Rumours, sects and rallies : the ethnic politics of recent Hmong Millenarian movements in Vietnam’s highlands

Contrary to modernist assumptions, millenarianism has not died out but continues to influence the politics of many marginalised groups in upland Southeast Asia, including the Hmong. This article summarises and analyses post-World War II Hmong millenarian activity in Vietnam, focusing on three case studies from the 1980s onwards, within the political backdrop of ongoing government suspicions of ethnic separatism and foreign interference. Far from being isolated or peripheral, Hmong millenarian rumours and movements interact with overseas diasporas, human rights agencies and international religious networks to influence state responses, sometimes in unexpected ways

The New Politics of Global Tax Governance: Taking Stock a Decade After the Financial Crisis

The financial crisis of 2007–2009 is now broadly recognised as a once-in-a-generation inflection point in the history of global economic governance. It has also prompted a reconsideration of established paradigms in international political economy (IPE) scholarship. Developments in global tax governance open a window onto these ongoing changes, and in this essay we discuss four recent volumes on the topic drawn from IPE and beyond, arguing against an emphasis on institutional stability and analyses that consider taxation in isolation. In contrast, we identify unprecedented changes in tax cooperation that reflect a significant contemporary reconfiguration of the politics of global economic governance writ large. To develop these arguments, we discuss the links between global tax governance and four fundamental changes underway in IPE: the return of the state through more activist policies; the global power shift towards large emerging markets; the politics of austerity and populism; and the digitalisation of the economy

Security trumps drug control: How securitization explains drug policy paradoxes in Thailand and Vietnam

This paper investigates the paradoxes inherent in Thai and Vietnamese drug policies. The two countries have much in common. Both are ultra-prohibitionist states which employ repressive policies to contain drug markets. Their policies have, however, diverged in two key areas: opium suppression and harm reduction. Thailand implemented an effective intervention to suppress opium farming centred upon alternative development, whereas Vietnam suppressed opium production through coercive negotiation with nominal alternative development. Vietnam has embraced elements of harm reduction, whereas Thailand has been slow to implement harm reduction policies. This paper hypothesises that these two differences are largely a product of their perceived relationship to security. The two cases demonstrate how once an issue is securitized the ultra-prohibitionist rules of the game can be broken to allow for more humane and pragmatic policies

Streamlining brain tumor surgery care during the COVID-19 pandemic: A case-control study.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic forced a reconsideration of surgical patient management in the setting of scarce resources and risk of viral transmission. Herein we assess the impact of implementing a protocol of more rigorous patient education, recovery room assessment for non-ICU admission, earlier mobilization and post-discharge communication for patients undergoing brain tumor surgery. METHODS: A case-control retrospective review was undertaken at a community hospital with a dedicated neurosurgery and otolaryngology team using minimally invasive surgical techniques, total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA) and early post-operative imaging protocols. All patients undergoing craniotomy or endoscopic endonasal removal of a brain, skull base or pituitary tumor were included during two non-overlapping periods: March 2019-January 2020 (pre-pandemic epoch) versus March 2020-January 2021 (pandemic epoch with streamlined care protocol implemented). Data collection included demographics, preoperative American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) status, tumor pathology, and tumor resection and remission rates. Primary outcomes were ICU utilization and hospital length of stay (LOS). Secondary outcomes were complications, readmissions and reoperations. FINDINGS: Of 295 patients, 163 patients were treated pre-pandemic (58% women, mean age 53.2±16 years) and 132 were treated during the pandemic (52% women, mean age 52.3±17 years). From pre-pandemic to pandemic, ICU utilization decreased from 92(54%) to 43(29%) of operations (p CONCLUSION: This experience suggests the COVID-19 pandemic provided an opportunity for implementing a brain tumor care protocol to facilitate safely decreasing ICU utilization and accelerating discharge home without an increase in complications, readmission or reoperations. More rigorous patient education, recovery room assessment for non-ICU admission, earlier mobilization and post-discharge communication, layered upon a foundation of minimally invasive surgery, TIVA anesthesia and early post-operative imaging are possible contributors to these favorable trends

Longitudinal associations of long-term exposure to ultrafine particles with blood pressure and systemic inflammation in Puerto Rican adults

Abstract Background Few longitudinal studies have examined the association between ultrafine particulate matter (UFP, particles < 0.1 μm aerodynamic diameter) exposure and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors. We used data from 791 adults participating in the longitudinal Boston Puerto Rican Health Study (Massachusetts, USA) between 2004 and 2015 to assess whether UFP exposure was associated with blood pressure and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP, a biomarker of systemic inflammation). Methods Residential annual average UFP exposure (measured as particle number concentration, PNC) was assigned using a model accounting for spatial and temporal trends. We also adjusted PNC values for participants’ inhalation rate to obtain the particle inhalation rate (PIR) as a secondary exposure measure. Multilevel linear models with a random intercept for each participant were used to examine the association of UFP with blood pressure and hsCRP. Results Overall, in adjusted models, an inter-quartile range increase in PNC was associated with increased hsCRP (β = 6.8; 95% CI = − 0.3, 14.0%) but not with increased systolic blood pressure (β = 0.96; 95% CI = − 0.33, 2.25 mmHg), pulse pressure (β = 0.70; 95% CI = − 0.27, 1.67 mmHg), or diastolic blood pressure (β = 0.55; 95% CI = − 0.20, 1.30 mmHg). There were generally stronger positive associations among women and never smokers. Among men, there were inverse associations of PNC with systolic blood pressure and pulse pressure. In contrast to the primary findings, an inter-quartile range increase in the PIR was positively associated with systolic blood pressure (β = 1.03; 95% CI = 0.00, 2.06 mmHg) and diastolic blood pressure (β = 1.01; 95% CI = 0.36, 1.66 mmHg), but not with pulse pressure or hsCRP. Conclusions We observed that exposure to PNC was associated with increases in measures of CVD risk markers, especially among certain sub-populations. The exploratory PIR exposure metric should be further developed

Variants of Beta2-microglobulin cleaved at lysine-58 retain the main conformational features of the native protein but are more conformationally heterogeneous and unstable at phylogical temperature.

12Cleavage of the small amyloidogenic protein b2-microglobulin after lysine- 58 renders it more prone to unfolding and aggregation. This is important for dialysis-related b2-microglobulin amyloidosis, since elevated levels of cleaved b2-microglobulin may be found in the circulation of dialysis patients. However, the solution structures of these cleaved b2-microglobulin variants have not yet been assessed using single-residue techniques. We here use such methods to examine b2-microglobulin cleaved after lysine-58 and the further processed variant (found in vivo) from which lysine-58 is removed. We find that the solution stability of both variants, especially of b2-microglobulin from which lysine-58 is removed, is much reduced compared to wild-type b2-microglobulin and is strongly dependent on temperature and protein concentration. 1H-NMR spectroscopy and amide hydrogen (1H⁄ 2H) exchange monitored by MS show that the overall threedimensional structure of the variants is similar to that of wild-type b2-microglobulin at subphysiological temperatures. However, deviations do occur, especially in the arrangement of the B, D and E b-strands close to the D–E loop cleavage site at lysine-58, and the experiments suggest conformational heterogeneity of the two variants. Two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy indicates that this heterogeneity involves an equilibrium between the native-like fold and at least one conformational intermediate resembling intermediates found in other structurally altered b2-microglobulin molecules. This is the first single-residue resolution study of a specific b2-microglobulin variant that has been found circulating in dialysis patients. The instability and conformational heterogeneity of this variant suggest its involvement in b2-microglobulin amyloidogenicity in vivo.reservedmixedCORAZZA Alessandra; CORLIND D.B.; DE LORENZI E.; ESPOSITO Gennaro; GIORGETTI S.; HEEGAARD N.H.H.; JORGENSEN T.J.D.; MIMMI Maria Chiara; NISSEN M.H.; PETTIROSSI Fabio; PRIES M.; VIGLINO PaoloCorazza, Alessandra; Corlind, D. B.; DE LORENZI, E.; Esposito, Gennaro; Giorgetti, S.; Heegaard, N. H. H.; Jorgensen, T. J. D.; Mimmi, Maria Chiara; Nissen, M. H.; Pettirossi, Fabio; Pries, M.; Viglino, Paol