prosuming Project and the need to mobilise a set of elements from within a disadvantaged community. The third question explores how the establishing phase is marked by a complex relationship between prosuming as a secondary, voluntary project, and dominant, institutional projects. This is further complicated by the role of synchronicity, finances and the changing seasons. The final subsidiary question addresses how a new vocabulary of elements emerged as practitioners committed to the Prosuming Project. It also explores how a transformative process took place both for practitioner and the project itself. In particular it highlights the potential in the future for an Energy Shifting, Storing, Saving & Sharing Project that could support disadvantaged communities, if they are able to mobilise the elements they need to perform it.
This case study adopts an in-depth qualitative methodology, using serial interviews with seven households over ten months. The interviewees live in an area that in 2010 was ranked as within the ten percent most deprived in England, according to English Indices of Deprivation (DCLG). The research explores their lived experiences of the Prosuming Project. The thesis focuses on UK social housing tenants, who appear not to have been researched before for a prosuming-focused, social practice study. This enables the research to contribute to topical debates about future sustainability ‘winners and losers’. It also offers methodological insights into undertaking a social practice case study that explored lived experiences within a disadvantaged community. The research provides insights into how prosuming solar power is embedded in everyday life: how it can be supported or challenged by dominant projects, and how householders may develop new skills, understandings, and ways of using materials as their performances evolve.
This thesis offers a critical analysis of the rise of syndromic surveillance systems for the advanced detection of pandemic threats within contemporary global health security frameworks. The thesis traces the iterative evolution and ascendancy of three such novel syndromic surveillance systems for the strengthening of health security initiatives over the past two decades: 1) The Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases (ProMED-mail); 2) The Global Public Health Intelligence Network (GPHIN); and 3) HealthMap. This thesis demonstrates how each newly introduced syndromic surveillance system has become increasingly oriented towards the integration of digital algorithms into core surveillance capacities to continually harness and forecast upon infinitely generating sets of digital, open-source data, potentially indicative of forthcoming pandemic threats.
This thesis argues that the increased centrality of the algorithm within these next-generation syndromic surveillance systems produces a new and distinct form of infectious disease surveillance for the governing of emergent pathogenic contingencies. Conceptually, the thesis also shows how the rise of this algorithmic mode of infectious disease surveillance produces divergences in the governmental rationalities of global health security, leading to the rise of an algorithmic governmentality within contemporary contexts of Big Data and these surveillance systems. Empirically, this thesis demonstrates how this new form of algorithmic infectious disease surveillance has been rapidly integrated into diplomatic, legal, and political frameworks to strengthen the practice global health security – producing subtle, yet distinct shifts in the outbreak notification and reporting transparency of states, increasingly scrutinized by the algorithmic gaze of syndromic surveillance.
Observational constraints on the abundance of primordial black holes (PBHs) constrain the allowed amplitude of the primordial power spectrum on both the smallest and the largest ranges of scales, covering over 20 decades from 1 - 10^20=Mpc. Despite tight constraints on the allowed fraction of PBHs at their time of formation near horizon entry in the early Universe, the corresponding constraints on the primordial power spectrum are quite weak, typically PR . 10<~2 assuming Gaussian perturbations. Motivated by recent claims that the evaporation of just one PBH would destabilise the Higgs vacuum and collapse the Universe, we calculate the constraints which follow from assuming there are zero PBHs within the observable Universe. Even if evaporating PBHs do not collapse the Universe, this scenario represents the ultimate limit of observational constraints. Constraints can be extended on to smaller scales right down to the horizon scale at the end of in ation, but where power spectrum constraints already exist they do not tighten significantly, even though the constraint on PBH abundance can decrease by up to 46 orders of magnitude. This shows that no future improvement in observational constraints can ever lead to a significant tightening in constraints on in ation (via the power spectrum amplitude). The power spectrum constraints are weak because an order unity perturbation is required in order to overcome pressure forces. We therefore consider an early matter dominated era, during which exponentially more PBHs form for the same initial conditions. We show this leads to far tighter constraints, which approach PR . 10^-9, albeit over a smaller range of scales and are very sensitive to when the early matter dominated era ends. Finally, we show that an extended early matter era is incompatible with the argument that an evaporating PBH would destroy the Universe, unless the power spectrum amplitude decreases by up to ten orders of magnitude.
We present the generalized mean-field and pairwise models for non-Markovian epidemics on networks with arbitrary recovery time distributions. First we consider a hyperbolic partial differential equation (PDE) system, where the population of infective nodes and links are structured by age since infection. We show that the PDE system can be reduced to a system of integro-differential equations, which is analysed analytically and numerically. We investigate the asymptotic behaviour of the generalized model and provide an implicit analytical expression involving the final epidemic size and pairwise reproduction number. As an illustration of the applicability of the general model, we recover known results for the exponentially distributed and fixed recovery time cases. For gamma- and uniformly distributed infectious periods, new pairwise models are derived. Theoretical findings are confirmed by comparing results from the new pairwise model and explicit stochastic network simulation. A major benefit of the generalized pairwise model lies in approximating the time evolution of the epidemic.
In the “Eleventh Session” of The Beast and the Sovereign: Volume I, Jacques Derrida focuses on the autopsy of an elephant conducted under the sovereign gaze of King Louis XIV in 1681. He conjures the scene of the “enormous, heavy, poor beast, dead or killed […] among doctors, surgeons, or other armed butchers, impatient to show what they could do but just as impatient to see and give to be seen what they were going to see, trembling with lust for autopsy”. The subjection of the elephant’s body to this “autopsic” gaze emphasizes not only the sovereign power of a king but also the assumed sovereignty of humans over animals. For humans to gain knowledge, the animal is reduced to an object of scientific research, making animal autopsies an enactment of human power. Ultimately, Derrida asserts, “[k]nowledge is sovereign” because it suggests “possession and mastery of its object.” However, as Kelly Oliver observes in her analysis of Derrida’s ‘Eleventh Session’, the animal looks back at the living because “the secrets of life itself, do not yield to the autopsic gaze. Rather there is always something beyond the limits of human seeing, something exorbitant, beyond the limits of human understanding.” The inability to gain complete and certain knowledge of the nature of life and existence through the ocular apparatus, prevents the animal, subjected to the autopsic gaze, from being fully possessed and mastered by the human. The elephant autopsy at the center of the “Eleventh Session” occurs at a particular moment in the history of scientific enquiry and human-animal relations; a moment characterized by an exceptional drive to understand and hierarchically systematize nature through anatomical studies of numerous life forms, many of which were newly discovered. The “Eleventh Session” can therefore be used to reassess how animals, especially those regarded as curiosities, were dissected, analyzed and categorized by anatomists in the early modern period in order to gain knowledge. Taking this into consideration, the present chapter will place Derrida’s discussion of the autopsic gaze alongside that of the work undertaken by Edward Tyson, a physician, fellow of the Royal Society of London, and a pioneer of early modern comparative anatomy, who took a particular interest in rare animals. The focus of this chapter will be on perhaps his most significant text, Orang-Outang, sive Homo Sylvestris: Or, the Anatomy of a Pygmie Compared with that of a Monkey, an Ape, and a Man.
The main aims of the current doctoral thesis included: (1) comparing the impact of different embodiment (manipulation versus enactment) and (2) perspective-taking strategies on children (9 to 10-year-olds) and adults’ (18 to 30-year-olds) comprehension of narrative texts. In addition, we aimed to (3) better understand children’s subjective experience (e.g., “What’s going in your head while reading x?”) while reading normally; e.g., at home or in the classroom.
Chapter 2 investigated the benefits of storyboard construction (SB), i.e., creating a visual representation of a narrative text using plastic cut-outs, on 5 children’s comprehension monitoring and story recall. We found that children who constructed a storyboard while reading remembered more of the narrative texts versus business-as-usual controls and formed more coherent narratives during recall. Contrary to previous research (Rubman & Waters, 2000), SB had no positive impact on children’s comprehension monitoring ability.
Chapter 3 included a subset (25 out of 35) of children from Chapter 2 and aimed to capture the nuances of children’s experience while reading normally and how those experiences map onto comprehension performance. We found that children who reported taking the perspective of a story’s character (either spatially, emotionally and/or cognitively), while reading normally, performed better on measures from Chapter 1 (e.g., coherence of recall) than children who did not.
Chapter 3 presented a yearlong, longitudinal training study, which compared the immediate and long-term benefits of SB and Active Experiencing (AE), the act of becoming fully engrossed in communicating a text to another person, on children in Year 5’s literal and inferential comprehension of emotion and spatial information in narrative texts. SB was found to improve children’s story recall and performance on spatial-based questions immediately after training compared to other conditions (AE and controls). The benefits of SB training on recall continued three and six months later. In addition, AE training improved children’s performance on emotion-based questions, but only immediately after training.
Finally, Chapter 4 first (Experiment 1) examined the effects of encouraging young adults to imagine themselves performing the actions of a protagonist or feeling what the protagonist is feeling (to empathise) while reading excerpts from Dubliners by James Joyce on their comprehension and emotional arousal. Empathising with the protagonist was found to increase readers’ arousal, an indication of emotional reactivity. To follow up, we next measured the effects of encouraging young adults (Experiment 2) and children (Experiment 3) to empathise (feel what the character is feeling) or sympathise (care about how the character is feeling) with a story’s protagonist while reading on a variety of inferential and literal comprehension questions. Young adults encouraged to sympathise with a story’s protagonist had a particular advantage on comprehending literal emotion information about the protagonist as well as non-emotional, non-character-focused inferential and literal information. There was no effect of perspective-taking prompt on children’s comprehension.
Background. Several delivery formats of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) for child anxiety have been proposed, however there is little consensus on the optimal delivery format. The primary goal of this study was to investigate the impact of the child’s primary anxiety diagnosis on changes in clinical severity (of the primary problem) during individual CBT, group CBT, and guided parent-led CBT. The secondary goal was to investigate the impact of the child’s primary anxiety diagnosis on rates of remission for the three treatment formats. Methods. A sample of 1253 children (5 – 12 years; Mage = 9.3, SD = 1.7) was pooled from CBT trials carried out at 10 sites. Children had a primary diagnosis of Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Social Anxiety Disorder (SoAD), Specific Phobia (SP) or Separation Anxiety Disorder (SAD). Children and parents completed a semi-structured clinical interview to assess the presence and severity of DSM-IV psychiatric disorders at pre intervention, post intervention and follow-up. Linear mixture modelling was used to evaluate the primary research question and logistic modelling was used to investigate the secondary research question. Results. Children with a primary diagnosis of GAD, SoAD and SAD demonstrated comparable improvements in clinical severity to all three CBT treatment formats. However, children with primary SP showed significantly larger reductions in clinical severity following individual CBT compared to group CBT and guided parent-led CBT. The results were mirrored in the analysis of remission responses with the exception that individual CBT was no longer superior to group CBT for children with a primary SP. Furthermore, the difference between individual and group was not significant when the follow-up data was examined separately. Conclusions. The data show that there may be greater clinical benefit by allocating children with a primary SP to individual CBT, although future research on cost-effectiveness is needed to determine whether the additional clinical benefits justify the additional resources required.
This thesis investigates the professional practice of the National Portrait Gallery’s first Director
Sir George Scharf (1820–95). It is the first focused analysis of his career and influence, within
the nineteenth-century art and museum worlds. It attempts to position Scharf in relation to
developments in art historical scholarship and the professionalization of museum practice, in
the second half of the 1800s.
Chapter 1 outlines Scharf’s methodology for portraiture research and considers his scientific
approach alongside the establishment of art history as a discipline during his lifetime. Whilst
exploring Scharf’s development of research standards to be carried forward by successors, it
argues for his active role amongst a growing contingent of museum professionals.
Chapter 2 reconstructs Scharf’s social and professional networks, collating the names of
individuals with whom he interacted and mapping the physical sites of engagement. It
proposes that access to contacts proved vitally important to his official work and that Scharf
himself functioned as an influential figure in this sphere.
The third chapter concerns the nature of Scharf’s relationships with members of the NPG’s
Board of Trustees. It investigates his early collaboration with two expert Trustees and charts
his interactions with consecutive Chairmen of the Board, demonstrating Scharf’s increasing
authority with regards to Gallery procedures.
Chapters 4 and 5 explore Scharf’s interventions relative to the organization and interpretation
of the collection across the NPG’s early exhibition spaces. Chapter 4 argues that an increased
capacity for display enabled Scharf to implement a rational hanging scheme, in line with the
Gallery’s instructive purpose and inspired by contemporary debates over the efficient
presentation of public art. The final chapter documents Scharf’s efforts to contextualize the
national portraits, ranging from manipulating the exhibition environment, to expanding the
NPG’s catalogue according to a scholarly model.
In its examination of George Scharf’s career spanning five decades, particularly his
engagement with discourse surrounding public art museums in the Victorian period, this thesis
aims to make a significant contribution to the fields of museum studies and studies in the
history of collecting and display.
This research work is on time-delayed models of infectious diseases dynamics. The dynamics of
infectious diseases are studied in the presence of time delays representing temporary immunity or
latency. We have designed and analysed time-delayed models with various parameters to simulate
disease dynamics, in a view to gaining insight into the behaviour of a population in the presence of
infectious diseases, and the reaction of the population to changes in the management procedure
of such infections.
A search for heavy neutral Higgs bosons and Z′ bosons is performed using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb−1 from proton-proton collisions at √s=13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC during 2015 and 2016. The heavy resonance is assumed to decay to τ+τ− with at least one tau lepton decaying to final states with hadrons and a neutrino. The search is performed in the mass range of 0.2-2.25 TeV for Higgs bosons and 0.2-4.0 TeV for Z′ bosons. The data are in good agreement with the background predicted by the Standard Model. The results are interpreted in benchmark scenarios. In the context of the hMSSM scenario, the data exclude tan β > 1.0 for mA= 0.25 TeV and tan β > 42 for mA=1.5 TeV at the 95% confidence level. For the Sequential Standard Model, ZSSM′ with mZ′< 2.42 TeV is excluded at 95% confidence level, while Z NU′ with mZ ′ < 2.25 TeV is excluded for the non-universal G(221) model that exhibits enhanced couplings to third-generation fermions.
The inclusive cross-section for the associated production of a W boson and top quark is measured using data from proton-proton collisions at √s=13 TeV. The dataset corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 3.2 fb−1, and was collected in 2015 by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. Events are selected requiring two opposite sign isolated leptons and at least one jet; they are separated into signal and control regions based on their jet multiplicity and the number of jets that are identified as containing b hadrons. The W t signal is then separated from the tt¯ background using boosted decision tree discriminants in two regions. The cross-section is extracted by fitting templates to the data distributions, and is measured to be σ W t = 94 ± 10(stat.) − 22 + 28 (syst.) ± 2(lumi.) pb. The measured value is in good agreement with the SM prediction of σtheory = 71.7±1.8 (scale)± 3.4 (PDF) pb [1].
First mooted in 2011, the concept of Trapped Populations referring to people unable to move from environmentally high-risk areas broadened the study of human responses to environmental change. While a seemingly straightforward concept, the underlying discourses around the reasons for being ‘trapped’, and the language describing the concept have profound influences on the way in which policy and practice approaches the needs of populations at risk from environmental stresses and shocks. In this article, we apply a Critical Discourse Analysis to the academic literature on the subject to reveal some of the assumptions implicit within discussing ‘trapped’ populations. The analysis reveals a dominant school of thought that assisted migration, relocation, and resettlement in the face of climate change are potentially effective adaptation strategies along a gradient of migrant agency and governance.
The greatest genetic factor in how well we age cognitively is Apolipoprotein E (APOE), a single nucleotide polymorphism with three allelic variants: epsilon-2, epsilon-3 and epsilon-4 (hereafter ε2, ε3, ε4). The ε4 allele is associated with an increased risk of cognitive disadvantage in later life, however, the effects of this variant are not isolated to old-age, with some studies reporting cognitive advantages in youth. This thesis investigates the influence of APOE ε4 on cognition from mid-adulthood, a point in the lifespan when the detrimental effects of this allele may be emerging.
This thesis begins with a systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature to-date, and suggests attention may be sensitive to ε4 differences in mid-adulthood, however, effects of the allele are not consistently shown, perhaps due to methodological limitations including the use of insensitive neuropsychological batteries (Chapter 1). Next, behavioural paradigms providing a sensitive index of both selective (Chapter 2) and executive attention (Chapter 3), suggest many attentional processes are intact in mid-age (45-55 years) ε4 carriers. Subtle deficits, however, are apparent on prospective memory (PM) and Stroop-switch paradigms, indicating a goal maintenance disadvantage. In addition, a proxy of cognitive reserve was found to moderate the effects of ε4 on executive attention in mid-adulthood (Chapter 4). Follow-up research used paradigms that target the distinct processes supporting focal and non-focal PM to interrogate the profile of change observed in mid-age ε4 carriers, identifying a profile of disadvantage consistent with that observed in pathological ageing (Chapter 5). PM, however, was not found to differentiate ε4 carriers in older individuals at heightened risk of converting to dementia (Chapter 6). Collectively, this research provides evidence for a profile of accelerated ageing in ε4 carriers, with subtle disadvantages apparent in executive attention by the end of the 5th decade.
This study draws on social identity theory to explain differences in individual support for environmental protection, a conative component of environmental concern. It argues that an individual’s identification with higher social units—community, nation, and world—strengthens its in-group solidarity and empathy and, in consequence, its readiness to protect the environment benefitting the in-group’s welfare. The study hypothesizes that country-level manifestations of social identity (1) lift individuals’ support for environmental protection above the level that their own social identity suggests (elevator effect), and (2) reinforce the effect of individuals’ social identity on their support for environmental protection (amplifier effect). Using a sample of over 30,000 individuals located in 38 countries around the world, the study finds strong evidence for the two contextual effects. The findings indicate that social identity plays an important role not just as an individual attribute but also as a central component of culture in fostering environmental concern.
Social psychological research on activism typically focuses on individuals’ social identifications. We complement such research through exploring how activists frame an issue as a social problem. Specifically, we explore anti-abortion activists’ representation of abortion and the abortion debate’s protagonists so as to recruit support for the anti-abortion cause. Using interview data obtained with UK-based anti-abortion activists (N=15) we consider how activists characterised women having abortions, pro-abortion campaigners, and anti-abortion campaigners. In particular, we consider the varied ways in which emotion featured in the representation of these social actors. Emotion featured in different ways. Sometimes it was depicted as constituting embodied testament to the nature of reality. Sometimes it was depicted as blocking the rational appraisal of reality. Our analysis considers how such varied meanings of emotion shaped the characterisation of abortion and the abortion debate’s protagonists such that anti-abortion activists were construed as speaking for women and their interests. We discuss how our analysis of the framing of issues as social problems complements and extends social psychological analyses of activism.
The changing composition of race and ethnic group size has been noted for Western nations over the last 15 years. Analysis of this change has linked fear of crime and attitudes toward immigrants and prejudice. Changes in ethnic composition are associated with movement of White residents out of traditionally White communities, rising ethnic tension as the ethnic mix shifts, and a heightened sense of injustice regarding the justice system. (Mis)perceptions of ethnic groups size shape attitudes toward minority groups, as well as policy, practice, and individual behavior in the context of the community. This study seeks to understand the extent of such misperceptions in the Australian context and whether misperceptions of race and ethnic composition are associated with beliefs and attitudes toward formal and informal social control. Utilizing Blalock’s racial threat hypothesis, this study analyzes whether perceived relative ethnic group size is associated with self-reported willingness to cooperate with police as a way to minimize perceived threat. Findings suggest that respondents overestimate the size of minority populations while underestimating the majority White composition and that these misperceived distortions in ethnic group size have consequences for informal and formal social control.
More people than ever before are living into old age. The increased longevity is partly due to the increased use of medicines. Despite the potential benefits of medicines, they can still cause significant harm. Medication-related harm (MRH) may be from adverse drug reactions or harm from inappropriate drug use, for example, nonadherence or medication error. The European Commission estimated in 2008 that MRH contribute to at least 100,800 deaths in member states annually and costs society €79 billion.1 Older adults are most at risk due to their high exposure to medicines and age-related pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic changes. A recent systematic review found that 1 in 10 hospitalized older adults are admitted due to MRH, and approximately the same proportion experience MRH as an inpatient.2 Avoidable health service use due to MRH is substantial. A study in the Netherlands estimated the average cost of an avoidable MRH hospitalization in an older adult at €5500.3
Top-down interventions to reduce MRH and unplanned admissions, such as pharmacist-led medicines review, have shown limited effectiveness. There is a need to consider a bottom-up approach, exploring patient-centred modifiable determinants. Health literacy is one such determinant that is being explored in relation to MRH. A survey of eight countries in the European Union (EU) found that 30–60% of people are not health literate, with the older population representing a particularly high-risk group.4 A ‘mandate’ to enhance health literacy has been sent out to policy- makers in the 2016 World Health Organization (WHO) 9th Global Conference on Health Promotion. In this editorial we consider how health literacy can be conceptualized as a fundamental principle in reducing MRH in the older adult.
While theories of consciousness differ substantially, the ‘conscious access hypothesis’, which aligns consciousness with the global accessibility of information across cortical regions, is present in many of the prevailing frameworks. This account holds that consciousness is necessary to integrate information arising from independent functions such as the specialist processing required by different senses. We directly tested this account by evaluating the potential for associative learning between novel pairs of subliminal stimuli presented in different sensory modalities. First, pairs of subliminal stimuli were presented and then their association assessed by examining the ability of the first stimulus to prime classification of the second. In Experiments 1-4 the stimuli were word-pairs consisting of a male name preceding either a creative or uncreative profession. Participants were subliminally exposed to two name-profession pairs where one name was paired with a creative profession and the other an uncreative profession. A supraliminal task followed requiring the timed classification of one of those two professions. The target profession was preceded by either the name with which it had been subliminally paired (concordant) or the alternate name (discordant). Experiment 1 presented stimuli auditorily, Experiment 2 visually, and Experiment 3 presented names auditorily and professions visually. All three experiments revealed the same inverse priming effect with concordant test pairs associated with significantly slower classification judgements. Experiment 4 sought to establish if learning would be more efficient with supraliminal stimuli and found evidence that a different strategy is adopted when stimuli are consciously perceived. Finally, Experiment 5 replicated the unconscious cross-modal association achieved in Experiment 3 utilising non-linguistic stimuli. The results demonstrate the acquisition of novel cross-modal associations between stimuli which are not consciously perceived and thus challenge the global access hypothesis and those theories embracing it.
The question of how normative form changes during a riot, and thus how collective behaviour spreads to different targets and locations, has been neglected in previous research, despite its theoretical and practical importance. We begin to address this limitation through a detailed analysis of the rioting in the London borough of Haringey in 2011. A triangulated analysis of multiple sources of data (including police reports, media accounts, and videos) finds a pattern of behaviour shifting from collective attacks on police targets to looting. A thematic analysis of 41 interview accounts with participants gathered shortly after the events suggests that a shared anti-police identity allowed local postcode rivalries to be overcome, forming the basis of empowered action not only against the police but to address more long-standing grievances and desires. It is argued that collective psychological empowerment operated in a “positive feedback loop”, whereby one form of collective self-objectification (and perceived inability of police to respond) formed the basis of further action. This analysis of the development of new targets in an empowered crowd both confirms and extends the elaborated social identity model as an explanation for conflictual intergroup dynamics.
Objectives.
Children of anxious parents are at high risk of anxiety disorders themselves. The evidence suggests that this is due to environmental rather than genetic factors. However, we currently do little to reduce this risk of transmission. There is evidence that supporting parenting in those with mental health difficulties can ameliorate this risk. Therefore, the objective of this study was to test the feasibility of a new one-session, group-based, preventive parenting intervention for parents with anxiety disorders.
Design.
Feasibility Randomised Controlled Trial.
Methods.
100 parents with anxiety disorders, recruited from adult mental health services in England (and child aged 3-9 years) were randomised to receive the new intervention (a one-day, group workshop), or to treatment as usual. Children’s anxiety disorder and anxiety symptoms were assessed to 12-months by outcome assessors who were blind to group allocation. Exploratory analyses were conducted on an intention to treat basis, as far as possible.
Results.
51 participants were randomized to the intervention condition and 49 to the control condition (82% and 80% followed to 12-months, respectively). The attendance rate was 59%, and the intervention was highly acceptable to parents who received it. The RCT was feasible and 12-month follow-up attrition rates were low. Children whose parents were in the control condition were 16.5% more likely to have an anxiety disorder at follow-up than those in the intervention group. No adverse events were reported.
Conclusions.
An inexpensive, light-touch, psycho-educational intervention may be useful in breaking the intergenerational cycle of transmission of anxiety disorders. A substantive trial is warranted.
Two advanced bulk cloud microphysics schemes, namely, Thompson and Morrison schemes, are evaluated based on observations gathered from the Tropical Warm Pool International Cloud Experiment (TWP-ICE). Because of large uncertainties related to observational retrievals during the “wet” monsoon period (January 17-25, 2006), we have focused on the subsequent “dry” monsoon period (January 26 to February 2, 2006), when deep convections are absent. Compared with the 35-Ghz millimeter wavelength cloud radar (MMCR) and NASA satellite retrievals, all BCMSs tend to simulate more high-level cirrus clouds during the “dry” monsoon period. Therefore, sensitivity tests are carried out to evaluate the issues associated with the ice-phase cloud microphysical parameterizations. Three sensitive tests are carried out to investigate the sensitivity of 1) the maximum number of cloud ice concentration (referred to as the intercept parameter, IP), 2) prescribed size distributions (SD) of cloud ice (Thompson scheme only), and 3) the empirical functions of water and ice saturation threshold (ST). One suite of “convective resolving or cloud-permitting” (4.0 km) simulations of the TWP-ICE “dry” monsoon period illustrates the significant difference among simulated cirrus cloud fraction, cloud ice, snow, and graupel contents for both Thompson and Morrison schemes. These differences are further investigated in another suite of high-resolution “cloud-resolving” (1.5 km) simulations for five days within the TWP-ICE “dry” monsoon period. Based on “cloud-permitting” simulations, we found that Thompson scheme is not sensitive to gamma or exponential SD. Hence the following results are for the exponential SD only. Thompson scheme is more sensitive to ST than Morrison scheme, especially when the temperature drops below minus 40-60oC. Morrison scheme is more sensitive to IP than Thompson scheme. Based on “cloud-resolving” simulations, we found that the above sensitive dependencies on IP and ST for Thompson and Morrison schemes become diminished at high vertical and horizontal resolutions, which infers the importance of future generations of “cloud-resolving” models. Future work is inferred also with respects to other ice-phase cloud microphysical constraints, such as terminal velocities of ice/snow/graupel hydrometros and cloud ice nucleation processes, including explicit aerosol interactions.
Terrestrial ecosystem productivity (TEP) is one of the most important indices to quantify the net primary production (NPP), and the baseline capacity for promoting carbon sequestration, ecosystem services and food security. However, wetting-drying alternations can significantly change the TEP. In this study, the Carnegie-Ames-Stanford Approach (CASA) model was employed to estimate the annual and monthly NPP (the later also called net photosynthesis) based on NASA normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and a suite of climate parameters. Our synthesized and spatially interpolated NPP for China was then correlated to two advanced drought indices (Standard precipitation index, SPI, and Standard precipitation evaporation index, SPEI) during the period from 1982 to 2012 in order to study the relationship of wetting-drying alternations and the NPP. Our main findings are: (1) The TEP of China has ranged from 3.2 to 4.35 PgC per year, and increased gradually from 1982 to 2012. On the contrary, the overall drought (based on the SPEI) for China has became severer for the same period. The spatial distribution of drought and ecosystem is not co-located, which explains the inconsistence between the trends of NPP and SPEI. (2) Our correlation analyses show strong north-south difference with respect to the response of NPP to SPI/SPEI. Northern China NPP has statistically positive relationship with both drought indices, in particular at 6-month interval, while southern China has statistically negative correlation. (3) SPEI is the more effective and sensitive index to explain the relationship between wetting-drying alternation and NPP. (4) In China, the response period of TEP to wetting-drying alternations ranges from 3 to 6 months. The 3-month response zone is mainly located was in humid eco-system in southern China, while the 6-months response zone is mainly located in arid and semi-arid eco-system in northern China.
Our understanding of hydro-climatic dynamics in the East Asian monsoon region during the Holocene was obstructed by very few absolutely dated and high temporally resolved proxy records in northern China. Here we present duplicated carbonate δ18O records of six stalagmites with sub-decadal to multi-decadal temporal resolutions from Lianhua cave to reveal a detailed transition of the East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM) intensity in northern China from 11.5 thousand years ago (hereafter, ka BP, before 1950 AD). Our composite records show that solar forcing dominated hydro-climatic changes, including an intensified monsoon at the Holocene Optimum from the end of Younger Dryas to 6.5 ka BP, and a subsequent multi-millennial weakening of monsoon intensity, that agree with cave records in central and southern China. However, the EASM has retreated southwards more rapidly than the Indian summer monsoon after ∼6.5 ka BP, resulting in some rapid onset of dry conditions occurring at 4.0 ka BP in northern China, which is ∼2000 years earlier than in central and southern China. This asynchrony may be related to the different regional responses among the coupling of the EASM, Indian summer monsoon, the solar forcing, and the differences in thermal forcing due to complex geographical configurations. In addition, a relative enrichment of 1h in our δ18O data of Lianhua record from 9.5 to 8.1 ka BP shows that the Holocene Optimum was punctuated by a millennial-long weak monsoon interval, which is not registered among previous cave records in central and southern China. The freshwater-induced cold climate conditions in the North Atlantic region could create stronger East Asian winter monsoon and induce a weakened EASM and a southward shift of precipitation band in northern China. Therefore, it shall not be surprised that there are strong heterogeneities among regional hydro-climatic conditions across monsoonal China in the Holocene, given the complex interplay between external and internal forcing mechanisms over the entire Holocene.
The current study investigates the dissolution rate performance of amorphous solid solutions of a poorly water-soluble drug, efavirenz (EFV), in amorphous Soluplus® (SOL) and Kollidon® VA 64 (KVA64) polymeric systems. For the purpose of the study, various formulations with varying drug loadings of 30, 50, and 70% w/w were developed via hot-melt extrusion processing and adopting a Box–Behnken design of experiment (DoE) approach. The polymers were selected based on the Hansen solubility parameter calculation and the prediction of the possible drug-polymer miscibility. In DoE experiments, a Box–Behnken factorial design was conducted to evaluate the effect of independent variables such as Soluplus® ratio (A1), HME screw speed (A2), and processing temperature (A3), and Kollidon®VA64 ratio (B1), screw speed (B2), and processing temperature (B3) on responses such as solubility (X1 and Y1) and dissolution rate (X2 and Y2) for both ASS [EFV:SOL] and BSS [EFV:KVA64] systems. DSC and XRD data confirmed that bulk crystalline EFV transformed to amorphous form during the HME processing. Advanced chemical analyses conducted via 2D COSY NMR, FTIR chemical imaging, AFM analysis, and FTIR showed that EFV was homogenously dispersed in the respective polymer matrices. The maximum solubility and dissolution rate was observed in formulations containing 30% EFV with both SOL and KVA64 alone. This could be attributed to the maximum drug-polymer miscibility in the optimized formulations. The actual and predicted values of both responses were found precise and close to each other.
The quality of the interparental relationship is recognized as an important influence on child and adolescent psychopathology. Historically, clinically-oriented research on this topic has focused on the impacts of parental divorce and domestic violence as primary interparental relationship influences on child outcomes, to the relative neglect of dimensional or qualitative features of the couple/interparental relationship for youth (child and adolescent) psychopathology. Recent research has highlighted that children are affected by attributes of interparental conflict, specifically how parents express and manage conflicts in their relationship, across a continuum of expressed severity and negativity – ranging from silence to violence. Further, new evidence highlights that children’s emotional, behavioral, social, academic outcomes and future interpersonal relationships are adversely affected by conflict between parents/carers whether adults are living together or not (i.e. married or separated), or where children are or are not genetically related to their rearing parents (e.g. adoption). We review evidence and present an integrated theoretical model, highlighting how children are affected by interparental conflict and what this evidence base means for effective intervention and prevention program development, as well as the development of possible cost-benefit models. Additionally, we review policy implications of this research and highlight some very recent examples of UK-based policy focusing on addressing the interparental relationship and its impact on youth psychopathology.
Managing Innovation is the bestselling text for graduate and undergraduate students and a classic in the field. Emphasizing practical, evidence based tools and resources, this title provides students with the knowledge base to successfully manage innovation, technology, and new product development. The holistic approach addresses the interplay between the markets, technology, and the organization, while relating the unique skill set required to manage innovation and innovation processes.
We consider the inverse problem of recovering an unknown functional parameter u in a separable Banach space, from a noisy observation y of its image through a known possibly non-linear ill-posed map G. The data y is finite-dimensional and the noise is Gaussian. We adopt a Bayesian approach to the problem and consider Besov space priors (see Lassas et al. 2009), which are well-known for their edge-preserving and sparsity-promoting properties and have recently attracted wide attention especially in the medical imaging community.
Our key result is to show that in this non-parametric setup the maximum a posteriori (MAP) estimates are characterized by the minimizers of a generalized Onsager--Machlup functional of the posterior. This is done independently for the so-called weak and strong MAP estimates, which as we show coincide in our context. In addition, we prove a form of weak consistency for the MAP estimators in the infinitely informative data limit. Our results are remarkable for two reasons: first, the prior distribution is non-Gaussian and does not meet the smoothness conditions required in previous research on non-parametric MAP estimates. Second, the result analytically justifies existing uses of the MAP estimate in finite but high dimensional discretizations of Bayesian inverse problems with the considered Besov priors.
Sustainability studies in operations management have reported the positive effects of lean, green, and social management systems on various dimensions of a firm’s sustainability performance. However, despite its high importance and relevance, the time dimension of sustainability has not been systematically considered. This paper re-categorizes the well-identified sustainability initiatives based on a time dimension and empirically validates the categorization. Structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses were performed using data collected from 284 Chinese automotive firms. The results suggest that various lean and reactive green practices can be categorized as “short-term sustainability initiatives” because the effects of implementing these practices can be seen in a short period of time. Specifically, the benefits of implementing short-term sustainability initiatives can be further strengthened and reinforced in the long run by implementing corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices. In addition, our findings also demonstrate that to fully realize the potential associated with CSR practices, firms need to be long-term oriented and adopt a wait and watch approach.
Perspectives drawn from the economic geography literature are increasingly used to generate insights into locational issues in international business. In this paper, we seek to integrate these literatures further by investigating the locational determinants of foreign direct investment (FDI) into peripheral cities within an emerging economy. Peripheral cities in emerging economies are attracting a growing proportion of global FDI flows, but the international business literature lacks a framework for understanding subnational determinants of FDI, particularly into non-core locations. We draw on the core-periphery model to build and test theory on how spatial interdependencies between subnational locations impact on the distribution of FDI inflows into a large and heterogeneous country China. Our results show that whilst peripheral cities tend to have a negative effect on FDI, this effect is positively moderated by proximity to core cities. The results highlight the importance of considering interactions between place and space when investigating locational issues in international business.
Hand-written fabrication techniques offer new ways of developing customizable, biodegradable and low-cost electronic systems. In this work, a new level of complexity is demonstrated for hand-written electronics by fabricating passive components, circuits and a sensorsystem on paper. The system comprises a pencil-written graphite force-sensitive-resistor, a pencil-drawn RC-filter, a pen-written half-wave rectifier, and a commercial front-end voltage amplifier. The sensor system exhibits a linear response for pressures up to 1.2 kPa, and a sensitivity of 51 mV kPa-1 . Furthermore, the electrical and mechanical performance of the single components and circuits is studied. Diodes fabricated through pen-written deposition of silver and nickel contacts on amorphous Indium-Gallium-Zinc-Oxide coated paper show rectification ratios up to 1:8. Tensile and compressive bending measurements applied to all pencil-written components for radii down to 0.1 mm indicate minor influence of strain. Similar results are obtained for circuits created from these individual components. Diodes and half-wave rectifiers show a stable behavior when bent to a radius of 5 mm. The presented techniques can enable the development of flexible and eco-friendly wearables and sensors for consumer and healthcare applications, and are an effective way for school-pupils to explore the world of electronics.
Individual differences in the strategies that control sequential behavior were investigated in an experiment in which participants memorized sentences and then wrote them by hand, in a non‐cursive style. Thirty‐two participants each wrote eight sentences, which had hierarchical structures with five levels. The dataset included over 31,000 letters. Despite the deliberately constrained nature of the task and stimuli, 23 patterns of behavior were identified from the durations of pauses that occurred before the inscription of letters at four chunk levels, spanning letters, words, phrases, and sentences. A critical path task analytic model, Graphical Production of Memorized Sentences (GPoMS), shows that the control of writing relies on cues that continuously switch between motor actions and chunk retrievals in a just‐in‐time fashion at the level of letter information. GPoMS explains the individual differences in terms of variants of a motor production mechanism and variants of a chunk retrieval mechanism, which involve varying degrees of parallelism between cognitive actions and motor actions. A graphical technique for constructing GPoMS models was developed that enabled the estimation of ongoing working memory demands during production.
This project is a narrative interview study of fifteen women who have had abortions in England since 2008. It aims to answer the questions:
1. How do women in England make meaning about their abortion experiences?
2. What aspects of their identities and life experiences contribute to this meaning-making?
3. In particular, how does class structure this meaning-making?
England is in the midst of a long-term political project of austerity and neoliberal governance which has prompted renewed sociological attention to the issue of social class. In this context, discourse on abortion reflects and reproduces societal beliefs about gender, class and reproduction: who should reproduce; who has a legitimate ‘excuse’ not to reproduce; and what judgement should be passed on women who choose to end their pregnancies. Through the work of Beverley Skeggs and Michel Foucault, this study examines how women who have had abortions in this context make meaning about their experiences, and how class and gender are constructed in their narratives.
This study contributes to literature on the internalisation of neoliberal modes of self-governance in relation to reproduction. It argues that the process of requesting an abortion extends a demand to women to perform precarity in ways that are more possible for some women than others. Abortion narratives are therefore shaped by access to classed ‘discursive resources,’ and the women’s relationships to responsibility were also shaped by their class positions.
Finally, this study contributes to the rich literature on abortion stigma by applying the Foucauldian concepts of biopolitics and governmentality to abortion narratives, arguing that abortion experiences in contemporary England are shaped by the confluence of abortion stigma, the neoliberal injunction to self-regulate, and the societal construction of womanhood as biologically painful.
Using Foucault’s concept of ‘technologies of the self,’ I conclude that through these women’s accounts, the specific regulatory practices that produce middle-class womanhood can be better understood. The study therefore explores how wider processes of neoliberal governance might be insinuated, embodied, and resisted by individual women.
This thesis will endeavour to shed new light on the photophysics of single semiconducting nanocrystals. Quantum dots, rods and other more intricate single crystals were produced through traditional hot colloidal synthesis protocols. The physical attributes of the nanoparticles (NPs) were carefully and systematically varied to evaluate a new model that describes photophysical phenomena that arise at the nanoscale. Specifically, the charge-tunnelling and self-trapping (CTST) model presented here is parameterised by a set of experimentally controllable variables which include the excitationrate, host substrate dielectric constant and the shell thickness of CdSe.CdS and CdSe.ZnS core-shell systems.
An arsenal of spectroscopic and imaging techniques were used to build a comprehensive understanding of the single NPs used for subsequent single molecule fluorescence studies. The use of the x-ray diffractometer (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) instruments have provided invaluable information on the atomic structure, crystal morphology and passivating surface ligands respectively. Single molecule studies were performed by employing an ultra-sensitive inverted optical microscope operating in total internal reflection (TIRF) mode to optimise image contrast at the coverslip surface. A bespoke automated focus module was designed and built using relatively inexpensive optics and an automated macro to permit the acquisition of data over a large temporal range. This was especially important for the generation of meaningful blinking data that was subsequently analysed and compared to simulated blinking statistics.
Of the investigated photophysical manifestations the fluorescence intermittency, associated with single NPs, was perhaps the most thoroughly studied. The fluorescence intermittency or blinking of single NPs is characterised by the stochastic switching between emissive and non-emissive states under continuous irradiation. Typically, the blinking statistics were analysed through fitting a truncated power-law to the blinking probability density distributions (PDDs) which each consisted of at least 20000 blinking events. The gradient and characteristic exponential cut-off times were extracted and compared with data generated from CTST simulations.
The photochemistry of QDs and more recently the photo-assisted synthesis of perovskites was examined. The use of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was used to support measurements performed on single NPs under relatively high laser powers to induce photoluminescence enhancement (PLE) and photoinduced blueing, which was measured using a spectral dispersion grating.
This article discusses carbon and water cycles in relation to forested ecosystems, specifically the role forests play in storing and releasing carbon, and the role they can play in local to regional water cycles (including river flooding and evapotranspiration). It also looks at disturbances in the form of land use change, deforestation, and climate change. The article highlights how linking carbon and water cycles with forests demonstrates the interdisciplinary nature of these biogeochemical cycles in one of the most crucial of Earth’s systems. The article closes with a discussion of how effective understanding of these topics will hinge on educators and students making synoptic links between these cycles, and how this can trigger outdoor learning through collection and analysis of data.
P2X4 is an ATP-gated cation channel that is widely expressed in most tissues in the body and at especially high levels within immune, endothelial, and epithelial cells. This channel plays a role in the secretion of inflammatory mediators, including brain-derived neurotrophic factor and prostaglandin E2, and as a regulator of cardiac contractility and vascular remodeling (Stokes et al., 2017; Suurväli et al., 2017). Within the P2X family, P2X4 has a unique subcellular distribution that is predominantly intracellular, within endolysosomal compartments (Bobanovic et al., 2002; Qureshi et al., 2007). This unusual distribution has sparked a debate about whether it might function at endolysosomal membranes in addition to its role at the plasma membrane. Patch-clamp recordings of ATP-evoked currents from enlarged vacuolar lysosomes have supported this view and revealed that lysosomal P2X4 receptors are under the dual regulation of intraluminal ATP and pH (Huang et al., 2014). The evidence to date suggests that P2X4 is one of several highly Ca2+-permeable lysosomal channels that control lysosomal Ca2+ fluxes and lysosome membrane trafficking events (Cao et al., 2015). Much of this evidence is based, however, on pharmacological manipulation of lysosome pH. In this issue of the Journal of General Physiology, Fois et al. provide a clearer description of the physiological role of lysosomal P2X4 receptors during the secretion of surfactant from alveolar type II (ATII) epithelial cells.
Relevant WTO treaties state that trade liberalisation and environmental protection are ‘mutually supportive’. Yet negotiations reveal more contentious discourses: that environmental regulation comprises ‘green protectionism’, or that environmental protection is a ‘non-trade’ issue. Mutual supportiveness does not contradict, but rather encompasses, these divisions. It maintains positive ambiguity: an assertion that there is no conflict between economic development and environmental protection, and also an aspiration yet to be achieved. While it implies a duty to seek good faith solutions in event of conflicts of laws or norms, it does not prescribe any precise obligation. Thus, it circumscribes the WTO’s environmental ambitions.
While considerable scholarly attention has rightly been paid to the history of Palestinian dispossession since the Nakba, one consistent aspect of this exile has been strangely overlooked: the role of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Since May 1950, UNRWA has provided relief services to registered Palestinian refugees in five geographical fields: the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. This paper looks at the political significance of its work and role in the years 1967-82, when it faced the ascendance of the Palestinian nationalist movement in many of the refugee camps it administered.
The research that forms the basis of this paper is taken from findings at UNRWA’s Central Registry in Amman, a closed archive to which few researchers have previously been granted access. The archival documents shed particular light on the dynamics of the refugees’ relationship with UNRWA, the ways in which many Palestinians saw the Agency’s work as evidence of their political rights, and their attempts to use it as a way of furthering their national cause.
In examining this subject, this research makes a unique and important contribution to the field of Palestinian history. Despite its absence from much of the historiography, the historical development of UNRWA’s work in the refugee camps is highly revealing, as the contents of its rarely-seen archive indicates. UNRWA’s development illuminates the juxtaposition of internationalism and nationalism in Palestinian history; the complexity of factors determining the camps’ functionality as spaces; and the political agency that the refugees frequently enacted, despite their structural powerlessness. By inserting UNRWA into the historical picture, this project adds new depth and nuance to our understanding of the nature and dynamics of the Palestinians’ decades-long dispossession.
This thesis investigates empirically three questions of key relevance for the life of disadvantaged people in developing countries.
Using a sample of Ethiopian women and a regression discontinuity design exploiting age discontinuities in exposure to a law that raised the legal age of marriage for women, the first chapter documents for the first time (a) the effect of increasing the legal age of marriage for women on infant mortality and (b) the causal effect of early cohabitation on infant mortality. The analysis shows that, even though it was not perfectly enforced, the law that raised the legal age of marriage had a large effect on the infant mortality of the first born child. Furthermore, the estimates suggest that the effect of a one-year delay in women's age at cohabitation on the infant mortality of the ffrst born is comparable to the joint effect on child mortality of measles, BCG, DPT, Polio and Maternal Tetanus vaccinations.
Using longitudinal data from northern Ghana, the second chapter shows that parents allocate more schooling to children that are more cognitively able. These results provide evidence for the main prediction of the model of intra-household allocation of resources developed in Becker (1981), which concludes that parents allocate human capital investments reinforcing cognitive differences between siblings.
The third chapter uses the 8.8 Richter magnitude earthquake that struck Chile in February 2010 as a case study and employs a difference in difference strategy to investigate whether natural disasters have lasting effects on property crime. The results show that the earthquake reduced the prevalence of property crime the year of the earthquake and that this effect remained stable over the 4 post-earthquake years studied. The lasting drop in crime rates in affected areas seems to be linked to the earthquake strengthening community life in these municipalities.
Model compounds of unsymmetrical bis-ureas have been designed and synthesised to investigate and further
understand the formation of supramolecular polymer arrays. Association constants (< 200 M− 1) for the bis- ureas have been determined by 1H NMR spectroscopy, and further characterised by optical spectroscopy. In addition, SAXS analysis of the bulk material reveals the formation of different highly ordered structures de- monstrating complex hydrogen bonding of these unsymmetrical materials. Thermal transitions are also observed in some examples of unsymmetrical bis-ureas near to the melting point, as evidenced by double endotherms in DSC analysis. We also propose a re-organisation mechanism whereby the supramolecular array is first altered before proceeding to melt which is supported by variable temperature SAXS analysis.
The solid state structures of the di-cationic (1a) and radical mono-cationic (1b) redox forms of a 4,4′-bipyridinium (viologen) containing macrocycle have been established by single crystal X-ray analysis. Formation of the radical cation has a dramatic e ect on the molecular structure of the macrocycle. Addition of an electron to 1a both decreases the diameter of the ring cavity (from 8.5 to 7.8 Å) and drastically attens the torsion angle between the two pyridinium residues in the viologen, reducing it from 48° to either 3° or 9° (two independent molecules). Moreover, a close association of these near-planar radical cation units drives the formation of a tetrameric supramolecular structure in the solid state.
Aromatic and heterocyclic molecules which form electronically complementary π−π stacked complexes have recently found extensive application in functional materials, molecular machines, and stimuli-responsive supra- molecular polymers. Here we describe the design and synthesis of model compounds that self-assemble through complemen- tary stacking motifs, paralleling those postulated to exist in high-molecular weight, healable, supramolecular polymer systems. Complexation studies using 1H NMR and UV−vis spectroscopy indicated formation of a complementary complex between a π-electron rich dipyrenyl tweezer-motif and a tweezer-like, π-electron deficient bis-diimide. The binding stoichiometry in solution between the chain-folding diimide and the pyrenyl derivative was equimolar with respect to the two binding motifs, and the resulting association constant was measured at Ka = 1200 ± 90 M−1. Single crystal X-ray analysis of this “tweezer− tweezer” complex showed a low-energy conformation of the triethylenedioxy linker within the bis-diimide chain-fold. Interplanar separations of 3.4−3.5 Å were found within the π-stacks, and supporting hydrogen bonds between pyrenyl amide NH groups and diimide carbonyl oxygens were identified.
Existing accounts of the Islamic State (IS) tend to rely on orientalist and technicist assumptions and hence insufficiently sensitive to the historical, sociological, and international conditions of the possibility of IS. The present article provides an alternative account through a conjunctural analysis that is anchored in an international historical sociology of modern Iraq informed by Leon Trotsky's idea of ‘uneven and combined development’. It foregrounds the concatenation of Iraq's contradictory (post‐)colonial nation‐state formation with the neoliberal conjuncture of 1990‐2014. It shows that the former process involved the tension‐prone fusion of governing institutions of the modern state and the intermittent but steady reproduction, valorization, and politicization of supra‐national (religious‐sectarian) and sub‐national (ethno‐tribal) collective identities, which subverted the emergence of an Iraqi nation. The international sanctions regime of the 1990s transformed sectarian and tribal difference into communitarian tension by fatally undermining the integrative efficacy of the Ba’ath party's authoritarian welfare‐state. Concurrently, the neo‐liberal demolition of the post‐colonial authoritarian welfare states in the region gave rise to the Arab Spring revolutions. The Arab Spring however elicited a successful authoritarian counter‐revolution that eliminated secular‐nationalist forms of oppositional politics. This illiberal neoliberalisation of the region's political economy valorised the religionisation of the domestic effects of the 2003 US‐led destruction of the Iraqi state and its reconstruction on a majoritarian basis favouring the Shi’as and hence transforming sectarian tension into sectarian conflict culminating in IS. Thus, IS is, the paper demonstrates, the result of neither an internal cultural pathology nor sheerly external forces. Rather, it is the novel product of an utterly historical congealment of the intrinsically interactive and multilinear dynamics of socio‐political change.
Millions of tons of mineral dust are lifted by the wind from arid surfaces and transported around the globe every year. The physical and chemical properties of the mineral dust are needed to better constrain remote sensing observations and are of fundamental importance for the understanding of dust atmospheric processes. Ground-based in situ measurements and in situ filter collection of Saharan dust were obtained during the Fennec campaign in the central Sahara in 2011. This paper presents results of the absorption and scattering coefficients, and hence single scattering albedo (SSA), of the Saharan dust measured in real time during the last period of the campaign and subsequent laboratory analysis of the dust samples collected in two supersites, SS1 and SS2, in Algeria and in Mauritania, respectively. The samples were taken to the laboratory, where their size and aspect ratio distributions, mean chemical composition, spectral mass absorption efficiency, and spectral imaginary refractive index were obtained from the ultraviolet (UV) to the near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths. At SS1 in Algeria, the time series of the scattering coefficients during the period of the campaign show dust events exceeding 3500 Mm−1, and a relatively high mean SSA of 0.995 at 670 nm was observed at this site. The laboratory results show for the fine particle size distributions (particles diameter < 5µm and mode diameter at 2–3 µm) in both sites a spectral dependence of the imaginary part of the refractive index Im(m) with a bow-like shape, with increased absorption in UV as well as in the shortwave infrared. The same signature was not observed, however, in the mixed particle size distribution (particle diameter < 10 µm and mode diameter at 4 µm) in Algeria. Im(m) was found to range from 0.011 to 0.001i for dust collected in Algeria and 0.008 to 0.002i for dust collected in Mauritania over the wavelength range of 350–2500 nm. Differences in the mean elemental composition of the dust collected in the supersites in Algeria and in Mauritania and between fine and mixed particle size distributions were observed from EDXRF measurements, although those differences cannot be used to explain the optical properties variability between the samples. Finally, particles with low-density typically larger than 10 µm in diameter were found in some of the samples collected at the supersite in Mauritania, but these low-density particles were not observed in Algeria.
Building on Meynhardt’s public value concept, which has been developed to make transparent an organization’s contributions to the common good, we investigate the influence of organizational common good practices in the perceptions of employees (measured as public value) on employees’ work attitudes and life satisfaction. The proposed model is tested on a sample of 1045 Swiss employees taken from the 2015 Swiss Public Value Atlas data-set. Study findings reveal that organizational public value is positively related to employee life satisfaction, and that this relationship is partially mediated by work engagement and organizational citizenship behavior. Further, we show that employee common good orientations strengthen the positive impact of organizational public value on employee work engagement and organizational citizenship behavior. Results also provide evidence that the indirect effects of organizational public value on employee life satisfaction via work engagement and organizational citizenship behavior are stronger at higher employee common good orientation levels.
The error-free and efficient repair of DNA double-stranded breaks (DSBs) is extremely important for cell survival. RNA has been implicated in the resolution of DNA damage but the mechanism remains poorly understood. Here, we show that miRNA biogenesis enzymes, Drosha and Dicer, control the recruitment of repair factors from multiple pathways to sites of damage. Depletion of Drosha significantly reduces DNA repair by both homologous recombination (HR) and non-homologous end joining (NHEJ). Drosha is required within minutes of break induction, suggesting a central and early role for RNA processing in DNA repair. Sequencing of DNA:RNA hybrids reveals RNA invasion around DNA break sites in a Drosha-dependent manner. Removal of the RNA component of these structures results in impaired repair. These results show how RNA can be a direct and critical mediator of DNA damage repair in human cells.
For an N×N random unitary matrix U_N, we consider the random field defined by counting the number of eigenvalues of U_N in a mesoscopic arc of the unit circle, regularized at an N-dependent scale Ɛ_N>0. We prove that the renormalized exponential of this field converges as N → ∞ to a Gaussian multiplicative chaos measure in the whole subcritical phase. In addition, we show that the moments of the total mass converge to a Selberg-like integral and by taking a further limit as the size of the arc diverges, we establish part of the conjectures in [55]. By an analogous construction, we prove that the multiplicative chaos measure coming from the sine process has the same distribution, which strongly suggests that this limiting object should be universal. The proofs are based on the asymptotic analysis of certain Toeplitz or Fredholm determinants using the Borodin-Okounkov formula or a Riemann-Hilbert problem for integrable operators. Our approach to the L¹-phase is based on a generalization of the construction in Berestycki [5] to random fields which are only asymptotically Gaussian. In particular, our method could have applications to other random fields coming from either random matrix theory or a different context.
The PREDICTS project (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems) has collated ecological survey data from hundreds of published biodiversity comparisons of sites facing different land-use and related pressures, and used the resulting taxonomically and geographically broad database (abundance and occurrence data for over 50,000 species and over 30,000 sites in nearly 100 countries) to develop global biodiversity models, indicators and projections. After outlining the science and science-policy gaps that motivated PREDICTS, this review discusses the key design decisions that helped it to achieve its objectives. In particular, we discuss basing models on a large, taxonomically and geographically representative database, so that they may be applicable to biodiversity more broadly; space-for-time substitution, which allows estimation of pressure-state models without the need for representative time-series data; and collation of raw data rather than statistical results, greatly expanding the range of response variables that can be modelled. The heterogeneity of data in the PREDICTS database has presented a range of modelling challenges: we discuss these with a focus on our implementation of the Biodiversity Intactness Index, an indicator with considerable policy potential but which had not previously been estimated from primary biodiversity data. We then summarise the findings from analyses of how land use and related pressures affect local () diversity and spatial turnover ( diversity), and how these effects are mediated by ecological attributes of species. We discuss the relevance of our findings for policy, before ending with some directions of ongoing and possible future research.
The Miro GTPases represent an unusual subgroup of the Ras superfamily and have recently emerged as important mediators of mitochondrial dynamics and for maintaining neuronal health. It is now well-established that these enzymes act as essential components of a Ca2+-sensitive motor complex, facilitating the transport of mitochondria along microtubules in several cell types, including dopaminergic neurons. The Miros appear to be critical for both anterograde and retrograde mitochondrial transport in axons and dendrites, both of which are considered essential for neuronal health. Furthermore, the Miros may be significantly involved in the development of several serious pathological processes, including the development of neurodegen- erative and psychiatric disorders. In this review, we discuss the molecular structure and known mitochondrial functions of the Miro GTPases in humans and other organisms, in the context of neurodegenerative disease. Finally, we consider the potential human Miros hold as novel therapeutic targets for the treatment of such disease.
Purpose: To conduct a systematic review on measurement properties of questionnaires measuring depressive symptoms in adult patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes.
Methods: A systematic review of the literature in MEDLINE, EMbase and PsycINFO was performed. Full text, original
articles, published in any language up to October 2016 were included. Eligibility for inclusion was independently assessed by three reviewers who worked in pairs. Methodological quality of the studies was evaluated by two independent reviewers using the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) checklist. Quality of the questionnaires was rated per measurement property, based on the number and quality of the included studies and the reported results.
Results: Of 6286 unique hits, 21 studies met our criteria evaluating nine different questionnaires in multiple settings and languages. The methodological quality of the included studies was variable for the different measurement properties: 9/15 studies scored ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ on internal consistency, 2/5 on reliability, 0/1 on content validity, 10/10 on structural validity, 8/11 on hypothesis testing, 1/5 on cross-cultural validity, and 4/9 on criterion validity. For the CES-D, there was strong evidence for good internal consistency, structural validity, and construct validity; moderate evidence for good criterion
validity; and limited evidence for good cross-cultural validity. The PHQ-9 and WHO-5 also performed well on several
measurement properties. However, the evidence for structural validity of the PHQ-9 was inconclusive. The WHO-5 was less
extensively researched and originally not developed to measure depression.
Conclusion: Currently, the CES-D is best supported for measuring depressive symptoms in diabetes patients.
New tools are required to ensure the adequate control of the neglected tropical disease human African trypanosomiasis. Annual reports of infection have recently fallen to fewer than 5000 cases per year; however, current therapies are hard to administer and have safety concerns and, hence, are far from ideal. Trypanosome alternative oxidase is an exciting target for controlling the infection; it is unique to the parasite, and inhibition of this enzyme with the natural product ascofuranone has shown to clear in vivo infections. We report the synthesis and associated structure activity relationships of inhibitors based upon this natural product with correlation to T. b. brucei growth inhibition in an attempt to generate molecules that possess improved physicochemical properties and potential for use as new treatments for human African trypanosomiasis.
The interest in surface terahertz emitters lies in their extremely thin active region, typically hundreds of atomic layers, and the agile surface scalability. The ultimate limit in the achievable emission is determined by the saturation of the several different mechanisms concurring to the THz frequency conversion. Although there is a very prolific debate about the contribution of each process, surface optical rectification has been highlighted as the dominant process at high excitation, but the effective limits in the conversion are largely unknown.
The current state of the art suggests that in field-induced optical rectification a maximum limit of the emission may exist and it is ruled by the photocarrier induced neutralisation of the medium's surface field. This would represent the most important impediment to the application of surface optical rectification in high-energy THz emitters.
We experimentally unveil novel physical insights in the THz conversion at high excitation energies mediated by the ultrafast surface optical rectification process. The main finding is that the expected total saturation of the Terahertz emission vs pump energy does not actually occur. At high energy, the surface field region contracts towards the surface. We argue that this mechanism weakens the main saturation process, re-establishing a clearly observable quadratic dependence between the emitted THz energy and the excitation. This is relevant in enabling access to intense generation at high fluences.
The scale of the injustice inflicted upon the Chagossians by the United Kingdom is self-evident, but their legal route to redress has proven opaque and fraught with difficulty, as illustrated by the House of Lords’ majority decision in R (Bancoult) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (No 2) [2008] UKHL 61; [2009] 1 AC 453. This disconnect is, nonetheless, inherent in the UK’s constitutional order. Constitutions outline the operation of governance orders, with constitutionalism injecting substantive principles into this picture, developing the relationship between the holders of power and those subject to its exercise. But not all constitutionalising projects are devoted to the same ends. The legal saga of the Chagossians throws into sharp relief the disparity between the imperial constitutionalism which was constructed to organise the governance of the United Kingdom’s colonial possessions in the mid-nineteenth century and the principles which supposedly underpin its liberal democracy in the twenty-first. The denial of substantive protections for a colonised community against unchecked and oppressive exercises of executive power sits uneasily with the prevailing understandings of the United Kingdom’s constitutional arrangements, even though the constitutional architecture of the British Empire was designed to achieve this very end. Drawing upon archival material which highlights how differently the Chagossians were treated from ‘settler’ communities such as the Falklanders, our paper reassesses the Chagossians’ legal struggle in light of the hurdles that this bifurcated constitutional order places in their path, and the significant impacts of their efforts to navigate these barriers to justice upon this constitutional structure.
Choosing the right professional that has to meet indeterminate requirements is a critical aspect in humanitarian development and implementation projects. This paper proposes a hybrid evaluation methodology for some non-governmental organizations enabling them to select the most competent expert who can properly and adequately develop and implement humanitarian projects. This methodology accommodates various stakeholders’ perspectives in satisfying the unique requirements of humanitarian projects that are capable of handling a range of uncertain issues from both stakeholders and project requirements. The criteria weights are calculated using a two-step multi-criteria decision-making method: (1) Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process for the evaluation of the decision maker weights coupled with (2) Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) to rank the alternatives which provide the ability to take into account both quantitative and qualitative evaluations. Sensitivity analysis have been developed and discussed by means of a real case of expert selection problem for a non-profit organisation. The results show that the approach allows a decrease in the uncertainty associated with decision-making, which proves that the approach provides robust solutions in terms of sensitivity analysis.
This monograph, the 30th in the John Benjamins series on language in social interaction, examines the production of imperatives in naturally occurring talk. The collection of 12 empirical papers is intended for a specialist readership, but with its multimedia format and meticulously constructed argument the book will also be accessible to graduate students with an interest in conversation analysis (CA). Like others in the series, it is noteworthy for its breadth, depth and presentational quality: in this case, the cross-linguistic nature of the content; the treatment of similar problems in different environments (e.g. the circumstances in which an imperative might be repeated, with or without variation, by speaker or addressee); and the high production values of the volume, with its charts, colour photographs and line drawings.
Women’s economic empowerment through entrepreneurship is increasingly being recognised as significant to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, women entrepreneurship in developing countries is characterised by an overrepresentation in the informal economy and exposure to high levels of gender disparities. The aim of this paper is to explore whether formalisation of women’s entrepreneurial activities in the informal economy supports SDGs through ensuring empowerment and equality.
The research adopt a qualitative research design to explore the empowerment outcomes of the formalisation of women’s entrepreneurial activities in the informal economy of Kathmandu, Nepal. Data were collected through interviews with 30 women entrepreneurs engaged in a mix of formal and informal entrepreneurial activities.
By using Mayoux’s (1998) framework of empowerment at the individual, household and community level, the findings show the variation in empowerment outcomes as a result of women’s diverse motivations for engaging in entrepreneurship. Whilst informal entrepreneurial activities improve women’s confidence and life aspirations, they have limited potential in lifting women out of poverty and enable them to significantly challenge gender relations in the society. Formalisation does further empower women at the household and community level but this is primarily the case of younger and more educated women.
The research contributes to the debates on entrepreneurship as ‘emancipation’ and more specifically, on whether formalisation contributes to the SDGs by furthering gender equality and empowerment. Formalisation policies need to acknowledge the heterogeneity of women entrepreneurs.
International retirement migration has been typically regarded as a couple’s project. Much less is known about single lifestyle migrants who settle and age abroad and those who, after the loss of their spouse, decide to stay put. Informed by a larger pool of 36 life-narrative interviews with later-life lifestyle migrants in the Azores, and structured around four selected portrayals, this paper seeks to explore meanings of place in later life and to unpack the complex set of negotiations
that the ageing self undergoes in a context of migration. Drawing on relational and unbound understandings of place, I question traditional assumptions that see single older migrants abroad as vulnerable and dependent, emphasising a more complex set of needs, desires and expectations in (and for) later-life. For these migrants, emplaced living and ageing experiences are ambiguously mixed. The islands are described as places of freedom and self-actualisation, and also “safe ports” in later-life. Yet, this does not prevent intermittent feelings of isolation and loneliness, including the desire to restore some sense of companionship and romantic life.
Among various possible causes of autoimmune disease, an important role is played by infections that can result in a breakdown of immune tolerance, primarily through the mechanism of ``molecular mimicry". In this paper we propose and analyse a stochastic model of immune response to a viral infection and subsequent autoimmunity, with account for the populations of T cells with different activation thresholds, regulatory T cells, and cytokines. We show analytically and numerically how stochasticity can result in sustained oscillations around deterministically stable steady states, and we also investigate stochastic dynamics in the regime of bi-stability. These results provide a possible explanation for experimentally observed variations in the progression of autoimmune disease. Computations of the variance of stochastic fluctuations provide practically important insights into how the size of these fluctuations depends on various biological parameters, and this also gives a headway for comparison with experimental data on variation in the observed numbers of T cells and organ cells affected by infection.
In this chapter, we reflect on the role of children and young people as ‘co-producers’ of our research. Over the course of the Everyday Childhoods project, we held a number of events and activities aimed at involving children in the research. Each event was conceived as an opportunity to experiment with different methods of co-production, drawing and building on participants’ existing skills, knowledge and competencies. These events were inspired by models of ‘public sociology’ that seek to engage wider communities in the co-production of research (Burawoy 2005; Puwar & Sharma 2012).[1] In this chapter, we ask how ‘co-production’ can generate opportunities for enrolling young people’s existing skills and knowledge to become partners in research: as data creators, consultants, or as data animators. The chapter focuses on three events staged at different moments in the Everyday Childhoods project – exemplifying ways of inviting young people into research. These examples showcase three strategies of co-production: a media competition (Space Invaders), the project archive (Curating Childhoods) and a hackathon workshop (My Object Stories). Although each were conceived as activities in their own right, understood collectively, they shed light on the possibilities and challenges of co-production in research with children and young people. This discussion aims to provide insights into our successes, as well as the numerous unexpected problems and complications we encountered. The events are presented in chronological sequence.[2] Echoing the approach taken in Chapter 2, we present these as recipes for co-production, revealing the resources and methods required as well as our sources of inspiration.
Purpose:
The purpose of the paper is to identify the multiple types of data that can be collected and analyzed by practitioners across the cold chain, the ICT infrastructure required to enable data capture and how to utilize the data for decision-making in cold chain logistics.
Design/methodology/approach:
Content analysis based literature review of 38 selected research articles, published between 2000 and 2016, was used to create an overview of data capture, technologies used for collection and sharing of data, and decision making that can be supported by the data, across the cold chain and for different types of perishable food products.
Findings:
There is a need to understand how continuous monitoring of conditions such as temperature, humidity, vibration can be translated to support real-time assessment of quality, determination of actual remaining shelf life of products and use of those for decision making in cold chains. Firms across the cold chain need to adopt appropriate technologies suited to the specific contexts to capture data across the cold chain. Analysis of such data over longer periods can also unearth patterns of product deterioration under different transportation conditions, which can lead to redesigning the transportation network to minimize quality loss or to take precautions to avoid the adverse transportation conditions.
Research limitations and implications:
The findings need to be validated through further empirical research and modeling. There are opportunities to identify all relevant parameters to capture product condition as well as transaction data across the cold chain processes for fish, meat and dairy products. Such data can then be used for supply chain planning and pricing products in the retail stores based on product conditions and traceability information. Addressing some of the above research gaps will call for multi-disciplinary research involving food science and engineering, information technologies, computer science and logistics and supply chain management scholars.
Practical implications:
The findings of this research can be beneficial for multiple players involved in the cold chain like food processing companies, logistics service providers, ports and wholesalers and retailers to understand how data can be effectively used for better decision-making in cold chain and to invest in the specific technologies which will suit the purpose. To ensure adoption of data analytics across the cold chain, it is also important to identify the player in the cold chain, which will drive and coordinate the effort.
Originality/value
This paper is one of the earliest to recognize the need for a comprehensive assessment for adoption and application of data analytics in cold chain management and provides directions for future research.
Acoustic levitation enables a radical new type of humancomputer interface composed of small levitating objects. For the first time, we investigate the selection of such objects, an important part of interaction with a levitating object display. We present Point-and-Shake, a mid-air pointing interaction for selecting levitating objects, with feedback given through object movement. We describe the implementation of this technique and present two user studies that evaluate it. The first study found that users could accurately (96%) and quickly (4.1s) select objects by pointing at them. The second study found that users were able to accurately (95%) and quickly (3s) select occluded objects. These results show that Point-and- Shake is an effective way of initiating interaction with levitating object displays.
The Sense of Agency (SoA) refers to our capability to control our own actions and influence the world around us. Recent research in HCI has been exploring SoA to provide users an instinctive sense of “I did that” as opposed to “the system did that”. However, current agency measurements are limited. The Intentional Binding (IB) paradigm provides an implicit measure of the SoA. However, it is constrained by requiring high visual attention to a “Libet clock” onscreen. In this paper, we extend the timing stimulus through auditory and tactile cues. Our results demonstrate that audio timing through voice commands and haptic timing through tactile cues on the hand are alternative techniques to measure the SoA using the IB paradigm. They both address limitations of the traditional method (e.g., lack of engagement and visual demand). We discuss how our results can be applied to measure SoA in tasks involving different interactive scenarios common in HCI.
Despite a growing number of arts based climate change interventions and the importance emphasised in the social psychology literature of achieving affective (emotional) engagement with climate change before climate compatible behaviour change is likely (exactly the kind of engagement the arts and humanities are arguably best at), to date there has been no systematic application of interpretive social science techniques to understand the ways in which these arts based interventions do, or do not, achieve affective public engagement with climate change and hence might hold the key to unlocking broader climate compatible behaviour change. This article makes three key contributions. First, it analyses the literature across social psychology and participatory arts to demonstrate why participatory, climate change based arts interventions could hold the key to more effective approaches to engaging multiple publics in climate compatible behaviour change. Second, using a small sample of participants in an arts based climate change intervention in the Inner Hebrides, Scotland, it demonstrates the potential value of combining social science techniques (in this case Q Methodology) with participatory arts interventions to better understand and learn from the ways in which climate based arts interventions achieve affective public engagement with climate change. Thirdly, it extends its analysis to engage explicitly with the under-researched issue of the role of place attachment and local, situated knowledge in mediating the influence of climate change communication. These contributions provide the basis for a significant new research and policy agenda looking forward.
Ultra-thin p-type chalcogenide glass Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST) semiconductor layers are employed to form flexible thin-film transistors (TFTs). For the first time, TFTs based on GST show saturating output characteristics and an ON/OFF ratio up to 388, exceeding present reports by a factor of ~20. The channel current modulation is greatly enhanced by using ultra-thin 5 nm thick amorphous GST layers and 20 nm thick high-k Al2O3 gate dielectrics. Flexible CMOS circuits are realized in combination with the n-type oxide semiconductor InGaZnO4 (IGZO). The CMOS inverters show voltage gain of up to 69. Furthermore, flexible NAND gates are presented. The bending stability is shown for a tensile radius of 6 mm.
In this paper, an impedance control strategy is proposed for a rigid robot collaborating with human by considering impedance learning and human motion intention estimation. The least square method is used in human impedance identification, and the robot can adjust its impedance parameters according to human impedance model for guaranteeing compliant collaboration. Neural networks (NNs) are employed in human motion intention estimation, so that the robot follows the human actively and human partner costs less control effort. On the other hand, the full-state constraints are considered for operational safety in human-robot interactive processes. Neural control is presented in the control strategy to deal with the dynamic uncertainties and improve the system robustness. Simulation results are carried out to show the effectiveness of the proposed control design.
This chapter examines the concept of liability and its role in the environmental context. The analysis will focus on the application of liability as a response to environmental damage and will seek to demonstrate how traditional concepts of liability have progressively evolved and adjusted to accommodate a more specific environmental dimension. In that perspective, the chapter will begin with a brief theoretical background into the main features and rationales of liability both as a traditional legal concept and as a tool of environmental law and policy (section 2). It will then trace the historical evolution of liability rules face to the advent of modern industrial technologies, the intensification of risks and the specific problems posed by environmental pollution (section 3). In this respect, the transnational dimension of the damage and the role of international law will be discussed. Section 4 will discuss emerging trends in the law of liability with respect to damage to the environment and natural resources. While the chapter will primarily focus on international law developments, it will also discuss significant developments which have taken place at the regional and domestic level to the extent that they had a meaningful influence on the definition of the international legal framework and contributed interesting insights into prospective application of liability rules to fulfil the goal of environmental protection.
A novel approach is proposed for precise control of two-phase spray evaporative cooling for thermal management of road vehicle internal combustion engines. A reduced-order plant model is first constructed by combining published spray evaporative cooling correlations with approximate governing heat transfer equations appropriate for IC engine thermal management. Control requirements are specified to allow several objectives to be met simultaneously under different load conditions. A control system is proposed and modelled in abstract form to achieve spray evaporative cooling of a gasoline engine, with simplifying assumptions made about the characteristics of the coolant pump, spray nozzle, and condenser. The system effectiveness is tested by simulation to establish its ability to meet key requirements, particularly concerned with precision control during transients resulting from rapid engine load variation. The results confirm the robustness of the proposed control strategy in accurately tracking a specified temperature profile at various constant load conditions, and also in the presence of realistic transient load variation.
This chapter aims to situate the conceptualisation of ‘diaspora and home’ within contemporary geopolitics and experience of forced migration. In effect the aim is to evaluate the conceptualisation through the current Syrian refugee crisis. Diasporic migrations are attempted in a more and more precarious world (Waite, 2009); one where structures of ‘home’ and ‘citizenship’ are precarious materialities, post-migration. The chapter outlines the political actions that are shaping the possibilities for migrants and the rendering of their ‘rights’ ‘status’ and ‘access’ to safe haven as being continually in flux, and remade. Forcibly displaced peoples, despite there being no guarantee of settlement, are risking death, disconnection and indeed a loss of a ‘liveable life’ in the process of migration. To outline the ways in which new-grammars of conceptualising diaspora-migration in a precarious world, the chapter ends with an account from artist-activist projects. The projects cited capture the very nature of diaspora in process in refugee camps and sites of shelter for refugees coming from Syria. Political interventions by artists situated at refugee camps at Calais (France) and Lesbos (Greece), highlight the dehumanisation of FDPs. The artists cited here are at the vanguard of witnessing a new holocaust of the 21st century; one that results from a cultural and political erasure of our responsibilities towards those migrating away from suffering, wars, and genocide.
We develop an automated variational inference method for Bayesian structured prediction problems with Gaussian process (gp) priors and linear-chain likelihoods. Our approach does not need to know the details of the structured likelihood model and can scale up to a large number of observations. Furthermore, we show that the required expected likelihood term and its gradients in the variational objective (ELBO) can be estimated efficiently by using expectations over very low-dimensional Gaussian distributions. Optimization of the ELBO is fully parallelizable over sequences and amenable to stochastic optimization, which we use along with control variate techniques to make our framework useful in practice. Results on a set of natural language processing tasks show that our method can be as good as (and sometimes better than, in particular with respect to expected log-likelihood) hard-coded approaches including svm-struct and crfs, and overcomes the scalability limitations of previous inference algorithms based on sampling. Overall, this is a fundamental step to developing automated inference methods for Bayesian structured prediction.
A novel series of tubulin polymerization inhibitors, based on fluorinated derivatives of isocombretastatin A-4 was synthesized with the goal of evaluating the effect of these compounds on the proliferative activity. The introduction of fluorine atom was performed on the phenyl ring or at the linker between the two aromatic rings. The modification of isoCA-4 by introduction of difluoromethoxy group at the para-position (3i) and substitution of the two protons of the linker by two fluorine atoms (3m), produced the most active compounds in the series, with IC50 values of 0.15–2.2 nM (3i) and 0.1–2 nM (3m) respectively, against a panel of six cancer cell lines. Compounds 3i and 3m had greater antiproliferative activity in comparison with references CA-4 or isoCA-4, the presence of fluorine group leads to a significant enhancement of the antiproliferative activity. Molecular docking studies indicated that compounds 3i and 3m occupy the colchicine binding site of tubulin. Evaluation of cytotoxicity in Human noncancer cells indicated that the compounds 3i and 3m were practically ineffective in quiescent peripheral blood lymphocytes, and may have a selective antiproliferative activity against cancer cells. Analyses of cell cycle distribution, and morphological microtubules organization showed that compound 3m induced G2/M phase arrest and, dramatically disrupted the microtubule network.
This dissertation explores the question of why people vote in the new democracies of sub-Saharan Africa, East Asia and Central and Eastern European countries. Although the focus of the study is on new democracies, I also examine Western European democracies, as they provide theoretical and empirical benchmarks against which to compare the new democracies, thus helping us to identify which of three patterns holds: (1) To see if there is something distinctive about voting at the individual level in new democracies as a whole - that is, to see if these new democracies broadly resemble each other but differ from the established democracies of Western Europe; or (2) to see if the new democracies are generally similar to Western European countries, and therefore confirm established research truths; or (3) to see if each region is unique in its own way. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses are implemented on individual- level survey data from the Afrobarometer, AsiaBarometer, Eurobarometer and Comparative Survey of Electoral Systems to investigate what affects the individual’s propensity to vote across the four regions. Having tested the various explanations of the decision to vote across the geo-political regions, the major conclusion is that while some of the models are largely applicable in these emerging democracies, others are not. The approaches that perform best are the resources, mobilisational and cultural models, the various indicators of which significantly increase the chances of an individual turning out to vote. On the other hand, our results across the four geo- political regions offer some contradictory results with regards to the impact of satisfaction with democracy, education and people’s perceptions of their individual and country’s economy outlooks on voting. Overall, however, the bigger picture in relation to voting in emerging democracies confirms that political behaviour of voters or citizens in these regions is influenced by many of the same factors that determine the electoral behaviour of citizens in established democracies
In the last few decades there has been a growing interest in exploring the way in which political conflicts impact upon social work policy and practice. An early edited text by Ramon (2008) used a wide ranging approach to capture the nature of social work engagement with conflicts and disasters across a number of continents. More recently, two leading social work journals have focused on these and other related topics (Spalek & McDonald, 2012; Ramon & Zavirsek, 2012). To date, however, there have been few attempts to compare and contrast social work experience in these circumstances.
This paper is the product of a discussion that took place between the authors, built upon our lived and academic experiences of social work and political conflict, during an European Association of Schools of Social Work funded project. To address the lack of comparative analysis in relation to social work and political conflict, it begins with a summary of the literature on this topic and then then identifies a number of methodological challenges in carrying out comparative analysis. At the core of the paper is the analysis of three case studies: Northern Ireland, Bosnia Herzogvina (BiH) and Cyprus. It is organised around the themes which emerged from joint analysis of these case studies in relation to social work policy and practice, namely: the impact of colonialism; political systems and identities; and neoliberalism and new social movements. The paper concludes with an appeal for a nuanced approach to social work and political conflict, described as 'social work for critical peace'.
New York City has played a vital role in the history of American cinema. This bibliography draws together divergent strands of scholarship that approach the topic of New York City and cinema from multiple perspectives. The iconic cityscapes and distinctive cultural milieux of New York have provided both setting and subject matter for countless movies, whether filmed on location or recreated in Hollywood studios. There is a significant body of work that addresses New York onscreen, analyzing urban narratives and Genres and the use of locations, architecture, and specific areas of the city. This work has explored how cinema has engaged with the changing nature of New York over time, and investigated the representation of the city’s neighborhoods and ethnic groups. An important subsection of this scholarship pursues New York’s special relationship with particular film genres, such as The City Symphony, Musicals, Film Noir, and the Romantic Comedy. In the critical literature, New York has frequently been associated with the work of specific directors, including Sidney Lumet, Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, and Spike Lee, as well as key figures in experimental film such as Shirley Clarke, Jonas Mekas, and Andy Warhol. New York has also been an important site for film production and exhibition. Although the American film industry has been predominantly based in Southern California since the 1910s, New York has always been Hollywood’s second city. In the studio era, it was home to the studios’ corporate headquarters and a string of highly profitable first-run theatres. Although filming in the city has waxed and waned, New York has always played an influential role as a regional production hub, a source of talent, and a center for film criticism. The city can claim a pivotal role in the development of early cinema, and it therefore holds a privileged place in histories of early film production and exhibition. New York has also operated in multiple ways as a counterpoint to Hollywood and a crucible for independent or alternative film culture. Experimental filmmaking has flourished in New York, especially in the mid-20th century, and the city has long operated as a vital hub for independent distribution as well as fostering a network of underground and nontheatrical exhibition spaces. This is addressed in intersecting bodies of work on experimental and independent film, and on New York Film Culture. There is now an extensive critical literature on the wider relationship between cinema and the city (see the separate Oxford Bibliographies in Cinema and Media Studies article The City in Film by Pamela Robertson Wojcik for a more general cinema-city bibliography). This bibliography only includes sources that focus (in whole or in part) on New York City in particular.
Objective
Chemotherapy side‐effects can be substantial. There is increasing recognition that some oestrogen receptor positive (ER +ve), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 negative (HER2 −ve) patients with breast cancer derive no benefit from chemotherapy and experience only iatrogenic harm. Gene expression profiling tests help refine recurrence risk and likely chemotherapy benefit. EndoPredict® is one such test, which classifies risks of distant recurrence as low or high in patients treated with surgery and adjuvant endocrine therapy alone. We compared treatment decisions pre‐test and post‐test results, patients' anxiety, decisional conflict, and oncologists' confidence about the decisions made.
Methods
Fourteen oncologists in 7 UK hospitals saw 149 pts judged to have equivocal indications for chemotherapy. Provisional treatment decisions were recorded then reconsidered when EPClin results were available. Pre‐test and post‐test results, patients completed State/Trait Anxiety Inventories (STAI), and the decisional conflict scale. Oncologists also recorded basic clinical details, their agreement with, and confidence about treatment decisions.
Results
Sixty‐seven percent patients initially prescribed endocrine alone with high risk result upgraded to endocrine+chemotherapy (E + C); 83% prescribed E + C and had low risk scores, downgraded to E. None of 46 patients initially favouring E alone, who were low risk, changed decisions. Oncologists' confidence about decisions was significantly increased following the results (P = 0.002). Patients with downgraded treatment decisions had significantly lower anxiety scores (P = 0.045); those upgraded had increased scores (P = 0.001). Overall decisional conflict and uncertainty fell significantly post‐test (P < 0.022).
Conclusions
EndoPredict scores increased oncologists' and patients' decision‐making confidence, generally improving the matching of risk with therapy decisions.
Cyclin-dependent kinase 20 (CDK20), or more commonly referred to as cell cycle-related kinase (CCRK), is the latest member of CDK family with strong linkage to human cancers. Accumulating studies have reported the consistent overexpression of CCRK in cancers arising from brain, colon, liver, lung and ovary. Such aberrant up-regulation of CCRK is clinically significant as it correlates with tumor staging, shorter patient survival and poor prognosis. Intriguingly, the signalling molecules perturbed by CCRK are divergent and cancer-specific, including the cell cycle regulators CDK2, cyclin D1, cyclin E and RB in glioblastoma, ovarian carcinoma and colorectal cancer, and KEAP1-NRF2 cytoprotective pathway in lung cancer. In hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), CCRK mediates virus-host interaction to promote hepatitis B virus-associated tumorigenesis. Further mechanistic analyses reveal that CCRK orchestrates a self-reinforcing circuitry comprising of AR, GSK3β, β-catenin, AKT, EZH2, and NF-κB signalling for transcriptional and epigenetic regulation of oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. Notably, EZH2 and NF-κB in this circuit have been recently shown to induce IL-6 production to facilitate tumor immune evasion. Concordantly, in a hepatoma preclinical model, ablation of Ccrk disrupts the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment and enhances the therapeutic efficacy of immune checkpoint blockade via potentiation of anti-tumor T cell responses. In this review, we summarized the multifaceted tumor-intrinsic and -extrinsic functions of CCRK, which represents a novel signalling hub exploitable in cancer immunotherapy.
EMBARGOED - permanently
This paper was commissioned to support the research design activities of the Agricultural Policy Research in Africa (APRA) Consortium, generating new evidence on pathways to agricultural commercialisation, on the theme of social difference and women’s empowerment. First, the paper explores methodological approaches and key concepts that underpin the analysis of social difference, as people move along different pathways to commercialisation. It analyses social difference in terms of gender, age, wealth, ethnicity and indigeneity, while placing special emphasis on APRA’s focus of women’s empowerment. Second, the paper draws upon three key outcome criteria - which we identify as power relations, structures and mechanisms and distribution of resources - to analyse APRA’s hypotheses and research questions through a lens of social difference. Third, the paper explores avenues for inquiry at the level of household and community, sectoral changes and political-economic factors, bringing attention to the interconnections between individual, social structures and wider political-economic developments and makes recommendations for research questions in these areas.
Response gene to complement-32 (RGC-32) activates cyclin-dependent kinase 1, regulates the cell cycle and is deregulated in many human tumours. We previously showed that RGC-32 expression is upregulated by the cancer-associated Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in latently infected B cells through the relief of translational repression. We now show that EBV infection of naïve primary B cells also induces RGC-32 protein translation. In EBV-immortalised cell lines, we found that RGC-32 depletion resulted in cell death, indicating a key role in B cell survival. Studying RGC-32 translational control in EBV-infected cells, we found that the RGC-32 3′untranslated region (3′UTR) mediates translational repression. Repression was dependent on a single Pumilio binding element (PBE) adjacent to the polyadenylation signal. Mutation of this PBE did not affect mRNA cleavage, but resulted in increased polyA tail length. Consistent with Pumilio-dependent recruitment of deadenylases, we found that depletion of Pumilio in EBV-infected cells increased RGC-32 protein expression and polyA tail length. The extent of Pumilio binding to the endogenous RGC-32 mRNA in EBV-infected cell lines also correlated with RGC-32 protein expression. Our data demonstrate the importance of RGC-32 for the survival of EBV-immortalised B cells and identify Pumilio as a key regulator of RGC-32 translation.
The submillimeter galaxy (SMG) HERMES J105751.1+573027 (hereafter HLock01) at z = 2.9574±0.0001 is one of the brightest gravitationally lensed sources discovered in the Herschel Multi-tiered Extragalactic Survey. Apart from the high flux densities in the far-infrared, it is also extremely bright in the rest-frame ultraviolet (UV), with a total apparent magnitude mUV ≈19.7 mag. We report here deep spectroscopic observations with the Gran Telescopio Canarias of the optically bright lensed images of HLock01. Our results suggest that HLock01 is a merger system composed of the Herschel-selected SMG and an optically bright Lyman break-like galaxy (LBG), separated by only 3.3 kpc in projection. While the SMG appears very massive (M∗ ≈ 5×10^11 M⊙), with a highly extinguished stellar component (AV ' 4.3), the LBG is a young, lower-mass (M∗ ≈ 1×10^10 M⊙), but still luminous (10×L ∗ UV) satellite galaxy. Detailed analysis of the high signal-to-noise (S/N) rest-frame UV spectrum of the LBG shows complex kinematics of the gas, exhibiting both blueshifted and redshifted absorption components. While the blueshifted component is associated with strong galactic outflows from the massive stars in the LBG, as is common in most star-forming galaxies, the redshifted component may be associated with gas inflow seen along a favorable sightline to the LBG. We also find evidence of an extended gas reservoir around HLock01 at an impact parameter of 110 kpc, through the detection of C II λλ1334 absorption in the red wing of a bright Lyα emitter at z≈ 3.327. The data presented here highlight the power of gravitational lensing in high S/N studies to probe deeply into the physics of high-z star forming galaxies.
There is growing interest in the development of new technologies that capitalize on our emerging understanding of the multisensory influences on flavor perception in order to enhance human-food interaction design. This review focuses on the role of (extrinsic) visual, auditory, and haptic/tactile elements in modulating flavor perception and more generally, our food and drink experiences. We review some of the most exciting examples of recent multisensory technologies for augmenting such experiences. Here, we discuss applications for these technologies, for example, in the field of food experience design, in the support of healthy eating, and in the rapidly-growing world of sensory marketing. However, as the review makes clear, while there are many opportunities for novel human-food interaction design, there are also a number of challenges that will need to be tackled before new technologies can be meaningfully integrated into our everyday food and drink experiences.
The five Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden have perhaps the most aggressive and progressive climate, energy, and electricity policies in the world. This study asks: what are the greatest challenges to achieving the region’s low-carbon goals in the domain of electricity? To provide an answer, the authors conducted 227 semi-structured interviews with 257 participants from 201 institutions across seventeen cities within the Nordic region. Those interviewed represent a diverse array of stakeholders involved with electricity technology, policy and practice. Although respondents identified 40 distinct electricity challenges, the integration of renewables was by far the most frequently mentioned (14.5%) of the expert sample. Five other challenges were also mentioned the most frequently by respondents: electrification of transport and other sectors (10.6%), managing intermittency (8.8%), carbon intensity (8.4%), supporting local grids (8.4%), and adequate capacity (8.4%). Interestingly, items such as energy efficiency, consumer awareness, industry, energy security, and public opposition were mentioned by only 1.8% (or less). The article concludes by what this heterogeneity and prioritization of challenges means for future Nordic research and policy.
South Korea and Japan have adhered to an unwavering commitment to a nuclear-focused energy supply system despite the contested nature of that technology and the unprecedented Fukushima accident in 2011. In this study, we explore the socio-political consequences of four nuclear-related facilities (Ulju, Gyeongju, Futaba, and Rokkasho) through the lens of social peripheralisation. This framework suggests that nuclear facilities will migrate to communities that are geographically remote, economically marginal, politically powerless, culturally defensive, and environmentally degraded. We expand and test this framework in two ways: moving beyond the UK (where it was developed) and moving beyond only nuclear waste repositories (to include reactors, fuel processing, on-site storage, and other elements of the lifecycle). We find that nuclear infrastructures in our four cases are imposed on peripheral regions, impairing not only the structure of local economies and political power, but also creating a discriminative structure in terms of social and environmental inequality. Peripheralisation suggests a deeper dynamic by which pro-nuclear attitudes become “locked in” socially and culturally so that communities come to depend on the very processes that made them peripheral. Community dynamics, subnational struggles, and contests over local power relations may determine the future of nuclear power.
A low-cost Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) 4H-SiC 0.06 mm2 UV p-n photodiode was coupled to a low-noise charge-sensitive preamplifier and used as photon counting X-ray spectrometer. The photodiode/spectrometer was investigated at X-ray energies from 4.95 keV to 21.17 keV: a Mo cathode X-ray tube was used to fluoresce eight high-purity metal foils to produce characteristic X-ray emission lines which were used to characterise the instrument. The energy resolution (full width at half maximum, FWHM ) of the spectrometer was found to be 1.6 keV to 1.8 keV, across the energy range. The energy linearity of the detector/spectrometer (i.e. the detector’s charge output per photon as a function of incident photon energy across the 4.95 keV to 21.17 keV energy range), as well as the count rate linearity of the detector/spectrometer (i.e. number of detected photons as a function of photon fluence at a specific energy) were investigated. The energy linearity of the detector/spectrometer was linear with an error <± 0.7 %; the count rate linearity of the detector/spectrometer was linear with an error <± 2 %. The use of COTS SiC photodiodes as detectors for X-ray spectrometers is attractive for nanosatellite/CubeSat applications (including solar flare monitoring), and for cost sensitive industrial uses.
The use of the monoanionic Schiff base ligand (E)-4-(2-hydroxybenzylideneamino)-2,3-dimethyl-1-phenyl-1,2-dihydropyrazol-5-one in transition (Co, Ni and Cu) coordination chemistry yields mono-, tetra- and pentanuclear Coordination Clusters with different structural motifs. An organic transformation occurs in the ligand in the Cu compound for which theoretical studies are presented. Solution studies, topological issues and magnetic studies are discussed. The present results demonstrate the richness of the coordination chemistry of this monoprotic organic ligand, which promotes the formation of high-nuclearity CCs
The application by Great Ormond Street Hospital to court in respect of the future medical treatment of Charlie Gard was novel in that the Trust sought not only a declaration that it was lawful and in Charlie’s best interests to withdraw ventilation but further that it was not in Charlie’s best interests to be administered with an innovative therapy which had the effect of preventing a doctor in another hospital from administering it to him. It is not uncommon for parents to seek for novel, innovative, pioneering, or experimental treatment to be given to a seriously ill child although, to date, there have been few cases on this issue before the courts. Whilst parents are given a large degree of freedom to raise their children as they consider appropriate, limits have to be imposed upon what parents can demand their children are subjected to. All courts, from the Family Division of the High Court through the domestic appeal courts to the European Court of Human Rights and back to the Family Division of the High Court, affirmed the application of the best interests principle in such cases. In this article it is argued that the law should set those limits not merely according to the best interests of the individual child but also by whether the therapy is supported by a reasonable and competent body of professional opinion and in accordance with good medical practice.
We unbundle the effect of debt on economic growth using a new panel dataset sourced from Vague (2014) for 48 countries over the period 1961 to 2015. We distinguish between public, private, household, and non-financial corporation debt. We use the PVAR approach, Granger Causality Tests, and Impulse Response to establish causality. We also test the heterogeneity in the debt growth relationship across developed and developing countries. In our full sample of countries all types of debt appear to be harmful for economic growth. The negative effect of public debt appears to be uniform across developed and developing countries, although the impact is much stronger on developed countries. Household debt appears to be expansionary in developing countries whereas contractionary in developed countries. Non-financial corporation debt appears to have no impact on developing countries but negative impact on developed countries. Finally, total debt (i.e. the sum of public, household and non-financial corporation debt) has a negative impact on growth in developed countries but no impact is detected in the case of developing countries.
Background
Delays in diagnosis and treatment for malaria are associated with an increased risk for severe disease and mortality. Identifying the extent of patient and health system delay can provide a benchmark against which interventions to reduce delays can be measured.
Methods
We performed an electronic search in PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science and LILACS for studies reporting time to diagnosis and treatment after return from travel, onset of symptoms and seeking healthcare in non-endemic countries. Additionally, theses, conference proceedings and nationally reported surveillance data were also searched for information on time delays. There were no language restrictions and all the studies were assessed for methodological quality.
Results
Data from 69 papers out of 1719 identified records published between 2005 and 2017 were extracted; our findings show that median diagnosis delays of four or more days are common and patient delays accounted for a large proportion of diagnostic delay. There were limited data available on medical diagnostic delay.
Conclusion
Patient delays accounted for a large proportion of the overall diagnostic delay; however the retrospective nature of the studies could have overestimated patient delay since previous healthcare contacts were not included. Additionally, the high frequency of studies reporting a clinically significant delay is a major concern.
Gerard Delanty offers a critical interpretation of the European heritage today in light of recent developments in the human and social sciences, and in view of a mood of crisis in Europe that compels us to re-think the European past. One of the main insights informing this book is that a transnational and global perspective on European history can reorient the European heritage in a direction that offers a more viable way for contemporary Europe to articulate an intercultural identity in keeping with the emerging shape of Europe, and with its own often acknowledged past. He argues that the European heritage is based less on a universalistic conception of culture than on a plurality of interconnecting narratives. Such a perspective opens up new directions for scholarship and public debate on heritage that are guided by critical cosmopolitan considerations that highlight contention, resistances, competition, and dissonance. He argues that the specificity of the European dimension of culture is in the entanglement of many cultures rather than in an original culture. The cultures of Europe are not separated but have been shaped in close interaction with each other and with the non-European world. Nations are not therefore unique, exceptional, or fundamentally different from each other. The outcome of such intermingling is a multiplicity of ideas of Europe that serve as shared cultural reference points.
We apply a range of out-of-sample specification tests to more than forty competing stochastic volatility models to address how model complexity affects out-of-sample performance. Using daily S&P 500 index returns, model confidence set estimations provide strong evidence that the most important model feature is the non-affinity of the variance process. Despite testing alternative specifications during the turbulent market regime of the global financial crisis of 2008, we find no evidence that either finite- or infinite-activity jump models or other previously proposed model extensions improve the out-of-sample performance further. Applications to Value-at-Risk demonstrate the economic significance of our results. Furthermore, the out-of-sample results suggest that standard jump diffusion models are misspecified.
Currently, clinicians observe pain-related behaviors and use patient self-report measures in order to determine pain severity. This paper reviews the evidence when facial expression is used as a measure of pain. We review the literature reporting the relevance of facial expression as a diagnostic measure, which facial movements are indicative of pain, and whether such movements can be reliably used to measure pain. We conclude that although the technology for objective pain measurement is not yet ready for use in clinical settings, the potential benefits to patients in improved pain management, combined with the advances being made in sensor technology and artificial intelligence, provide opportunities for research and innovation.
A DVD release comprising five original musical compositions (composed 2015-2017) to accompany silent films ranging in dates from 1902 to 2016, all viewable on this disc. Including Brighton: Symphony of a City (2016) by Lizzie Thynne (University of Sussex). Also including an essay by Prof Mervyn Cooke (University of Nottingham). Cooke describes this album as 'a complex meditation on general issues of darkness and light, both moral and musical'. Released on Metier Records (USA) in February 2018.
The emergence of drug resistance threatens to destroy tuberculosis control programmes worldwide, with resistance to all first-line drugs and most second-line drugs detected. Drug tolerance (or phenotypic drug resistance) is also likely to be clinically relevant over the 6-month long standard treatment for drug-sensitive tuberculosis. Transcriptional profiling the response of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to antimicrobial drugs offers a novel interpretation of drug efficacy and mycobacterial drug-susceptibility that likely varies in dynamic microenvironments, such as the lung. This chapter describes the non-invasive sampling of tuberculous sputa and techniques for mRNA profiling M.tb bacilli during patient therapy to characterise real-world drug actions.
In the light of evidence that self-affirmation can mitigate the negative effects of stress on outcomes, this study tested whether a self-affirmation manipulation could improve undergraduate students’ achievement in a formal musical performance examination. The study also investigated the association between impulsivity and music performance and explored whether impulsivity moderated any impact of self-affirmation on exam performance. Methods: At baseline, participants provided demographic information and completed the UPPS-P Impulsive Behaviour Scale (short-form), which assesses five dimensions of impulsivity (negative and positive urgency, lack of premeditation, lack of perseverance, and sensation seeking). In the subsequent 14 days, participants (N = 65) completed either a self-affirmation manipulation or a control task, before reading a message about the impact of practice on music performance. Music performance was formally assessed 14 days later. Findings: Sensation seeking was the only dimension of impulsivity associated with exam performance, with participants high in sensation seeking receiving lower grades. Critically, self-affirmation promoted better music performance among those high in sensation seeking. Discussion: Self-affirmation may provide a useful intervention to augment the performance of musicians who would otherwise perform worse than their counterparts under formal evaluative circumstances, such as those high in sensation seeking.
Critical approaches may benefit epidemiological studies of sexual health. This article proposes a critical approach, reconcilable with social epidemiological enquiry. Key aims of critical epidemiology for sexual health are identified, from which three criticisms of practice emerge: (1) lack of attention to socio-cultural contexts, (2) construction of 'risk' as residing in the individual and (3) enactment of public health agendas which privilege and pathologise certain behaviours. These reflect and construct an apolitical understanding of population health. This article proposes features of a critical epidemiology that represent a morally driven re-envisioning of the focus, analysis and interpretation of epidemiological studies of sexual health.
Despite missing from the public debate, the rights and needs of children active in the labour market are in desparate need of reform. Nuno Ferreira outlines the shortcomings of the current framework, and explains how policymakers and academics could – and should – come to the rescue.
This thesis contains a detailed study of contemporary South Asian diasporic literary and cinematic works in English. The majority of the works analyzed and discussed are those produced from the 1980s onwards. My research investigates how selected diasporic texts and films from South Asia problematize representations of homeland and host spaces. I reveal in the course of this study, how these works, actively negotiate alternative modalities of belonging that celebrate the plurality of cultural identities within and outside the homeland. This exploration of diasporic narratives of homeland and host land is explored by examining these narratives across two mediums: the cinematic and the literary. In so doing, the thesis initiates a dialogue between the two mediums and locates these selected diasporic works within a larger tapestry of contemporary cultural, literary and global contexts. The thesis shows that these literary and filmic representations celebrate as well as present an incisive critique of the different cultural spaces they inhabit. The thesis also reveals how, in representing the experiences of multiple-linguistic, geographical, historical dislocations, these texts invite readers to see the changing faces of diasporic cultures and identities. My thesis complements this analysis of representation with a broader analysis of the reception of these diasporic works. My analysis sets out to move away from the critical tendency to scrutinize texts in relation to a politicized rhetoric of reception which privileges a reading of texts through insider/outsider binarism, by drawing together and contrasting academic and popular responses in the reception of diasporic texts. In so doing, my thesis reads these texts as agents of cultural production, focusing on interpretative possibilities of the literary critical mode of reading and enabling nuanced modes of analysis attentive to issues of diasporic identity, the identity of nation-states and the emergent global dynamics of migrant narratives.
The texts I analyze are Salman Rushdie‘s Midnight’s Children (1981) and The Satanic Verses (1988), Micheal Ondaatje‘s Running in the Family (1982) and Anil’s Ghost (2000), Rohinton
Mistry‘s A Fine Balance (1995), Mohsin Hamid‘s The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2007), and Hanif Kureishi‘s The Buddha of Suburbia (1990) and as well as two filmic texts, Mira Nair‘s The Namesake (2007) and Gurinder Chadha‘s Bend It Like Beckham (2001).
Predictive coding models, such as the ‘free-energy principle’ (FEP), have recently been discussed in relation to how interoceptive (afferent visceral feedback) signals update predictions about the state of the body, thereby driving autonomic mediation of homeostasis. . This study appealed to ‘interoceptive inference’, under the FEP, to seek new insights into autonomic (dys)function and brain-body integration by examining the relationship between cardiac interoception and autonomic cardiac control in healthy controls and patients with forms of orthostatic intolerance (OI); to (i) seek empirical support for interoceptive inference and (ii) delineate if this relationship was sensitive to increased interoceptive prediction error in OI patients during head-up tilt (HUT)/symptom provocation. Measures of interoception and heart rate variability (HRV) were recorded whilst supine and during HUT in healthy controls (N=20), postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTS, N=20) and vasovagal syncope (VVS, N=20) patients. Compared to controls, interoceptive accuracy was reduced in both OI groups. Healthy controls’ interoceptive sensibility positively correlated with HRV whilst supine. Conversely, both OI groups’ interoceptive awareness negatively correlated with HRV during HUT. Our pilot study offers initial support for interoceptive inference and suggests OI cohorts share a central pathophysiology underlying interoceptive deficits expressed across distinct cardiovascular autonomic pathophysiology. From a predictive coding perspective, OI patients’ data indicates a failure to attenuate/modulate ascending interoceptive prediction errors, reinforced by the concomitant failure to engage autonomic reflexes during HUT. Our findings offer a potential framework for conceptualising how the human nervous system maintains homeostasis and how both central and autonomic processes are ultimately implicated in dysautonomia.
In this work, we consider the advantages and challenges of using free-standing two-dimensional electron gases (2DEG) as active components in atom chips for manipulating ultracold ensembles of alkali atoms. We calculate trapping parameters achievable with typical high-mobility 2DEGs in an atom chip configuration and identify advantages of this system for trapping atoms at submicron distances from the atom chip. We show how the sensitivity of atomic gases to magnetic field inhomogeneity can be exploited for controlling the atoms with quantum electronic devices and, conversely, using the atoms to probe the structural and transport properties of semiconductor devices.
In galaxy clusters, efficiently accreting active galactic nuclei (AGN) are preferentially located in the infall regions of the cluster projected phase-space, and are rarely found in the cluster core. This has been attributed to both an increase in triggering opportunities for infalling galaxies, and a reduction of those mechanisms in the hot, virialised, cluster core. Exploiting the depth and completeness (98 per cent at r<19.8 mag) of the Galaxy And Mass Assembly survey (GAMA), we probe down the group halo mass function to assess whether AGN are found in the same regions in groups as they are in clusters. We select 451 optical AGN from 7498 galaxies with log 10 (M ∗ /M ⊙ )>9.9 in 695 groups with 11.53≤log 10 (M 200 /M ⊙ )≤14.56 at z<0.15 . By analysing the projected phase-space positions of these galaxies we demonstrate that when split both radially, and into physically derived infalling and core populations, AGN position within group projected phase-space is dependent on halo mass. For groups with log 10 (M 200 /M ⊙ )>13.5 , AGN are preferentially found in the infalling galaxy population with 3.6σ confidence. At lower halo masses we observe no difference in AGN fraction between core and infalling galaxies. These observations support a model where a reduced number of low-speed interactions, ram pressure stripping and intra-group/cluster medium temperature, the dominance of which increase with halo mass, work to inhibit AGN in the cores of groups and clusters with log 10 (M 200 /M ⊙ )>13.5 , but do not significantly affect nuclear activity in cores of less massive structures.
This article draws on interviews with 17 self-identified lesbian and bisexual women living in Havana, Cuba, focusing on state support for their family relationships. It examines some of the tensions and contradictions between international and national policy, and societal norms, some of which support LGBT people, and some of which do not. In many ways, Cuba is progressive and has actively protected women’s rights. However, non-heterosexual and gender non-conforming women appear to have been somewhat overlooked in the gains of the Revolution, as there are few specific policies protecting their rights. The key policy points participants raised were the need for same-sex marriage and the lack of assisted reproduction for those in same-sex relationships. Nonetheless, Cuba’s traditional non-nuclear family forms also provide some social space for LGBT parents and queer families.
On the basis of their large specific surface areas, high adsorption and cation exchange capacities, swelling potential and low toxicity, natural smectite clays are attractive substrates for the gastric protection of neutral and cationic drugs. Theophylline is an amphoteric xanthine derivative that is widely used as a bronchodilator in the treatment of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. This study considers the in vitro uptake and release characteristics of the binary theophylline-smectite system.
The cationic form of theophylline was readily ion exchanged into smectite clay at pH 1.2 with a maximum uptake of 67 ± 2 mg g−1. Characterisation of the drug-clay hybrid system by powder X-ray diffraction analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and scanning electron microscopy confirmed that the theophylline had been
exclusively intercalated into the clay system in an amorphous form. The drug remained bound within the clay under simulated gastric conditions at pH 1.2; and the prolonged release of approximately 40% of the drug was observed in simulated intestinal fluid at pH 6.8 and 7.4 within a 2-h timeframe. The incomplete reversibility of the intercalation process was attributed to chemisorption of the drug within the clay lattice. These findings indicate that smectite clay is a potentially suitable vehicle for the safe passage of theophylline into the duodenum. Protection from absorption in the stomach and subsequent prolonged release in the small intestine are advantageous in reducing fluctuations in serum concentration which may impact therapeutic effect and
toxicity.
A recent paper by Fielding, Fu & Franz (2017) argued that the brain’s reward response could occur without the presentation of actual reward. We suggest that since a) the event-related potentials reported in this paper are atypical of the previous literature, and, b) a simpler account of the data in terms of sensitivity to outcome frequency cannot be ruled out, the extent to which the brain’s reward response can occur without the presentation of actual reward should remain an open question.
Preparing for upcoming events, separating task-relevant from task-irrelevant information and efficiently responding to stimuli all require cognitive control. The adaptive recruitment of cognitive control depends on activity in the dopaminergic reward system as well as the frontoparietal control network. In healthy aging, dopaminergic neuromodulation is reduced, resulting in altered incentive-based recruitment of control mechanisms. In the present study, younger adults (18–28 years) and healthy older adults (66–89 years) completed an incentivized flanker task that included gain, loss, and neutral trials. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded at the time of incentive cue and target presentation. We examined the contingent negative variation (CNV), implicated in stimulus anticipation and response preparation, as well as the P3, which is involved in the evaluation of visual stimuli. Both younger and older adults showed transient incentive-based modulation of CNV. Critically, cue-locked and target-locked P3s were influenced by transient and sustained effects of incentives in younger adults, while such modulation was limited to a sustained effect of gain incentives on cue-P3 in older adults.
Overall, these findings are in line with an age-related reduction in the flexible recruitment of preparatory and target-related cognitive control processes in the presence of motivational incentives.
A model for the acoustic production of gravitational waves at a first order phase transition is presented. The source of gravitational radiation is the sound waves generated by the explosive growth of bubbles of the stable phase. The model assumes that the sound waves are linear and that their power spectrum is determined by the characteristic form of the sound shell around the expanding bubble. The predicted power spectrum has two length scales, the average bubble separation and the sound shell width when the bubbles collide. The peak of the power spectrum is at wavenumbers set by the sound shell width. For higher wavenumber k , the power spectrum decreases as k −3 . At wavenumbers below the inverse bubble separation, the power spectrum goes as k 5 . For bubble wall speeds near the speed of sound where these two length scales are distinguished, there is an intermediate k 1 power law. The detailed dependence of the power spectrum on the wall speed and the other parameters of the phase transition raises the possibility of their constraint or measurement at a future space-based gravitational wave observatory such as eLISA.
In 2016/2017, a financially-linked antibiotic prescribing quality improvement initiative (AMR-CQUIN) was introduced across acute hospitals in England. This aimed for >1% reductions in Defined Daily Doses / 1000 admissions of total antibiotics, piperacillin/tazobactam and carbapenems compared with 2013/2014 and improved review of empiric antibiotic prescriptions.
The European Union (EU) policy of gender mainstreaming has been discussed at length in the context of embedding gender equality into the EU’s internal market. The effectiveness of gender mainstreaming has been less analysed in other areas of EU competence. This PhD draws on feminist theory to explain the EU’s gendered treatment of vulnerable women within the asylum system. Using a range of theories of gender equality, notably separate spheres, radical feminism, and intersectional feminism, the thesis analyses the relevant asylum legislation, judgements and guidelines in international law, EU law and the national legal systems of two EU member states: the United Kingdom and Ireland. These feminist theories provided a perspective which allowed this research to explain how the EU has failed to address significantly and meaningfully the gendered aspects of the asylum system in member states. Despite the EU’s stated attempts to ensure through gender mainstreaming that the member states rely on a theory of gender equality which provides protection to women in the asylum system, this PhD found both that the EU has not sufficiently embodied an intersectional approach to gender and asylum and that member states are still more influenced by their national political culture and treatment of gender equality than that of the EU. This thesis uses that research to make recommendations at both an EU and national level to help the EU and its member states better incorporate gender mainstreaming in order to ensure human rights protection for vulnerable women. As the EU manages increasing refugee applications and increasing nationalist sentiment, this presents an opportunity to embed more thoroughly intersectional gender mainstreaming in both EU asylum policy and the EU’s political culture.
Portugal’s economic crisis was characterised by the experience of ‘all of the signs of overheating … without any acceleration of GDP’ (Deutsche Bank 2010). This chapter traces how the introduction of European Community/European Union (EU) facilitated ‘structural reforms’ throughout the 1980s and 1990s contributed to the development of new and dangerous patterns of debt-led growth. In the 1990s, a rejuvenated private banking sector drove the expansion of economic growth in Portugal’s non-tradable sector, damaging the country’s competitiveness and creating some of the highest levels of private debt in the EU. This trajectory of economic growth contributed to a decade of recession in the 2000s, ensuring that Portugal was particularly vulnerable to contagion from the Greek and Irish crises from 2010 onwards.
This book provides the knowledge necessary for succeeding in a world where companies increasingly work side-by-side with customers to create new products and services. It is a pivotal navigation tool that helps cruise the ocean of customer integration methods and explains how the methods work, when to choose which, and how to seize advantages while avoiding pitfalls.
This title is an essential read for research and development managers, marketing professionals, and other practitioners who are involved in new product development to apply customer integration methods effectively and efficiently to drive new product development success. While the application of methods is no guarantee of success, knowledge of the correct selection and appropriate application increases the probability of new product and service development success. Rich in theoretical frameworks, research findings, and practical information about customer integration methods, Innovation Heroes will help the reader appreciate the value of customers as an innovation resource and ways to profit from them.
Synesthesia is associated with additional perceptual experiences, which are automatically and consistently triggered by specific inducing stimuli. Synesthesia is also accompanied by more general sensory and cortical changes, including enhanced modality-specific cortical excitability. Extensive cognitive training has been shown to generate synesthesia-like phenomenology but whether these experiences are accompanied by neurophysiological changes characteristic of synesthesia remains unknown. Addressing this question provides a unique opportunity to elucidate the neural basis of perceptual plasticity relevant to conscious experiences. Here we investigate whether extensive training of letter-color associations leads not only to synesthetic experiences, but also to changes in cortical excitability. We confirm that overtraining synesthetic associations results in synesthetic phenomenology. Stroop tasks further reveal synesthesia-like performance following training. Electroencephalography and transcranial magnetic stimulation show, respectively, enhanced visual evoked potentials (in response to untrained patterns) and lower phosphene thresholds, demonstrating specific cortical changes. An active (using letter-symbol training) and a passive control confirmed these results were due to letter-color training and not simply to repeated testing. Summarizing, we demonstrate specific cortical changes, following training-induced acquisition of synesthetic phenomenology that are characteristic of genuine synesthesia. Collectively, our data reveal dramatic plasticity in human visual perception, expressed through a coordinated set of behavioral, neurophysiological, and phenomenological changes.
In this article, a robust and distributed incentive scheme for collaborative caching and dissemination in content-centric cellular-based vehicular delay-tolerant networks (REPSYS) is proposed. REPSYS is robust because despite taking into account first- and second-hand information, it is resilient against false accusations and praise, and distributed, as the decision to interact with another node depends entirely on each node. The performance evaluation shows that REPSYS is capable, while evaluating each node's participation in the network, of correctly classifying nodes in most cases. In addition, it reveals that there are trade-offs in REPSYS, for example, to reduce detection time of nodes that neither cache nor disseminate other nodes' data, one may sacrifice the system's resilience against false accusations and praise, or even, by penalizing nodes that do not disseminate data, one may temporarily isolate nodes that could contribute to data dissemination.
A series of novel oxazolo[5,4-d]pyrimidines was designed via a scaffold hopping strategy and synthesized through a newly developed approach. All these compounds were evaluated for their biological activity toward CB1/CB2 cannabinoid receptors, their metabolic stability in mice liver microsomes and their cytotoxicity against several cell lines. Eight compounds have been identified as CB2 ligands with Ki values less than 1 μM. It is noteworthy that 2-(2-chlorophenyl)-5-methyl-7-(4-methylpiperazin-1-yl) oxazolo[5,4-d]pyrimidine 47 and 2-(2-chlorophenyl)-7-(4-ethylpiperazin-1-yl)- 5-methyloxazolo[5,4-d]pyrimidine 48 showed CB2 binding affinity in the nanomolar range and significant selectivity over CB1 receptors. Interestingly, functionality studies imply that they behave as competitive neutral antagonists. Moreover, all tested compounds are devoid of cytotoxicity toward several cell lines, including Chinese hamster ovary cells (CHO) and human colorectal adenocarcinoma cells HT29.
We have produced a new Ebola virus pseudotype: E-S-FLU, which can be handled in biosafety level-1/2 containment for laboratory analysis. E-S-FLU is a single cycle influenza virus coated with Ebolavirus glycoprotein, and it encodes enhanced green fluorescence protein as a reporter that replaces the influenza haemagglutinin. MDCK-SIAT1 cells were transduced to express Ebolavirus glycoprotein as a stable transmembrane protein for E-S-FLU production. Infection of cells by E-S-FLU was dependent on Niemann-Pick C1 protein, which is the well-characterized receptor for Ebola virus entry at the late endosome/lysosome membrane. E-S-FLU was neutralized specifically by anti-Ebola glycoprotein antibody and a variety of small drug molecules that are known to inhibit entry of wild-type Ebola virus. To demonstrate the application of this new Ebola virus pseudotype, we show that a single laboratory batch was sufficient to screen a library (LOPAC®1280 Sigma) of 1280 pharmacologically active compounds for inhibition of virus entry. 215 compounds inhibited E-S-FLU infection, while only 22 inhibited the control H5-S-FLU virus coated in an H5 haemagglutinin. These inhibitory compounds have very dispersed targets and mechanisms of action e.g. calcium channel blockers, estrogen receptor antagonists, anti-histamines, serotonin uptake inhibitors etc. and this correlates with inhibitor screening results with other pseudotypes or wild-type Ebola virus in the literature. E-S-FLU is a new tool for Ebola virus cell entry studies and is easily applied to high throughput screening assays for small molecule inhibitors or antibodies.Importance Ebola virus is from the Filoviridae family and is a biosafety level 4 pathogen. There are no FDA-approved therapeutics for Ebola virus. These characteristics warrant the development of surrogates of Ebola virus that can be handled in more convenient laboratory containment to study the biology of the virus, and screen for inhibitors. Here we characterized a new surrogate named E-S-FLU, that is based on a disabled influenza virus core coated with the Ebola virus surface protein, but does not contain any genetic information from the Ebola virus itself. We show that E-S-FLU uses the same cell entry pathway as wild-type Ebola virus. As an example of the ease of use of E-S-FLU in biosafety level-1/2 containment, we showed that a single production batch could provide enough surrogate virus to screen a standard small molecule library of 1280 candidates for inhibitors of viral entry.
Lyssavirus infection has a near 100 % case fatality rate following the onset of clinical disease, and current rabies vaccines confer protection against all reported phylogroup I lyssaviruses. However, there is little or no protection against more divergent lyssaviruses and so investigation into epitopes within the glycoprotein (G) that dictate a neutralizing response against divergent lyssaviruses is warranted. Importantly, the facilities required to work with these pathogens, including wild-type and mutated forms of different lyssaviruses, are scarcely available and, as such, this type of study is inherently difficult to perform. The relevance of proposed immunogenic antigenic sites within the lyssavirus glycoprotein was assessed by swapping sites between phylogroup-I and -II glycoproteins. Demonstrable intra- but limited inter-phylogroup cross-neutralization was observed. Pseudotype viruses (PTVs) presenting a phylogroup-I glycoprotein containing phylogroup-II antigenic sites (I, II III or IV) were neutralized by antibodies raised against phylogroup-II PTV with the site II (IIb, aa 34–42 and IIa, aa 198–200)-swapped PTVs being efficiently neutralized, whilst site IV-swapped PTV was poorly neutralized. Specific antibodies raised against PTV-containing antigenic site swaps between phylogroup-I and -II glycoproteins neutralized phylogroup-I PTVs efficiently, indicating an immunodominance of antigenic site II. Live lyssaviruses containing antigenic site-swapped glycoproteins were generated and indicated that specific residues within the lyssavirus glycoprotein dictate functionality and enable differential neutralizing antibody responses to lyssaviruses.
This article examines a series of well-documented changes in post-war English higher education: the massification of, and increased differentiation within, the system, as well as changing relationships between credentials, skills and incomes. It offers an account of the new liberal arts degrees rapidly emerging at both elite and non-elite universities in England, explaining these as a response to, and negotiation of, an ever-changing higher-education landscape. Through an analysis of the promotional websites of the 17 English liberal arts degrees offered in the 2016-17 academic year, the article links their emergence to broader trends, while insisting that there are crucial differences in the ways in which elite and non-elite universities use new degrees to negotiate the higher education landscape.
The facile Copper-catalyzed synthesis of polysubstituted pyrroles from aldehydes, amines and β-nitroalkenesis reported. Remarkably, the use of α-methyl substituted aldehydes provide efficient access to a series of tetra- and pentasubstituted pyrroles via an overwhelming 1,2-phenyl/alkyl migration. The present methodology is also accessible to non α-substituted aldehydes yielding the corresponding trisubstituted pyrroles. On the contrary, the use of ketones, in place of aldehydes, does not promote the organic transformation signifying the necessity of α-substituted aldehydes. The reaction proceeds under mild catalytic conditions with low catalyst loading (0.3 – 1 mol %), a broad scope, very good functional-group tolerance, high yields and can be easily scaled up to more than 3 mmol of product, thus highlighting a useful synthetic application of the present catalytic protocol. Based on formal kinetic studies, a possible radical pathway is proposed that involves the formation of an allylic nitrogen radical intermediate, which in turn reacts with the nitroalkene to yield the desired pyrrole framework via a radical 1,2-phenyl or alkyl migration.
An apparent ‘big switch’ in attitudes towards and discourse over economic globalization has occurred since the turn of the Millennium. Economic globalization was formerly widely identified as being orchestrated in the interests of the global North. Sceptics, mostly left-leaning, expressed particular concern for its impacts in the global South. However, a recent backlash against globalization has emerged within the global North from the political right, while support for globalization has been expressed within the global South. This ‘big switch’ defies many theoretical predictions, and can be situated in relation to a shifting geography of global uneven development.
Despite the well-recognized role of loss-of-function mutations of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor interacting protein gene (AIP) predisposing to pituitary adenomas, the pituitary-speci c function of this tumor suppressor remains an enigma. To determine the repertoire of interacting partners for the AIP protein in somatotroph cells, wild-type and variant AIP proteins were used for pull-down/quantitative mass spectrometry experiments against lysates of rat somatotropinoma-derived cells; relevant ndings were validated by co-immunoprecipitation and co-localization. Global gene expression was studied in AIP mutation positive and negative pituitary adenomas via RNA microarrays. Direct interaction with AIP was con rmed for three known and six novel partner proteins. Novel interactions with HSPA5 and HSPA9, together with known interactions with HSP90AA1, HSP90AB1 and HSPA8, indicate that the function/ stability of multiple chaperone client proteins could be perturbed by a de cient AIP co-chaperone function. Interactions with TUBB, TUBB2A, NME1 and SOD1 were also identi ed. The AIP variants p.R304* and p.R304Q showed impaired interactions with HSPA8, HSP90AB1, NME1 and SOD1; p.R304* also displayed reduced binding to TUBB and TUBB2A, and AIP-mutated tumors showed reduced TUBB2A expression. Our ndings suggest that cytoskeletal organization, cell motility/adhesion, as well as oxidative stress responses, are functions that are likely to be involved in the tumor suppressor activity of AIP.
‘Love’ is the concept that almost every philosopher cannot prevent, but the more dimensions are explored and figured, the more unsettled the idea is. Academic attention has been paid to the positive element of love, such as need, belongingness, intimacy and even humanity. It is however represented quite differently in popular culture, which accentuates the negative side mostly around the experiences regarding uncertainty, disappointment and self-rejection. In this article, I propose to recognise the incommensurability between different loves in order to analyse critically the narratives and actions in the name of love and those which are against them. Through a poststructuralist lens, love is essence-less notwithstanding its dominance in our affective realm – it is a flux, which assembles and carries our emotions, but it is not an emotion. I hence challenge the presumed virtuousness and greatness of love in discursive practices, which normalise its normativity and supremacy over all social bonds. Following critically Deleuze and Guattari’s preference for ‘schizo love’ (vis-à-vis oedipal love), I argue that love is the ‘sum of affects’, and what is un-love is not hate but the absence of feelings – the non-presence in relation to others.
Background. Wellbeing issues are increasingly incorporated within conservation biology and environmental sciences, both in academic research and in applied policies such as the global sustainable development plans. The role of landscape on human wellbeing has been widely reported, but a comprehensive understanding of the role of soundscape has yet to be explicated. Research on the influences of sound on wellbeing has been conducted across a range of disciplines, but integration of findings is impeded by linguistic and cultural differences across disciplinary boundaries. This study presents the largest systematic literature review (2499 publications) of research to date, addressing the association between soundscape and human/ecological wellbeing.
Method. It is divided in two components: 1. rapid visualisation of publication metrics using the software VOS Viewer, and 2. analysis of the categories of wellbeing associated with soundscape using the natural language processing platform, Method52. The first component presents network diagrams created from keyword searches and cited references (lexical, temporal, spatial and source networks) that explain the origin and evolution of the field, the influences between disciplines and the main contributors to the field. Research on the topic, occurring mostly between 2004 and 2016, evolved from a medical/physiological focus, into technological and psychological/social considerations, and finally into ecological/social research.
Results. The evolution of the field was associated with the diversification of terminology and the evolution of new branches of research. Moreover, research appears to have evolved from the study of particular associations between sound and health, to an integrative multidimensional field addressing soundscape and wellbeing, across human and non-human species, including ecologically based studies. The second component includes a trained classifier that categorizes publications, based on keywords analysis, into three frameworks for understanding the association between soundscape and wellbeing: ‘Human health’, ‘Social and Cultural wellness’ and ‘Ecological integrity’.
Conclusion. This novel methodology is shown to be an effective tool for analysing large collections of data in short periods of time. In order to address the gaps found during the study, it is recommended to increase research conducted in and by non-western societies and in non-English languages, and the exploration of ecological and sociocultural aspects of wellbeing associated with soundscape.
Much of the motor impairment associated with Parkinson’s disease is thought to arise from pathological activity in the networks formed by the basal ganglia (BG) and motor cortex. To evaluate several hypotheses proposed to explain the emergence of pathological oscillations in Parkinsonism, we investigated changes to the directed connectivity in BG networks following dopamine depletion. We recorded local field potentials (LFPs) in the cortex and basal ganglia of rats rendered Parkinsonian by injection of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) and in dopamine-intact controls. We performed systematic analyses of the networks using a novel tool for estimation of directed interactions (Non-Parametric Directionality, NPD). Additionally, we used a ‘conditioned’ version of the NPD analysis which reveals the dependence of the correlation between two signals upon a third reference signal. We find evidence of the dopamine dependency of both low beta (14-20 Hz) and high beta/low gamma (20-40 Hz) directed interactions within the network. Notably, 6-OHDA lesions were associated with enhancement of the cortical “hyper-direct” connection to the subthalamic nucleus (STN) and its feedback to the cortex and striatum. We find that pathological beta synchronization resulting from 6-OHDA lesioning is widely distributed across the network and cannot be located to any individual structure. Further, we provide evidence that high beta/gamma oscillations propagate through the striatum in a pathway that is independent of STN. Rhythms at high beta/gamma show susceptibility to conditioning that indicates a hierarchical organization when compared to low beta. These results further inform our understanding of the substrates for pathological rhythms in salient brain networks in Parkinsonism.
This thesis looks at the diversity of living and ageing experiences in the Azores, exploring the complex intersections between migration, place and older people through a relational lens. It seeks to make a number of original contributions: mapping out the ageing–migration nexus within geographical research; bringing together, under a common theoretical framework, three different types of later-life migrants – labour, lifestyle and return migrants – seldom looked at in a comprehensive comparative manner; putting in dialogue the narratives of migrants and non-migrants; and tapping into a distinctive and, thus far, largely overlooked geographical setting – the Azores. This is a research dually ‘on the edge’: for its geographical focus on a nine-island archipelago remotely located in the North Atlantic, and by examining a migrant population chronologically ‘at the extreme’ of the age spectrum. The research is empirically grounded on in-depth life narrative interviews, complemented by other research techniques such as participant observation, a focus group, and photography.
The thesis offers several key findings: above all, it exposes later-life migration as fundamentally diverse and shaped by migrants’ aged, gendered, classed, and ethnicised subjectivities; ageing is seen as a fluid process and an ongoing social construct. Later-life (migration) should be viewed as not necessarily vulnerabilising, but potentially empowering and liberating; and later-life migration decision-making is found to be complex and multi-layered, showing that economic and lifestyle motives can no longer be analysed separately and that a holistic approach is crucial for a richer understanding of the migration process. Stemming from this, four themes emerge from older migrants’ living and ageing experiences in the Azores: ‘home’ and ambiguous belongings; cultures of ageing and ageing care; ageing in specific relation to place; and intimacy, loss and their negotiations. These show the importance of moving beyond simple binaries of older age as ‘progress’ or ‘decline’, and recognising later-life as an active negotiative process.
Celebrated as creative, flexible catalysts of inclusive capitalism, urban youth are central to bottom‐of‐the‐pyramid (BoP) models of development, which set out to repurpose the jobless as entrepreneurs in the making. We explore the multiple (at times conflicting) temporalities – the practices, technologies, and representations of time – which figure in a BoP initiative offering entrepreneurial opportunities to unemployed youth in Nairobi's slums: from the invocation of clock‐time discipline to the professional time of entrepreneurial subjectivities and the enchantments of the not‐yet. But the appeal of BoP, we suggest, does not turn either on the here‐and‐now of survival or on an impossible pipe dream of prosperity, but rather resides firmly in the medium term: a foreseeable future of modest desires, which nonetheless remain tantalizingly just out of reach for most. By examining how these temporal conflicts play out in attempts to fashion a cadre of self‐willed, aspiring entrepreneurs, we reveal the limits to entrepreneurial agency, and the contradictions inherent in the mission of (self‐)empowerment through enterprise upon which the ideology of inclusive markets is built.
Bioethical debates on the use of human embryos and oocytes for stem cell research have often been criticized for the lack of empirical insights into the perceptions and experiences of the women and couples who are asked to donate these tissues in the IVF clinic. Empirical studies that have investigated the attitudes of IVF patients and citizens on the (potential) donation of their embryos and oocytes have been scarce and have focused predominantly on the situation in Europe and Australia. This article examines the viewpoints on the donation of embryos for stem cell research among IVF patients and students in China. Research into the perceptions of patients is based on in-depth interviews with IVF patients and IVF clinicians. Research into the attitudes of students is based on a quantitative survey study (n=427). The empirical findings in this paper indicate that perceptions of the donation of human embryos for stem cell research in China are far more diverse and complex than has commonly been suggested. Claims that ethical concerns regarding the donation and use of embryos and oocytes for stem cell research are typical for Western societies but absent in China cannot be upheld. The article shows that research into the situated perceptions and cultural specificities of human tissue donation can play a crucial role in the deconstruction of politicized bioethical argumentation and the (often ill-informed) assumptions about “others” that underlie socio-ethical debates on the moral dilemmas of technology developments in the life sciences.
Background
Podoconiosis is a non-filarial elephantiasis, which causes massive swelling of the lower legs. It was identified as a neglected tropical disease by WHO in 2011. Understanding of the geographical distribution of the disease is incomplete. As part of a global mapping of podoconiosis, this study was conducted in Cameroon to map the distribution of the disease. This mapping work will help to generate data on the geographical distribution of podoconiosis in Cameroon and contribute to the global atlas of podoconiosis.
Methods
We used a multi‐stage sampling design with stratification of the country by environmental risk of podoconiosis. We sampled 76 villages from 40 health districts from the ten Regions of Cameroon. All individuals of 15-years old or older in the village were surveyed house-to-house and screened for lymphedema. A clinical algorithm was used to reliably diagnose podoconiosis, excluding filarial-associated lymphedema. Individuals with lymphoedema were tested for circulating Wuchereria bancrofti antigen and specific IgG4 in the field using the Alere Filariasis Test Strips (FTS) test and the Standard Diagnostics (SD) BIOLINE lymphatic filariasis IgG4 test (Wb123) respectively, in addition to thick blood films. Presence of DNA specific to W.bancrofti was checked on night blood using a qPCR technique.
Principal Findings
Overall, 10,178 individuals from 4,603 households participated in the study. In total, 83 individuals with lymphedema were identified. Of the 83 individuals with lymphedema, two were found to be FTS positive and all were negative using the Wb123 test. No microfilaria of W. bancrofti were found in the night blood of any individual with clinical lymphedema. None were found to be positive for W. bancrofti using qPCR. Of the two FTS positive cases, one was positive for Mansonella perstans DNA, while the other harbored Loa loa microfilaria. Overall, 52 people with podoconiosis were identified after applying the clinical algorithm. The overall prevalence of podoconiosis was found to be 0.5% (95% [confidence interval] CI; 0.4-0.7). At least one case of podoconiosis was found in every region of Cameroon except the two surveyed villages in Adamawa. Of the 40 health districts surveyed, 17 districts had no cases of podoconiosis; in 15 districts, mean prevalence was between 0.2% and 1.0%; and in the remaining eight, mean prevalence was between 1.2% and 2.7%.
Conclusions
Our investigation has demonstrated low prevalence but almost nationwide distribution of podoconiosis in Cameroon. Designing a podoconiosis control program is a vital next step. A health system response to the burden of podoconiosis is important, through case surveillance and morbidity management services.
This article explores the relationship between civility and diplomacy in the transnational commercial activities of traders from Afghanistan. The commodity traders on which the article focuses – most of whom are involved in the export and wholesale of commodities made in China - form long-distance networks that criss-cross multiple parts of Asia and are rooted in multiple trading nodes across the region, including the Chinese commercial city of Yiwu, Moscow, and Odessa. Much scholarship associates both diplomacy and civility with impression management and dissimulation and therefore identifies such modes of behaviour as being inimical to the fashioning of enduring ties of trust. Analysis of ethnographic material concerning the traders’ understandings of being diplomatic as well as the ways in which they seek to conform to contested local notions of civility, however, furnishes unique insights into the ways in which they build the social relationships and ties of trust on which their commercial activities depend. By exploring the interrelationship between civility and diplomacy, the article seeks to move anthropological debate beyond the question of whether civility is either a form of artifice premised on performance or a deeper ethical virtue in and of itself. It suggests, rather, the extent to which ambiguity, ambivalence, contradiction, and imperfection are an inbuilt aspect of the ways in which respect is communicated and evaluated, and ties of trust fashioned and maintained.
Keywords: civility, diplomacy, trade, trading networks, Afghanistan, commerce, trust, dissimulation
Surface waters are sometimes contaminated with neonicotinoids: a widespread, persistent, systemic class of insecticide with leaching potential. Previous ecotoxicological investigations of this chemical class in aquatic ecosystems have largely focused on the impacts of the neonicotinoid imidacloprid; few empirical, manipulative studies have investigated the effect on invertebrate abundances of two other neonicotinoids which are now more widely used: clothianidin and thiamethoxam. In this study, we employ a simple microcosm semi-field design, incorporating a one-off contamination event, to investigate the effect of these pesticides at field-realistic levels (ranging from 0 to 15 ppb) on invertebrate colonisation and survival in small ephemeral ponds. In line with previous research on neonicotinoid impacts on aquatic invertebrates, significant negative effects of both neonicotinoids were found. There were clear differences between the two chemicals, with thiamethoxam generally producing stronger negative effects than clothianidin. Populations of Chironomids (Diptera) and Ostracoda were negatively affected by both chemicals, while Culicidae appeared to be unaffected by clothianidin at the doses used. Our data demonstrate that field-realistic concentrations of neonicotinoids are likely to reduce populations of invertebrates found in ephemeral ponds, which may have knock on effects up the food chain. We highlight the importance of developing pesticide monitoring schemes for European surface waters.
There is widespread concern over the use of neonicotinoid pesticides in the agro-ecosystem, due in part to their high water solubility which can lead to widespread contamination of non-target areas including standing surface water. Most studies investigating the negative fitness consequences of neonicotinoids have focused on bees, with little research on the impact on other non-target insects. Here we examined the effect of exposure on the aquatic larval stages of the hoverfly Eristalis tenax L. (Diptera: Syrphidae) to a range of concentrations (control, 5, 15, 50, 100 and 500 ppb) of the neonicotinoid thiamethoxam; no published studies have thus far examined the effects of neonicotinoids on hoverflies. Survival was significantly lower when exposed to 500 ppb thiamethoxam, but this concentration exceeds that likely to be found in the field. We observed no effect on survival, development or any latent effects on adult activity budgets resulting from exposure to lower concentrations (up to 100 ppb). Our results suggest that E. tenax exposed as larvae to thiamethoxam are unlikely to be negatively impacted by this neonicotinoid under field conditions.
While the molecular details by which Hsp90 interacts with Sgt1 and Rar1 were previously described the exact stoichiometric complex that is formed remains elusive. Several possibilities remain that include two asymmetric complexes, Sgt12-Hsp902-Rar12 (two molecules of Sgt1 and Rar1 and one Hsp90 dimer) or Sgt12-Hsp902-Rar11 (with a single Rar1 molecule) and an asymmetric complex (Sgt11-Hsp902-Rar11). The Hsp90-mediated activation of NLR receptors (Nucleotide-binding domain and Leucine-rich Repeat) in the innate immunity of both plants and animals is dependent on the co-chaperone Sgt1 and in plants on Rar1, a cysteine- and histidine-rich domain (CHORD)-containing protein. The exact stoichiometry of such a complex may have a direct impact on NLR protein oligomerization and thus ultimately on the mechanism by which NLRs are activated. CD spectroscopy was successfully used to determine the stoichiometry of a ternary protein complex among Hsp90, Sgt1, and Rar1 in the presence of excess ADP. The results indicated that a symmetric Sgt12-Hsp902-Rar11 complex was formed that could allow two NLR molecules to simultaneously bind. The stoichiometry of this complex has implications on, and might promote, the dimerization of NLR proteins following their activation.
Abstract
The Anatomical Society has developed a series of learning outcomes that ‘experts’ within the field would recommend as core knowledge outputs for Master’s Degree Programme in Pharmacy (MPharm) within the UK. Using the Anatomical Society’s core gross anatomy syllabus for medical anatomy as a foundation, a modified Delphi technique was used to develop outcomes specific to pharmacy graduates. A Delphi panel consisting of medical practitioners, pharmacists and anatomists (n = 39) was created and involved ‘experts’ representing 20 UK Higher Education Institutions. The output from this study was 49 pharmacy specific learning outcomes that are applicable to all pharmacy programmes. The new MPharm anatomy syllabus offers a basic anatomical framework upon which pharmacy educators can build the necessary clinical practice and knowledge. These learning outcome could be used to develop anatomy teaching within an integrated curriculum as per requirements of the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).
We develop a lean readiness framework and an assessment methodology to quantify the readiness of healthcare institutions for implementing lean. We use stakeholder theory and work with a lean implementation team responsible for process improvement in a healthcare group to develop the framework. The framework uses fuzzy based input derived from the stakeholders of the healthcare institution to generate an overall ranking through ideal solution technique. The assessment method derives input from the readiness scores shared by various stakeholders. The ranking suggests future improvement areas to prepare the healthcare institution for a lean implementation project. We provide an alternative perspective of assessing the lean readiness of healthcare institutions before beginning a lean implementation project for both researchers and practitioners. Our research is the first to develop a lean readiness framework for healthcare institutions and demonstrate it using an assessment technique.
Background:
An understanding of the trends in tuberculosis incidence, prevalence, and mortality is crucial to tracking
of the success of tuberculosis control programmes and identification of remaining challenges. We assessed trends in the fatal and non-fatal burden of tuberculosis over the past 25 years for 195 countries and territories.
Methods:
We analysed 10 691 site-years of vital registration data, 768 site-years of verbal autopsy data, and 361 site-years of mortality surveillance data using the Cause of Death Ensemble model to estimate tuberculosis mortality rates. We analysed all available age-specific and sex-specific data sources, including annual case notifications, prevalence surveys, and estimated cause-specific mortality, to generate internally consistent estimates of incidence, prevalence, and mortality using DisMod-MR 2.1, a Bayesian meta-regression tool. We assessed how observed tuberculosis incidence, prevalence, and mortality differed from expected trends as predicted by the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a composite indicator based on income per capita, average years of schooling, and total fertility rate. We also estimated tuberculosis mortality and disability-adjusted life-years attributable to the independent effects of risk factors including smoking, alcohol use, and diabetes.
Findings:
Globally, in 2015, the number of tuberculosis incident cases (including new and relapse cases) was
10·2 million (95% uncertainty interval 9·2 million to 11·5 million), the number of prevalent cases was 10·1 million
(9·2 million to 11·1 million), and the number of deaths was 1·3 million (1·1 million to 1·6 million). Among individuals
who were HIV negative, the number of incident cases was 8·8 million (8·0 million to 9·9 million), the number of
prevalent cases was 8·9 million (8·1 million to 9·7 million), and the number of deaths was 1·1 million (0·9 million to 1·4 million). Annualised rates of change from 2005 to 2015 showed a faster decline in mortality (–4·1%
[–5·0 to –3·4]) than in incidence (–1·6% [–1·9 to –1·2]) and prevalence (–0·7% [–1·0 to –0·5]) among HIV-negative
individuals. The SDI was inversely associated with HIV-negative mortality rates but did not show a clear gradient for incidence and prevalence. Most of Asia, eastern Europe, and sub-Saharan Africa had higher rates of HIV-negative tuberculosis burden than expected given their SDI. Alcohol use accounted for 11·4% (9·3–13·0) of global tuberculosis deaths among HIV-negative individuals in 2015, diabetes accounted for 10·6% (6·8–14·8), and smoking accounted for 7·8% (3·8–12·0).
Interpretation:
Despite a concerted global effort to reduce the burden of tuberculosis, it still causes a large disease
burden globally. Strengthening of health systems for early detection of tuberculosis and improvement of the quality
of tuberculosis care, including prompt and accurate diagnosis, early initiation of treatment, and regular follow-up, are priorities. Countries with higher than expected tuberculosis rates for their level of sociodemographic development should investigate the reasons for lagging behind and take remedial action. Efforts to prevent smoking, alcohol use, and diabetes could also substantially reduce the burden of tuberculosis.
Memory loss is one of the first symptoms of typical Alzheimer's disease (AD), for which there are no effective therapies available. The precuneus (PC) has been recently emphasized as a key area for the memory impairment observed in early AD, likely due to disconnection mechanisms within large-scale networks such as the default mode network (DMN). Using a multimodal approach we investigated in a two-week, randomized, sham-controlled, double-blinded trial the effects of high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) of the PC on cognition, as measured by the Alzheimer Disease Cooperative Study Preclinical Alzheimer Cognitive Composite in 14 patients with early AD (7 females). TMS combined with electroencephalography (TMS-EEG) was used to detect changes in brain connectivity. We found that rTMS of the PC induced a selective improvement in episodic memory, but not in other cognitive domains. Analysis of TMS-EEG signal revealed an increase of neural activity in patients' PC, an enhancement of brain oscillations in the beta band and a modification of functional connections between the PC and medial frontal areas within the DMN. Our findings show that high-frequency rTMS of the PC is a promising, non-invasive treatment for memory dysfunction in patients at early stages of AD. This clinical improvement is accompanied by modulation of brain connectivity, consistently with the pathophysiological model of brain disconnection in AD.
In this paper we analyze a fully discrete numerical scheme for solving a parabolic PDE on a moving surface. The method is based on a diffuse interface approach that involves a level set description of the moving surface. Under suitable conditions on the spatial grid size, the time step and the interface width we obtain stability and error bounds with respect to natural norms. Furthermore, we present test calculations that confirm our analysis.
In this paper I conceptualise relational ageing in spatial and comparative terms by comparing the life stories and practices of Latvian women who migrated with those who did not. By counterposing the literatures on global care and gender contracts, I make a plea for a time- space attentive geographical approach to ageing migrants, their pre-migration experiences and ongoing relations between migrants and non-migrants. Firstly, I present some lesser-known dynamics of women-to-women (intra-gender) relations in these two groups. Secondly, I nuance relational effects in contexts when women are ageing but the man is absent from care responsibilities. And thirdly, I focus on cross-generational relations narrated and practised by ageing women abroad and those who stayed in Latvia throughout their lives.
The spectral index of scalar perturbations is an important observable that allows us to learn about inflationary physics. In particular, a detection of a significant deviation from a constant spectral index could enable us to rule out the simplest class of inflation models. We investigate whether future observations could rule out canonical single-field slow- roll inflation given the parameters allowed by current observational constraints. We find that future measurements of a constant running (or running of the running) of the spectral index over currently available scales are unlikely to achieve this. However, there remains a large region of parameter space (especially when considering the running of the running) for falsifying the assumed class of slow-roll models if future observations accurately constrain a much wider range of scales.
While attention to security has grown exponentially over the last few decades, militarism – the preparation for and normalization and legitimation of war – has not received the widespread and sustained focus it warrants in mainstream or critical circles. Rather than stake a claim for one concept over the other, however, this article – and the special issue to which it serves as an introduction – asks how we are to understand the relationship between security and militarism, both as analytical tools and as objects of analysis. We examine, first, what analytical and political work militarism and security do as concepts, and how they can be mobilized methodologically; second, what the possibilities are of fruitful exchange between knowledges produced about these concepts or practices; and, third, what the limits are of militarism and security. In the process, we address the shifts in the world that international relations and its related subfields study; shifts in the institutional framing and materiality of fields and subfields of research; and shifts in how international relations studies the world. Read together, the contributions to the special issue make the case for a reinvigorated focus on the mutual co-constitution of militarism and security.
Background
Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia is a common cause of severe community-acquired and hospital-acquired infection worldwide. We tested the hypothesis that adjunctive rifampicin would reduce bacteriologically confirmed treatment failure or disease recurrence, or death, by enhancing early S aureus killing, sterilising infected foci and blood faster, and reducing risks of dissemination and metastatic infection.
Methods
In this multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, adults (≥18 years) with S aureus bacteraemia who had received ≤96 h of active antibiotic therapy were recruited from 29 UK hospitals. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) via a computer-generated sequential randomisation list to receive 2 weeks of adjunctive rifampicin (600 mg or 900 mg per day according to weight, oral or intravenous) versus identical placebo, together with standard antibiotic therapy. Randomisation was stratified by centre. Patients, investigators, and those caring for the patients were masked to group allocation. The primary outcome was time to bacteriologically confirmed treatment failure or disease recurrence, or death (all-cause), from randomisation to 12 weeks, adjudicated by an independent review committee masked to the treatment. Analysis was intention to treat. This trial was registered, number ISRCTN37666216, and is closed to new participants.
Findings
Between Dec 10, 2012, and Oct 25, 2016, 758 eligible participants were randomly assigned: 370 to rifampicin and 388 to placebo. 485 (64%) participants had community-acquired S aureus infections, and 132 (17%) had nosocomial S aureus infections. 47 (6%) had meticillin-resistant infections. 301 (40%) participants had an initial deep infection focus. Standard antibiotics were given for 29 (IQR 18–45) days; 619 (82%) participants received flucloxacillin. By week 12, 62 (17%) of participants who received rifampicin versus 71 (18%) who received placebo experienced treatment failure or disease recurrence, or died (absolute risk difference −1·4%, 95% CI −7·0 to 4·3; hazard ratio 0·96, 0·68–1·35, p=0·81). From randomisation to 12 weeks, no evidence of differences in serious (p=0·17) or grade 3–4 (p=0·36) adverse events were observed; however, 63 (17%) participants in the rifampicin group versus 39 (10%) in the placebo group had antibiotic or trial drug-modifying adverse events (p=0·004), and 24 (6%) versus six (2%) had drug interactions (p=0·0005).
Interpretation
Adjunctive rifampicin provided no overall benefit over standard antibiotic therapy in adults with S aureus bacteraemia.
How can we know about children’s everyday lives in a digitally saturated world? What is it like to grow up in and through new media? What happens between the ages of 7 and 15 and does it make sense to think of maturation as mediated? These questions are explored in this innovative book, which synthesizes empirical documentation of children’s everyday lives with discussions of key theoretical and methodological concepts to provide a unique guide to researching childhood and youth. Researching Everyday Childhoods begins by asking what recent ‘post-empirical’ and ‘post-digital’ frameworks can offer researchers of children and young people’s lives, particularly in researching and theorising how the digital remakes childhood and youth. The key ideas of time, technology and documentation are then introduced and are woven throughout the book’s chapters. Research-led, the book is informed by two state of the art empirical studies – ‘Face 2 Face’ and ‘Curating Childhoods’ – and links to a dynamic multimedia archive generated by the studies.
We use measures of competitive pressure, administrative autonomy and staffing practices to explain the private-public performance difference in Australia, Portugal and Spain using the TALIS-PISA dataset. We employ OLS regression and counterfactual decomposition analysis on matched sub-samples. These school factors do not explain the overall private-public performance gap in the three countries except at the higher-end of the distribution. In other words, these factors appear to benefit only the high-performers in private schools in Australia and Spain. The results point to the potential limits of adopting private school practices for improving learning across the performance distribution especially for low-performing students.
Rationale, aims and objectives: Although medicine review services are offered by community pharmacists in many countries, they are non-existent in Italy. A novel intervention I-MUR, was developed for patients with asthma aiming to improve medicines use. The aim of this study was to obtain pharmacists’ and patients’ views on the acceptability of the I-MUR service provided by community pharmacists to asthma patients in four regions of Italy.
Methods: Pharmacists’ expectations, experiences and attitudes to delivering the I-MUR were obtained through questionnaires distributed before and after delivering the I-MUR, plus focus groups. Patients’ views were obtained via questionnaires, distributed by the pharmacists and returned anonymously.
Results: Seventy-four pharmacists provided the I-MUR service to 895 asthma patients; 49 pharmacists completed both questionnaires, 53 participated in focus groups and 246 patients returned questionnaires. Barriers anticipated most frequently by pharmacists before the I-MUR were lack of time (53%) and lack of co-ordination with other health professionals (61%), while lack of financial compensation was identified by 37%. Lack of co-ordination proved the most common actual barrier (88%), with lack of financial compensation being cited less frequently after providing the intervention (8%). Ninety-six percent of pharmacists anticipated providing both education on inhaler technique and medication counselling, but in practice slightly fewer had provided these (90% and 86% respectively). Focus groups highlighted a lack of relevant undergraduate education to support medication review and structural barriers within some pharmacies, but described positive patient feedback and desire to extend the I-MUR. Patients’ respondents were positive; 62% indicated the reason for having an I-MUR as making sure that they were using medication correctly, 75% considered they benefited from it and 86% would recommend it to others.
Conclusions: The I-MUR service was perceived positively by both pharmacists and patients, supporting the extension of medicine review services to community pharmacists in Italy.
There is a lack of Health-Technology-Assessment (HTA) tools in pharmacy practice and the collection of real-world-evidence (RWE) in community pharmacy to populate longer-term-disease-progression-modelling (1). This project is looking at the development and application of a novel Patient-Reported-Outcome- Measure (PROM) in community pharmacy that can enable: the evaluation of the quality of care delivered from the patient perspective in terms of economic impact, patient health outcomes and ‘utilities’; the collection of RWE and evaluate long-term effect of care; to provide different stakeholders with unique evidence-based information that help formulate health policies in community pharmacy that are safe, effective, patient-focused and cost-effective, balancing access to innovation and cost containment.
Evidence from the Italian-Medicine-Use-Review (I-MUR) trial (2) showed that the I-MUR intervention provided by community pharmacists to asthma patients is effective, cost-saving and cost-effective (3). The trial allowed to model a framework (I-MUR-HTA) that would enable to routinely deliver the intervention, but also collect and analyse PROM data on its clinical-effectiveness, quality-of-life and cost-effectiveness. I-MUR-HTA was discussed within three expert-panel discussions including policy-makers, commissioners, academics, healthcare-professionals and patient-representatives in Italy, United Kingdom and Europe. Current plan include testing the use of the tool in the real world environment.
Evidence collected from the panel discussions confirmed that I-MUR-HTA evidence-based information is relevant to meet current National-Health-Care-System plans and this is what is needed to support the evaluation of innovative effective and cost-effective health policies and promote their implementation across nations. Current Italian law on pharmacy services provides the appropriate institutional framework to regulate the introduction of I-MUR-HTA across the territory. Its implementation is underway and a real-world pilot is planned to take place in Italy.
I-MUR-HTA appears to be an innovative tool to promote active patient involvement into policy-decision-making and pharmacy-service.
Internationalisation is a dominant policy discourse in higher education today. It is invariably presented as an ideologically neutral, coherent, disembodied, knowledgedriven policy intervention - an unconditional good. Yet it is a complex assemblage of values linked not only to economic growth and prosperity, but also to global citizenship, transnational identity capital, social cohesion, intercultural competencies and soft power (Clifford and Montgomery 2014; De Wit et al. 2015; Kim 2017; Lomer 2016; Stier 2004). Mobility is the sine qua non of the global academy (Sheller 2014). International movements, flows and networks are perceived as valuable transnational and transferable identity capital and as counterpoints to intellectual parochialism. Fluidity metaphors abound as an antidote to stasis e.g. flows, flux and circulations (Urry 2007). For some, internationalisation is conceptually linked to the political economy of neoliberalism and the spatial extension of the market, risking commodification and commercialisation (Matus and Talburt 2009). Others raise questions about what/whose knowledge is circulating and whether internationalisation is a form of re-colonisation and convergence that seeks to homogenise higher education systems (Stromquist 2007). Internationalisation policies and practices, it seems, are complex entanglements of economic, political, social and affective domains. They are mechanisms for driving the global knowledge 2 economy and the fulfilment of personal aspirations (Hoffman 2009). Academic geographical mobility is often conflated with social mobility and career advancement (Leung 2017). However, Robertson (2010: 646) suggested that ‘the romance of movement and mobility ought to be the first clue that this is something we ought to be particularly curious about.’
We report the synthesis and characterization of a 3D Cu(II) coordination polymer, [Cu3(L1)2(H2O)8]·8H2O (1), with the use of a glycine-based tripodal pseudopeptidic ligand (H3L1 = N,N’,N’’-tris(carboxymethyl)-1,3,5-benzenetricarboxamide or trimesoyl-tris-glycine). This compound presents the first example of a 12-fold interpenetrated ths net. We attempt to justify the unique topology of 1 through a systematic comparison of the synthetic parameters in all reported structures with H3L1 and similar tripodal pseudopeptidic ligands. We additionally explore the catalytic potential of 1 in the A3 coupling reaction for the synthesis of propargylamines. The compound acts as a very good heterogeneous catalyst with yields up to 99% and loadings as low as 3 mol%.
Within this research methods case study, we discuss the case of an interpretive phenomenological study. We outline the methodology, the research process, and the challenges encountered. The project on which this is based explored the experiences of eight U.K. junior doctors with dyslexia. We use this real-life example of interpretive phenomenology to humanize it as a research process. We also highlight its use within a wider research project, concerning the experiences of medical students and junior doctors with dyslexia. Phenomenology is a qualitative methodology, which concerns itself with the study of lived experiences. There are two core and contrasting schools of phenomenology. They are “interpretive” and “descriptive.” Within descriptive phenomenological studies, the researcher is required to “bracket out” their prejudices and pre-conceived ideas before conducting the study. This is not the case within interpretive phenomenology, which instead embraces these in the design and analysis of the study. In this sense, it is well suited to insider-researchers. Seb, as an insider-researcher (a medical student with dyslexia), was therefore well placed to adopt an interpretive phenomenological approach for this study. As an experienced phenomenologist, John was also well placed to supervise it. The research process was emotionally demanding for Seb. However, his insider status helped to establish a sense of camaraderie with participants. He was also able to develop a truly empathic understanding of their experiences. In this sense, the interpretive elements applied through his insider status were used to the benefit of the study.
Within this Research Methods Case Study, we discuss the case of a collaborative autoethnography. We highlight the design process, the methods used, and the challenges encountered. The case takes the example of “Seb”—a UK medical student with dyslexia. We use his story as a real example of autoethnography, to humanize it as a research process. We also highlight its use as a supplementary piece of research to a wider, phenomenological study into the experiences of medical students with dyslexia. Through the use of an autobiographical account and an unstructured, in-depth interview, we were able to gather a wide set of data on Seb’s lived experiences as a medical student with dyslexia. Subsequently, the transcript and written account were both thematically analyzed and used to generate the narrative of the published article. Using a collaborate approach, the developing manuscript was refined over multiple drafts, with input from Alec—a leading authority on autoethnography. This was repeated until all three authors were happy that it was ready to submit for publication. The process of undertaking the autoethnographic study was emotionally taxing for Seb, and left him feeling incredibly vulnerable at times. It highlighted the importance of the relationship between a supervisor and supervisee when undertaking such a personal, emotive research project. These points are discussed and further contextualized within the main text of this case study.
This book is an introduction to Islamic Philosophy, beginning with its Medieval inception, right through to its more contemporary incarnations. Using the language and conceptual apparatus of contemporary Anglo-American ‘Analytic’ philosophy, this book represents a novel and creative attempt to rejuvenate Islamic Philosophy for a modern audience. It adopts a ‘rational reconstructive’ approach to the history of philosophy by affording maximum hermeneutical priority to the strongest possible interpretation of a philosopher’s arguments while also paying attention to the historical context in which they worked. The central canonical figures of Medieval Islamic Philosophy – al-Kindi, al-Farabi, Avicenna, al-Ghazali, Averroes – are presented chronologically along with an introduction to the central themes of Islamic theology and the Greek philosophical tradition they inherited. The book then briefly introduces what the author collectively refers to as the ‘Pre-Modern’ figures including Suhrawardi, Mulla Sadra, and Ibn Taymiyyah, and presents all of these thinkers, along with their Medieval predecessors, as forerunners to the more modern incarnation of Islamic Philosophy: Political Islam.
ABSTRACT
Background:
Amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a transitional stage between normal aging and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, the clinical conversion from MCI to AD is unpredictable. Hence, identification of non-invasive biomarkers able to detect early changes induced by dementia is a pressing need.
Purpose:
To explore the added value of histogram analysis applied to measures derived from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) for detecting brain tissue differences between AD, MCI and healthy subjects (HS).
Study type:
Retrospective.
Population/subjects:
Local cohort (57 AD, 28 MCI, 23 HS), Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) cohort (41 AD, 58 MCI, 41 HS).
Field Strength:
3T. Dual echo TSE; FLAIR; MDEFT; IR-SPGR; DTI.
Assessment:
Normal appearing white matter (NAWM) masks were obtained using the T1-weighted volumes for tissue segmentation and T2-weighted images for removal of hyperintensities/lesions. From DTI images, fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), axial diffusivity (AXD) and radial diffusivity (RD) were obtained. NAWM histograms of FA, MD, AXD and RD were derived and characterized estimating: peak height, peak location, mean value (MV), and quartiles (C25, C50, C75), which were compared between groups. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) and area under ROC curves (AUC) were
calculated. To confirm our results, the same analysis was repeated on ADNI dataset.
Statistical tests:
One-way ANOVA, post-hoc Student’s t-test, multi-class ROC analysis.
Results:
For the local cohort, C25 of AXD had the maximum capability of group discrimination with AUC of 0.80 for “HS vs patients” comparison and 0.74 for “AD vs others” comparison. For ADNI cohort, MV of AXD revealed the maximum group discrimination capability with AUC of 0.75 for “HS vs patients” comparison and 0.75 for “AD vs others” comparison.
Data conclusion:
AXD of NAWM might be an early marker of microstructural brain tissue changes occurring during AD course and might be useful for assessing disease progression.
Some literature on asexuality has claimed that it is inherently radical and contains the potential for resistance. Unfortunately, this literature has tended to be unempirical, has imagined asexuality as a disembodied entity, and has marginalised the multiple identities held by asexual people. This article, inspired by Plummer’s critical humanist approach, seeks to explore how individuals understand their asexuality to encourage forms of political action in the areas of identity, activism, online spaces, and LGBT politics. What we found was a plurality of experiences and attitudes with most adopting a pragmatic position in response to their social situation which saw large-scale political action as irrelevant. We conclude by reflecting on what these results mean for those who see asexuality as potentially radical.
Almost every traveller possesses some amount of leftover foreign currency, either as actual cash or on a travel currency card, at the end of any international trip. However, the means to exchange this leftover currency, coins in particular, is largely inconvenient often leading to considerable amounts discarded or left unused. In this paper, we explore how distributed ledger technology, i.e. blockchain, could be applied to the problem of utilizing this leftover foreign currency. We portray here the drawbacks of the existing systems of foreign currency exchange and delineate the requirements of a potential mobile web application for exchanging this currency by integrating smart kiosk based systems, particularly for handling cash, with a peer-to-peer currency exchange technique based on blockchain that could help to bring such currency back into circulation efficiently.
The Use of Force and International Law offers an authoritative overview of international law governing the resort to force. Looking through the prism of the contemporary challenges that this area of international law faces, including technology, sovereignty, actors and compliance and enforcements, this book addresses key aspects of the prohibition of the use of force: the general breadth and scope of the prohibition of the threat or use of force, what is meant by 'force', the use of force through the UN and regional organisations, the use of force in peacekeeping operations, the right of self-defence and the limitations upon this right, the controversial right of humanitarian intervention, forcible intervention in civil conflicts. Suitable for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students, academics and practitioners, The Use of Force and International Law offers a contemporary, comprehensive, and accessible treatment of the subject.
Objective Collaborative care (CC) improves depressive symptoms in people with comorbid depressive disorder in chronic medical conditions, but its effect on physical symptoms has not yet systematically been reviewed. This study aims to do so. Methods Systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted using PubMed, the Cochrane Library, and the European and US Clinical Trial Registers. Eligible studies included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of CC compared to care as usual (CAU), in primary care and general hospital setting, reporting on physical and depressive symptoms as outcomes. Overall treatment effects were estimated for illness burden, physical outcomes and depression, respectively. Results Twenty RCTs were included, with N = 4774 patients. The overall effect size of CC versus CAU for illness burden was OR 1.64 (95CI 1.47;1.83), d = 0.27 (95CI 0.21;0.33). Best physical outcomes in CC were found for hypertension with comorbiddepression. Overall, depression outcomes were better for CC than for CAU. Moderator analyses did not yield statistically significant differences. Conclusions CC is more effective than CAU in terms of illness burden, physical outcomes and depression, in patients with comorbid depression in chronic medical conditions. More research covering multiple medical conditions is needed. Protocol registration number The protocol for this systematic review and meta-analysis has been registered at the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) on February 19th 2016: http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/DisplayPDF.php?ID=CRD42016035553. © 2017 Elsevier Inc.
The buoyancy-induced flow and heat transfer inside the compressor rotors of gas-turbine engines affects the stresses and radial growth of the compressor disks, and it also causes a temperature rise in the axial throughflow of cooling air through the center of the disks. In turn, the radial growth of the disks affects the radial clearance between the rotating compressor blades and the surrounding stationary casing. The calculation of this clearance is extremely important, particularly in aeroengines where the increase in pressure ratios results in a decrease in the size of the blades. In this paper, a published theoretical model—based on buoyancy-induced laminar Ekman-layer flow on the rotating disks—is extended to include laminar free convection from the compressor shroud and forced convection between the bore of the disks and the axial throughflow. The predicted heat transfer from these three surfaces is then used to calculate the temperature rise of the throughflow. The predicted temperatures and Nusselt numbers are compared with measurements made in a multicavity compressor rig, and mainly good agreement is achieved for a range of Rossby, Reynolds, and Grashof numbers representative of those found in aeroengine compressors. Owing to compressibility effects in the fluid core between the disks—and as previously predicted—increasing rotational speed can result in an increase in the core temperature and a consequent decrease in the Nusselt numbers from the disks and shroud.
This thesis examines the implementation of anti-social behaviour (ASB) tools and powers in England and Wales. The main focus of this thesis is to assess how the 2014 amendments to the ASB regime have been implemented and to explore whether this resulted in the indirect criminalisation of certain kinds of behaviour. Although, in theory, the rationale underpinning these measures (such as the Part 1 injunction) is the prevention of further ASB, the ambiguous drafting of the relevant legislation in conjunction with the significant degree of discretion granted to local enforcement agents appear to allow for the imposition of sanctions akin to criminal punishment. Central to this thesis is the assumption that despite the preventive nature of these measures, it is essential to look beyond the official classification of legal rules (ie, ASB rules as non-criminal) and investigate how these have been implemented in practice. To achieve this, a working definition of criminalisation is formulated in order to determine whether the rules in question should be regarded as criminal or non-criminal.
The theoretical analysis of criminalisation and of the relevant legislation relating to ASB was complemented by empirical data collected through twenty-nine interviews in two counties in England. As part of the empirical study, semi-structured interviews with local practitioners and police officers were conducted.
The findings of this research do not only shed light on the implementation of the 2014 amendments, but they also challenge a number of preconceptions regarding criminalisation and the administration of ASB. This research found that in most cases the implementation of these measures did not result in the indirect criminalisation of ASB based on the working definition of criminalisation formulated in this thesis. The study found that although the administration of ASB is primarily risk-driven, it was also informed by a number of other factors, such as the need to address the underlying causes of the behaviour in question. However, the study also found that there was, in some cases, scope for the implementation of ASB measures to be used as a means of criminalisation. This meant that non-criminal conduct could be criminalised indirectly.
The Saharan heat low (SHL) is a key component of the West African climate system and an important 10 driver of the West African Monsoon across a range of timescales of variability. The physical mechanisms driving the variability in the SHL remain uncertain, although water vapour has been implicated as of primary importance. Here, we quantify the independent effects of variability in dust and water vapour on the radiation budget and atmospheric heating of the region using a radiative transfer model configured with observational input data from the Fennec field campaign at the location of Bordj Badji Mokhtar (BBM) in southern Algeria (0.9E, 21.4N), close 15 to the SHL core, for June 2011. Overall, we find dust aerosol and water vapour to be of similar importance in driving variability in the top of atmosphere (TOA) radiation budget and therefore the column integrated heating over the SHL (~7 W m-2 per standard deviation of dust AOD). As such we infer that SHL intensity is likely to be similarly enhanced by the effects of dust and water vapour surge events. However, the details of the processes differ. Dust generates substantial radiative cooling at the surface (~11 W m-2 per standard deviation of dust AOD), 20 presumably leading to reduced sensible heat flux into the boundary layer, which is more than compensated by direct radiative heating from SW absorption by dust in the dusty boundary layer. In contrast water vapour invokes a radiative warming at the surface of ~6 W m-2 per standard deviation of column integrated water vapour in Kg m-2. Net effects involve a pronounced net atmospheric radiative convergence with heating rates on average of 0.5 K day-1 and up to 6 K day-1 during synoptic/meso-scale dust events from monsoon surges and convective cold 25 pool outflows (‘haboobs’). On this basis we make inferences on the processes driving variability in the SHL associated with radiative and advective heating/cooling. Depending on the synoptic context over the region processes driving variability involve both independent effects of water vapour and dust and compensating events in which dust and water vapour are co-varying. Forecast models typically have biases of up to 2 kg m-2 in column integrated water vapour (equivalent to a change in 2.6 W m-2 TOA net flux) and typically lack variability in dust, 30 and so are expected to poorly represent these couplings. An improved representation dust and water vapour and quantification of associated radiative impact is thus imperative in quest for the answer to what remains to be uncertain related with the climate system of the SHL region.
Today, electronics are implemented on rigid substrates. However, many objects in daily-life are not rigid — they are bendable, stretchable and even foldable. Examples are paper, tapes, our body, our skin and textiles. Until today there is a big gap between electronics and bendable daily-life items. Concerning this matter, the DFG Priority Program FFlexCom aims at paving the way for a novel research area: Wireless communication systems fully integrated on an ultra-thin, bendable and flexible piece of plastic or paper. The Program encompasses 13 projects led by 25 professors. By flexibility we refer to mechanical flexibility, which can come in flavors of bendability, foldability and, stretchability. In the last years the speed of flexible devices has massively been improved. However, to enable functional flexible systems and operation frequencies up to the sub-GHz range, the speed of flexible devices must still be increased by several orders of magnitude requiring novel system and circuit architectures, component concepts, technologies and materials.
This paper presents an On-Off-Keying (OOK) modulator for a flexible and wearable wireless transmitter implemented in an amorphous-Indium-Gallium-Zinc-Oxide (a-IGZO) TFT technology. The circuit consists of a three-stage ring oscillator for the carrier and an output driver with an OOK modulation switch, realized with just five transistors. In order to maximize the operation frequency, we use 2 μm-long nMOS transistors in the circuit design. The proposed OOK modulator is fabricated on a polyimide flexible substrate, and characterized with 3-to-5 V supply voltages and an output load capacitance of 15 pF. The circuit operates from the lowest supply voltage of 3 V, while the highest measured oscillation frequency is 3.76 MHz at 5 V V DD . Although the schematic is simple and straight forward, the equivalent modulation depth ranges from 61.3 % to 78.2 %, which can be detected with an existing AM/OOK receiver in the same technology. The power consumptions for 3 V and 5 V supply voltages are 2.15 mW and 6.77 mW, respectively.
Asthma prevalence is increasing and the economic loss due to lack of asthma control is €72 billion in EU 28. Pharmacists have a role to play, and a bespoke novel pharmacist-led intervention for asthma patients, called Italian Medicines Use Review (I-MUR), has shown both effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. The I-MUR intervention enables asthma patients to optimise the effect of their medications. This study aimed at assessing the mismatch between patients’ attitude-perception towards their medications and their complaints during the I-MUR service provision. The I-MUR was provided in four different Italian locations; data were collected and analysed using descriptive statistics, optimal scaling and contingency tables. The number of pharmacists and asthma patients involved in the study was 74 and 895 respectively. The majority of patients (72%) did not believe that they had problems with their medications, 78% confirmed that they had full knowledge and understanding of their medications, 75% said that their medications were working and 45% confirmed that they missed a dose. The number of patients who raised complaints was 683 (76%) and the number of complaints raised by each patient ranged between 1 to 5. Only 18% of the patient population reporter having neither medicine-related problems nor asthma-related complaints. The use of optimal scaling and contingency tables unveiled the mismatch between patients’ attitude-perception towards their medicines and the type and number of complaints raised by them during the I-MUR service provision.
In this e-mail interview conducted in 2016, author and scholar Shirley Geok-lin Lim addresses the changing social and political conditions in the United States. Lim discusses the affective relationship between aesthetics and politics in her work, the anxiety of multilingual stylistics, and the in-between nature of the transnation. She also reflects on the academic marginalization she has experienced as a result of her immigrant designation and subjectivity, as well as the indirect influence of China and Chineseness on her writing. Commenting on her memoir Among the White Moon Faces, Lim notes the difficulty of titling, and addresses the impact of anglophone literature upon her during her colonial Malaysian upbringing.
Abstract
The Anatomical Society has developed a series of learning outcomes in consultation with nursing educators delivering anatomical content to undergraduate (preregistration) nursing students. A Delphi panel methodology was adopted to select experts within the field that would recommend core anatomical content in undergraduate nursing programmes throughout the UK. Using the Anatomical Society’s Core Gross Anatomy Syllabus for Medical Students as a foundation, a modified Delphi technique was used to develop discipline specific outcomes to nursing graduates. The Delphi panel consisted of 48 individuals (n = 48) with a minimum of 3 years’ experience teaching anatomy to nursing students, representing a broad spectrum of UK Higher Education Institutions. The output from this study was 64 nursing specific learning outcomes in anatomy that are applicable to all undergraduate (preregistration) programmes in the UK. The new Core Anatomy Syllabus for Undergraduate Nursing offers a basic anatomical framework upon which nurse educators, clinical mentors and nursing students can underpin their clinical practice and knowledge. The learning outcomes presented may be used to develop anatomy teaching within an integrated nursing curriculum.
Shared storybook readings with an adult provide children with opportunities to imagine different worlds, experiment with new ideas and be inspired. Existing research shows that shared storybook reading also supports word learning. To date the role of attention in word learning from shared storybooks has been largely overlooked. The aims of this research programme were to investigate how changes to storybook reading interactions, or storybook formats might influence children’s word learning by making target words and objects more or less salient using various attentional manipulations which could be used in the real world.
Chapter 1 provides an introduction and literature review. Chapter 2 presents a multi-level meta-analysis of studies of word comprehension from shared storybook reading. Empirical chapters (Chapters 3-6) use bespoke storybooks controlling for story length and number of exposures to novel vocabulary to examine children’s word learning from storybooks. Participants are 3- and 4-year-old typically developing children. In Chapter 3 children’s eye movements are recorded while they are presented with repeated or different stories. We find no evidence of differences in eye movements or word learning between conditions. Chapter 4 demonstrates that presenting storybooks one page at a time (as in Chapter 3) improves word learning compared with when two pages are displayed at a time. Chapter 5 investigates whether illustration complexity (Experiment 1) or salient illustration features (Experiment 2a and b) affect children’s learning of the depicted novel words. We found no evidence to support this with the stimuli we used. Chapter 6 investigated the role of storybook repetition in learning new words and the development of narrative skills.
Overall, the research programme supports the idea that children’s word learning can best be supported by storybooks and reading styles which provide a suitable level of informational content and adult scaffolding from which they can learn.
Quantum field theories are considered fundamental provided they remain well-defined and predictive up to highest energies. Important such examples are known as asymptotic freedom and asymptotic safety where the high energy behaviour is controlled by a free or interacting fixed point under the renormalisation group, respectively. The focus of this thesis is the prospect of asymptotic safety for gauge theories and gravity. We are particularly interested in regimes where asymptotic safety arises at parametrically small coupling such as in large-N limits, where N relates to the degrees of freedom.
Specifically, in the first part, we investigate exact ultraviolet (UV) fixed points of recently discovered four-dimensional gauge Yukawa theories in the Veneziano limit of SU(N) gauge theories coupled to matter. We include higher dimensional scalar self-interactions. Our main tools are perturbation theory in conjunction with non-perturbative \functional" renormalisation group (RG) techniques. It is established that classically irrelevant couplings take well-defined interacting fixed point values of their own, despite of their non-renormalisability within perturbation theory. We also establish vacuum stability, and show that higher order couplings remain parametrically irrelevant with near-Gaussian scaling exponents. Our results provide a crucial consistency check for exact asymptotic safety of weakly coupled gauge theories.
Secondly, we perform a large-N study for quantum Einstein gravity. The main novelty here is that the number of space-time dimensions D takes the role of the number of degrees of freedom. We then derive and analyse renormalisation group equations within a 1/D expansion, also comparing the so-called single and bimetric approximations and the gauge-fixing dependence of results. In either of the cases we find an asymptotically safe gravitational fixed point and a finite radius of convergence in the 1/D expansion. We discuss the consistency of our results in comparison with previous findings, and in the light of the asymptotic safety conjecture for gravity in four dimensions.
Background Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) polymorphisms play an essential role in dopamine availability in the brain. However, there has been no study investigating whether a functional four-SNP (rs6269-rs4633-rs4818-rs4680) haplotype is associated with affective symptoms over the life course. Methods We tested this using 2,093 members of the Medical Research Council National Survey of Health and Development (MRC NSHD), who had been followed up since birth in 1946, and had data for COMT genotypes, adolescent emotional problems (age 13-15) and at least one measure of adult affective symptoms at ages 36, 43, 53, or 60-64 years. First, differences in the levels of affective symptoms by the functional haplotype using SNPs rs6269, rs4818, and rs4680 were tested in a structural equation model framework. Second, interactions between affective symptoms by COMT haplotype were tested under an additive model. Finally, a quadratic regressor (haplotype2) was used in a curvilinear model, to test for a possible inverted-U trend in affective symptoms according to COMT-related dopamine availability. Results Women had a significant interaction between COMT haplotypes and adolescent emotional problem on affective symptoms at age 53. Post hoc analysis showed a significant positive association between adolescent emotional problems and affective symptoms at age 53 years in the middle dopamine availability group (valA/valB or met/met; β = .11, p = .007). For men, no significant interactions were observed. Conclusions Combination of the COMT functional haplotype model and inverted-U model may shed light on the effect of dopaminergic regulation on the trajectory of affective symptoms over the life course.
Optimization of stochastic epidemic information dissemination plays a significant role in enhancing the reliability of epidemic networks. This letter proposes a multi-stage decision making optimization model for stochastic epidemic information dissemination based on dynamic programming, in which uncertainties in a dynamic environment are taken into account. We model the inherent bimodal dynamics of general epidemic mechanisms as a Markov chain, and a state transition equation is proposed based on this Markov chain. We further derive optimal policies and a theoretical closed-form expression for the maximal expected number of successfully delivered messages. The properties of the derived model are theoretically analyzed. Simulation results show an improvement in reliability, in terms of accumulative number of successfully delivered messages, of epidemic information dissemination in stochastic situations.
Although an abundant literature documents preliterate children’s word learning success from shared storybook reading, a full synthesis of the factors which moderate these word learning effects has been largely neglected. This meta-analysis included 38 studies with 2,455 children, reflecting 110 effect sizes, investigating how reading styles, story repetitions, tokens and related factors moderate children’s word comprehension, while adjusting for the number of target words. Dialogic reading styles, tokens, and the number of words tested all moderated word learning effects. Children’s age, who read the story, and time between story and test were not moderators. We identify story repetition and word types as topics which merit further research. These results provide information to guide researchers and educators alike to the factors with the greatest impact on improving word learning from shared storybook reading
We analyse 289,443 online tweets from StockTwits and construct a divergence of opinion (disagreement) indicator for investigating the impact of disagreement on stock returns and trading volume. We find that the impact of disagreement on returns is asymmetric; it is negative (positive) during bull (bear) market periods. We also find that higher online disagreement increases trading volume; this effect is detected irrespective of whether the market is bullish or bearish. Moreover, portfolio strategies that are designed on the basis of our disagreement indicator are shown to generate abnormal profits. Overall, our results confirm the important role of belief dispersion in financial markets.
Two experiments were conducted to explore whether perspective influences the way readers engage with and process emotional information while reading. Texts presenting characters in an emotional situation from either a personal or an onlooker perspective were presented and reading times were measured for each sentence. Participants also provided emotional self-ratings after reading. In the first experiment, positive texts were processed with greater ease, especially when readers experienced the texts from a personal perspective. In Experiment 2, an emotional match/mismatch was inserted so that a final explicit emotion word either matched or mismatched the emotional valence of the text. Mismatch effects were stronger and more consistent for the personal perspective. The two experiments provide evidence that the perspective of the reader can influence emotion processing. Processing of emotional information was easier for the personal perspective, and readers were more sensitive to inconsistent emotional information from that perspective.
Background: Near-peer teaching is used in anatomy education because of its benefits to the learner, teacher and faculty. Despite the range of reports focusing on the learner, the advantages for the teacher, which are thought to include communication skills, subject knowledge and employability, are only beginning to be explored.
Method: A questionnaire was distributed to the teachers involved in anatomy near-peer teaching at the University of Southampton and Brighton and Sussex Medical School. This questionnaire was designed using 0-10 rating scales to assess teacher perspectives on their level of knowledge, teaching skills and enjoyment of teaching. Free text responses determined the teachers’ motivation and perceived benefits from the teaching.
Results: Twenty-eight questionnaires were gathered (54.9% response rate) including 20 from Southampton and 8 from BSMS. Long term knowledge retention and better understanding of the material were rated 8.1 and 7.9 out of 10 respectively. Eight responses were from currently practising doctors, who rated how much they now use their teaching skills as doctors as 8.9 out of 10. Of the 8 doctors, 7 gained points for their foundation programme applications as a direct result of near-peer teaching. The most common motivator for engaging in teaching was to improve subject matter knowledge and the most common benefit was improved communication skills.
Discussion: There are numerous advantages to being a near-peer teacher in medical school, which include knowledge improvement, transferrable professional skills and employability. These initial results support the hypothesised benefits to the teachers and provide a foundation for further longitudinal studies.
Background: Thirty-percent of patients with epilepsy are drug-resistant, and might benefit from effective noninvasive therapeutic interventions. Evidence is accumulating on the efficacy of autonomic biofeedback therapy using galvanic skin response (GSR; an index of sympathetic arousal) in treating epileptic seizures. This study aimed to extend previous controlled clinical trials of autonomic biofeedback therapy with a larger homogeneous sample of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy. In addition, we used neuroimaging to characterize neural mechanisms of change in seizure frequency following the therapy.
Methods: Forty patients with drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) (age: 18 to 70 years old), on stable doses of anti-epileptic medication, were recruited into a controlled and parallel-group trial from three screening centers in the UK. Patients were allocated to either an active intervention group, who received therapy with GSR biofeedback, or a control group, who received treatment as usual. Allocation to the group was informed, in part, by whether patients could travel to attend repeated therapy sessions (non-randomized). Measurement of outcomes was undertaken by an assessor blinded to the patients' group membership. Resting-state functional and structural MRI data were acquired before and after one month of therapy in the therapy group, and before and after a one-month interval in the control group. The percentage change of seizure frequency was the primary outcome measure. The analysis employed an intention–to–treat principle. The secondary outcome was the change in default mode network (DMN) and limbic network functional connectivity tested for effects of therapy. The trial was registered with the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) portfolio (ID 15967).
Findings: Data were acquired between May 2014 and October 2016. Twenty participants were assigned to each group. Two patients in the control group dropped out before the second scan, leaving 18 control participants. There was a significant difference in reduction of seizure frequency between the therapy and control groups (p b 0.001: Mann Whitney U Test). The seizure frequency in the therapy group was significantly reduced (p b 0.001: Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test) following GSR biofeedback, with a mean seizure reduction of 43% (SD= ± 32.12,median=−37.26, 95% CI -58.02% to −27.96%). No significant seizure reduction was observed in the control group, with a mean increase in seizure frequency of 31% (SD = ±88.27, median= 0, 95% CI −12.83% to 74.96%). The effect size of group comparison was 1.14 (95% CI 0.44 to 1.82). 45% of patients in the therapy group showed a seizure reduction of N50%. Neuroimaging analysis revealed that post-therapy seizure reduction was linearly correlated with enhanced functional connectivity between right amygdala and both the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and frontal pole (FP). Interpretation: Our clinical study provides evidence for autonomic biofeedback therapy as an effective and potent behavioral intervention for patients with drug-resistant epilepsy. This approach is non-pharmacological, noninvasive and seemingly side-effect free.
Koalas are characterised by a highly unusual vocal anatomy, with a descended larynx and velar vocal folds, allowing them to produce calls with disproportionately low frequencies. Here we use advanced imaging techniques, histological data, classical macroscopic dissection and behavioural observations to provide the first detailed description and interpretation of male and female koala vocal anatomy. We show that both males and females have an elongated pharynx and soft palate, resulting in a permanently descended larynx. In addition, the hyoid apparatus has a human-like configuration in which paired dorsal, resilient ligaments suspend the hyoid apparatus from the skull, while the ventral parts tightly connect to the descended larynx. We also show that koalas can retract the larynx down into the thoracic inlet, facilitated by a dramatic evolutionary transformation of the ventral neck muscles. First, the usual retractors of the larynx and the hyoid have their origins deep in the thorax. Second, three hyoid muscles have lost their connection to the hyoid skeleton. Third, the genioglossus and geniohyoid muscles have greatly increased in length. Finally, the digastric, omohyoid and sternohyoid muscles, connected by a common tendinous intersection, form a guiding channel for the dynamic down-and-up movements of the ventral hyoid parts and the larynx. We suggest that these features evolved to accommodate the low resting position of the larynx and assist in its retraction during call production. We also confirm that the edges of the intra-pharyngeal ostium have specialised to form the novel, extra-laryngeal velar vocal folds, which are much larger than the true, intra-laryngeal vocal folds in both sexes, but more developed and specialised for low frequency sound production in males than in females. Our findings illustrate that strong selection pressures on acoustic signalling not only lead to the specialisation of existing vocal organs, but can also result in the evolution of novel vocal structures in both sexes.
bjective: Individuals low in eating self-efficacy are at particular risk of engaging in unhealthy eating behaviours, including the consumption of high calorie snacks. The elevated levels of snacking displayed by these individuals can largely be attributed to their experiencing low self-control over the avoidance of such foods (Hankonen, Kinnunen, Absetz, & Jallinoja, 2014). Interventions are thus required to boost self-control over snacking among those low in eating self-efficacy. Self-affirmation has been shown to boost self-control among individuals with depleted resources in other domains
(Schmeichel & Vohs, 2009). The purpose of the current study was to test the hypothesis that a self-affirmation manipulation would similarly increase self-control over snacking for individuals low in eating self-efficacy. Methods: At baseline, participants (N = 70) completed measures of dietary restraint and eating self-efficacy. In the main study, participants completed either a self-affirmation or a control task immediately before undertaking a joystick category judgment task that assessed self-control over snacking. Results: Hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed the predicted significant interaction between eating self-efficacy and self-affirmation, demonstrating that self-affirmation moderated the association between eating self-efficacy and self-control over snacking. Johnson-Neyman regions of significance confirmed that for participants low in eating self-efficacy the self-affirmation manipulation resulted in higher levels of self-control. Unexpectedly, however, for participants high in eating self-efficacy the self-affirmation manipulation was found to be associated with lower levels of self-control. Conclusions: Findings supported the hypothesis that a self-affirmation manipulation would boost self-control over snacking among individuals low in eating self-efficacy. Self-affirmation may thus provide a useful technique for strengthening self-control in relation to the avoidance of unhealthy foods among individuals who find it difficult to manage challenging dietary situations.
Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by core deficits in social functioning. Core autistics traits refer to poor social and imagination skills, poor attention-switching/strong focus of attention, exceptional attention to detail, as expressed by the autism-spectrum quotient. Over the years, the importance of the cerebellum in the aetiology of autism spectrum disorder has been acknowledged. Neuroimaging studies have provided a strong support to this view, showing both structural and functional connectivity alterations to affect the cerebellum in autism spectrum disorder. According to the underconnectivity theory, disrupted connectivity within cerebello-cerebral networks has been specifically implicated in the aetiology of autism spectrum disorder. However, inconsistent results have been generated across studies. In this study, an integrated approach has been used in a selected population of adults with autism spectrum disorder to analyse both cerebellar morphometry and functional connectivity. In individuals with autism spectrum disorder, a decreased cerebellar grey matter volume affected the right Crus II, a region showing extensive connections with cerebral areas related to social functions. This grey matter reduction correlates with the degree of autistic traits as measured by autism-spectrum quotient. Interestingly, altered functional connectivity was found between the reduced cerebellar Crus II and contralateral cerebral regions, such as frontal and temporal areas. Overall, the present data suggest that adults with autism spectrum disorder present with specific cerebellar structural alterations that may affect functional connectivity within cerebello-cerebral modules relevant to social processing and account for core autistics traits.
In this column, I explore the various means by which lawyers can be helped by computer scientists to stop the (inevitable) collateral damage to innovation when the unstoppable force of legislation hits the irresistible innovation of the Internet. I will explore some current controversies (fake news, Net neutrality, platform regulation) from an international perspective. The conclusion is familiar: lawyers and computer scientists need each other to prevent a disastrous retrenchment toward splintered national-regional intranets. To avoid that, we need to be intellectually pragmatic in pursuing what may be a mutually disagreeable aim: minimal legislative reform to achieve co-regulation using the most independent expert advice. The alternatives are to allow libertarian advocates to so enrage politicians that severe over-regulation results.
Purpose: To assess the effect of “N-Acetylation and C-Amidation” on the cellular uptake, cytotoxicity and performance of amphiphilic Cell Penetrating Peptides loaded with MTX.
Methods: Several CPPs were synthesized by solid phase peptide synthesis method. Some of these sequences were modified with Pyroglutamic acid at N-terminus and Benzylamine or memantine at C-terminus. The resultant nanomaterials were prepared due to the physical linkage between CPPs and methotrexate (MTX). The Internalization and cytotoxicity of both CPP-MTX bioconjugates and unmodified CPPs against MCF-7 cells was evaluated.
Results: N-terminal and C-terminal modification did not alter the toxicity of CPPs. Physical linkage of CPPs with MTX resulted in a lower drug loading efficiency in comparison with chemically conjugated CPP-MTX bioconjugates. Both nanoparticles increase the toxic effect of MTX on MCF-7 cells. Furthermore, N-terminal and C-terminal modification may cause a tangible reduction in cellular uptake of CPPs.
Conclusion: In conclusion, it was shown that cytotoxicity of modified peptides which were physically linked with MTX, considerably higher than both physically loaded unmodified peptides and chemically conjugated peptides with MTX. Also, cell internalization was reduced after peptide end-protection. These findings confirmed the effectiveness of N-terminal and C-terminal modifications on cell viability and CPPs internalization.
More than anything else, Jacqueline Kahanoff is associated with the term Levantinism and, more specifically, with turning the term, which for many years had a derogatory meaning, into a positive source of identity. However, this reading of Kahanoff – namely, a carrier of the message of Levantinism as a bridge between Orient and Occident – seems to tell us more about Kahanoff’s readers than about Kahanoff herself. A careful reading of her writings reveals a different Kahanoff, a person who, more than being the originator and proponent of a new kind of identity, while moving swiftly across cultures and feeling at home nowhere because her home was everywhere, was actually well entrenched in the west, in Zionism and in Israel.
Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communication (V2V) is an upcoming technology that can enable safer, more efficient transportation via wireless connectivity among moving cars. The key enabling technology, specifying the physical and medium access control (MAC) layers of the V2V stack is IEEE 802.11p, which belongs in the IEEE 802.11 family of protocols originally designed for use in WLANs. V2V networks are formed on an ad hoc basis from vehicular stations that rely on the delivery of broadcast transmissions for their envisioned services and applications. Broadcast is inherently more sensitive to channel contention than unicast due to the MAC protocol’s inability to adapt to increased network traffic and colliding packets never being detected or recovered. This paper addresses this inherent scalability problem of the IEEE 802.11p MAC protocol. The density of the network can range from being very sparse to hundreds of stations contenting for access to the channel. A suitable MAC needs to offer the capacity for V2V exchanges even in such dense topologies which will be common in urban networks. We present a modified version of the IEEE 802.11p MAC based on Reinforcement Learning (RL), aiming to reduce the packet collision probability and bandwidth wastage. Implementation details regarding both the learning algorithm tuning and the networking side are provided. We also present simulation results regarding achieved message packet delivery and possible delay overhead of this solution. Our solution shows up to 70% increase in throughput compared to the standard IEEE 802.11p as the network traffic increases, while maintaining the transmission latency within the acceptable levels.
The increasing complexity of automotive electronics has put considerable pressure on automotive communication networking to accommodate in-vehicle information flows. The use of power lines has been a promising alternative to in-vehicle communications because of elimination of extra data cables. In this paper, we focus on the latest HomePlug Green PHY (HPGP) which has been promoted by major automotive manufacturers for green communications with electric vehicles, and study its worst-case access delay performance in supporting delaycritical in-vehicle applications using both theoretical analysis and the simulation. Specifically, we apply Network Calculus as a deterministic modeling approach to evaluate the worst delay and further verify its performance using the OMNeT++ simulation. Evaluation results are also supplemented to compare with legacy methods and provide useful guidelines for developing HPGP based vehicular power line communication systems.
1. Rewilding, here defined as the restoration or reorganization of the biota and ecosystem processes to achieve a preferred outcome for an identified social-ecological system, is increasingly considered as an environmental management option with potential for enhancing both biodiversity and ecosystem services.
2. Despite the burgeoning interest in the concept, there are uncertainties and difficulties associated with the practical implementation of rewilding projects, while the evidence available for facilitating sound decision-making for rewilding initiatives remains limited.
3. We identify five key research areas to inform the implementation of future rewilding initiatives: increased understanding of the links between actions and impacts; improved risk assessment processes, through e.g. better definition and quantification of ecological risks; improved predictions of spatio-temporal variation in potential economic costs and associated benefits; better identification and characterisation of the likely social impacts of a given rewilding project; and facilitated emergence of a comprehensive and practical framework for the monitoring and evaluation of rewilding projects.
4. Policy implications. Environmental legislation is commonly based on a ‘compositionalist’ paradigm itself predicated on the preservation of historical conditions characterised by the presence of particular species assemblages and habitat types. However, global environmental change is driving some ecosystems beyond their limits so that restoration to historical benchmarks or modern likely equivalents may no longer be an option. This means that the current environmental policy context could present barriers to conducting the large-scale, long-term ecological experiments required to gather the evidence needed for rewilding to be considered as an evidence-based policy option. Opportunities such as the UK’s decision to leave the European Union could be used to develop novel land management approaches focused on payments for the delivery of desired ecosystem services, which could accommodate the piloting of well monitored and evaluated rewilding initiatives, altogether supporting the development of the required evidence base.
Despite a historical focus on neurally-mediated interoceptive signaling mechanisms, humoral (and even cellular) signals also play an important role in communicating bodily physiological state to the brain. These signaling pathways can perturb neuronal structure, chemistry and function leading to discrete changes in behavior. They are also increasingly implicated in the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders. The importance of these humoral signaling pathways is perhaps most powerfully illustrated in the context of infection and inflammation. Here we provide an overview of how immune activation of neural and humoral interoceptive mechanisms interact to mediate discrete changes in brain and behavior and highlight how activation of these pathways at specific points in neural development may predispose to psychiatric disorder. As our mechanistic understanding of these interoceptive pathways continues to emerge it is revealing novel therapeutic targets, potentially heralding an exciting new era of immunotherapies in psychiatry.
Many results in the quantum metrology literature use the Cramér-Rao bound and the Fisher information to compare different quantum estimation strategies. However, there are several assumptions that go into the construction of these tools, and these limitations are sometimes not taken into account. While a strategy that utilises this method can considerably simplify the problem and is valid asymptotically, to have a rigorous and fair comparison we need to adopt a more general approach. In this work we use a methodology based on Bayesian inference to understand what happens when the Cramér-Rao bound is not valid. In particular we quantify the impact of these restrictions on the overall performance of a wide range of schemes including those commonly employed for the estimation of optical phases. We calculate the number of observations and the minimum prior knowledge that are needed such that the Cramér-Rao bound is a valid approximation. Since these requirements are state-dependent, the usual conclusions that can be drawn from the standard methods do not always hold when the analysis is more carefully performed. These results have important implications for the analysis of theory and experiments in quantum metrology.
The main focus of this PhD thesis is the study of microstructures and geometric patterns in materials, in the framework of the Calculus of Variations. My PhD research, carried out in collaboration with my supervisor Mariapia Palombaro and Marcello Ponsiglione, led to the production of three papers [21, 22, 23]. Papers [21, 22] have already been published, while [23] is currently in preparation.
This thesis is divided into two main parts. In the first part we present the results obtained in [22, 23]. In these two works geometric patterns have to be understood as patterns of dislocations in crystals. The second part is devoted to [21], where suitable microgeometries are needed as a mean to produce gradients that display critical integrability properties.
Mitochondria are subcellular organelles critical for meeting the bioenergetic and biosynthetic needs of the cell. Mitochondrial function relies on genes and RNA species encoded both in the nucleus and mitochondria, as well as their coordinated translation, import and respiratory complex assembly. Here we describe the characterization of exonuclease domain like 2 (EXD2), a nuclear encoded gene that we show is targeted to the mitochondria and prevents the aberrant association of mRNAs with the mitochondrial ribosome. The loss of EXD2 resulted in defective mitochondrial translation, impaired respiration, reduced ATP production, increased reactive oxygen species and widespread metabolic abnormalities. Depletion of EXD2/CG6744 in D.melanogaster caused developmental delays and premature female germline stem cell attrition, reduced fecundity and a dramatic extension of lifespan that could be reversed with an anti-oxidant diet. Our results define a conserved role for EXD2 in mitochondrial translation that influences development and aging.
We explore the relationship between natural disasters and income inequality in Sri Lanka as the first study of this nature for the country. The analysis uses a unique panel data set constructed for the purpose of this paper. It contains district inequality measures based on household income reported in six waves of the Household Income and Expenditure Survey of Sri Lanka during the period between 1990 and 2013, data on disaster affected population and other economic and social indicators. Employing a panel fixed effects estimator, we find that contemporaneous natural disasters and their immediate lags significantly and substantially decrease inequality in per adult equivalent household income as measured by the Theil index. Findings are robust across various inequality metrics, sub-samples and alternative estimators such as Ordinary Least Squares and System GMM. However, natural disasters do not affect household expenditure inequality. Either households behave as if they have a permanent income or all households reduce their expenditure proportionately irrespective of their income level in responding to natural disasters. Natural disasters decrease non-seasonal agricultural and non-agricultural income inequality but increase seasonal agricultural income inequality. Income of richer households is mainly derived from non-agricultural sources such as manufacturing and business activities and non-seasonal agricultural activities. Poorer households have a higher share of agricultural income.
Vitamin D has a crucial role in female reproduction, possibly through its effects on calcium homeostasis, cyclic sex steroid hormone fluctuations, or neurotransmitter function. We have assessed the effects of vitamin D supplementation on dysmenorrhea and premenstrual syndrome (PMS) in adolescents. In this study, 897 adolescent girls living in Mashhad and Sabzevar, Iran, received 9 high-dose vitamin D supplements (as 50000 IU/ week of cholecalciferol) and were followed up over 9 weeks. We evaluated the effect of vitamin D supplementation on individuals in 4 categories: those with only PMS; individuals with only dysmenorrhea; subjects with both PMS and dysmenorrhea and normal subjects. The prevalence of PMS after the intervention fell from 14.9% to 4.8% (P<0.001). Similar results were also found for the prevalence of subjects with dysmenorrhea (35.9% reduced to 32.4%), and in subjects with both PMS and dysmenorrhea (32.7% reduced 25.7%). Vitamin D supplementation was associated with a reduction in the incidence of several symptoms of PMS such as backache and tendency to cry easily as well decrement in pain severity of dysmenorrhea (P<0.05). High dose vitamin D supplementation can reduced the prevalence of PMS and dysmenorrhea as well has positive effects on the physical and psychological symptoms of PMS.
Harmonizing clinical pharmacology and therapeutics (CPT) education in Europe is necessary to ensure that the prescribing competency of future doctors is of an uniform high standard. As there are currently no uniform requirements, our aim was to achieve consensus on key learning outcomes for undergraduate CPT education in Europe. We used a modified Delphi method consisting of three questionnaire rounds and a panel meeting. 129 experts from 27 European countries were asked to rate 307 learning outcomes. 92 experts (71%) completed all three questionnaire rounds, and 33 experts (26%) attended the meeting. 232 learning outcomes from the original list, 15 newly suggested and 5 rephrased outcomes were included. These 252 learning outcomes should be included in undergraduate CPT curricula to ensure that European graduates are able to prescribe safely and effectively. We provide a blueprint of a European core curriculum describing when and how the learning outcomes might be acquired.
Playback experiments have proven to be a useful tool to investigate the extent to which wild animals understand numerical concepts and the factors that play into their decisions to respond to different numbers of vocalizing conspecifics. In particular, playback experiments have broadened our understanding of the cognitive abilities of historically understudied species that are challenging to test in the traditional laboratory, such as members of the Order Carnivora. Additionally, playback experiments allow us to assess the importance of numerical information versus other ecologically important variables when animals are making adaptive decisions in their natural habitats. Here, we begin by reviewing what we know about quantity discrimination in carnivores from studies conducted in captivity. We then review a series of playback experiments conducted with wild social carnivores, including African lions, spotted hyenas, and wolves, which demonstrate that these animals can assess the number of conspecifics calling and respond based on numerical advantage. We discuss how the wild studies compliment those conducted in captivity and allow us to gain insights into why wild animals may not always respond based solely on differences in quantity. We then consider the key role that individual discrimination and cross-modal recognition play in the ability of animals to assess the number of conspecifics vocalizing nearby. Finally, we explore new directions for future research in this area, highlighting in particular the need for further work on the cognitive basis of numerical assessment skills and experimental paradigms that can be effective in both captive and wild settings.
Existing surveys and anthologies wrongly convey the impression that women in the past did not think seriously about international politics. This article provides evidence of the magnitude of the exclusion of historical women from the field by analyzing sixty texts in the history of international thought and disciplinary history. It also begins the process of remedying this exclusion. I map a new agenda for research on the history of women's international thought. Work in feminist historiography, as well as new archival research, suggests that a diverse array of historical women thought deeply about international relations, but their intellectual contributions have been obscured—and even actively erased. To illustrate what international studies can gain by pursuing a research agenda on historical women's international thought, I discuss a neglected, but at the time extremely important figure, in what might be called “white women's international relations,” the influential scholar of colonial administration, Lucy Philip Mair.
This article addresses the colonial and racial origins of the welfare state with a particular emphasis on the liberal welfare state of the USA and UK. Both are understood in terms of the centrality of the commodified status of labour power expressing a logic of market relations. In contrast, we argue that with a proper understanding of the relations of capitalism and colonialism, the sale of labour power as a commodity already represents a movement away from the commodified form of labour represented by enslavement. European colonialism is integral to the development of welfare states and their forms of inclusion and exclusion which remain racialised through into the twenty-first century.
We demonstrate a method to encode complex human gestures acquired from inertial sensors for activity recognition. Gestures are encoded as a stream of symbols which represent the change in orientation and displacement of the body limbs over time.
The first novelty of this encoding is to enable the reuse previously developed single-channel template matching algorithms also when multiple sensors are used simultaneously.
The second novelty is to encode changes in orientation of limbs which is important in some activities, such as sport analytics.
We demonstrate the method using our custom inertial platform, BlueSense. Using a set of five BlueSense nodes, we implemented a motion tracking system that displays a 3D human model and shows in real-time the corresponding movement encoding.
We present an extensible sensor research platform for wearable and IoT applications. The result is a 30x30mm platform capable of 500Hz motion and orientation sensing using 98mW when logging the data. The platform can wake up at programmed intervals using only 70uW in hardware off mode. A maximum 0.6ppm time deviation between nodes allows usage in a network for whole body movement sensing.
We present the quantum theory of the Penning trap in terms of individual x and y radial modes of the motion of a single charged particle in the trap, and demonstrate how the conventional rotating frame used to examine these individual dynamics fails in the quantum regime. In solving the radial Hamiltonian in the {x,y} basis, we show how canonical transformation of the variables must take place after quantization, in order that these separate motions can be consistently tracked. This is in contrast to previous work. The results of the discussion lend themselves to a fully quantum treatment of mode coupling in the trap, leading to an avoided crossing between the coupled energy levels of the system. Exploiting the algebraic structure of the problem allows employment of a dressed-atom formalism within quantum Penning trap theory, and future applications resulting from this are proposed.
The systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) is a potentially lethal response triggered by diverse forms of tissue injury and infection. When systemic inflammation is triggered by infection the term sepsis is used. Understanding how inflammation is mediated and regulated is of enormous medical importance. We previously demonstrated that circulating inflammatory-relevant micro-RNAs (CIR-miRNAs) are candidate biomarkers for differentiating sepsis from SIRS. Here we set out to determine how CIR-miRNA levels reflect SIRS severity and whether they derive from activated immune cells. Clinical disease severity scores and markers of red blood cell (RBC) damage or immune cell activation were correlated with CIR-miRNA levels in patients with SIRS and sepsis. The release of CIR-miRNAs modulated during SIRS was assessed in immune cell cultures. We show that severity of non-infective SIRS, but not sepsis is reflected in the levels of miR-378a-3p, miR-30a-5p, miR-30d-5p, and miR-192-5p. These CIR-miRNA levels positively correlate with levels of the redox biomarker, peroxiredoxin-1 (Prdx-1), which has previously been shown to be released by immune cells during inflammation. Furthermore, in vitro activated immune cells produce SIRS-associated miR-378a-3p, miR-30a-5p, miR-30d-5p, and miR-192-5p. Our study furthers the understanding of the origin, role and trafficking of CIR-miRNAs as potential regulators of inflammation.
The post-crisis financial services regulatory overhaul, and, particularly, the creation of the European System of Financial Supervision (ESFS) and the Banking Union mechanisms, has increased the complexity of the EU’s financial supervisory architecture. In this new system, financial supervision is carried out by a network of interconnected financial supervisors, with different mandates and subject to various accountability structures, operating at both the Member State and EU levels and bound by a regime of cooperation duties. An efficient cooperation among and within the various levels of this complex supervisory architecture is critical for the good functioning of the EU’s financial system. This paper identifies and analyses key supervisory cooperation challenges in the single market for financial services, and assesses whether the EU legal and regulatory frameworks effectively address them. The paper argues that, despite the advancement of EU financial services integration and supervisory convergence that the post-crisis regulatory overhaul has brought, there are important legal and regulatory obstacles to an efficient supervisory cooperation in the EU; these source, primarily, from the following: first, the lack of clarity and precision of the EU’s regime on supervisory cooperation duties; secondly, the limited applicability of the ESFS’s mediation mechanisms to supervisory cooperation disputes; and, thirdly, the tensions between transnational mandates of financial supervision and national accountability structures and mandates. The paper also examines the threats that Brexit and the EU’s political crisis pose to EU financial integration and supervisory cooperation.
In the absence of new physics around 10^10 GeV, the electroweak vacuum is at best metastable. This represents a major challenge for high scale in ationary models as, during the early rapid expansion of the universe, it seems difficult to understand how the Higgs vacuum would not decay to the true lower vacuum of the theory with catas- trophic consequences if inflation took place at a scale above 10^10 GeV. In this paper we show that the non-minimal coupling of the Higgs boson to curvature could solve this problem by generating a direct coupling of the Higgs boson to the inflationary potential thereby stabilizing the electroweak vacuum. For specific values of the Higgs field initial condition and of its non-minimal coupling, inflation can drive the Higgs field to the electroweak vacuum quickly during inflation.
B-cell receptor activation, occurring within lymph nodes, plays a key role in the pathogenesis of chronic lymphocytic leukemia and is linked to prognosis. As well as activation of downstream signaling, receptor ligation triggers internalization, transit to acidified endosomes and degradation of ligand-receptor complexes. In the present study we investigated the relationship between these two processes in normal and leukemic B-cells. We found that leukemic B-cells, particularly anergic cases lacking the capacity to initiate downstream signaling, internalize and accumulate ligand in acidified endosomes more efficiently than normal B-cells. Furthermore, ligation of either surface CD79B, a Bcell receptor component required for downstream signaling, or surface IgM by cognate agonistic antibody, showed that the two molecules internalize independently of each other in leukemic but not normal B-cells. Since association with surface CD79B is required for surface retention of IgM, this suggests that uncoupling of B-cell receptor internalization from signaling may be due to dissociation of these two molecules in leukemic cells. Comparison of lymph node with peripheral blood cells from chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients showed that, despite recent B-cell receptor activation, lymph node B-cells expressed higher levels of surface IgM. This surprising finding suggests that the B-cell receptors of lymph node and peripheral blood derived leukemic cells might be functionally distinct. Finally, long-term therapy with the Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitors ibrutinib or acalabrutinib resulted in a switch to an anergic pattern of B-cell receptor function with reduced signaling capacity, surface IgM expression and more efficient internalization.
A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements.
In Hirschfeld (J Austral Math Soc 4(1):83–89, 1964), the existence of the cubic surface which arises from a double-six over the finite field of order four was considered. In Hirschfeld (Rend Mat Appl 26:115–152, 1967), the existence and the properties of the cubic surfaces over the finite fields of odd and even order was discussed and classified over the fields of order seven, eight, nine. In this paper, cubic surfaces with twenty-seven lines over the finite field of thirteen elements are classified.
A novel approach to identify the crystal orientation of turbine blades with anisotropy materials is proposed. Based on enhanced mode basis, with the main advantages of its efficiency, accuracy and general applicability, the blade vibration mode of each order is linearly constructed by several specified mode shapes, which are obtained from the considered turbine blade with specified crystal orientations correspondingly. Then, a surrogate model based on Kriging method is introduced for constructing the condensed perturbed matrix of stiffness in order to improve the efficiency even further. The constructed surrogate model allows to perform the modal analysis of turbine blades with arbitrary crystal orientations in higher efficiency, due to the fact that the elements of condensed perturbed matrix of stiffness are considered in construction of the surrogate model rather than concerning the perturbation of all the elements of the initial stiffness matrix for the blade. Genetic algorithm is finally employed to optimize the defined fitness functions in order to identify the crystal orientation angles of turbine blades. Several corresponding examples demonstrated the accuracy, efficiency and general applicability of the proposed method.
Health advice can be framed in terms of prescriptive rules (what people should do, e.g., you should drink alcohol within recommended limits) or proscriptive rules (what people should not do, e.g., you should not drink alcohol above recommended limits). The current research examines the differing effect that these two types of injunction have on participants’ moral norms, reactance, attitudes, and intentions to consume alcohol within moderation, and their subsequent alcohol consumption.
Ferrocene analogues of known fatty acid amide hydrolase inhibitors and CB2 ligands have been synthesized and characterized spectroscopically and crystallographically. The resulting bioorganometallic isoxazoles were assayed for their effects on CB1 and CB2 receptors as well as on FAAH. None had any FAAH activity but compound 3, 5-(2-(pentyloxy)phenyl)-N-ferrocenylisoxazole- 3-carboxamide, was found to be a potent CB2 ligand (Ki = 32.5 nM).
In anal intercourse between gay men, men who are typically insertive (‘tops’) are often perceived as, and may identify as, more masculine than those who are typically receptive (‘bottoms’). ‘Versatile’ men, who may adopt either position, may be perceived as more gender-balanced and may transcend the gender-role stereotypes associated with self-labelling as top or bottom. The aim of this study was to explore how gay men’s beliefs about masculinity were associated with their beliefs about the gendered nature of sexual self-labels, and their behavior in anal intercourse. Individual semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 17, UK-based gay men. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis identified that perceptions of tops and bottoms as gendered social identities varied depending on the extent to which gay men subscribed to the mandates of ‘hegemonic masculinity’, the dominant masculinity in Western society. The findings also suggested that some gay men differentiated between top and bottom as social identities and topping and bottoming as gendered behaviors. This had implications for gay men’s behaviors in anal intercourse. It is suggested that future efforts to engage with gay men about their sexual behavior should account for their beliefs regarding the gender role stereotypes associated with gay sexual self-labels.
This paper explores two key norms that can underpin intimate partner violence (IPV) in Rwanda: men’s role as economic provider and decision-making authority in the household. It describes the political, legal and socio-economic factors affecting these norms and how they create opportunities and barriers to ‘undoing’ restrictive gender norms. The findings are drawn from an evaluation of Inadshyikirwa, an IPV prevention programme operating in Rwanda. Across 3 intervention sectors, 24 focus groups were conducted with unmarried and married men and women residing in intervention communities. 30 interviews with couples and 9 interviews with opinion leaders were conducted before they completed programme trainings designed to shift gender norms underlying IPV. The data indicates a strong awareness of and accountability to Rwandan laws and policies supporting women’s economic empowerment and decision-making, yet also persisting traditional notions of men as household heads and primary breadwinners. Transgression of these norms could be accommodated in some circumstances, especially those involving economic necessity. The data also identified an increasing recognition of the value of a more equitable partnership model. This paper highlights the importance of carefully assessing cracks in the existing gender order that can be exploited to support gender equality and non-violence.
This article develops a concept of “precarious bodies” to theorise the lived experience of labour precariousness in the 21st century and its implications for workers’ health, wellbeing and household reproduction. Drawing on ethnographic research with Bolivian miners and Trinidadian garment workers, we explore the relationship between workers’ exposure to global market forces and their everyday experiences of work, health and risk in these industries. “Precarious bodies” is a heuristic that takes into a single frame the macro-level economic and regulatory processes that create risks for workers, and the various ways in which workers negotiate these risks through their work practices and livelihood choices. We show precarious bodies to be both vulnerable and strategic. Positioned in situations of exploitation and risk, their choices to protect their livelihoods can harm their health and reinforce—rather than counteract—the precarious circumstances of their households.
Amidst new global initiatives to promote garment workers’ health and safety following a spate of deadly factory disasters across the Global South, this critical review calls for an expanded research agenda that looks beyond the workplace to examine the complex politics, spatialities, and temporalities of garment workers’ health and wellbeing. Drawing on ethnographic research on garment workers across South Asia, we argue against a narrow, technocratic, and depoliticised emphasis on physical infrastructures and building safety, and advocate instead a more holistic and politically-engaged research approach to the everyday health and wellbeing of workers. A conceptual focus on health and wellbeing offers a window onto workers’ employment experiences and reveals how routine work pressures, exhaustion and ill health are shaped by the dynamics of global supply chains, even well after workers have disengaged from these global circuits. Understanding how garment work affects workers’ wellbeing and their prospects for a fulfilling life requires research that moves beyond the workplace and covers the entire life course.
How should critical International Relations (IR) scholars approach the ‘impact agenda’? While most have been quite resistant to it, I argue in this essay that critical IR should instead embrace the challenge of impact – and that both IR as a field and the impact agenda more broadly would gain greatly from it doing so. I make this case through three steps. I show, firstly, that critical IR has till now been very much at the impact agenda’s margins, and that this situation contrasts strikingly with its well-established importance within IR teaching and research. I argue, secondly, that critical IR scholars both could and should do more impact work – that the current political conjuncture demands it, that many of the standard objections to doing so are misplaced, and indeed that ‘critical’ modes of research are in some regards better suited than ‘problem-solving’ ones to generating meaningful change – and offer a series of recommended principles for undertaking critically-oriented impact and engagement work. But I also argue, thirdly, that critical social science holds important lessons for the impact agenda, and that future impact assessments need to take these lessons on board – especially if critical IR scholarship is to embrace impact more fully. Critical IR, I submit, should embrace impact; but at the same time, research councils and assessments could do with modifying their approach to it, including by embracing a more critical and political understanding of what impact is and how it is achieved.
During active behaviours like running, swimming, whisking or sniffing, motor actions shape sensory input and sensory percepts guide future motor commands. Ongoing cycles of sensory and motor processing constitute a closed-loop feedback system which is central to motor control and, it has been argued, for perceptual processes. This closed-loop feedback is mediated by brainwide neural circuits but how the presence of feedback signals impacts on the dynamics and function of neurons is not well understood. Here we present a simple theory suggesting that closed-loop feedback between the brain/body/environment can modulate neural gain and, consequently, change endogenous neural fluctuations and responses to sensory input. We support this theory with modeling and data analysis in two vertebrate systems. First, in a model of rodent whisking we show that negative feedback mediated by whisking vibrissa can suppress coherent neural fluctuations and neural responses to sensory input in the barrel cortex. We argue this suppression provides an appealing account of a brain state transition (a marked change in global brain activity) coincident with the onset of whisking in rodents. Moreover, this mechanism suggests a novel signal detection mechanism that selectively accentuates active, rather than passive, whisker touch signals. This mechanism is consistent with a predictive coding strategy that is sensitive to the consequences of motor actions rather than the difference between the predicted and actual sensory input. We further support the theory by re-analysing previously published two-photon data recorded in zebrafish larvae performing closed-loop optomotor behaviour in a virtual swim simulator. We show, as predicted by this theory, that the degree to which each cell contributes in linking sensory and motor signals well explains how much its neural fluctuations are suppressed by closed-loop optomotor behaviour. More generally we argue that our results demonstrate the dependence of neural fluctuations, across the brain, on closed-loop brain/body/environment interactions strongly supporting the idea that brain function cannot be fully understood through open-loop approaches alone.
This paper has two purposes: first, it makes a case for the development of energy studies perspectives that consider ‘relational space’ as a critical concept organising the provision and use of energy. Second, it presents an overview of this field of research with consideration of the papers included in this special issue. The argument has three parts: first, there is an analysis of the growth of relational perspectives on space and energy looking at current debates within the literature; second, there is an analysis of visual representations of different energy features to demonstrate the empirical importance of a grounded understanding of relational space; third, there is an overview of the papers in this special issue as a means to put forward a diverse research agenda in this area. We conclude that relational perspectives have the potential to inform future energy studies and provide new insights for policy and practice.
We introduce a general model for a network of quantum sensors, and we use this model to consider the following question: When can entanglement between the sensors, and/or global measurements, enhance the precision with which the network can measure a set of unknown parameters? We rigorously answer this question by presenting precise theorems proving that for a broad class of problems there is, at most, a very limited intrinsic advantage to using entangled states or global measurements. Moreover, for many estimation problems separable states and local measurements are optimal, and can achieve the ultimate quantum limit on the estimation uncertainty. This immediately implies that there are broad conditions under which simultaneous estimation of multiple parameters cannot outperform individual, independent estimations. Our results apply to any situation in which spatially localized sensors are unitarily encoded with independent parameters, such as when estimating multiple linear or nonlinear optical phase shifts in quantum imaging, or when mapping out the spatial profile of an unknown magnetic field. We conclude by showing that entangling the sensors can enhance the estimation precision when the parameters of interest are global properties of the entire network.
Since Ken Saro-Wiwa’s execution in 1995, critical accounts of his intellectual legacy have tended to focus on the influence of the Ogoni struggle on his writing, and as a consequence have overlooked the role played by the Nigeria-Biafra war in the development of his intellectual sensibility. Given that Saro-Wiwa worked as a government administrator during the war, and wrote a novel, a memoir, and a book of poetry in response to the conflict, this article works to relocate his legacy in the trajectory of Biafran war literature. By exploring Saro-Wiwa’s negotiation of ideas of canon and history in his Biafran war writing, this article argues that the civil war is a traumatic but transformative preoccupation of his literary and political work. In doing so, it draws on theoretical insights about the self-reflexive narration of history and trauma, and engages with the potential for poetry to textually re-embody marginalized voices.
Discusses the proposal, made in the report "The Duty of Care in Sport" published by the Department of Digital, Media, Culture and Sport in April 2017, for a Sports Ombudsman to be established with powers to hold national sports governing bodies to account for the duty of care they provide to sportspersons and others associated with sport. Examines four possible models for the operation of this Ombudsman, and suggests aspects of its mandate.
This paper situates concepts of energy consumption within the context of growing research on embodied emissions. Using the UK as a case study I unpack the global socio-economic and ecological inequalities inherent in the measurement of greenhouse gas emissions on a territorial basis under the international climate change framework. In so doing, I problematise questions of distribution, allocation and responsibility with regards to the pressing need to reduce global GHG emissions and the consumption that generates them. I challenge the disproportionate emphasis that energy policy places on supply as opposed to demand, as well as its overriding focus on the national scale. Consequently I argue that any low carbon transition, in addition to a technological process, is also a geographical one that will involve the reconfiguration of "current spatial patterns of economic and social activity" (Bridge et al., 2013:331), as well as relationships both within countries and regions and between them.
This chapter conducts a detailed examination of the effect of EU Sports Law and Policy on the promotion and development of voluntary activity in sport in Europe. Accordingly, the evolution of EU Sports Policy is scrutinised by adopting an analytical lens centred on sports volunteering when discussing the impact of the EU’s supporting, coordinating and supplementing role in this field. In addition to analysis of the effectiveness of this new EU competence for sport, enshrined in Article 6 and Article 165 of the TFEU, the utility of other key documents and policies is also discussed. This includes, the White Paper on Sport 2007, the Commission’s Communication on developing the European Dimension in Sport 2011 and, consecutive Work Plans for Sport (2011-14 & 2014-17). Following this, the chapter critically considers the obstacles, best practice and future challenges likely to be encountered by the EU when exercising its competence in this area.
Juhani Yli-Vakkuri (2017) has recently argued that the Twin Earth thought experiments offered in favour of semantic externalism can be replaced by a straightforward deductive argument from premises widely accepted by both internalists and externalists alike. The deductive argument Yli-Vakkuri offers, however, depends on premises which are such that, on standard formulations of internalism, they cannot be satisfied by a single belief simultaneously; it does not therefore, constitute a proof of externalism. The aim of this paper is to explain why.
The UK has ambitious, statutory long-term climate targets that will require deep decarbonisation of its energy system. One key question facing policymakers is the role of natural gas both during the transition towards, and in the achievement of, a future low-carbon energy system. Here we assess a range of possible futures for the UK, and find that gas is unlikely to act as a cost-effective ‘bridge’ to a decarbonised UK energy system. There is also limited scope for gas in power generation after 2030 if the UK is to meet its emission reduction targets, in the absence of carbon capture and storage (CCS). Without CCS, a ‘second dash for gas’ while providing short-term gains in reducing emissions, is unlikely to be the most cost-effective way to reduce emissions, and could result in stranded assets and compromise the UK's decarbonisation ambitions. In such a case, gas use in 2050 is estimated at only 10% of its 2010 level. However, with significant CCS deployment by 2050, natural gas could remain at 50–60% of the 2010 level, primarily in the industrial (including hydrogen production) and power generation sectors.
In response to calls for social models of PTSD (Charuvastra & Cloitre, 2008), we hypothesise relationships between interpersonal/non-interpersonal traumatic events, fearful attachment style, emotional disclosure, group identification, social acknowledgment, posttraumatic cognitions and core trauma symptoms. The utility of social support vs social acknowledgement is also briefly considered. To test this exploratory model, a cross-sectional survey of participants (N = 298) with varying levels of traumatic symptoms following mixed traumas was conducted. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used to analyse the model. Results support a mediational model, with group identification appearing to mediate the relationship between fearful attachment and social acknowledgement, emotional disclosure appearing to mediate the relationship between interpersonal trauma and social acknowledgment, and posttraumatic cognitions appearing to mediate the relationship between social acknowledgement and core trauma symptoms. Results suggest that, within this exploratory model, social acknowledgment and social support explain a similar amount of variance in traumatic symptoms, but acknowledgment explains considerably more variance in cognitions than social support. The paper successfully applies current theoretical insights on group identification processes to the posttraumatic environment. This theoretical application is relatively novel within the PTSD literature and helps stimulate new theory in this domain. It also provides further evidence of the ‘social cure’ theory. More broadly, the findings highlight the utility of social psychological constructs in helping explain trauma symptoms. We discuss the implications of our findings, the study limitations and suggest avenues for further research.
Background:
Prevalence rates of work related stress, depression and anxiety are high, resulting in reduced productivity and increased absenteeism. There is evidence that these conditions can be successfully treated in the workplace but take-up of psychological treatments amongst workers is low. Digital mental health interventions delivered in the workplace may be one way to address this imbalance, but while there is evidence that digital mental health is effective at treating stress, depression and anxiety in the workplace, uptake of and engagement with these interventions remains a concern. Additionally, there is little research on the appropriateness of the workplace for delivering these interventions, or on what the facilitators and barriers to engagement with digital mental health interventions in an occupational setting might be.
Objective:
The aim of this research was to get a better understanding of the facilitators and barriers to engaging with digital mental health interventions in the workplace.
Methods:
Semi-structured interviews were held with 18 participants who had access to an occupational digital mental health intervention as part of a randomised controlled trial. The interviews were transcribed and thematic analysis was used to develop an understanding of the data.
Results:
Digital mental health interventions were described by interviewees as convenient, flexible and anonymous; these attributes were seen as being both facilitators and barriers to engagement in a workplace setting. Convenience and flexibility could increase the opportunities to engage with digital mental health, but in a workplace setting they could also result in difficulty prioritising time and ensuring a temporal and spatial separation between work and therapy. The anonymity of the Internet could encourage use, but that benefit may be lost for people who work in open plan offices. Other facilitators to engagement included interactive and interesting content and design features such as progress trackers and reminders to login. The main barrier to engagement was the lack of time. The perfect digital mental health intervention was described as a website that combined a short interactive course that was accessed alongside time-unlimited information and advice that was regularly updated and could be dipped in and out of. Participants also wanted access to e-coaching support.
Conclusions:
Occupational digital mental health interventions may have an important role in delivering healthcare support to employees. Although the advantages of digital mental health interventions are clear, they do not always fully translate to interventions delivered in an occupational setting and further work is required to identify ways of minimising potential barriers to access and engagement.
People with synaesthesia have enhanced memory on a wide range of laboratory tests of episodic memory, but very little is known about their real-world memory. This study used a standard measure of autobiographical remembering (the Autobiographical Memory Questionnaire, AMQ) considering four constructs (Recollection, Belief, Impact and Rehearsal) and two time periods (recent memories from adulthood, remote memories from childhood). Synaesthetes reported more Recollection (e.g. sensory detail) and Belief (e.g. confidence) which interacted with time, such that remote memories are reported to be comparatively better preserved in synaesthetes. This cannot be explained by synaesthetes recalling more salient episodes (the groups did not differ in Impact). It suggests instead that childhood memories have a special status in synaesthesia that reflects the different neurodevelopmental trajectory of this group. With regards to Rehearsal, controls tended to report that more recent memories tend to resurface (i.e. adulthood > childhood), but the synaesthetes showed the opposite dissociation (i.e. childhood > adulthood).
Several lines of evidence link macrophage activation and inflammation with nervous (monoaminergic) systems in the aetiology of depression. Interferon treatment is associated with depressive symptoms, whilst anti-TNF therapies elicit positive mood. This study describes the actions of two monoaminergic antidepressants (escitalopram, nortriptyline) and three anti-inflammatory drugs (indomethacin, prednisolone, anti-TNF antibody) on the response of human monocyte-derived macrophages (MDM) from six individuals to lipopolysaccharide or interferon-alpha. Expression profiling revealed robust changes in the MDM transcriptome (3,294 genes at P<0.001) following LPS challenge, while a more limited subset of genes (499) responded to IFN. Contrary to published reports, administered at non-toxic doses, neither monoaminergic antidepressant significantly modulated the transcriptional response to either inflammatory challenge. Each anti-inflammatory drug had a distinct impact on the expression of inflammatory cytokines and on the profile of inducible gene expression - notably on the regulation of enzymes involved in metabolism of tryptophan. Inter alia, the effect of anti-TNF antibody confirmed a predicted autocrine stimulatory loop in human macrophages. The transcriptional changes were predictive of tryptophan availability and kynurenine synthesis, as analysed by targeted metabolomic studies on cellular supernatants. We suggest that inflammatory processes in the brain or periphery could impact on depression by altering the availability of tryptophan for serotonin synthesis and/or by increasing production of neurotoxic kynurenine.
This paper examines how the most prevalent stochastic properties of key metal futures returns have been affected by the recent financial crisis using both mapped and unmapped data. Our results suggest that copper and gold futures returns exhibit time-varying persistence in their corresponding conditional volatilities over the crisis period; in particular,such persistence increases during periods of high volatility compared with low volatility. The estimation of a bivariate GARCH model further shows the existence of time-varying volatility spillovers between these returns during the different stages of such a crisis. Our results, which are broadly the same in relation to the use of mapped or unmapped data, suggest that the volatilities of copper and gold are inherently linked, although these metals have very different applications.
Proponents of semiotic arguments against the commodification of certain goods face the following challenge: formulate your argument such that it does not appeal to immoral consequences, nor is really an argument showing 5 that we ought to reform the meaning we give to commodification. I here attempt to meet this challenge via appeal to the notion of what I call protoon- a-par value. Under this construal, the semiotic argument yields that the commodification of certain goods necessarily signals value choice, where value choice ought not to be signaled.
An implementation of the Hartree-Fock (HF) method using a Laguerre-based wavefunction is described and used to accurately study the ground state of two-electron atoms in the fixed nucleus approximation, and by comparison with fully-correlated (FC) energies, used to determine accurate electron correlation energies. A variational parameter $A$ is included in the wavefunction and is shown to rapidly increase the convergence of the energy. The one-electron integrals are solved by series solution and an analytical form is found for the two-electron integrals.
This methodology is used to produce accurate wavefunctions, energies and expectation values for the helium isoelectronic sequence, including at low nuclear charge just prior to electron detachment. Additionally, the critical nuclear charge for binding two electrons within the HF approach is calculated and determined to be $Z_C^{HF}$ = 1.031 177 528.
Background
Universal antiretroviral therapy (ART), as per the 2015 WHO recommendations, might reduce population HIV incidence. We investigated the effect of universal test and treat on HIV acquisition at population level in a high prevalence rural region of South Africa.
Methods
We did a phase 4, open-label, cluster randomised trial of 22 communities in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. We included individuals residing in the communities who were aged 16 years or older. The clusters were composed of aggregated local areas (neighbourhoods) that had been identified in a previous study in the Hlabisa subdistrict. The study statisticians randomly assigned clusters (1:1) with MapInfo Pro (version 11.0) to either the control or intervention communities, stratified on the basis of antenatal HIV prevalence. We offered residents repeated rapid HIV testing during home-based visits every 6 months for about 4 years in four clusters, 3 years in six clusters, and 2 years in 12 clusters (58 cluster-years) and referred HIV-positive participants to trial clinics for ART (fixed-dose combination of tenofovir, emtricitabine, and efavirenz) regardless of CD4 cell count (intervention) or according to national guidelines (initially ≤350 cells per μL and <500 cells per μL from January, 2015; control). Participants and investigators were not masked to treatment allocation. We used dried blood spots once every 6 months provided by participants who were HIV negative at baseline to estimate the primary outcome of HIV incidence with cluster-adjusted Poisson generalised estimated equations in the intention-to-treat population after 58 cluster-years of follow-up. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01509508, and the South African National Clinical Trials Register, number DOH-27-0512-3974.
Findings
Between March 9, 2012, and June 30, 2016, we contacted 26 518 (93%) of 28 419 eligible individuals. Of 17 808 (67%) individuals with a first negative dried blood spot test, 14 223 (80%) had subsequent dried blood spot tests, of whom 503 seroconverted after follow-up of 22 891 person-years. Estimated HIV incidence was 2·11 per 100 person-years (95% CI 1·84–2·39) in the intervention group and 2·27 per 100 person-years (2·00–2·54) in the control group (adjusted hazard ratio 1·01, 95% CI 0·87–1·17; p=0·89). We documented one case of suicidal attempt in a woman following HIV seroconversion. 128 patients on ART had 189 life-threatening or grade 4 clinical events: 69 (4%) of 1652 in the control group and 59 (4%) of 1367 in the intervention group (p=0·83).
Interpretation
The absence of a lowering of HIV incidence in universal test and treat clusters most likely resulted from poor linkage to care. Policy change to HIV universal test and treat without innovation to improve health access is unlikely to reduce HIV incidence.
Objectives
Although substantial reductions in under-5 mortality have been observed during the past 35 years, progress in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) has been uneven. This paper provides an overview of child mortality and morbidity in the EMR based on the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study.
Methods
We used GBD 2015 study results to explore under-5 mortality and morbidity in EMR countries.
Results
In 2015, 755,844 (95% uncertainty interval (UI) 712,064–801,565) children under 5 died in the EMR. In the early neonatal category, deaths in the EMR decreased by 22.4%, compared to 42.4% globally. The rate of years of life lost per 100,000 population under 5 decreased 54.38% from 177,537 (173,812–181,463) in 1990 to 80,985 (76,308–85,876) in 2015; the rate of years lived with disability decreased by 0.57% in the EMR compared to 9.97% globally.
Conclusions
Our findings call for accelerated action to decrease child morbidity and mortality in the EMR. Governments and organizations should coordinate efforts to address this burden. Political commitment is needed to ensure that child health receives the resources needed to end preventable deaths.
Objectives We used the results of the Global Burden of Disease 2015 study to estimate trends of HIV/AIDS burden in Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) countries between 1990 and 2015.
Methods Tailored estimation methods were used to produce final estimates of mortality. Years of life lost (YLLs) were calculated by multiplying the mortality rate by population by age-specific life expectancy. Years lived with disability (YLDs) were computed as the prevalence of a sequela multiplied by its disability weight.
Results In 2015, the rate of HIV/AIDS deaths in the EMR was 1.8 (1.4–2.5) per 100,000 population, a 43% increase from 1990 (0.3; 0.2–0.8). Consequently, the rate of YLLs due to HIV/AIDS increased from 15.3 (7.6–36.2) per 100,000 in 1990 to 81.9 (65.3–114.4) in 2015. The rate of YLDs increased from 1.3 (0.6–3.1) in 1990 to 4.4 (2.7–6.6) in 2015.
Conclusions HIV/AIDS morbidity and mortality increased in the EMR since 1990. To reverse this trend and achieve epidemic control, EMR countries should strengthen HIV surveillance,and scale up HIV antiretroviral therapy and comprehensive prevention services.
The World Health Organization’s Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) includes 22 countries.1 It is a 1 region rich in natural resources but with marked variation in socioeconomic wealth and health 2 system capacities and coverage.2 It has also recently been plagued by social and political instability, 3 civil unrest and conflict, and mass displacement of people.3 As a result, health in the EMR has failed 4 to improve in recent years.3 As other papers in this series highlight, there is now an increasing 5 burden of many preventable health problems including HIV, mental disorders, and intentional self-6 harm. There is a risk that without urgent action, the health status of this region will only deteriorate 7 further, with both regional and global consequences for health, the stability of civil society, and 8 economic development.
This article applies a method of narrative analysis to investigate the discursive contestation over the ‘Iran nuclear deal’ in the United States. Specifically, it explores the struggle in the US Congress between narratives constituting the deal as a US foreign policy success or failure. The article argues that foreign policy successes and failures are socially constructed through narratives and suggests how narrative analysis as a discourse analytical method can be employed to trace discursive contests about such constructions. Based on insights from literary studies and narratology, it shows that stories of failures and successes follow similar structures and include a number of key elements, including a particular setting; a negative/positive characterization of individual and collective decision-makers; and an emplotment of success or failure through the attribution of credit/blame and responsibility. The article foregrounds the importance of how stories are told as an explanation for the dominance or marginality of narratives in political discourse.
Ant foragers make use of multiple navigational cues to navigate through the world and the combination of innate navigational strategies and the learning of environmental information is the secret of their navigational success. We present here detailed information about the paths of Cataglyphis fortis desert ants navigating by an innate strategy, namely path integration. Firstly, we observe that the ants’ walking speed decreases significantly along their homing paths, such that they slow down just before reaching the goal, and maintain a slower speed during subsequent search paths. Interestingly, this drop in walking speed is independent of absolute home-vector length and depends on the proportion of the home vector that was completed. Secondly, we find that ants are influenced more strongly by novel or altered visual cues the further along their homing path they are. These results suggest that path integration modulates speed along the homing path in a way that might help ants search for, utilise or learn environmental information at important locations. Ants walk more slowly and sinuously when encountering novel or altered visual cues and occasionally stop and scan the world, this might indicate the re-learning of visual information.
Knowledge of hydroclimatic dynamics in the East Asian monsoon region during the Holocene was hindered by few absolutely-dated and decadally-resolved proxy records in northern China. Here we present replicated carbonate δ18O records of six stalagmites with sub-decadal to multi-decadal resolutions from the Lianhua cave to reveal a detailed evolution of the East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM) intensity in northern China since 11.5 thousand years before present (ka BP, before 1950 CE). Our composite record shows that solar forcing dominated hydroclimatic changes regionally, including an intensified monsoon at the Holocene Optimum from the termination of Younger Dryas to 6.5 ka BP, and a subsequent multi-millennial weakening monsoon, that agrees with cave records in central and southern China. However, the EASM has retreated southwards more rapidly than the Indian summer monsoon after ∼6.5 ka BP, resulting in aridity conditions occurring at 4.0 ka BP in northern China, which is almost 2000-year earlier than that in central and southern China. This north–south asynchroneity is likely related to the different regional responses among the coupling of the EASM, Indian summer monsoon, the solar forcing, and the differences in thermal forcing due to complex geographical configurations. In addition, a relative enrichment of 1‰ in 18O data of the Lianhua record from 9.5 to 8.1 ka BP shows that the Holocene Optimum was punctuated by a millennial-long weakening monsoon interval, which is not registered among previous cave records in central and southern China. The fresh water-induced cold climate conditions in the North Atlantic region could create stronger East Asian winter monsoon, and induce a weakened EASM and a southward shift of rain belt in northern China. Therefore, it shall not be surprised that there are strong heterogeneities among regional hydroclimatic conditions across monsoonal China, given the complex interplay between external and internal forcing mechanisms over the entire Holocene.
This article compares the China Women’s Oral History Project, directed by librarians at the China Women’s University in Beijing, and Sisterhood and After: The Women’s Liberation Oral History Project, directed by scholars at the University of Sussex in the UK. While the projects share aspects of method, our practices wrestle with distinct historiographical structures which are entwined with a history of state feminism in China and with dissenting, nongovernmental networks in the UK, as well as differing institutional contexts. As we have sought to develop a relationship as feminist oral historians, we have had to decenter our own frameworks to understand the local conditions under which we each work. The article concludes by analyzing what we share: the wish to find progressive spaces within universities and national funding structures, particularly as oral history work connects with community activists.
Using light alcohols in spark-ignition engines can improve energy security, engine performance and pollutant emissions. Methanol has gained popularity due to its ease in production compared to ethanol. Methanol could absorb water easily. In the present work, the adiabatic laminar burning velocity of methanol containing water is investigated both experimentally and numerically. Numerical simulations using CHEMKIN-PRO were undertaken to predict the burning velocities of six mixtures with different water volume fractions (up to 0.6) from the latest San Diego chemical-kinetic mechanism. The burning velocities of three mixtures with different water volume fractions (up to 0.4) were measured using a constant volume vessel and a Schlieren imaging system for a wide range of temperature (380-450 K), pressure (100-400 kPa) and equivalence ratio (0.7-1.4). Results showed a decrease in burning velocity with pressure and an increase with temperature. Water as a diluent led to reduction of the burning velocity. The chemical-kinetic mechanism over predicts the burning velocity.
The adequacy of police responses to intimate partner violence has long animated scholarly debate, review and legislative change. While there have been significant shifts in community recognition of and concern about intimate partner violence, particularly in the wake of the Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence, it nonetheless remains a significant form of violence and harm across Australian communities and a key issue for police, as noted in the report and recommendations of the Royal Commission. This article draws on findings from semi-structured interviews (n 163) with police in Victoria and pursues two key inter- related arguments. The first is that police attitudes towards incidents of intimate partner violence remain overwhelmingly negative. Despite innovations in policy and training, we suggest that this consistent dissatisfaction with intimate partner violence incidents as a poli- cing task indicates a significant barrier, possibly insurmountable, to attempts to reform the policing of intimate partner violence via force-wide initiatives and the mobilisation of general duties for this purpose. Consequently, our second argument is that specialisation via a com- mitment to dedicated intimate partner violence units – implemented more consistently and comprehensively than Victoria Police has to date – extends the greatest promise for effective policing of intimate partner violence in the future.
Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) refers to efforts to bi-directionally link the electric power system and the transportation system in ways that can improve the sustainability and security of both. A transition to V2G could enable vehicles to simultaneously improve the efficiency (and profitability) of electricity grids, reduce greenhouse gas emissions for transport, accommodate low-carbon sources of energy, and reap cost savings for owners, drivers, and other users. To understand the recent state of this field of research, here we conduct a systematic review of 197 peer-reviewed articles published on V2G from 2015 to early 2017. We find that the majority of V2G studies in that time period focus on technical aspects of V2G, notably renewable energy storage, batteries, or load balancing to minimize electricity costs, in some cases including environmental goals as constraints. A much lower proportion of studies focus on the importance of assessing environmental and climate attributes of a V2G transition, or on the role of consumer acceptance and knowledge of V2G systems. Further, there is need for exploratory work on natural resource use and externalities, discourses and narratives as well as social justice, gender, and urban resilience considerations. These research gaps need to be addressed if V2G is to achieve the societal transition its advocates seek.
Existing studies on disaster relief operations (DRO) pay limited attention to acts of spontaneous volunteerism by local citizens in the aftermath of disasters. The purpose of this paper is to explore how social preferences motivate citizens to help during post-disaster situations; above and beyond their own self-regarding interests. The paper begins by synthesizing the literature on social preferences from the field of behavioral economics and social psychology with the discourse surrounding behavioral operations management and humanitarian operations management (HOM). By doing so, we identify the motivators, enablers and barriers of local citizen response during disaster relief operations. These factors inform a theoretical framework of the social preferences motivating spontaneous volunteerism in post-disaster situations. We evidence facets of the framework using archival and unstructured data retrieved from Twitter feeds generated by local citizens during the floods that hit Chennai, India in 2015. Our model highlights the importance of individual level action during disaster relief operations and the enabling role of social media as a coordination mechanism for such efforts.
This article uses Anglican marriage registers from colonial and post-colonial Uganda to investigate long-term trends and determinants of intergenerational social mobility and colonial elite formation among Christian African men. It shows that the colonial era opened up new labour opportunities for these African converts, enabling them to take large steps up the social ladder regardless of their social origin. Contrary to the widespread belief that British indirect rule perpetuated the power of African political elites (chiefs), this article shows that a remarkably fluid colonial labour economy actually undermined their social advantages. Sons of chiefs gradually lost their high social-status monopoly to a new, commercially orientated, and well-educated class of Anglican Ugandans, who mostly came from non-elite and sometimes even lower-class backgrounds. The study also documents that the colonial administration and the Anglican mission functioned as key steps on the ladder to upward mobility. Mission education helped provide the skills and social reference needed to climb the ladder in exchange for compliance with the laws of the Anglican Church. These social mobility patterns persisted throughout the post-colonial era, despite rising levels of informal labour during Idi Amin’s dictatorship.
In this paper I claim that the conscience clause around abortion provision in England, Scotland, and Wales is inadequate for two reasons. First, the patient and doctor are differently situated with respect to social power. Doctors occupy a position of significant moral and epistemic authority with respect to their patients, who are vulnerable and relatively disempowered. Doctors are rightly required to disclose their conscientious objection, but given the positioning of the patient and doctor, the act of doing so exploits the authority of the medical establishment in asserting the legitimacy of a particular moral view. Second, the conscientious objector plays an unusual and self-defeating moral role. Since she must immediately refer the patient on to another doctor who is not conscientiously objecting, the doctor is complicit, via her necessary causal role, in the performance of the procedure. This means that doctors are not able to prevent abortions, but rather are required to ensure that they are carried out, albeit by others. Since dropping the disclosure and referral requirements would mean patients might not be able to accept legal medical care, we should instead drop the conscience clause, and encourage those opposed to abortion to select other specialities or professions. This would protect patients from judgement and doctors from complicity.
This paper analyses the role of national level reforms in school curriculum and initial teacher education in gender justice in conflict-affected Pakistan, using a multidisciplinary framework applied to multiple data sets from selected teacher education institutions in Sindh. The school curriculum texts analysed potentially perpetuate gender injustice and foster conflict. While teacher education reforms offer the potential for transformative gender justice, gender remains peripheral in initial teacher education curriculum. Furthermore, institutional practices entrench gendered norms. Lecturers’ and teachers’ limited understanding of their role and capacity for transformative gender justice pose challenges to education for gender justice, social cohesion and conflict mitigation. Informed by our understanding of gender as socially constructed, multiple strategies within and beyond education are offered towards transformative gender justice.
Ever since recession and trade liberalisation led to the demise of Caribbean garment production in the 1990s, Trinidadian garment workers have seen job opportunities shrink and increasingly enter a casualised, informal sector. This chapter explores the devolution of garment work from factories to workshops and workers’ homes in relation to state-led policies to combat unemployment and poverty through microenterprise development. The chapter argues first, that microenterprise development has had a depoliticising effect on labour struggle; second, that a felicitous discourse of enterprise culture presents the rewards of self-employment as superior to wage employment; and third, that the transformation of factory workers into home-based micro-entrepreneurs succeeds by concealing women’s uncompensated domestic labour. By drawing attention to the neglected relationship between global post-Fordism and state promotion of microenterprise, I show how they are mutually reinforcing in ways that obscure labour politics.
We estimate the impact of the world’s largest public works program, India’s National Rural Employment Guarantee(NREG), on agricultural wages. NREG was rolled out across India in three distinct phases, and this phased introduction is used to identify difference-in-difference estimates of the program effect. Using monthly data on wage rates from the period 2000–2011 in 209 districts across 18 Indian states, we include district-specific fixed effects and trends to control for differences in wage rates in the absence of the program. We find that, on average, the program boosted the growth rate of real daily agricultural wages by 4.3% per year. The effect of the scheme is more consistent with an increase in the growth rate of wages than with a discontinuous jump in wages. The effect was concentrated in
some states and in the agricultural peak season, appears to have been gender-neutral and was biased towards unskilled labor. Since many of the world’s poorest depend on casual agricultural labor for their livelihood, while at the same time minimum-wage legislation is unlikely to be effective in many developing countries, we argue that rural public employment programs constitute a potentially important anti-poverty policy tool.
The UK’s 100,000 Genomes Project has the aim of sequencing 100,000 genomes from National Health Service patients such that whole genome sequencing becomes routine clinical practice. It also has a research-focused goal to provide data for scientific discovery. Genomics England is the limited company established by the Department of Health to deliver the project. As an innovative scientific/clinical venture it is interesting to consider how Genomics England positions itself in relation to public engagement activities. We set out to explore how individuals working at, or associated with Genomics England, enacted public engagement in practice. Our findings show that individuals offered a narrative in which public engagement performed more than one function. On one side public engagement was seen as ‘good practice’. On the other, public engagement was presented as core to the project’s success – needed to encourage involvement and ultimately recruitment. We discuss the implications of this in this paper.
Transnational Geographies of the Heart explores the spatialisation of intimacy in everyday life through an analysis of intimate subjectivities in transnational spaces.
Draws on ethnographic research with British migrants in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, during a phase of rapid globalisation and economic diversification in 2002-2004
Highlights the negotiation of inter-personal relationships as enormously significant in relation to the dialectic of home and migration
Includes four empirical chapters focused on the production of ‘expatriate’ subjectivities, community and friendships, sex and romance, and families
Demonstrates that a critical analysis of the geographies of intimacy might productively contribute to our understanding of the ways in which intimate subjectivities are embodied, emplaced, and co-produced across binaries of public/private and local/global space
Work towards developing a prototype GaAs based X-ray fluorescence spectrometer focusing on the detector-preamplifier system for in situ characterisation of deep seabed minerals is presented. Such an instrument could be useful for marine geology and provide insight into hydrothermal processes. It would also be beneficial for deep sea mining applications. The GaAs photodiode was electrically characterised at 4 °C (ambient seawater temperature) and 33 °C. A system energy resolution (full width at half maximum) at 5.9 keV of 580 eV at 4°C, limited by the dielectric noise, broadening to 680 eV at 33°C, was recorded. The spectral performance of the system was characterised across the energy range 4.95 keV to 21.17 keV, at 33°C, using high-purity X-ray fluorescence calibration samples excited by a Mo target X-ray tube. The charge output from the system was found to be linear with incident photon energy. The energy resolution was found to broaden from 695 eV at 4.95 keV to 735 eV at 21.17 keV, attributed to the increasing Fano noise with energy. The same X-ray tube was used to fluoresce an unprepared manganese nodule (revealing the presence of Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Pb, Sr, and Mo) and a black smoker hydrothermal vent sample (containing Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Pb, and Mo). Such a spectrometer may also find use in future space missions to study the hydrothermal vents that are believed to exist in the oceans of Jupiter's moon Europa.
This paper proposes the concept of the ‘digital glimpse’, which develops the existing framing of imaginative travel. Here it articulates the experiences of mobile workers digitally connecting into family life and everyday rituals when physically absent with work. The recent embedding of digital communication technologies into personal relationships and family life is reconfiguring how absence is experienced and practiced by workers on the move, and through this, new digital paradigms for life on-the-move are emerging. This paper explores how such social relationships are maintained at-a-distance through digital technology – using evidence from qualitative interviews with mobile workers and their families. Digital technology now enables expressive forms of ‘virtual travel’, including video calling, picture sharing, and instant messaging. This has implications for the ways in which families can manage the social and relational pressures of being apart. Experiences of imaginative travel created through novel media can enrich the experience and give a greater sense of connection for both those who are at home and those who are away. While technology is limited in its ability to replicate a sense of co-presence, ‘digital glimpses’ are an emergent set of sociotechnical practices that can reduce the negative impact of absence on family relationships.
Background: Most of the newborns death in developing countries occur at home. Up to two-thirds of these deaths would have been prevented if mothers and newborns receive known and effective interventions. The objective of this study is to determine newborn care practices and health seeking behavior in rural eastern Ethiopia.
Methods: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted in Adadle District, Ethiopian Somali Regional State. A multi stage random sampling technique was applied. Women of reproductive age group (15-49 years) living in the Adadle District were eligible to participate in the study. Data were entered, cleaned and analyzed using SPSS version 19 for windows.
Results: A total of 829 women between the ages of 15 and49 years were involved in the study.. Of which, 698 women had a live birth, 23% reported that their babies were placed skin-to-skin with their mothers’ belly/chest before the placenta was delivered, 79% of newborns were bathed within 24 hours of delivery. From this figure, 71% of the babies were bathed within the first 12 hours after delivery and 44% reported their baby was ill during the first week of life.
Conclusion: The study had shown suboptimal newborns practice in the study area, which put the newborns into significant health risk. Strong public education and capacity building to frontline health workers can be recommended.
Since the United States committed to withdraw from the UN Paris Agreement on climate change, international observers have increasingly asked if China can take the lead instead to raise global ambition in the context of a world leadership vacuum. Given the country's increasing economic and strategic focus on sustainable and low-carbon innovation, China might seem well placed to do so. However, much depends on the direction of governance and reform within China regarding the environment. To better understand how the government is seeking to make progress in these areas, this article explores key political narratives that have underpinned China's policies around sustainable development (kechixu fazhan) and innovation (chuangxin) within the context of broader narratives of reform. Drawing on theoretical insights from work that investigates the role of power in shaping narratives, knowledge and action around specific pathways to sustainability, this article explores the ways in which dominant policy narratives in China might drive particular forms of innovation for sustainability and potentially occlude or constrain others. In particular, we look at ecological civilization (shengtai wenming) as a slogan that has gradually evolved to become an official narrative and is likely to influence pathways to sustainability over the coming years.
We investigate the stability of International Environmental Agreements. The analysis of Chwe is extended by investigating the question how to find farsightedly stable coalitions. The myopic stability concept of d'Aspremont, Jacquemin, Gabszeweiz, and Weymark and the farsighted stability concept of Chwe are compared. Farsighted stability, direct and indirect domination are discussed. Considering of the direct domination, we check for the single-step stability by comparing the profits of every coalition member after one-step deviation has occurred, while considering the indirect domination (farsightedness) we check for the multistep stability by comparing the profits of every coalition member after a series of deviations have come to an end. On the contrary, myopic stability assumes that players look only one step ahead. The improvement of farsightedly and myopically stable coalitions to the environment quality and welfare are compared. Only the farsightedly stable coalition math formula improves the welfare and abatement by 20% and 79% in comparison to all three myopically stable coalitions together. Algorithms are developed, which can find all farsightedly stable coalitions structures.
Grindr is a smartphone application for men who have sex with men (MSM). Despite its reputation as a ‘hook-up app’, little is known about its users’ self-presentation strategies and how this relates to objectification - this paper explores objectification on Grindr. The results of Study 1 showed that Grindr users objectified other men more than non-Grindr users. A content analysis of 1400 Grindr profiles in Study 2 showed that profile pictures with objectifying content were related to searching for sexual encounters. Finally, a survey of Grindr users in Study 3 revealed that objectification processes and sexualized profile pictures were related to some objectification-relevant online behaviors (e.g., increased use of Grindr, discussion of HIV status). Interestingly, the presence of body focused profile content was more related to sexual orientation disclosure (not being ‘out’) than to objectification. This paper presents evidence that Grindr usage and online presentation are related to objectification processes.
The continuation and exacerbation of many environmental failures illustrate that environmental and climate justice’s influence on decision-making is not being systematically effective, giving rise to a renewed emphasis on finding new, more focused, justice models. This includes the energy justice concept, which has received ready and growing success. Yet for energy justice, a key question keeps arising: what does it add that environmental and climate justice cannot? To answer this question this perspective outlines the origins, successes and failures of the environmental and climate justice concepts, with a view to both distinguishing the energy justice field, and providing cautionary tales for it. It then outlines three points of departure, which it argues increases the opportunity of success for the energy justice concept: (1) “bounding out”, (2) non-anti-establishment pasts and (3) methodological strength. This paper exists to stimulate debate.
In line with the development of socio-ecological perspectives in conservation science, there is increasing interest in the role of soundscape perception in understanding human-environment interactions; the impact of natural soundscapes on human wellbeing is also increasingly recognized. However, research to date has focused on preferences and attitudes to western, urban locations.
This study investigated individual emotional associations with local soundscape for three social groups living in areas with distinct degrees of urbanization, from pristine forest and pre-urban landscapes in Ecuador, to urban environments in UK and USA. Participants described sounds that they associated with a range of emotions, both positive and negative, which were categorized according to an adapted version of Schafer’s sound classification scheme. Analyses included a description of the sound types occurring in each environment, an evaluation of the associations between sound types and emotions across social groups, and the elaboration of a soundscape perception map. Statistical analyses revealed that the distribution of sound types differed between groups, reflecting essential traits of each soundscape and tracing the gradient of urbanization. However, some associations were universal: Natural Sounds were primarily associated with positive emotions, whereas Mechanical and Industrial Sounds were linked to negative emotions. Within nonurban environments, natural sounds were associated with a much wider range of emotions. Our analyses suggest that Natural Sounds could be considered as valuable natural resources that promotes human wellbeing. Special attention is required within these endangered forest locations, which should be classified as a ‘threatened soundscapes’, as well as ‘threatened ecosystems’, as we begin to understand the role of soundscape for the wellbeing of the local communities.
The methodology presented in this paper offers a fast, cheap tool for identifying reactions towards landscape modification and identifying sounds of social relevance. The potential contribution of soundscape perception within the current conservation approaches is discussed.
Links between positive and negative aspects of the parent-child relationship and child adjustment are undisputed. Scholars recognize the importance of parental differential treatment (PDT) of siblings, yet, less is known about PDT in the context of the shared (family-wide) parent-child relationship climate, or about the extent to which positivity may buffer children’s adjustment from negativity. Controlling for behavioral stability, we examined the potential for positive and negative parent-child processes to interact across and between child-specific and family-wide levels in the prediction of children’s adjustment. Specifically, in a sample of 2,039 United Kingdom families, we used multilevel models to examine child-specific and family-wide mother-child relationships (at 4 years)—including interactive processes—in the prediction of prosocial behavior and conduct problems (at 7 years). The majority of variance in children’s adjustment resided within-families: siblings were strikingly different. Accounting for behavioral stability, family-wide negativity and negative PDT associated with both prosociality and conduct problems. More important, we demonstrated interactions between, (a) family-wide negativity and negative PDT for conduct problems, as well as, (b) positive and negative PDT in the prediction of both prosocial behavior and conduct problems. Results suggest negative PDT associates with increased conduct problems over time, even when the overall family climate is low in negativity. They also indicate a buffering role of positive PDT on the deleterious effects of negative PDT for children’s adjustment. Implications for both research and practice are discussed, including the importance of information gained by considering more than one child in the family.
Social psychology has studied ethnic, gender, age, national, and other social groups but has neglected education-based groups. This is surprising given the importance of education in predicting people’s life outcomes and social attitudes. We study whether and why people evaluate education-based in-groups and out-groups differently. In contrast with popular views of the higher educated as tolerant and morally enlightened, we find that higher educated participants show education-based intergroup bias: They hold more negative attitudes towards less educated people than towards highly educated people. This is true both on direct measures (Studies 1-2) and on more indirect measures (Studies 3-4). The less educated do not show such education-based intergroup bias. In Studies 5-7 we investigate attributions regarding a range of disadvantaged groups. Less educated people are seen as more responsible and blameworthy for their situation, as compared to poor people or working class people. This shows that the psychological consequences of social inequality are worse when they are framed in terms of education rather than income or occupation. Finally, meritocracy beliefs are related to higher ratings of responsibility and blameworthiness, indicating that the processes we study are related to ideological beliefs. The findings are discussed in light of the role that education plays in the legitimization of social inequality.
Background/objectives: Promoting the benefits of not drinking alcohol during social occasions where other peers may be drinking (‘social non-drinking’) may support more moderate drinking among young people. We analysed free-text responses from university students to gauge the frequency/focus of identified benefits of, and drawbacks to, social non-drinking. We also assessed whether/how identified benefits and drawbacks were associated with recent drinking behaviour and psychological correlates of harmful drinking. Design and method: Secondary data analyses was conducted on 511 free-text responses provided by students participating in a health intervention. Template analysis was used to identify potential benefits of social non-drinking. Links between responses relating to social non-drinking and behavioural/psychological measures were assessed. Results: 46.2% of female students and 42.0% of male students had engaged in social non-drinking in the previous week. Overarching benefits of social non-drinking included: improved physical and psychological health; increased self-esteem/agency; a higher quality social life; and having a more stable/productive life. Hostility/ambivalence to social non-drinking was evident in 26.6% of responses. Among women only, endorsing higher self-esteem and agency as a benefit of social non-drinking was associated with increased intention to heed government drinking recommendations (β = 0.10, P = 0.036). Discussion and conclusions: Focus on social non-drinking may help encourage more moderate drinking among young people by articulating positives of social non-drinking while raising awareness of a changing normative context in which non-drinking is increasingly more common among young people.
The United Kingdom (UK) has placed itself on a transition towards a low-carbon economy and society, through the imposition of a goal of reducing its ‘greenhouse’ gas emissions by 80% by 2050. A set of three low-carbon ‘Transition Pathways’ were developed to examine the influence of different governance arrangements on achieving a low-carbon future. They focus on the power sector, including the potential for increasing use of low-carbon electricity for heating and transport. These transition pathways were developed by starting from narrative storylines regarding different governance framings, drawing on interviews and workshops with stakeholders and analysis of historical analogies. Here the quantified pathways are compared and contrasted with the main scenarios developed in the UK Government’s 2011 Carbon Plan. This can aid an informed debate on the technical feasibility and social acceptability of realising transition pathways for decarbonising the UK energy sector by 2050. The contribution of these pathways to meeting Britain’s energy and carbon reduction goals are therefore evaluated on a ‘whole systems’ basis, including the implications of ‘upstream emissions’ arising from the ‘fuel supply chain’ ahead of power generators themselves.
In this article I argue for a novel theory of representational content, which I call ‘subjective externalism’. The view combines an internal, subjective constraint on the attribution of thought content which traditionally underpins internalist theories of thought, and an external, objective constraint on the attribution of thought content which traditionally underpins externalist theories of thought. While internalism and externalism are mutually inconsistent, the constraints to which each theory is committed are not. It is this realization that opens up the conceptual space for subjective externalism, according to which the correct attribution of thought content to an individual is essentially constrained by her nonrepresentational relations to objective manifest properties in her wider reality.
This chapter focuses on what is included within the standard historical genealogies, and what is omitted, and how this structures conceptual understandings of the state. It addresses the inadequacy of the historical record used to support such conceptualisation. The Treaty of Westphalia brought to an end the Thirty Years' War between Protestant and Catholic powers in Europe and has been often cited within the social science literature as the harbinger of the system of modern states. Similarly, Krasner presents the place of the Treaty within the discipline of International Relations as inaugurating 'the modern international system composed of sovereign states each with exclusive authority within its own geographic boundaries'. The failure to acknowledge the realities of imperialism as central to the emergence of what are conceived as nation-states within Europe has a long conceptual history. However, the construction of the 'national state' was concurrent with, and indeed constituted by, its associated imperial activities.
This chapter examines the ways in which the international development paradigm reproduces and reinforces racialised and gendered subjectivities and how these identities are constructed through everyday encounters where development takes place. It also examines the architecture of aid as one of power, borne from the colonial project. The chapter explores linkages between postcolonial and black feminist thought as a basis for developing deeper understanding of the complex realities arising from new global–local moves. It also explores what can be considered a postcolonial interaction within the Global South, but does not place its focus on the engagement between the former colonised and colonisers. The chapter presents the narratives and contradictions that play out in the experiences of the female aid workers. It argues that pushing the boundaries of work on aid workers, diaspora communities and postcolonial and black feminisms can open a space for deeper understanding of these experiences.
The assessment of research based on the journal in which it is published is a widely adopted practice. Some research assessments use the Web of Science (WoS) to identify “high quality” journals, which are assumed to publish excellent research. The authority of WoS on journal quality stems from its selection of journals based on editorial standards and scientific impact criteria. These can be considered as universalistic criteria, meaning that they can be applied to any journal regardless of its place of publication, language, or discipline. In this article we examine the coverage by WoS of journals produced in Latin America, Spain, and Portugal. We use a logistic regression to examine the probability of a journal to be covered by WoS given universalistic criteria (editorial standards and scientific impact of the journal) and particularistic criteria (country, language, and discipline of the journal). We find that it is not possible to predict the inclusion of journals in WoS only through the universalistic criteria because particularistic variables such as country of the journal, its discipline and language are strongly related to inc¬lusion in WoS. We conclude that using WoS as a universalistic tool for research assessment can disadvantage science published in journals with adequate editorial standards and scientific merit. We discuss the implications of these findings within the research evaluation literature, specifically for countries and disciplines not extensively covered by WoS.
We consider a non-autonomous ordinary differential equation over a finite time interval [T1; T2]. The area of exponential attraction consists of solutions such that the distance to adjacent solutions exponentially contracts from T1 to T2. One can use a contraction metric to determine an area of exponential attraction and to provide a bound on the rate of attraction. In this paper, we will give the first method to algorithmically construct a contraction metric for finite-time systems in one spatial dimension. We will show the existence of a contraction metric, given by a function which satisfies a second-order partial differential equation with boundary conditions. We then use meshless collocation to approximately solve this equation, and show that the resulting approximation itself defines a contraction metric, if the collocation points are sufficiently dense. We give error estimates and apply the method to an example.
We examine the impact of house prices on labour supply decisions using UK microdata. We combine household survey data with local-level house price measures and controls for local labour demand. Our microdata also allow us to control for individual level income expectations. We find significant house price effects on labour supply, consistent with leisure being a normal good. Labour supply responses to house prices are concentrated among young married female owners and older owners. This finding suggests that house prices affect the decisions of marginal workers in the economy. Our estimates imply that house prices are economically important in the participation decisions for these workers.
How does ethnic politics affect the state's ability to provide policing services? Using a panel of administrative personnel data on the full careers of 6,784 police officers, we show how the rise of ethnic politics around Kenya's independence influenced policemen's behavior. We find a significant deterioration in discipline after Kenya's first multiparty election for those police officers of ethnic groups associated with the ruling party. These effects are driven by a behavioral change among these policemen. We find no evidence of favoritism within the police. Instead, our results are consistent with co-ethnic officers experiencing an emboldenment effect. Our findings highlight that the state's security apparatus, at its most granular level, is not insulated from ethnic politics.
Do you eat mashed potato or mashed potatoes? Are you frowning with your eyebrows or your mouth? Did you need to google mugwump when Boris Johnson laid into Jeremy Corbyn?
British and American English may seem similar, but their differences abound. Contentious cultural wars are waged daily, on both sides of the Atlantic. As an American linguist based in Britain, Lynne Murphy brings a wry fish-out-of-water wit and a keen eye to this great divide. Some Americans suffer from a verbal inferiority complex, while on this side of the pond Brits are gripped by a delusional paranoia that their English is under attack. Murphy puts the mythologies of British and American English to the test, sharing surprising revelations about how our language really works.
“If Shakespeare were alive today, he’d sound like an American.”
“English accents are the sexiest.”
“Americans have ruined the English language.”
“Technology means everyone will have to speak the same English.”
Such claims about the English language are often repeated but rarely examined. Professor Lynne Murphy is on the linguistic front line. In The Prodigal Tongue she explores the fiction and reality of the special relationship between British and American English. By examining the causes and symptoms of American Verbal Inferiority Complex and its flipside, British Verbal Superiority Complex, Murphy unravels the prejudices, stereotypes and insecurities that shape our attitudes to our own language.
With great humo(u)r and new insights, Lynne Murphy looks at the social, political and linguistic forces that have driven American and British English in different directions: how Americans got from centre to center, why British accents are growing away from American ones, and what different things we mean when we say estate, frown, or middle class. Is anyone winning this war of the words? Will Yanks and Brits ever really understand each other?
While other works have explained difficulties in applying ‘international’ guidelines in the field of regenerative medicine in so-called low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in terms of ‘international hegemony’, ‘political and ethical governance’ and ‘cosmopolitisation’, this article on stem cell regulation in China emphasises the particular complexities faced by large LMICs: the emergence of alternative regulatory arrangements made by stakeholders at a provincial level at home. On the basis of ethnographic and archival research of clinical stem cell research hubs, we have characterized six types of entrepreneurial ‘bionetworks’, each of which embodies a regulatory orientation that developed in interaction with China’s regulatory dilemmas. Rather than adopting guidelines from other countries, we argue that regulatory capacity building is more appropriately viewed as a relational concept, referring to the ability to develop regulatory requirements that can cater for different regulatory research needs on an international level and at home.
The UK Chief Medical Officer's 2016 Annual Report, Generation Genome, focused on a vision to fully integrate genomics into all aspects of the UK's National Health Service (NHS). This process of integration, which has now already begun, raises a wide range of social and ethical concerns, many of which were discussed in the final Chapter of the report. This paper explores how the UK's 100,000 Genomes Project (100 kGP)-the catalyst for Generation Genome, and for bringing genomics into the NHS-is negotiating these ethical concerns. The UK's 100 kGP, promoted and delivered by Genomics England Limited (GEL), is an innovative venture aiming to sequence 100,000 genomes from NHS patients who have a rare disease, cancer, or an infectious disease. GEL has emphasised the importance of ethical governance and decision-making. However, some sociological critique argues that biomedical/technological organisations presenting themselves as 'ethical' entities do not necessarily reflect a space within which moral thinking occurs. Rather, the 'ethical work' conducted (and displayed) by organisations is more strategic, relating to the politics of the organisation and the need to build public confidence. We set out to explore whether GEL's ethical framework was reflective of this critique, and what this tells us more broadly about how genomics is being integrated into the NHS in response to the ethical and social concerns raised in Generation Genome. We do this by drawing on a series of 20 interviews with individuals associated with or working at GEL.
The growing consumer market in health monitoring devices means that technologies that were once the preserve of the clinic are moving into spaces such as homes and workplaces. We consider how one such device, blood pressure monitors, comes to be integrated into everyday life. We pursue the concept of ‘care infrastructure’, drawing on recent scholarship in STS and medical sociology, to illuminate the work and range of people, things and spaces involved in selfmonitoring. Drawing on a UK study involving observations and interviews with 31 people who have used a consumer blood pressure monitor, we apply the concept beyond chronic illness, to practices involving consumer devices – and develop a critical account of its value. We conclude that the care infrastructure concept is useful to highlight the socio-material arrangements involved in selfmonitoring, showing that even for ostensibly personal devices, monitoring may be a shared practice that expresses care for self and for others. The concept also helps draw attention to links between different objects and spaces that are integral to the practice, beyond the device alone. Care infrastructure draws attention to the material, but ensures that analytic attention engages with both material and social elements of practice and their connections.
This paper provides a survey of policy process theories and their usefulness in transitions research. Some research has already used such theories, but often in an ad hoc and relatively cursory way and with little attention to potential alternatives. However, it has been argued that transition scholars need to pay more attention to the politics of policy processes. We argue that a critical stocktaking of policy process theories is a prerequisite for future transition studies that more systematically respond to these challenges. Therefore, we review five prominent policy process theories and their applicability in transition studies. We point to two weaknesses of empirical applications of these approaches that are of particular relevance for transitions research: their focus on single instruments or policy packages, and their neglect of policy outcomes. We conclude by suggesting avenues for research on the linkages between policy processes, policy mixes, and socio-technical change.
We explore information structure in a spoken corpus of Cameroon Pidgin English, addressing the broad question of how far the corpus method addresses the needs of research in this area. Focusing on marked pronouns used in focus/topic constructions and the copula/focus marker na, we detail a method for investigating information structure in the corpus. Corpus analysis not only confirms but elaborates an emergent description allowed by the elicitation stage, demonstrating that while elicitation reveals what is possible, corpus analysis reveals what is preferred. However, we conclude that qualitative analysis is still required to identify instances of focus in the absence of marked morphosyntactic features, as well as interpretations governed by context.
This article examines voluntariness in migration decisions by promoting the acknowledgement of forced and voluntary migration as a continuum of experience, not a dichotomy. Studies on conflict-related migration and migration, in general, remain poorly connected, despite calls for interaction. This reflects the forced–voluntary dichotomy's stickiness within and beyond academia, which is closely connected to the political implications of unsettling it and potentially undermining migrants’ protection rights. We delve into notions of the ‘voluntariness’ of migration and argue for the analytical need to relate evaluations of voluntariness to available alternatives. Drawing on qualitative research with people from Afghanistan and Pakistan coming to Europe, we hone in on three particular renderings of migration: migrants’ own experiences, scholarly qualitative observations and labelling by immigration authorities. Analysing migration as stages in a process: leaving – journey (and transit) – arrival and settlement – return or onward migration, we highlight the specific effects of migration being described as being forced or voluntary. Labelling as ‘forced’ (or not) matters to migrants and states when asylum status is on the line. For migration scholars, it remains challenging to decouple these descriptions from state systems of migration management; though doing so enhances our understanding of the role voluntariness plays in migration decisions.
Equipping machine learning models with ethical and legal constraints is a serious issue; without this, the future of machine learning is at risk. This paper takes a step forward in this direction and focuses on ensuring machine learning models deliver fair decisions. In legal scholarships, the notion of fairness itself is evolving and multi-faceted. We set an overarching goal to develop a unified machine learning framework that is able to handle any definitions of fairness, their combinations, and also new definitions that might be stipulated in the future. To achieve our goal, we recycle two well-established machine learning techniques, privileged learning and distribution matching, and harmonize them for satisfying multi-faceted fairness definitions. We consider protected characteristics such as race and gender as privileged information that is available at training but not at test time; this accelerates model training and delivers fairness through unawareness. Further, we cast demographic parity, equalized odds, and equality of opportunity as a classical two-sample problem of conditional distributions, which can be solved in a general form by using distance measures in Hilbert Space. We show several existing models are special cases of ours. Finally, we advocate returning the Pareto frontier of multi-objective minimization of error and unfairness in predictions. This will facilitate decision makers to select an operating point and to be accountable for it.
This paper analyses intermediary organisations in developing economy agricultural clusters. The paper critically engages with a growing narrative in studies of intermediaries that have stressed the ownership structure of intermediaries as a key driver for enabling knowledge transfer, inter-firm learning and upgrading of small producers in clusters. Two case studies of Latin American clusters are presented and discussed. The study suggests that in addition to ownership structure, cluster governance and the embeddedness of intermediaries in clusters are critical factors that need to be taken into account in understanding the influence of intermediaries in the upgrading of small producers in clusters.
We present a study of photometric redshift performance for galaxies and active galactic nuclei detected in deep radio continuum surveys. Using two multi-wavelength datasets, over the NOAO Deep Wide Field Survey Boötes and COSMOS fields, we assess photometric redshift (photo-z) performance for a sample of 4; 500 radio continuum sources with spectroscopic redshifts relative to those of 63; 000 non radio-detected sources in the same fields. We investigate the performance of three photometric redshift template sets as a function of redshift, radio luminosity and infrared/X-ray properties. We find that no single template library is able to provide the best performance across all subsets of the radio detected population, with variation in the optimum template set both between subsets and between fields. Through a hierarchical Bayesian combination of the photo-z estimates from all three template sets, we are able to produce a consensus photo-z estimate which equals or improves upon the performance of any individual template set.
There are many situations in which alternatives ranked by quality wish to be chosen and compete for the imperfect attention of a chooser by selecting their own salience. The chooser may be "tricked" into choosing more salient but inferior alternatives. We investigate when competitive forces ensure instead that (strictly) higher salience is diagnostic of (strictly) higher quality, and the most frequently chosen alternative is the best one. We prove that the structure of externalities in the technology of salience is key. Broadly speaking, positive externalities in salience favour correlation between quality and salience.
NGO certication is a prerequisite for corporate engagement in enhanced social behaviors in many settings. Labels with broad scope (like sustainability) coexist with niche competitors much narrower in scope (like bird-friendliness). When NGOs compete for adoptions the wrong suite of schemes emerges, providing a rationale for regulation. An incumbent NGO may strategically narrow the breadth of its label to deter entry of competing schemes, reducing welfare. Even when entry is accommodated, welfare is compromised. Modeling multi-issue competition between NGOs allows us to be the first to analyze label fragmentation and provide a novel perspective on proliferation that has frustrated practitioners.
This paper investigates the potential rupture that the United Kingdom's “Brexit” referendum of June 23, 2016, might bring about in intra-European Union youth mobilities, with a specific focus on the London region. In many respects, and counter-intuitively given the Brexit result, London has already become a “Eurocity”: a magnet for young people, both highly educated and less educated, from all over Europe who, especially since the turn of the millennium, have flocked to the city and its wider region to work, study, and play. Now, these erstwhile open-ended migration trajectories have been potentially disrupted by a referendum result that few anticipated, and whose consequential results are still unclear. The main theoretical props for our analysis are the notions of “liquid migration,” “tactics of belonging,” “whiteness,” “privilege,” and “affect.” Data are drawn from 60 in-depth interviews with Irish, Italian, and Romanian young-adult students and higher and lower skilled workers, carried out in late 2015 and early 2016, plus 27 reinterviews carried out in late 2016, post-Brexit. Results indicate participants' profound and generally negative reaction to Brexit and, as a consequence, a diversity of uncertainties and of plans over their future mobility: either to stay put using “tactics of belonging,” or to return home earlier than planned, or to move on to another country. Finally, we find evidence that new hierarchies and boundaries are drawn between intra-European Union migrants as a result of Brexit.
We test three common information criteria (IC) for selecting the order of a Hawkes process with an intensity kernel that can be expressed as a mixture of exponential terms. These processes find application in high-frequency financial data modelling. The information criteria are Akaike's information criterion (AIC), the Bayesian information criterion (BIC) and the Hannan-Quinn criterion (HQ). Since we work with simulated data, we are able to measure the performance of model selection by the success rate of the IC in selecting the model that was used to generate the data. In particular, we are interested in the relation between correct model selection and underlying sample size. The analysis includes realistic sample sizes and parameter sets from recent literature where parameters were estimated using empirical financial intra-day data. We compare our results to theoretical predictions and similar empirical findings on the asymptotic distribution of model selection for consistent and inconsistent IC.
The Jacobi coefficients c`j (; ) (1 j `, ; > 1) are linked to the Maclaurin spectral expansion of the Schwartz kernel of functions of the Laplacian on a compact rank one symmetric space. It is proved that these coefficients can be computed by transforming the even derivatives of the jacobi polynomials P(;) k (k 0; ; > 1) into a spectral sum associated with the Jacobi operator. The first few coefficients are explicitly computed and a direct trace interpretation of the Maclaurin coefficients is presented.
In this paper we consider a variational problem consisting of an energy functional defined by the integral,
F[u, X] = 1/2∫x |∇u|²/|u|² dx,
and an associated mapping space, here, the space of incompressible Sobolev mappings of the symmetric annular domain X = {x ∈ R n : a < |x| < b}:
Aφ(X) = { u ∈ W1,2 (X, R n ) : det ∇u = 1 a.e. and u|∂X ≡ x } .
The goal is then two fold. Firstly to establish and highlight an unexpected difference in the symmetries of the extremiser and local minimisers of F over Aφ(X) in the two special cases n = 2 and n = 3. More specifically, that when n = 3, despite the inherent rotational symmetry in the problem, there are NO non-trivial rotationally symmetric critical points of F over Aφ(X), whereas in sharp contrast, when n = 2, not only that there is an infinitude of rotationally symmetric critical points of the energy but also there is an infinitude of local minimisers of F over Aφ(X) with respect to the L¹ -metric. At the heart of this analysis is an investigation into the rich homotopy structure of the space of self-mappings of annuli. The second aim is to introduce and implement a novel symmetrisation technique in the planar case n = 2 for Sobolev mappings u in Aφ(X) that lowers the energy whilst keeping the homotopy class of u invariant. We finally generalise and extend some of these results to higher dimensions, in particular, we show that only in even dimensions do we have an infinitude of non-trivial rotationally symmetric critical points.
Facebook (FB) is a social network allowing people to express their own identity. We propose that the frequency of use of FB can be explained in part by two identity processes: identity motives satisfaction (esteem, continuity, belonging and efficacy) and identity exploration. We tested the importance of these two identity processes as predictors of individual differences in FB use in two different generations (adolescents and adults) and in two different countries (Italy and Chile). A self-report questionnaire was administered in Italy and Chile. A linear regression showed that identity motives satisfaction significantly predicted FB use, whereas the path between identity exploration and FB use was non-significant. These findings were not significantly moderated by country of residence or generation. We conclude that when using FB people are entering a shared - and predefined - cultural world to which they tend to adapt.
The focus of this chapter is the city of Yiwu and the nature of Afghan networks present there. By inserting such networks both in the context of the wider global settings, and in terms of the traders’ experience of space in Yiwu, we seek to contribute to an emerging body of literature on Muslim cosmopolitanism in two ways. First, we bring attention to the ways in which the expressions of Muslim cosmopolitanism visible in Yiwu are premised on violent histories of international conflict and interference that have led to massive displacements of the country’s people, as well the bleaching out of the country’s own religious diversity. Secondly, we recognise that if the traders with whom we work are cosmopolitan in some aspects of their lives, then in others they reinforce and sustain collective commitment to national, regional, ideological and confessional identities, identities that are also of critical significance to their activities as traders.
Insects play a key role in the regulation and dynamics of many ecosystem services (ES). However, this role is often assumed, with limited or no experimental quantification of its real value. We examined publication trends in the research on ES provided by insects, ascertaining which ES and taxa have been more intensively investigated, and which methodologies have been used, with particular emphasis on experimental approaches. We first performed a systematic literature search to identify which ES have been attributed to insects. Then we classified the references retrieved according to the ES, taxonomic group and ecosystem studied, as well as to the method applied to quantify each ES (in four categories: no quantification, proxies, direct quantification and experiments). Pollination, biological control, food provisioning, and recycling organic matter are the most studied ES. However, the majority of papers do not specify the ES under consideration, and from those that do, most do not quantify the ES provided. From the rest, a large number of publications use proxies as indicators for ES, assuming or inferring their provision through indirect measurements such as species abundances, species density, species richness, diversity indices, or the number of functional groups. Pollinators, predators, parasitoids, herbivores, and decomposers are the most commonly studied functional groups, while Hymenoptera, Coleoptera, and Diptera are the most studied taxa. Experimental studies are relatively scarce and they mainly focus on biological control, pollination, and decomposition performed in agroecosystems. These results suggest that our current knowledge on the ES provided by insects is relatively scarce and biased, and show gaps in the least-studied functional and taxonomic groups. An ambitious research agenda to improve the empirical and experimental evidence of the role played by insects in ES provision is essential to fully assess synergies between functional ecology, community ecology, and biodiversity conservation under current global changes.
Rural mini-grids are viewed as a key technology for providing access to electricity to the billion or more people that lack it by 2030 (in line with the UN’s Sustainable Energy for All commitment). But at present no model for the sustainable management of rural mini-grids exists, which contributes to high failure rates. This paper makes a number of contributions. First, it explores how electricity in mini-grids might be understood as a Common Pool Resource (CPR), opening up potential to learn from the extensive literature on institutional characteristics of sustainable CPR management in the natural resource management literature. Second, it refines Agrawal’s (2001) overarching framework of enabling conditions for sustainable CPR management institutions to develop a framework applicable to rural mini-grid management in developing countries. Thirdly, the utility of this refined framework is demonstrated by applying it to analyse data from 27 semi-structured interviews with actors with expertise in mini-grid development and management in Kenya and 2 field visits to rural mini-grids there. This contributes a nuanced basis for future application of CPR theory to mini-grids and a systematic analysis of institutional challenges and possible solutions, which have hitherto received limited attention in the energy and development literature.
The tagline, ‘You Can’t Move History: You Can Secure the Future’, encapsulated the battle at the heart of the campaign to retain the Southbank Undercroft skate spot in the light of planned redevelopment of the Southbank Centre, London. The 2013-15 campaign against relocation adopted a position of no compromise and provides a lens through which three key areas of heritage theory and practice can be examined. Firstly, the campaign uses the term found space to reconceptualise authenticity and places a greater emphasis on embodied experiences of, and emotional attachments to, historic urban spaces. Secondly, the paper argues that the concept of found space opens up a discussion surrounding the role of citizen expertise in understanding the experiential and emotional values of historic urban spaces. Finally, the paper considers the wider relevance of found space in terms of reconceptualising authenticity in theory and practice. The paper is accompanied by the award-winning film ‘You Can’t Move History’ which was produced by the research team in collaboration with Paul Richards from Brazen Bunch and directed by skater, turned filmmaker, Winstan Whitter.
Climate change underpins all the social and environmental determinants of health but also has positive implications. The Lancet Countdown: Tracking Progress on Health and Climate Change is an international, multi-disciplinary research collaboration between academic institutions following on from the 2015 Lancet Commission on Health and Climate Change, which emphasised that the response to climate change could be “the greatest global health opportunity of the 21st century”.
We address questions on existence, multiplicity as well as qualitative features including rotational symmetry for certain classes of geometrically motivated maps serving as solutions to the nonlinear system $$ \begin{cases} -\text{\rm div}[ F'(|x|,|\nabla u|^2) \nabla u] = F'(|x|,|\nabla u|^2) |\nabla u|^2 u &\text{in } \mathbb{X}^n,\\ |u| = 1 &\text{in } \mathbb{X}^n ,\\ u = \varphi &\text{on } \partial \mathbb{X}^n. \end{cases} $$% Here $\varphi \in \mathscr{C}^\infty(\partial {\mathbb{X}}^n, \mathbb S}^{n-1})$ is a suitable boundary map, $F'$ is the derivative of $F$ with respect to the second argument, $u \in W^{1,p}(\mathbb{X}^n, \mathbb S}^{n-1})$ for a fixed $1< p< \infty$ and ${\mathbb{X}}^n=\{x \in \mathbb R^n : a< |x|< b\}$ is a generalised annulus. Of particular interest are spherical twists and whirls, where following \cite{Taheri2012}, a spherical twist refers to a rotationally symmetric map of the form $u\colon x \mapsto \rom{Q}(|x|)x|x|^{-1}$ with $\rom{Q}$ some suitable path in $\mathscr{C}([a, b], {\rm SO}(n))$ and a whirl has a similar but more complex structure with only $2$-plane symmetries. We establish the existence of an infinite family of such solutions and illustrate an interesting discrepancy between odd and even dimensions.
Unconscious influences have been demonstrated in a variety of behavioural contexts, however, a key question remains – to what extent do such influences vary with our changing mental states? We examine whether a prior inhibitory challenge increases susceptibility to subliminal priming in a stem completion task employing neutral (Experiment 1) and reward salient terms (Experiment 2). Results show stem completions to be significantly influenced by unconscious priming, and the challenging inhibitory task (the Stroop) to be significantly more mentally exhausting than the control task. However, neither the degree of inhibitory challenge, trait self-control, nor task-related mental exhaustion significantly influenced unconscious priming. Bayesian analysis provides strong evidence that prior inhibitory challenge does not affect susceptibility to unconscious priming. The study supports the conclusion that unconscious processing can be independent of consciously experienced mental states and provides reassurance that inhibitory impairment, common to mood disorders, should not increase susceptibility to unconscious influences.
Many investigations of moral decision-making employ hypothetical scenarios in which each participant has to choose between two options. One option is usually deemed “utilitarian” and the other either “non-utilitarian” or “deontological”. Very little has been done to establish the validity of such measures. It is unclear what they measure, let alone how well they do so. In this exploratory study, participants were asked about the reasons for their decisions in six hypothetical scenarios. Various concerns contributed to each decision. Action decisions occurred when utilitarian concerns dominated. Bystanding decisions resulted from different concerns or combinations of concerns dominating in different situations, with utilitarianism usually among participants’ concerns. None of the labels usually used for either decision therefore seems entirely appropriate. Five concerns were identified as necessary and sufficient to predict over 85% of participants’ decisions. This suggests great promise for future research, particularly in investigation of real-world moral decisions.
ABSTRACT
Core Surgical Trainees (CST) in the London (UK) Postgraduate School of Surgery receive clinical anatomy teaching in their first year of training, and, in their second year, give thirty sessions of anatomy teaching to medical and other students. This study set out to investigate the role of demonstrators from the perspective of the trainees. A focus group was convened to ascertain trainees’ perspectives on demonstrating anatomy and to identify problems and improvement strategies to optimise their ability to enhance students’ learning. A questionnaire was formulated and all second-year CST (n=186 – from two cohorts) in the London Postgraduate School of Surgery were invited. A total of 109 out of 186 trainees completed the questionnaire. A high percentage (98%) of trainees that completed the questionnaire responded that demonstrating was an invaluable part of their training.
Sixty-two per cent responded that anatomy teaching they received in their first year of core surgical training helped them in their teaching role and 80% responded that it
helped them prepare for surgical training. The study also revealed the need for improved communication between trainees and the London Postgraduate School of Surgery / Medical Schools / National Health Service Trusts to address issues such as trainees’ perceived difficulty in fulfilling their teaching session requirement. The stakeholders have acknowledged and addressed the outcomes to improve the
experience for both surgical trainees and students. The results indicate that anatomy demonstrating delivers important benefits to early surgical trainees, in addition to those received by the students that they teach.
Advances in future computing and communications to support IoT are becoming more important as the need to better utilize resources and make them energy-efficient grows. As a result, it is predicted that intelligent devices and networks, including WSNs, will become the new interfaces to support future IoT applications. However, many open challenges remain, which are mostly due to the resource constraints imposed by various hardware platforms and complex characteristics of applications wishing to make use of IoT systems. Thus, it becomes critically important to study how the current approaches incorporating both computing and communications in this area can be improved, and at the same time better understand the opportunities for the research community to utilize the proposed approaches. To this end, this article presents an overview of our latest research results in sensor edge computing and lightweight communication protocols as well as their potential applications.
A numerical study is described to predict, in the non-boiling regime, the heat transfer from a circular flat surface cooled by a full-cone spray of water at atmospheric pressure. Simulations based on coupled Computational Fluid Dynamics and Conjugate Heat Transfer are used to predict the detailed features of the fluid flow and heat transfer for three different spray conditions involving three mass fluxes between 3.5 and 9.43 kg/m2s corresponding to spray Reynolds numbers between 82 and 220, based on a 20 mm diameter target surface. A two-phase Lagrange-Eulerian modelling approach is adopted to resolve the spray-film flow dynamics. Simultaneous evaporation and condensation within the fluid film is modelled by solving the mass conservation equation at the film-continuum interface. Predicted heat transfer coefficients on the cooled surface are compared with published experimental data showing good agreement. The spray mass flux is confirmed to be the dominant factor for heat transfer in spray cooling, where single-phase convection within the thin fluid film on the flat surface is identified as the primary heat transfer mechanism. This enhancement of heat transfer, via single-phase convection, is identified to be the result of the discrete random nature of the droplets disrupting the surface thin film.
A multi-frequency Electrical Impedance Mammography (EIM) system has been developed to evaluate the conductivity and permittivity spectrums of breast tissues, which aims to improve early detection of breast cancer as a non-invasive, relatively low cost and label-free screening (or pre-screening) method. Multi-frequency EIM systems typically employ current excitations and measure differential potentials from the subject under test. Both the output impedance and system performance (SNR and accuracy) depend on the total output resistance, stray and output capacitances, capacitance at the electrode level, crosstalk at the chip and PCB levels. This makes the system design highly complex due to the impact of the unwanted capacitive effects, which substantially reduce the output impedance of stable current sources and bandwidth of the data that can be acquired. To overcome these difficulties, we present new methods to design a high performance, wide bandwidth EIM system using novel second generation current conveyor operational amplifiers based on a gyrator (OCCII-GIC) combination with different current excitation systems to cancel unwanted capacitive effects from the whole system. We reconstructed tomography images using a planar E-phantom consisting of an RSC circuit model, which represents the resistance of extra-cellular (R), intra-cellular (S) and membrane capacitance (C) of the breast tissues to validate the performance of the system. The experimental results demonstrated that an EIM system with the new design achieved a high output impedance of 10MΩ at 1MHz to at least 3MΩ at 3MHz frequency, with an average SNR and modelling accuracy of over 80dB and 99%, respectively.
The application of competition law to sport in EU law has had an ambiguous relationship. Successfully using the shields of the specificity of sport and the autonomy of sport the rules and activities of sports governing bodies (SGB) have, until recently, appeared immune from scrutiny under the EU competition rules. An increase in challenges to the SGB at the national level has opened up the possibility of using EU competition law to challenge alleged restrictions on the autonomy of individual athletes to determine when and how they practice their professional skills. The European Commission has also taken an interest in this issue, opening an investigation into the activities of the International Skating Union. The chapter examines whether competition law is the best tool to address the regulation of SGB and sport in general.
The mouth, responsible for both physical and spiritual functions - eating, drinking, breathing, praying and confessing - was of immediate importance to medieval thinking about the nature of the human being. Where scholars have traditionally focused on the mouth's grotesque excesses, Katie L. Walter argues for the recuperation of its material 'everyday' aspect. Walter's original study draws on two rich archives: one comprising Middle English theology (Langland, Julian of Norwich, Lydgate, Chaucer) and pastoral writings; the other broadly medical and surgical, including learned encyclopaedias and vernacular translations and treatises. Challenging several critical orthodoxies about the centrality of sight, the hierarchy of the senses and the separation of religious from medical discourses, the book reveals the centrality of the mouth, taste and touch to human modes of knowing and to Christian identity.
A Lagrangian numerical scheme for solving nonlinear degenerate Fokker{Planck equations in space dimensions d>2 is presented. It applies to a large class of nonlinear diffusion equations, whose dynamics are driven by internal energies and given external potentials, e.g. the porous medium equation and the fast diffusion equation. The key ingredient in our approach is the gradient ow structure of the dynamics. For discretization of the Lagrangian map, we use a finite subspace of linear maps in space and a variational form of the implicit Euler method in time. Thanks to that time discretisation, the fully discrete solution inherits energy estimates from the original gradient ow, and these lead to weak compactness of the trajectories in the continuous limit. Consistency is analyzed in the planar situation, d = 2. A variety of numerical experiments for the porous medium equation indicates that the scheme is well-adapted to track the growth of the solution's support.
Background: To compare retinal vascular measurements, biomarkers of cerebral small vessel disease (SVD), in HIV positive men aged 50 years and above with similarly-aged HIV negative men and younger HIV positive men.
Methods: We recruited white, non-diabetic men to a cross-sectional substudy of a larger cohort including three demographically-matched groups. Optic disc centred 45° colour fundus photographs were used to calculate central retinal arterial and venous calibre and the arterial- venous ratio (AVR). We used univariate and multivariable linear regression to compare retinal vessel measurements in the three groups and to identify factors associated with AVR.
Results: All HIV positive men were virologically suppressed. In a multivariable model, study group was not associated with AVR (adjusted β 0.010 for HIV positive men <50 [n=39] compared to HIV positive men aged >50 years [n=120], 95% CI -0.018 to 0.038, p=0.47; adjusted β 0.00002 for HIV negative men >50 years [n=52], 95% CI -0.022 to 0.022, p=0.99). Factors associated with lower AVR were systolic BP (adjusted β -0.009 per +10 mmHg, 95% CI - 0.015 to -0.003, p=0.002), history of stroke or transient ischemic attack (adjusted β -0.070, 95% CI -0.12 to -0.015, p=0.01), and recent recreational drug use (adjusted β -0.037, 95% CI -0.057 to -0.018, p=0.0002).
Conclusion: There were no differences in retinal vascular indices between HIV positive men aged >50 years and HIV negative men aged >50 years or HIV positive men aged <50 years, suggesting that HIV is not associated with an increased burden of cerebral SVD.
We draw on the conservation of resources theory to examine whether self-efficacy and resilience mediate the relationship between entrepreneurs’ business network utilization and their subjective well-being. Using socioemotional selectivity theory, we then examine the extent to which the mediating effects become stronger as entrepreneurs age. An analysis of data collected from 335 entrepreneurs in India reveals that business networks help entrepreneurs build resilience and self-efficacy, which contribute to subjective well-being. Furthermore, we find that the relationship between business network utilization and subjective well-being strengthens as entrepreneurs age. Our findings attest to the importance of understanding how contextual resources in entrepreneurs’ work environments influence their subjective well-being by enhancing their personal psychological resources.
BACKGROUND:
In humans, interferon-α treatment for chronic viral hepatitis is a well-recognized clinical model for inflammation-induced depression, but the molecular mechanisms underlying these effects are not clear. Following peripheral administration in rodents, interferon-α induces signal transducer and activator of transcription-1 (STAT1) within the hippocampus and disrupts hippocampal neurogenesis.
METHODS:
We used the human hippocampal progenitor cell line HPC0A07/03C to evaluate the effects of 2 concentrations of interferon-α, similar to those observed in human serum during its therapeutic use (500 pg/mL and 5000 pg/mL), on neurogenesis and apoptosis.
RESULTS:
Both concentrations of interferon-α decreased hippocampal neurogenesis, with the high concentration also increasing apoptosis. Moreover, interferon-α increased the expression of interferon-stimulated gene 15 (ISG15), ubiquitin-specific peptidase 18 (USP18), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) via activation of STAT1. Like interferon-α, co-treatment with a combination of ISG15, USP18, and IL-6 was able to reduce neurogenesis and enhance apoptosis via further downstream activation of STAT1. Further experiments showed that ISG15 and USP18 mediated the interferon-α-induced reduction in neurogenesis (potentially through upregulation of the ISGylation-related proteins UBA7, UBE2L6, and HERC5), while IL-6 mediated the interferon-α-induced increase in apoptosis (potentially through downregulation of aquaporin 4). Using transcriptomic analyses, we showed that interferon-α regulated pathways involved in oxidative stress and immune response (e.g., Nuclear Factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 [Nrf2] and interferon regulatory factor [IRF] signaling pathway), neuronal formation (e.g., CAMP response element-binding protein [CREB] signaling), and cell death regulation (e.g., tumor protein(p)53 signaling).
CONCLUSIONS:
We identify novel molecular mechanisms mediating the effects of interferon-α on the human hippocampus potentially involved in inflammation-induced neuropsychiatric symptoms.
In order to understand, how, why and whether the trade-offs and tensions around simultaneous implementation of the SDGs are resolved in ways which are both sustainable and equitable requires an appreciation of power relations across multiple scales of governance. We explore the politics and political economy of how the nexus around food-energy and water is being governed through initiatives to promote ‘climate-smart agriculture’ (CSA) as it moves from the global to the local. We combine analysis of how these interrelationships are being governed (and ungoverned) by key global institutions with reflection upon the consequences of this for developing countries that are being targeted by CSA initiatives. In particular, we look at Kenya as a country heavily dependent on agriculture, but also subject to some of the worst effects of climate change, and which has been targeted by a range of bilateral and multilateral donors with their preferred vision of CSA. We draw on strands of literature in global environmental politics (GEPs), political ecology and the political economy of development to make sense of the power dynamics which characterize the multi-scalar politics of how CSA is translated, domesticated and operationalized in practice.
This article discusses criticisms that utopia and utopianism undermine social change. It outlines two types of utopia, future and current. It argues against claims that utopianism is idealist and steps aside from material and conflictual dimensions of society and so undermines change, proposing that utopias are material and conflictual and contribute to change. Against liberal and pluralist criticisms that utopianism is end-ist and totalitarian and terminates diversity and change it argues that utopianism can encompass liberal and pluralist dimensions and be dynamic rather than static. It is proposed that criticisms create false conflations and dichotomies. Critical perspectives, rather than being rejected, are answered on their own terms. Utopianism, it is argued, is part of change, materially, now and in the future.
The impact of attentional set and situation awareness on event detection and reaction times was investigated in 2 simulated driving experiments. Experiment 1: thirty participants viewed and reacted to thirty driving films containing unexpected items which were either driving congruent or incongruent. Group 1 completed the task without distraction; group 2 completed a concurrent conversation task. Experiment 2: thirty participants viewed and reacted to twenty driving films which contained unexpected yet driving relevant events. Half of the participants completed the task without distraction and half completed a concurrent conversation task. Measures of event detection and reaction time were recorded for both experiments. Compared to undistracted participants, dual-taskers reacted to fewer unexpected events; recorded longer reaction times; and reacted to fewer incongruent and peripheral events, suggesting an enduring attentional set for driving. Dual tasking drivers may adopt a strategy of over-reliance on schema-driven processing when attention is shared between tasks.
Notwithstanding recent interest in the politics of housing, squatting in the formative contexts of post-Restoration rural England remains little understood and studied. Drawing upon a diverse archive of central government papers and those of the local officers of the New Forest – the largest crown forest in England and Wales – the paper argues that the resort to squatting was both a function of the uneven contours of forest governance. Moreover, while squatting led to the formation of new communities, it was neither exclusively a plebeian act nor, against official discourses, necessarily an abuse of the assets of the forest.
This article focuses upon the complex emotional relationship between the settlers and Charles de Gaulle. De Gaulle returned to power in May 1958 ostensibly to maintain French Algeria and with the new Fifth Republic many settlers felt emotional and politically secure after four years of conflict. Yet, as de Gaulle’s position shifted in 1959, this article traces the changing emotional landscape of the settlers, examining how they responded to de Gaulle’s pronouncements with a mixture of fear, anxiety and anger. Following this relationship, the article will explore the way in which de Gaulle used television to project a certain image of political masculinity that was rational, detached and objective. In particular, it will foreground how this political masculinity, embodying the higher interests of the French Republic, was seen to stand in opposition to the European settler ‘other’ - irrational, unrealistic, driven by narrow, selfish interests. Here specific emphasis will be given to the January 1960 crisis, when the settlers rebelled against the dismissal of General Massu. This will be interpreted as a crystallising moment in this ‘othering’ of the settlers, which then became a key part of de Gaulle’s decolonisation rationale. In conclusion the article will place these findings within the framework of the notion of settler colonialism advanced by Lorenzo Veracini. It will show how the understanding of the emotional history of the settler presence deepens our understanding of the specific dynamics of settler colonialism, in particular the complex and shifting triangular relationships between the Metropole, the settlers and the indigenous populations which, it will be argued, must always be placed within an international framework. As such the article will make a general contribution to the field, opening up a connected and comparative history of the emotional dynamics of other settler colonial societies as well as the decolonisation process in general.
Purpose: This study focuses on the changing nature of healthcare service encounters by studying the phenomenon of triadic engagement incorporating interactions between patients, local and virtual networks and healthcare professionals.
Design/methodology/approach: An 18-month longitudinal ethnographic study documents interactions in naturally occurring healthcare consultations. Professionals (n=13) and patients (n=24) within primary and secondary care units were recruited. Analysis of observations, field notes and interviews provides an integrated picture of triadic engagement.
Findings: Triadic engagement is conceptualised against a two-level framework. (1) The structure of triadic consultations is identified in terms of the human voice, virtual voice and networked voice. These are related to: companions’ contributions to discussions and the virtual network impact. (2) Evolving roles are mapped to three phases of transformation: enhancement; empowerment; emancipation. Triadic engagement varied across conditions.
Research limitations/implications: These changing roles and structures evidence an increasing emphasis on the responsible consumer and patients/companions to utilise information/support in making health-related decisions. The nature and role of third voices requires clear delineation.
Practical implications: Structures of consultations should be rethought around the diversity of patient/companion behaviours and expectations as patients undertake self-service activities. Implications for policy and practice are: the parallel set of local/virtual informational and service activities; a network orientation to healthcare; tailoring of support resources/guides for professionals and third parties to inform support practices.
Originality/value: Contributions are made to understanding triadic engagement and forwarding the agenda on patient-centred care. Longitudinal illumination of consultations is offered through an exceptional level of access to observe consultations.
Genetic epidemiology examines the role of genetic factors in determining health and disease in families and in populations to help addressing health problems in a responsible manner. This article uses a case study of genetic epidemiology in Taizhou, China, to explore ways in which anthropology can contribute to the validation of studies in genetic epidemiology. It does so, first, by identifying potential overgeneralizations of data, often due to mismatching scale and, second, by examining its embedding in political, historical and local contexts. The example of the longitudinal cohort study in Taizhou illustrates dimensions of such ‘political scaling’.
Political scaling is a notion I use to refer to the effects of scaling biases in relation to the justification of research in terms of relevance, reach, and research ethics. The justification of a project on genetic epidemiology involves presenting a maximum of benefits and a minimum of burden for the population. To facilitate the delineation of political scaling, I make an analytical distinction between donating and benefiting communities, using the notions of ‘scaling of relevance’, ‘scaling of reach’ and ‘scaling of ethics’. Political scaling results at least partly from factors external to research. By situating political scaling in the context of historical, political and local discourses, anthropologists can play a complementary role in genetic epidemiology.
In this article on innovative medical treatment for serious conditions in Japan we aim to revise two widespread notions: first, that people living with severe conditions are all waiting for a cure or are impatient to try out experimental treatment, in particular regenerative medicine. Showing that motivations for cure seeking are complex and linked to somatic identity, we argue that gaining a cure also means a new social normality, which for some people narrows the only normality that is meaningful to them; and, second, that people living with a serious (latent) condition necessarily define their lives as not normal in the light of normalization. People with a condition conceptualise normal life variously and multiply in the light of both individual and collective experiences. The two revisions are crucial to attempts at understanding what makes people seek experimental medicine. Comparing the narratives of people with four different conditions – spinal cord injury, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Diabetes Mellitus type 1 and cardiovascular disease – it becomes clear that the difference between seeking treatment or not largely depends on somatic identities; rather than through notions of (ab)normality, it is more adequately understood in terms of the experience of somatic lacking and wholeness.
Objectives In Britain, sexual health clinics (SHCs) are the most common location for STI diagnosis but many people with STI risk behaviours do not attend. We estimate prevalence of SHC attendance and how this varies by sociodemographic and behavioural factors (including unsafe sex) and describe hypothetical service preferences for those reporting unsafe sex.Methods Complex survey analyses of data from Britain’s third National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles, a probability survey of 15 162 people aged 16–74 years, undertaken 2010–2012.Results Overall, recent attendance (past year) was highest among those aged 16–24 years (16.6% men, 22.4% women), decreasing with age (<1.5% among those 45–74 years). Approximately 15% of sexually-active 16–74 year olds (n=1002 men; n=1253 women) reported ‘unsafe sex’ (condomless first sex with a new partner and/or >=2 partners and no condom use, past year); >75% of these had not attended a SHC (past year). However, of non-attenders aged 16–44 years, 18.7% of men and 39.0% of women reported chlamydia testing (past year) with testing highest in women aged <25 years. Of those aged 16–44 years reporting unsafe sex, the majority who reported previous SHC attendance would seek STI care there, whereas the majority who had not would use general practice.Conclusion While most reporting unsafe sex had not attended a SHC, many, particularly younger women, had tested for chlamydia suggesting engagement with sexual health services more broadly. Effective, diverse service provision is needed to engage those at-risk and ensure that they can attend services appropriate to their needs.
This article explores the serial dynamics behind and within the succession of B-films Columbia Pictures developed from the popular CBS radio program The Whistler. It examines how this anthology series developed within Columbia’s ongoing strategy of low-budget production, while responding to specific industrial challenges facing 1940s B-films. Besides looking at broader synergies between radio and cinema during this period, the article also qualifies the tendency to categorize the Whistler movies as films noir, suggesting it is more productive to view them as products of a broader pulp serialscape that is shaped by alternative cultural and industrial logics.
This chapter draws from existing literature, analysis of school policy texts and codes of discipline, to examine the context and history of school social control in sub-Saharan Africa using some evidence from Ghana. It highlights how school hierarchies, institutional surveillance mechanisms, and the code of discipline produce school social control in the sub-Saharan Africa context. It discusses school hierarchical organization as a mechanism for control based on a case study in Ghana. The discussion examines how teachers’ own schooling and training experiences make them agents of school social control and how corporal punishment plays a key role concluding with the role that foreign languages play in controlling access to further education and future social and economic opportunities.
Background
The stereotype of the student with dyspraxia as ‘clumsy and disorganised’ may cause clinical teachers to be concerned about the student’s performance in a clinical environment. However, if it is understood that dyspraxic students possess many strengths, as well as weaknesses, it may be that some stereotypical myths may be dispelled and more effective support offered to them. This review considers the research surrounding the experiences of students and health professionals with dyspraxia within higher education (HE), alongside the personal experiences of EW, in order to inform the development of clinical teachers in respect of their support for learners with dyspraxia.
Findings
A literature review produced five relevant articles. Four studies focussed on HE students and one on doctors. A significant theme was that dyspraxia impaired learning new skills. Doctors with dyspraxia tended not to disclose their condition, due to fear of stigmatisation and negative effects on their career. Positive attributes of dyspraxia included resilience and determination to succeed. Two main adaptations to dyspraxia were highlighted; a ‘difference’ view focussing on individuals’ strengths, and a ‘medical/deficit’ view, focussing on their weaknesses and others’ negative perceptions.
Discussions and Recommendations
It is important for clinical educators to understand and support students with dyspraxia – as clinical environments can be particularly difficult for them. Dyspraxia has both positive and negative effects. Here we discuss the findings of previous studies in the context of EWAA’s personal experiences. We also present a series of practical recommendations, whilst recognising that more research is required to document their impact in clinical education.
We use the energy-balance code MAGPHYS to determine stellar and dust masses, and dust corrected star-formation rates for over 200,000 GAMA galaxies, 170,000 G10-COSMOS galaxies and 200,000 3D-HST galaxies. Our values agree well with previously reported measurements and constitute a representative and homogeneous dataset spanning a broad range in stellar mass (10^8---10^12 Msol), dust mass (10^6---10^9 Msol), and star-formation rates (0.01---100 Msol per yr), and over a broad redshift range (0.0 < z < 5.0). We combine these data to measure the cosmic star-formation history (CSFH), the stellar-mass density (SMD), and the dust-mass density (DMD) over a 12 Gyr timeline. The data mostly agree with previous estimates, where they exist, and provide a quasi-homogeneous dataset using consistent mass and star-formation estimators with consistent underlying assumptions over the full time range. As a consequence our formal errors are significantly reduced when compared to the historic literature. Integrating our cosmic star-formation history we precisely reproduce the stellar-mass density with an ISM replenishment factor of 0.50 +/- 0.07, consistent with our choice of Chabrier IMF plus some modest amount of stripped stellar mass. Exploring the cosmic dust density evolution, we find a gradual increase in dust density with lookback time. We build a simple phenomenological model from the CSFH to account for the dust mass evolution, and infer two key conclusions: (1) For every unit of stellar mass which is formed 0.0065---0.004 units of dust mass is also formed; (2) Over the history of the Universe approximately 90 to 95 per cent of all dust formed has been destroyed and/or ejected.
In this perspective article, we critically explore ‘disruption’ in relation to sustainability transitions in the energy sector. Recognising significant ambiguity associated with the term, we seek to answer the question: What use has ‘disruption’ for understanding and promoting change towards low carbon energy futures. First, we outline that different understandings and dimensions of ‘system disruption’ exist with different linkages to institutional and policy change. This variety points out a need to research in more detail the particular effects of differing low-carbon innovations in terms of their disruptive consequences for whole socio-technical systems. Thus, disruption can be utilised as a useful conceptual tool for interrogating in more detail the ways in which energy systems are changing in particular contexts. Second, we reflect on the relationship between ‘green industrial policy’ and disruption. In some contexts ‘energy disruption’ has been facilitated by green industrial policy, and it would seem that the profound changes said to be on the horizon in terms of disruption are also a motivator of green industrial policy. New industrial policy can be an important way in which the negative consequences of disruptive change, such as job losses, can be managed and facilitated.
We consider a class of interacting particle models with anisotropic, repulsive-attractive interaction forces whose orientations depend on an underlying tensor field. An example of this class of models is the so-called Kücken-Champod model describing the formation of fingerprint patterns. This class of models can be regarded as a generalization of a gradient flow of a nonlocal interaction potential which has a local repulsion and a longrange attraction structure. In contrast to isotropic interaction models the anisotropic forces in our class of models cannot be derived from a potential. The underlying tensor field introduces an anisotropy leading to complex patterns which do not occur in isotropic models. This anisotropy is characterized by one parameter in the model. We study the variation of this parameter, describing the transition between the isotropic and the anisotropic model, analytically and numerically. We analyze the equilibria of the corresponding mean-field partial differential equation and investigate pattern formation numerically in two dimensions by studying the dependence of the parameters in the model on the resulting patterns.
Sustainability transitions is an emerging field of research that has produced both conceptual understandings of the drivers of technological transitions, as well as more prescriptive and policy-engaged analyses of how shifts from unsustainable to sustainable forms of production and consumption can be achieved. Yet, attention towards the role of the state is underdeveloped in the field. The significance of this neglect has become more apparent in particular due to the heightened urgency around the need to tackle climate change and energy security, where there are increasing calls for an enhanced role for the state. This paper sets out to advance understandings of the multiple and conflicting roles that states play in transitions. It first addresses key weaknesses in the way the state has been examined thus far. Second, it highlights theoretical resources and conceptualisations of the state that can help scholars of transitions open up new and more productive avenues for understanding drivers and barriers to sustainable transitions drawing on examples from different sectors, regions and issue areas.
Serendipity, the notion of researchers making unexpected and beneficial discoveries, has played an important role in debates about the feasibility and desirability of targeting public R&D investments. The purpose of this paper is to show that serendipity can come in different forms and come about in a variety of ways. The archives of Robert K Merton, who introduced the term to the social sciences, were used as a starting point for gathering literature and examples. I identify four types of serendipity (Walpolian, Mertonian, Bushian, Stephanian) together with four mechanisms of serendipity (Theory-led, Observer-led, Error-borne, Network-emergent). I also discuss implications of the different types and mechanisms for theory and policy.
Background: Few patients have access to cognitive behaviour therapy for psychosis (CBTp) even though at least
16 sessions of CBTp is recommended in treatment guidelines. Briefer CBTp could improve access as the same
number of therapists could see more patients. In addition, focusing on single psychotic symptoms, such as
auditory hallucinations (‘voices’), rather than on psychosis more broadly, may yield greater benefits.
Method: This pilot RCT recruited 28 participants (with a range of diagnoses) from NHS mental health services
who were distressed by hearing voices. The study compared an 8-session guided self-help CBT intervention for
distressing voiceswith a wait-list control. Data were collected at baseline and at 12 weekswith post-therapy assessments
conducted blind to allocation. Voice-impact was the pre-determined primary outcome. Secondary
outcomes were depression, anxiety, wellbeing and recovery. Mechanism measures were self-esteem, beliefs
about self, beliefs about voices and voice-relating.
Results: Recruitment and retention was feasible with low study (3.6%) and therapy (14.3%) dropout. There were
large, statistically significant between-group effects on the primary outcome of voice-impact (d=1.78; 95% CIs:
0.86–2.70), which exceeded the minimum clinically important difference. Large, statistically significant effects
were found on a number of secondary and mechanism measures.
Conclusions: Large effects on the pre-determined primary outcome of voice-impact are encouraging, and criteria
for progressing to a definitive trial are met. Significant between-group effects on measures of self-esteem, negative
beliefs about self and beliefs about voiceomnipotence are consistentwith these beingmechanisms of change
and this requires testing in a future trial.
Synaesthesia and autism are two neurodevelopmental conditions that have been shown to co-occur more than expected by chance. The studies reported here test the hypothesis that increased sensory sensitivity and enhanced attention-to-detail are core cognitive features that are shared between them. In Study 1, we administer self-report measures of sensory sensitivity and autistic traits (the Autism Spectrum Quotient, AQ) to a large heterogeneous sample of synaesthetes. Both sensory sensitivity and the attention-to-detail subscale of the AQ show a “dose-like” relationship with synaesthesia: namely, more kinds of synaesthesia is related to a greater shift up the autistic spectrum. Study 2 uses two objective measures of visual perception/attention linked to autistic traits: change blindness and detection of local embedded figures. Both measures are shown here to be sensitive to the attention-to-detail subscale of the AQ, and synaesthetes outperformed controls on both tasks. Synaesthetes appear to occupy a specific cognitive niche of having autistic-like traits linked to enhanced perception and attention. Whilst these typically occur in the absence of the traditional impairments that define autism, they may carry the cost of increased vulnerability to clinical levels of autism (Odds Ratio=2.07).
This work explores the relationship between exports, global value chains (GVCs)’ participation and position, and firms’ productivity. To this aim, we combine the most recent World Bank Enterprise Survey in Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and World Trade Organization trade in value-added data. To explore the above relationship, we adopt an extended version of the standard Cobb- Douglas output function including indicators of export performance and GVCs. We control for heterogeneity among firms (by country, region, and industry), sample selection, firms’ characteristics, and reverse causality. Our empirical outcomes confirm the presence of a positive relationship between participation in international activities and firm performance. They also show that both participation in GVCs and position within GVCs matter. These findings have strong policy implications and may help policymakers in choosing the best policy options to enhance the link between GVCs’ integration and firms’ productivity.
As humanity is becoming increasingly confronted by Earth's finite biophysical limits, there is increasing interest in questions about the stability and equitability of a zero-growth capitalist economy, most notably: if one maintains a positive interest rate for loans, can a zero-growth economy be stable? This question has been explored on a few different macroeconomic models, and both ‘yes' and ‘no’ answers have been obtained. However, economies can become unstable whether or not there is ongoing underlying growth in productivity with which to sustain growth in output. Here we attempt, for the first time, to assess via a model the relative stability of growth versus no-growth scenarios. The model employed draws from Keen's model of the Minsky financial instability hypothesis. The analysis focuses on dynamics as opposed to equilibrium, and scenarios of growth and no-growth of output (GDP) are obtained by tweaking a productivity growth input parameter. We confirm that, with or without growth, there can be both stable and unstable scenarios. To maintain stability, firms must not change their debt levels or target debt levels too quickly. Further, according to the model, the wages share is higher for zero-growth scenarios, although there are more frequent substantial drops in employment.
A distinguishing feature of emerging economy multinationals is their apparent tolerance for host country institutional risk. Employing behavioral decision theory and quasi-experimental data, we find that managers’ domestic experience satisfaction increases their relative risk propensity regarding controllable risk (legally protectable loss), but decreases their tendency to accept non-controllable risk (e.g., political instability). In contrast, firms’ potential slack reduces relative risk propensity regarding controllable risk, yet amplifies the tendency to take non-controllable risk. We suggest that these counterbalancing effects might help explain observation that risk-taking in FDI location decisions is influenced by firm experience and context. The study provides a new understanding of why firms exhibit heterogeneous responses to host country risks, and the varying effects of institutions.
This study explores how the financial regulator through interaction with the long-term insurance industry can give effect to greater market inclusion and financial stability. It follows a qualitative approach and we interview both industry representatives and the regulator. The results show that there is a possible tension between the regulatory objectives of market stability and financial inclusion and that an unbalanced focus on either objective could adversely affect the other. It suggests that the best way to ensure this balance is for industry, the regulator, and government to co-frame issues, rather than being obliged to rely on the regulator to draft regulation in isolation. The entry level (base of the pyramid) insurance market may require a different paradigm to “usual” insurance constructs and this requires a more innovative approach from all stakeholders. The findings highlight strategic measures which may assist regulators giving effect to greater market inclusion without prejudicing the stability of the market.
Background: The high prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) globally is attributable to an interaction between environmental and genetic factors. Gene × diet interaction studies aim to explore how a modifiable factor interacts with genetic predispositions. Here we have explored the interaction of a heat shock protein (HSP70) gene polymorphism (+1267A>G) with dietary intake and their possible association with serum C-reactive protein (CRP), an inflammatory marker, that is a major component of CVD risk.
Methods: HSP70 genotype was determined using a TaqMan real time PCR based method. Genetic variation of the HSP70 gene +1267A>G locus. Dietary intake was assessed using a dietary questionnaire. Serum high sensitivity (Hs) CRP and other cardiovascular risk factors were assessed by routine methods. This included coronary angioplasty to determine the presence of coronary artery stenosis.
Results: There were significant differences between serum lipid profile and Hs-CRP across the genotypes for Hsp70. The carriers of G allele had higher serum hs-CRP concentrations, compared with the AA homozygotes, with the wild genotype. Interaction analysis showed the association was modulated by total energy intake; the interaction of high energy intake with GG genotype: RERI= 0.77, AP= 0.26, S=1.6.
Conclusion: We have found a significant association between the +1267A>G variant of the HSP70 gene with cardiovascular risk factors and serum hs-CRP concentrations. It is possible that a low energy diet could ameliorate the unfavorable effects of G allele of HSP70.
This paper introduces a novel extension of the edge-based compartmental model to epidemics where the transmission and recovery processes are driven by general independent probability distributions. Edge-based compartmental modelling is just one of many different approaches used to model the spread of an infectious disease on a network; the major result of this paper is the rigorous proof that the edge-based compartmental model and the message passing models are equivalent for general independent transmission and recovery processes. This implies that the new model is exact on the ensemble of configuration model networks of infinite size. For the case of Markovian transmission themessage passing model is re-parametrised into a pairwise-like model which is then used to derive many well-known pairwise models for regular networks, or when the infectious period is exponentially distributed or is of a fixed length.
Liver disease is now the third most common cause of premature death in the UK, with chronic viral hepatitis being an important contributory factor. Often the diagnosis of chronic liver disease is only made when patients present late in the disease trajectory. This underscores the importance of near patient testing and linkage into care. The need for community based models for liver disease is in line with the recently commissioned National Liver report, which calls for assessment and treatment of high-risk individuals in the community.
In this manuscript our objectives are to discuss the need for community services for individuals with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and give an overview of the different community models for HCV. Finally we describe our experiences in setting up a successful nurse led service for screening, stratification and treatment of HCV related liver disease at a substance misuse service. We highlight the important stages of this process including engaging with stakeholders, obtaining funding and service set up. We also explore the obstacles and challenges faced and summarise our key recommendations. A brief summary of interim clinical outcomes is also presented.
The paper interrogates the current state-of-the-art in hegemony analysis in International Relations (IR). First, I discuss the limitations of using IR theories as a point of departure for analysing the phenomenon of hegemony in world politics. Second, I identify the ‘agent-structure problematique’ and ‘Critical Realism’ as two different waves of hegemony theorising and examine their contributions and limitations. Then I offer an outline of how we can move beyond the current state-of-the-art, in order to develop a more comprehensive framework of analysing hegemony. Focusing on the multiple movements of power within a hegemonic order, the paper advances a conceptualisation of hegemony as a complex power ecology – a dynamic order that draws on multiple and conflicting social forces and temporalities, which, in the final analysis, denote an existential battle for determining desire and the meaning of life.
Pickering emulsions stabilised with nanomaterials provide routes to a range of functional macroscopic assemblies. We demonstrate the formation and properties of water-in-oil emulsions prepared through liquid-phase exfoliation of graphene. Due to the functional nature of the stabiliser, the emulsions exhibit conductivity due to inter-particle tunnelling. We demonstrate a strain sensing application with a large gauge factor of ~40; the highest reported in a liquid. Our methodology can be applied to other two-dimensional layered materials opening up applications such as energy storage materials, and flexible and printable electronics.
This paper examines some of the European Union (EU) and World Trade Organisation (WTO) legal issues that emerge for the United Kingdom’s (UK) public procurement law and policies following Brexit. It analyses the consequences and sequencing of international negotiations that will now have to take place because the UK has triggered Article 50(2) of the Treaty on the European Union (TEU). For once the UK revokes the European Communities Act 1972, it will no longer be obligated to follow either the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) or the EU Procurement Directives. Nor will the UK be subject to the commitments the EU has signed up to on behalf of the UK in the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) and in its Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs).
After looking at the legal issues concerned with sequencing, the paper moves on to assess the domestic, centrifugal forces that will also impact on the UK’s public procurement law post Brexit. For under the Devolution Settlement of 1998, the competence for public procurement was devolved down to the regions of Scotland, Northern Ireland, England and Wales. The paper postulates that the legal issues of disintegration that have surfaced under Brexit could potentially fragment a coherent UK wide procurement policy, competition and value for money internally; as well as externally towards the WTO GPA, the EU and other regional procurement agreements.
The paper puts forward a competition approach to address some of the potentially negative consequences of Brexit undermining value for money, transparency and integration in the UK’s lucrative markets for government procurement. It concludes with the limited hope that the legal and economic issues and challenges since the UK’s referendum on membership of the EU will be a salutatory lesson for all other nations.
Liberal internationalism has been in crisis for a while now. Yet, until recently its supporters have argued that its prospects are better than ever since the successful spread of liberal principles, practices and institutions in the international sphere provides the necessary basis for reform. Alas, recent political developments do not support these expectations. In fact, the Brexit vote, the Trump election, and the rise of populism more generally challenge liberalism in the domestic sphere and aim to unravel its international achievements. But the idea that these movements are therefore liberalism's nemesis does not quite follow. Providing a theoretical and historical analysis of liberalism, this article shows that the separation of domestic and international politics is constitutive of liberalism itself. The successful extension of liberal principles into the international sphere undermines this separation and thus liberalism itself. Ironically, therefore, the prospects of liberal internationalism are dependent on the reestablishment of a clear divide between domestic and international politics. And this, I argue, is precisely the goal of contemporary populist movements.
Signals of dominance and submissiveness are central to conspecific communication in many species. For domestic animals, sensitivities to these signals in humans may also be beneficial. We presented domestic horses with a free choice between two unfamiliar humans, one adopting a submissive and the other a dominant body posture, with vocal and facial cues absent. Horses had previously been given food rewards by both human demonstrators, adopting neutral postures, to encourage approach behaviour. Across four counterbalanced test trials, horses showed a significant preference for approaching the submissive posture in both the first trial and across subsequent trials, and no individual subject showed an overall preference for dominant postures. There was no significant difference in latency to approach the two postures. This study provides novel evidence that domestic horses may spontaneously discriminate between, and attribute communicative significance to, human body postures of dominance; and further, that familiarity with the signaller is not a requirement for this response. These findings raise interesting questions about the plasticity of social signal perception across the species barrier.
In order to retrieve episodic past events, the missing information needs to be reconstructed using information stored in semantic memory. Failures in these reconstructive processes are expressed as false memories. KIBRA single nucleotide polymorphism (rs17070145) has been linked to episodic memory performance as well as an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Here, the role of KIBRA rs17070145 polymorphism (male and female CC vs. CT/TT carriers) in reconstructive episodic memory in the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm was investigated in N = 219 healthy individuals. Female participants outperformed males in the free recall condition. Furthermore, a trend towards a gender x genotype interaction was found for false recognition rates. Female CT/TT carriers exhibited a lower proportion of false recognition rates for associated critical lures as compared to male CT/TT. Additionally, an association between KIBRA rs17070145 genotype, familiarity and recollection based recognition performance was found. In trials with correct recognition of listed items CT/TT carriers showed more “remember”, but fewer “know” responses as compared to CC carriers. Our findings suggest that the T-allele of KIBRA rs17070145 supports recollection based episodic memory retrieval and contributes to memory accuracy in a gender dependent manner. Findings are discussed in the context of the specific contribution of KIBRA related SNPs to reconstructive episodic memory and its implications for cognitive and emotional symptoms in dementia and PTSD
Objective: To conduct a comprehensive review and meta-analysis of the effectiveness of meditation on a variety of asthma outcomes.
Methods: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO and AMED in June 2016 to identify randomised controlled trials (RCTs) investigating the effectiveness of meditation in adults with asthma. No restriction was put on language or year of publication. Study quality was assessed using The Cochrane Risk of Bias Assessment Tool. Meta-analysis was carried out using RevMan 5.3.
Results: Four RCTS involving 201 patients met the inclusion criteria. Quality of studies was inconsistent with only one study reporting adequate allocation concealment. Disease-specific quality of life was assessed in two trials; a pooled result involving 62 intervention and 65 control participants indicated a significant improvement in quality of life in the meditation group compared to the control group (SMD 0.40, 95% CI 0.05 to 0.76). A pooled result from all four studies indicated the uncertain effect of meditation in forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) (SMD −0.67, 95% CI −2.17 to 0.82). Results from the individual trials suggest that meditation may be helpful in reducing perceived stress and the use of short-term rescue medication.
Conclusion: Our review suggests that there is some evidence that meditation is beneficial in improving quality of life in asthma patients. As two out of four studies in our review were of poor quality, further trials with better methodological quality are needed to support or refute this finding.
What, if any, are the common cultural characteristics that distinguish European societies and groups when viewed against a backdrop of global cultural variation? We sought to identify any shared features of European cultures through secondary multilevel analyses of two large datasets that together provided measures of cultural values, beliefs and models of selfhood from samples in all inhabited continents. Although heterogeneous in many respects—including the value dimension of autonomy versus embeddedness—European samples shared two distinctive features: a decontextualized representation of personhood and a cultural model of selfhood emphasizing difference from others. Compared to samples from other regions, European samples on average also emphasized egalitarianism and harmony values, commitment to others in their models of selfhood, and an immutable concept of personhood, but not uniformly so. We interpret these findings in relation to a Durkheimian model of individualism.
This paper peers backwards into the history of the multilateral trading system and its development over the past half century as a means of considering what may lie beyond the horizon for the future of global trade governance. Its purpose is to underscore the necessity and urgency for root-and-branch reform of the multilateral trading system. It achieves this by comparing and contrasting the global trading system of 50 years ago with its modern-day equivalent and its likely future counterpart half-a-century hence. In so doing, the paper throws into sharp relief not only the inadequacies of global trade governance today but also the damaging consequences of not fundamentally reforming the system in the near future, with a particular emphasis on the past, present and future development of the world’s poorest and most marginalised countries.
The Herschel Space Observatory has revealed a very different galaxyscape from that shown by optical surveys, which presents a challenge for galaxy-evolution models. The Herschel surveys reveal (1) that there was rapid galaxy evolution in the very recent past and (2) that galaxies lie on a a single Galaxy Sequence (GS) rather than a star-forming ‘main sequence’ and a separate region of ‘passive’ or ‘red-and-dead’ galaxies. The form of the GS is now clearer because far-infrared surveys such as the Herschel ATLAS pick up a population of optically-red star-forming galaxies that would have been classified as passive using most optical criteria. The space-density of this population is at least as high as the traditional star-forming population. By stacking spectra of H-ATLAS galaxies over the redshift range 0.001 < z < 0.4, we show that the galaxies responsible for the rapid low-redshift evolution have high stellar masses, high star-formation rates but, even several billion years in the past, old stellar populations— they are thus likely to be relatively recent ancestors of early-type galaxies in the Universe today. The form of the GS is inconsistent with rapid quenching models and neither the analytic bathtub model nor the hydrodynamical EAGLE simulation can reproduce the rapid cosmic evolution. We propose a new gentler model of galaxy evolution that can explain the new Herschel results and other key properties of the galaxy population.
In this paper we use comparison theorems from classical ODE theory in order to rigorously show that closures or approximations at individual or node level lead to mean-field models that bound the exact stochastic process from above. This will be done in the context of modelling epidemic spread on networks and the proof of the result relies on the observation that the epidemic process is negatively correlated (in the sense that the probability of an edge being in the susceptible-infected state is smaller than the product of the probabilities of the nodes being in the susceptible and infected states, respectively). The results in the paper hold for Markovian epidemics and arbitrary weighted and directed networks. Furthermore, we cast the results in a more general framework where alternative closures, other than that assuming the independence of nodes connected by an edge, are possible and provide a succinct summary of the stability analysis of the resulting more general mean-field models. While deterministic initial conditions are key to obtain the negative correlation result we show that this condition can be relaxed as long as extra conditions on the edge weights are imposed.
This study provides insight into how two national arts
organisations located in London manage their performance in the pursuit of heterogeneous objectives, within the confines of external influences. These organisations significantly rely on the government for funding and are therefore required to implement policy initiatives, albeit at arm's length from the government. Performance management systems (PMSs) were primarily designed to enable trustees discharge their statutory duties of collecting, preserving, and displaying objects and works of arts, which were reflected in a management agreement containing the government's strategic priorities. The findings show that the changing politico-economic climate has subtly started to change values, accountability relationships and realities in the field of arts and culture. Whilst arts organisations emphasised socio-cultural objectives in strategic planning and operational processes, external pressures arising from austerity has subtly started to displace socio-cultural values. Business language, vocabularies, and tools commonly used in the private sector are insidiously taking roots in arts organisations. Austerity provided a signal to executives that the survival of their core activities was at stake and, they have to engage in income generating activities to support their core activities.
Objective: To assess the connection between amyloid pathology and white matter (WM) macro- and micro-structural damage in demented patients compared with controls.
Methods: Eighty-five participants were recruited: 65 with newly diagnosed Alzheimer’s disease (AD), non-AD dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and 20 age- and sex-matched heatlhy controls. β-amyloid1-42 (Aβ) levels were determined in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from all patients and 5 controls. Among patients, 42 had pathological CSF Aβ levels (Aβ+), while 23 had normal CSF Aβ levels (Aβ-). All participants underwent neurological examination, neuropsychological testing and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We used T2-weighted scans to quantify white matter (WM) lesion loads (LL), and diffusion weighted images (DWI) to assess their microstructural substrate. Non-parametric statistical tests were used for between-group comparisons and multiple regression analyses.
Results: We found an increased WM-LL in Aβ(+) compared to both, healthy controls (p=0.003) and Aβ(-) patients (p=0.02). Interestingly, CSF Aβ concentration was the best predictor patients’ WM-LL (r=-0.30, p<0.05) when using age as a covariate. Lesion apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value was higher in all patients than in controls (p=0.0001), and correlated with WM-LL (r=0.41, p=0.001). In Aβ(+), WM-LL correlated with WM microstructural damage in the left peritrigonal WM (p<0.0001).
Conclusions: WM damage is crucial in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathogenesis. The correlation between CSF Aβ levels and WM-LL suggests a direct link between amyloid pathology and WM macro- and microstructural damage.
Purpose
To develop a framework to fully characterize quantitative magnetization transfer indices in the human cervical cord in vivo within a clinically feasible time.
Methods
A dedicated spinal cord imaging protocol for quantitative magnetization transfer was developed using a reduced field-of-view approach with echo planar imaging (EPI) readout. Sequence parameters were optimized based in the Cramer-Rao-lower bound. Quantitative model parameters (i.e., bound pool fraction, free and bound pool transverse relaxation times [ math formula, math formula], and forward exchange rate [kFB]) were estimated implementing a numerical model capable of dealing with the novelties of the sequence adopted. The framework was tested on five healthy subjects.
Results
Cramer-Rao-lower bound minimization produces optimal sampling schemes without requiring the establishment of a steady-state MT effect. The proposed framework allows quantitative voxel-wise estimation of model parameters at the resolution typically used for spinal cord imaging (i.e. 0.75 × 0.75 × 5 mm3), with a protocol duration of ∼35 min. Quantitative magnetization transfer parametric maps agree with literature values. Whole-cord mean values are: bound pool fraction = 0.11(±0.01), math formula = 46.5(±1.6) ms, math formula = 11.0(±0.2) µs, and kFB = 1.95(±0.06) Hz. Protocol optimization has a beneficial effect on reproducibility, especially for math formula and kFB.
Conclusion
The framework developed enables robust characterization of spinal cord microstructure in vivo using qMT. Magn Reson Med, 2017. © 2017 The Authors Magnetic Resonance in Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Since the 1980s, the idea that treaty obligations to extradite or prosecute embody or even mandate a principle of universal jurisdiction has increasingly met with weighty support in scholarship. Although this view has not gone unchallenged, in the wake of the ICJ’s judgement in the Habré case, it is gaining ground, as can be seen, for example, in the International Law Commission’s final report on treaty obligations to extradite or prosecute and the debate on universal jurisdiction at the UN General Assembly and its Sixth Committee. Indeed, this case is increasingly spoken of as if the ICJ was affirming the existence of the principle of universal jurisdiction and providing meaningful guidance on its relationship with the obligation to extradite or prosecute.
This article brings new insight to an important topic by examining the relationship between jurisdiction in treaty obligations to extradite or prosecute and universal jurisdiction and providing some much needed conceptual and legal clarification. It argues that treaty obligations to extradite or prosecute should not be conceptualised as, or used to infer the existence of, universal jurisdiction. An alternative conceptualisation of jurisdiction, as a form of “treaty-based jurisdiction”, is offered. The purpose of such jurisdiction is to enable states parties to a treaty regime to obtain the custody of the accused, or have such persons prosecuted on their behalf, failing extradition, for the protection of national vital interests. This argument is informed by engaging with a wide range of primary sources, including a comprehensive empirical analysis of state and treaty practice since the end of World War II to the present, including the actual trials conducted on the basis of extraterritorial jurisdiction. The article concludes that treaty obligations to extradite or prosecute do not provide a legal source of universal jurisdiction proper and characterising these obligations as such is conceptually confused and inconsistent with actual state practice. Evidence of actual state practice in support of universal jurisdiction in customary international law is virtually nonexistent, while much of the verbal practice and opinio juris in support of “universal jurisdiction”, though lacking uniformity, is really support for treaty-based jurisdiction. The universal jurisdiction concept is in urgent need of substantial revision.
Everyday experience requires rapid and automatic integration of incoming stimuli with previously stored knowledge. Prior knowledge can help construct a general “situation model” of the event, as well as aid comprehension of an ongoing narrative. Using fMRI in healthy adult humans we investigated processing of videos whose locations and characters were always familiar but whose narratives were either a continuation or non-continuation of an earlier video (high context (HC) or low context (LC) respectively). Responses in parahippocampal gyrus and retrosplenial cortex were composed of an initial transient, locked to the video onsets, followed by a period of lower amplitude activation that was greater in the LC condition. This may reflect rapid processing of core components of situation models such as location and characters and more gradual incorporation of their narrative themes. By contrast, activity increases in left hemisphere middle temporal gyrus (MTG), angular gyrus and inferior frontal gyrus were maintained throughout the videos and were higher for HC versus LC videos. Further, activity in the left MTG peaked earlier in the HC condition. We suggest that these regions support representations of the specific inter-linked concepts necessary to comprehend an ongoing narrative, which are already established for the HC videos.
In 1994, the genocide in Rwanda claimed at least 800,000 lives in just 100 days. More than 20 years on, the memory and trauma of the atrocities still permeate the Rwandan society. This article explores how some of these different manifestations of trauma (individual and collective, actual and inherited, real and imagined, that of survivors and perpetrators), and especially their relationship to the genocide as a historical event, shape the internationally recognized Rwandan feature film, Kivu Ruhorahoza’s Grey Matter (2011). Drawing on the scholarship on trauma, the article examines Grey Matter’s uniqueness within feature films on the topic and its ambition to tackle the impossibility of memory and objectivity vis-à-vis varied experiences of the genocide. It traces the connection between trauma and Grey Matter’s structure, which refuses to offer events a firm chronological placement, both within and beyond the narrative.
BACKGROUND:
Circulatory failure in preterm and term newborn infants is commonly treated with inotropes or vasoactive medications. In this structured literature review, the available data on pharmacodynamic effects of the inotropes adrenaline, dobutamine, dopamine, levosimendan, milrinone, noradrenaline, and the vasoactive drugs vasopressin and hydrocortisone are presented.
METHODS:
Structured searches were conducted to identify relevant articles according to pre-defined inclusion criteria which were human clinical trials published after 2000.
RESULTS:
Out of 101 identified eligible studies only 22 studies met the criteria for evidence based practice guidelines level I to IV. The most prevalent pharmacodynamic effects were increase in blood pressure and/or heart rate, which were also the most frequently studied circulatory parameters.
CONCLUSION:
This review demonstrates the need for further systematic studies on all reviewed drugs with incorporation of novel non-invasive biomarkers in this vulnerable patient group, for more timely and appropriate treatment for clinical efficacy.
Purpose – This paper provides quantitative evidence of natural disasters’ effect on corporate performance and studies the mechanisms through which the supply chain
moderates and mediates the link.
Design/methodology/approach – Using two major natural disasters as quasiexperiment, namely the 2011 Japanese earthquake-tsunami (JET) and Thai flood (TF),
and data over the period 2010Q1-2013Q4, effect of these events on end assemblers’ performance is studied, with a focus on the personal computer (PC) supply chain. The
moderating influence of delivery and sourcing – as supply chain flexibility and agility – are examined through end assemblers’ and suppliers’ inventory. The suppliers’
mediating role is captured as disruption in obtaining PC components through their sales.
Findings – Only JET had any negative effect, further quantified as short-term and long-term. The TF instead portrays an insignificant but positive aftermath, which is
construed as showing learning from experience and adaptability following JET. Inventory matters, but differently for the two events, and suppliers only exhibit a
moderating influence on the assemblers’ disaster-performance link.
Originality/value – Natural disasters, as catastrophic vulnerabilities, are distinct from other vulnerabilities in that they are hard to predict and have significant impact. Since little is known about the impact of natural disasters on firm performance and how supply chain mechanisms moderate or mediate their impact, they should be distinctly modelled and empirically studied from other vulnerabilities. This paper sheds light on supply chain resilience to such events with the role of dynamic capabilities.
Refugees may, if they do not return home, be eligible for compensation for property lost upon going into exile. This paper considers the question of refugees being eligible for, and receiving, material compensation from other refugees in internal disputes taking place in exile. Sahrawi refugees from Western Sahara have been in exile in Algeria since 1976, following Morocco’s partial annexation of Western Sahara in 1975. Sahrawi exiles live in refugee camps in Algeria that are administered as a “state within a state” by an administrative fusion of the liberation movement of Western Sahara, Polisario Front, and the partially recognized state authority that Polisario has founded for Western Sahara, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the refugee camps 2006-2012, this paper examines how pre-exile practices of compensation payments in internal disputes virtually disappeared in the early period of exile. This shift reflected practical and ideological reasons: in practical terms, refugees were dispossessed and thus divested of property with which to make payments, and ideologically Polisario focused on popularised justice, which encouraged questions of compensation to be deferred until after national liberation, and discouraged questions of tribes, the social context in which compensation payments had previously occurred. Nevertheless, after the ceasefire in 1991, judicial administration in the refugee camps was professionalized. This paper explores one somewhat paradoxical consequence facilitated by this professionalization, as well as by a rise in living standards in the camps. Compensation payments in internal disputes reappeared to a limited degree, and in the context of tribes. The professionalization of justice, with its focus on the formalization of SADR laws, thus coincided with the resurgence of compensation payments arranged between tribes.
Microstructural imaging and connectomics are two research areas that hold great potential for investigating brain structure and function. Combining these two approaches can lead to a better and more complete characterization of the brain as a network. The aim of this work is
characterizing the connectome from a novel perspective using the myelination measure given by the g-ratio. The g-ratio is the ratio of the inner to the outer diameters of a myelinated axon, whose aggregated value can now be estimated in vivo using MRI. In two different datasets of
healthy subjects, we reconstructed the structural connectome and then used the g-ratio estimated from diffusion and magnetization transfer data to characterise the network structure. Significant characteristics of g-ratio weighted graphs emerged. First, the g-ratio
distribution across the edges of the graph did not show the power-law distribution observed using the number of streamlines as a weight. Second, connections involving regions related to motor and sensory functions were the highest in myelin content. We also observed significant
differences in terms of the hub structure and the rich-club organization suggesting that connections involving hub regions present higher myelination than peripheral connections. Taken together, these findings offer a characterization of g-ratio distribution across the
connectome in healthy subjects and lay the foundations for further investigating plasticity and pathology using a similar approach.
The growing phenomenon of civil society involvement in renewable energy generation has attracted researchers’ interest. However, rather little is known of how a diverse and relatively small sector such as community energy could scale up and promote a change in energy production. We examine this issue through the lens of Strategic Niche Management (SNM) and conceptualize community energy as a socio-technical niche that holds the potential to promote a transition to renewable energy. Drawing on interview data with members of community energy projects and experts in Finland, we identify different types of community energy projects and the factors that may prevent them from scaling up. The study contributes a typology of community energy projects by showing which initiatives could be more inclined to be part of a strategy aiming at scaling up the sector. It also shows the tensions of SNM in the context of non-market-driven innovation, highlighting how exogenous factors such as cultural aspects, the specific context in which community energy develops and the characteristics of community groups are also relevant in the scaling-up process.
Background: Serum C reactive protein (CRP) concentrations independently predict the development of diabetes, metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease. However, the impact of dietary factors on serum CRP concentrations in diabetic patients has received limited attention. We aimed to investigate the association between dietary factors and serum CRP, measured using a high sensitivity (hs-)assay, among diabetic patients with and without hypertension and healthy subjects.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, diabetics with (n=325) and without hypertension (n=599) and healthy individuals (n=1220) were recruited in Mashhad, Iran. Dietary intake was assessed by 24-hour recall. Biochemical parameters including serum hs-CRP were measured using standard protocols. Stepwise multiple regression analysis was used to predict whether serum hs-CRP concentration was associated with dietary constituents.
Results: hs-CRP was significantly higher among hypertensive and non-hypertensive diabetic patients compared to healthy subjects (p<0.001). The dietary intake of zinc +6.4% and calcium -3.4%, and BMI +3.9% explained approximately 13.7% of the variation in serum hs-CRP among diabetic hypertensive patients. Approximately, 9.7% of the variation in serum hs-CRP in diabetic non-hypertensive patients could be explained by BMI, and intake of sodium, iron and cholesterol. In the healthy subjects approximately 4.4% of the total variation in serum hs-CRP concentration could be explained by cholesterol consumption and waist circumference.
Conclusion: Serum hs-CRP concentrations were found to be a significant predictor for hypertensive and non-hypertensive diabetic subjects. There was a significant association between dietary factors include zinc, iron, sodium and cholesterol and serum hs-CRP whilst there was an inverse association between dietary calcium and serum hs-CRP in diabetic hypertensive individuals.
Our sensory receptors are faced with an onslaught of different environmental inputs. Each sensory event or encounter with an object involves a distinct combination of physical energy sources impinging upon receptors. In the rodent whisker system, each primary afferent neuron located in the trigeminal ganglion innervates and responds to a single whisker and encodes a distinct set of physical stimulus properties – features – corresponding to changes in whisker angle and shape and the consequent forces acting on the whisker follicle. Here we review the nature of the features encoded by successive stages of processing along the whisker pathway. At each stage different neurons respond to distinct features, such that the population as a whole represents diverse properties. Different neuronal types also have distinct feature selectivity. Thus, neurons at the same stage of processing and responding to the same whisker nevertheless play different roles in representing objects contacted by the whisker. This diversity, combined with the precise timing and high reliability of responses, enables populations at each stage to represent a wide range of stimuli. Cortical neurons respond to more complex stimulus properties – such as correlated motion across whiskers – than those at early subcortical stages. Temporal integration along the pathway is comparatively weak: neurons up to barrel cortex are sensitive mainly to fast (tens of milliseconds) fluctuations in whisker motion. The topographic organization of whisker sensitivity is paralleled by systematic organization of neuronal selectivity to certain other physical features, but selectivity to touch and to dynamic stimulus properties is distributed in “salt-and-pepper” fashion.
Handoff decision making is critical for mobile users to reap potential benefits from heterogeneous wireless networks. This letter proposes a biologically inspired handoff decisionmaking method by mimicking the dynamics which govern the adaptive behavior of an Escherichia coli cell in a time-varying environment.With the goal of guaranteeing the Quality of Service (QoS), we formulate a utility function that covers the demands of a user’s diverse applications and the time-varying network conditions. With this utility function, we map the dynamic heterogeneous environment to a cellular decision-making space, such that the user is induced by a cellular attractor selection mechanism to make distributed and robust handoff decisions. Furthermore, we also present a multi-attribute decision-making network selection algorithm for any user to determine an access network, which is integrated with the proposed bio-inspired decision-making mechanism. Simulation results are supplemented to show that the proposed method can achieve better QoS and fairness when it is compared with conventional methods.
Community action has an increasingly prominent role in the debates surrounding transitions to sustainability. Initiatives such as community energy projects, community gardens, local food networks and car sharing clubs provide new spaces for sustainable consumption, and combinations of technological and social innovations. These initiatives, which are often driven by social good rather than by pure monetary motives, have been conceptualised as grassroots innovations. Previous research in grassroots innovations has largely focused on conceptualising such initiatives and analysing their potential for replication and diffusion, there has been less research in the politics involved in these initiatives. We examine grassroots innovations as forms of political engagement that is different from the 1970s’ alternative technology movements. Through an analysis of community-run Energy Cafés in the United Kingdom, we argue that while present-day grassroots innovations appear less explicitly political than their predecessors, they can still represent a form of political participation. Through the analytical lens of material politics, we investigate how Energy Cafés engage in diverse – explicit and implicit, more or less conscious – forms of political engagement. In particular, their work to ‘demystify’ clients’ energy bills can unravel into various forms of advocacy and engagement with energy technologies and practices in the home. Some Energy Café practices also make space for a needs-driven approach that acknowledges the embeddedness of energy in the household and wider society.
Objectives. Excessive alcohol consumption increases when students enter university. This study tests whether combining (i) messages that target key beliefs from the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) that underlie binge drinking, (ii) a self-affirmation manipulation to reduce defensive processing, and (iii) implementation intentions (if-then plans to avoid binge drinking) reduces alcohol consumption in the first six months at university. Design. A 2 (self-affirmation) × 2 (TPB messages) × 2 (implementation intention) between-participants randomised controlled trial with six-month follow-up. Methods. Before starting university, students (N = 2,951) completed measures of alcohol consumption and were randomly assigned to condition in a full factorial design. TPB cognitions about binge drinking were assessed immediately post-intervention (n = 2,682). Alcohol consumption was assessed after one week (n = 1,885), one month (n = 1,389) and six months (n = 892) at university. TPB cognitions were assessed again at one and six months. Results. Participants who received the TPB messages had significantly less favourable cognitions about binge drinking (except perceived control), consumed fewer units of alcohol, engaged in binge drinking less frequently and had less harmful patterns of alcohol consumption during their first six months at university. The other main effects were non-significant. Conclusions. The findings support the use of TPB-based interventions to reduce students’ alcohol consumption, but question the use of self-affirmation and implementation intentions before starting university when the messages may not represent a threat to self-identity and when students may have limited knowledge and experience of the pressures to drink alcohol at university.
Within the Hartree-Fock theory of atoms and molecules we prove existence of a ground state in the presence of an external magnetic field when: (1) the diamagnetic effect is taken into account; (2) both the diamagnetic effect and the Zeeman effect are taken into account. For both cases the ground state exists provided the total charge $Z_{\rm tot}$ of the nuclei $K$ exceeds $N-1$, where $N$ is the number of electrons. For the first case, the Schr\"{o}dinger case, we complement prior results by allowing a wide class of magnetic potentials. In the second case, the Pauli case, we include the magnetic field energy in order to obtain a stable problem and we assume $Z_{\rm tot} \a^{2} \leq 0.041$, where $\a$ is the fine structure constant.
More than half a century after the first experiment on the finitely repeated prisoner’s dilemma, evidence on whether cooperation decreases with experience–as suggested by backward induction–remains inconclusive. This paper provides a meta-analysis of prior experimental research and reports the results of a new experiment to elucidate how cooperation varies with the environment in this canonical game. We describe forces that affect initial play (formation of cooperation) and unraveling (breakdown of cooperation). First, contrary to the backward induction prediction, the parameters of the repeated game have a significant effect on initial cooperation. We identify how these parameters impact the value of cooperation–as captured by the size of the basin of attraction of Always Defect–to account for an important part of this effect. Second, despite these initial differences, the evolution of behavior is consistent with the unraveling logic of backward induction for all parameter combinations. Importantly, despite the seemingly contradictory results across studies, this paper establishes a systematic pattern of behavior: subjects converge to use threshold strategies that conditionally cooperate until a threshold round; and conditional on establishing cooperation, the first defection round moves earlier with experience. Simulation results generated from a learning model estimated at the subject level provide insights into the long-term dynamics and the forces that slow down the unraveling of cooperation.
The mixed sandwich U(III) complex {U[η ^8 -C8H6(1,4-Si( iPr)3)2](Cp*)(THF)} reacts with the organic azides RN3 (R = SiMe3, 1-Ad, BMes2) to afford the corresponding, structurally characterised U(V) imido complexes {U[η ^8 -C8H6(1,4-Si( iPr)3)2](Cp*)(NR)}. In the case of R=SiMe3, the reducing power of the U(III) complex leads to reductive coupling as a parallel minor reaction pathway, forming R-R and the U(IV) azide-bridged complex{[U]}2(µ-N3)2, along with the expected [U]=NR complex. All three [U] =NR complexes show a quasi-reversible one electron reduction between -1.6 to -1.75 V, and for R= SiMe3, chemical reduction using K/Hg affords the anionic U(IV) complex K+ {U[η ^8 -C8H6(1,4-Si( iPr)3)2](Cp*)=NSiMe3} - . The molecular structure of the latter shows an extended structure in the solid state in which the K counter cations are successively sandwiched between the Cp* ligand of one [U] anion and the COTtips2 ligand of the next.
This chapter explores 'realizations of the activism of Intersectionality' by looking at the intersections of gender, sexuality, ‘race’, religion and ‘refugeeness’. We argue that bringing ‘refugeeness’ into intersectional analysis challenges the concept of intersectionality in particular ways. Drawing on examples of our voluntary work with the Lesbian Immigration Support Group (LISG), we discuss current issues faced by bisexual women and lesbians when they are seeking sanctuary in the UK.
To win recognition as a refugee and therefore become 'documented' most members of LISG have to fight for recognition as a lesbian first. ‘Proving’ sexuality lies at the heart of the matter, with the majority of cases refused on credibility i.e. that the claimant is not believed to be a lesbian. In recent years, we have seen an increasing number of judgements where it has been argued that women ‘pretend’ to be lesbians. Claimants feel pressured to conform to Western, racialised homonormative notions of what lesbian sexuality looks like, having spent most of their lives ‘pretending' NOT to be lesbian, for their own safety. Thus, women find themselves in a 'politics of location' full of contradictions: excited to be able to express and explore their sexuality, but unrecognised by the UKVI and the courts as 'genuine' lesbians.
Within the group of (mainly white European) volunteers we then face the big task of challenging these assumptions, whilst we might also have different understanding of what it means to be a 'genuine’ lesbian, depending on our lived experience of intersectionality. Together with members of LISG, we will explore our different experiences and understandings of sexuality and 'pretended' identities and show how Black feminist theory can be utilised to work productively through these tensions and contradictions and find ways of holding it all together.
It is frequently documented that prisoners’ families are subject to a ‘courtesy stigma’(Goffman 1963); akin to a guilt by association for choosing to remain connected to an imprisoned loved one. However, to date there has been little examination in the literature of the extent to which this courtesy stigma is embodied in the national rules and local procedures of prisons in their visiting practices. This chapter addresses that lacuna. Drawing on Link and Phelan’s (2001) classic schema of the elements of stigma, this chapter will illuminate how the various elements of stigma manifest during visiting procedures. Prisoners’ families’ are labelled, misguidedly treated as a ‘separate’ group within society and negatively stereotyped leading to their suffering a loss of status as their ‘outside’ identities are erased by the prison. This legally sanctioned stigmatisation of prisoners’ families is bought most clearly into focus when comparisons are drawn between how official and social visitors are treated, and more importantly, trusted by the prison system. Despite both groups entering the prison as outsiders, there were important differences around how they were processed, the extent to which they were searched and the location and conditions under which their visits took place once both groups entered the sphere of the prison. These markers of status inspired differential treatment presented in each establishment and were always to the detriment of social visitors who were ultimately treated as untrustworthy and inferior bodies. Accordingly, I argue that this differential treatment should be viewed as a form of associative discrimination; in essence that prisoners’ families are spuriously treated less favourably than official visitors, not because of who they are but because of who they are related to; prisoners.
Background
The tendency to interpret ambiguity as threat (‘negative interpretation’) has been implicated in cognitive models of anxiety. A significant body of research has examined the association between anxiety and negative interpretation, and reviews suggest there is a robust positive association in adults. However, evidence with children and adolescents has been inconsistent. This study aimed to provide a systematic quantitative assessment of the association between anxiety and negative interpretation in children and adolescents.
Methods
Following systematic searches and screening for eligibility, 345 effects sizes from 77 studies were meta-analysed.
Results
Overall a medium positive association was found between anxiety and negative interpretation in children and adolescents (d ̂ = 0.62). Two variables significantly moderated this effect. Specifically, the association increased in strength with increasing age and when the content of ambiguous scenarios matched the anxiety subtype under investigation.
Conclusions
Results extend findings from adult literature by demonstrating an association in children and adolescents with evidence for content specificity in the association. Age effects imply a role for development. Results raise considerations for when and for whom clinical treatments for anxiety focusing on interpretation bias are appropriate. The vast majority of studies included in the review have used correlational designs and there are a limited number of studies with you ng children. The results should be considered with these limitations in mind.
Urban sustainability transitions have attracted increasing academic interest. However, the political-institutional contexts, in which these urban sustainability transitions unfold and by which they are incited, shaped, or inhibited, have received much less attention. This is why we aim at extending previous studies of sustainability transitions by incorporating a multi-level governance perspective. While multi-level governance has been a long-standing theme in political science research, it has remained under-explored in the study of sustainability transitions. This claim is the starting point of our comparative analysis of urban sustainability transitions in Brighton (UK), Dresden (Germany), Genk (Belgium) and Stockholm (Sweden). Our approach “brings the politics back in” by elucidating the dynamics of power concentration and power dispersion generated by different national governance contexts. In our analysis, we explore which opportunities and obstacles these diverse governance contexts provide for urban sustainability transitions.
A library of N1-arylated 5-phenyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-1,4-benzodiazepin-2-ones has been synthesized starting with unsymmetrical diaryliodonium salts using aqueous ammonia as a base. This can also be applied to a similar 1,3,4-benzotriazepin-2-one derivative.
Although tempting to envisage the emerging violence in conservation as either against nature or in defence of it, this paper argues that such violence is increasingly between ‘the included’ and ‘rogues’ in ways that transcend the nature : society binary. The paper traces how the emergence of these battle lines is associated with the digital information revolution that is producing discourses and practices of ‘inclusion’ that embrace social and natural worlds, whilst recasting a hitherto knowable and governable ‘excluded’ as more unknowable and threatening ‘rogues’. Accordingly, the paper then illustrates how the battle against the ‘invisible enemy’ of Ebola was fought not just against rogue viruses but against rogue bats, rogue deforesters and rogue patients, transcending the nature : human binary, and similarly that sustainable solutions are being sought in rearranging landscapes within an inclusive ‘One Health’ approach.
Understanding the three-dimensional (3D) nature of the human form is imperative for effective medical practice and the emergence of 3D printing creates numerous opportunities to enhance aspects of medical and healthcare training. A recently deceased, un-embalmed donor was scanned through high-resolution computed tomography. The scan data underwent segmentation and post-processing and a range of 3D-printed anatomical models were produced. A four-stage mixed-methods study was conducted to evaluate the educational value of the models in a medical program. (1) A quantitative pre/post-test to assess change in learner knowledge following 3D-printed model usage in a small group tutorial; (2) student focus group (3) a qualitative student questionnaire regarding personal student model usage (4) teaching faculty evaluation. The use of 3D-printed models in small-group anatomy teaching session resulted in a significant increase in knowledge (P 5 0.0001) when compared to didactic 2D-image based teaching methods. Student focus groups yielded six key themes regarding the use of 3D-printed anatomical models: model properties, teaching integration, resource integration, assessment, clinical imaging, and pathology and anatomical variation. Questionnaires detailed how students used the models in the home environment and integrated them with anatomical learning resources such as textbooks and anatomy lectures. In conclusion, 3D-printed anatomical models can be successfully produced from the CT data set of a recently deceased donor. These models can be used in anatomy education as a teaching tool in their own right, as well as a method for augmenting the curriculum and complementing established learning modalities, such as dissection-based teaching.
The use of platelet rich plasma (PRP) as a novel treatment is discussed in the context of a qualitative research study comprising 38 interviews with sports medicine practitioners and other stakeholders working within the English Premier League during the 2013-16 seasons. Analysis of the data produced several overarching themes: conservatism versus experimentalism in medical attitudes; therapy perspectives divergence; conflicting versions of appropriate evidence; subcultures; community beliefs/practices; and negotiation of medical decision-making. The contested evidence base for the efficacy of PRP is presented in the context of a broader professional shift towards evidence based medicine within sports medicine. Many of the participants while accepting this shift are still committed to casuistic practices where clinical judgment is flexible and does not recognize a context-free hierarchy of evidentiary standards to ethically justifiable practice. We also discuss a tendency in the data collected to consider the use of deceptive, placebo-like, practices among the clinician participants that challenge dominant understandings of informed consent in medical ethics. We conclude that the complex relation between evidence and ethics requires greater critical scrutiny for this emerging specialism within the medical community.
This book fills a significant gap in the field by addressing the topic of absence in discourse. It presents a range of proposals as to how we can identify and analyse what is absent, and promotes the empirical study of absence and silence in discourse. The authors argue that these phenomena should hold a more central position in the field of discourse, and discuss these two topics at length in this innovative edited collection. It will appeal to students and scholars interested in discourse analysis and critical discourse analysis.
We present a bio-inspired unicast routing protocol for vehicular Ad Hoc Networks which uses the cellular attractor selection mechanism to select next hops. The proposed unicast routing protocol based on attractor selecting (URAS) is an opportunistic routing protocol, which is able to change itself adaptively to the complex and dynamic environment by routing feedback packets. We further employ a multi-attribute decision-making strategy, the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), to reduce the number of redundant candidates for next-hop selection, so as to enhance the performance of attractor selection mechanism. Once the routing path is found, URAS maintains the current path or finds another better path adaptively based on the performance of current path, that is, it can self-evolution until the best routing path is found. Our simulation study compares the proposed solution with the state-of-the-art schemes, and shows the robustness and effectiveness of the proposed routing protocol and the significant performance improvement, in terms of packet delivery, end-to-end delay, and congestion, over the conventional method.
Background. Typical scaffolding coding schemes provide overall scores to compare across a sample. As such, insights into the scaffolding process can be obscured: the child’s contribution to the learning; the particular skills being taught and learned; and the overall changes in amount of scaffolding over the course of the task. Aims. This study applies a transition of regulation framework to scaffolding coding, using a self-regulation and other-regulation coding scheme, to explore how rich and detailed data on mother–child dyadic interactions fit alongside collapsed sample-level scores. Sample. Data of 78 mother–child dyads (M age = 9 years 10 months) from the Sisters and Brothers Study (SIBS: Pike et al., 2006, Family relationships in middle childhood. National Children’s Bureau/Joseph Rowntree Foundation) were used for this analysis. Methods. Videos of the mother and child completing a multiple-trial block design puzzle task at home were coded for their different self- and other-regulation skills at the end of every block design trial. Results. These constructs were examined at a sample level, providing general findings about typical patterns of self-regulation and other-regulation. Seven exemplar families at different ends of the spectrum were then extracted for fine-grained examination, showing substantial trial- and behaviour-related differences between seemingly similarly scoring families. Conclusion. This coding scheme demonstrated the value of exploring perspectives of a mother–child tutoring task aligned to the concept of other-regulation, and investigating detailed features of the interaction that go undetected in existing scaffolding coding schemes.
In this study we show that personality traits predict the physical qualities of mentally generated colours, using the case of synaesthesia. Developmental grapheme-colour synaesthetes have the automatic lifelong association of colours paired to letters or digits. Although these colours are internal mental constructs, they can be measured along physical dimensions such as saturation and luminance. The personality of synaesthetes can also be quantified using self-report questionnaires relating, for example, to the five major traits of Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism, and Openness to experience. In this paper, we bring together both types of quality by examining whether the personality of individual synaesthetes predicts their synaesthetic colours. Twenty grapheme-colour synaesthetes were tested with the Big Five Inventory (BFI) personality questionnaire. Their synaesthesia was also tested in terms of consistency and average colour saturation and luminance. Two major results were found: although personality did not influence the overall robustness (i.e., consistency) of synaesthesia, it predicted the nature of synaesthetes’ colours: the trait of Openness was positively correlated with the saturation of synaesthetic colours. Our study provides evidence that personality and internal perception are intertwined, and suggests future avenues of research for investigating the associations between the two.
A large number of studies document that children differ in the degree they are shaped by their developmental context with some being more sensitive to environmental influences than others. Multiple theories suggest that Environmental Sensitivity is a common trait predicting the response to negative as well as positive exposures. However, most research to date relied on more or less proximal markers of Environmental Sensitivity. In this paper we introduce a new questionnaire—the Highly Sensitive Child (HSC) scale—as a promising self-report measure of Environmental Sensitivity. After describing the development of the short 12-item HSC scale for children and adolescents, we report on the psychometric properties of the scale, including confirmatory factor analysis and test-retest reliability. After considering bivariate and multivariate associations with well-established temperament and personality traits, we apply Latent Class Analysis to test for the existence of hypothesised sensitivity groups. Analyses are conducted across five studies featuring four different UK-based samples ranging in age from 8-19 years and with a total sample size of N = 3,581. Results suggest the 12-item HSC scale is a psychometrically robust measure that performs well in both children and adolescents. Besides being relatively independent from other common traits, the Latent Class Analysis suggests that there are three distinct groups with different levels of Environmental Sensitivity—low (approx. 25-35%), medium (approx. 41-47%), and high (20-35%). Finally, we provide exploratory cut-off scores for the categorisation of children into these different groups which may be useful for both researchers and practitioners.
Associations between flavours and the consequences of ingestion can lead to changes in flavour liking depending on nutrient content, an example of flavour-nutrient learning. Expectations about the consequences of ingestion can be modified by information at the point of ingestion, such as nutritional labelling. What is unknown is the extent to which these label-based expectations modify flavour-nutrient learning. Since nutrient information can alter expectations about how filling a product would be, we hypothesised that labels predicting higher energy (HE) content would enhance satiety and so promote more rapid flavour learning. To test this, participants consumed either a lower (LE: 164kcal) or HE (330kcal) yoghurt breakfast on four separate days, either with no product label or with labels displaying either the actual energy content (Congruent label) or inaccurate energy (Incongruent label). Participants rated liking on all four days: on days one and four they could also consume as much as they liked, but consumed a fixed amount (300g) on days two and three. Both liking and intake increased with exposure in the HE, and decreased in the LE, condition when unlabelled in line with flavour-nutrient learning. In contrast, no significant changes were seen in either the Congruent or Incongruent label conditions. Contrary to predictions, these data suggest that flavour-nutrient learning occurs when there is an absence of explicit expectations of actual nutrient content, with both accurate and inaccurate information on nutrient content disrupting learning.
We study the global asymptotic stability in probability of the zero solution of linear stochastic differential equations with constant coefficients. We develop a sum-of-squares program that verifies whether a parameterized candidate Lyapunov function is in fact a global Lyapunov function for such a system. Our class of candidate Lyapunov functions are naturally adapted to the problem. We consider functions of the form V(x) = ||x||pQ := (xt>Qx) p/2, where the parameters are the positive definite matrix Q and the number p > 0. We give several examples of our proposed method and show how it improves previous results.
Habrobracon hebetor (Say) is a parasitoid of various Lepidoptera including Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner), a key pest of different crops and vegetables. The development of both H. armigera and H. hebetor were simultaneously evaluated against a wide range of constant temperatures (10, 15, 17.5, 20, 25, 27.5, 30, 35, 37.5 and 40 °C). Helicoverpa armigera completed its development from egg to adult within a temperature range of 17.5–37.5 °C and H. hebetor completed its life cycle from egg to adult within a temperature range of 15–40 °C. Based on the Ikemoto and Takai model the developmental threshold (T o) and thermal constant (K) to complete the immature stages, of H. armigera were calculated as 11.6 °C and 513.6 DD, respectively, and 13 °C and 148 DD, respectively, for H. hebetor. Analytis/Briere-2 and Analytis/Briere-1 were adjudged the best non-linear models for prediction of phenology of H. armigera and H. hebetor, respectively and enabled estimation of the optimum (T opt) and maximum temperature (T max) for development with values of 34.8, 38.7, 36.3, and 43 °C for host and the parasitoid, respectively. Parasitisation by H. hebetor was maximal at 25 °C but occurred even at 40 °C. This study suggests although high temperature is limiting to insects, our estimates of the upper thermal limits for both species are higher than previously estimated. Some biological control of H. armigera by H. hebetor may persist in tropical areas, even with increasing temperatures due to climate change.
This paper investigates the role of value co-creation in the management of projects delivering integrated solutions, implementing a new business model for incumbent telecommunications operators. The case study of BT Global Services (BTGS) shows that BT’s business unit responsible for the business of projects delivering integrated solutions requires collaboration at a strategic level between BTGS and customers. An empirical framework is proposed for value co-creation in projects delivering integrated solutions. It highlights the strategic alignment between the integrated solution’s provider (BTGS) and the customer as the main feature that differentiates this framework from those in the existing literature. It also highlights the importance of considering post-project (i.e. longer-term benefits after the handover) factors when evaluating project success.
The urban bench has been romanticised as a location of intimacy and benign social serendipity and problematized with regard to perceptions of unwelcome loitering. In this paper we explore embodied practices of sitting on benches, within an urban context characterised by corporate-led regeneration and impacted by austerity urbanism, imperial history and ongoing racisms. Our schizocartographic methodology enables us to attend to the differentiated and shifting subjectivities and temporalities of bench users, and to emerging counter histories of space. The research is based on the case study of a central square in Woolwich, south-east London. This involved an eclectic combination of methods, including film-making, ethnography and interviews, and a cross-sectoral team of activists, academics and artist. The paper starts by conceptually framing public space with respect to lived experiences of marginalisation, arguing that architectural design is intrinsic to understanding micro-geographies of conviviality and care. The case study material is used first to provide a visual sketch of sitting and watching others in the square and then to address conviviality and the value of visibility and relative proximity in framing a mostly un-panicked multiculture. Thirdly, we discuss agentic, yet critically aware, acts of self-care. Finally, our focus shifts to the design of the benches and the ‘touching experiences’ of bodies sat in various ways, impacted by structural inequalities, yet differentiated by the particularities of individual or collective priorities. In conclusion we argue that attending to the precision of sitting on a bench can illuminate multiple temporalities of urban change in relation to both individual subjectivities and hegemonic structures. Further, the counter histories that emerge can inform policy and practice for inclusive urban design.
A transition to zero carbon buildings is needed for mitigating climate change. Yet, it is far from gaining sufficient momentum in many countries, particularly the United Kingdom. This article focuses on actors and platforms facilitating change towards zero carbon residential buildings by integrating the concepts of innovation intermediaries and champions. Drawing on interview data and building on the literatures of innovation intermediaries, champions and Strategic Niche Management, the article analyses actor configurations in three new build housing projects. The findings show that actors and platforms acting as innovation intermediaries advance zero carbon buildings at different stages of project development, with varying intensity, influence and longevity. Some intermediaries take also championing roles, while also other actors champion projects when intermediation is absent. At a time of limited policy support for zero carbon housing innovations, intermediation and championing activities become especially important in the transition towards zero carbon buildings.
Exosomes are released by normal and tumour cells, including those involved in breast cancer, and provide a means of intercellular communications. Exosomes with diameters ranging between 30-150 nm are involved in transferring biological information, via various lipids, proteins, different forms of RNAs, and DNA from one cell to another, and this can result in reprogramming of recipient cell functions. These vesicles are present in all body fluids, e.g., blood plasma/serum, semen, saliva, cerebrospinal fluid, breast milk, and urine. It has been recently reported that these particles are involved in the development and progression of different tumor types, including breast cancer. Furthermore, it has been suggested that exosomes have the potential to be used as drug transporters, or as biomarkers. This review highlights the potential roles of exosomes in normal and breast cancer cells and their potential applications as biomarkers with special focus on their potential applications in treatment of breast cancer.
We investigated how the visibility of targets influenced the type of point used to provide directions. In Study 1 we asked 605 passersby in three localities for directions to well-known local landmarks. When that landmark was in plain view behind the requester, most respondents pointed with their index fingers, and few respondents pointed more than once. In contrast, when the landmark was not in view, respondents pointed initially with their index fingers, but often elaborated with a whole-hand point. In Study 2, we covertly filmed the responses from 157 passersby we approached for directions, capturing both verbal and gestural responses. As in Study 1, few respondents produced more than one gesture when the target was in plain view and initial points were most likely to be index finger points. Thus, in a Western geographical context in which pointing with the index finger is the dominant form of pointing, a slight change in circumstances elicited a preference for pointing with the whole hand when it was the second or third manual gesture in a sequence.
Aims: To illustrate how Bayes Factors are important for determining the effectiveness of
interventions.
Method: We consider a case where inappropriate conclusions were publicly drawn based on
significance testing, namely the SIPS Project (Screening and Intervention Programme for Sensible
drinking), a pragmatic, cluster-randomized controlled trial in each of two healthcare settings and in
the criminal justice system. We showhow Bayes Factors can disambiguate the non-significant findings
from the SIPS Project and thus determine whether the findings represent evidence of absence or
absence of evidence. We show how to model the sort of effects that could be expected, and how to
check the robustness of the Bayes Factors.
Results: The findings from the three SIPS trials taken individually are largely uninformative but, when
data from these trials are combined, there is moderate evidence for a null hypothesis (H0) and thus
for a lack of effect of brief intervention compared with simple clinical feedback and an alcohol
information leaflet (B = 0.24, p = 0.43).
Conclusion: Scientists who find non-significant results should suspend judgment – unless they
calculate a Bayes Factor to indicate either that there is evidence for a null hypothesis (H0) over a (welljustified)
alternative hypothesis (H1), or else that more data are needed.
Since 2010, multiple waves of EU/IMF-imposed legislative reforms have led to extensive deregulation or ‘de-construction’ of Greek collective labour law. While there are many accounts of the Greek reforms, no systematic attention has been devoted to the following paradox: how is such a de-construction possible, in a jurisdiction enjoying a strong domestic constitutionalisation of labour rights, and apparently observing multiple transnational collective labour rights, derived from the CFREU, ECHR, and ILO Conventions? This article sets out to investigate the constitutional dynamics behind the process termed here as ‘de-constitutionalisation’ of collective labour rights. It seeks to add two contributions to the existing literature. Firstly, taking its cue from Eric Tucker’s mapping of multi-level ‘capital’ and ‘labour’ constitutions developed in the Canadian context, it suggests that the Greek case of de-constitutionalisation is the cumulative result of a specific configuration of interactions between ‘aggressive’ EU-IMF conditionality at the level of transnational capital rights, and ‘defensive’ articulation of labour rights at domestic and transnational levels. As will be seen, these interactions disguise an asymmetric clash between a strong constutionalisation of capital rights at transnational level, and a weak constitutionalisation of labour rights at both transnational and domestic levels. Secondly, the article projects the Greek case onto the broader constitutionalisation debate, which questions the desirability of constitutionalising collective labour rights as an effective response to neo-liberal policies and laws. While submitting that the Greek developments support the sceptical side of this debate, especially by providing a continental European confirmation of Tucker’s thesis, the article offers several new reflections of relevance to the constitutionalisation debate.
The UK’s National Health Service (NHS) is critically reliant on staff from overseas, which means that a sizeable number of UK healthcare professionals have received their training at the cost of other states which are themselves urgently in need of healthcare professionals. At the same time, while healthcare is widely seen as a primary good, many migrants are unable to access the NHS without charge, and anti-immigration political trends are likely to further reduce that access. Both of these topics have received close attention in the global health ethics literature. In this paper I make the novel move of suggesting that these two seemingly disparate issues should be folded into the same moral narrative. The “brain drain” upon which the NHS and its users depend derives from the same gradient of wealth, security, and opportunity that produces migrants who require the NHS. I endorse cosmopolitanism as an ethical lens for supporting access to healthcare for migrants, and argue that the NHS in its current formulation effectively enacts a partial cosmopolitanism in its reliance on medical workers from abroad, but could more meaningfully instantiate that cosmopolitanism were it to offer the same healthcare to migrants as it does to citizens.
Since the WTO’s creation its relationship with civil society has changed significantly. In this article, we use an original dataset to: (i) plot the changes that have taken place in civil society group representation at the WTO Public Forum; and (ii) assess the significance of these changes for understandings of public interactions with the WTO. We test four hypotheses drawn from prevalent claims made in the academic and policy-facing literatures: (i) that the volume of participation in the Public Forum is determined by the ebb and flow of WTO-centered trade politics, with participation levels peaking during moments of crisis and falling away during times of stasis; (ii) that the stalling of the multilateral trade agenda has led to business interests turning away from the WTO; (iii) that the participation of NGOs in the Public Forum is also sensitive to the rhythms of trade politics; and (iv) that governments – particularly those from the global North – have begun to lose interest in the WTO and shifted attention to other arenas. We find support for hypotheses one and three but not for two and four. We subsequently analyze whose voices are heard at the Public Forum and find that there has been a narrowing of the arena of trade debate over time.
This text presents a semi-fictional interview between a theatre artist (Augusto Corrieri), a magician (Vincent Gambini), and a representative from an Edinburgh art studio and gallery (Rhubaba).
They discuss how ‘theatre’ might be seen as an architectural apparatus, a kind of magic box that produces certain modes of perception, and how these can be exploited by artists and magicians. There is a first-hand account of the process that magicians undergo in order to train in sleight of hand, touching on questions of ‘authenticity’ in the act of performing, and finally a discussion around the issue of using pseudonyms as a way of giving oneself permission to to perform in ways one might never think desirable.
Lean manufacturing is one of the innovative manufacturing concepts being applied in many industries to avoid the wastages of resources and improving the quality of products and help the company to become more effective and productive. It also focuses on continuous improvements with the total involvement of all employees with optimum utilization of man power and machine by reducing idle time and reducing lead time with help of lean tools like value stream mapping and kaizen. This paper presents a case study carried out in a foundry division of an auto parts manufacturing industry, where lean tools are implemented for the defect reduction and productivity improvement. In this paper, a conceptualized implementation of total productive maintenance practices of lean tools: Kaizen or continuous improvement and value stream map in an auto parts industry are presented. The result shows improved performance in terms of average core rejections, sand leakage and air lock problem.
“Offsetting Queer Literary Labor” asks how LGBTQ+ people and other feminists navigated late twentieth-century changes in print technology in the period from roughly 1965-1990, a period during which typesetting was first computerized and then all but abandoned as part of the pre-print process. I do this by way of an encounter with the writings of Marxist-feminist poet Karen Brodine. The labor relations that surround the typesetting computer are part and parcel of the revolutionary working-class and queer socialist feminism that Brodine elaborates across her writing and that she worked for tirelessly in her life. Through a reading of her poetry, journals, and political activities, I argue that late-twentieth century US gender and sexual categories, as well as novel forms of queer intimacy, were forged through the material relations of print-related wage work. Rather than claiming to queer these texts or this history, this article argues that the concrete forms of feminized labor that attend literary technologies have been and continue to be the basis for the category of “LGBT literature.”
This article argues that key elements of contemporary social policy can be fruitfully analysed through the lens of waste. Drawing on work identifying the importance of waste and waste disposal in the history of modernity and early liberal theory, the article develops two concepts of waste – waste as inertia and waste as excess – and uses these to shed light on aspects of recent social policy in the areas of unemployment, health care, and higher education. In particular, it is argued that the theme of waste is able to capture the desire of recent governments to deploy social policy explicitly to economic ends – including economic growth and capital – and the consequences it sets in motion for citizens who fail to comply with stipulated obligations. It is also argued that the government of waste is a source of political legitimacy for the state.
The use of systematic approaches to evidence review and synthesis has recently become more common in the field of organizational research, yet their value remains unclear and largely untested. First used in medical research, evidence review is a technique for identifying, evaluating and synthesizing existing empirical evidence. With greater demand for the best evidence about ‘what works’ in organizational settings, nuanced approaches to evidence synthesis have evolved to address more complex research questions. Narrative synthesis is perceived to be particularly suited to evaluating diverse evidence types spanning multiple disciplinary fields, characteristic of the HRM domain. This article evaluates the narrative evidence synthesis approach, explains how it differs from other techniques and describes a worked example in relation to employee engagement. We consider its strengths, the challenges of using it and its value in HRM research.
In this diary study, we examined a theoretical model in which the psychological conditions of meaningfulness, availability, and safety serve as mechanisms through which the work context during discrete situations within the workday influences ‘state’ engagement. We further theorised that a person’s ‘trait’ level of engagement would exert cross-level effects on the ‘state’ level relationships. Multilevel analyses based on a sample of 124 individuals in six organisations and 1,446 situational observations revealed that meaningfulness and availability (but not safety) mediated the relationships between perceptions of the work context and ‘state’ engagement. High levels of ‘trait’ engagement strengthened the within-person relation between availability and ‘state’ engagement, yet weakened the within-person relation between meaningfulness and ‘state’ engagement; suggesting two different processes may be at play. Overall, the findings advance our understanding of engagement as a multilevel and temporally dynamic psychological phenomenon, and promote a contextually-based HRM approach to facilitating engagement.
This article examines press portrayals of and public reactions to a ‘mercy killing’ in 1930s England. May Brownhill, sixty-two, killed her ‘invalid’ adult son by giving him an overdose of aspirin and poisoning him with coal gas. Through the conventions of melodrama, May was portrayed in the press as a respectable, devoted and self-sacrificial mother deserving of sympathy. The case also resonated with contemporary debates about euthanasia. It is an historical example of popular leniency, whereby although guilty of a crime, an individual is not seen as deserving of punishment. The case contributes to our understanding of how popular leniency was shaped by gender, class and age, and by contemporary views on ‘mercy killing’.
Using a substantial set of vagrancy removal records for Middlesex (1777–86) giving details of the place of origin of some 11,500 individuals, and analysing these records using a five-variable gravity model of migration, this article addresses a simple question: from which parts of England did London draw its lower-class migrants in the late eighteenth century? It concludes, first, that industrializing areas of the north emerged as a competitor for potential migrants—contributing relatively fewer migrants than predicted by the model. Rising wage rates in these areas appear to explain this phenomenon. Second, it argues that migration from urban centres in the west midlands and parts of the West Country, including Bristol, Birmingham, and Worcester, was substantially higher than predicted, and that this is largely explained by falling wage rates and the evolution of an increasingly efficient travel network. Third, for the counties within about 130 kilometres of the capital, this article suggests that migration followed the pattern described in the current literature, with London drawing large numbers of local women in particular. It also argues that these short-distance migrants came from a uniquely wide number of parishes, suggesting a direct rural-to-urban path.
This article examines the emotional, embodied and sensuous aspects of intimacy within and between two families from Kulob, southern Tajikistan as it is embedded in imminent or/and impending conflict. It focuses on touch and its importance to the fashioning of family life that is also informed by government policies and Muslim subjectivities. The ethnography highlights bodily sensations such as shaking chills, and visceral episodes such as vomiting, fainting, or sensuously-dreaming because they materialise the narrative, experience and performativity of the qualities of touch. The article advances the notion that touch pertains not only to both physical immediacy and intimate closeness, but also to processes of physical separation and estrangement between two or more intimates.
This article examines how racism and nationalism flourish in participatory media spaces by analyzing user comments and images posted on the reddit community r/ImGoingToHellForThis in the week following widespread news coverage of the photograph of Alan Kurdi, a Syrian boy whose dead body was photographed on a beach in Turkey. The community is dominated by racist nationalist discourse that combines textual commentary with photographs and other visual media that have been remediated into offensive visual jokes, which “cloak” the racism. Through an in-depth study of user-submitted comments and visual jokes, this article argues that the “cloaks” that obscure online racism can be at once highly obvious and highly effective. Rather than unmasking obscured racist online ideologies, scholars must also examine how racism flourishes while hiding in plain sight by tracing how racist discourses assemble in participatory media communities.
This article explores the forms of cosmopolitanism that form an important element of the identities and activities of long-distance Muslim merchants involved in the global trade in Chinese commodities. It focuses on two nodes that are central for this type of trade: Odessa on Ukraine’s Black Sea coast, and Yiwu in China’s Zhejiang Province. Ethnographically, the paper focuses on the commercial and social ties that exist between Muslim traders from Afghanistan and those who identify with the country’s dispersed Hindu ethno-religious minority. It argues that the ability to manage heterogeneous social and religious relationships is of critical significance to the activities and identities of these commodity traders.
Precise positioning and repeatability of movement for stepper motors require designing a robust control system. To achieve that, an analytical model of a four-phase variable reluctance stepper motor is presented. A proposed open-loop driving circuit is designed to control the motion of a variable reluctance stepper motor. The driving circuit has an ability to drive the motor into two-step angles, i.e. a full step (15◦) and a half step (7.5◦). The direction of movement can be either into clockwise or counterclockwise direction. The operation of the variable reluctance stepper motor in an open-loop control circuit has demonstrated disadvantages of an oscillation and a relatively high settling time. Therefore, a closed-loop control circuit has been introduced using fuzzy logic control to overcome the oscillation problem and to obtain on a precise positioning within a reasonable settling time. The fuzzy logic control is used to improve and enhance the behaviour of the step position response based on oscillatory response and hence to reduce the overshoot significantly. The comparisons between the open- and closed-loop circuits are presented to demonstrate the disparity between both control circuits. The simulation results of the open-loop and the closed-loop circuits show that the time responses have been improved using different loads conditions. The simulation experiments are conducted and investigated using MATLAB–SIMULINK software package.
Drawing on experiences in other jurisdictions, this article takes the Law Commission’s 2014 proposals for the introduction of a ‘conservation covenant’ as occasion for reflection on the problems with utilising private law mechanisms as vehicles for furthering the collective interest in environmental protection. It argues that the certainty and security provided by private property relations may come at the expense of openness to environmental and social complexity, raising concerns regarding environmental justice. It considers how the legitimacy of any reform might be increased, arguing that fairer provision of opportunities for public involvement would be necessary to secure the promised public environmental benefits. It highlights the potential for better collection and dissemination of information about covenants and for the involvement of a more diverse range of actors in monitoring and enforcement. Overall, however, the primary role of the parties to a conservation covenant limits the extent to which it could be a suitable mechanism for setting or securing public conservation priorities.
While Beijing has repeatedly signed up to multilateral sanctions against North Korea, it is widely regarded as having failed to strictly enforce those sanctions. Indeed, China's deepening economic engagement with the country has led observers to debate the causes of this seemingly duplicitous approach. Constructivist and realist approaches have relied on state-centric frameworks that serve to reduce Sino-North Korean relations to the high politics of Beijing-Pyongyang diplomacy in the context of broader geopolitical dynamics. We argue that such approaches pay insufficient attention to the profound rescaling of the Chinese state in recent years and the implications this process has for bilateral relations. We shed light on how Sino-North Korean relations are being driven by actors at multiple scales and by a multitude of objectives as a result of decentralisation and marketisation alongside increasing geographical unevenness within China and new challenges to continued capital accumulation. North Korea has come to play an increasingly important role in efforts to facilitate economic recovery in the northeastern border regions through serving as spatial fix for Chinese manufacturing capital. These new cross-border flows of capital and labour suggest an emerging pattern of Sino-North Korean relations that is by no means static but in considerable flux.
The lack of reproducibility of scientific studies has caused growing concern over the credibility of claims of new discoveries based on “statistically significant” findings. There has been much progress toward documenting and addressing several causes of this lack of reproducibility (e.g., multiple testing, P-hacking, publication bias, and under-powered studies). However, we believe that a leading cause of non-reproducibility has not yet been adequately addressed: Statistical standards of evidence for claiming discoveries in many fields of science are simply too low. Associating “statistically significant” findings with P < 0.05 results in a high rate of false positives even in the absence of other experimental, procedural and reporting problems.
For fields where the threshold for defining statistical significance is P<0.05, we propose a change to P<0.005. This simple step would immediately improve the reproducibility of scientific research in many fields. Results that would currently be called “significant” but do not meet the new threshold should instead be called “suggestive.” While statisticians have known the relative weakness of using P≈0.05 as a threshold for discovery and the proposal to lower it to 0.005 is not new (1, 2), a critical mass of researchers now endorse this change.
We restrict our recommendation to claims of discovery of new effects. We do not address the appropriate threshold for confirmatory or contradictory replications of existing claims. We also do not advocate changes to discovery thresholds in fields that have already adopted more stringent standards (e.g., genomics and high-energy physics research; see Potential Objections below).
We also restrict our recommendation to studies that conduct null hypothesis significance tests. We have diverse views about how best to improve reproducibility, and many of us believe that other ways of summarizing the data, such as Bayes factors or other posterior summaries based on clearly articulated model assumptions, are preferable to P-values. However, changing the P-value threshold is simple and might quickly achieve broad acceptance.
Let Sk be a random walk in R d such that its distribution of increments does not assign mass to hyperplanes. We study the probability pn that the convex hull conv(S1, . . . , Sn) of the first n steps of the walk does not include the origin. By providing an explicit formula, we show that for planar symmetrically distributed random walks, pn does not depend on the distribution of increments. This extends the well known result by Sparre Andersen (1949) that a one-dimensional random walk satisfying the above continuity and symmetry assumptions stays positive with a distribution-free probability. We also find the asymptotics of pn as n → ∞ for any planar random walk with zero mean square-integrable increments.
We further developed our approach from the planar case to study a wide class of geometric characteristics of convex hulls of random walks in any dimension d ≥ 2. In particular, we give formulas for the expected value of the number of faces, the volume, the surface area, and other intrinsic volumes, including the following multidimensional generalization of the Spitzer–Widom formula (1961) on the perimeter of planar walks:
EV1(conv(0, S1, . . . , Sn)) = Xn k=1 ΣkSkk k,
where V1 denotes the first intrinsic volume, which is proportional to the mean width. These results have applications to geometry, and in particular, imply the formula by Gao and Vitale (2001) for the intrinsic volumes of special path-simplexes, called canonical orthoschemes, which are finite-dimensional approximations of the closed convex hull of a Wiener spiral. Moreover, there is a direct connection between spherical intrinsic volumes of these simplexes and the probabilities pn.
We also prove similar results for convex hulls of random walk bridges, and more generally, for partial sums of exchangeable random vectors.
It is known that an increased oxidative stress is present in a wide range of diseases and, given the vulnerability of the central nervous system, its involvement has been in particular investigated in neurological and psychiatric diseases, including anxiety disorders. In this review we analyse the studies that have been conducted on the effects of oxidative stress modulators in anxiety, focusing on their possible clinical use. While preclinical studies have shown a clear anxiolytic-like effect of different oxidative stress modulators, less significant results have been obtained from clinical studies. After having reviewed the possible reasons for the discrepancy between preclinical and clinical data, we encourage further studies aimed at better investigating the utility of the modulation of oxidative stress in humans, as adjunctive therapy of the traditional integrated psychotherapeutic and pharmacological approach.
One of the most studied issues regarding the role of natural resources in development is the so-called “resource curse,” the paradoxical (and contested) situation in which a state with abundant resources has low rates of economic growth per capita, high levels of income inequality, low levels of democracy, high gender inequality, and high levels of domestic and international conflicts that surround resources. Although the term implies all resources, most research by political scientists as well as economists and other social scientists examines the role of oil and hard minerals, leaving out many resources, including renewable energy resources. We argue that many of the causal mechanisms behind the curse, when it does manifest, hold for water-abundant states who have sufficient resources to create large hydroelectric projects. Drawing on illustrative examples of hydroelectric projects around the world, we demonstrate sufficient, albeit preliminary, evidence that most aspects of the resource curse literature apply to hydroelectric projects, at least in some states, and thus suggest the curse literature should be expanded to include water-abundance. In addition, we add a new factor, variable fuel supply, which could be an important factor for other resources as well. We conclude with suggestions for developing a research agenda and note a number of policy implications.
We examine the asymptotics of the spectral counting function of a compact Riemannian manifold by Avakumovic (Math Z 65:327–344, [1]) and Hörmander (Acta Math 121:193–218, [15]) and show that for the scale of orthogonal and unitary groups SO(N), SU(N), U(N) and Spin(N) it is not sharp. While for negative sectional curvature improvements are possible and known, cf. e.g., Duistermaat and Guillemin (Invent Math 29:39–79, [7]), here, we give sharp and contrasting examples in the positive Ricci curvature case [non-negative for U(N)]. Furthermore here the improvements are sharp and quantitative relating to the dimension and rank of the group. We discuss the implications of these results on the closely related problem of closed geodesics and the length spectrum.
While the mobilisation of pre-existing networks is crucial in psychosocial resilience in disasters, shared identities can also emerge in the absence of such previous bonds, due to survivors sharing a sense of “common fate”. Common fate seems to operate in “sudden-impact” disasters (e.g., bombings), but to our knowledge no research has explored social identity processes in “rising-tide” incidents. We interviewed an opportunity sample of 17 residents of York, UK, who were involved in the 2015-16 floods. Using thematic and discourse analysis we investigated residents’ experiences of the floods, and the strategic function that invocations of community identities perform. We show how shared community identities emerged (e.g., due to shared problems, shared goals, perceptions of vulnerability, and collapse of previous group boundaries), and show how they acted as the basis of social support (both given and expected). The findings serve to further develop the social identity model of collective psychosocial resilience in “rising-tide” disasters. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.
Background: Significant health disparities between sexual minority individuals (i.e. lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT)) and heterosexual individuals have been demonstrated.
Aim: To understand the barriers and facilitators to sexual orientation (SO) disclosure experienced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) adults in healthcare settings.
Design and setting: Mixed methods systematic review, including qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods papers following PRISMA guidelines.
Method: Study quality was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT) and then underwent a qualitative synthesis. Studies were included if their participants were ≥18 years who either identified as LGBT, had a same-sex sexual relationship or were attracted to a member of the same-sex.
Results: The review included 31 studies representing 2442 participants. Four overarching themes were identified as barriers or facilitators to SO disclosure, the moment of disclosure, the expected outcome of disclosure, the HCP, and the environment or setting of disclosure. The most prominent themes were the perceived relevance of SO to care, the communication skills and language used by HCPs and the fear of poor treatment or reaction to disclosure.
Conclusion: The facilitators and barriers to SO disclosure by LGBT individuals are widespread but most were modifiable and could therefore be targeted to improve HCP awareness of their patient’s SO. HCPs should be aware of the broad range of factors that influence SO disclosure and the potential disadvantageous effects of non-disclosure on care. The environment in which patients are seen should be welcoming of different SOs as well as ensuring HCP communication skills, both verbal and non-verbal, are accepting and inclusive.
There has been a steep rise in the use of drugs during sex by some men who have sex with men in economically developed countries, with associated increases in sexual risk for HIV and other STIs. This paper presents data from telephone interviews with 15 men attending sexual health clinics for post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) following a chemsex-related risk for HIV, and discusses some of the theoretical approaches that have been employed to understand chemsex and inform interventions. Interviews were conducted as part of a larger intervention study, which used an adapted version of motivational Interviewing to explore risk behaviour and support change. Participants conceptualised their chemsex and HIV-related risks in a psycho-social context, highlighting the influences of psycho-socio-cultural challenges of homophobic marginalisation and the ‘gay scene’ on behaviour. Multiple influences of stigma, marginalisation, minority stress and maladaptive coping (including drug-use) contribute to syndemic ‘risk-environments’ and ‘littoral spaces’ in which chemsex and risk behaviours are played out.
This article aims to shed new light on Germany’s domineering role in the eurocrisis. I argue that the realist-inspired depiction of Germany as a ‘geo-economic power’, locked into zero-sum competition with its European partners, is built around an empty core: unable to theorise how anarchy shapes the calculus of states where security competition has receded, it cannot explain why German state managers have insisted on an austerity response to the crisis despite its significant risks and costs even for Germany itself. To unlock this puzzle, this article outlines a version of uneven and combined development (UCD) that is better able to capture the international pressures and opportunities faced by policy elites in advanced capitalist states that no longer encounter one another as direct security rivals. Applied to Germany, this lens reveals a twofold unevenness in the historical structures and growth cycles of capitalist economies that shape its contradictory choice for austerity. In the long run, the reorientation of the export-dependent German economy from Europe towards Asian and Latin American late industrialisers renders the structural adjustment of the eurozone an opportunity—from the cost-saving view of German manufacturers producing in the European home market for export abroad, as well as for German state officials keen to sustain a crumbling class compromise centred on Germany’s world market success. In the short term, however, its exposed position between the divergent post-crisis trajectories of the US and Europe accelerates pressures for austerity beyond what German state and corporate elites would otherwise consider feasible.
The focus of this article is upon educational background of academic lawyers in England and Wales and the extent to which qualifications from certain institutions may be seen as acting as a proxy for social class. In recent years higher educational background and socio-economic background have been significant topics of research relating to entry to the legal professions and judiciary in England and Wales. There is a relative absence of such research relating to academic lawyers. The research discussed in this article aims to close that gap. The article argues that critiques relating to the elite nature of the traditional legal professions in terms of educational background have parallels within the academic legal community, evidenced by a dominance of those educated at Cambridge, Oxford and other Russell Group institutions, with relatively lower proportions of graduates from other sectors, most notably the post-1992 universities. The article further argues that economic hurdles to entry to an academic legal career are significantly higher than those for other law related careers, potentially exacerbating issues of socio-economic exclusion. The conclusion drawn is that law schools should engage proactively with measures to expand opportunities for entrants into the academic legal community from candidates from a much wider range of educational backgrounds.
As buildings throughout their lifecycle account for circa 40% of total energy use in Europe, reducing energy use of the building stock is a key task. This task is, however, complicated by a range of factors, including slow renewal and renovation rates of buildings, multiple non- coordinated actors, conservative building practices, and limited competence to innovate. Drawing from academic literature published during 2005-2015, this article carries out a systematic review of case studies on low energy innovations in the European residential building sector, analysing their drivers. Specific attention is paid to intermediary actors in facilitating innovation processes and creating new opportunities. The study finds that qualitative case study literature on low energy building innovation has been limited, particularly regarding the existing building stock. Environmental concerns, EU, national and local policies have been the key drivers; financial, knowledge and social sustainability and equity drivers have been of modest importance; while design, health and comfort, and market drivers have played a minor role. Intermediary organisations and individuals have been important through five processes: (1) facilitating individual building projects, (2) creating niche markets, (3) implementing new practices in social housing stock, (4) supporting new business model creation, and (5) facilitating building use post construction. The intermediaries have included both public and private actors, while local authority agents have acted as intermediaries in several cases.
The fragmented, complex, and disconnected nature of arrangements within and between infrastructure sectors, along with increasing interdependence between sectors, is reshaping business models of infrastructure based services, prompting the emergence of new approaches to regulation and governance. Drawing on research experience in several infrastructure sectors and reflecting upon a series of workshops, the discussion focuses on emerging issues for the regulation and governance of infrastructure based services. A series of observations from across UK infrastructure are presented, and discussed within an international context. Three emerging areas of change in infrastructure delivery are highlighted: 1) a shift from asset-focused to service-focused delivery, 2) increased cross-sector interaction and 3) changing relationships with(in) the supply chain. The presented argument is that while regulatory changes are gradually pushing the boundaries of existing arrangements, infrastructure governance has seen more extensive changes through the introduction of more and non-traditional actors; and platforms and means for coordination between (public and private) actors. The shift in focus to infrastructure service provision supports the case for improved cross-sector co-ordination, recognising infrastructure services as a bundled consumer good, and address challenges that are common across sectors, such as climate change. Digital platforms provide opportunities to engage directly with consumers and understand the aggregate value and impacts of bundled infrastructure services. Across sectors, there are opportunities and requirements for closer, more open and responsive relationships between infrastructure providers and regulators, which challenge existing imperatives for regulatory independence and certainty. Focusing on infrastructure provision, policy-making and regulation in the UK and internationally, we bring to light recent innovations, tensions and opportunities for the future of infrastructure provision in the UK.
Paranoia is common and distressing in the general population and can impact on health, emotional well-being and social functioning, such that effective interventions are needed. Brief online mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have been shown to reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression in non-clinical samples, however at present there is no research investigating whether they can reduce paranoia. The current study explored whether a brief online MBI increased levels of mindfulness and reduced levels of paranoia in a non-clinical population. The mediating effect of mindfulness on any changes in paranoia was also investigated. One hundred and ten participants were randomly allocated to either a two week online MBI including 10 minutes of daily guided mindfulness practice or to a waitlist control condition. Measures of mindfulness and paranoia were administered at baseline, post-intervention and one-week follow-up. Participants in the MBI group displayed significantly greater reductions in paranoia compared to the waitlist control group. Mediation analysis demonstrated that change in mindfulness skills (specifically the observe, describe and nonreact facets of the FFMQ) mediated the relationship between intervention type and change in levels of paranoia. This study provides evidence that a brief online MBI can significantly reduce levels of paranoia in a non-clinical population. Furthermore, increases in mindfulness skills from this brief online MBI can mediate reductions in non-clinical paranoia. The limitations of the study are discussed.
The most benign rationale for sex-selection is deemed to be “family balancing.” On this view, provided the sex-distribution of an existing offspring group is “unbalanced,” one may legitimately use reproductive technologies to select the sex of the next child. I present four novel concerns with granting “family balancing” as a justification for sex-selection: (a) families or family subsets should not be subject to medicalization; (b) sex selection for “family balancing” entrenches heteronormativity, inflicting harm in at least three specific ways; (c) the logic of affirmative action is appropriated; (d) the moral mandate of reproductive autonomy is misused. I conclude that the harms caused by “family balancing” are sufficiently substantive to over-ride any claim arising from a supposed right to sex selection as an instantiation of procreative autonomy.
This chapter outlines the roles that have been played by civil society, broadly defined, in combating development, proliferation and use of chemical weapons. It begins with an outline of the scope and nature of civil society activities, using micro-case studies of past activities to illustrate the role played by civil society in monitoring and analysing the development and use of chemicals as weapons, including riot control agents. The chapter then proceeds to outline the role played by civil society in uncovering the activities of governments and also contributing to assessment of science and technology of relevance to the regime. In the penultimate section the chapter addresses the role of civil society in “whistle blowing” and forging so called “track two” relations between scientists across national borders. In the concluding section, the chapter lays out mechanisms whereby civil society could more effectively engage in the prevention of chemical weapons, but also identifies some of the limitations of civil society engagement.
The chapter demonstrates that civil society has had - and will continue to have – a significant role in combating development, proliferation and use of chemical weapons. However, the extent to which organisations such as the OPCW will be willing and able to embrace greater civil society interaction as they shift from the destruction of known stockpiles, toward preventing the re-emergence of chemical weapons, remains to be seen. Consequently civil society actors will continue to face a number of institutional, political and resource based limitations on the role it can play in this area.
This article examines the Jordanian lower-primary national curriculum and its propensity for student-centred teaching and learning. It draws upon Basil Bernstein’s sociological theory of pedagogic codes to analyse the curriculum model and the advocated pedagogical approach within official curriculum documents, textbooks and teacher guides. Although the research conducted confirms the aspirations of the national curriculum for the adoption of student-centred pedagogies, analysis of the selected texts reveals mixed messages where in some areas the curriculum exemplifies an integrated code and in others a collection code. The messages about classroom framing are also found to be contradictory. The paper argues that if Jordan is to fulfil its stated aspirations to embrace more progressive pedagogies, a full review of the curriculum is needed to ensure its classification and framing cohere better with a student-centred approach.
Reports in the British media over the last 4 years have highlighted the schisms and contestations that have accompanied the reports of gender selective abortions amongst British Asian families. The position that sexselection may be within the terms of the 1967 Abortion Act has particularly sparked controversy amongst abortion campaigners and politicians but equally among medical practitioners (and their professional organisation BPAS) who have hitherto tended to stay clear of such debates. In what ways has the controversy around gender-based abortion led to new framings of the entitlement to service provision and new ways of thinking about evidence in the context of reproductive rights? We reflect on these issues drawing on critiques of what constitutes best evidence, contested notions of reproductive rights and reproductive governance, comparative work in India and China as well as our involvement with different groups of campaigners including British South Asian NGOs. The aim of the paper is to situate the medical and legal provision of abortion services in Britain within current discursive practices around gender equality, ethnicity, reproductive autonomy, probable and plausible evidence, and policies of health reform.
There is an extensive literature on civil forfeiture powers to target proceeds of crime, with particular emphasis on, for example, the civil/criminal dichotomy and the constitutionality of such powers. Despite the increasing prevalence of such powers there remains, however, limited empirical analysis. This chapter draws upon qualitative interviews with leading stakeholders to consider the operation of such powers under the Irish Proceeds of Crime Acts. More specifically, the chapter examines two controversial evidential provisions – the use of belief evidence and anonymity.
This article questions the promotion of reconciliation in transitional justice contexts. The article puts forward a critique of reconciliation in practice and questions mainstream definitions of reconciliation. The principle that these forms of reconciliation are desirable is also questioned. It is argued that examples of genuine reconciliation are difficult to find, that the promotion of reconciliation is frequently emphasised at the expense of substantive societal change, that emphasis on reconciliation (narrowly defined) risks taking agency away from those affected by conflict and that emphasis on reconciliation may obscure injustice and may promote acceptance of the status quo. The article suggests that reconciliation is not a necessary condition of, and should be de-emphasised in, transitional justice and, if it is promoted at all, that a different, less prescriptive notion of reconciliation is necessary.
In the current chapter, we explore the social meaning of onomasiological variation of the concept lunch box among males in the Cornish town of Redruth. Collected data point us towards the relevance of the Anglo-Cornish dialect forms crib box and croust tin in projecting speakers’ regional identity. Speakers with a stronger sense of Cornish identity recognise, and ultimately use, local dialect lexis more than those with a weaker sense of Cornish identity. Also, declining local dialect terms occur more frequently in careful speech styles of older speakers. We argue that this unexpected pattern occurs because, when speakers are highly aware that their vocabulary is being observed, they ‘perform’ their Cornish identity through Anglo-Cornish dialect lexis. This study also showcases a new methodological framework for collecting data which allows us to analyse socio-semantic variation.
Overexploitation is one of the main pressures driving wildlife closer to extinction, yet broad-scale data to evaluate species’ declines are limited. Using African pangolins (Family: Pholidota) as a case study, we demonstrate that collating local-scale data can provide crucial information on regional trends in exploitation of threatened species to inform conservation actions and policy. We estimate that 0.4-2.7 million pangolins are hunted annually in Central African forests. The number of pangolins hunted has increased by ∼150% and the proportion of pangolins of all vertebrates hunted increased from 0.04% to 1.83% over the past four decades. However, there were no trends in pangolins observed at markets, suggesting use of alternative supply chains. The price of giant (Smutsia gigantea) and arboreal (Phataginus sp.) pangolins in urban markets has increased 5.8 and 2.3 times respectively, mirroring trends in Asian pangolins. Efforts and resources are needed to increase law enforcement and population monitoring, and investigate linkages between subsistence hunting and illegal wildlife trade.
This paper proposes a multiple order-up-to policy based inventory replenishment scheme to mitigate the bullwhip effect in a multi-stage supply chain scenario, where various transportation modes are available between the supply chain (SC) participants. The proposed policy is similar to the fixed order-up-to policy approach where replenishment decision “how much to order” is made periodically on the basis of the predecided order-up-to inventory level. In the proposed policy, optimal multiple order-up-to levels are assigned to each SC participants, which provides decision making reference point for deciding the transportation related order quantity. Subsequently, a mathematical model is established to define optimal multiple order-up-to levels for each SC participants that aims to maximize overall profit from the SC network. In parallel, the model ensures the control over supply chain pipeline inventory, high satisfaction of customer demand and enables timely utilization of available transportation modes. Findings from the various numerical datasets including stochastic customer demand and lead times validate that—the proposed optimal multiple order-up-to policy based inventory replenishment scheme can be a viable alternative for mitigating the bullwhip effect and well-coordinated SC. Moreover, determining the multiple order-up-to levels is a NP hard combinatorial optimization problem. It is found that the implementation of new emerging optimization algorithm named bacterial foraging algorithm (BFA) has presented superior optimization performances. The robustness and applicability of the BFA algorithm are further validated statistically by employing the percentage heuristic gap and two-way ANOVA analysis.
Although autobiographical memory and episodic simulations recruit similar core brain regions, episodic simulations engage additional neural recruitment in the frontoparietal control network due to greater demands on constructive processes. However, previous functional neuroimaging studies showing differences in remembering and episodic simulation have focused on veridical retrieval of past experiences, and thus have not fully considered how retrieving the past in different ways from how it was originally experienced may also place similar demands on constructive processes. Here we examined how alternative versions of the past are constructed when adopting different egocentric perspectives during autobiographical memory retrieval compared to simulating hypothetical events from the personal past that could have occurred, or episodic counterfactual thinking. Participants were asked to generate titles for specific autobiographical memories from the last five years, and then, during functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) scanning, were asked to repeatedly retrieve autobiographical memories or imagine counterfactual events cued by the titles. We used an fMRI adaptation paradigm in order to isolate neural regions that were sensitive to adopting alternative egocentric perspectives and counterfactual simulations of the personal past. The fMRI results revealed that voxels within left posterior inferior parietal and ventrolateral frontal cortices were sensitive to novel visual perspectives and counterfactual simulations. Our findings suggest that the neural regions supporting remembering become more similar to those underlying episodic simulation when we adopt alternative egocentric perspectives of the veridical past.
Dopamine D2 receptors (DRD2) have been strongly implicated in reward processing of natural stimuli and drugs. By using the Approach-Avoidance Task (AAT), we recently demonstrated that smokers show an increased approach bias toward smoking-related cues but not toward naturally-rewarding stimuli. Here we examined the contribution of the DRD2 Taq1B polymorphism to smokers’ and non-smokers’ responsivity toward smoking versus naturally-rewarding stimuli in the AAT. Smokers carrying the minor B1 allele of the DRD2 Taq1B polymorphism showed reduced approach behavior for food-related pictures compared to non-smokers with the same allele. In the group of smokers, a higher approach-bias toward smoking-related compared to food-related pictures was found in carriers of the B1 allele. This pattern was not evident in smokers homozygous for the B2 allele. Additionally, smokers with the B1 allele reported fewer attempts to quit smoking relative to smokers homozygous for the B2 allele. This is the first study demonstrating that behavioral shifts in response to smoking relative to natural rewards in smokers are mediated by the DRD2 Taq1B polymorphism. Our results indicate a reduced natural-reward brain reactivity in smokers with a genetically determined decrease in dopaminergic activity (i.e., reduction of DRD2 availability). It remains to be determined whether this pattern might be related to a different outcome after psychological cessation interventions, i.e. AAT modification paradigms, in smokers.
Despite previous research suggesting that social class influences experiences of and attitudes to abortion, there is a dearth of research which studies the intersection of abortion and social class in England. Across the UK, abortion rates and experiences differ by region and socio-economic status, reflecting broader health inequalities. Contemporary austerity in the UK creates an imperative for new research which contextualises the experience of abortion within this socio-historical moment, and the worsening inequalities which have accompanied it. Whilst work on abortion and social inequality exists, it has often approached class as an a priori category. I argue that contemporary post-structural work on class provides a framework to go beyond this approach by examining how these social classifications occur; who has the power to classify; and how these classifications might be resisted. This framework is demonstrated with emerging findings from a life history study of abortion experiences in England. The applications of this to the work on abortion are potentially rich, because the act of ending a pregnancy invites classification from many quarters, from the legal (legal/illegal) to the medical (early/late) to the moral (deserved/undeserved). This work, therefore, speaks to public health concerns about access to and stigma around abortion and social inequalities.
Amazonia in contemporary academic as well as public discourse is often placed in opposition to modernity, its peoples and environment represented as offering an alternative to modern ways of seeing and being in the world. Through a contemporary and historical consideration of the Brazilian Amazonian town of Belterra this paper questions such a perspective by emphasizing the complexity of local social and environmental realities as well as the form that outside, modern interventions have taken in the region. The identities of neo-Amazonian populations are also discussed, both in relation to their relative invisibility in anthropological theory and wider political narratives as well as the manner in which their indigeneity is now emerging in local contexts. Overall it is argued that paying attention to social and environmental complexity as well as the hybrid social and cultural forms of the region may offer hope for a shared social and environmental future.
There has been much debate about university research assessment exercises. In the UK, a major element of the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF2014) has been the research ‘Environment’. Here we analyse 98 REF2014 ‘Environment’ submissions in Business and Management Studies. We explore whether there are distinctive language-related differences between submissions of high and low ranked universities, and conclude that submission writers have a strong incentive to exaggerate strengths and conceal problems. In addition, innate biases such as the ‘halo’ and ‘velcro’ effects may distract the attention of assessors from a submission’s strengths and weaknesses, since they are likely to influence their pre-existing impressions. We propose several changes to improve how ‘Environment’ is evaluated. We also argue that the research ‘Environment’ would be more likely to be enhanced if the number of outputs submitted in future were an average of two and a maximum of four per academic, rather than the maximum of six currently being considered.
The Office of the Surgeon General recently produced its first Report on the consequences of alcohol and drug abuse on health, making several very laudable policy recommendations. The Report also emphasizes the importance of adequate funding for biomedical research, which is good news for both researchers and patients. However, the Report is marred by a biased viewpoint on the psychology and neurobiology of drug addiction. We highlight here four controversial issues that were depicted as facts in the Report, thereby potentially misleading non-expert readers about the current state-of-the-art understanding of the psychology and neurobiology of drug addiction. It will be important to recognize a fuller range of scientific viewpoints in addiction neuroscience to avoid amplifying this bias in the coming years.
The last decade has witnessed the emergence of a paradox perspective on corporate sustainability. By explicitly acknowledging tensions between different desirable, yet interdependent and conflicting sustainability objectives, a paradox perspective enables decision makers to achieve competing sustainability objectives simultaneously and creates leeway for superior business contributions to sustainable development. In stark contrast to the business case logic, a paradox perspective does not establish emphasize business considerations over concerns for environmental protection and social well-being at the societal level. In order to contribute to the consolidation of this emergent field of research, we offer a definition of the paradox perspective on corporate sustainability and a framework to delineate its descriptive, instrumental, and normative aspects. This framework clarifies the paradox perspective’s contents and its implications for research and practice. We use the framework to map the contributions to this thematic symposium on paradoxes in sustainability and to propose questions for future research.
Crying is a vital built-in survival mechanism for the Human baby. Yet both the information carried by cries and the factors driving the perception and reaction of adult listeners remain under-investigated. Here, we contrasted the relevance of psychoacoustic vs. acoustic evaluation for the assessment of distress levels in babies' cries recorded during baths and during an immunization event. Parents asked to rate the level of distress experienced by babies from listening to their cries attributed lower pain ratings to mild discomfort (bath) than to distress (vaccination) cries but failed to discriminate between different putative levels of pain experienced during different vaccination sequences. In contrast, vocal "roughness", a composite acoustic factor characterising the level of aperiodicity of the cries, not only differed between mild discomfort and distress cries but also between the levels of pain experienced during the different vaccination sequences. These observations suggest that acoustic analyses are more powerful than psychoacoustic evaluations for discriminating distress levels in babies’ cries, and opens the way for the design of a tool based on the acoustics of cries for assessing and monitoring pain levels in preverbal infants.
An obstacle detection algorithm is introduced for aiding the navigation of unmanned ground vehicles (UGV). Coloured obstacles are placed randomly in an indoor environment. The coloured obstacles are detected, analysed and processed using a proposed monocular vision algorithm. A camera calibration is conducted to determine the relative position and orientation of the UGV with respect to the obstacles based on intrinsic and extrinsic matrices to form a perspective projection matrix. The field geometry is used to obtain a mapped environment in the world coordinates. Our obstacle detection algorithm is proposed to identify the existence of the obstacles in the field. Using bounding boxes around the detected obstacle allows the determination of the obstacles locations in a pixel coordinate frame. Thus, the depth perception is determined by using the pixel coordinates and the camera projection matrix. Real-time experiments are carried out to demonstrate the validity and efficiency of the proposed algorithm.
In the context of migration between Uttar Pradesh, other areas of India and the Gulf, this article explores the role of the imagination in shaping subjective experiences of male Muslim migrants from a woodworking industry in the North Indian city of Saharanpur. Through attending to the dreams, aspirations and hopes of labour migrants the article argues that bridging the material and the imagined is critical to understanding, not just patterns of migration, but also the subjective experiences of migrants themselves. Through a descriptive ethnographic account, involving journeys with woodworkers over one and a half years, the article explores the ways in which migration, its effects and connections are shaped by the imagination, yet are also simultaneously active in shaping the imagination, a process which is self-perpetuating. Emerging from this, the article gives attention to continuity at the material, personal and more emotive level. This runs counter to many accounts which situate migration as rupturing or change driving within both the social and the subjective. These continuities play out in complex ways providing comfort and familiarity but also enabling the imaginations of migrants to be subverted, co-opted, influenced and structured to meet the demands of labour markets both domestically and abroad.
In late 1837 and early 1838 the British imperial government was preparing for an empire-wide transition from bonded to nominally free labor. This article builds upon recent scholarship that promotes a holistic, global approach to this transition, by narrowing the temporal frame and expanding the spatial. We emphasize interconnectivity and simultaneity rather than chronological succession, and we analyze the governance, rather than the experience, of this transition. Our approach is founded upon analysis of correspondence passing from every British colonial site through the Colonial Office in 1837–1838. We suggest that this hub of imperial government sought to reconcile the persistence of different conditions in each colony with the pursuit of three overarching policy objectives: redistributing labor globally; distinguishing between the moral debts owed to different kinds of bonded labor, and managing tradeoffs between security, economy, and morality. We conclude that the governance of the transition to free labor is best conceived as an assemblage of material and expressive elements of different spatial scales, whose interactions were complex and indeterminate. Through these specific governmental priorities and a particular communications infrastructure, these elements were brought into critical alignment at this moment to shape a significant transition in relations between people across the world.
The purpose of this article is to establish the value of looking at global governance from the point of view of those who are governed, thereby making them more visible in a field in which they have often had too little profile. This is a necessary addition to an evolving global governance scholarship that seeks to highlight greater sensitivity to issues of complexity, time, space, continuity, and change. We explore recent advances in the literature emphasizing that, although much has been done to enhance global governance as an analytical endeavor, far more intensive efforts are required to reflect the everyday experiences of the globally governed. Three examples of everyday global governance are provided to illustrate how more meaningful research could be accomplished and the potential payoffs that could result.
Two experiments tested how the number of illustrations in storybooks influences 3.5-year-old children's word learning from shared reading. In Experiment 1, children encountered stories with two regular-sized A4 illustrations, one regular-sized A4 illustration, or one large-sized A3 illustration (in the control group) per spread. Children learned significantly fewer words when they had to find the referent within two illustrations presented at the same time. In Experiment 2, a gesture was added to guide children's attention to the correct page in the 2-illustration condition. Children who saw two illustrations with a guiding gesture learned words as well as children who had seen only one illustration per spread. Results are discussed in terms of the cognitive load of word learning from storybooks.
Despite significant donor funding, government accounting reforms seeking transparent and effective management of public resources often fail or have limited success, especially in Africa, prompting questions about donors’ implementation approach and calls for studies of successful reforms. This paper investigates a local government accounting reform in Benin supported by a German development agency – perceived as successful due to the participatory, pragmatic and incremental approach reinforced by conditionalities in the face of neo-patrimonial leadership.
This article explores frame building in Scottish television coverage of the 2014 independence referendum. It uses content analysis of news and current affairs coverage and semi-structured interviews with broadcasters and their sources to explain how factors internal and external to the media may be specifically connected to the prominence of generic issue and game frames in the coverage. It argues that broadcasters’ perception of their role in this event and the powerful influence of political sources were factors that encouraged policy-focused coverage, while the journalistic routine of balance and media organizations’ perceptions of what would attract audiences favoured the strategic game frame.
Despite considerable interest in bumblebees and their conservation, few data are available on basic life history parameters such as rates of nest predation and the proportion of wild nests that survive to reproduction. Here we use a combination of data collected by volunteers and our own direct observations which together describe the fate of 908 bumblebee nests in the UK between 2008 and 2013. Overall, 75% of nests produced gynes, with marked differences between species; the recently arrived species, B. hypnorum, had the highest proportion of colonies surviving to gyne production (96%), with the long-tongued B. hortorum having the lowest success in reaching gyne production (41%). There were also large differences between bumblebee species in the timing of nesting, gyne production and nest mortality, with B. hypnorum and B. pratorum nests starting early, producing most gynes before mid-summer, and then dying off in June, while at the other end of the spectrum B. pascuorum nests started late and produced gynes mainly in August. There was evidence for the partial or complete destruction of 100 nests. The main reported causes were excavation by a large mammal, probably primarily Meles meles (50%). Human disturbance was the second greatest cause of nest mortality (26%), followed by flooding (7%). Wax moth infestations were common (55% of nests), with Bombus hypnorum nests most frequently infested. However, infestation did not results in reduced likelihood of gyne production, perhaps because infestations often do not become severe until after some gynes have been produced. Our study provides novel insights into the little-studied biology of wild bumblebee nests and factors affecting their survival; collecting similar data sets in the future would enable fascinating comparisons as to how parameters such as nest survival and reproduction are changing over time, and are affected by management interventions for bees.
In this chapter, we advance our understanding of women’s entrepreneurship contextual embeddedness by focusing on institutions in Nepal and how they affect the scope for, and the nature of women’s entrepreneurial activities. Drawing on selective evidence from policy documents of the Government of Nepal and a qualitative project on women’s entrepreneurship in the informal economy, we show how gender embeddedness plays out in patriarchal contexts undergoing institutional change. More specifically, we draw particular attention to gendered institutions such as caste, marriage, family and the lack of rights over property and education and their influence on women’s entrepreneurship. Overall, our chapter provides support for recent scholarly calls on gendered accounts of entrepreneurship.
Kant's treatment of the sublime in the third Critique shows the strain of accommodating a knotty topic. For a start, the sublime eludes placement within a taxonomy of emotions: it encompasses a number of feelings and yet it also names a specific aesthetic feeling, which, though aesthetic, is not a feeling of pure delight, but rather it combines pleasure with displeasure.Furthermore, the sublime is also a judgment, which exactly matches the dual character of the feeling, by combining 'purposiveness' and 'contrapurposiveness'. To say of something, 'this is sublime', is not sort the object categorially, as in ordinary cases of predication, rather it is to reflect on the mental state of pleasure and displeasure; 'purposive' and 'contrapurposive' are technical terms aiming to capture that reflection. Such reflection reveals finally that the content of the judgment is a priori determined by reason: the judgment refers to the object but it is about the subject's moral vocation. In what follows, I seek to trace a path through these complex matters, for the purpose of finding out why this topic, which, as Kant himself acknowledges, 'seems far-fetched and subtle, hence excessive for an aesthetic judgment' (CJ 5:262), matters for Kant and what its accommodation within the architectonic tells us about his conception of system. The argument is presented as answers to a series of questions, 'What is the sublime?', 'What is the sublime about?', and 'Why does the sublime matter?'
The conservative German publicist and political theorist, Constantin Frantz (1817-1891), occupies an ambiguous place in German intellectual history. Some, such as Friedrich Meinecke, located him within the rich intellectual tradition of German federalism, highlighting his hostility to the idea of the “nation-state” and the traditions of nationalism, Realpolitik and militarism. Others, by contrast, have situated him within a long genealogy of German fascism, identifying his remarkable 1852 work, Louis Napoleon, as a kind of precursor or antecedent of twentieth-century fascist ideology. This interpretation raises broader questions about the historiography on Bonapartism and Caesarism, which has often been motivated by an interest in the intellectual origins of modern fascism. The present article supplies a reinterpretation of Frantz’s thinking about Bonapartism (Napoleonismus) and Caesarism by focusing on a much broader range of his intellectual output and by tracking the development of his view of Bonapartism’s significance between 1851 and the early 1870s. The main outcome is not just to question Frantz’s place in the “prehistory” of fascism, but also to show how deeply nineteenth-century debates about Bonapartism were connected to concerns about liberalism, democracy, nationalism and imperialism.
Learned associations between drugs of abuse and the drug administration environment play an important role in addiction. In rodents, exposure to a drug-associated environment elicits conditioned psychomotor activation, which may be weakened following extinction learning. While widespread drug-induced changes in neuronal excitability have been observed, little is known about specific changes within neuronal ensembles activated during the recall of drugenvironment associations. Using a cocaine conditioned locomotion procedure, the present study assessed the excitability of neuronal ensembles in the nucleus accumbens core and shell (NAccore and NAcshell), and dorsal striatum (DS) following cocaine conditioning and extinction in Fos-GFP mice that express green fluorescent protein (GFP) in activated neurons (GFP+). During conditioning, mice received repeated cocaine injections (20 mg/kg) paired with a locomotor activity chamber (Paired) or home cage (Unpaired). 7-13 days later both groups were re-exposed to the activity chamber under drug-free conditions, and Paired, but not Unpaired, mice exhibited conditioned locomotion. In a separate group of mice, conditioned locomotion was extinguished by repeatedly exposing mice to the activity chamber under drugfree conditions. Following the expression and extinction of conditioned locomotion, GFP+ neurons in the NAccore (but not NAcshell and DS) displayed greater firing capacity compared to surrounding GFP– neurons. This difference in excitability was due to a generalized decrease in GFP– excitability following conditioned locomotion, and a selective increase in GFP+ excitability following its extinction. These results suggest a role for both widespread and ensemble-specific changes in neuronal excitability following recall of drug-environment associations.
This book discusses the framing of referendum campaigns in the news media, focusing particularly on the case of the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. Using a comprehensive content analysis of print and broadcast coverage as well as in-depth interviews with broadcast journalists and their sources during this campaign, it provides an account of how journalists construct the frames that define their coverage of contested political campaigns. It views the mediation process from the perspective of those who participate directly in it, namely journalists and political communicators. It puts forward an original theoretical model to account for frame building in the context of referendums in Western media systems, using insights from this and from other cases. The book makes an original contribution to the study of media frames during referendums and is key reading for scholars and students interested in journalism, the processes of political communication and the mediation of politics.
Purpose: To examine when and how organizations create agility, adaptability, and alignment as distinct supply chain properties to gain sustainable competitive advantage.
Design/methodology/approach: The current study utilizes the resource-based view (RBV) under the moderating effect of top management commitment. To test our research hypotheses, we gathered 351 usable responses using a pre-tested questionnaire.
Findings: Our statistical analyses suggest that information sharing and supply chain connectivity resources influence supply chain visibility capability, which, under the moderating effect of top management commitment, enhance supply chain agility, adaptability and alignment.
Originality/value: Our contribution lies in: (i) providing a holistic study of the antecedents of agility, adaptability and alignment; (ii) investigating the moderating role of top management commitment on supply chain agility, adaptability and alignment; (iii) following the RBV and addressing calls for investigating the role of resources in supply chain management, and for empirical studies with implications for supply chain design.
This paper comprises a defence of Infallibilism about knowledge. In it, I articulate two arguments in favour of Infallibilism, and for each argument show that Infallibilism about knowledge does not lead to an unpalatable Scepticism if justified belief is neither necessary nor sufficient for knowledge, and if Fallibilism about justified belief is true.
We analyse stock price behaviour around the disclosure of corporate insider transactions after the introduction of the Market Abuse Directive (MAD). Ranking according to our Insider Trading Enforcement (ITE) index highlights significant differences in the MAD enforcement between French and German legal origin countries. We document contrarian behaviour of insiders in all of the sample countries. Insiders reveal significant information to the public through both their purchases and sales. The price impact of the insiders’ transactions is particularly strong in countries with a lower ITE index (i.e. weaker public enforcement).
Identity refers to how people answer the question, “Who are you?” This question may be posed explicitly or implicitly, at a personal or a collective level, to others or to oneself. Schools of thought within the identity literature tend to emphasize either personal or social contents and either personal or social processes. However, I argue here that identities are inescapably both personal and social, in their content and in the processes by which they are formed, maintained, and changed over time. The personal and social nature of identity gives the construct its greatest theoretical potential—namely to provide insight into the relationship between the individual and society. However, doing justice to this potential requires integrating perspectives on identity and self-processes from social and personality psychology, developmental psychology, cultural, critical and discursive psychology, and beyond. In this chapter, I outline some key parameters for such an integrative understanding of identity. I examine the extensive and interconnected nature of identity content, and then consider the confluence of sociocultural, relational and individual processes by which identities are formed, maintained, and change over time.
Self-continuity – the sense that one’s past, present, and future are meaningfully connected – is considered a defining feature of personal identity. However, bases of self-continuity may depend on cultural beliefs about personhood. In multilevel analyses of data from 7287 adults from 55 cultural groups in 33 nations, we tested a new tripartite theoretical model of bases of self-continuity. As expected, perceptions of stability, sense of narrative, and associative links to one’s past each contributed to predicting the extent to which people derived a sense of self-continuity from different aspects of their identities. Ways of constructing self-continuity were moderated by cultural and individual differences in mutable (vs. immutable) personhood beliefs – the belief that human attributes are malleable. Individuals with lower mutability beliefs based self-continuity more on stability; members of cultures where mutability beliefs were higher based self-continuity more on narrative. Bases of self-continuity were also moderated by cultural variation in contextualized (vs. decontextualized) personhood beliefs, indicating a link to cultural individualism-collectivism. Our results illustrate the cultural flexibility of the motive for self-continuity.
Memories for events can be retrieved from visual perspectives that were never experienced, reflecting the dynamic and reconstructive nature of memories. Characteristics of memories can be altered when shifting from an own eyes perspective, the way most events are initially experienced, to an observer perspective, in which one sees oneself in the memory. Moreover, recent evidence has linked these retrieval-related effects of visual perspective to subsequent changes in memories. Here we examine how shifting visual perspective influences the accuracy of subsequent memories for complex events encoded in the lab. Participants performed a series of mini-events that were experienced from their own eyes, and were later asked to retrieve memories for these events while maintaining the own eyes perspective or shifting to an alternative observer perspective. We then examined how shifting perspective during retrieval modified memories by influencing the accuracy of recall on a final memory test. Across two experiments, we found that shifting visual perspective reduced the accuracy of subsequent memories and that reductions in vividness when shifting visual perspective during retrieval predicted these changes in the accuracy of memories. Our findings suggest that shifting from an own eyes to an observer perspective influences the accuracy of long-term memories.
Significance. The environment can elicit biological responses such as oxidative stress (OS) and inflammation as consequence of chemical, physical or psychological changes. As population studies are essential for establishing these environment-organism interactions, biomarkers of oxidative stress or inflammation are critical in formulating mechanistic hypotheses. Recent advances. By using examples of stress induced by various mechanisms, we focus on the biomarkers that have been used to assess oxidative stress and inflammation in these conditions. We discuss the difference between biomarkers that are the result of a chemical reaction (such as lipid peroxides or oxidized proteins that are a result of the reaction of molecules with reactive oxygen species, ROS) and those that represent the biological response to stress, such as the transcription factor NRF2 or inflammation and inflammatory cytokines. Critical issues. The high-throughput and holistic approaches to biomarker discovery used extensively in large-scale molecular epidemiological exposome are also discussed in the context of human exposure to environmental stressors. Future directions. We propose to consider the role of biomarkers as signs and distinguish between signs that are just indicators of biological processes and proxies that one can interact with and modify the disease process.
Background: Emergency department–based palliative care services are increasing, but research to develop these services rarely includes input from emergency clinicians, jeopardizing the effectiveness of subsequent palliative care interventions.
Aim: To collaboratively identify with emergency clinicians’ improvement priorities for emergency department–based palliative care for older people.
Design: This was one component of an experience-based co-design project, conducted using semi-structured interviews and feedback sessions.
Setting/participants: In-depth interviews with 15 emergency clinicians (nurses and doctors) at a large teaching hospital emergency department in the United Kingdom exploring experiences of palliative care delivery for older people. A thematic analysis identified core challenges that were presented to 64 clinicians over five feedback sessions, validating interview findings, and identifying shared priorities for improving palliative care delivery.
Results: Eight challenges emerged: patient age; access to information; communication with patients, family members, and clinicians; understanding of palliative care; role uncertainty; complex systems and processes; time constraints; and limited training and education. Through feedback sessions, clinicians selected four challenges as improvement priorities: time constraints; communication and information; systems and processes; and understanding of palliative care. As resulting improvement plans evolved, “training and education” replaced “time constraints” as a priority.
Conclusion: Clinician priorities for improving emergency department–based palliative care were identified through collaborative, iterative processes. Though generally aware of older palliative patients’ needs, clinicians struggled to provide high-quality care due to a range of complex factors. Further research should identify whether priorities are shared across other emergency departments, and develop, implement, and evaluate strategies developed by clinicians.
Benzydamine (BZY) is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug used for the topical treatment of inflammations of the oral and vaginal mucosae. Virtually nothing is known about the central pharmacological actions of BZY. Yet there are reports of voluntary systemic overdosage of BZY in drug addicts, resulting in a euphoric, hallucinatory state. In the present study, we investigated the reinforcing properties of BZY in a rat self-administration paradigm. We found that BZY has a powerful reinforcing effect and that this effect is greatly facilitated in animals that already had substance experience, having previously self-administered heroin and cocaine, indicating cross sensitization between BZY and other common drugs of abuse. We then assessed the effect of BZY on prelimbic cortex-to-nucleus accumbens glutamatergic transmission, using field recordings in rat parasagittal brain slices. BZY dose-dependently reduced both field excitatory post synaptic potential amplitude and paired pulse ratio, suggesting a presynaptic mechanism of action. Similarly to the in vivo paradigm, also the electrophysiological effects of BZY were potentiated in slices from animals that had undergone cocaine and heroin self-administration. Furthermore, BZY-induced Long Term Depression (LTD)-like responses in the prelimbic cortex-to-nucleus accumbens circuitry were significantly reduced in the presence of the CB1 receptor antagonist AM251. These findings provide firm evidence of the abuse liability of BZY and suggest a possible cannabinoidergic mechanism of action. Further research is needed in order to give insights into the molecular mechanism underlying BZY psychoactive and reinforcing effects, to better understand its abuse potential.
This article acknowledges and contextualises the recent growth of interest in the history of zines and in zine production. Drawing on archival research on zines in the United States, Europe and across the UK it demonstrates that zine producers have themselves been key producers or historical knowledge and furthermore that contemporary political tensions, debates about the relationship between collective histories and icons, celebrities and role models, can be understood through the work of DIY zine producers. This piece argues that we can understand the history of ‘writing our own history’ differently if we move beyond the traditional stories of academic publication. It questions the relationship between individual icons (or key agents) in History and our collective identification with the past.
In this paper we propose a double curving setup with distinct forward and discount curves to price Constant Maturity Swaps (CMS). Using separate curves for discounting and forwarding, we develop a new convexity adjustment, by departing from the restrictive assumption of a flat term structure, and expand our setting to incorporate the more realistic and even challenging case of term structure tilts. We calibrate CMS spreads to market data and numerically compare our adjustments against the Black and SABR (Stochastic Alpha Beta Rho) CMS adjustments widely used in the market. Our analysis suggests that the proposed convexity adjustment is significantly larger compared to the Black and SABR adjustments and offers a consistent and robust valuation of CMS spreads across different market conditions.
This paper examines how incentives to participate in online assessments (quizzes) affect students’ effort and performance. Our identification strategy exploits within-student weekly variation in incentives to attempt online quizzes. We find tournament incentives and participation incentives to be ineffective in increasing quiz participation. In contrast, making the quiz counts towards the final grade substantially increases participation. We find no evidence of displacement of effort between weeks. Using a natural experiment which provides variation in assessment weighting of the quizzes between two cohorts, we find that affected students obtain better exam grades. We estimate the return to 10% assessment weighting to be around 0.27 of a standard deviation in the in-term exam grade. We find no evidence that assessment weighting has unintended consequences, i.e., that increased quiz effort: displaces effort over the year; reduces other forms of effort; or reduces (effort and thus) performance in other courses. Finally, assessment weighting induced effort increases most for students at and below median ability, resulting in a reduction of the grade gap by 17%.
This paper examines recent migration from three little-studied European Union (EU) countries, the Baltic states, focusing on early-career graduates who move to London. It looks at how these young migrants explain the reasons for their move, their work and living experiences in London, and their plans for the future, based on 78 interviews with individual migrants. A key objective of this paper is to rejuvenate the core–periphery structural framework through the theoretical lens of London as an ‘escalator’ region for career development. We add a necessary nuance on how the time dimension is crucial in understanding how an escalator region functions – both in terms of macro-events such as EU enlargement or economic crisis, and for life-course events such as career advancement or family formation. Our findings indicate that these educated young adults from the EU’s north-eastern periphery migrate for a combination of economic, career, lifestyle and personal-development reasons. They are ambivalent about their futures and when, and whether, they will return-migrate.
Nothing is a sociologically neglected terrain, comprising negatively defined phenomena, such as non-identification, non-participation and non-presence. Nevertheless, these symbolic social objects are created and managed through meaningful social interaction. Nothing is accomplished either by active commission (doing/being a non-something) or by passive omission (not-doing/not-being something). I explore these dichotomous forms through four dimensions of negative social space: non-identity; inactivity; absence; and silence. Paradoxically, nothing is always productive of something: other symbolic objects come into being through the apprehension of phantoms, imaginaries, replacements and alternatives, which generate further constitutive meanings. A sociological analysis illuminates these processes, revealing how much nothing matters.
Analysing key initiatives in the area of climate-smart agriculture and the politics which surround them, this paper identifies the dominant discourses shaping the debate through a discussion of discursive sites of power and by mapping the emerging ‘regime complex’ of institutional power that operates at the interface of the climate and agrifood system. This is connected to forms of material power that derive from control over production, finance and technology in the neoliberal food regime by transnational capital. Such an analysis has important implications for which solutions are promoted as part of climate-smart agriculture and which actors are likely to benefit from the flows of technology, finance and institutional support that are mobilised in the struggle to define a viable global agrifood system in a warming world.
The purpose: The purpose of this article is to examine the role that different collaborative entry modes play in how international new ventures expand into international markets.
Methodology/Approach: The article’s arguments are based on the international new ventures and social network literatures. In order to investigate the entry modes adopted by British and Indian information and communication technology (ICTs) SMEs into each other markets, the paper outlines the results of qualitative semi-structured interviews with the key decision-makers of ten British and ten Indian ICT firms.
Findings: The findings contribute to the relatively under-researched area of how international new ventures (INVs) enter foreign markets through collaborative entry mode. The findings suggest that INVs utilize both equity and non-equity modes of collaboration to expand their international operations. The findings also indicate that financial and non-financial resources always limit the market expansion and internationalization of such companies. Against this background, the INVs rely on building collaboration as one of the safest methods for foreign market expansion and successful internationalization. The collaborative entry mode is enhanced by entrepreneurs’ prior experience, social ties and knowledge of the foreign market.
Research limitations/implications: Set against the backdrop of an ever-increasing trend of internationalization of SMEs, the article offers important implications for understanding the conditions and factors behind the choice of collaborative and non-collaborative entry modes by international new ventures in particular and SMEs more broadly.
The article is one of the few studies that have examined the role of collaborative entry modes choice adopted by International New Ventures from two of the largest economies- UK and India.
This article examines contingencies and constraints in problem-solving processes underlying technological change and industry evolution. It shows how learning through practice can help drive technical change but, when this is impeded, the ability to make use of models and engage in experimental learning becomes even more pertinent for explaining variation in the rate and direction of technical change. The article explores HIV as an example of vaccine innovation, and vaccines as an example of medical innovation. I find the absence of these two variables (ability to learn directly in humans, and ability to learn vicariously through animal models) not only make up a large part of how I would characterize “difficulty” in the HIV R&D process, but they also seem to go a long way toward explaining why 33 other diseases have—or have not—had vaccines developed for them. Implications for theory and policy are discussed.
Purpose: The purpose of this research is to make visible the relationship between accounting and stigma in the absence of accounting. This research examines how failure to implement mandatory accounting and auditing requirements in the management of Indigenous wages contributed to stigmatisation of Indigenous Australians and led to maladministration and unchecked financial fraud that continued for over 75 years. The accounting failures were by those charged with protect the financial interests of the Indigenous population.
Design/methodology/approach: An historical and qualitative approach has been used that draws upon archival and contemporary sources.
Findings (mandatory: Prior research has examined the nexus between accounting mechanisms and stigma. This research suggests that the absence of accounting mechanisms can also contribute to stigma.
Research limitations/implications: This research highlights the complex relationship between accounting and stigma, suggesting that it is simplistic to examine the nexus between accounting and stigma without considering the social forces in which stigmatisation occurs.
Social implications: This research demonstrates decades of failed accounting have contributed to the ongoing social disadvantage of Indigenous Australians. The presence of accounting mechanisms cannot eradicate the past, or fix the present but create an environment where financial abuse does not occur.
Originality/value: This research demonstrates that stigma can be exacerbated in the negative space created by failures or absence of accounting.
Purpose: The purpose of this research is to make visible the relationship between accounting and stigma in the absence of accounting. This research examines how failure to implement mandatory accounting and auditing requirements in the management of Indigenous wages contributed to stigmatisation of Indigenous Australians and led to maladministration and unchecked financial fraud that continued for over 75 years. The accounting failures were by those charged with protect the financial interests of the Indigenous population.
Design/methodology/approach: An historical and qualitative approach has been used that draws upon archival and contemporary sources.
Findings: Prior research has examined the nexus between accounting mechanisms and stigma. This research suggests that the absence of accounting mechanisms can also contribute to stigma.
Research limitations/implications: This research highlights the complex relationship between accounting and stigma, suggesting that it is simplistic to examine the nexus between accounting and stigma without considering the social forces in which stigmatisation occurs.
Social implications: This research demonstrates decades of failed accounting have contributed to the ongoing social disadvantage of Indigenous Australians. The presence of accounting mechanisms cannot eradicate the past, or fix the present but create an environment where financial abuse does not occur.
Originality/value: This research demonstrates that stigma can be exacerbated in the negative space created by failures or absence of accounting.
This paper advances our understanding of entrepreneurial resourcefulness in unstable institutional contexts, which are characterized by resource constraints and institutional changes but are rich in intangible resources of a socio-cultural nature. Drawing on qualitative data of individuals engaged in informal cross border activities in EU borderlands, we theorize resourcefulness along two core dimensions: continuity and change in relation to socio-cultural, spatial and institutional conditions and, development and coping as outcomes. We identify six configurations of resourcefulness patterns and outcomes that extend current understandings of the variations in how individuals interact with their contexts offering, therefore, a nuanced view of resourcefulness.
This paper studies an under-researched area—teachers’ role in peacebuilding in conflict-affected contexts—through exploring teacher agency for social cohesion in Pakistan. Insights are sought into teachers’ perspectives on the major drivers of conflict in society and the role of education and teachers in social cohesion and mitigating inequities in education. A 4Rs framework of redistribution, recognition, representation and reconciliation was employed to analyse data gathered from: interviews with and classroom observations of teacher educators; focus group discussions with and questionnaires completed by pre- and in-service teachers, and analysis of teacher education and school curriculum texts. While teachers expressed a nuanced understanding of the conflict drivers in society and appreciated the significance of education in peacebuilding, they subscribed to assimilationist approaches to social cohesion which were aligned with curriculum texts and promoted official nation-building agendas. Additionally, teachers saw issues of social cohesion as peripheral to the core academic curriculum. Teachers’ identity was integrally linked to their religious affiliations.
Next to love and death, childhood is one of the universal topics of cinema. Films determine the view on childhood and allow children to present themselves – differently than in other media. Films convey an experience of childhood and can present us with the perspective of child figures. Films are also an expression of childhood memories: of those who make films and of those who watch films as children and are influenced by them. This book focuses on the relationship between cinema and childhood with regard to the aesthetics, mediality and cultural history of film. It presents a variety of current positions on three main topics: child figures in film, childhood as the spectators’ experience and the role of childhood in the production process.
The topic of childhood figures broaches the question what images are constructed by children and childhood in films, as well as the question of how children as actors embody and shape film figures. As to the question of childhood as spectator’s experience the articles included in this volume discuss films conveying the perception and experience of children. This also includes film theories referring to the gaze of the child. The question of the role of childhood in the production process takes us to those producing films. How do adult filmmakers refer to the experience of childhood – as biographic memory or as an aesthetic strategy of play?
The contributions cover a wide range of interdisciplinary perspectives, such as film theory, psychoanalysis, health science, film production. They deal with a kaleidoscope of films from the beginnings of film history to the present – experimental, documentary and fictional.
Although there has been a drive in the cultural heritage sector to provide large-scale, open data sets for researchers, we have not seen a commensurate rise in humanities researchers undertaking complex analysis of these data sets for their own research purposes. This article reports on a pilot project at University College London, working in collaboration with the British Library, to scope out how best high-performance computing facilities can be used to facilitate the needs of researchers in the humanities. Using institutional data-processing frameworks routinely used to support scientific research, we assisted four humanities researchers in analysing 60,000 digitized books, and we present two resulting case studies here. This research allowed us to identify infrastructural and procedural barriers and make recommendations on resource allocation to best support non-computational researchers in undertaking ‘big data’ research. We recommend that research software engineer capacity can be most efficiently deployed in maintaining and supporting data sets, while librarians can provide an essential service in running initial, routine queries for humanities scholars. At present there are too many technical hurdles for most individuals in the humanities to consider analysing at scale these increasingly available open data sets, and by building on existing frameworks of support from research computing and library services, we can best support humanities scholars in developing methods and approaches to take advantage of these research opportunities.
This article critically examines ‘everyday’ cosmopolitanist approaches to migrants’ social relationships to call for a more nuanced understanding of how ethnicity may inform cosmopolitan ties and aspirations. Research on migrants’ everyday cosmopolitanism tends to either focus on individuals’ engagement with ethnic difference, or highlight commonalities that unite people across ethnic boundaries, treating ethnicity as a coexisting form of identity or solidarity. This article challenges this divide, proposing a framework for a more systematic examination of how ethnicity may facilitate, fragment or fade in cosmopolitan encounters or aspirations, starting from migrants’ perspective. Using examples from empirical research with Romanians in London, and other studies of everyday cosmopolitanism, the analysis illustrates the multiple ways in which ethnicity may shape the development and management of cosmopolitan ties, beyond the celebration of ethnic difference or recognition of persisting ethnic identities that predominate in extant research. Furthermore, it problematises the notion of ‘rooted’ cosmopolitanism, exposing some of the difficulties to achieve this in practice. Whilst expanding our understanding of ethnicity within cosmopolitan sociability, the article thus calls for further reflection on how different participants imagine and negotiate cosmopolitan ventures, ethnic difference and boundaries, instead of assuming, as often done, that they can simply reconcile them.
Charting the failure of the Romantic critique of political economy, Richard Adelman explores the changing significances and the developing concepts of idleness and aesthetic consciousness during the nineteenth century. Through careful analysis of some of the period's most influential thinkers, including John Stuart Mill, George Eliot, John Ruskin and Karl Marx, Adelman weaves together evolving ideas across a range of intellectual discourses - political economy, meditative poetry, the ideology of the 'gospel of work', cultural theory, the Gothic and psychoanalysis. In doing so, he reconstructs debates over passivity and repose and demonstrates their centrality to the cultural politics of the age. Arguing that hardened conceptions of aesthetic consciousness come into being at moments of civic unrest concerning political representation and that the fin-de-siècle witnesses the demonization of the once revolutionary category of aesthetic consciousness, the book demonstrates that late eighteenth-century positivity around human spirituality is comprehensively dismantled by the beginning of the twentieth century.
This article presents the findings from a small-scale, exploratory, qualitative study on the perceptions of local managers working for international organisations involved in in social welfare reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a post-conflict society. The findings explore the nature of the involvement of international organisations in the reform efforts during and after the war, characterised by the development of a parallel welfare system, imported understandings of social welfare issues and difficulties in ensuring that international projects are complementary to statutory services and embedded within the wider society. The nature of policy translation renders many of these projects and programmes unsustainable. In conclusion, the text argues for closer linkages between social welfare and development studies research and practice, addressing the political dimensions of welfare reform and the need for greater coproduction of post-conflict social welfare policies and practices with service users.
Purpose – The geographic dispersion of MNCs implies that whilst it gives them access to new and different knowledge from diverse localities it also adds to the costs and complexities of managing that knowledge and its effective dispersal across geographies. The purpose of this paper is to examine how knowledge is transferred within MNCs and provide a framework for this process particularly focusing on the role that distance (external) and organizational factors (internal) plays therein.
Methodology – A qualitative study is utilized focusing on two technology companies from different cultural home countries and the technology transfer process with their South African subsidiaries.
Findings –We find that the standardization of knowledge impacts the creation and diffusion of knowledge, expatriates impact on the creation, diffusion and adoption, and finally relevance and localization impact on the adoption and utilization of knowledge.
Contribution – We present a conceptual framework around trust and rationalization as regards transferring knowledge within MNCs and find some evidence of the impact of distance, particularly cultural, on the methods employed in this transfer. The paper illustrates the practical ways in which MNCs organize their internal resources and overcome various dimensions of distance in ensuring knowledge transfers. By choosing companies from such divergent home countries (one industrialized and one newly industrialized, with very different cultural settings) and examining their knowledge transfers with their South African subsidiaries we are able to unpack various dimensions of distance and how organizational mechanisms affect this process.
Recent research on contemporary modalities of Islamic or Muslim philanthropy has focused on processes of subjectivation through which givers and recipients of charity are habituated or craft themselves to an ethic of piety, social responsibility and (neoliberal) economic virtuosity. These studies, however, have concentrated almost exclusively on those who give charity, leading to an over-emphasis on the perspectives of givers, and on their role in determining how the poor might deal with their everyday lives and imagined futures. As a result, small-scale gifting relations in which the Muslim poor may also be involved—making the poor simultaneously givers and recipients of charity—have been obscured or erased altogether. In this article we argue that the concerns of the poor might not always or necessarily be those of the wealthy donors of charity. By receiving and giving sadaqa and zakat, poor and working class Muslim in a Colombo neighbourhood imagine inclusion and belonging to the wider Muslim community in Colombo which is not contingent upon the mediation and pedagogical interventions of charitable organizations and (middle-class) pious donors. Importantly, this imagination of inclusion and belonging comes at a time when the Muslim poor are increasingly marginalized by virtue of a (middle class) discourse which by framing charity as a means ‘to help the poor to help themselves’ has turned socio-economic upliftment into an ethical duty, and, consequently, failure to improve oneself has become the symptom of wider moral shortcomings.
Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) based technologies are considered as an integral part of the upcoming 5G communications to fulfil the ever-increasing demands of wireless applications with high spectral efficiency requirements. However, in uplink multiuser MIMO (MU-MIMO) channels, the number of allowed users is limited by the number of receive antennas associated with radio frequency (RF) chains at the base-station and the complexity burden of multiuser detection (MUD). In this paper, a novel group layer MU-MIMO scheme with low complexity MUD is proposed to increase the number of served users well beyond the available RF chains. By taking the advantage of power control and inherent path loss in cellular systems, the allowed users are divided into groups based on their received power. Efficient group power allocation and group layer MUD (GL-MUD) are utilized to provide a valuable tradeoff between complexity and achieved performance. Furthermore, when more receive antennas than RF chains is implemented, a generalized norm based antenna selection algorithm is proposed to enhance the error performance. Symbol error probability expressions are derived and the effectiveness of proposed scheme is demonstrated through numerical simulations compared with the conventional MU-MIMO and non-orthogonal multiple-access (NOMA) systems over Rayleigh fading channels. The results show a substantial increase in user capacity up to two-fold for the available number of RF chains. In addition, significant signal-to-noise ratio gain is achieved using GL-MUD compared with different MUD techniques.
Grapheme-colour synaesthesia is characterized by conscious and consistent associations between letters and colours, or between numbers and colours (e.g., synaesthetes might see A as red, 7 as green). Our study explored the development of this condition in a group of randomly sampled child synaesthetes. Two previous studies (Simner & Bain, 2013, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 7, 603; Simner, Harrold, Creed, Monro, & Foulkes, 2009, Brain, 132, 57) had screened over 600 primary school children to find the first randomly sampled cohort of child synaesthetes. In this study, we evaluate this cohort to ask whether their synaesthesia is associated with a particular cognitive profile of strengths and/or weaknesses. We tested our child synaesthetes at age 10–11 years in a series of cognitive tests, in comparison with matched controls and baseline norms. One previous study (Green & Goswami, 2008, Cognition, 106, 463) had suggested that child synaesthetes might perform differently to non-synaesthetes in such tasks, although those participants may have been a special type of population independent of their synaesthesia. In our own study of randomly sampled child synaesthetes, we found no significant advantages or disadvantages in a receptive vocabulary test and a memory matrix task. However, we found that synaesthetes demonstrated above-average performance in a processing-speed task and a near-significant advantage in a letter-span task (i.e., memory/recall task of letters). Our findings point to advantages for synaesthetes that go beyond those expected from enhanced coding accounts and we present the first picture of the broader cognitive profile of a randomly sampled population of child synaesthetes.
Inference using significance testing and Bayes factors is compared and contrasted in five case studies based on real research. The first study illustrates that the methods will often agree, both in motivating researchers to conclude that H1 is supported better than H0, and the other way round, that H0 is better supported than H1. The next four, however, show that the methods will also often disagree. In these cases, the aim of the paper will be to motivate the sensible evidential conclusion, and then see which approach matches those intuitions. Specifically, it is shown that a high-powered non-significant result is consistent with no evidence for H0 over H1 worth mentioning, which a Bayes factor can show, and, conversely, that a low-powered non-significant result is consistent with substantial evidence for H0 over H1, again indicated by Bayesian analyses. The fourth study illustrates that a high-powered significant result may not amount to any evidence for H1 over H0, matching the Bayesian conclusion. Finally, the fifth study illustrates that different theories can be evidentially supported to different degrees by the same data; a fact that P-values cannot reflect but Bayes factors can. It is argued that appropriate conclusions match the Bayesian inferences, but not those based on significance testing, where they disagree.
Liz James addresses the dimension of cross-culturality of the mosaic medium. She challenges the predominant opinion that by the thirteenth century mosaic as a medium was synonymous with Byzantine artistic production. She also questions the common understanding of what is ‘Byzantine–looking’. She puts forward the opinion that mosaic was rather tied in with Early Christianity, Rome and the apostles, and that this was the main reason for reproducing and emulating this rather expensive and time-consuming medium.
Anxieties regarding colonial and neoliberal education have generated multiple calls for critical international pedagogies. Scholars of critical pedagogy have analyzed the pedagogies of the neoliberal project, whose ethos and economic imperatives aim to produce apolitical consumers and future citizens. Such calls, this article argues, articulate a concern about other-regardedness, critiquing the impact of neoliberalism on the cultivation of student values and relations toward politics, society, and others. How can we articulate a critical international pedagogy informed by, and enhancing, students’ and future citizens’ other-regardedness toward those “superfluous” and “disposable” others outside the classroom and the formal curriculum? To this end, we mobilize Michel Foucault’s thinking of “counter-conduct” to illuminate how students resist being conducted as self-interested and apolitical consumers. Such practices remain largely unexplored in examinations of recent student protests and occupations. Examining the 2005 student occupation of a French university against the local government’s abandonment of asylum-seekers, we discuss students’ own processes of social participation and self-formation, thus exploring the possibilities and tensions for advancing a critical and other-regarding pedagogy. Greater attention to students resisting the historically blind and market-driven rationalities and techniques of governing—inside and outside classrooms and curricula—marks an important point of departure for critical pedagogies of the international.
This paper investigates the impact of remittances on household decisions to purchase physical investments in Kenya using household survey data. An instrumental variables approach is employed using rainfall variation and mobile network coverage as instruments to control for the endogeneity of remittances. The empirical evidence obtained is suggestive of remittances having a positive and significant effect on the decisions by households to purchase physical investments.
This chapter undertakes a study of politics of consumption which places the nation at the heart of the examination of consumer culture. From thinking of consumption as a personal act for the purpose of survival or satisfaction to thinking about consumption as a tool for political expression or for fighting against injustice, a convoluted version of the nation and national belonging can be found. In approaching the relationship between nationalism and consumption, there are four key areas of study: ethnocentric consumption, economic nationalism, consumer nationalism and commercial nationalism. There are some tensions in the unraveling of these manifestations of nationalism in consumer culture, concerning: a) power dynamics between the state and/or market actors on the one hand and citizens on the other, b) power asymmetries between campaigners of consumer activism for and against a cause, c) binary treatment of forms of consumer politics as either good or bad.
Previous research has suggested that highly hypnotisable participants (‘highs’) are more sensitive to the bistability of ambiguous figures—as evidenced by reporting more perspective changes of a Necker cube—than low hypnotisable participants (‘lows’). This finding has been interpreted as supporting the hypothesis that highs have more efficient sustained attentional abilities than lows. However, the higher report of perspective changes in highs in comparison to lows may reflect the implementation of different expectation-based strategies as a result of differently constructed demand characteristics according to one’s level of hypnotisability. Highs, but not lows, might interpret an instruction to report perspective changes as an instruction to report many changes. Using a Necker cube as our bistable stimulus, we manipulated demand characteristics by giving specific information to participants of different hypnotisability levels. Participants were told that previous research has shown that people with similar hypnotisability as theirs were either very good at switching or maintaining perspective versus no information. Our results show that highs, but neither lows nor mediums, were strongly influenced by the given information. However, highs were not better at maintaining the same perspective than participants with lower hypnotisability. Taken together, these findings favour the view that the higher sensitivity of highs in comparison to lows to the bistability of ambiguous figures reflect the implementation of different strategies.
This paper looks at the use and non-use of please in American and British English requests. The analysis is based on request data from two comparable workplace email corpora, which have been pragmatically annotated to enable retrieval of all request speech acts regardless of formulation. 675 requests are extracted from each of the two corpora; the behaviour of please is analysed with regard to factors such as imposition level, sentence mood, and modal verb type. Differences in use of please between the two varieties of English can be accounted for by viewing this as a marker of conventional politeness rather than face-threat mitigation in British English, and of relationship asymmetry in American English.
This article explores the premium for bearing the variance risk of the VIX index, called the variance-of-variance risk premium. I find that during the sample period from 2006 until 2014 trading strategies exploiting the difference between the implied and realized variance of the VIX index yield average excess returns of − 24.16% per month, with an alpha of − 16.98% after adjusting for Fama–French and Carhart risk factors as well as accounting for variance risk (both highly significant). The article provides further evidence of risk premium characteristics using corridor variance swaps and compares empirical results with the predictions of reduced-form and structural benchmark models.
Young adult binge drinkers represent a model for endophenotypic risk factors for alcohol misuse and early exposure to repeated binge cycles. Chronic or harmful alcohol use leads to neurochemical, structural and morphological neuroplastic changes, particularly in regions associated with reward processing and motivation. We investigated neural microstructure in 28 binge drinkers compared with 38 matched healthy controls. We used a recently developed diffusion magnetic resonance imaging acquisition and analysis, which uses three-compartment modelling (of intracellular, extracellular and cerebrospinal fluid) to determine brain tissue microstructure features including neurite density and orientation dispersion index (ODI). Binge drinkers had reduced ODI, a proxy of neurite complexity, in frontal cortical grey matter and increased ODI in parietal grey matter. Neurite density was higher in cortical white matter in adjacent regions of lower ODI in binge drinkers. Furthermore, binge drinkers had higher ventral striatal grey matter ODI that was positively correlated with binge score. Healthy volunteers showed no such relationships. We demonstrate disturbed dendritic complexity of higher-order prefrontal and parietal regions, along with higher dendritic complexity of a subcortical region known to mediate reward-related motivation. The findings illustrate novel microstructural abnormalities that may reflect an infnce of alcohol bingeing on critical neurodevelopmental processes in an at-risk young adult group.
Two experiments are reported in which people resolve references to sets of entities (e.g. lies) that have previously been introduced either explicitly into a text (“the lies”) or implicitly via a cognate verb (a form of the verb “to lie”). Pronominal references to such entities were judged as relatively unacceptable, and required longer judgement times when judgements were positive, compared to cases in which the antecedent was explicit. This finding suggests that the inference from the activity of lying to a set of lies is made in the backwards direction (Garnham & Oakhill, Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 40A, 719-735) . Results with full noun phrase anaphors show a different pattern, with no penalty in either times or acceptability judgements for the implicit case. The results are discussed in terms of Sanford and Garrod’s (1981, Understanding written language) hypotheses about reference processing and the notion of the centrality of an antecedent in a scenario.
Enduring scholarly interest in the social relations of gift exchange has, following Mauss, emphasised how gifts make relationships. Where gifts break relationships, their ethnographic distinctiveness has reinforced the wider notion that gifts are good at making relations. This article examines gifts which, without the empirical distinctiveness of gifts that break relationships, both make and break relationships. Speakers of the Hassaniya dialect of Arabic in north-west Africa give post-marital gifts from the bride’s to groom’s party; these gifts became highlighted amongst Sahrawi refugees in Algeria, on whom the article focuses. In addition to performing reciprocity, boosting the giver’s honour and making new affinal relations, these post-marital gifts also break the relationship between the bride’s family and the bride. The article argues that gifts’ potential to recalibrate relationships through both making and breaking relationships can be helpfully incorporated into wider thinking about gifts, alongside other distinctions amongst gifts and gift relations.
This paper explores the gender-differentiated effects of weather shocks on households’ welfare in Malawi using panel data aligned with climatic records. Results show that temperature shocks severely affect household welfare, reducing consumption, food consumption and daily caloric intake. The negative welfare effects are more severe for households where land is solely managed by women, a finding that sheds light on the gender-unequal impact of temperature shocks. Our evidence also suggests that women’s vulnerability to temperature shocks is linked to women’s land tenure security, as temperature shocks impact significantly women’s welfare only in patrilineal districts, where statistics show that investment in agricultural technologies is lower.
What would it mean to treat Cultural Studies as a project that has had amongst its accomplishments the production of new forms and styles of writing, and a generative approach to aesthetics? An initial answer to this question would be that this would recognise how Cultural Studies interceded in an academic environment not only through its concern with supplying ambitious questions and insisting on a broad range of objects of scrutiny, but also by showing how this often entailed reconfiguring the forms through which intellectual inquiry conveyed its cargo. This article doesn’t seek to provide a taxonomy of Cultural Studies’ forms and styles; what it seeks to do is to encourage a self-reflexive attention to aesthetics within Cultural Studies as a form of practice. It suggests that there are two guiding questions that might frame such an attention: how might Cultural Studies generate forms that are adequate to the complexity of the configurations that it seeks to register; and how might Cultural Studies generate forms that could reach the ear of new audiences not attuned to the cadences of scholarly writing? The tension between these two questions should be seen as an invitation to purposeful experimentation within Cultural Studies.
One of the critical parameters of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) is node lifetime. There are various methods to increase WSN node lifetime, the clustering technique is being one of them. In clustering, selection of a desired percentage of Cluster Heads (CHs) is performed among the sensor nodes (SNs). Selected CHs are responsible for collecting data from their member nodes, aggregating the data and finally sending it to the sink. In this paper, we propose a Fuzzy-TOPSIS technique, based on multi criteria decision making, to choose CH efficiently and effectively to maximize the WSN lifetime. We will consider several criteria including: residual energy; node energy consumption rate; number of neighbor nodes; average distance between neighboring nodes; and distance from the sink. A threshold based intra-cluster and inter-cluster multi-hop communication mechanism is used to decrease energy consumption. We have also analyzed the impact of node density and different types of mobility strategies in order to investigate impact over WSN lifetime. In order to maximize the load distribution in the WSN, a predictable mobility with octagonal trajectory is proposed. This results in improvement of overall network lifetime and latency. Results shows that the proposed scheme improves the network lifetime by 60%, conserve energy by 80%, a significant reduction of frequent Cluster Head (CH) per round selection by 25% is achieved as compared to the conventional Fuzzy and LEACH protocols.
The unusual trajectory of settler colonialism in French Algeria, which culminated in Algerian independence and the exodus of European settlers, has often limited the interest of scholars who seek to understand settler colonialism as an enduring structure of oppression. For their part, scholars of French Algeria have yet to fully engage with the intellectual propositions of settler colonial studies, which has focused primarily on Anglophone and Israeli–Palestinian contexts. The Introduction seeks to open a dialogue between these groups of scholars, mobilising the propositions of settler colonial theory to outline the dynamics of the operations of power in settler colonial Algeria, before describing the evolution of these dynamics over five historical phases. Correspondingly, by bringing to the fore questions of cultural and linguistic diversity within both settler and indigenous populations, and underscoring the emotional dynamics of Empire, it is hoped that research on French Algeria might help shed light on understudied aspects of other settler colonial contexts. Through such dialogue, we seek to facilitate comparative and globally connected histories of settler colonialism, bringing multiple imperial spaces into the same frame of analysis.
This article argues that high levels of state capacity are not a sufficient condition for consolidating autocratic rule. Rather, whether non-democratic rulers can harness the infrastructural power of the state to implement strategies of regime stabilization depends on three crucial factors: the state’s social embedding, the international context, and the extent of elite cohesion. The paper develops this argument through a case study of the military-bureaucratic regime in South Korea (1961-1987), which – despite a high-capacity "developmental" state at its disposal – failed to maintain high levels of resilience.
Studies of multiparty elections in authoritarian regimes have proliferated in recent years. Nevertheless, the available evidence remains inconclusive in terms of when, where, or why elections work to sustain or undermine authoritarian rule. The contributions to the special issue “State Capacity, Elections and the Resilience of Authoritarian Rule” argue that analyzing the extent to which the effect of elections on authoritarian regime resilience is mediated through the factor of state capacity helps to solve this puzzle. This introduction lays the analytical foundation for this discussion by reviewing key terms and concepts, and by highlighting possible theoretical connections between the state capacity literature on the one hand and the electoral authoritarianism literature on the other. Furthermore, it considers the contributions in this special issue, and points out areas of agreement and disagreement between the authors, while simultaneously placing the different arguments within the broader field of enquiry.
Cross-diffusion terms are nowadays widely used in reaction-diffusion equations encountered in models from mathematical biology and in various engineering applications. In this contribution we review the basic model equations of such systems, give an overview of their mathematical analysis, with an emphasis on pattern formation and positivity preservation, and finally we present numerical simulations that highlight special features of reaction-cross-diffusion models.
This Assessment Report is set out as follows:
Section 1: General context of competition and consumer welfare
Section 2: Introduction to the Ethiopian context of competition and consumer protection
Section 3: The legal framework of Proclamation 813/2013
Section 4: Benchmarking against international best practice comparators
Section 5: Identifying weaknesses and recommendations
This article examines the grassroots Black internationalist organizing of the British Black Panther Movement (BBPM). The BBPM, which was inspired, although not founded, by the U.S. Black Panthers, was a London-based antiracist movement composed mainly of Afro-Caribbean and South Asian immigrants to the United Kingdom. The British Panthers led hundreds of campaigns for housing, education, health, legal aid, employment and against police brutality from 1969 to 1973. These pages reconstruct the day-to-day organizing efforts of the BBPM, revealing a highly active movement that focused on bridging local people's experiences of racism with the movement's membership in diasporic networks. Analysis of oral histories and forty-four issues of movement newspapers collated from across six archives demonstrates that the BBPM also raised awareness of British institutional racism and police brutality in the absence of public recognition of these issues. In so doing, this article introduces significant new evidence about the nature and extent of anti-Black racist violence in Britain in the late 1960s and early 1970s and opens up novel perspectives on the forms of Black political mobilization in Britain. Among the UK's Black Power organizations, the BBPM was the most militant and secretive. Members rigorously studied Black history and literature and labor movement history inside communal spaces that the movement occupied in London. The BBPM also acted as an umbrella organization, facilitating a network of Black Power movements across the United Kingdom. While increasingly internationalist in its outlook, the movement splintered over time, with former members founding Black organizations dedicated to working-class people's concerns, intellectual life, and women's issues.
David Jones’s In Parenthesis (1937) counters the reduction of the First World War to shorthand metaphors. The poem foregrounds how cliché, idioms and proverbs, transported to the battlefield, literalise. Drawing attention to the violence figured in everyday language, Jones faces a conundrum: How to call for a recalibration of the scale by which experience is measured without invoking ‘sense of proportion’, and, in so doing, laying down a universalising law? The question arises from consideration of the breaking of measuring instruments in the poem, and also Jones’s depiction of those who attempt to impose abstract standards unilaterally upon others. A partial resolution to the problematic connection between proportion and conversion is found in myth. Mythical analogy makes for a long and complex process of weighing up. Jones’s frustrations with the measuring instruments available to him can be linked to a more general attempt, one that has been associated with modernism, to find new representational modes. In Parenthesis seeks out means of communicating the excessive quality of war experiences without falling back on conventions and aggressive hyperbole.
This edited collection, Political Economy, Literature & the Formation of Knowledge, aims to address the genealogy and formation of political economy as a knowledge project from 1720 to 1850. Through individual essays on both literary and political economic writers, this volume defines and analyses the formative moves, both epistemological and representational, which proved foundational to the emergence of political economy as a dominant discourse of modernity. The collection also explores political economy’s relation to other discourses and knowledge practices in this period; representation in and of political economy; abstraction and political economy; fictional mediations and interrogations of political economy; and political economy and its ‘others’, including political economy and affect, and political economy and the aesthetic.
Essays presented in this text are at once historical and conceptual in focus, and manifest literary critical disciplinary expertise whilst being of genuinely broad and interdisciplinary interest. Amongst the writers whose work is addressed are: Charles Dickens, Elizabeth Gaskell, David Hume, Thomas Malthus, Jane Marcet, J. S. Mill, David Ricardo, and Adam Smith. The introduction, by the editors, sets up the conceptual, theoretical and analytical framework explored by each of the essays. The final essay and response bring the concerns of the volume up to date by engaging with current economic and financial realities, by, respectively, showing how an informed and critical history of political economy could transform current economic practices, and by exploring the abundance of recent conceptual art addressing representation and the unpresentable in economic practice.
There are striking gaps between Roma and non-Roma higher education (HE) participation rates, with less than 1% of Roma possessing a tertiary-level qualification [United Nations Development Programme, World Bank and European Commission. 2011a. “The Situation of Roma in 11 EU Member States.” Accessed 3 April 2015. http://issuu.com/undp_in_europe_cis/docs/_roma_at_a_glance_web/1#download]. As the Decade of Roma Inclusion (2005–2015) closes, this renders the present a salient moment to reflect on Roma students’ HE experiences. Widening educational access for marginalised groups raises specific questions about where responsibility for doing so lies – with tensions between individualised articulations of raising aspiration and notions of collective responsibility framed in a social justice agenda. Drawing on interviews with five Roma women students, this paper unpacks the contradictions between desiring access to HE for individual self-betterment and concurrent pulls towards educating for the wider benefit of ‘improving’ Roma communities. Using Ahmed’s [2012. On Being Included: Racism and Diversity in Institutional Life. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press] work on institutional belonging, we explore the specifically gendered nature of these narratives in how ‘doubly’ marginalised bodies are positioned as outsiders, in receipt of an educational gift.
In contrast to the mass movement of migrants shown in the media, Prior’s study gives a glimpse into the emic detail of migrant lives when their journey is over. Much of the book is devoted to a self-reflexive discourse analysis of extracts from a series of interviews with East Asian refugees, focusing on contributions seen as problematic. First, though, Prior resolves to remedy the absence of reflexivity in traditional conversation analysis and disclose his own emotional history in the context of his professional biography. He describes how an earlier empirical investigation into migrants’ language learning experiences had included research interviews in which the participants persistently told stories about themselves, producing the data that are recycled here. It is the author’s biographical narrative, followed by the interview excerpts, and similar extracts from transcriptions in the literature, that is among the most readable sections of the book.
Despite growing interest in video-based methods in organizational research, the use of collaborative ethnographic documentaries is rare. Organizational research could benefit from the inclusion of collaborative ethnographic documentaries to (a) enable the participation of “difficult to research” groups, (b) better access the material, embodied, or sensitive dimensions of work and organizing, and (c) enhance the dissemination and practical benefits of findings. To increase understanding of this under-explored method, the authors first review the available literature and consider strengths, limitations, and ethical concerns in comparison with traditional ethnography and other video-based methods. Using recent data collected on working class men doing “dirty work,” the authors then illustrate the use of collaborative ethnographic documentary as an investigative tool—capturing often concealed, embodied, and material dimensions of work—and a reflective tool—elaborating and particularizing participants’ narrative accounts. It is concluded that collaborative ethnographic documentary facilitates greater trust and communication between researchers and participants, triggering richer exploration of participants’ experiences, in turn strengthening theoretical insights and practical impact of the research.
Imagining the Witch explores emotions, gender, and selfhood through the lens of witch-trials in early modern Germany. Witch-trials were clearly a gendered phenomenon, but witchcraft was not a uniquely female crime. While women constituted approximately three quarters of those tried for witchcraft in the Holy Roman Empire, a significant minority were men. Witchcraft was also a crime of unbridled passion: it centred on the notion that one person's emotions could have tangible and deadly physical consequences. Yet it is also true that not all suspicions of witchcraft led to a formal accusation, and not all witch-trials led to the stake. Indeed, just over half the total number put on trial for witchcraft in early modern Europe were executed. In order to understand how early modern people imagined the witch, we must first begin to understand how people understood themselves and each other; this can help us to understand how the witch could be a member of the community, living alongside their accusers, yet inspire such visceral fear.
Through an examination of case studies of witch-trials that took place in the early modern Lutheran duchy of Württemberg in southwestern Germany, Laura Kounine examines how the community, church, and the agents of the law sought to identify the witch, and the ways in which ordinary men and women fought for their lives in an attempt to avoid the stake. The study further explores the visual and intellectual imagination of witchcraft in this period in order to piece together why witchcraft could be aligned with such strong female stereotypes on the one hand, but also be imagined as a crime that could be committed by any human, whether young or old, male or female. By moving beyond stereotypes of the witch, Imagining the Witch argues that understandings of what constituted witchcraft and the 'witch' appear far more contested and unstable than has previously been suggested. It also suggests new ways of thinking about early modern selfhood which moves beyond teleological arguments about the development of the 'modern' self. Indeed, it is the trial process itself that created the conditions for a diverse range of people to reflect on, and give meaning, to emotions, gender, and the self in early modern Lutheran Germany.
This study examines the governance attributes of post-IPO (initial public offering) retained ownership of private equity in business group constituent firms in contrast to their unaffiliated counterparts, in 202 newly listed firms in 22 emerging African economies. We adopt an actor centered institutional-theoretic perspective in rationalizing institutional voids and the advantages of maintained governance by both business angels (BA) and venture capital (VC) private equity. Our findings reveal private equity retain higher post-IPO ownership in business group constituents compared to unaffiliated firms and that this is inversely moderated in the context of improving institutional quality – where this is particularly strong in case of foreign VC as opposed to domestic VC or BA. Our result adds to the literature on multifocal corporate governance mechanisms and the institutional determinants of private equity investment.
This is a storyfilmplaypoemmusicalcomedy about someone who didn’t want to be the person described. It is written for the Pin Ball Wizard.
High quality evidence about the characteristics of fathers who have contact with social workers is relatively scant. This research note uses a British birth cohort study, the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (n=13,988), to describe and compare the characteristics of fathers and mothers who have had contact with a social worker and to examine the predictors of social work contact. The research note demonstrates the use of classification trees, as an alternative approach to logistic regression, for predicting social work contact. Classification trees have the advantage of not requiring researchers to specify interactions in advance and allow for the creation of more complicated predictive models. Just four variables predicted social work contact in the classification tree model: the respondent having experienced a job loss over the last year, alcohol problems, depression, and emotional cruelty from a partner. We find that the gender of the respondent did not help predict social work contact after other factors are accounted for, and the predictors of social work contact were similar for both fathers and mothers.
In this article I argue that Henry James’s “The Figure in the Carpet” shares remarkable structural similarities with Oscar Wilde’s The Portrait of Mr. W. H. Although both works have often been read as parodies of literary critics, they both also toy with the serious possibility that the pursuit of a literary theory might resemble an erotic obsession, and might result in, not the death of the author, but the death of the critic. To better understand the ways in which Wilde and James approach literary criticism in Portrait and “Figure” I consider their shared investment in Shakespeare, who figures in both authors’ work as a larger-than-life exemplar of authorial mastery, while simultaneously functioning as a textual corpus extractable from its author, a space that opens up creative possibilities for the critic. James’s late works on Shakespeare (his short story, “The Birthplace” (1903) and his preface to The Tempest (1907)) reveal a central conflict between James’s devotion to an autonomous artwork and his desire for an all-masterful author. Reading James’s late writings on Shakespeare, in conjunction with the ways his stories about literary criticism prefigure one strand of New Criticism-- Wimsatt and Beardsley’s positing of the intentional fallacy-- can help us understand the apparent paradoxes in James’s relationship to Shakespeare, and in his portrayals of literary critics, and literary criticism.
Contemporary vehicle routing requires ubiquitous computing and massive data in order to deal with the three aspects of transportation such as operations, planning and safety. Out of the three aspects, safety is the most vital and this study refers safety as the reduction of CO2 emissions and hazardous risks. Hence, this paper presents a data driven multi-objective differential evolution (MODE) algorithm to solve the safe capacitated vehicle routing problems (CVRP) by minimizing the greenhouse gas emissions and hazardous risk. The proposed data driven MODE is tested using benchmark instances associated with real time data which have predefined load for each of the vehicle travelling on a specific route and the total capacity summed up from the customers cannot exceed the stated load. Pareto fronts are generated as the solution to this multi-objective problem. Computational results proved the viability of the data driven MODE algorithm to solve the multi-objective safe CVRP with a certain trade-off to achieve an efficient solution. Overall the study suggests 5% increment in cost function is essential to reduce the risk factors. The major contributions of this paper are to develop a multi-objective model for a safe vehicle routing and propose a multi-objective differential evolution (MODE) algorithm that can handle structured and unstructured data to solve the safe capacitated vehicle routing problem.
The study proposes a cold chain location-allocation configuration decision model for shippers and customers by considering value deterioration and coordination by using big data approximation. Value deterioration is assessed in terms of limited shelf life, opportunity cost, and units of product transportation. In this study, a customer can be defined as a member of any cold chain, such as cold warehouse stores, retailers, and last mile service providers. Each customer only manages products that are in a certain stage of the product life cycle, which is referred to as the expected shelf life. Because of the geographical dispersion of customers and their unpredictable demands as well as the varying shelf life of products, complexity is another challenge in a cold chain. Improved coordination between shippers and customers is expected to reduce this complexity, and this is introduced in the model as a longitudinal factor for service distance requirement. We use big data information that reflects geospatial attributes of location to derive the real feasible distance between shippers and customers. We formulate the cold chain location-allocation decision problem as a mixed integer linear programming problem, which is solved using the CPLEX solver. The proposed decision model increases efficiency, adequately equates supply and demand, and reduces wastage. Our study encourages managers to ship full truck load consignments, to be aware of uneven allocation based on proximity, and to supervise heterogeneous product allocation according to storage requirements.
The success of witness interviews in the criminal justice system depends on the accuracy of information obtained, which is a function of both amount and quality of information. Attempts to enhance witness retrieval such as mental reinstatement of context have been designed with typically developed adults in mind. In this paper, the relative benefits of mental and sketch reinstatement mnemonics are explored with both typically developing children and children with autism. Children watched a crime event video, and their retrieval of event information was examined in free and probed recall phases of a cognitive interview. As expected, typically developing children recalled more correct information of all types than children with autism during free and probed recall phases. Sketching during free recall was more beneficial for both groups in both phases in reducing the amount of incorrect items, but the relative effect of sketching on enhancing retrieval accuracy was greater for children with autism. The results indicate the benefits of choosing retrieval mnemonics that are sensitive to the specific impairments of autistic individuals, and suggest that retrieval accuracy during interviews can be enhanced, in some cases to the same level as that of typically developing individuals.
Ethical consumption, as a realm of production and exchange, as a framework for purchasing decisions and as political activism, is now well established in a range of nations. As a politics, it points to an interconnected but divergent set of concerns centred on issues of environmental sustainability, local and global economic and social justice, and community and individual wellbeing. While the subject of sustained critique, not least because of its apparent privileging of ‘the consumer’ as the locus of change, ethical consumption has garnered increasing attention. This is most recently evident in the development and widening use of ‘ethical consumption apps’ for mobile devices. These apps allow the user to both access ethical information on products and, potentially, to connect with a broader politics of consumption. However, in entering the digital realm ethical consumption also becomes embroiled in the complexities of digital technocultures and their ability to allow users of apps to be connected to each other, potentially building communities of interest and/or activism. This paper explores this emerging intersection of the ethical and the digital. It examines, in particular, whether such digital affordances affect the way ethical consumption itself may be conceived and pursued. Does the ethical consumption app work to collectivise or individualise, help to focus or fragment, speak of timidity or potential in relation to an oppositional politics of consumption? In confronting these issues, this paper suggests that contemporary ethical consumption apps – while full of political potential – remain problematic in that the turn to the digital has tended, so far, to accentuate the already individualising tendencies within a politics of ethical consumption. This speaks also, however, to a similar problematic in the politics of digital technocultures; the use of the digital does not automatically enable - merely through greater connectivity and information availability – forms of radical politics.
There are a range of objects that appear to be almost ubiquitous in countries in the global North. In households in Britain, for instance, a number of objects that once would have marked you out as socially distinct (as a technological pioneer, for instance, or as someone with enough disposable income to indulge in luxury goods) are now more noticeable by their absence. A household without central-heating is today more remarkable than one with such a system. Socially ‘indistinct’ groups of objects in over-developed countries might include cars, mobile (and not so mobile) phones, washing machines, denim jeans, refrigerators, radios, computers, TVs, and so on. But of course these are also objects that can be, and often are, inflected as socially distinct objects: after all there is a marked difference between a brand new Ferrari, a second-hand ‘people carrier’, and a souped-up hatch back. What does not mark you out is having a car; what marks you out is having a particular car. Indeed, the world of cars and car advertising is a semiotic field of intense differentiation. As cultural and social historians how should we attend to this field of objects that from one perspective lack distinction? What are the differences that make a difference: the myriad of small differences that inflect the world of car-ownership according to differences of class, gender, age, ethnicity, aspiration, politics, and so on; or the longue durée of human mobility and motility in which generalised private motorised transport is a key component? Is the fact of mass motoring of more or less significance than the way an industry has found sophisticated ways of inducing consumer desire and envy?
Recent research has indicated that vicarious learning can lead to increases in children’s fear beliefs and avoidance preferences for stimuli and that these fear responses can subsequently be reversed using positive modeling (counterconditioning). The current study investigated children’s vicariously acquired avoidance behavior, physiological responses (heart rate), and attentional bias for stimuli and whether these could also be reduced via counterconditioning. Ninety-six (49 boys, 47 girls) 7- to 11-year-olds received vicarious fear learning for novel stimuli and were then randomly assigned to a counterconditioning, extinction, or control group. Fear beliefs and avoidance preferences were measured pre- and post-learning, whereas avoidance behavior, heart rate, and attentional bias were all measured post-learning. Control group children showed increases in fear beliefs and avoidance preferences for animals seen in vicarious fear learning trials. In addition, significantly greater avoidance behavior, heart rate responding, and attentional bias were observed for these animals compared to a control animal. In contrast, vicariously acquired avoidance preferences of children in the counterconditioning group were significantly reduced post-positive modeling, and these children also did not show the heightened heart rate responding to fear-paired animals. Children in the extinction group demonstrated comparable responses to the control group; thus the extinction procedure showed no effect on any fear measures. The findings suggest that counterconditioning with positive modelling can be used as an effective early intervention to reduce the behavioral and physiological effects of vicarious fear learning in childhood.
This paper applies paradox as a metatheoretical framework for the reflexive analysis of roles within a participatory video study. This analysis moves us beyond simply describing roles as paradoxical, and thus problematic, to offer insights into the dynamics of the inter-relationship between participant, researcher and video technology. Drawing on the concept of ‘working the hyphens’ (Fine, 1994), our analysis specifically focuses on the complex enactment of Participation-Observation and Intimacy-Distance ‘hyphen spaces’. We explore how video technology mediates the relationship between participant and researcher within these spaces, providing opportunities for participant empowerment but simultaneously introducing aspects of surveillance and detachment. Our account reveals how video study participants manage these tensions to achieve participation in the project. It examines the roles for the researched, the technology and the researchers that are an outcome of this process. Our analysis advances methodology by bringing together a paradox perspective with reflexive work on research relationships to demonstrate how we can more adequately explore tensions in research practice, and detailing the role of technology in the construction and management of these tensions.
This article contributes to the debate on defining corruption. Rather than attempting to provide a definitive definition, it uses the case of Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, a German bishop from the diocese of Limburg who stepped down in 2014, to illustrate that the disciplines of law, political science, economics, and anthropology all make important contributions to understanding what corruption is and how it should be conceptualized. Seen through these different lenses, the article argues, the case of “Bishop Bling” can be understood in strikingly different ways. This has ramifications not just for the case itself but also for how analysts understand corruption more broadly. Adopting an overtly interdisciplinary approach does not represent a way to “solve” the definitional dilemma, but it can help analysts understand more about corruption’s multiplicity.
Aim: The PRODIGY trial is an ongoing randomised controlled trial of Social Recovery Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (SRCBT), a new intervention designed to improve social functioning in young people at risk of long-term social disability due to severe and complex mental health problems. The aim of this qualitative sub-study was to understand trial participants’ experiences of SRCBT and the control condition, treatment as usual (TAU).
Method: Trial participants were aged 16 – 25 with socially disabling severe and complex mental health problems. A purposive sample of trial participants took part in in-depth qualitative interviews which were transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically.
Results: Participants from the SRCBT arm valued the relationship with their therapist, the flexibility of intervention delivery and the cognitive and behavioural techniques taught. They viewed SRCBT as challenging but worthwhile. Participants from the TAU arm reported receiving little support, both prior to and during their participation in the trial. Participants from both arms valued opportunities to talk about their difficulties during trial participation. Increased activity was an important goal of participants from both arms and most expressed high motivation and little hopelessness.
Conclusions: Currently available services do not meet the needs of some young people with socially disabling mental health problems. Motivation to change appears high at this early stage of disorder, supporting the potential value of intervening early to prevent longer-term social disability. SRCBT was well accepted by participants and so is a promising intervention to meet this objective.
For all of humankind’s creative achievements, we in turn were made by a more powerful creative force: biological evolution. Since Darwin and Wallace’s great revelation (Darwin, 1861), it has become widely accepted that the astonishingly beautiful and complex structure and behaviours of the living world have taken shape through a remarkable process that is mechanical, blind and purposeless. This sublime beauty has inspired art since its primitive beginnings, but whereas we have always incorporated natural form in our paintings, sculpture and music, artists working with code now draw upon processes of the natural world.
The arrival of general purpose computers in the middle of the last century transformed not only science, but compositional practice in ways that are documented throughout this book. Of importance to this chapter, it enabled us to harness behaviours inspired by natural systems, formalised by biologists and computer scientists into algorithms, in order to develop, perform and compose with software instruments. We now borrow from the designs of specific biological organisms, and the properties and processes of complex natural systems, as well as from the creative mechanism of evolution itself.
In this chapter we examine a range of approaches to algorithmic music making inspired by biological systems. In doing so we cover topics that are located at the intersection of contemporary music and computer science and the study of creativity: optimisation and problem-solving using evolutionary methods; emergence, self-organisation and complexity; adaptive behaviour; and autonomy and self-determination. Section 1.1 provides a brief historical context of the core intellectual, musical and social movements which influence contemporary creative practice. Section 1.2 provides a primer in the concepts and tools developed for the study of systems which are foundational to the specific approaches described in the following sections.
Endeavours in this field are often hybrid and idiosyncratic and cannot be neatly categorised. Nevertheless we organise an overview of the key musical motivations, concepts and computational methods of the field under four themes which map the topics above. Section 2, Evolutionary Search, outlines the application of evolutionary computation to design issues and opportunities associated with algorithmic music. In Section 3, Multi-Agent Compositions, we look at the ways in which agent-based modelling has been used to compose emergent, self-organising music. Section 4, considers how the study of adaptive behaviour has inspired the design and realisation of Adaptive Collaborators – interactive software systems which begin to enable active electro-acoustic partnerships. Many of these ideas come together in Section 5, which describes the development of Creative Ecosystems inspired by ecological principles. We end with a discussion of some of the critical themes for future work.
Media analysis of public engagement with genetics and cloning is dominated by media genre- specific or issue-specific analysis. Such analyses tend to frame genetics as a new technology, and media resources as current and immediate. Broader public discourses tend towards marginalising public knowledge as against expert voices. This article takes a broader perspective to demonstrate that people engage with multiple media genres over an extensive time frame. It explores the findings of a Mass Observation directive looking at how people know about genes, genetics cloning. We detail the specificity of using this research instrument and map the rich and detailed media culture, which emerged. Thus, we provide insight into how media cultures resource public knowledge making over time. The research also indicates a pro-science and engaged public culture in relation to genetics the UK, in which the media are key.
There are a number of different cardiac emergencies that can face the neonatologist. Many of these relate to the initial presentation of congenital cardiac lesions (incidence 6–13 per 1,000 live births) (Reller et al. 2008; Ishikawa et al. 2011; Ferencz et al. 1985). Rarer causes also include cardiac arrhythmias (1 in 25,000 for supraventricular tachycardia) (Dubin 2000) and cardiomyopathies (5–9 per 100,000 infants) (Nugent et al. 2003; Lipshultz et al. 2003) which can lead to hemodynamic decompensation in the neonate. Furthermore, iatrogenic injuries caused by interventions can lead to emergencies such as cardiac tamponade. These particular pathologies can present acutely and require prompt treatment by the attending physician. For the purposes of this chapter, the pathologies are split into four common presentations with the aim of providing a practical approach to cardiac emergencies in newborns.
• Shock/circulatory failure
• Cyanosis
• Acute heart failure
• Arrhythmias
Cloud computing has become prevalent in many sectors today, including higher-education. The study is premised on the assumption that despite the popularity of cloud computing in higher education, research within this context remains limited. The study, which is qualitative and exploratory in nature, involved an innovative methodological approach, drawing on interviews with three groups of participants: (a) members of a global, Fortune 100 technology company supplying cloud solutions; (b) members of a selected UK university's IT department implementing cloud solutions; and (c) students from the same UK university using cloud solutions. The findings improve understanding around cloud solutions in the higher education context by unpacking—through a qualitative thematic analysis approach—relevant themes that inform the extant information systems literature. Finally, the study provides recommendations for future researchers, cloud suppliers, universities, and students.
This article discusses recent responses to performances of same-sex male ballroom dancing in order to consider the subtle difference which can exist between homophobia and effeminophobia. Given that the world of performance-level ballroom dancing is a gay-friendly environment, in which many participants are openly gay identified, this article will argue that a discourse of effeminophobia, rather than homophobia, underpins the world of performance-level ballroom dance. Performance-level ballroom dance is often read as camp not only because it represents exaggerated gender roles but because its official technique requires that the male dancer synthesise codes of masculinity and femininity in his dancing. What protects the gender-dissident male ballroom dancer from being read as effeminate is that he is paired with a female body performing excessive femininity. Without the foil of the hyper-feminine female partner, the same-sex couple draws attention to the fact that the male ballroom dancer is not dancing as a man but in accordance with ballroom’s queer construction of masculinity. Given that performance-level dance has struggled for so many years to be viewed as masculine sport, practitioners may, quite understandably, be anxious about any representation which suggests that ballroom dance may be an effeminate activity.
The paper looks at power in the origins and evolution of the Biological & Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC). It begins by looking at the origins of what some have termed a taboo surrounding poison weapons, before turning to look at the role of different forms of power in the genesis of the BWC in the late 1960s. The article proceeds to look at the role of institutional power in the evolution of the convention before turning to the limitations generated by the diffused nature of power. The chapter concludes by exploring the literature on public administration, particularly Lindblom’s notion of ‘incrementalism’ to outline how the BWC is essentially ‘muddling through’ and to some extent is largely limited to muddling through because of the consensus rule and the limits of productive power within the BWC.
This article explores Charles Henri Ford’s Poem Posters series of 1964–5 and the ‘Having Wonderful Time Wish You Were Here’: Postcards to Charles Henri Ford exhibition at the Iolas Gallery (New York, 1976). Ford’s editorship of View magazine (1940–7) is well known in scholarship on surrealism’s reception in America, but less frequently explored are the ways in which his later artistic and curatorial practice self-consciously continued the publication’s mission of promoting a queer and partisan identity for the movement. Ford does more than simply enable surrealism to resonate further than its epicentre. He intervenes at the level of historiography, an intervention, this article argues, which is implicated in his efforts to rethink the movement’s sexual politics. Drawing on Elizabeth Freeman’s scholarship on queer temporalities, this article considers how Ford’s anachronistic recourse to surrealism in the 1940s and again in the 1960s, long after the movement had passed its expiry date, aligns linear narratives of avant-gardism with a recalculation of its customary heteronormativity.
This paper explores three novels published in the Obama era: NoViolet Bulawayo's We Need New Names (2013), Okey Ndibe's Foreign Gods, Inc. (2014), and Dinaw Mengestu's How to Read the Air (2010). It considers how writing both by and on Obama illuminates some of the central preoccupations of what I am choosing to call these “diaspirant” texts. The paper unpacks the paradigm of “diaspirancy,” probing both its utility and limitations when it comes to a new generation of diasporic writing, often labeled African and American. This allows me to consider the extent to which all three of my contextually specific novels are both invoking and seeking to interrogate certain discourses of American exceptionalism amplified in the context of Obama's presidency. Similarly, the paper argues that, while the postnational label is used in indiscriminate and often exclusive ways when it comes to African contexts, all three of my chosen writers consider how it might speak to the peculiar contours of twenty-first-century America. These are thrown into starker relief when viewed through the migrant lens so central to Bulawayo, Ndibe, and Mengestu, as well as much of Obama's rhetoric before, during, and after his time in office.
It has been suggested that attenuated adaptation to visual stimuli in autism is the result of atypical perceptual priors (e.g., Pellicano and Burr in Trends Cogn Sci 16(10):504–510, 2012. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2012.08.009). This study investigated adaptation to color in autistic adults, measuring both strength of afterimage and the influence of top-down knowledge. We found no difference in color afterimage strength between autistic and typical adults. Effects of top-down knowledge on afterimage intensity shown by Lupyan (Acta Psychol 161:117–130, 2015. doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2015.08.006) were not replicated for either group. This study finds intact color adaptation in autistic adults. This is in contrast to findings of attenuated adaptation to faces and numerosity in autistic children. Future research should investigate the possibility of developmental differences in adaptation and further examine top-down effects on adaptation.
Summary: The research activity of social work academics in the UK has been of interest and concern amongst academics and research funders. Multiple initiatives have been implemented to develop social work research activity, yet research by social work academics remains limited, hindered by lack of time, support infrastructures, funding and training. Through the use of a mixed-methods cross-sectional survey (N = 200) and follow-up individual interviews (N = 11), this study reports on the factors that were found to contribute to or impede the amount of time that social work academics reported spending on research.
Findings: The results from the survey indicated that 73% of respondents were research active. Bivariate analysis revealed that academics spent less time on research and teaching, and more time on administration than expected by their employing universities. Multivariate analysis found that less time spent on administration and teaching, more university supports, and being from a pre-1992 university predicted more time spent on research.
Applications: The findings indicate that the administrative burdens associated with teaching and assessment in social work education result in academics struggling to fit research into their busy lives, despite initiatives to raise the profile and productivity of social work research. Research support infrastructures and strategies should be reviewed in light of such findings.
This article explores the tensions apparent in anonymous military online forums as sites of publicly visible yet discursively intimate performances of military identity and sites of distinct power relations. This article draws on data collected from British military forums and the organisations that own and manage them. We consider the discursive online practices within the forums and the extent to which the technological affordances of ‘anonymity’ (or what we define as pseudonymity) act as a critical interface between the military community who contribute to the content and non-military observers who read, access, mine and appropriate the content. In so doing, we raise critical questions about the nature of ‘anonymity’ and the complex tensions in and negotiations of private and public, visibility and invisibility that occur through it and the framing and monetising of particular online communities for economic and political purpose.
This chapter concerns the connection between knowledge of a logical principle, such as Modus Ponens, and actions of reasoning with it. Contemporary discussions of this issue typically mention Lewis Carroll’s regress. There is widespread agreement that the regress shows something important about the connection between knowing logical principles and reasoning with them—and, more generally, between knowing epistemic or practical principles and actions involving them. My first aim is to address key interpretations of Carroll’s regress in order to assess its relevance to the question of how knowing logical principles connects to reasoning with them, and, more generally, of how knowing epistemic or practical principles might be action-guiding. My second aim is to show that the regress fails to establish anything of substance about such connections unless substantive, contentious, and typically undefended assumptions are made.
Wilhelm Friedrich Georg Roscher (1817-94) is generally remembered as a significant nineteenth-century German political economist and a contributor to the “German Historical School of Economics.” His work is usually placed in the context of a larger narrative about the development of economic thought. Yet intellectual historians have rarely noticed that, for Roscher, Staatswirthschaft or Nationalökonomie were subordinate to a larger science of politics, and few have engaged with the substance of his political thought, as opposed to his political economy. The aim of this article is to provide an interpretation of Roscher as a political thinker, exploring his concern that nineteenth-century Europe’s economically-advanced societies, characterised by an unstable combination of democratic sovereignty, deep socio-economic inequality, and a centralised state apparatus, would soon find themselves at the mercy of “military tyranny” or “Caesarism.” It underlines the ways in which Roscher’s preoccupation with ancient history fed into his estimation of nineteenth-century politics, and also examines his comparative assessment of democracy’s prospects in Britain, France, and the United States. The argument has some wider implications for the nineteenth-century reception of classical thought and historiography, for the shifting preoccupations of German liberalism between Vormärz and the Kaiserreich, and for wider nineteenth-century assessments of the future of democracy.
In a largely previously untold story, Melissa Milewski explores how, when the financial futures of their families were on the line, black litigants throughout the South took on white southerners in civil suits. Between 1865 and 1950, in almost a thousand civil cases across eight southern states, former slaves took their former masters to court, black sharecroppers litigated against white landowners, and African Americans with little formal education brought disputes against wealthy white members of their communities.
As black southerners negotiated a legal system with almost all white gatekeepers, they displayed pragmatism and a savvy understanding of how to get whites on their side. They found that certain kinds of cases were much easier to gain whites' support for than others. But they also found that, in the kinds of civil cases that they could litigate in the highest courts of eight states, they were also surprisingly successful. In a tremendously restricted environment in which they were often shut out of other government institutions, seen as racially inferior, and segregated, African Americans found a way to fight for their rights in one of the only ways they could.
This book examines how African Americans adapted and at times made a biased system work for them under enormous constraints. At the same time, it considers the limitations of working within a white-dominated system at a time of great racial discrimination, and the choices black litigants had to make to have their cases heard.
Multinational companies (MNCs) frequently adopt corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities that are aimed at providing ‘public goods’ and influencing the government in policymaking. Such political CSR (PCSR) activities have been determined to increase MNCs’ socio-political legitimacy and to be useful in building relationships with the state and other key external stakeholders. Although research on MNCs’ PCSR within the context of emerging economies is gaining momentum, only a limited number of studies have examined the firm-level variables that affect the extent to which MNCs’ subsidiaries in emerging economies pursue PCSR. Using insights from resource dependence theory, institutional theory, and the social capital literature, we argue that MNCs’ subsidiaries that are critically dependent on local resources, have greater ties to managers of related businesses and to policymakers, and that those that are interdependent on the MNCs’ headquarters and other foreign subsidiaries, are more likely to be involved in PCSR. We obtain support for our hypotheses using a sample of 105 subsidiaries of foreign firms that operate in India. Our findings enhance our understanding of the factors that determine MNCs’ political CSR in emerging economies.
In this entry the concept of criminalization of migration is presented. Criminalization refers to the set of practices such as border control, detention of undocumented migrants and public discussion of migrants as criminals which serve to place migration within a frame of threat to national security. The entry briefly introduces the concept of criminalization, discusses the legislative and discursive processes of criminalization and then summarises work on the impact of this trend and criticisms.
The aim of this entry is to offer an overview and critical assessment of autonomy in medical practice and its relation to phenomenology.
As recently stakeholders complain about the use of conflict minerals in consumer products that are often invisible to them in final products, firms across industries implement conflict mineral management practices. Conflict minerals are those, whose systemic exploitation and trade contribute to human right violations in the country of extraction and surrounding areas. Particularly, supply chain managers in the Western world are challenged taking reasonable steps to identify and prevent risks associated with these resources due to the globally dispersed nature of supply chains and the opacity of the origin of commodities. Supply chain due diligence (SCDD) represents a holistic concept to proactively manage supply chains reducing the likelihood of the use of conflict minerals effectively. Based on an exploratory study with 27 semi-structured interviews within five European industries, we provide insights into patterns of implementation, key motivational factors, barriers and enablers, and impacts of SCDD in mineral supply chains. Our results contribute to both theory and practice as we provide first insights to SCDD practices and make recommendations for an industry-wide implementation of SCDD. Altogether, this study provides the basis for future theory testing research in the context of SCDD and conflict mineral management.
The article explores the distortions and self-serving fictions which America’s memory industries have developed around Frederick Douglass. The sinister processes of valorization and matyrological fetishisation which have been used to disguise and efface American’s slave inheritance via a superscription of white patriarchal triumphalism jump out of this text as the lurid monstrosities they are. The demonstrates how an equal and opposite semiotics of distortion has also been catastrophically laid upon the cultural construction of Frederick Douglass. Douglass is dragged out of the virtual filth which threatens to turn him into slavery’s most tragic ‘oreo’.
Psychology continues to be one of the most popular fields of study at colleges and universities the world over, and Psychology offers a comprehensive overview of the historical, methodological, and conceptual core of modern psychology. This textbook enables students to gain foundational knowledge of psychological investigation, exploring both the biological basis and mental processes underlying our thoughts and behaviours. Officially endorsed by the British Psychological Society, this book covers topics ranging from biological, cognitive and developmental psychology to the psychology of social interactions, psychopathology and mental health treatments. Each chapter provides detailed examination of essential topics, chapter summaries, real-world case studies, descriptions of research methods, and interactive learning activities to strengthen student comprehension and retention.
This textbook offers a wealth of supplementary material for instructors of introductory and advanced undergraduate courses in psychology. An instructor’s manual includes lecture outlines, classroom discussion topics, homework assignments and test bank questions, while online access to additional digital content provides a complete resource to facilitate effective teaching and learning.