bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Global Anti-LGBT Politics
Authors: Adam Barry D.
Published: May 2019

Anti-LGBT politics around the world have undergone a major transformation over the last half century. While European powers once held themselves up as defenders of Christian morality and patriarchy, characterizing Asia, Africa, and the Americas as locations of sexual disorder, in the 21st century many of the countries of the Global South construct LGBT sexualities as pathological, threatening, or criminal, while many countries of the Global North incorporate sexual orientation in a discourse of human rights, democracy, and individual freedom. Many of the social forces of nationalism and populism of the early 21st century place the well-being of LGBT citizens in jeopardy, and conflicts between these divergent visions of the good society continue to have grave consequences for LGBT people around the world.
Canada’s LGBT Movement and Interest Groups
Authors: Rayside David
Published: May 2019

The Canadian LGBT movement has had enormous success in gaining political and legal recognition for sexual minorities—as much as any of its sister movements in other countries. This is especially remarkable because the sexual repressiveness of the Canadian social and political climate remained largely in place until the 1990s. And although activist groups across the country have had challenges in marshalling resources, mobilizing beyond the regional level, and overcoming internal inequities, advocacy pressure has been effective enough to produce a political sea change with few precedents in other issue areas. Starting in the 1990s, Canada experienced a country-wide “takeoff” in the formal recognition of sexual diversity, most dramatically in the legal status given to same-sex relationships. Even if a vocal minority of the general public opposed such moves, the acceptance of sexual minorities as legitimate members of the Canadian mosaic has become politically normalized.

Sexual diversity is far from being fully accepted, and those communities traditionally under-represented in the LGBT movement still face marginalization in a period of growing socioeconomic inequality. But the movement has made impressive gains, aided by social and institutional factors that have allowed activist leverage when the political winds blew in their favor. This success, however, presents new challenges, creating complacency within and beyond LGBT circles and increasing the difficulty of mobilizing people and resources.

The decline of religiously conservative opposition to the public recognition of sexual diversity in Canada has also created room for the movement to become more fragmented than it has been in the past. And yet there is still much need for advocacy. Socially conservative politicians are still pandering to public anxiety about recognizing sexual diversity. Activist attention is still needed in areas such as schooling, policing, social service provision, and immigration. Trans people, “two-spirited” Indigenous people, and sexual minorities within Canada’s large ethnocultural and religious minorities are often on the margins of their own communities, the broader society, and the LGBT movement itself.

From the early 1970s through the mid-2000s, the Canadian movement’s trajectory was similar to activism elsewhere. A “liberationist” period generated a long-lasting strand of radicalism alongside a slowly growing current focused on seeking rights through mainstream political channels (Adam, 1987, 1999). The analysis to follow first points to distinctive elements of the Canadian social and political context and then traces the evolution of what would become the LGBT movement from these early stages and into a period of legal and political “takeoff.” It points to strong commonalities in movement agendas, even across imposing regional lines, but also recognizes the challenges of mounting coherent movement responses to remaining inequities in a political environment so marked by activist success.
Priming in Political Judgment and Decision Making
Authors: Stern Chadly
Published: May 2019

How do people make political judgments and decisions? Each day, people are faced with a host of political issues. They also possess a limited amount of cognitive resources and must grapple with topics on which there is not necessarily an objectively correct answer. In turn, people rely on accessible information to facilitate their political judgments and decisions. Information is accessible when it is activated in a person’s mind. The information can either be chronically accessible, such as the political issues that are consistently important to a person, or made accessible through the situation, such as the issues that the media choose to cover in a given time and place. Situational information becomes especially accessible when the context activates available information stored in memory or the information is consistent with a person’s motivations and goals, such as media coverage rendering civil rights more accessible for racial minorities. Priming refers to the usage of accessible information when making judgments and decisions, such as deciding whether to sign a petition or how to vote in an election. In recent years, considerable debate has emerged about the generalizability of findings and current conceptual models of accessibility and priming across people and contexts. As research on accessibility and priming progresses, scholars continue to examine these topics in novel areas (e.g., social media) and push in building nuanced theoretical frameworks that help to explain variability in priming across contexts. Overall, understanding how people use accessible information in political judgments and decisions stands as an important factor in developing a comprehensive picture of political life.
Electrophysiology and Behavior of Cnidarian Nervous Systems
Authors: Meech Robert W.
Published: May 2019

Although the Cnidaria have evolved a wide range of body forms matched with an equally varied neural anatomy, individual species exhibit common patterns of behavior. For example, in all species a key challenge for the nervous system is to transfer food from the peripherally mounted tentacles to the centrally located stomach. Foraging movements, necessary to maintain the food supply, must be accomplished in such a way as to avoid interference with the primary objective of getting prey into the mouth. Furthermore, the hunt for prey must be balanced by a measured response to “threat.” Different species respond to threat in markedly different ways, but in each case foraging is inhibited, just as it is during transmission of food.

One hundred years ago, G. H. Parker questioned whether a centralized or a locally organized nervous system could best account for sea anemone behavior. Anatomical and electrophysiological studies now suggest that in most Cnidaria there is a degree of hierarchical control, with local reflexes coordinated by more condensed systems of neurons. This organization is highly developed in the nerve rings of hydrozoan medusae and takes the form of ganglion-like rhopalia in the Cubozoa. Even in hydrozoan polyps such as Hydra there are at least four separate neuronal systems. It is likely that the underlying mechanisms (containing both homologous and analogous elements) will be best revealed by a comparative approach that directly relates behavior with its molecular basis. Useful examples include comparisons between sea anemones with and without through-conducting systems; between hydra with and without oral rings; between medusae with and without coordinated escape swimming. Recent advances in transgenomic labeling have shown the way forward.
Autonomic Regulation of the Eye
Authors: May Paul J. , Reiner Anton , Gamlin Paul D.
Published: May 2019

The functions of the eye are regulated by and dependent upon the autonomic nervous system. The parasympathetic nervous system controls constriction of the iris and accommodation of the lens via a pathway with preganglionic motor neurons in the Edinger-Westphal nucleus and postganglionic motor neurons in the ciliary ganglion. The parasympathetic nervous system regulates choroidal blood flow and the production of aqueous humor through a pathway with preganglionic motor neurons in the superior salivatory nucleus and postganglionic motor neurons in the pterygopalatine (sphenopalatine) ganglion. The sympathetic nervous system controls dilation of the iris and may modulate the outflow of aqueous humor from the eye. The sympathetic preganglionic motor neurons lie in the intermediolateral cell column at the first level of the thoracic cord, and the postganglionic motor neurons are found in the superior cervical ganglion.

The central pathways controlling different autonomic functions in the eye are found in a variety of locations within the central nervous system. The reflex response of the iris to changes in luminance levels begins with melanopsin-containing retinal ganglion cells in the retina that project to the olivary pretectal nucleus. This nucleus then projects upon the Edinger-Westphal preganglionic motoneurons. The dark response that produces maximal pupillary dilation involves the sympathetic pathways to the iris. Pupil size is also regulated by many other factors, but the pathways to the parasympathetic and sympathetic preganglionic motoneurons that underlie this are not well understood. Lens accommodation is controlled by premotor neurons located in the supraoculomotor area. These also regulate the pupil, and control vergence angle by modulating the activity of medial rectus, and presumably lateral rectus, motoneurons. Pathways from the frontal eye fields and cerebellum help regulate their activity. Blood flow in the choroid is regulated with respect to systemic blood pressure through pathways through the nucleus of the tractus solitarius. It is also regulated with respect to luminance levels, which likely involves the suprachiasmatic nucleus, which receives inputs from melanopsin-containing retinal ganglion cells, and other areas of the hypothalamus that project upon the parasympathetic preganglionic neurons of the superior salivatory nucleus that mediate choroidal vasodilation.
Teacher Education and Refugee Students
Authors: Roxas Kevin , Fruja Ramona
Published: May 2019

Refugee children and youth encounter challenges in the process of resettlement and as they transition to schools. Their needs and specific situations have to be considered both structurally and at individual levels, and their narratives of transition should not be oversimplified, with resettlement as the end point of challenges. Backgrounding these considerations, teachers can be prepared to understand the vast scope of refugee students’ adaptive experience and its impact on educational practice. Teacher education that is attuned to these needs can be informed by several anchoring principles: recognizing the complex educational and sociocultural challenges refugee students face in schools; actively engaging with both conceptualizing and enacting effective practices within and against public school structures; and participating in ongoing reflection and reconceptualization of the tensions that arise in academic and identity work with refugee youth.
Critical Perspectives in Youth Gang Formation in the United States
Authors: Lam Kevin D.
Published: May 2019

Youth gangs of color in the United States have emerged in the context of larger structural forces. For example, Mexican American, Black, and Vietnamese/Asian American youth gang formation in Southern California is tied to their respective racialized communities’ initial movements into the Los Angeles area (from Mexico and Vietnam, and for Blacks, from the U.S. South). Structural forces such as political/social unrest and economic instability, both domestically and in their sending countries; the role of the U.S. military and economic apparatus; and (im)migration patterns and trends impact the particularities of youth gang subculture—including protection and self-preservation; ethnic pride and desire for family; having to navigate, resist, and rearticulate youth identities (in and outside the context of schooling); and the desire to garner money, power, and respect in a capitalist context. U.S. racism and state violence have also had an impact on youth gang formation. Anti-youth legislation in the late 1980s and early 1990s, in particular, have helped shape the discourse on youth of color, criminality, “gangs,” space, and citizenship over the past three decades. Although such youth are typically on the margins or left out of educational institutions, a critical pedagogy provides a space for engagement and hope.
Critical Social Studies in the United States
Authors: Ender Tommy
Published: May 2019

Social studies, theoretically, examines the social dynamics of different groups of people within a particular society. The subject, as defined in the US education system, incorporates different disciplines, such as history, sociology, geography, and political science. The objective of social studies is the development of students as active participants in civic society. Since 2001, however, decreased learning time for social studies in elementary school grade levels and narrow interpretations of historical events in secondary school classes due to standardization efforts have threatened the viability of social studies in US schools. A critical social studies interpretation can redirect the current path of the subject. The concept of critical social studies scrutinizes three facets of the subject: curriculum, citizenship, and teaching. Critical teachers, curriculum writers, and students utilize self-reflection, critical theories, and active engagement in critiquing dominant concepts of citizenship. The open exchange of ideas with different individuals challenge standard explanations of citizenship in the United States. Critical educators use community development, student-centered dialogue, and transdisciplinary methods in expanding the learning of social studies. Critical social studies seeks to bring social studies back to its intellectual origins while pushing it into new peripheries.
Professional Political and Contextual Considerations of Policy Borrowing
Authors: Nir Adam E.
Published: May 2019

We live in a globalized world characterized by rapid changes. These circumstances force public educational systems to innovate and introduce new policies that may potentially enhance the quality of their educational processes and outcomes and increase the relevance of educational services that schools provide to their communities.

The complexity of educational policy setting and the constant flow of ideas and information coming from all around the world increase the attractiveness of policy plans that have been proved successful elsewhere. The tendency to learn from the positive experiences of others and use successful educational policies created in one national context in another is termed educational policy borrowing. The cross-national transfer of educational best practices which has become prevalent allows local policymakers a better understanding of their own systems of education. It may also raise the quality of educational policies and encourage the application of specific practices and ideas in local educational contexts.
Khorezm and the Khanate of Khiva
Authors: Wood William
Published: May 2019

The Khanate of Khiva, one of the Uzbek khanates of Central Asia, refers to a political entity in the region of Khorezm from the early 16th century until 1920. The term itself, which was not used by locals who instead used the name vilayet Khwārazm (“country of Khwārazm”), dates from 18th-century Russian usage. Khorezm is an ancient center of sedentary civilization with a distinct culture and history that came under Uzbek rule as the latter migrated southward from their pasturelands on the steppe beginning in the early 16th century. In contrast to the related dynasties in Transoxiana, the Khanate of Khiva retained a greater degree of pastoralism, though the state was still fundamentally built on sedentary agriculture. Though no doubt affected by historical variations in the volume and routes of the overland caravan trade, Khiva remained a key center for transregional trade throughout its history, especially with the growing Russia Empire to the north. Political structures in Khiva remained weak and decentralized until the 19th century, when the Qongrat dynasty succeeded in transforming the khanate into the most centralized state in the region. Among the legacies of the khanate is its promotion of a distinctive Turkic literary culture, which interacted fruitfully with the dominant Persian culture of neighboring regions. As with other states in Central Asia, by the second half of the 19th century Khiva became a target of the expanding Russian Empire, which conquered Khorezm in 1873. While the tsarist state initially preserved a portion of the khanate under Qongrat rule as a protectorate, after the Bolshevik Revolution this state was soon dissolved and absorbed into the Soviet Union.
History of Mozambique
Authors: Rodrigues Eugénia
Published: May 2019

The peoples of early-21st-century Mozambique underwent different historical experiences which, to a certain extent, were homogenized when Portuguese colonialism encompassed the entire territory from the late 19th century onward. However, all of them had common origins, rooted in successive Bantu migrations. These peoples were organized into small chiefdoms based on lineages, but those located in the central region of Mozambique were integrated into states with some level of centralization, created by the Karanga south of the Zambezi and by the Maravi to the north. The interior regions were articulated into mercantile networks with the Indian Ocean through Swahili coastal entrepôts, exporting gold and ivory. From 1505 onward, the Portuguese sought to control this commerce from some settlements along the coast, particularly Mozambique Island, their capital. During the last decades of the 16th century, projects emerged for territorial appropriation in the Zambezi Valley, where a Luso-Afro-Indian Creole society developed. From the mid-18th century onward the slave trade to the Indian and Atlantic Oceans became increasingly important, with different impacts in the respective regions. Modern Portuguese colonialism was established by means of military campaigns: having limited capital, Portugal granted concessions for part of the territory to companies. When these concessions ended in 1942, the colonial state developed a direct administration throughout the territory, headquartered in Lourenço Marques (Maputo). Nationalist ideals developed during the 1950s among various movements, of which three organizations united to form the Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO) in 1962. From 1964 onward, FRELIMO unleashed an anticolonial war in northern and central Mozambique. After the 1974 revolution in Portugal, negotiations resulted in the recognition of Mozambique’s independence on June 25, 1975, and a FRELIMO government. Armed opposition to the Marxist-Leninist government and the civil war continued until 1992. During the 1990s, Mozambique adopted a multiparty system and liberalized its economy.
International Capital Flow Reversals (Sudden Stops)
Authors: Cavallo Eduardo A.
Published: May 2019

Sudden stops in capital flows are a form of financial whiplash that creates instability and crises in the affected economies. Sudden stops in net capital flows trigger current account reversals as countries that were borrowing on net from the rest of the world before the stop can no longer finance current account deficits. Sudden stops in gross capital flows are associated with financial instability, especially when the gross flows are dominated by volatile cross-border banking flows. Sudden stops in gross and net capital flows are episodes with an external trigger. This implies that the spark that ignites sudden stops originates outside the affected country: more specifically, in the supply of foreign financing that can halt for reasons that may be unrelated to the affected country’s domestic conditions. Yet a spark cannot generate a fire unless combustible materials are around. The literature has established that a set of domestic macroeconomic fundamentals are the combustible materials that make some countries more vulnerable than others. Higher fiscal deficits, larger current account deficits, and higher levels of foreign currency debts in the domestic financial system are manifestations of weak fundamentals that increase vulnerability. Those same factors increase the costs in terms of output losses when the crisis materializes. On the flip side, international reserves provide buffers that can help countries offset the risks. Holding foreign currency reserves hedges the fiscal position of the government providing it with more resources to respond to the crisis. While it may be impossible for countries to completely insulate themselves from the volatility of capital inflows, the choice of antidotes to prevent that volatility from forcing potentially costly external adjustments is in their own hands. The global financial architecture can be improved to support those efforts if countries could agree on and fund a more powerful international lender of last resort that resembles, at the global scale, the role of the Federal Reserve Bank in promoting financial stability in the United States.
Great Power Leadership
Authors: O'Dell Wesley B.
Published: May 2019

The notion that Great Powers fulfill a leadership role in international politics is old, influential, and contested. As the actors in the international system with the greatest capacity for taking action, Great Powers are assumed to think both further ahead and in broader, more systemic terms than other states; they then use their preeminent positions to organize others to promote public goods, reaping benefits along the way thanks to their direction of events. At the core of this understanding is the assumption that Great Power actions are, or ought to be, inspired by something more than simple self-interest and the pursuit of short-term gains. As an organic creation of international practice, Great Power leadership was traditionally the domain of historians and international legists; early students of the topic utilized inductive reasoning to derive general precepts of Great Power sociology from the landmark settlements of the 18th and 19th centuries. The framing of Great Powers as a leadership caste originated in the struggle against Louis XIV, was given tentative institutional form through settlements such as the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), and deepened considerably in both institutionalization and sophistication in the 19th century Concert of Europe. The return of France to full Great Power status, the Congress (1878) and Conference (1884) of Berlin, and the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion (1899–1901) all demonstrated the willingness and ability of the Powers to cooperate in the management of international change. In the early 20th century, the leadership of the Great Powers was both challenged as an unjust agent of catastrophe as well as increasingly formalized through recognition in new international institutions such as the League of Nations and the United Nations. Theorists of international relations began to formulate theories based on Great Power management at the time of the discipline’s beginnings in the early 20th century. Realists and liberals frequently utilize Great Power concepts to explain processes of equilibrium, hegemonic competition, and institution building, while approaches influenced by constructivism focus on the role of ideas, statuses, and roles in the formulation of Great Power identities and policies. The doctrine of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) is a 21st-century manifestation of the application of Great Power leadership to international problems; though hailed by some as the future of Great Power management, it provokes controversy among both theorists and practitioners. Similarly, extensive scholarly attention has been devoted to the management and accommodation of “rising powers.” These are states that appear likely to obtain the status of Great Power, and there is extensive debate over their orientation toward and potential management of international order. Finally, the position of Russia and China within this literature has provoked deep reflection on the nature of Great Power, the responsibilities of rising and established powers, and the place of Great Power management amidst the globalized challenges of the 21st century.
Gender and Spirituality in Late Modern Western Society
Authors: Pechilis Karen
Published: May 2019

Gender and spirituality are both terms that signify alterity, especially a critique of established social conventions, including conventions of disciplining personhood on the basis of gender classifications and according to doctrinal and ritual patterns of organized religion. To be aware of gender as a hierarchical system is a modern phenomenon; “spirituality” has a much longer history of use and was generated from within organized religion, though its evolution increasingly marked it as a perspective distinct from, and necessitating the evaluative intervention of, official religious channels. Developing through a confluence of interest in Western esotericism, Transcendentalism, Theosophy, the German Romantics, and Asian traditions in the early 20th century, spirituality as a cultural concept and practice was poised to respond to widespread late modern questioning of received social modes, especially in terms of defining oneself. Contesting theoretical predictions of society’s secularization but supporting those of the “subjective turn,” late modern spirituality groups, especially those inspired by feminism, civil rights, and gay rights, valorized marginalized bodies and their distinctive experiences, creating new paths of spiritual expression in which personal experience in the context of group affirmation was foregrounded. Postmodern ideas on the fluidity of gender further contributed to the voices of LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) people who critiqued residual gender binaries operative in some New Age spiritualities and provided new arguments for social inclusivity in spirituality groups and in the wider society.

What characterizes spirituality into the 21st century is the “turn to holism,” in which a wide variety of methods are promoted as leading to a holistic sense of the well-being of body and spirit. Diverse practices include Kirlian aura photography, Johrei Fellowship healing, tarot cards, shiatsu massage, acupressure, aromatherapy, kinesiology, and yoga, leading some scholars to critique the spirituality climate as a neoliberal capitalist “spiritual marketplace.” Others view it as a generative opportunity for seeking and bricolage construction of the self that has transformative potential for both self and society.
Ecology in Islam
Authors: Hancock Rosemary
Published: May 2019

Starting in the late 1960s, a small number of Muslim scholars turned their attention to how the Islamic scriptures and intellectual tradition might help Muslims understand and respond to climate change and environmental crisis. In building this Islamic approach to ecology, these scholars undertook close analysis of the Qur’an, the Sunnah (the collected traditions of the Prophet Muhammad), centuries of Islamic law, and the writings of Sufi mystics and scholars in order to construct Islamic environmental theologies and law. This Islamic ecology remained on the margins of mainstream Islamic discourse for decades, but the participation of Muslims in environmental movements is growing and with it, the need for an Islamic ecology. In developing environmental theologies, Muslim scholars focus upon the relationship of God to the natural world, positing that as God’s creation, the natural world is a sign through which humanity can experience God. Although the natural world is “made useful” to humanity, humans do not have absolute dominion over creation. Rather, humanity is Khalifah—God’s representative or steward on earth. The development of Islamic environmental law from within the shari’ah tradition is arguably just as—if not more—important as articulating an Islamic environmental theology. Some Muslim environmentalists argue for the revival of Islamic land management institutions and look to the many regulations regarding agriculture and water management found in shari’ah as avenues for implementing Islamic environmental law.
The Vajrakīla Tantras
Authors: Boord Martin
Published: May 2019

Belonging to an esoteric corpus of Buddhist texts known as the teachings of secret mantra (Skt. guhyamantra), the tantras of Vajrakīla have been carefully guarded through the centuries and handed down from teacher to disciple under a strictly ethical code of conduct. Although the texts themselves often seem to advocate a violent and unrestrained lifestyle, under the skillful guidance of a suitably qualified guru, who must be seen by the disciple as none other than the Buddha himself, one who seriously engages in the systematic practice of their profound series of meditations becomes quickly and thoroughly purified in body, speech, and mind.

The wrathful deity Vajrakīla is described in all the tantras that bear his name as the manifestation of heroic power for the overthrow of Māra. During times of peace he manifests as Vajrasattva, and his mind abides in tranquility. During times of activity he manifests as “Vajra of Total Destruction” (Skt. *Ativināśanavajra) and, when manifesting as a bodhisattva, he is Vajrapāṇi, “the One with a Vajra in his Hand.”

With regard to his name “Vajrakīla”: vajra as a prefix is found everywhere within the Buddhist tantras. Originally meaning “the hard or mighty one” and referring in particular to the thunderbolt as a weapon of Indra, it subsequently became so intimately associated with the development of tantric ideas in Buddhism that the entire system of practice came to be known as the Vajrayāna or Vajra Vehicle. Indeed, as a symbol within the Buddhist tantras it is as pregnant with meaning as the very texts themselves. Characterized as abhedya, “unbreakable,” and acchedya, “indivisible,” the term may be said to represent nothing less than the full enlightenment of the samyaksaṃbuddha, who himself came to be referred to as Vajradhara, “Holder of the Vajra.” The Sanskrit word kīla means “nail,” “peg,” or “spike,” and thus Vajrakīla may be taken to mean “the unassailable spike” or, on a higher level, “(He who is) the nail of supreme enlightenment.”

Introduced to Tibet during the 8th century ce, the Buddhist tantras of Vajrakīla were received with great enthusiasm and quickly became established as a vital element in the religious life of the Tibetan empire. Said to encompass every aspect of the ground, path, and goal, the Vajrakīla tantras present a coherent and complete system of spiritual practice that culminates in the attainment of perfect liberation from the round of rebirth.

The roots of Kīla mythology, however, may lie buried deep within the pre-Buddhist religion of ancient India where, in the Ṛgveda, the story is told of the god Indra who slew the demon Vṛtra. It is said that, at that time, Indra stabilized the earth and propped up the heavens with a kīla and thus, at the outset, we have clearly discernible indications of a path along which a simple wooden stake might travel so as eventually to become deified as a terrifying god of awesome power, one by whom all demons are vanquished and enlightenment realized for the benefit of the world.
Health Care Policy in Argentina
Authors: Messina Giuseppe M.
Published: May 2019

In Argentina, the provision of health care is divided into three components: a highly decentralized universal public sector, funded from general taxation; a constellation of compulsory collective insurance schemes, financed by contributions withdrawn from the salaries of workers in the formal labor market; and a system of private insurance companies used primarily by the middle and upper classes. Regarding the delivery of medical services, the configuration is mixed, as the weight of public and private providers is roughly equal. This complex structure, which derives from the historical development of particular institutions, produces high costs and unequal access to care according to a person’s geographical residence, occupational status, and purchasing power.
Environmental Regulations in China
Authors: Yin Haitao , Zhang Xuemei , Wang Feng
Published: May 2019

China’s environmental challenges are unprecedented in terms of their size and severity. The country’s constantly evolving regulatory systems are a blend of lessons learned from Western market- and information-based regulations, China’s own unique political and administrative context as an authoritarian country, the complex relationship between its central and local governments, and the balance between the needs for environmental protection and economic growth. A close look at China’s environmental regulatory system may offer useful insights to those working toward a more sustainable future.

In the 21st century, the environmental regulatory system in China is entering a new era. Over the last three decades, efforts have focused on developing regulatory standards for air, water, and solid waste, among many other pollutants. This regulatory system primarily follows a command-and-control approach and is often criticized for its failure to curb China’s increasingly severe environmental degradation.

In the future, the Chinese government may pursue two routes. The first is to increase the use of market mechanisms and information tools to enable and incentivize more stakeholders, such as consumers, nongovernmental organizations, and communities, to engage in the development and enforcement of environmental regulations, for instance, through cap-and-trade systems, information-disclosure programs, and environmental insurance. However, existing evidence shows that the usefulness of these new instruments is limited.

Another route is to develop new mechanisms to strengthen the enforcement of traditional command-and-control regulations. Examples include making environmental performance a key performance indicator (KPI) in the performance appraisals of government officials or leveraging the power of financial sectors. These approaches are a footnote to the new argument in favor of environmental authoritarianism, which suggests that authoritarian regimes, setting authoritarian rules, may be more capable of handling complex environmental pressures. More studies need to be conducted on the effectiveness of these new approaches and the mechanisms by which they may achieve success.
Racial Disparities in the Juvenile Justice System
Authors: McCoy Henrika , Pearson Emalee
Published: May 2019

Racial disparities in the juvenile justice system, more commonly known as disproportionate minority contact (DMC), are the overrepresentation, disparity, and disproportionate numbers of youth of color entering and moving deeper into the juvenile justice system. There has been some legislative attention to the issue since the implementation of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (JJDPA) and most recently with attempts in 2017 to reauthorize the Act. Originally focused solely on confinement, it became clear by 1988 there was disproportionality at all decision points in the juvenile justice system, and the focus changed to contact. DMC most commonly is known to impact Black and Hispanic youth, but a closer look reveals how other youth of color are also impacted. Numerous factors have been previously identified that create DMC, but increasingly factors such as zero-tolerance in schools and proactive policing in communities are continuing to negatively impact reduction efforts. Emerging issues indicate the need to consider society’s demographic changes, the criminalization of spaces often occupied by youth of color, and gender differences when creating and implementing strategies to reduce DMC.
Dyslexia: A Very Short Introduction
Authors: Snowling Margaret J.
Published: May 2019

Dyslexia: A Very Short Introduction provides an accessible overview of the innovative research surrounding dyslexia, beginning with its history, and drawing on the experiences of children and adults with dyslexia today. Considering the skills involved in learning to read, and looking at the role of genetic and environmental factors including the language of learning, this VSI discusses the causes of dyslexia and its associated risk factors. Discussing the various brain-scanning techniques that have been used to find out if the brains of people with dyslexia differ in structure or function from those of typical readers, it moves on to weigh up various strategies and interventions that can help people living with dyslexia today.
Suicide Risk Among US Peacekeepers Serving in the Bosnia and Kosovo Theater, 1996–2002
Authors: Bullman Tim , Schneiderman Aaron
Published: May 2019

The risk of suicide among US military personnel deployed for peacekeeping missions is unknown. We compared the risk of suicide through December 2014 among 70,608 veterans who deployed as peacekeepers to Bosnia and Kosovo between 1996 and 2002 with that of 141,715 veterans who served in the military between 1996 and 2002 but were not deployed to Bosnia and Kosovo. Both cohorts also were compared after removing those who had other conflict deployments. Suicide risk among Bosnia- and Kosovo-deployed veterans (BKDVs) relative to non-BKDVs was assessed using a hazard ratio. Among all veterans, without excluding those with other conflict deployments, deployment to Bosnia and Kosovo was not associated with an increased risk of suicide (hazard ratio = 0.83, 95%, confidence interval: 0.72, 0.96). Removing those with other conflict deployments, BKDVs again had a decreased risk of suicide compared to non-BKDVs (hazard ratio = 0.84, 95% confidence interval: 0.72, 0.99). The rates of suicide among all 4 groups were higher than expected based on the US population. The risk of suicide based on US population comparison was greater among non-BKDVs than BKDVs. The absence of an increased risk of suicide associated with Bosnia and Kosovo deployment may be due to predeployment psychological and behavioral characteristics that affect fitness for deployment.
Estimating latent group structure in time-varying coefficient panel data models
Authors: Chen Jia
Published: May 2019

This paper studies the estimation of latent group structures in heterogeneous time-varying coefficient panel data models. While allowing the coefficient functions to vary over cross-sections provides a good way to model cross-sectional heterogeneity, it reduces the degree of freedom and leads to poor estimation accuracy when the time-series length is short. On the other hand, in a lot of empirical studies, it is not uncommon to find that heterogeneous coefficients exhibit group structures where coefficients belonging to the same group are similar or identical. This paper aims to provide an easy and straightforward approach for estimating the underlying latent groups. This approach is based on the hierarchical agglomerative clustering (HAC) of kernel estimates of the heterogeneous time-varying coefficients when the number of groups is known. We establish the consistency of this clustering method and also propose a generalised information criterion for estimating the number of groups when it is unknown. Simulation studies are carried out to examine the finite-sample properties of the proposed clustering method as well as the post-clustering estimation of the group-specific time-varying coefficients. The simulation results show that our methods give comparable performance to the penalised-sieve-estimation-based classifier-LASSO approach by Su et al. (2018), but are computationally easier. An application to a panel study of economic growth is also provided.
Family screening for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: Is it time to change practice guidelines?
Authors: Lafreniere-Roula Myriam , Bolkier Yoav , Zahavich Laura , Mathew Jacob , George Kristen , Wilson Judith , Stephenson Elizabeth A , Benson Leland N , Manlhiot Cedric , Mital Seema
Published: May 2019

Aims

Current guidelines recommend initiating family screening for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) after age 10 or 12 years unless early screening criteria are met. The aim was to evaluate if current screening guidelines miss early onset disease.

Methods and results

Children who underwent family screening for HCM before age 18 years were analysed. Major cardiac events (MaCEs) were defined as death, sudden cardiac death (SCD), or need for major cardiac interventions (myectomy, implantable cardioverter-defibrillator insertion, transplantation). Of 524 children screened, 331 were under 10 years of age, 9.9% had echocardiographic evidence of HCM, and 1.1% were symptomatic at first screening. The median (interquartile range) age at HCM onset was 8.9 (4.7–13.4) years, and at MaCE was 10.9 (8.5–14.3) years with a median time to MaCE from HCM onset of 1.5 (0.5–4.1) years. About 52.5% phenotype-positive children and 41% with MaCEs were <10 years old. Only 69% children with early HCM met early screening criteria. Cox regression identified male gender, family history of SCD, and pathogenic variants in MYH7/MYBPC3 as a predictor of early onset HCM and MaCEs.

Conclusion

A third of children not eligible for early screening by current guidelines had phenotype-positive HCM. MYH7 and MYBC3 mutation-positive patients were at highest risk for developing early HCM and experiencing an event or requiring a major intervention. Our findings suggest that younger family members should be considered for early clinical and genetic screening to identify the subset in need of closer monitoring and interventions.
Viral degradation of marine bacterial exopolysaccharides
Authors: Lelchat F , Mocaer P Y , Ojima T , Michel G , Sarthou G , Bucciarelli E , Cérantola S , Colliec-Jouault S , Boisset C , Baudoux A-C
Published: May 2019

The identification of the mechanisms by which marine dissolved organic matter (DOM) is produced and regenerated is critical to develop robust prediction of ocean carbon cycling. Polysaccharides represent one of the main constituents of marine DOM and their degradation is mainly attributed to polysaccharidases derived from bacteria. Here, we report that marine viruses can depolymerize the exopolysaccharides (EPS) excreted by their hosts using five bacteriophages that infect the notable EPS producer, Cobetia marina DSMZ 4741. Degradation monitorings as assessed by gel electrophoresis and size exclusion chromatography showed that four out of five phages carry structural enzymes that depolymerize purified solution of Cobetia marina EPS. The depolymerization patterns suggest that these putative polysaccharidases are constitutive, endo-acting and functionally diverse. Viral adsorption kinetics indicate that the presence of these enzymes provides a significant advantage for phages to adsorb onto their hosts upon intense EPS production conditions. The experimental demonstration that marine phages can display polysaccharidases active on bacterial EPS lead us to question whether viruses could also contribute to the degradation of marine DOM and modify its bioavailability. Considering the prominence of phages in the ocean, such studies may unveil an important microbial process that affects the marine carbon cycle.
OxiR specifically responds to isoniazid and regulates isoniazid susceptibility in mycobacteria
Authors: Yang Min , Zhang Li , Tao Hui-Ling , Sun Yuan-Chao , Lou Zhong-Zi , Jia Wan-Zhong , Hu Li-Hua , Gao Chun-Hui
Published: May 2019

The bacteria drug resistance is not only associated with the gain of drug resistance gene but also relied on the adaptation of bacterial cells to antibiotics by transcriptional regulation. However, only a few transcription factors that regulate drug resistance have been characterized in mycobacteria. In this study, a TetR family transcriptional factor (OxiR), encoded by Rv0067c in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, was found to be an isoniazid (INH) resistance regulator. Comparing with the wild-type strain, the oxiR overexpressing strain is four times resistant to INH, whereas the oxiR knockout strain is eight times sensitive to INH. However, the rifamycin and ethambutol resistance were not influenced by oxiR. OxiR can bind to self-promoter at a 66 bp imperfect palindromic motifs. Interestingly, OxiR directly binds to INH, and thereby alleviate the self-repression. Furthermore, OxiR negatively regulated an oxidoreductase encoded by Rv0068. And the susceptibility of the Rv0068-overexpressing and oxiR knockout strains to all the three above-mentioned anti-tuberculosis drugs was equivalent, suggesting that the effect of oxiR to INH susceptibility is attributed to the derepression of Rv0068. In conclusion, we showed that OxiR can specifically modulate INH susceptibility by regulating an oxidoreductase encoding gene, both of which have not been associated with drug-resistance previously.
Tectorigenin reduces type IV pilus-dependent cell adherence in Clostridium perfringens
Authors: Liu Shui , Wang Jianfeng , Zhang Jian , Wang Tingting , Zhou Yonglin , Lv Qianghua , Hu Naiyu , Shen Xue , Deng Xuming
Published: May 2019

Clostridium perfringens is an anaerobic, Gram-positive bacterium that causes a range of diseases in humans and animals around the globe. The type IV pilus (TFP) system plays a key role in the colonization and invasion of host cells, biofilm formation and gliding motility, which is vital for C. perfringens infection. Therefore, targeting TFP function may be a promising strategy for the treatment of C. perfringens infection. Here, we investigated the potential inhibitory effects of tectorigenin (TE), an isoflavone extracted from the rhizome of the Chinese herb Belamcanda chinensis (L.) DC, on gliding motility, biofilm formation, adherence to cells and antibacterial activity of C. perfringens. Tectorigenin significantly inhibited gliding motility, biofilm formation and adherence to Caco-2 cells without observable antibacterial activity against C. perfringens. In addition, we also demonstrated that the inhibitory effect of TE on TFP function appears to be partially achieved by the suppression of TFP-associated genes. These findings demonstrate that TE may have the potential to be developed as a new anti-virulence drug for C. perfringens infection, particularly for the targeting of TFP.