The Effect of Compulsory Voting Laws on Government Spending

The United States\u27 voter turnout is often cited as being disappointingly low. Compulsory voting laws are offered as a possible solution to increase voter turnout and overall political participation. Opponents of the law complain that voters affected will be more politically liberal and in turn seek to enlarge the size and scope of the government. In order to determine whether this is true, a test was run on the effect compulsory voting laws have on the government revenue of 109 nations. The data held that no significant relationship exists between the two variables observed. This paper will discuss compulsory laws and the controversy surrounding them and also offer possible explanations for why the predicted correlation was not found

A Comparative Study of the Badger Pass Igneous Intrusion and the Foreland Volcanic Rocks of the McDowell Springs Area, Beaverhead County, Montana: Implications for the Local Late Cretaceous Sequence of Events

Intermediate igneous rocks exposed in the Badger Pass area and 3.5 km away in the McDowell Springs area of Beaverhead County, Montana, previously mapped as Cretaceous intrusive (Ki), and Cretaceous undifferentiated volcanics (Kvu) respectively, exhibit little geochemical variation. Trace element, and lead isotope analyses provide strong evidence allowing for a single source. REE patterns, obtained through ID-ICP-MS, are essentially identical. Mineral/melt Eu analyses reveal that Eu behaved predominantly as a divalent cation, refuting an earlier study asserting that trivalent Eu dominated. Data suggest rocks were formed under low oxygen activity conditions, not oxidizing conditions as previously reported. Geochemical data combined with field mapping allow us to establish the temporal relationship between late Cretaceous thrusting, intrusion, and volcanism in this locale. Folding, faulting and thrusting were significantly, if not entirely, completed prior to the commencement of volcanism. Volcanism included contemporaneous thrust plate intrusion, foreland extrusion, and hypabyssal foreland intrusion

Governing the recovery from the Canterbury earthquakes 2010 -11: the debate over institutional design

The quake caused significant damage to the Canterbury region with power outages, ruptured pipes, falling masonry, collapsed buildings, and liquefaction 1 across the region. The majority of the damage was sustained in particular areas of Christchurch city and in parts of Kaiapoi in the Waimakariri district. Nevertheless, the earthquake was economically significant, with damage of approximately $5 billion (Treasury, 2011). While Canterbury faced a massive clean-up and long recovery, fortunately no lives were lost, largely because the majority of residents were in bed, the location of the sparsely populated epicentre, and the quality of New Zealand’s strict building codes. The region faced over 1,400 aftershocks in the month following the September quake (Parliamentary Library, 2010). Aftershocks continued in the coming months, the most significant and damaging of which was a 4.9 magnitude quake on Boxing Day 2010. This quake produced more intense shaking than the September 4 th quake at its epicentre, with peak ground movements of 48% of the acceleration of gravity compared to 15% to 20% on September 4 th (Gorman, 2010). However, the Boxing Day quake was shorter, so less damaging

Can an apple a day keep the psychologist away? The role of fruit and vegetable intake in mental well-being.

‘You are what you eat’ is a well-known adage that is supported by evidence linking healthy diets to greater physical well-being. The cornerstone of a healthy diet is a high intake fruit and vegetables, containing a variety of micronutrients critical for optimal physical and mental functioning. Given the associated physical benefits, there has been an increasing level of interest in the potential role of fruit and vegetable intake (FVI) in mental health. However, the literature linking diet to mental health is limited and reflects a number of methodological issues that preclude researchers from understanding the full extent that FVI can play in mental health. These include: a predominant focus on factors relating to mental ill-being (such as depression), issues with control variables and specificity of mental health measures, limited investigation into plausible mechanistic pathways, and most importantly, a paucity of experimental research that speaks to the causal nature of this relationship. The aim of this thesis was to provide a comprehensive, multi-method approach to examining the observational and causal relationships between FVI and a range of mental health outcomes in young adults; guided by the World Health Organisation definition that mental health encompasses not only the absence of illness (e.g., depression, anxiety), but the presence of well-being (e.g., flourishing, vitality). First, I provide an overview of the literature, highlighting the methodological gaps which provide the rationale for the subsequent empirical studies. These include: a correlational study exploring the influence of FVI on a range of mental well-being outcomes (e.g., flourishing); a randomised controlled trial exploring whether the relationship between FVI and mental health is causal and whether key micronutrients mediate this link; and finally, a large observational survey study exploring the differential effects of raw versus cooked/canned/processed FVI on mental health. Additionally, secondary aims explored the development and execution of a mobile phone-based Ecological Momentary Intervention (EMI) to increase FVI in low-consuming young adults. Collectively, this body of work provides insights into the nuances of the relationship between FVI and mental health. Overall, daily fruit and vegetables, especially those consumed raw, appear to have significant links with mental well-being outcomes, such as vitality, creativity, curiosity, motivation, and socio-emotional flourishing. While this thesis provided some support for the role of FVI in buffering against mental ill-being such as depressive symptoms, the links with well-being were consistently stronger. Most importantly, this thesis addresses the major limitation highlighted in the literature – causality – by providing the first evidence that the relationship between FVI and mental well-being is causal, and can occur relatively rapidly in day-to-day life. These findings suggest that we eat has a powerful effect on how we feel, and that policy makers and clinicians can harness nutritional psychiatry strategies as a promising route of mental health improvement

The Rhetoric of the Organizational Saga: A Fantasy Theme Analysis of the Organizational Communication Culture of the Louisiana State Police.

This dissertation is a fantasy theme analysis of the organizational communication culture of the Louisiana State Police. This study interprets the rhetorical function of the organizational sagas of State Police. State Police has a distinct history aligned with Louisiana Politics. In 1937, General Louis F. Guerre, the first superintendent, envisioned a new State Police, immune from political pressures, soldiers of the law in the first line of defense for society. The symbolic persona of LSP has survived through fifty-six years of politics and policing as the state\u27s ranking law enforcement agency. As participant observer, the researcher gathered communication data and observations through interviews, informal conversations, and surveys with veteran troopers and cadets. The surveys provide data for content analysis and to correct discrepancies. A fantasy theme analysis as a taxonomy of the symbolic convergence theory of communication provides the methodology to discover and interpret narrative and dramatic communication materials. This study reconstructs the rhetorical visions and sagas as the social reality of the organization to determine how and why members create culture through communication. This analysis validates two overarching organizational sagas of Soldiers of the Law and The Academy. These function as the members\u27 common symbolic bond to the organization. The study reveals that the symbolic personae function as the unifying elements of the sagas and the members\u27 identification with the organization. Documented in the study are three patterns of symbolic convergence as consciousness creating, raising, and sustaining communication. The LSP Training Academy experience and the graduation ritual function as consciousness creating and raising communication strategies through which new recruits are acculturated into the organization. Finally, consciousness sustaining communication is documented through Internal Affairs sessions. The study confirms that State Police is an organization in flux. In response to crisis, members create new fantasy themes and rhetorical visions as strategies to accommodate change. The organizational sagas of State Police function rhetorically as primary communication forms through which members create, raise, and sustain the culture and make sense of the chaos of organizational life

The Role of Personality Traits in Young Adult Fruit and Vegetable Consumption

This project investigated how individual differences in the big-five personality traits (neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, conscientiousness, and agreeableness) predicted plant-food consumption in young adults. A total of 1073 participants from two samples of young adults aged 17–25 reported their daily servings of fruits, vegetables, and two unhealthy foods for comparison purposes using an Internet daily diary for 21 or 13 days (micro-longitudinal, correlational design). Participants also completed the Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) measure of personality, and demographic covariates including gender, age, ethnicity, and body mass index (BMI). Analyses used hierarchical regression to predict average daily fruit and vegetable consumption as separate dependent variables from the demographic covariates (step 1) and the five personality traits (step 2). Results showed that young adults higher in openness and extraversion, and to some extent conscientiousness, ate more fruits and vegetables than their less open, less extraverted, and less conscientious peers. Neuroticism and agreeableness were unrelated to fruit and vegetable consumption. These associations were unique to eating fruit and vegetables and mostly did not extend to unhealthy foods tested. Young adult women also ate more fruit and vegetables than young adult men. Results suggest that traits associated with greater intellect, curiosity, and social engagement (openness and extraversion), and to a lesser extent, discipline (conscientiousness) are associated with greater plant-food consumption in this population. Findings reinforce the importance of personality in establishing healthy dietary habits in young adulthood that could translate into better health outcomes later in life

Concentrations of remdesivir and GS-441524 in human milk from lactating individuals diagnosed with COVID-19

ImpactFindings from this study provide further reassuring evidence that infant exposure through human milk received from lactating individuals who require treatment with remdesivir is negligible

Sertraline Pharmacokinetics in HIV-Infected and Uninfected Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults

Objective: Due to potential disease and drug interactions, the appropriate sertraline starting dose and titration range may require adjustment in pediatric patients living with HIV. This is the first report of sertraline pharmacokinetics in HIV-infected youth.Methods: IMPAACT P1080 was a multicenter pilot study describing psychiatric medication pharmacokinetics in HIV-infected and uninfected youth. Participants were stable on sertraline, >6 to <25 years old, and (1) HIV-uninfected (HIV(–)), (2) HIV-infected taking efavirenz (EFV), or (3) HIV-infected taking boosting ritonavir/protease inhibitor (PI/r). Sampling occurred at pre-dose, 2, 4, 6, 12, and 24-h post-dose. Analyses were performed for sertraline and N-desmethylsertraline, and CYP2D6 phenotyping was completed with dextromethorphan.Results: Thirty-one participants (16 HIV(-), 12 PI/r, and 3 EFV) had median (range) weight, age, and dose of 69.5 (31.5–118.2) kg, 21.8 (9.1–24.7) years, and 75.0 (12.5–150.0) mg once daily. Sertraline exposure was highest for HIV(–) and lowest for EFV cohorts; median dose-normalized AUC0−24 was 1176 (HIV(–)), 791 (PI/r) and 473 (EFV) ng*hr/mL, and C24 was 32.7 (HIV(–)), 20.1 (PI/r), and 12.8 (EFV) ng/mL. The urinary dextromethorphan/dextrorphan (DXM/DXO) ratio was higher in HIV(–) vs. PI/r cohorts (p = 0.01). Four HIV(–) participants were CYP2D6 poor metabolizers (ln(DXM/DXO) of >-0.5).Conclusions: HIV(–) cohort had the highest sertraline exposure. Sertraline exposure was ~40% lower in the PI/r cohort than in HIV(–); the need to alter sertraline dose ranges for PI/r participants is not clear. The impact of efavirenz on sertraline needs further investigation due to limited numbers of EFV participants

Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic Modeling Framework to Predict Neonatal Pharmacokinetics of Transplacentally Acquired Emtricitabine, Dolutegravir, and Raltegravir

Background and objectiveLittle is understood about neonatal pharmacokinetics immediately after delivery and during the first days of life following intrauterine exposure to maternal medications. Our objective was to develop and evaluate a novel, physiologically based pharmacokinetic modeling workflow for predicting perinatal and postnatal disposition of commonly used antiretroviral drugs administered prenatally to pregnant women living with human immunodeficiency virus.MethodsUsing previously published, maternal-fetal, physiologically based pharmacokinetic models for emtricitabine, dolutegravir, and raltegravir built with PK-Sim/MoBi®, placental drug transfer was predicted in late pregnancy. The total drug amount in fetal compartments at term delivery was estimated and subsequently integrated as initial conditions in different tissues of a whole-body, neonatal, physiologically based pharmacokinetic model to predict drug concentrations in the neonatal elimination phase after birth. Neonatal elimination processes were parameterized according to published data. Model performance was assessed by clinical data.ResultsNeonatal physiologically based pharmacokinetic models generally captured the initial plasma concentrations after delivery but underestimated concentrations in the terminal phase. The mean percentage error for predicted plasma concentrations was - 71.5%, - 33.8%, and 76.7% for emtricitabine, dolutegravir, and raltegravir, respectively. A sensitivity analysis suggested that the activity of organic cation transporter 2 and uridine diphosphate glucuronosyltransferase 1A1 during the first postnatal days in term newborns is ~11% and ~30% of that in adults, respectively.ConclusionsThese findings demonstrate the general feasibility of applying physiologically based pharmacokinetic models to predict washout concentrations of transplacentally acquired drugs in newborns. These models can increase the understanding of pharmacokinetics during the first postnatal days and allow the prediction of drug exposure in this vulnerable population

An Open Label, Randomized, Multicenter Study of Elafibranor in Children With Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis

ObjectivesNonalcoholic fatty liver disease is the most common chronic liver disease in children. Elafibranor, a dual peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α/δ agonist, has been proposed as a treatment for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The aims were to (1) describe pharmacokinetics (PK), safety, and tolerability of oral elafibranor at 2 doses (80 and 120 mg) in children 8-17 years and (2) assess changes in aminotransferases.MethodsChildren with NASH were randomized to open-label elafibranor 80 mg or 120 mg daily for 12 weeks. The intent-to-treat analysis included all participants who received at least 1 dose. Standard descriptive statistics and PK analyses were performed.ResultsTen males [mean 15.1 years, standard deviation (SD) 2.2] with NASH were randomized to 80 mg (n = 5) or 120 mg (n = 5). Baseline mean alanine aminotransferase (ALT) was 82 U/L (SD 13) and 87 U/L (SD 20) for 80 mg and 120 mg groups, respectively. Elafibranor was rapidly absorbed and well tolerated. Elafibranor plasma exposure increased between the 80 mg and 120 mg dose with a 1.9- and 1.3-fold increase in median Cmax and AUC 0-24 , respectively. End of treatment mean ALT was 52 U/L (SD 20) for the 120 mg group, with a relative mean ALT change from baseline of -37.4% (SD 23.8%) at 12 weeks.ConclusionsOnce daily dosing of elafibranor was well tolerated in children with NASH. There was a 37.4% relative reduction from mean baseline ALT in the 120 mg group. Decreasing ALT may be associated with improvement in liver histology, thus could be considered a surrogate for histology in early phase trials. These results may support further exploration of elafibranor in children with NASH