bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Construction of Policy: Donors, AIDS and Cultural Practices
Authors: Page Samantha
Published: December 2018

In this chapter I explore the dynamics of the policy development process and I examine theories of policy implementation. By focusing on narratives, I show that the policy process is not characterised by rational policymaking but by people’s views and interpretations. First, I analyse the process of policy construction. Second, I look at the aid game in Malawi. Third, I look at how these narratives have been passed on through education. Fourth, I present data from interviews I conducted with UNAIDS to present stakeholders’ responses to the question Does your organisation use evidence to inform policy and programmatic decisions on HIV/AIDS? I argue there are a wide range of stakeholders involved in policy construction and implementation. These stakeholders include large, and powerful bilateral and multilateral agencies, such as DFID, USAID and the World Bank, as well as international Non-governmental organisations, national NGOs, international and national faith-based organisations, and the organs of the Malawi government, both at the national and the district levels, each with its own vested interests and each with its own policies. Therefore I argue the evidence produced to apply policies is not objective but narratives shaped by various policy agendas and interests of the elites.
Conclusion and Recommendations
Authors: Page Samantha
Published: December 2018

In this conclusion I bring together the various threads of my argument. First, I summarise each chapter in relation to the themes identified and the analytical frame employed in this study. Second, I present my three key arguments. Third, I contextualise my study in terms of where we are today with AIDS at the global level and within Malawi. Fourth, I demonstrate how this study contributes to academic debates. Finally, I present recommendations to improve policies and programmes on HIV and AIDS at the international and national level.
Forbidden from the Heart: Flexible Food Taboos, Ambiguous Culinary Transgressions, and Cultural Intimacy in Hoi An, Vietnam
Authors: Avieli Nir
Published: December 2018

Kiêng kỵ, literally “forbidden [from the] heart”, is the term used in Vietnam when referring to taboos, yet the sense of complete prohibition associated with taboos in Western cultures is incompatible with Vietnamese food cosmology. Based on ethnographic research conducted in the central Vietnamese town of Hoi An since the late 1990s, this chapter follows the consumption of two kinds of meats that are publically condemned but may be consumed in specific contexts: he-goat meat (thịt dê) and “jungle” meat (thịt rừng). These meats are served in food venues that specialize in alcohol and are associated with excessive drinking, extreme masculinity, and illicit social relations. Michael Herzfeld’s notion of Cultural Intimacy is applied so as to explain the ambivalence and resulting anxieties, and their alleviation.
TELS: A Novel Computational Framework for Identifying Motif Signatures of Transcribed Enhancers
Authors: Kleftogiannis Dimitrios , Ashoor Haitham , Bajic Vladimir B.
Published: December 2018

In mammalian cells, transcribed enhancers (TrEns) play important roles in the initiation of gene expression and maintenance of gene expression levels in a spatiotemporal manner. One of the most challenging questions is how the genomic characteristics of enhancers relate to enhancer activities. To date, only a limited number of enhancer sequence characteristics have been investigated, leaving space for exploring the enhancers’ DNA code in a more systematic way. To address this problem, we developed a novel computational framework, Transcribed Enhancer Landscape Search (TELS), aimed at identifying predictive cell type/tissue-specific motif signatures of TrEns. As a case study, we used TELS to compile a comprehensive catalog of motif signatures for all known TrEns identified by the FANTOM5 consortium across 112 human primary cells and tissues. Our results confirm that combinations of different short motifs characterize in an optimized manner cell type/tissue-specific TrEns. Our study is the first to report combinations of motifs that maximize classification performance of TrEns exclusively transcribed in one cell type/tissue from TrEns exclusively transcribed in different cell types/tissues. Moreover, we also report 31 motif signatures predictive of enhancers’ broad activity. TELS codes and material are publicly available at http://www.cbrc.kaust.edu.sa/TELS.
TICA: Transcriptional Interaction and Coregulation Analyzer
Authors: Perna Stefano , Pinoli Pietro , Ceri Stefano , Wong Limsoon
Published: December 2018

Transcriptional regulation is critical to cellular processes of all organisms. Regulatory mechanisms often involve more than one transcription factor (TF) from different families, binding together and attaching to the DNA as a single complex. However, only a fraction of the regulatory partners of each TF is currently known. In this paper, we present the Transcriptional Interaction and Coregulation Analyzer (TICA), a novel methodology for predicting heterotypic physical interaction of TFs. TICA employs a data-driven approach to infer interaction phenomena from chromatin immunoprecipitation and sequencing (ChIP-seq) data. Its prediction rules are based on the distribution of minimal distance couples of paired binding sites belonging to different TFs which are located closest to each other in promoter regions. Notably, TICA uses only binding site information from input ChIP-seq experiments, bypassing the need to do motif calling on sequencing data. We present our method and test it on ENCODE ChIP-seq datasets, using three cell lines as reference including HepG2, GM12878, and K562. TICA positive predictions on ENCODE ChIP-seq data are strongly enriched when compared to protein complex (CORUM) and functional interaction (BioGRID) databases. We also compare TICA against both motif/ChIP-seq based methods for physical TF–TF interaction prediction and published literature. Based on our results, TICA offers significant specificity (average 0.902) while maintaining a good recall (average 0.284) with respect to CORUM, providing a novel technique for fast analysis of regulatory effect in cell lines. Furthermore, predictions by TICA are complementary to other methods for TF–TF interaction prediction (in particular, TACO and CENTDIST). Thus, combined application of these prediction tools results in much improved sensitivity in detecting TF–TF interactions compared to TICA alone (sensitivity of 0.526 when combining TICA with TACO and 0.585 when combining with CENTDIST) with little compromise in specificity (specificity 0.760 when combining with TACO and 0.643 with CENTDIST). TICA is publicly available at http://geco.deib.polimi.it/tica/.
Getting to grips with IoT
Authors: Mansfield-Devine Steve
Published: December 2018

What exactly is the Internet of Things (IoT) and what constitutes an IoT device? It seems to depend on whom you ask. And that's a problem when it comes to developing security measures for these devices. Everyone has a different idea about what needs securing and how to go about it. And for many organisations, and the people working for them, security simply isn't on their list of priorities, as Christian Koch, a senior manager at NTT Security, explains in this interview.
The neurology–psychiatry interface in epilepsy
Authors: Murphy Valerie , Hallahan Brian , O’ Connell Henry , Wright Brenda , Kelly Brendan D , Gulati Gautam , Shankar Rohit
Published: December 2018

Epilepsy and mental illness have a bidirectional association. Psychiatrists are likely to encounter epilepsy as comorbidity. Seizures may present as mental illness. Equally, the management of psychiatric conditions has the potential to destabilise epilepsy. There is a need for structured epilepsy awareness and training amongst psychiatrists. This paper outlines key considerations around diagnosis, treatment and risk while suggesting practical recommendations.
Influence of Langmuir circulations on turbulence in the bottom boundary layer of shallow water
Authors: Deng Bing-Qing , Yang Zixuan , Xuan Anqing , Shen Lian
Published: December 2018

Langmuir circulations (LCs) generated by the interaction between wind-driven currents and surface waves can engulf the whole water column in neutrally stratified shallow water and interact with the turbulence in the bottom boundary layer. In this study, we perform a mechanistic study using wall-resolved large-eddy simulations (LES) based on the Craik–Leibovich equations to investigate the effects of LCs on turbulence statistics in the bottom half of shallow water. The highest Reynolds number considered in this paper, $Re_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}}=1000$, is larger than the values considered in wall-resolved LES studies of shallow-water Langmuir turbulence reported in literature. The logarithmic layer is diagnosed based on a plateau region in the profile of a diagnostic function. It is found that the logarithmic layer disrupted at $Re_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}}=395$ reappears at $Re_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}}=1000$, but the von Kármán constant is slightly different from the traditional value $0.41$. To study the effects of LCs on turbulence statistics, LCs are extracted using streamwise averaging. The velocity fluctuations $u_{i}^{\prime }$ are decomposed into a LC-coherent part $u_{i}^{L}$ and a residual turbulence part $u_{i}^{T}$. It is found that the profiles of LC-coherent Reynolds shear stress $-\langle u^{L}v^{L}\rangle$ obtained at various Reynolds numbers are close to each other in the water-column coordinate $y/h$, with $h$ being the half-water depth. As the Reynolds number (or, by definition, the ratio between the outer and inner length scales) increases, the influence of LCs on the near-bottom momentum transfer is reduced, which is responsible for the reappearance of the logarithmic layer. At all of the Reynolds numbers under investigation, the peaks of $\langle u^{L}u^{L}\rangle$ are collocated in the water-column coordinate $y/h$, while those of $\langle u^{T}u^{T}\rangle$ are collocated in the inner-scale coordinate $y/(\unicode[STIX]{x1D708}/u_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}})$. Due to the increase in the distance between the peaks of $\langle u^{L}u^{L}\rangle$ and $\langle u^{T}u^{T}\rangle$ with the Reynolds number, the profile of $\langle u^{\prime }u^{\prime }\rangle$ forms a bimodal shape at $Re_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}}=700$ and $1000$.
Interplay of deformability and adhesion on localization of elastic micro-particles in blood flow
Authors: Ye Huilin , Shen Zhiqiang , Li Ying
Published: December 2018

The margination and adhesion of micro-particles (MPs) have been extensively investigated separately, due to their important applications in the biomedical field. However, the cascade process from margination to adhesion should play an important role in the transport of MPs in blood flow. To the best of our knowledge, this has not been explored in the past. Here we numerically study the margination behaviour of elastic MPs to blood vessel walls under the interplay of their deformability and adhesion to the vessel wall. We use the lattice Boltzmann method and molecular dynamics to solve the fluid dynamics and particle dynamics (including red blood cells (RBCs) and elastic MPs) in blood flow, respectively. Additionally, a stochastic ligand–receptor binding model is employed to capture the adhesion behaviours of elastic MPs on the vessel wall. Margination probability is used to quantify the localization of elastic MPs at the wall. Two dimensionless numbers are considered to govern the whole process: the capillary number$Ca$, denoting the ratio of viscous force of fluid flow to elastic interfacial force of MP, and the adhesion number$Ad$, representing the ratio of adhesion strength to viscous force of fluid flow. We systematically vary them numerically and a margination probability contour is obtained. We find that there exist two optimal regimes favouring high margination probability on the plane$Ca{-}Ad$. The first regime, namely region I, is that with high adhesion strength and moderate particle stiffness; the other one, region II, has moderate adhesion strength and large particle stiffness. We conclude that the existence of optimal regimes is governed by the interplay of particle deformability and adhesion strength. The corresponding underlying mechanism is also discussed in detail. There are three major factors that contribute to the localization of MPs: (i) near-wall hydrodynamic collision between RBCs and MPs; (ii) deformation-induced migration due to the presence of the wall; and (iii) adhesive interaction between MPs and the wall. Mechanisms (i) and (iii) promote margination, while (ii) hampers margination. These three factors perform different roles and compete against each other when MPs are located in different regions of the flow channel, i.e. near-wall region. In optimal region I, adhesion outperforms deformation-induced migration; and in region II, the deformation-induced migration is small compared to the coupling of near-wall hydrodynamic collision and adhesion. The finding of optimal regimes can help the understanding of localization of elastic MPs at the wall under the adhesion effect in blood flow. More importantly, our results suggest that softer MP or stronger adhesion is not always the best choice for the localization of MPs.
Roughness effects in turbulent forced convection
Authors: MacDonald M. , Hutchins N. , Chung D.
Published: December 2018

We conducted direct numerical simulations of turbulent flow over three-dimensional sinusoidal roughness in a channel. A passive scalar is present in the flow with Prandtl number $Pr=0.7$, to study heat transfer by forced convection over this rough surface. The minimal-span channel is used to circumvent the high cost of simulating high-Reynolds-number flows, which enables a range of rough surfaces to be efficiently simulated. The near-wall temperature profile in the minimal-span channel agrees well with that of the conventional full-span channel, indicating that it can be readily used for heat-transfer studies at a much reduced cost compared to conventional direct numerical simulation. As the roughness Reynolds number, $k^{+}$, is increased, the Hama roughness function, $\unicode[STIX]{x0394}U^{+}$, increases in the transitionally rough regime before tending towards the fully rough asymptote of $\unicode[STIX]{x1D705}_{m}^{-1}\log (k^{+})+C$, where $C$ is a constant that depends on the particular roughness geometry and $\unicode[STIX]{x1D705}_{m}\approx 0.4$ is the von Kármán constant. In this fully rough regime, the skin-friction coefficient is constant with bulk Reynolds number, $Re_{b}$. Meanwhile, the temperature difference between smooth- and rough-wall flows, $\unicode[STIX]{x0394}\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E9}^{+}$, appears to tend towards a constant value, $\unicode[STIX]{x0394}\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E9}_{FR}^{+}$. This corresponds to the Stanton number (the temperature analogue of the skin-friction coefficient) monotonically decreasing with $Re_{b}$ in the fully rough regime. Using shifted logarithmic velocity and temperature profiles, the heat-transfer law as described by the Stanton number in the fully rough regime can be derived once both the equivalent sand-grain roughness $k_{s}/k$ and the temperature difference $\unicode[STIX]{x0394}\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E9}_{FR}^{+}$ are known. In meteorology, this corresponds to the ratio of momentum and heat-transfer roughness lengths, $z_{0m}/z_{0h}$, being linearly proportional to the inner-normalised momentum roughness length, $z_{0m}^{+}$, where the constant of proportionality is related to $\unicode[STIX]{x0394}\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E9}_{FR}^{+}$. While Reynolds analogy, or similarity between momentum and heat transfer, breaks down for the bulk skin-friction and heat-transfer coefficients, similar distribution patterns between the heat flux and viscous component of the wall shear stress are observed. Instantaneous visualisations of the temperature field show a thin thermal diffusive sublayer following the roughness geometry in the fully rough regime, resembling the viscous sublayer of a contorted smooth wall.
The effect of slip and surface texture on turbulence over superhydrophobic surfaces
Authors: Fairhall C. T. , Abderrahaman-Elena N. , García-Mayoral R.
Published: December 2018

Superhydrophobic surfaces are able to entrap gas pockets in between surface roughness elements when submerged in water. These entrapped gas pockets give these surfaces the potential to reduce drag due to the overlying flow being able to locally slip over the gas pockets, resulting in a mean slip at the surface. In this work we assess the separate effects that surface slip and surface texture have on turbulence over superhydrophobic surfaces. We show that the direct effect of surface slip does not modify the dynamics of the overlying turbulence, which remains canonical or smooth-wall like. The surface drag is governed by the difference between two virtual origins, the virtual origin of the mean flow and the virtual origin experienced by the overlying turbulence, in an extension of the theory from Luchini, Manzo & Pozzi (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 228, 1991, pp. 87–109) for riblets. Streamwise slip deepens the virtual origin of the mean flow, while spanwise slip deepens the virtual origin perceived by the overlying turbulence. Drag reduction is then proportional to the difference between the two virtual origins. We decompose the near-wall flow into background-turbulence and texture-coherent components, and show that the background-turbulence component experiences the surface as homogeneous slip lengths. The validity of the slip-length model can then be extended to larger texture size $L^{+}$ than thought in previous studies. For $L^{+}\gtrsim 25$, however, we observe that a nonlinear interaction with the texture-coherent flow develops that alters the dynamics of the background turbulence, exhibiting a modified distribution of turbulent energy across length scales. This has the effect of reducing the velocity increment $\unicode[STIX]{x0394}U^{+}$ compared to that predicted using homogeneous slip lengths and sets the upper limit of applicability of slip-length models.
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM WITHOUT EQUALITY? RELIGIOUS MINORITIES AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF RELIGION IN ARGENTINA
Authors: Vives Juan Martin
Published: December 2018

The Argentine Constitution contains two provisions regarding church-state relations. The first one recognizes the right of all people to the free exercise of religion. The second one provides that the state must financially support the Catholic Church. Based on this latter clause, over the years a complex regulatory scheme has been developed that differentiates that church from all the other churches and religions. Those differences are addressed in this article. The author argues that the religious establishment does not depend only on how the state defines itself (e.g., through a declaration in the constitution), but also on the way in which it treats people based on their religion. If that treatment is unequal—for example, when there are legal privileges only to a single church—then there is a kind of establishment of religion. It has been claimed that the religious establishment is not itself incompatible with religious freedom. In arguing that religious minorities can hold a different opinion, the author offers a brief account of the problems faced by non-Catholic faith communities in Argentina because of the state's unequal treatment. Finally, the author analyzes whether the reasons given to justify the legal differences between religions are acceptable. Otherwise, it could be said that there is discrimination—at least, in a broad sense—against religious minorities. While this article focuses on the Argentine case, the issues addressed are relevant to any country dealing with the unequal treatment of people based on their religion.
Photographic copyright and the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court in historical perspective
Authors: Cooper Elena , Burrow Sheona
Published: December 2018

This paper provides an in-depth case study of the enforcement of copyright in photographs by certain rights-owners today: freelance professional photographers who derive income from the exploitation of photographic copyright. Referring to the theoretical framework of Guido Calabresi and A Douglas Melamed, the paper reflects on the implications of the case study for the nature and function of copyright in a specific context today. Bringing the experience today into conversation with the enforcement of copyright by professional photographers in past times (the late nineteenth/early twentieth centuries), the paper notes the influence of the bureaucratisation of copyright exploitation (ie exploitation through picture libraries) on legal decision making in a particular forum today: the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court Small Claims Track. The paper concludes with more general reflections on the case study's implications for the courts and copyright policy-makers today.
Climate control on alluvial sediment storage in the northern foreland of the Tatra Mountains since the late Pleistocene
Authors: Olszak Janusz , Kukulak Józef , Alexanderson Helena
Published: December 2018

Numerical dating and geomorphic studies on alluvial sediment were undertaken in the uppermost reaches of the Dunajec River catchment in the northern foreland of the Tatra Mountains of Poland. Successions of alluvial deposits in river terraces and alluvial fans are common in this region. In particular, alluvial fans deposited a thick succession of sediment in the intramontane Orawa–Nowy Targ Depression, and terraces are preserved as two cut-and-fill and six strath terraces along the uplifting sections of river courses. We identify several alluviation phases within the alluvial successions that occurred since Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 6. These sediments show that deposition largely occurred under temperate-climate conditions. This is in spite of a potential strong impact from headwater glaciers under cold-climate conditions. Glacially produced sediments were largely stored within frontal moraines and proglacial floodplains. These glaciogenic sediments were eroded and resedimented during glacier retreat. We therefore conclude that “warm” alluviation is the dominant process forming alluvial successions in this region.
Science and islands in Indo-Pacific worlds
Authors: KROUPA SEBESTIAN , MAWSON STEPHANIE J. , BRIXIUS DORIT
Published: December 2018

This Introduction offers a conceptualization of the Indo-Pacific, its islands and their place within the history of science. We argue that Indo-Pacific islands present a remarkable combination of social, political and spatial circumstances, which speak to themes that are central to the history of science. Having driven movements of people and represented staging grounds for explorations, expansions and cross-cultural exchanges, these spaces have been at the forefront of historical change. The historiographies of the two oceans have traditionally emphasized indigenous agency while downplaying European historical trajectories, and therefore they provide historians of science with materials and methodologies that promise nuanced portrayals of knowledge production in cross-cultural settings. Rather than unifying the oceans into a cohesive narrative, we seek to uncover the many horizons of Indo-Pacific worlds and pluralize the spaces within which knowledge travelled at specific times, but not at others. Offering a middle plane between the globe and the region, islands are particularly productive sites for such analyses, as they bring to attention both localized kinds of agency and the impacts of colonialism and globalization. This special issue investigates what happens to knowledge within island spaces and demonstrates that even as small strips of land, islands can significantly enhance our understanding of the practices of knowledge making within the broader contours of world history. In bringing to the fore the contributions of actors from across the wider social spectrum and, especially, the interacting roles of indigenous agents and their traditions, Indo-Pacific worlds thus offer exciting new directions for a field which has often been dominated by a focus on European institutions.
A hard nut to crack: nutmeg cultivation and the application of natural history between the Maluku islands and Isle de France (1750s–1780s)
Authors: BRIXIUS DORIT
Published: December 2018

One of France's colonial enterprises in the eighteenth century was to acclimatize nutmeg, native to the Maluku islands, in the French colony of Isle de France (today's Mauritius). Exploring the acclimatization of nutmeg as a practice, this paper reveals the practical challenges of transferring knowledge between Indo-Pacific islands in the second half of the eighteenth century. This essay will look at the process through which knowledge was created – including ruptures and fractures – as opposed to looking at the mere circulation of knowledge. I argue that nutmeg cultivation on Isle de France was a complex process of creolizing expertise originating from the local populations of the plants’ native islands with the horticultural knowledge of colonists, settlers, labourers and slaves living on Isle de France. In this respect, creolization describes a process of knowledge production rather than a form of knowledge. Once on Isle de France, nutmeg took root in climate and soil conditions which were different from those of its native South East Asian islands. It was cultivated by slaves and colonists who lacked prior experience with the cultivation of this particular spice. Experienced horticulturalists experimented with their own traditions. While they relied on old assumptions, they also came to question them. By examining cultivation as an applied practice, this paper argues that the creolization of knowledge was a critical aspect in French colonial botany.
Stock and bulk in the latest Newton scholarship
Authors: Cohen H. Floris
Published: December 2018

In his biography of Isaac Newton, which forms the most recent production in this flourishing genre, Niccolò Guicciardini states as his first point of departure that Newton's work arose not from ‘attempts to answer questions that came to him spontaneously, but [from addressing] those posed by his contemporaries’ (p. 20). Right he is to communicate to the larger audience for which he is writing this principal fruit of by now almost a century of professional history-of-science writing – a deep-seated awareness that every scientific view or finding, even if looking timeless in retrospect, has emerged from some given historical context that shows us where the scientist in question started, and that helps explain how, and in what direction, they managed to venture beyond the original context. Indeed, the same truth (or rather truism) applies to every genuine – that is, in some way innovative and also worthwhile – contribution to scholarship. And so it is, therefore, with the three books here under review, which I intend to examine with the following leading question in mind: what in each of them is new and what, in what turns out to be new indeed, has been worth learning?
SENECAN ‘META-STOICALITY’: IN THE COGNITIVE GRASP OF ATREUS
Authors: Stevens John
Published: December 2018

The first act ofThyestesis a challenge to the theory that the same Seneca wrote both thephilosophicaand the tragedies. We are compelled by the evil genius of Atreus and not by the common virtue of hisSatelles. Atreus not only feels no compunction at his words, but seems to hone his evil from the prodding. It is the death of philosophy, the anti-mirror of the prince: the tyrant is not reformed, but becomes more himself—more perfectly tyrannical. It is a performance of Socrates’ monster inRepublic9—the soul composed of a hydra of desires with its ring of heads constantly changing, a lion of anger and a small man, who is to domesticate the hydra like a farmer and befriend the lion (588c–589b). The ineffectualSatellesportrays the hopeless plight of Plato's ‘little man reason’ before a lion with monstrous desires like Atreus. There is a place left for philosophy to win over the tyrant only if theSatellesdoes not represent all that reason can do, and stands instead only for gentlemanly virtue or common sense, which lacks the kind oflogosneeded to control the beast.
BOURGEOIS MODERNITY VERSUS THE HISTORICAL ARISTOCRACY IN CHRISTOPH MEINERS'S POLITICAL THOUGHT
Authors: GOLF-FRENCH MORGAN
Published: December 2018

Christoph Meiners (1747–1810), a major historian and philosopher of the German late Enlightenment, has received increasing recognition as a significant thinker in the emergence of nineteenth-century racial theories. The scholarly focus on Meiners's hierarchical view of race and its legacy has led to the classification of his broaderoeuvreas conservative, or even reactionary. By examining hisGeschichte der Ungleichheit der Stände unter den vornehmsten europäischen Völkern(1792), written in response to the French Revolution and the contemporary circumstances of the Holy Roman Empire, this article sheds new light on his work, as well as on an under-researched line of thought in the 1790s. Rather than a conservative or reactionary work, this text is a radical critique of the German aristocracy that ultimately recommends the abolition of most significant aristocratic privileges and the overhaul of its membership in favour of the bourgeoisie. This article presents not only a more complex understanding of Christoph Meiners's ideas, but also calls for a reappraisal of the categories applied to late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century intellectuals both in Germany and in Europe more broadly.
Differences in prevalence and determinants of hypertension according to rural–urban place of residence among adults in Bangladesh
Authors: Kibria Gulam Muhammed Al , Swasey Krystal , Das Gupta Rajat , Choudhury Allysha , Nayeem Jannatun , Sharmeen Atia , Burrowes Vanessa
Published: December 2018

This cross-sectional study analysed Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2011 data with the aim of investigating the prevalence of, and risk factors for, hypertension in individuals aged over 35 by rural–urban place of residence. After estimation of the stratified prevalence of hypertension by background characteristics, multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted to calculate the adjusted odds (AORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for selected factors. Of the 7839 participants, 1830 were from urban areas and 6009 from rural areas. The overall prevalence of hypertension was 32.6% (95% CI: 30.5–34.8) in urban areas and 23.6% (95% CI: 22.5–24.7) in rural areas. The prevalence and odds of hypertension increased with increasing age, female sex, concomitant diabetes and overweight/obesity and richer wealth status in both urban and rural regions. Although residence in Khulna and Rangpur divisions and higher education level were associated with increased odds of hypertension in urban regions, this was not the case in rural regions (p>0.05). Residence in Sylhet and Chittagong divisions had lower odds of hypertension in rural regions. Furthermore, the proportions of overweight/obese, diabetic and higher wealth status participants were higher in urban than in rural regions. The prevalence and odds of hypertension were found to be associated with several common factors after stratifying by place of residence. Some of these factors are more concentrated in urban regions, so urban residents with these risk factors need to be made more aware of these in order to control hypertension in Bangladesh. Public health programmes also need to be tailored differently for urban and rural regions, based on the different distribution of these significant factors in the two areas.
Price Drift Before U.S. Macroeconomic News: Private Information about Public Announcements?
Authors: Kurov Alexander , Sancetta Alessio , Strasser Georg , Wolfe Marketa Halova
Published: December 2018

We examine stock index futures and Treasury futures around the release time of 30 U.S. macroeconomic announcements. Nine of the 20 announcements that move markets show evidence of substantial informed trading before the official release time. Prices begin to move in the “correct” direction approximately 30 minutes before the release time. The preannouncement price drift accounts on average for approximately 40% of the total price adjustment. This implies that some traders have private information about macroeconomic fundamentals. Preannouncement drift might originate from a combination of information leakage and superior forecasting that incorporates proprietary data.
Diagnostic flexible versus rigid bronchoscopy for the assessment of tracheomalacia in children
Authors: Choi J , Dharmarajan H , Yu J , Dunsky K A , Vece T J , Chiou E H , Ongkasuwan J
Published: December 2018

Objective

This project compares the degree of tracheal collapse determined by rigid and flexible bronchoscopy in paediatric patients with tracheomalacia.

Methods

A total of nine patients with tracheomalacia underwent both rigid and flexible video bronchoscopy. All patients were breathing spontaneously. Cross-sectional images of the airway were processed using the ImageJ program and analysed via colour histogram mode technique in order to delineate the luminal area. Paired t-tests (conducted using Stata software version 13.0) quantified differences between rigid and flexible bronchoscopes regarding the ratios of luminal pixels at maximum airway collapse to expansion. Correlation between both techniques in terms of airway collapse to expansion ratios was determined by calculating the Pearson correlation coefficient (R).

Results

The difference in ratios of maximum collapse to expansion between rigid and flexible bronchoscopy was not statistically significant (p = 0.4656) and was positively correlated (R = 0.523).

Conclusion

The ratios suggest that rigid and flexible bronchoscopy are equally efficacious in assessing tracheomalacia severity, and may be used interchangeably in a clinical setting.
Stochastic proton heating by kinetic-Alfvén-wave turbulence in moderately high- plasmas
Authors: Hoppock Ian W. , Chandran Benjamin D. G. , Klein Kristopher G. , Mallet Alfred , Verscharen Daniel
Published: December 2018

Stochastic heating refers to an increase in the average magnetic moment of charged particles interacting with electromagnetic fluctuations whose frequencies are smaller than the particles’ cyclotron frequencies. This type of heating arises when the amplitude of the gyroscale fluctuations exceeds a certain threshold, causing particle orbits in the plane perpendicular to the magnetic field to become stochastic rather than nearly periodic. We consider the stochastic heating of protons by Alfvén-wave (AW) and kinetic-Alfvén-wave (KAW) turbulence, which may make an important contribution to the heating of the solar wind. Using phenomenological arguments, we derive the stochastic-proton-heating rate in plasmas in which $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}_{\text{p}}\sim 1$–30, where $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}_{\text{p}}$ is the ratio of the proton pressure to the magnetic pressure. (We do not consider the $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}_{\text{p}}\gtrsim 30$ regime, in which KAWs at the proton gyroscale become non-propagating.) We test our formula for the stochastic-heating rate by numerically tracking test-particle protons interacting with a spectrum of randomly phased AWs and KAWs. Previous studies have demonstrated that at $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}_{\text{p}}\lesssim 1$, particles are energized primarily by time variations in the electrostatic potential and thermal-proton gyro-orbits are stochasticized primarily by gyroscale fluctuations in the electrostatic potential. In contrast, at $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}_{\text{p}}\gtrsim 1$, particles are energized primarily by the solenoidal component of the electric field and thermal-proton gyro-orbits are stochasticized primarily by gyroscale fluctuations in the magnetic field.
Seasonal fluctuation in food sources of herbivorous gastropods in a subtropical seagrass bed estimated by stable isotope analysis
Authors: Nakamoto Kenta , Hayakawa Jun , Kawamura Tomohiko , Ohtsuchi Naoya , Yamada Hideaki , Kitagawa Takashi , Watanabe Yoshiro
Published: December 2018

Various herbivorous invertebrates in seagrass beds are considered to be generalists in food use and their diets may temporally fluctuate according to the availability of food sources. We assessed whether food sources of herbivorous gastropods vary in a subtropical seagrass bed in Nagura Bay, Ishigaki Island, where coexisting seaweeds grow densely in spring but minimally in summer. Abundant gastropods and their possible food sources were collected in spring and summer of 2013 and 2015, and their stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios were measured. Between the two seasons, each possible food source had similar isotopic values, but all the herbivorous gastropod species in summer were more enriched in13C than the gastropod samples in spring. The mixing models in SIAR (Stable Isotope Analysis in R) showed that the total contribution rates of seaweeds, i.e. rhodophytes, phaeophytes and chlorophytes, for all herbivorous gastropod species decreased from spring to summer; in contrast, the contribution rate of seagrasses increased. Linear Mixed Models showed that the seasonal variation in δ13C of the herbivorous gastropods was larger than that of the possible food sources, adding further evidence to the seasonal change in food sources of the herbivorous gastropods. This seasonal change in food use appears to correspond to the change in seaweed biomass, suggesting that herbivorous gastropods flexibly change their diets depending on food availability.
Dietary interventions for cancer survivors
Authors: Burden Sorrel , Sremanakova Jana , Jones Debra , Todd Chris
Published: December 2018

This review evaluates evidence on dietary interventions for cancer survivors giving an overview of people's views and preferences for service attributes and provides a narrative review. After cancer, people often want to change their diet and there is a plethora of evidence why dietary optimisation would be beneficial. However, cancer survivors have different preferences about attributes of services including: place, person and communication mode. Randomised control trials have been reviewed to provide a narrative summary of evidence of dietary interventions. Most studies were on survivors of breast cancer, with a few on colorectal, prostate and gynaecological survivors. Telephone interventions were the most frequently reported means of providing advice and dietitians were most likely to communicate advice. Dietary assessment methods used were FFQ, food diaries and 24-h recalls. Dietary interventions were shown to increase intake of fruit and vegetables, dietary fibre, and improve diet quality in some studies but with contradictory findings in others. Telephone advice increased fruit and vegetable intake primarily in women with breast cancer and at some time points in people after colorectal cancer, but findings were inconsistent. Findings from mail interventions were contradictory, although diet quality improved in some studies. Web-based and group sessions had limited benefits. There is some evidence that dietary interventions improve diet quality and some aspects of nutritional intake in cancer survivors. However, due to contradictory findings between studies and cancer sites, short term follow-up and surrogate endpoints it is difficult to decipher the evidence base.
Public Opinion on Healthcare in the Context of Economic Crisis: Evidence from Portugal
Authors: POPIC TAMARA , SCHNEIDER SIMONE M. , ASENSIO MARIA
Published: December 2018

This article investigates to what extent austerity-oriented measures introduced in the Portuguese health sector during the recent economic crisis were associated with changes in the public opinion on healthcare. We conducted multivariate regression analyses of cross-sectional, biannual data from the European Social Survey (2002–2015) for 13,271 individuals living in private households in Portugal. In line with our expectations, healthcare evaluations of the general population improved until 2010 but declined with the implementation of comprehensive austerity measures introduced under the Memorandum of Understanding after 2011. Healthcare evaluations of vulnerable social groups – older and retired individuals, individuals with poor health, low income and education – declined particularly strongly. In addition, differences in healthcare evaluations between more and less vulnerable social groups were more pronounced after 2011. Interestingly, healthcare evaluations of the general population and of some of the most vulnerable groups ‘recovered’ in 2015, when most of the Memorandum measures were implemented. Our findings contribute to the literature on the effects of austerity measures on welfare attitudes and stress the need to analyse the differential impact of crisis-induced welfare state reforms across social groups.
‘No country for old men’? The multiplier effects of pensions in Portuguese municipalities
Authors: Mourao Paulo Reis , Vilela Cilina
Published: December 2018

One of the major findings of this paper, which studied the multiplier effects of pensions received at each Portuguese municipality since 2003, is that pensions stimulate the incomes of municipalities. We studied these effects also considering the spillovers from/to the surrounding areas. After discussing several models of spatial analysis, we chose the Dynamic Spatial Durbin Model. Our results were obtained after considering a proper set of control variables.
REPRESENTATION AND THE FALL
Authors: NELSON ERIC
Published: December 2018

This article makes the case that the early modern debate over political representation was deeply intertwined with a theological debate over the Fall. The “resemblance” theory of representation adopted by English Parliamentarians was first formulated by Calvinists to make the case that Adam represented humanity, despite the fact that humanity had never authorized him to act in their name. The Royalist rejoinder, which treated authorization as a necessary and sufficient condition of representation, began life instead as a Pelagian response to Calvinist orthodoxy. This theological dispute provides a crucial context for the interventions of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke.
Is Islam Compatible with Free-Market Capitalism? An Empirical Analysis, 1970–2010
Authors: de Soysa Indra
Published: December 2018

Are majority-Muslim countries laggards when it comes to developing liberal economic institutions? Using an Index of Economic Freedom and its component parts, this study finds that Muslim-dominant countries (>50% of the population) are positively associated with free-market capitalism. Protestant dominance is also positively correlated, but the association stems from just two components of the index, mainly “legal security and property rights protection.” Surprisingly, Protestant countries correlate negatively with “small government” and “freedom to trade,” two critical components of free-market capitalism. Muslim dominance shows positive correlations with all areas except for “legal security and property rights.” The results are consistent when assessing similar variables measuring property rights and government ownership of the economy collected by the Varieties of Democracy Project. Capitalistic policies and institutions, it seems, may travel across religions more easily than culturalists claim.
Does Speededness in Collecting Reasoning Data Lead to a Speed	Factor?
Authors: Zeller Florian , Reiß Siegbert , Schweizer Karl
Published: December 2018

Abstract. The consequences of speeded testing for the structure and validity of a numerical reasoning scale (NRS) were investigated. Confirmatory factor models including an additional factor for representing working speed and models without such a representation were employed for investigating reasoning data collected in speeded paper-and-pencil testing and in only slightly speeded testing. For achieving a complete account of the data, the models also accounted for the item-position effect. The results revealed the factor representing working speed as essential for achieving a good fit in data originating from speeded testing. The reasoning factors based on data due to speeded and slightly speeded testing showed a high correlation among each other. The factor representing working speed was independent of the other factors derived from reasoning data but related to an external score representing processing speed.
I Like Myself, I Really Do (at Least Right Now)
Authors: Rudolph Almut , Schröder-Abé Michela , Schütz Astrid
Published: December 2018

Abstract. In five studies, we evaluated the psychometric properties of a revised German version of the State Self-Esteem Scale (SSES; Heatherton & Polivy, 1991 ). In Study 1, the results of a confirmatory factor analysis on the original scale revealed poor model fit and poor construct validity in a student sample that resembled those in the literature; thus, a revised 15-item version was developed (i.e., the SSES-R) and thoroughly validated. Study 2 showed a valid three-factor structure (Performance, Social, and Appearance) and good internal consistency of the SSES-R. Correlations between subscales of trait and state SE empirically supported the scale’s construct validity. Temporal stability and intrapersonal sensitivity of the scale to naturally occurring events were investigated in Study 3. Intrapersonal sensitivity of the scale to experimentally induced changes in state SE was uncovered in Study 4 via social feedback (acceptance vs. rejection) and performance feedback (positive vs. negative). In Study 5, the scale’s interpersonal sensitivity was confirmed by comparing depressed and healthy individuals. Finally, the usefulness of the SSES-R was demonstrated by assessing SE instability as calculated from repeated measures of state SE.
Measuring Anxiety-Related Avoidance With the Driving and Riding Avoidance Scale (DRAS)
Authors: Taylor Joanne E. , Sullman Mark J. M. , Stephens Amanda N.
Published: December 2018

Abstract. Driving anxiety is a common experience that, for those with high levels of driving anxiety, can markedly interfere with functioning, particularly because of avoidance behavior. The Driving and Riding Avoidance Scale (DRAS; Stewart & St. Peter, 2004 ) is a promising measure of self-reported avoidance, but its psychometric properties have been questioned as the instructions do not specifically ask respondents to report avoidance that is due to driving anxiety. The present study investigated the psychometric properties of the DRAS using revised instructions in 437 participants from the general population of New Zealand. Internal consistency for the DRAS was 0.94 and ranged from 0.79 to 0.90 for the four subscales. A two-factor solution was supported, in line with previous research using the revised instructions, supporting the distinction between general and traffic avoidance compared with weather and riding avoidance. Further work on the psychometric properties of this measure with clinical samples is needed to clarify the subscale structure.