505 research outputs found
Power in Transition: An Interdisciplinary Framework to Study Power in Relation to Structural Change
This article conceptualizes power in the context of long-term process of structural change. First, it discusses the field of transition studies, which deals with processes of structural change in societal systems on the basis of certain
presumptions about power relations, but still lacks an explicit conceptualization of power. Then the article discusses some prevailing points of contestation in debates on power. It is argued that for the context of transition studies, it is necessary to develop an interdisciplinary framework in which
power is explicitly conceptualized in relation to change. Subsequently, such a framework is presented, with reference to existing literature on power.
Starting with a philosophical and operational definition of power, a typology is developed of the different ways in which power can be exercised, explicitly including innovative power and transformative power. Finally, the presented power framework is applied to transition studies, redefining pivotal transition
concepts in terms of power and formulating hypotheses on the role of power in transitions. By doing so, the article not only offers an interdisciplinary framework to study power in the context of transition studies, but also contributes to power debates more generally by including innovation and
transformation as acts of power, and thereby proposes a re-conceptualization of the relation between power and structural change
Antiarrhythmic and electrophysiologic effects of flecainide on acutely induced atrial fibrillation in healthy horses
BACKGROUND: Only few pharmacologic compounds have been validated for treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF) in horses. Studies investigating the utility and safety of flecainide to treat AF in horses have produced conflicting results, and the antiarrhythmic mechanisms of flecainide are not fully understood. OBJECTIVES: To study the potential of flecainide to terminate acutely induced AF of short duration (â„15 minutes), to examine flecainideâinduced changes in AF duration and AF vulnerability, and to investigate the in vivo effects of flecainide on right atrial effective refractory period, AF cycle length, and ventricular depolarization and repolarization. ANIMALS: Nine Standardbred horses. Eight received flecainide, 3 were used as timeâmatched controls, 2 of which also received flecainide. METHODS: Prospective study. The antiarrhythmic and electrophysiologic effects of flecainide were based on 5 parameters: ability to terminate acute pacingâinduced AF (â„15 minutes), and drugâinduced changes in atrial effective refractory period, AF duration, AF vulnerability, and ventricular depolarization and repolarization times. Parameters were assessed at baseline and after flecainide by programmed electrical stimulation methods. RESULTS: Flecainide terminated all acutely induced AF episodes (n = 7); (AF duration, 21 ± 5 minutes) and significantly decreased the AF duration, but neither altered atrial effective refractory period nor AF vulnerability significantly. Ventricular repolarization time was prolonged between 8 and 20 minutes after initiation of flecainide infusion, but no ventricular arrhythmias were detected. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Flecainide had clear antiarrhythmic properties in terminating acute pacingâinduced AF, but showed no protective properties against immediate reinduction of AF. Flecainide caused temporary prolongation in the ventricular repolarization, which may be a proarrhythmic effect
Power between Habitus and Reflexivity â Introducing Margaret Archer to the Power Debate
This article introduces Margaret Archerâs research on reflexivity to the power debate, alongside Pierre Bourdieuâs already influential concept of habitus. Both offer significant insights on social conditioning in late modernity. However, their tendency to the extreme of social determinism and voluntarism must be avoided. To do so, this article adopts Haugaardâs family resemblance concept of power, describing habitus and reflexivity as an important new binary of power instead of a conceptual zero-sum game. This strengthens the explanatory role of agency, central to the three dimensions of power, without losing sight of constitutive, structural power. It also helps overcome the habitus-reflexivity dichotomy in social theory and provides a starting point to evaluate Archerâs work from a power perspective
The Prevalence of Children with a History of Sexual Abuse Hospitalized in the Psychiatric Setting
Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/72548/1/j.1744-6171.1991.tb00489.x.pd
Pre- and early-postnatal nutrition modify gene and protein expressions of muscle energy metabolism markers and phospholipid fatty acid composition in a muscle type specific manner in sheep.
We previously reported that undernutrition in late fetal life reduced whole-body insulin sensitivity in adult sheep, irrespective of dietary exposure in early postnatal life. Skeletal muscle may play an important role in control of insulin action. We therefore studied a range of putative key muscle determinants of insulin signalling in two types of skeletal muscles (longissimus dorsi (LD) and biceps femoris (BF)) and in the cardiac muscle (ventriculus sinister cordis (VSC)) of sheep from the same experiment. Twin-bearing ewes were fed either 100% (NORM) or 50% (LOW) of their energy and protein requirements during the last trimester of gestation. From day-3 postpartum to 6-months of age (around puberty), twin offspring received a high-carbohydrate-high-fat (HCHF) or a moderate-conventional (CONV) diet, whereafter all males were slaughtered. Females were subsequently raised on a moderate diet and slaughtered at 2-years of age (young adults). The only long-term consequences of fetal undernutrition observed in adult offspring were lower expressions of the insulin responsive glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) protein and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma, coactivator 1α (PGC1α) mRNA in BF, but increased PGC1α expression in VSC. Interestingly, the HCHF diet in early postnatal life was associated with somewhat paradoxically increased expressions in LD of a range of genes (but not proteins) related to glucose uptake, insulin signalling and fatty acid oxidation. Except for fatty acid oxidation genes, these changes persisted into adulthood. No persistent expression changes were observed in BF and VSC. The HCHF diet increased phospholipid ratios of n-6/n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in all muscles, even in adults fed identical diets for 1œ years. In conclusion, early postnatal, but not late gestation, nutrition had long-term consequences for a number of determinants of insulin action and metabolism in LD. Tissues other than muscle may account for reduced whole body insulin sensitivity in adult LOW sheep
US hegemony and the origins of Japanese nuclear power : the politics of consent
This paper deploys the Gramscian concepts of hegemony and consent in order to explore the process whereby nuclear power was brought to Japan. The core argument is that nuclear power was brought to Japan as a consequence of US hegemony. Rather than a simple manifestation of one state exerting material âpower over' another, bringing nuclear power to Japan involved a series of compromises worked out within and between state and civil society in both Japan and the USA. Ideologies of nationalism, imperialism and modernity underpinned the process, coalescing in post-war debates about the future trajectory of Japanese society, Japan's Cold War alliance with the USA and the role of nuclear power in both. Consent to nuclear power was secured through the generation of a psychological state in the public mind combining the fear of nuclear attack and the hope of unlimited consumption in a nuclear-fuelled post-modern world
Parenting practice, leisure experience, and substance use among South African adolescents
There is limited understanding of parentsâ role in positive youth/adolescent
development through leisure in developing countries. Using
a sample of 6,626 eighth-grade students in South Africa, this study
examined the interrelationships among parenting practice, adolescentsâ
leisure experience, and substance use. Results of structural
equation modeling showed that parental leisure involvement was
associated with less substance use, while parental leisure overcontrol
was associated with greater substance use. The relationship of parental
leisure involvement to substance use was mediated by healthy
leisure engagement. The relationship of parental leisure overcontrol
to substance use, on the other hand, was mediated by leisure boredom
and healthy leisure engagement. The model path coefficients
had little variation between genders and socioeconomic groups
except that parental leisure overcontrol had a stronger positive relationship
with leisure boredom for males than for females. Theoretical
and practical implications are discussed
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