The relation between hemispheric lateralisation and measures of immune competence and adherence in Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV-1)

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited - Copyright © 2012 Sumner et al

Affective Polarization in Multiparty Systems? Comparing Affective Polarization Towards Voters and Parties in Norway and the United States

A growing body of comparative studies on partisan hostility – a phenomenon known as affective polarization – is providing evidence that partisan affective polarization is generally no greater in the United States than it is in many European multiparty systems. This article takes the comparative literature on affective polarization one step further by presenting the first comparative study on affective polarization that simultaneously uses, compares and combines a direct measure of affective polarization towards voters (using the inter-party marriage measure) and an indirect measure of affective polarization towards parties (using the like/dislike of party measure) while accounting for the fact that multiparty systems have numerous political parties. This is done by comparing the levels of affective polarization in the United States and Norway. The results show greater affective polarization in the United States relating to parties, but the differences between these two countries are indistinguishable from chance when focusing on the affect relating to voters. This provides empirical evidence that comparative evidence of negative affect towards parties cannot necessarily be generalized to suggest that there is comparative evidence of negative affect towards voters. Yet the results also suggest that negative feelings towards out-parties move to some extent to the personal level in terms of negative feelings towards voters of these out-parties.publishedVersio

Spin-Dependent Enantioselective Electropolymerization

The electro-oxidative polymerization of an enantiopure chiral 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene monomer, performed using spin-polarized currents, is shown to depend on the electron spin orientation. The spin-polarized current is shown to influence the initial nucleation rate of the polymerization reaction. This observation is rationalized in the framework of the chiral-induced spin selectivity effect

Something ‘Old’, Something ‘New’? The UK Space of Political Attitudes After the Brexit Referendum

This study focuses on the political attitudes of UK citizens in the aftermath of the ‘Brexit’ vote. It has been argued that differences within electorates across Europe are found in disputes over taxes, redistribution of wealth and social welfare, as much as in divergent ideas on how to deal with globalisation, migration, and climate change. This article uses the 2016–2017 round of the European Social Survey (N = 1959) to shed light on two important issues in regard to the relationship between ‘old’ and ‘new’ politics. By using multiple correspondence analysis, we first consider the structure, or dimensionality, of the space of political attitudes in contemporary UK society. Contrary to a prevailing discourse that forwards the argument that postmaterial values constitute an altogether separate political dimension in late modernity, we observe that such values collapse into traditional left/right standpoints. Second, we discuss the connection between class (economic capital, cultural capital, and occupational class) and position-takings in the space of political attitudes. We show that class retains a limited effect on political position-takings, where educational capital plays the most important role. The divisions between the politically interested–uninterested, old–young, men–women, and rural–urban are more clearly demarcated than differences between people of different social class positions. Furthermore, polarisation is most prevalent between a highly opinionated, relatively resourceful, small minority of the population

Evaluation Research and Institutional Pressures: Challenges in Public-Nonprofit Contracting

This article examines the connection between program evaluation research and decision-making by public managers. Drawing on neo-institutional theory, a framework is presented for diagnosing the pressures and conditions that lead alternatively toward or away the rational use of evaluation research. Three cases of public-nonprofit contracting for the delivery of major programs are presented to clarify the way coercive, mimetic, and normative pressures interfere with a sound connection being made between research and implementation. The article concludes by considering how public managers can respond to the isomorphic pressures in their environment that make it hard to act on data relating to program performance.This publication is Hauser Center Working Paper No. 23. The Hauser Center Working Paper Series was launched during the summer of 2000. The Series enables the Hauser Center to share with a broad audience important works-in-progress written by Hauser Center scholars and researchers

Nonprofits and business:toward a subfield of nonprofit studies

Although the field of nonprofit studies now encompasses a substantial body of literature on the relationship between governmental and nonprofit organizations, the relationship between the business and nonprofit sectors has been less addressed by specialist nonprofit scholars. This Research Note aims to encourage further studies by nonprofit scholars of the business-nonprofit sector relationship. It looks at descriptive evidence to date, proposes a tentative resource-based framework for understanding how nonprofits and business relate to each other in practice and suggests some initial directions for developing a subfield within nonprofit studies

Party activism in the populist radical right: The case of the UK Independence Party

Recent decades have seen an upsurge of interest in populist radical right (PRR) parties. Yet despite a large body of research on PRR voters, there are few studies of the internal life of these parties. In particular, there is a dearth of research about why people are active in them. This article uses data from a unique large-scale survey of United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) members to investigate if drivers of voting support for these parties are also important for explaining party activism. Analyses show that traditional models of party activism are important for understanding engagement in UKIP, but macro-level forces captured in an expanded relative deprivation model also stimulate participation in the party. That said macro-level forces are not the dominant driver of activism

New Developments in Understanding Cardiovascular Disease and the Implications for Social Work

Cardiovascular disease is now viewed as an inflammatory disease. An index of chronic inflammation (viz., C-Reactive Protein) is as good a predictor of heart attacks as are fats in blood. The data suggest that stressful events are so closely associated with chronic inflammatory states, that the body’s stress response can be viewed as an inflammatory state. This paper summarizes and explains the link between stress and cardiovascular disease. Negative health outcomes, particularly for cardiovascular diseases, are higher among those of lower socio-economic status. Differential stress among socio-economic tiers is considered as an explanation for the disparities. The literature linking cardiovascular risk factors to the stressors of workplace unfairness and lack of control over working conditions is reviewed. The role of the stressor of racism in explaining the higher rates of cardiovascular mortality in African Americans is discussed. Finally, for societies with wider gaps in income between the rich and the poor, increased stress is explored as a possible explanation for the diminished health outcomes found across all socio-economic tiers. The implications for social work direct practice and macro-practice are considered

Therapeutic potential of cladribine in combination with STAT3 inhibitor against multiple myeloma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cladribine or 2-chlorodeoxyadenosine (2-CDA) is a well-known purine nucleoside analog with particular activity against lymphoproliferative disorders, such as hairy cell leukemia (HCL). Its benefits in multiple myeloma (MM) remain unclear. Here we report the inhibitory effects of cladribine on MM cell lines (U266, RPMI8226, MM1.S), and its therapeutic potential in combination with a specific inhibitor of the signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>MTS-based proliferation assays were used to determine cell viability in response to cladribine. Cell cycle progression was examined by flow cytometry analysis. Cells undergoing apoptosis were evaluated with Annexin V staining and a specific ELISA to quantitatively measure cytoplasmic histone-associated DNA fragments. Western blot analyses were performed to determine the protein expression levels and activation.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Cladribine inhibited cell proliferation of MM cells in a dose-dependent manner, although the three MM cell lines exhibited a remarkably different responsiveness to cladribine. The IC50 of cladribine for U266, RPMI8226, or MM1.S cells was approximately 2.43, 0.75, or 0.18 μmol/L, respectively. Treatment with cladribine resulted in a significant G1 arrest in U266 and RPMI8226 cells, but only a minor increase in the G1 phase for MM1.S cells. Apoptosis assays with Annexin V-FITC/PI double staining indicated that cladribine induced apoptosis of U266 cells in a dose-dependent manner. Similar results were obtained with an apoptotic-ELISA showing that cladribine dramatically promoted MM1.S and RPMA8226 cells undergoing apoptosis. On the molecular level, cladribine induced PARP cleavage and activation of caspase-8 and caspase-3. Meanwhile, treatment with cladribine led to a remarkable reduction of the phosphorylated STAT3 (P-STAT3), but had little effect on STAT3 protein levels. The combinations of cladribine and a specific STAT3 inhibitor as compared to either agent alone significantly induced apoptosis in all three MM cell lines.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Cladribine exhibited inhibitory effects on MM cells <it>in vitro</it>. MM1.S is the only cell line showing significant response to the clinically achievable concentrations of cladribine-induced apoptosis and inactivation of STAT3. Our data suggest that MM patients with the features of MM1.S cells may particularly benefit from cladribine monotherapy, whereas cladribine in combination with STAT3 inhibitor exerts a broader therapeutic potential against MM.</p