bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Global Banking Regulation
Authors: Davies Howard , Zhivitskaya Maria
Published: April 2019

Global banking regulation, in the sense of setting common capital standards for international banks, has a forty-year history. Its early development reflected the instincts for cooperation on the part of central banks in the face of rapidly integrating global firms and for a time was highly effective and adaptive. The informality of the Basel Committee and its absence of legal status were seen as advantages, allowing agreements to be reached below the political radar. But the move from “by and large” guidelines to a detailed corpus of regulation applying to all banks has shown the limitations of a voluntarist approach, and there are signs that further progress toward common standards, evenly enforced, has stalled in the face of domestic political imperatives. That raises fundamental questions about the need for treaty underpinning of international financial standards, so far seen as too politically difficult, to guard against regulatory arbitrage.
Sociological and Criminological Explanations of Terrorism
Authors: Fisher Daren G. , Dugan Laura
Published: April 2019

Theories are essential for scientific advances, allowing researchers to test assumptions and to dispel superstitions and prejudices. Early theories of terrorism however were often the byproduct of thought pieces, and have since been derided by esteemed scholars for dubiously mischaracterizing terrorism. In recent years both sociological and criminological theories have been advanced to motivate a host of research that has supplanted earlier intuitive but inaccurate theories of terrorism. Testing these theories with the benefit of analytic advances and more comprehensive datasets has revealed numerous insights that have guided more effective counterterrorism strategies. This work has also provided compelling evidence that sociology and criminology have much to offer our understanding of terrorism. This chapter documents some of these major theoretical contributions for understanding terrorists’ motives and for informing efforts to prevent terrorism, while highlighting the existing strengths and gaps in this burgeoning research.
Cultural and Anthropological Approaches to the Study of Terrorism
Authors: Malešević Siniša
Published: April 2019

Terrorism is often understood to be a cultural phenomenon involving different and competing ideological perceptions of social and political realities. Hence the terrorists themselves, those who fight terrorism, and the mass media all tend to invoke cultural variables to make a sense of violent terrorist actions. In this context one often encounters references to “the clash of civilizations” or “religious wars.” Nevertheless social scientists have largely discredited such simplistic accounts and have made clear that culture plays a much more complex role in terrorism. In this chapter I critically review the three leading cultural and anthropological perspectives on terrorism: the neo-Durkhemian perspectives, interactionism, and the anti-foundationalist approaches. I argue that culturalist perspectives contribute substantially towards understanding of terrorism but they also show some explanatory weaknesses. To remedy these pitfalls I provide an outline for the alternative, longue durée, historical-sociological model of terrorism analysis.
Religion and Terrorism
Authors: Haynes Jeffrey
Published: April 2019

No single event explains all recent and current examples of religious terrorism. Samuel Huntington’s highly influential yet very controversial argument is however a good place to start, not least because it highlighted probably the most egregious example of the genre, Islamic terrorism. Although Huntington was discussing what he called “clash of civilisations,” this did not mean that inter-religious or inter-cultural clashes were not also in focus. This chapter focuses on the development of “religious terrorism” after the end of the Cold War. It argues that religious terrorism has affected global security and led the USA into various unsuccessful foreign policy adventures—into Iraq, Afghanistan, and so on. In addition, religious terrorism stimulated the rise—and fall—of various transnational Islamic terror groups, as well as contributed to the fragility of various states, including: Somalia, Nigeria, and Mali.
Single-Issue Terrorism
Authors: Ackerman Gary , Kouloganes Anastasia
Published: April 2019

Some terrorists appear to focus their ire around a particular issue or small set of issues and are often characterized using the label “single-issue terrorist.” This chapter discusses the concept of single-issue terrorism as it appears in the broader terrorism literature and formulates a working definition based on this scholarship. It then critically assesses whether single-issue groups as commonly conceived of actually exist and, even if they do, whether they can persist or merely represent an ephemeral stage in the development of a terrorist group. More fundamentally, the chapter examines the very utility of the term and suggests that our understanding of terrorism might be better served by abandoning the use of the label to describe a separate type of terrorism and instead characterizing the phenomenon as an attribute of a broader ideology. Throughout, these ideas are illustrated by reference to three ostensibly single-issue terrorist organizations.
The Strategic Model of Terrorism Revisited
Authors: Abrahms Max
Published: April 2019

The dominant paradigm on terrorism is what I call the Strategic Model of Terrorism. This model posits that perpetrators of terrorism attack civilians because of the unmatched effectiveness in pressuring government concessions. The strategic model is rooted in bargaining theory, which emphasizes how under anarchy escalating signals the will and ability to punish the target for non-compliance. Over the past decade, however, empirical research has found that neither escalating to terrorism nor with terrorism helps non-state actors to coerce government concessions. In fact, terrorism increases the odds that target countries will dig in their political heels and go on the offensive. These empirical findings raise important questions about why people use terrorism given the negative political return.
Financing Terrorism
Authors: Trinkunas Harold
Published: April 2019

This chapter reviews the fundamentals of terrorism financing and identifies what has been learned from the successes and failures of state responses to this phenomenon. The globalization of the world economy during the late twentieth century created new opportunities for terrorist organizations to move resources acquired from wealthy individuals, popular support, state sponsors, or participation in illicit economies across international borders and use these funds to support terrorist attacks. State responses following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, DC, created a new international counterterrorism financing regime that led to the relative “hardening” of the developed world against terrorist financing. This altered terrorist incentives and contributed to shifting large-scale financial operations towards lower risk jurisdictions in the rest of the world. The chapter concludes by identifying key theoretical and policy issues that remain to be addressed by future research into terrorism financing.
The Evolution of Terrorism Event Databases
Authors: LaFree Gary
Published: April 2019

Terrorism event databases provide systematized descriptive information about terrorist attacks from unclassified, open sources where the attack is the unit of analysis. There have been a dozen or more systematic efforts to build terrorism event databases over the past four decades. Because terrorism is a type of behavior that is difficult to study by more traditional means (e.g. police reports or victim or offender surveys), event databases have come to fill an important niche. Contemporary efforts to build event databases can be traced back to the late 1960s and are likely related to the introduction of satellites and portable video equipment—technology that made it possible to send instantaneously images of conflict and violence from any one place on the planet to any other place. Thus far the most comprehensive event databases have been the RAND Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism and the RAND Database of Worldwide Terrorism Incidents (MIPT-RDWTI), the International Terrorism: Attributes of Terrorist Events (ITERATE), the Global Terrorism Database (GTD), the terrorism data collected by the US State Department, and the World-Wide Incidents Tracking System (WITS). Given the often clandestine nature of terrorism, event data have important weaknesses, most notably media inaccuracies; conflicting information or false, multiple, or no claims of responsibility; government censorship and disinformation; and a lack of systematic empirical validation. Nevertheless, event databases on terrorism can be justified in part because most terrorists seek publicity. Likely future improvements include better coverage of domestic terrorism, more extensive automated coding, enhanced geo-spatial coding, and better linkages to related databases.
Terrorism and State Sponsorship in World Politics
Authors: Carter David B. , Pant Saurabh
Published: April 2019

The state sponsorship of terrorist groups poses significant risks to international security. Accordingly, a growing body of scholarship focuses on understanding different aspects of the relationship between the patron state, the sponsored terrorist group, and the target state. This chapter first reviews the findings and arguments in this literature, exploring both the theoretical and empirical work over the strategic dynamics of and the effects of state support. Existing research contains numerous insights and provides some counterintuitive advances to our understanding of the different manifestations of sponsorship, the rationale for sponsorship, and the impact of sponsorship on both the terrorist group and the target state. Yet, there is much more work that remains to be done in this field. Specifically, we propose that further study on the connections between sponsorship and other important security issues in world politics is necessary to better understand the broader role that sponsorship plays in international relations. To promote this end, we empirically demonstrate the connection between territorial disputes, the state sponsorship of militant groups, and the onset of interstate conflict. This evidence is preliminary but opens a potentially promising new avenue for research on the effects of state sponsorship of terrorist groups.
The Moral Dimensions of Terrorism
Authors: Held Virginia
Published: April 2019

What terrorism is and how it should be understood are highly contested issues that themselves raise moral questions. Many seek to attach the labels of terrorism to the actions of those they oppose, while exempting uses of violence by those they favor from comparable criticism. Reasonable definitions and discussions are possible, however, and they are attempted here. Terrorism is not a new phenomenon. Moral evaluations of it, and especially of justifiable responses to it, can well be made. The chapter considers alternative moral theories with which to make such evaluations. Among other characterizations, terrorism is violence used for political objectives. Uses of violence to uphold unjust political arrangements can be less justifiable than uses of violence to change them. Responding to terrorism with massive military force is counterproductive. Terrorism is undermined as potential recruits no longer join or follow terrorist groups. We ought to aim to reduce all uses of violence.
Revising the Field of Terrorism
Authors: Jackson Richard
Published: April 2019

This chapter provides a personal reflection on the author’s intellectual and emotional journey towards being one of the founding scholars of critical terrorism studies (CTS). It explains some of the formative influences and life experiences which eventually led to the decision, along with others, to hold a conference on CTS, launch a CTS working group within the British International Studies Association (BISA), start a new journal, and publish a series of books and articles outlining the CTS approach to the study of terrorism. As such, it provides greater understanding of the role of academic entrepreneurs in developing new fields, as well as the particular focus and approach of CTS to the study of terrorism and counterterrorism.
New Techniques in Teaching Terrorism
Authors: Siegel David A.
Published: April 2019

Active-learning exercises, such as in-class simulations and role play, are increasingly used alongside more traditional teaching methods of discussion and lecture in order to develop deeper understanding of complex topics, particularly those involving strategic behavior. This article describes in-class experiences with several instances of active learning that can be used to teach strategic concepts that arise in the study of terrorism. The first long-form exercise involves a simulated hostage crisis, comprises multiple roles including media, government, and terrorists, and highlights strategic concepts of credible commitment and costly signaling. The second long-form exercise captures the strategic interplay of government and terror group, and highlights agency problems and the difficulty of allocating limited resources. Shorter exercises cover: religion and its connection to the absolute; tactic diffusion, outbidding, and the importance of local support; media sensationalism; and terrorist financing.
Geographical Approaches in the Study of Terrorism
Authors: Farrell Megan M. , Findley Michael G. , Young Joseph
Published: April 2019

With the rise of quantitative approaches to studying terrorism, which has largely occurred in the post-9/11 period, scholarship on the cross-national study of terrorism has begun to incorporate high-resolution geographic information. A rise in both method and application of geographic tools has led to new research approaches, which are still not fully exploited. Indeed, substantial scope for opening new research frontiers now exists. We describe the use of geographic tools—both their strengths and weaknesses—and some ideas about the future of their use in the study of political violence and terrorism.
Organizational and Institutional Approaches
Authors: Bosi Lorenzo , della Porta Donatella , Malthaner Stefan
Published: April 2019

In this chapter we take a closer look at organizational and institutional approaches that study political violence from a social movement studies (SMS) perspective. The first section discusses the way “classic” approaches—such as those focusing on resource mobilization theory (RMT) and political opportunity structures (POS)—have been applied to the study of political violence. In the subsequent section we present a relational approach, focusing on organizational dynamics and inter-organizational interactions, as well as suggesting mechanisms that shape processes of conflict escalation or de-escalation, in three different arenas of interactions: between armed groups and the state; intra-movement and movement–counter-movement; organizational dynamics of armed groups.
Afterword
Authors: Ingold Tim
Published: April 2019

Is light an energetic ray, a beam, the illumination of surfaces, an atmosphere? Is it the shining of the sun, the moon and the stars? Is it a flickering flame, a lamp or torch, the glowing embers of a fire? Is it whiteness, or a spectrum of colour? Is it a release from darkness, an enlivening of the spirit, divine presence, the power of reason? In this commentary I show that light can be all of these things but only because, as we pass from one to another, our understanding of the material world, and of ourselves as beings within it, is profoundly transformed.
Business Studies and Management Ideas
Authors: Engwall Lars , Wedlin Linda
Published: April 2019

This chapter discusses the role of business studies in the diffusion of management ideas. It deals first with the development of academic institutions for business studies and the content they disseminate. Second, it elaborates on the interplay between these institutions on the one hand, and consultants, media, and practice on the other. Third, it discusses the increase in public scrutiny of business education programmes, and the role such scrutiny plays in reinforcing the diffusion of management ideas. Fourth, it considers alternatives to academic business studies such as non-academic training and corporate universities and their role in translating or editing management ideas. Finally, the chapter provides conclusions and points out areas for future research.
The Re-Adoption of Management Ideas
Authors: Reinmoeller Patrick , Ansari Shahzad , Mehta Mohit
Published: April 2019

The adoption of management ideas requires substantial resources. Most research focuses on a single adoption of ideas, how they come into use and fall out of use. Although some new management ideas ‘come back’, and have a ‘second life’ or even a ‘third life’, how and why they are re-adopted needs further exploration. This chapter explores the re-adoption of self-organization and identifies four drivers of re-adoption, explaining how external and internal conditions, technological change, and employee experience can shape the (re)action to management ideas. It concludes by outlining opportunities for future research avenues.
Management Ideas as Standards
Authors: Rasche Andreas , Seidl David
Published: April 2019

This chapter discusses the relationship between management ideas and standards. It argues that all management ideas can be understood as standards in the sense of shared, voluntary and descriptive, rather than prescriptive, rules that one or several actors or organizations choose to apply. A few management ideas are presented in the form of codified standards, i.e. standards in a narrower sense. The authors explore why and how some management ideas are ‘translated’ into codified standards and how this process affects these management ideas. They also discuss the wider (intended and unintended) consequences of turning management ideas into codified standards.
Performance Implications of Management Ideas
Authors: Wickert Christopher , Sieweke Jost , Ruotsalainen Riku
Published: April 2019

Consultants and business gurus have stressed the positive implications of management ideas for performance. However, the evidence on whether management ideas lead to superior performance remains ambiguous. This chapter scrutinizes the link between management ideas and performance. It begins by reviewing research on technological resources-focused ideas, human resources-focused ideas, relational resources-focused ideas, and knowledge resources-focused ideas and shows that there is empirical support for a positive relationship between management ideas and organizational performance. However, this positive link only materializes and holds under certain conditions, which complicate the efforts of managers and organizations to reap the benefits of management ideas. The authors discuss two of these complications: the ‘performance dilemmas of management ideas’ and the ‘sustainability paradox of management ideas’. The chapter ends with a discussion of avenues for future research.
The Role of Family Firms in Corporate Sustainability
Authors: Sharma Pramodita , Sharma Sanjay
Published: April 2019

The societal concern for sustainable development has translated into corporate sustainability as a management idea, which has yet to be widely adopted. This chapter examines its adoption in family firms. With their transgenerational temporal orientation and long leadership tenures, combined with decision-making by a closely knit dominant coalition that can facilitate a shared vision and organizational control, family firms can be effective conduits for the diffusion and adoption of this management idea. While these characteristics increase the likelihood of adoption by family firms in general, the diffusion of corporate sustainability between family firms would differ depending on the firm’s engagement with the institutional environment and the timing within the family business lifecycle. An examination of the adoption of the idea of corporate sustainability in cases of three family firms offers lessons for diffusion in firms more broadly.
Changing the Critique
Authors: Prichard Craig , Alakavuklar Ozan
Published: April 2019

Who benefits from management ideas and practices? Whose authority do they promote? What kind of truths do they produce and to what effect? Such are the fundamental questions of a critical study of management ideas. In this chapter the authors offer a brief introduction to four of the main traditions (Marxism, post-modernism, feminism, and postcolonialism) that make up this complex field and then, drawing on Lacan’s four discourses framework, they question such critical knowledge itself. In particular they highlight how the conditions that have produced this form of management research have led to a number of unintended consequences, particularly a loss of relevance to praxis. In response, they suggest a new opening for the critique of management ideas by illustrating an activist-scholar project.
New Directions for Research on Management Ideas
Authors: Sturdy Andrew , Heusinkveld Stefan , Reay Trish , Strang David
Published: April 2019

This short chapter draws together selected insights and views from the various contributions to the handbook in order to consider avenues for further research into management ideas. In particular, the need to make diverse empirical, theoretical, disciplinary, methodological, and conceptual linkages is outlined. Also, emergent themes are identified which include the familiar and important concerns with identifying the impact of management ideas. In addition, debates on possible academic engagement with practitioners in the field along with calls to extend beyond conventional contexts and approaches are discussed. The conclusion reflects briefly on the possibility for extending the reach of studies related to management ideas.
The Lifecycle of Management Ideas
Authors: Abrahamson Eric , Piazza Alessandro
Published: April 2019

This chapter distinguishes five stages in the lifecycle of management ideas: innovation, diffusion, institutionalization, dormancy, and rebirth. Research at each stage can help research at other stages. It also examines the lifecycle stages of both abstract and specific management ideas. Studying these simultaneously can help address some of the most resilient and enduring questions about each. Finally, the authors conceptualize the conjunction of forces which must co-occur to cause stage transitions. They do so to avoid drawing conclusions about why transitions happen when the same conclusions might be drawn when they do not.
The Philosophy of Management Ideas
Authors: O’Mahoney Joe
Published: April 2019

The philosophies that underpin studies of management ideas are rarely interrogated, which, it is argued here, leads to several difficulties for research in this field. This chapter makes explicit four philosophies which commonly underpin work in this area and argues that, among other limitations, their ontological strictures make interdisciplinary communication difficult. The chapter introduces critical realism, arguing that its stratified, emergent, and realist ontology can (partially) integrate the strengths from these different philosophies, whilst ameliorating their respective weaknesses. Finally, the chapter sketches out a critical realist conception of management ideas.
Representative Test and Task Development and Simulated Task Environments
Authors: Harris Kevin R. , Foreman Lindsey N. , Eccles David W.
Published: April 2019

Understanding high-level performance requires effective methods of studying expertise and expert performers. Representative tasks that capture the key components of expertise can be identified, allowing expert performance to be studied under controlled conditions. Well-designed representative tasks can allow researchers to elucidate the underlying mechanisms for superior performance, stratify performers based on skill, and uncover the developmental steps taken by those performers to reach their current levels of performance. In the present chapter, the authors first provide a general overview of the concepts of representative tasks and simulated task environments. The authors then describe in more detail how representative tasks and simulated task environments can be used to achieve the twin goals of understanding expert performance and developing training on the basis of expert performers. The authors then present examples of recent research involving representative tasks. The chapter concludes with the authors presenting future directions for the use of representative tasks in research and practice.
A Historical Perspective on Introspection
Authors: Ward Paul , Wilson Kyle , Suss Joel , Woody William Douglas , Hoffman Robert R.
Published: April 2019

This chapter takes a historical perspective on examining the utility and validity of various introspective-type methods. First, specific contributions of some of the pioneers of introspective methods are considered, highlighting key motivations and arguments that have spurred methodological evolution over the past 100+ years. Next, current methods of thinking aloud are reviewed. Then the types of verbal reports of thinking used to study expertise are described. In the penultimate section, some guidance on using these methods is offered. In the concluding part, a summary of the key recommendations is provided, and some thoughts on the future of introspection methodology that, it is hoped, will improve the state-of-the-science and escape the legacies of behaviorism are offered.
Stranger things: multiverse, string cosmology, physical eschatology
Authors: Ćirković Milan M.
Published: April 2019

The period (roughly) 1990-today is characterized by a big watershed and branching of cosmology into multiple and hitherto unexpected directions. On one side, the generic chaotic/eternal inflation has provided physical grounds for rather wild speculative ideas about the multiverse: the possibly infinite set of cosmological domains (‘universes’). In order to determine how observed features of our universe are (im)probable in the multiverse context requires application of anthropic reasoning which is still controversial in many circles. On the other side, we encounter applications of other speculative physical theories, like the string/M-theory to cosmology, resulting in unusual hypotheses like those of the pre-Big Bang cosmologies. In this period we have also witnessed the birth of physical eschatology as the true ‘cosmology of the future’. This chapter will attempt a survey of these and related developments, with necessary qualifications which accompany any ongoing, evolving research activity.
Observations and the universe
Authors: Smith Robert W.
Published: April 2019

The first detailed and extensive studies of nebulae were made by William and Caroline Herschel in the late eighteenth century. These researches led to wide-ranging debates on the nature of these objects: are they truly clouds of nebulous material or are they perhaps distant star systems? By the end of the nineteenth century, astronomers generally agreed that nebulae are either within or closely linked to our own stellar system, and that no galaxies beyond our own Galaxy had been sighted, even in the largest telescopes. But early in the twentieth century, astronomers managed to fashion novel ways to determine the distances to a class of nebulae known as spiral nebulae. With the aid of these distance indicators, the spiral nebulae were transformed into galaxies of stars. Modern extragalactic cosmology thereby came into being in the first few decades of the twentieth century.
Relativistic models and the expanding universe
Authors: Realdi Matteo
Published: April 2019

The origin and evolution of the universe constitutes one of the most fascinating and challenging questions in the scientific investigation of nature. The general theory of relativity has made it possible to properly address this question. Einstein transformed cosmology when he formulated, in 1917, a relativistic model that could describe the universe in its entirety. The incorporation of the observational evidence of extragalactic recession into relativistic world models culminated in 1930 with the recognition of the expanding universe, which was a breakthrough in the scientific understanding of the universe as a whole. This chapter traces the history of the early phase of modern cosmology, from the formulation of the first cosmological models based on general relativity to the acceptance of the expanding universe and the early systematization of relativistic cosmology as a new scientific discipline.
Steady-State theory and the cosmological controversy
Authors: Kragh Helge
Published: April 2019

The presently accepted big-bang model of the universe emerged during the period 1930-1970, following a road that was anything but smooth. By 1950 the essential features of the big-bang theory were established by George Gamow and his collaborators, and yet the theory failed to win recognition. A major reason was that the big-bang picture of the evolving universe was challenged by the radically different picture of a steady-state universe favoured by Fred Hoyle and others. By the late 1950s there was no convincing reason to adopt one theory over the other. Out of the epic controversy between the two incompatible world models arose our modern view of the universe. Although the classical steady-state model was abandoned in the mid-1960s, attempts to modify it can be followed up to the present.
Observational and astrophysical cosmology: 1940–1980
Authors: Longair Malcolm S.
Published: April 2019

Following the pioneering studies of galaxies and the universe during the pre-Second World War years, the period 1940-1980 saw the consolidation of the observational and theoretical basis of geometrical and astrophysical cosmology. By the early 1950s, the cosmological time-scale problem had been resolved by Baade’s recalibration of the Cepheid distance scale, but new disputes arose about the best estimate of Hubble’s constant, the value of the deceleration parameter and the presence or otherwise of the cosmological constant in the cosmological field equations. The evolution of the contents of the universe was established by radio astronomical observations of active galaxies and, most spectacularly, by the discovery of the cosmic microwave background radiation. The latter enabled the problems of the origin of galaxies and large scale structures in the universe to be placed on a secure physical basis, but many issues remained unresolved, including the dark matter problem.
The cosmic microwave background: from discovery to precision cosmology
Authors: Partridge R. Bruce
Published: April 2019

Observations of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) form the basis for modern ‘precision cosmology’. This chapter treats the discovery of a ≈3 K microwave background and the demonstration of its cosmic origin. Key observational results, up to and including the results from the COBE mission, follow. The major impact of the CMB comes from measurements of the power spectra of fluctuations in the temperature and polarization. The chapter ends with results derived from the power spectra obtained by the Planck mission, including values for the baryon, dark matter, and dark energy densities; the curvature of space; and the expansion rate of the Universe.
Space science and technological progress: testing theories of relativistic gravity and cosmology during the Cold War
Authors: De Bianchi Silvia
Published: April 2019

This chapter deals with the development of modern cosmology as a consequence of relativity theory testing and the space race during the Cold War. The chapter describes the dynamics of competition and collaboration among the two blocs with emphasis on the sectors of Soviet radio astronomy and space science. Developments of both fields are analysed in relationship with the military context and the technological development taking place in the USA. The chapter also takes into account the relationship between the two blocs and other Countries, such as France and Australia in order to show how the transfer of knowledge and know-how played a role in the extraordinary impulse that cosmology received during the Cold War.
Well-Being
Authors: Langer Ellen J. , Ngnoumen Christelle T.
Published: April 2019

This chapter will consider the ways our mindless use of evaluation, be it positive or negative, leads to our unhappiness, whereas the mindful use of evaluation promotes well-being. The direct effects of mindfulness on happiness will be discussed, including the positive influence of a mindset that embraces uncertainty. Traditionally negative experiences such as regret, excuses, blame, and discrimination will be reconsidered under the non-evaluative lens of a mindful approach. Finally, mindful discrimination involving attention to variability will be proposed as a solution for chronic illnesses (e.g., depression, anxiety, chronic pain) rooted in assumptions of constant suffering and disengagement. The chapter will conclude with a discussion of why teaching mindfulness may reap more benefits than trying to teach people to be positive.
HCV treatment barriers among HIV/HCV co-infected patients in the US: a qualitative study to understand low uptake among marginalized populations in the DAA era
Authors: Nápoles Tessa M , Batchelder Abigail W , Lin Ada , Moran Lissa , Johnson Mallory O , Shumway Martha , Luetkemeyer Anne F , Peters Marion G , Eagen Kellene V , Riley Elise D
Published: April 2019

Background

Well-tolerated, highly effective HCV treatment, known as direct-acting antivirals (DAAs), is now recommended for all people living with HCV, providing the tools for HCV elimination. We sought to understand treatment barriers among low-income HIV/HCV coinfected patients and providers with the goal of increasing uptake.

Methods

In 2014, we conducted 26 interviews with HIV/HCV co-infected patients and providers from a San Francisco clinic serving underinsured and publically-insured persons to explore barriers impacting treatment engagement and completion. Interview transcripts were coded, and a thematic analysis was conducted to identify emerging patterns.

Results

Conditions of poverty—specifically, meeting basic needs for food, shelter, and safety—undermined patient perceptions of self-efficacy to successfully complete HCV treatment programs. While patient participants expressed interest in HCV treatment, the perceived burden of taking daily medications without strong social support was an added challenge. This need for support contradicted provider assumptions that, due to the shorter-course regimens, support is unnecessary in the DAA era.

Conclusions

Interferon-free treatments alone are not sufficient to overcome social-structural barriers to HCV treatment and care among low-income HIV/HCV co-infected patients. Support for patients with unmet social needs may facilitate treatment initiation and completion, particularly among those in challenging socioeconomic situations.
CONVERSION COEFFICIENTS FROM AIR KERMA TO DIRECTIONAL DOSE EQUIVALENT H′(0.07) FOR PHOTONS
Authors: Bairlein Katharina , Behrens Rolf , Hupe Oliver , Hranitzky Christian
Published: April 2019

New conversion coefficients from air kerma free-in-air, Ka, to directional dose equivalent at 0.07mm depth, H′(0.07), are provided for monoenergetic values and for the spectra of the radiation qualities defined in ISO 4037-1. The interpolation procedure of the monoenergetic conversion coefficients from ICRU Report 57 was improved compared to former publications. The values resulting from the new interpolation procedure describe the energy dependence of the conversion coefficients more accurately and differ by up to 5% between 50keV and 100keV from former values. Due to an additional change of the extrapolation to low energies, the values for angles of radiation incidence above 60° and energies below 40keV changed by up to 50%. The influence on the spectrum weighted conversion coefficients is similar to the changes of the monoenergetic values.
REASSESSMENT OF INHALATION DOSES TO WORKERS IN AUSTRALIAN SHOW CAVES
Authors: Solomon S B
Published: April 2019

Exposure to radon in show caves is an existing exposure situation. A survey of radon levels in underground show caves around Australia, carried out in 1994, found that most of the show caves located in South-Eastern Australia had yearly average radon levels exceeding the Australian radon reference level of 1000 Bq m−3. At the time of the original survey, the radiation doses from exposure to radon progeny of the tour guides in these caves were estimated using the epidemiologically based dose conversion factors and all dose were assessed to be less than 10 mSv per year. In February 2018, the International Commission for Radiological Protection (ICRP) published updated radon and radon progeny dose conversion factors (DCF) applicable to worker exposure to radon in show caves. These updated DCF values are based on dosimetric modelling and are sensitive to the radon progeny activity size distribution. The recommended DCF values are up to a factor four times higher than the previous ICRP recommendations. The ICRP has published data that allows for the estimation of site-specific radon progeny dose coefficients if required. A reassessment of the radiation doses to workers in Australian show caves has been made using these updated ICRP DCF values and the historical measurements of radon progeny activity size distributions in Australian show caves. Using the site-specific DCF values, it is estimated that 15% of the workers exceeded 10 mSv y−1 and 6% exceeded 20 mSv y−1. Although the total number of show cave workers in Australia is very small, the updated radon progeny dose estimates are a significant radiation protection issue for the affected individuals and their employers.
CHARACTERISTICS OF INDOOR RADON AND THORON CONCENTRATIONS IN CAVE DWELLINGS IN GANSU PROVINCE, CHINA
Authors: Sorimachi A , Tokonami S , Omori Y , Janik M , Iwaoka K , Ishikawa T , Sun Q
Published: April 2019

Short-term measurements were made in four different types of Chinese cave dwellings, ‘ground’, ‘open-cut’, ‘aboveground’ and ‘underground’, located in Gansu Province, China, in order to evaluate the diurnal and seasonal variations in indoor radon (222Rn) and thoron (220Rn) concentrations. As a result, in most of the ‘ground’ and ‘open-cut’ cave dwellings in summer, the indoor 222Rn concentrations during the nighttime were higher than those during the daytime. In the winter, such fluctuation was not observed. The daily indoor 222Rn concentrations in summer were higher than those in winter, excluding the ‘aboveground’ cave dwelling, and these concentrations depended on dwelling type, exhalation from the building materials and ventilation. In contrast with 222Rn, there seemed to be only very slight clear variations in 220Rn.
COMPARISON OF BACTERIAL FLORA IN RIVER SEDIMENTS FROM FUKUSHIMA AND AOMORI PREFECTURES BY 16S RDNA SEQUENCE ANALYSIS
Authors: Yamanouchi K , Tsujiguchi T , Shiroma Y , Suzuki T , Tamakuma Y , Yamaguchi M , Sakamoto Y , Hegedűs M , Iwaoka K , Hosoda M , Kashiwakura I , Miura T , Tokonami S
Published: April 2019

Monitoring of radioactive materials has been reported in rivers and soil in Fukushima post the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident in March 2011. However, there are few reports on the influence of this event on bacteria in forest soils and rivers. Therefore, through amplicon sequencing of 16S rDNA we compared the bacterial flora in river sediment soils from Fukushima prefecture and from an area not exposed to radioactive contamination, Aomori prefecture. The bacterial composition in the Aomori prefecture soil and Fukushima soil were found to be very similar at the phylum level. However, Fukushima soil had significantly fewer Bacteroidetes than the Aomori soil (p = 0.014), while the content of Firmicutes and Latescibacteria (WS3) was significantly higher (p = 0.001, 0.013 respectively). However, no increase in the content of radioactive-resistant bacteria was observed. In future studies, it is necessary to standardise the conditions for soil collection to assess its content of radioactive substances.
Sleep Apnea Multilevel Surgery (SAMS) trial protocol: a multicenter randomized clinical trial of upper airway surgery for patients with obstructive sleep apnea who have failed continuous positive airway pressure
Authors: Carney A Simon , Antic Nick A , Catcheside Peter G , Li Chai-Coetzer Ching , Cistulli Peter A , Kaambwa Billingsley , MacKay Stuart G , Pinczel Alison J , Weaver Edward M , Woodman Richard J , Woods Charmaine M , McEvoy R Doug
Published: April 2019

Study Objectives

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a serious and costly public health problem. The main medical treatment, continuous positive airway pressure, is efficacious when used, but poorly tolerated in up to 50% of patients. Upper airway reconstructive surgery is available when medical treatments fail but randomized trial evidence supporting its use is limited. This protocol details a randomized controlled trial designed to assess the clinical effectiveness, safety, and cost-effectiveness of a multilevel upper airway surgical procedure for OSA.

Methods

A prospective, parallel-group, open label, randomized, controlled, multicenter clinical trial in adults with moderate or severe OSA who have failed or refused medical therapies. Six clinical sites in Australia randomly allocated participants in a 1:1 ratio to receive either an upper airway surgical procedure consisting of a modified uvulopalatopharyngoplasty and minimally invasive tongue volume reduction, or to continue with ongoing medical management, and followed them for 6 months.

Results

Primary outcomes: difference between groups in baseline-adjusted 6 month OSA severity (apnea–hypopnea index) and subjective sleepiness (Epworth Sleepiness Scale). Secondary outcomes: other OSA symptoms (e.g. snoring and objective sleepiness), other polysomnography parameters (e.g. arousal index and 4% oxygen desaturation index), quality of life, 24 hr ambulatory blood pressure, adverse events, and adherence to ongoing medical therapies (medical group).

Conclusions

The Sleep Apnea Multilevel Surgery (SAMS) trial is of global public health importance for testing the effectiveness and safety of a multilevel surgical procedure for patients with OSA who have failed medical treatment.

Clinical Trial Registration

Multilevel airway surgery in patients with moderate-severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) who have failed medical management to assess change in OSA events and daytime sleepiness. https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=366019&isReview=true Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12614000338662, prospectively registered on 31 March 2014.
CiiiDER: a new tool for predicting and analysing transcription factor binding sites
Authors: Gearing Linden J. , Cumming Helen E. , Chapman Ross , Finkel Alexander M. , Woodhouse Isaac B. , Luu Kevin , Gould Jodee A. , Forster Samuel C. , Hertzog Paul J.
Published: April 2019

The availability of large amounts of high-throughput genomic, transcriptomic and epigenomic data has provided opportunity to understand regulation of the cellular transcriptome with an unprecedented level of detail. As a result, research has advanced from identifying gene expression patterns associated with particular conditions to elucidating signalling pathways that regulate expression. There are over 1,000 transcription factors (TFs) in vertebrates that play a role in this regulation. Determining which of these are likely to be controlling a set of genes can be assisted by computational prediction, utilising experimentally verified binding site motifs.

Here we present CiiiDER, an integrated computational toolkit for transcription factor binding analysis, written in the Java programming language, to make it independent of computer operating system. It is operated through an intuitive graphical user interface with interactive, high-quality visual outputs, making it accessible to all researchers. CiiiDER predicts transcription factor binding sites (TFBSs) across regulatory regions of interest, such as promoters and enhancers derived from any species. It can perform an enrichment analysis to identify TFs that are significantly over- or under-represented in comparison to a bespoke background set and thereby elucidate pathways regulating sets of genes of pathophysiological importance.

CiiiDER is available from www.ciiider.org.
DNA (de)methylation in embryonic stem cells controls CTCF-dependent chromatin boundaries
Authors: Wiehle Laura , Thorn Graeme J. , Raddatz Günter , Clarkson Christopher T. , Rippe Karsten , Lyko Frank , Breiling Achim , Teif Vladimir B.
Published: April 2019

Coordinated changes of DNA (de)methylation, nucleosome positioning, and chromatin binding of the architectural protein CTCF play an important role for establishing cell-type–specific chromatin states during differentiation. To elucidate molecular mechanisms that link these processes, we studied the perturbed DNA modification landscape in mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) carrying a double knockout (DKO) of the Tet1 and Tet2 dioxygenases. These enzymes are responsible for the conversion of 5-methylcytosine (5mC) into its hydroxymethylated (5hmC), formylated (5fC), or carboxylated (5caC) forms. We determined changes in nucleosome positioning, CTCF binding, DNA methylation, and gene expression in DKO ESCs and developed biophysical models to predict differential CTCF binding. Methylation-sensitive nucleosome repositioning accounted for a significant portion of CTCF binding loss in DKO ESCs, whereas unmethylated and nucleosome-depleted CpG islands were enriched for CTCF sites that remained occupied. A number of CTCF sites also displayed direct correlations with the CpG modification state: CTCF was preferentially lost from sites that were marked with 5hmC in wild-type (WT) cells but not from 5fC-enriched sites. In addition, we found that some CTCF sites can act as bifurcation points defining the differential methylation landscape. CTCF loss from such sites, for example, at promoters, boundaries of chromatin loops, and topologically associated domains (TADs), was correlated with DNA methylation/demethylation spreading and can be linked to down-regulation of neighboring genes. Our results reveal a hierarchical interplay between cytosine modifications, nucleosome positions, and DNA sequence that determines differential CTCF binding and regulates gene expression.