Opening up terrorism talk: The sequential and categorical production of discursive power within the call openings of a talk radio broadcast

The current research undertakes a combined CA/MCA approach to analyse the unfolding moral business of ‘talk radio’ discourse, and situates this analysis within a critical discourse studies framework. In a case study analysis of a talk radio broadcast on the topic of terrorism, the sequencing and membership categorization work that is accomplished during the call openings of its contributors is examined. Local manifestations of discursive power allied to the ‘host’ role are identified, along with the data-driven distinction of ‘lay’ and ‘elite’ callers. The empowering versus disempowering consequences of sequential turn allocation and identity categorization are explored, leading to some reflections on security versus human rights advocacy within terrorism talk. The contribution of this research to two research enterprises is then outlined. Firstly, we highlight the benefit that a combined CA/MCA approach, which foregrounds powerplay, offers to analysis of talk-in-interaction. Following which, we underline how placing such a micro-level spotlight on the seemingly mundane details of talk in context can offer valuable insights for critical terrorism studies

Thinking out loud: A discourse analysis of ‘thinking’ during talk radio interactions

Early work in discursive psychology highlighted the rhetorical strength of devices that serve to establish matters as objective facts. More recently, there has been increasing interest within this discipline concerning mental state invocations (e.g. imagining; knowing; intending), which typically convey speaker subjectivity. Elsewhere, linguists have examined the social business enabled by speakers’ deployment of cognitive verbs, a prime example of which deals with overt references to thinking. The current article sets out to extend the work on thinking by synthesizing research from discursive psychology, linguistics, and conversation analysis in order to undertake an integrated analysis of thinking. In our examination of a UK talk radio corpus, comprising data from 11 talk radio shows, we demonstrate three discursive functions of deploying a thinking device: setting an intersubjective agenda; doing opinion; and managing ‘facts’. An integrated approach allows us to examine the rhetorical strength of these subjectivizing maneuvers, and contribute to the existing body of work concerning the discursive deployment of thinking and mental state terms

Association between thyroid autoantibodies and miscarriage and preterm birth: meta-analysis of evidence

Objectives To evaluate the association between thyroid autoantibodies and miscarriage and preterm birth in women with normal thyroid function. To assess the effect of treatment with levothyroxine on pregnancy outcomes in this group of women

First trimester ultrasound measurements and maternal serum biomarkers as prognostic factors in monochorionic twins: a cohort study

Background: Monochorionic twin pregnancies are high-risk of adverse outcomes, but it is not possible to predict which pregnancies will develop complications. The aim of the study was to evaluate, in monochorionic twin pregnancies, whether first trimester ultrasound (nuchal translucency [NT], crown-rump length [CRL]) and maternal serum biomarkers (alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1), placental growth factor (PlGF)) are prognostic factors for fetal adverse outcome composite, twin-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS), growth restriction, and intrauterine fetal death (IUFD). Methods: Cohort study of 177 monochorionic diamniotic twin pregnancies. Independent prognostic ability of each factor was assessed by multivariable logistic regression, adjusting for standard prognostic factors. Factors were analysed as continuous data, thus the reported ORs relate either 1% change in NT or CRL inter-twin percentage discordance, or one unit of measure in each serum biomarker. Results: The odds of the fetal adverse outcome composite was significantly associated with increased NT inter-twin percentage discordance (adjusted OR 1.03 [95%CI 1.01,1.06]), and CRL inter-twin percentage discordance (adjusted OR 1.17 [95%CI 1.07,1.29]). TTTS was significantly associated with increased NT discordance (adjusted OR 1.06 [95%CI 1.03,1.10]), and decreased PlGF (adjusted OR 0.42 [95%CI 0.19,0.93]). Antenatal growth restriction was significantly associated with increased CRL discordance (adjusted OR 1.20 [95%CI 1.08,1.34]). Single and double IUFD were associated with decreased PlGF (adjusted OR 0.34 [95%CI 0.12,0.98]) and (adjusted OR 0.18 [95%CI 0.05,0.58]) respectively. Conclusion(s): This study has identified potential individual prognostic factors in the first trimester (fetal biometric and maternal serum biomarkers) that show promise but require further robust evaluation in a larger, prospective series of MC twin pregnancies, so that their usefulness both individually and in combination can be defined. Trial registration: ISRCTN 13114861 (retrospectively registered

Accurate quantification of nucleic acids using hypochromicity measurements in conjunction with UV spectrophotometry

UV absorbance spectrophotometry is widely used for the quantification of nucleic acids. For accurate quantification it is important to determine the hypochromocity of the oligonucleotide or complex nucleic acid structure. The use of thermal denaturation studies in conjunction with UV spectrophotometry to determine hypochromicity requires prolonged, elevated temperatures, which may cause partial hydrolysis of RNA. In addition, dsRNA is difficult to denature even at elevated temperature and the extinction coefficients of nucleic acids are also affected by temperature, which makes it difficult to accurately determine the nucleic acid concentration. To overcome these caveats, we have utilised the chemical denaturant dimethyl sulfoxide which, in conjunction with a short thermal denaturation prevents renaturation of the duplex nucleic acids (dsDNA/RNA). Using this approach, we have measured the absorbance of both the unstructured and structured nucleic acids to accurately measure their hypochromicity and determine their extinction coefficients. For a range of different dsRNA we have for the first time determined values of 46.18-47.29 µg/ml/A260 for the quantification of dsRNA using UV spectrophotometry. Moreover, this approach enables the accurate determination of the relative proportion of duplex nucleic acids in mixed ds/ss nucleic acid solutions, demonstrating significant advantages over current methods

The determinants of election to the United Nations Security Council

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11127-013-0096-4.The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is the foremost international body responsible for the maintenance of international peace and security. Members vote on issues of global importance and consequently receive perks—election to the UNSC predicts, for instance, World Bank and IMF loans. But who gets elected to the UNSC? Addressing this question empirically is not straightforward as it requires a model that allows for discrete choices at the regional and international levels; the former nominates candidates while the latter ratifies them. Using an original multiple discrete choice model to analyze a dataset of 180 elections from 1970 to 2005, we find that UNSC election appears to derive from a compromise between the demands of populous countries to win election more frequently and a norm of giving each country its turn. We also find evidence that richer countries from the developing world win election more often, while involvement in warfare lowers election probability. By contrast, development aid does not predict election

Exome Sequencing for Prenatal Detection of Genetic Abnormalities in Fetal Ultrasound Anomalies: An Economic Evaluation.

INTRODUCTION: In light of the prospective Prenatal Assessment of Genomes and Exomes (PAGE) study, this paper aimed to determine the additional costs of using exome sequencing (ES) alongside or in place of chromosomal microarray (CMA) in a fetus with an identified congenital anomaly. METHODS: A decision tree was populated using data from a prospective cohort of women undergoing invasive diagnostic testing. Four testing strategies were evaluated: CMA, ES, CMA followed by ES ("stepwise"); CMA and ES combined. RESULTS: When ES is priced at GBP 2,100 (EUR 2,407/USD 2,694), performing ES alone prenatally would cost a further GBP 31,410 (EUR 36,001/USD 40,289) per additional genetic diagnosis, whereas the stepwise would cost a further GBP 24,657 (EUR 28,261/USD 31,627) per additional genetic diagnosis. When ES is priced at GBP 966 (EUR 1,107/USD 1,239), performing ES alone prenatally would cost a further GBP 11,532 (EUR 13,217/USD 14,792) per additional genetic diagnosis, whereas the stepwise would cost a further additional GBP 11,639 (EUR 13,340/USD 14,929) per additional genetic diagnosis. The sub-group analysis suggests that performing stepwise on cases indicative of multiple anomalies at ultrasound scan (USS) compared to cases indicative of a single anomaly, is more cost-effective compared to using ES alone. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: Performing ES alongside CMA is more cost-effective than ES alone, which can potentially lead to improvements in pregnancy management. The direct effects of test results on pregnancy outcomes were not examined; therefore, further research is recommended to examine changes on the projected incremental cost-effectiveness ratios