Who Has Gotten Ahead after the Fall of Communism? The Case of the Czech Republic

Pierre Bourdieu's concept of various forms of capital are employed in a study of patterns of individual mobility in the postcommunist Czech Republic, drawing on secondary empirical data from a longitudinal study conducted by P. Mateju, M. Tucek, & L. Rezler (1991) in which 2,891 eighth-grade student questionnaires & 2,709 parent interviews were completed in 1989 & again in 1992. It is found that the former nomenklatura class has retained its social position due to its conversion of human & social capital into economic capital. However, a change from pre- to postcommunist society is detected in the increase of education as a facilitator of upward mobility. Finally, while cultural capital does not appear to significantly influence stratification, a strong relationship is found between social capital & upward mobility

Status of Direct-Acting Antiviral Therapy for Hepatitis C Virus Infection and Remaining Challenges

PMC6446912Chronic infection with hepatitis C virus is a major cause of liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma worldwide. After the discovery of hepatitis C virus 3 decades ago, the identification of the structure of the viral proteins, combined with high-throughput replicon models, enabled the discovery and development of direct-acting antivirals. These agents have revolutionized patient care, with cure rates of more than 90%. We review the status of direct-acting antiviral therapies for hepatitis C virus infection and discuss remaining challenges. We highlight licensed compounds, discuss the potential to shorten therapy even further, and review different options for treatment failure and resistance. We also provide an overview of clinical experience with generic agents and evidence for their efficacy. Finally, we discuss the need for new drugs and outline promising targets for future therapies

Primary Lumbo-sacral Spinal Epidural Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma: A Case Report and Review of Literature

We present a case of 24-year-old male presented with low back pain radiating to the left lower limb, tingling numbness and weakness of 6 months duration. Magnetic resonance imaging scan with contrast reveals an extradural mass at lumbosacral region. Patient was operated with laminectomy and complete excision of the lesion was done. Patient's radicular pain relieved following the surgery and weakness also improved. Histopathology was suggestive of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Patient received chemotherapy which was followed by radiotherapy. Primary Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the lumbosacral spinal epidural tissue is an uncommon lesion. Lymphoma involves the central nervous system in 5-11% of cases either at presentation of the disease or during its course. The spinal epidural tissue is involved primarily in 0.1-3.3% of cases with spinal cord compression being the commonest presentation. Excision of the lesion followed by chemotherapy and radiotherapy is required to achieve cure

Toward a Population Health Model of Segmented Assimilation: The Case of Low Birth Weight in Los Angeles

The authors adapt the segmented assimilation theory to a model population health, which posits that assimilation is actually harmful to migrants\u27 health. The authors also specify models of individual and contextual factors to indirectly test the theory of segmented assimilation - a theory that posits interactions between individual and residential circumstances. Using Year 2000 vital statistics data merged with 2000 U.S. census data from Los Angeles County, the authors model the probability of being born low birth weight among the native and foreign born. Results confirm an immigrant advantage at the individual level and protective effects of immigrant coresidence at the neighborhood level

Descent groups among cognatic societies: the Dusun tribes of Inland Sabah/North Borneo

In the following discussion, the authors present a comparison of various societies in Borneo which includes for the first time a society that features descent groups. The claim that the Dusun society of the Upper Labuk River in inland North Borneo or Sabah possesses descent groups is one that has yet to be acknowledged in the wider Borneo literature. Descent groups are typically representative of some form of lineally ordered kinship system. Claims that unilineal or ambilineal kinship systems might exist in Borneo have been greeted with little interest, with caution or sometimes with outright rejection. By comparing the social groups produced by the Dusun society of the Upper Labuk River against the social groups produced by the more typical cognatic societies of Borneo, we are putting forward the claim that kinship systems are, at least in this region, a matter of great importance to the kind of social groups that are subsequently produced. The authors are not, however, claiming that lineally ordered kinship systems are in and of themselves able to produce structurally stable groups. Although the following discussion does necessarily refer to one model of tribal organisation derived from a lineally ordered society in Africa, it goes on to show that the lineally ordered Dusun tribes of Borneo were uniquely a product of local arrangements established for the purpose of accommodating a native customary law prohibiting marriages between close cousins

Larry Smith and world Englishes

This article discusses the contribution of Professor Larry E. Smith to the field of world Englishes (WE), a linguistic and educational enterprise in which Professor Smith was a founding figure. The article traces the development of Smith’s thinking on world Englishes from early attempts to theorize English as an ‘international auxiliary language’ (EIAL), to a full theorization of world Englishes as a dynamic new field of study in the 1980s and 1990s. This discussion of Larry Smith’s work also acknowledges his contribution to such other related areas of study as intercultural communication, and intelligibility studies, as well as his enduring contribution to the World Englishes journal, and the International Association for World Englishes (IAWE).Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146279/1/weng12331_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146279/2/weng12331.pd

IMECE2009-10253 FLOW OF MICROFLUIDS IN CONVERGING MICROCHANNELS

ABSTRACT The interface between intersecting microfluidic multicomponent flow is investigated experimentally. Three microchannel configurations are studied. Each configuration has a main channel and an intersecting daughter channel. In two configurations, the channel cross sections are equal and square with the intersection either at 90 or 45 degrees. In the third configuration, the intersection is at 90 degrees, the cross sections are square and the daughter cross section is smaller than the main cross section. In the configurations with equal channel cross sections, microsphere solutions of 2, 4 and 7% spheres (by weight) are compared to each other as well as all water flows. Flow visualization is achieved using confocal fluorescence microscopy. A three-dimensional rendering of the location and shape of the interface is examined for a Reynolds number of approximately one. The presence of microspheres does not appear to strongly influence the location of the flow interface. For flows with equal cross section, the interface downstream of the junction is reasonably planer (two dimensional). Strong three-dimensional effects are shown for flows with unequal cross section

Adventures in Supersingularland

In this paper, we study isogeny graphs of supersingular elliptic curves. Supersingular isogeny graphs were introduced as a hard problem into cryptography by Charles, Goren, and Lauter for the construction of cryptographic hash functions [CGL06]. These are large expander graphs, and the hard problem is to find an efficient algorithm for routing, or path-finding, between two vertices of the graph. We consider four aspects of supersingular isogeny graphs, study each thoroughly and, where appropriate, discuss how they relate to one another. First, we consider two related graphs that help us understand the structure: the `spine' $\mathcal{S}$, which is the subgraph of $\mathcal{G}_\ell(\overline{\mathbb{F}_p})$ given by the $j$-invariants in $\mathbb{F}_p$, and the graph $\mathcal{G}_\ell(\mathbb{F}_p)$, in which both curves and isogenies must be defined over $\mathbb{F}_p$. We show how to pass from the latter to the former. The graph $\mathcal{S}$ is relevant for cryptanalysis because routing between vertices in $\mathbb{F}_p$ is easier than in the full isogeny graph. The $\mathbb{F}_p$-vertices are typically assumed to be randomly distributed in the graph, which is far from true. We provide an analysis of the distances of connected components of $\mathcal{S}$. Next, we study the involution on $\mathcal{G}_\ell(\overline{\mathbb{F}_p})$ that is given by the Frobenius of $\mathbb{F}_p$ and give heuristics on how often shortest paths between two conjugate $j$-invariants are preserved by this involution (mirror paths). We also study the related question of what proportion of conjugate $j$-invariants are $\ell$-isogenous for $\ell = 2,3$. We conclude with experimental data on the diameters of supersingular isogeny graphs when $\ell = 2$ and compare this with previous results on diameters of LPS graphs and random Ramanujan graphs.Comment: 46 pages. Comments welcom

On the eccentricity of self-gravitating circumstellar disks in eccentric binary systems

We study the evolution of circumstellar massive disks around the primary star of a binary system focusing on the computation of disk eccentricity. In particular, we concentrate on its dependence on the binary eccentricity. Self-gravity is included in our numerical simulations. Our standard model assumes a semimajor axis for the binary of 30 AU, the most probable value according to the present binary statistics.Comment: Accepted for publication on A&