‘If Most Men are Against Us, Can We Call Ourselves Feminists?’: Young People’s Views of Feminism – East and West

Based on a survey of 1700 largely young middle-class urban dwellers in ten countries in the Asia-Pacific region, this paper explores several dualist constructions of feminism

Two Clocks: A Comparison of Ceramic and Radiocarbon Dates at Macapainara, East Timor

Radiocarbon analysis and ceramic typology assessment are commonly used to date late Holocene archaeological sites in Island Southeast Asia. We apply both methods to date the site of Macapainara in East Timor, and they produce substantially different age ranges for this site. The radiocarbon dates are consistently later in time than ceramic typology dates from the same or adjacent stratigraphic levels. We assess the various sources of error for the two dating techniques that could produce this discrepancy, and conclude that the ceramic typology age ranges are misleadingly old due to concerted curation of fine ceramics by the site occupants. We discuss the implications of this for dating sites in East Timor and elsewhere within Island Southeast Asia

Quantifying the legacy of the Chinese Neolithic on the maternal genetic heritage of Taiwan and Island Southeast Asia

There has been a long-standing debate concerning the extent to which the spread of Neolithic ceramics and Malay-Polynesian languages in Island Southeast Asia (ISEA) were coupled to an agriculturally driven demic dispersal out of Taiwan 4000 years ago (4 ka). We previously addressed this question using founder analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control-region sequences to identify major lineage clusters most likely to have dispersed from Taiwan into ISEA, proposing that the dispersal had a relatively minor impact on the extant genetic structure of ISEA, and that the role of agriculture in the expansion of the Austronesian languages was therefore likely to have been correspondingly minor. Here we test these conclusions by sequencing whole mtDNAs from across Taiwan and ISEA, using their higher chronological precision to resolve the overall proportion that participated in the “out-of-Taiwan” mid-Holocene dispersal as opposed to earlier, postglacial expansions in the Early Holocene. We show that, in total, about 20 % of mtDNA lineages in the modern ISEA pool result from the “out-of-Taiwan” dispersal, with most of the remainder signifying earlier processes, mainly due to sea-level rises after the Last Glacial Maximum. Notably, we show that every one of these founder clusters previously entered Taiwan from China, 6–7 ka, where rice-farming originated, and remained distinct from the indigenous Taiwanese population until after the subsequent dispersal into ISEA

Imagining the Future: Young Australians on sex, love and community

Do young Australians understand and live ‘equality’ and ‘difference’ differently from older generations? Is Australia the gender equal society that many claim it to be? How do we understand and explain growing economic inequality when our dominant ideologies are individualism and neoliberalism? What are or should be the limits of tolerance in our negotiation of cultural difference? Imagining the Future explores our contemporary complex equality narrative through the desires and dreams of 1000 young Australians and 230 of their parents from diverse backgrounds across Australia. This ‘extraordinary’ data set affords analysis of the impact of gender, socio-economic disadvantage, ethnicity, Aboriginality and sexuality on young people’s ‘imagined life stories’, or essays written about their future. An intergenerational comparison assesses how different young people really are from older generations. The book offers a compelling and subtle engagement with the sometimes ‘deeply moving’, sometimes ‘hilarious’ voices of young people to deliver insight into the challenges and complexity of gender and other social relations in early 21st Australian society

Swimming with captive dolphins: current debates and post-experience dissonance

Dolphins have widespread contemporary appeal and anthropomorphic social representations of dolphins have fuelled a growing desire in tourist populations to seek interaction with them. This paper is concerned with the staged performance of swim-with-dolphin interaction programmes in aquaria. Qualitative interviews with tourists who have swum with captive dolphins identified their immediate recollections and stressed the grace, size and power of dolphins, but also a belief that the experience was too staged, too short and too expensive. Post-purchase dissonance focused on concerns with the size of enclosures and about captivity, too many tricks, limited interpretation and unfulfilled expectations of a quality interaction

Globalización y convergencia de precios en el Imperio español 1660-1810

En este trabajo se analiza el comercio en el interior del Imperio español. Se utilizaron series de precios de productos durante un período de 140 años y se investigó su convergencia entre España y Perú y entre Perú y Chile. Se encontró que, a pesar de las mejoras tecnológicas, comerciales e institucionales, la convergencia de precios entre España y Perú se vio retrasada por las guerras durante el siglo XVIII. Por otra parte, se observa un notable proceso de convergencia de precios entre Perú y Chile. La ausencia de guerras en el Océano Pacífico puede explicar esta diferencia en el comportamiento de precios.In this paper trade to the interior of the Spanish Empire is analysed. Commodity prices during a 140 years span are described and the price convergence process between Spain and Peru, and between Peru and Chile is investigated. The main finding is that despite technological, trade and institutional improvements, price convergence between Spain and Peru was delayed by wars during the eighteenth century. Conversely, price convergence is found between Peru and Chile. The absence of wars in the Pacific Ocean can explain the difference in price behavior .Publicad

The Chronometric Holocene Archaeological Record Of The Southern Thai-malay Peninsula

A survey of the archaeological literature on the southern Thai-Malay Peninsula identifies 39 sites associated with chronometric dates suitable for quantitative analysis covering the Holocene, since 10,000 years ago. The essential criterion for accepting a date is an expected error of less than five percent in assessing the probability that the date refers to any of the 20 intervals of 500 years covered by the Holocene. The resulting documentation would suggest little changed occupancy levels for cave sites throughout the Holocene apart from a mid-Holocene dip. Higher levels of site occupancy are documented for the late Holocene than earlier times, due to the addition of a wide variety of open-air sites to the record. However, literal reliance on the quantitative results should be tempered with recognition that archaeological sites and their contents are prone to destruction with time or, in the case of open-air sites, preservation in contexts at inaccessible depths beneath the surface. Mid-Holocene and earlier open-air sites have been recovered only in exceptional circumstances, and so any review of the Peninsula's Holocene prehistory should be careful not to interpret absence of evidence as evidence of absence for early open-air sites. In the case of cave sites, some allowance can be made for the destruction of suitable dating materials over time. This allowance would point to the Pleistocene-Holocene transition at around 10,000 years ago, and an interval of elevated sea-levels at around 6,500 years ago, as the peak periods for occupancy rates of cave sites. These findings are discussed in the context of the probable commencement of the Neolithic in the Peninsula at around 6,500 years ago, and current issues in relating the archaeological record to the Austroasiatic (Aslian) and Austronesian (Malay) languages spoken by the indigenous inhabitants of the southern Peninsula

Clinical development of new drug-radiotherapy combinations.

In countries with the best cancer outcomes, approximately 60% of patients receive radiotherapy as part of their treatment, which is one of the most cost-effective cancer treatments. Notably, around 40% of cancer cures include the use of radiotherapy, either as a single modality or combined with other treatments. Radiotherapy can provide enormous benefit to patients with cancer. In the past decade, significant technical advances, such as image-guided radiotherapy, intensity-modulated radiotherapy, stereotactic radiotherapy, and proton therapy enable higher doses of radiotherapy to be delivered to the tumour with significantly lower doses to normal surrounding tissues. However, apart from the combination of traditional cytotoxic chemotherapy with radiotherapy, little progress has been made in identifying and defining optimal targeted therapy and radiotherapy combinations to improve the efficacy of cancer treatment. The National Cancer Research Institute Clinical and Translational Radiotherapy Research Working Group (CTRad) formed a Joint Working Group with representatives from academia, industry, patient groups and regulatory bodies to address this lack of progress and to publish recommendations for future clinical research. Herein, we highlight the Working Group's consensus recommendations to increase the number of novel drugs being successfully registered in combination with radiotherapy to improve clinical outcomes for patients with cancer

The Inside View On Makassar's 16th To 17th Century History: Changing Marital Alliances And Persistent Settlement Patterns

The alliance of the Makasar-speaking kingdoms of Gowa and Talloq elevated Makassar to the status of an empire before its conquest in 1667 by the Dutch in alliance with the Bugis, Makassar's local enemies. In my previous research I recognised three main phases in Makassar's history: a growth phase (circa 1500–1593) when Gowa expanded territorially, cemented by the marriage of local princesses into the royal Gowa line; a consolidation phase (1593–1667) characterised by reciprocal marital exchange between Gowa and Talloq and their surrounding polities; and a disintegration phase (1667–1700) when Gowa and Talloq became givers rather than takers of princesses. Recent translations into English by William Cummings of the texts on which I based my analysis provide the opportunity to test the validity of my three-phase scenario. Further, how political relations changed during the first two phases can be illustrated through reconstructing the geopolitical landscape of Makassar and its hinterland at four time slices: the early and middle 16th century, and the early and middle 17th century

Interventions to help support caregivers of people with a brain or spinal cord tumour

Background The diagnosis and treatment of a brain or spinal cord tumour can have a huge impact on the lives of patients and their families with family caregiving often resulting in considerable burden and distress. Meeting the support needs of family caregivers is critical to maintain their emotional and physical health. Although support for caregivers is becoming more widely available, large‐scale implementation is hindered by a lack of high‐quality evidence for its effectiveness in the neuro‐oncology caregiver population. Objectives To assess the effectiveness of supportive interventions at improving the well‐being of caregivers of people with a brain or spinal cord tumour. To assess the effects of supportive interventions for caregivers in improving the physical and emotional well‐being of people with a brain or spinal cord tumour and to evaluate the health economic benefits of supportive interventions for caregivers. Search methods We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL; 2018, Issue 7), MEDLINE via Ovid, and Embase via Ovid. We also handsearched relevant published conference abstracts (previous five years), publications in the two main journals in the field (previous year), searched for ongoing trials via ClinicalTrials.gov, and contacted research groups in the field. The initial search was in March 2017 with an update in August 2018 (handsearches completed in January 2019). Selection criteria We included all randomised controlled trials (RCTs) where caregivers of neuro‐oncology patients constituted more than 20% of the sample and which evaluated changes in caregiver well‐being following any supportive intervention. Data collection and analysis Two review authors independently selected studies and carried out risk of bias assessments. We aimed to extract data on the outcomes of psychological distress, burden, mastery, quality of patient–caregiver relationship, quality of life, and physical functioning. Main results In total, the search identified 2102 records, of which we reviewed 144 in full text. We included eight studies. Four interventions focused on patient–caregiver dyads and four were aimed specifically at the caregiver. Heterogeneity of populations and methodologies precluded meta‐analysis. Risk of bias varied, and all studies included only small numbers of neuro‐oncology caregivers (13 to 56 participants). There was some evidence for positive effects of caregiver support on psychological distress, mastery, and quality of life (low to very low certainty of evidence). No studies reported significant effects on caregiver burden or quality of patient–caregiver relationship (low to very low certainty of evidence). None of the studies assessed caregiver physical functioning. For secondary outcomes (patient emotional or physical well‐being; health economic effects), we found very little to no evidence for the effectiveness of caregiver support. We identified five ongoing trials. Authors' conclusions The eight small‐scale studies included employed different methodologies across different populations, with low certainty of evidence overall. It is not currently possible to draw reliable conclusions regarding the effectiveness of supportive interventions aimed at improving neuro‐oncology caregiver well‐being. More high‐quality research is needed on support for family caregivers of people diagnosed, and living, with a brain or spinal cord tumour