A western reversal since the Neolithic? The long-run impact of early agriculture

While it is widely believed that regions which experienced a transition to Neolithic agriculture early also become institutionally and economically more advanced, many indicators suggest that within the Western agricultural core (including Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and Southwest Asia), communities that adopted agriculture early in fact have weaker institutions and poorly functioning economies today. In the current paper, we attempt to integrate both of these trends in a coherent historical framework. Our main argument is that countries that made the transition early also tended to develop autocratic societies with social inequality and pervasive rent seeking, whereas later adopters were more likely to have egalitarian societies with stronger private property rights. These different institutional trajectories implied a gradual shift of dominance from the early civilizations towards regions in the periphery. We document this relative reversal within the Western core by showing a robust negative correlation between years since transition to agriculture and contemporary levels of income and institutional development, on both the national and the regional level. Our results further indicate that the reversal had become manifest already before the era of European colonization

Giant thoracic schwannoma presenting with abrupt onset of abdominal pain: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Giant intradural extramedullary schwannomas of the thoracic spine are not common. Schwannomas, that is, tumors derived from neoplastic Schwann cells, and neurofibromas represent the most common intradural extramedullary spinal lesions. We report the case of a patient with a giant thoracic schwannoma presenting unusually with acute abdominal pain and with delayed neurological impairment.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 26-year-old Hispanic man with no previous medical problems presented with acute periumbilical pain. After extensive work-up including an exploratory laparotomy for appendectomy, magnetic resonance imaging scans of the lumbar and thoracic spine revealed a giant intradural extramedullary thoracic schwannoma within the spinal canal posterior to the T9, T10, and T11 vertebral bodies. Magnetic resonance imaging signal prolongation was noted in the spinal cord both rostral and caudal to the schwannoma. The patient underwent an urgent laminectomy from T8 to L1. After sacrificing the T10 root, the tumor was removed en bloc. Postoperatively, the patient improved significantly gaining antigravity strength in both lower extremities.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The T10 dermatome is represented by the umbilical region. This referred pain may represent a mechanism by which a giant thoracic schwannoma may present as acute abdominal pain. Acute, intense abdominal pain with delayed neurologic deficit is a rare presentation of a thoracic schwannoma but should be considered as a possible cause of abdominal pain presenting without clear etiology. Although these lesions may be delayed in their diagnosis, early diagnosis and treatment may lead to an improved clinical outcome.</p

External Kin, Economic Disparity, and Minority Ethnic Group Mobilization

What is the relationship between economic grievance and ethnopolitical conflict? Many theories on ethnic conflict posit a relationship between economic inequality and conflict, and many tend to agree that economic inequality between groups is one of the main causes of grievance and thereby political mobilization. This article engages existing literature on horizontal inequalities, but probes the violent consequences of a different type of economic inequality. In particular, we are interested in the type of ethnic group that has extensive external kin relations, and how in such conditions the economic disparity between the ethnic group and its external kin group condition the former’s grievance construction. We argue that, if the ethnic group’s external kin enjoys positive economic advantage over the ethnic group, then the latter is more likely to feel deprived and engage in violent political mobilization toward the current host state

Prevalence of avascular necrosis in idiopathic inflammatory myositis: a single center experience.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the prevalence of avascular necrosis (AVN) in a large cohort of patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM) and define the major associated risk factors. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the electronic medical records of all patients with a definitive diagnosis of IIM enrolled in our registry between 2003-2017 and followed until 2020. Pertinent demographic, clinical, serologic and imaging data were collected. A matched group of patients without AVN was then selected for comparison. RESULTS: 1680 patients were diagnosed with IIM. Fifty-one patients developed AVN, with an overall prevalence of 3%. Musculoskeletal magnetic resonance imaging (MSK MRI) was available for 1085 patients and AVN was present in 46 patients (43 lower extremities and 3 upper extremities MRI studies), with a relative prevalence of 4.2%. Most patients with AVN were Caucasian females (57%) with a mean age at diagnosis of 44.5 ± 12.4 years. 61% had dermatomyositis (DM) and 29% had polymyositis (PM). The median time from onset of IIM to diagnosis of AVN was 46 months. The hip joint was most commonly involved in 76% of cases, followed by the knee joint in 15% and shoulder joint in 9%. 81% of patients were asymptomatic. Established risk factors for AVN were not found to be associated with the development of AVN in IIM patients. CONCLUSION: Although mostly asymptomatic and incidental, the overall prevalence of AVN in IIM was 3% and the prevalence by MRI was 4.2%. None of the established risk factors were found to be associated with AVN development

Constraining the Samurai: Rebellion and Taxation in Early Modern Japan

On the eve of the Meiji Restoration in 1868, the nearly 300 semi-autonomous domains across Japan had widely varying tax rates. Some handed over 70 percent of their rice yield to the samurai ruler of the domain, while others provided 15 percent. This variation existed in spite of the similar fiscal demands that the domain rulers faced within the Tokugawa regime—the feudal system that governed Japan between 1603 and 1868. This period was remarkably stable; Japan saw no foreign or domestic wars. This allows us to focus on the impact of pressure from below on taxation. We study the extent to which peasant-led rebellions and collective desertion (“flight”) lowered the subsequent tax rate imposed by samurai rulers. Using newly compiled data on different types of peasant-led political mobilization—from petitions to insurrections—we find an association between, on the one hand, large-scale rebellions and flight and, on the other, lower tax rates. We interpret the results as evidence of rebellious or mobile peasants’ ability to constrain their rulers; the more complacent fail to win concessions. Our findings suggest that peasant mobilization played a role in restricting state growth in early modern Japan through tax concessions

Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution from Sub-Stoichiometric Colloidal WO3-xNanowires

We report direct photocatalytic hydrogen evolution from substoichiometric highly reduced tungsten oxide (WOx) nanowires (NWs) using sacrificial alcohol. WOx NWs are synthesized via nonaqueous colloidal synthesis with a diameter of about 4 nm and an average length of about 250 nm. As-synthesized WOx NWs exhibit a broad absorption across the visible to infrared regions attributed to the presence of oxygen vacancies. The optical band gap is increased in these WOx NWs compared to stoichiometric bulk tungsten oxide (WO3) powders as a result of the Burstein\u2013Moss shift. As a consequence of this increase, we demonstrate direct photocatalytic hydrogen production from WOx NWs through alcohol photoreforming. The stable H2 evolution on platinized WOx NWs is observed under conditions in which platinized bulk WO3 and bulk WO2.9 powders either do not show activity or show very low rates, suggesting that increased surface area and specific exposed facets are key for the improved performance of WOx NWs. This work demonstrates that control of size and composition can lead to unexpected and beneficial changes in the photocatalytic properties of semiconductor materials

Growth of PdCoO2 films with controlled termination by molecular-beam epitaxy and determination of their electronic structure by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy

Utilizing the powerful combination of molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE) and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), we produce and study the effect of different terminating layers on the electronic structure of the metallic delafossite PdCoO2. Attempts to introduce unpaired electrons and synthesize new antiferromagnetic metals akin to the isostructural compound PdCrO2 have been made by replacing cobalt with iron in PdCoO2 films grown by MBE. Using ARPES, we observe similar bulk bands in these PdCoO2 films with Pd-, CoO2-, and FeO2-termination. Nevertheless, Pd- and CoO2-terminated films show a reduced intensity of surface states. Additionally, we are able to epitaxially stabilize PdFexCo1-xO2 films that show an anomaly in the derivative of the electrical resistance with respect to temperature at 20 K, but do not display pronounced magnetic order