Reforming the Rentier State: The Imperatives for Change in the Gulf

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Are Changes in Consumption of “Healthy” Foods Related to Changes in Consumption of “Unhealthy” Foods During Pediatric Obesity Treatment?

Increasing fruits and vegetables (FVs), a dietary recommendation for pediatric weight management, is theorized to reduce energy intake by reducing intake of more energy-dense foods, such as snack foods (SFs). This study examined the relationship between changes in FV, SF, and energy intake in children enrolled in a 6-month, family-based behavioral pediatric weight management trial. Secondary data analyses examined dietary intake in 80 overweight (≥85th to <95th percentile for body mass index [BMI]) and obese (≥95th percentile for BMI) children (7.2 ± 1.7 years) with complete dietary records at 0 and 6 months. Participants were randomized to one of three treatment conditions: (1) increased growth monitoring with feedback; (2) decrease SFs and sugar sweetened beverages; or (3) increase FVs and low-fat dairy. With treatment condition controlled in all analyses, FV intake significantly increased, while SF and energy intake decreased, but not significantly, from 0 to 6 months. Change in FV intake was not significantly associated with change in SF consumption. Additionally, change in FV intake was not significantly related to change in energy intake. However, reduction in SF intake was significantly related to reduction in energy intake. Changing only FVs, as compared to changing other dietary behaviors, during a pediatric obesity intervention may not assist with reducing energy intake

Prerequisites for Successful Fiscal Reform: Some Preliminary Results

Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting and Financial Management, Winter 1998.Refereed Journal ArticleThis paper examines whether any relationship exists between success or failure of policy reform on the one hand, and various political/economic conditions in place at the time of reform on the other. Nineteen countries were scored using three financial variables to measure the degree of success or failure of the reform. The independent variables were country scores for ten different economic and political conditions. The independent variables were used to try and predict a priori which of the nineteen countries would succeed and which would fail. Eighteen of the nineteen countries were correctly placed into their respective success group. However only three of the ten conditions appeared important in predicting success: a visionary leader, a crisis, and a comprehensive program. Other writers have suggested different sets of predicting variables

Dense Molecular Gas In A Young Cluster Around MWC 1080 -- Rule Of The Massive Star

We present CS $J = 2 \to 1$, $^{13}$CO $J = 1 \to 0$, and C$^{18}$O $J = 1 \to 0$, observations with the 10-element Berkeley Illinois Maryland Association (BIMA) Array toward the young cluster around the Be star MWC 1080. These observations reveal a biconical outflow cavity with size $\sim$ 0.3 and 0.05 pc for the semimajor and semiminor axis and $\sim$ 45\arcdeg position angle. These transitions trace the dense gas, which is likely the swept-up gas of the outflow cavity, rather than the remaining natal gas or the outflow gas. The gas is clumpy; thirty-two clumps are identified. The identified clumps are approximately gravitationally bound and consistent with a standard isothermal sphere density, which suggests that they are likely collapsing protostellar cores. The gas kinematics suggests that there exists velocity gradients implying effects from the inclination of the cavity and MWC 1080. The kinematics of dense gas has also been affected by either outflows or stellar winds from MWC 1080, and lower-mass clumps are possibly under stronger effects from MWC 1080 than higher-mass clumps. In addition, low-mass cluster members tend to be formed in the denser and more turbulent cores, compared to isolated low-mass star-forming cores. This results from contributions of nearby forming massive stars, such as outflows or stellar winds. Therefore, we conclude that in clusters like the MWC 1080 system, effects from massive stars dominate the star-forming environment in both the kinematics and dynamics of the natal cloud and the formation of low-mass cluster members. This study provides insights into the effects of MWC 1080 on its natal cloud, and suggests a different low-mass star forming environment in clusters compared to isolated star formation.Comment: 42 pages, 5 tables, and 13 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Partnering with the Old Order Mennonites in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State to Identify the Mechanisms of Protective Immunity Against Atopic Disease Development

Old Order Mennonites (OOM) follow a traditional agrarian lifestyle; key aspects include home births, large families, limited antibiotic usage, consumption of whole foods and unpasteurized milk, and early exposure to soil, stables, and farm animals. There is evidence that a farming lifestyle protects against asthma and allergies, yet the biological mechanisms behind this protective effect remain unknown. The “Zooming into Old Order Mennonites” (ZOOM) cohort study was established to further explore protective factors and mechanisms. This study compares immune development among OOM children from the Finger Lakes Region of New York to those residing 65 miles northwest in Rochester, NY. Participants completed prenatal and post-natal questionnaires and biomarker sampling throughout the infant’s first two years. Questionnaires on lifestyle, diet, and environmental exposures continued through year five. The success of this study depended on a partnership between the University of Rochester study team and the OOM community, which began in 2009 with a pilot study on prenatal lifestyle behaviors and environmental exposures. Since then, the study team and the OOM community have collaborated to investigate the prevalence and mechanisms underlying atopic disease. The study team has remained mindful of OOM cultural practices by carefully engaging community members and potential participants through key informant interviews, focus groups, and “town hall” data-sharing meetings. To truly respect this community, they must be involved at every step of the research process. Through these efforts, the ZOOM study team recruited 90 OOM mother-infant pairs. Ultimately, this study marks a step closer to preventing allergic disease. [Abstract by authors.

Violent extremism and terrorism online in 2021: The year in review

The 2021 Year in Review treats developments in the violent extremist and terrorist online scene(s) in the 12-month period from 1 December 2020 to 30 November 2021. It accomplishes this by surveying, describing, and integrating the findings of relevant articles and reports produced by academics, think tanks, civil society, and governmental organisations; high quality media coverage; and the first-hand experience and primary research of the authors. The March 2019 Christchurch attacks, a series of subsequent attacks in the United States, Germany, and elsewhere, events online and offline around the US Presidential election, and a general uptick in ‘real world’ and extreme right online activity globally during the Covid-19 pandemic have all put violent extreme right (online) activity firmly centre stage however, which is reproduced in the structuring of the present report. This does not necessarily mean that the threat from violent jihadism is diminished, but rather reflects the reason behind the increased focus by a range of relevant actors on the risks posed by unfettered online violent extreme right activit

CARMA Large Area Star Formation Survey: Observational Analysis of Filaments in the Serpens South Molecular Cloud

We present the N2H+(J=1-0) map of the Serpens South molecular cloud obtained as part of the CARMA Large Area Star Formation Survey (CLASSy). The observations cover 250 square arcminutes and fully sample structures from 3000 AU to 3 pc with a velocity resolution of 0.16 km/s, and they can be used to constrain the origin and evolution of molecular cloud filaments. The spatial distribution of the N2H+ emission is characterized by long filaments that resemble those observed in the dust continuum emission by Herschel. However, the gas filaments are typically narrower such that, in some cases, two or three quasi-parallel N2H+ filaments comprise a single observed dust continuum filament. The difference between the dust and gas filament widths casts doubt on Herschel ability to resolve the Serpens South filaments. Some molecular filaments show velocity gradients along their major axis, and two are characterized by a steep velocity gradient in the direction perpendicular to the filament axis. The observed velocity gradient along one of these filaments was previously postulated as evidence for mass infall toward the central cluster, but these kind of gradients can be interpreted as projection of large-scale turbulence.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, published in ApJL (July 2014

A Bima Array Survey of Molecules in Comets Linear (C/2002 T7) and Neat (C/2001 Q4)

We present an interferometric search for large molecules, including methanol, methyl cyanide, ethyl cyanide, ethanol, and methyl formate in comets LINEAR (C/2002 T7) and NEAT (C/2001 Q4) with the Berkeley-Illinois-Maryland Association (BIMA) array. In addition, we also searched for transitions of the simpler molecules CS, SiO, HNC, HN13C and 13CO . We detected transitions of methanol and CS around Comet LINEAR and one transition of methanol around Comet NEAT within a synthesized beam of ~20''. We calculated the total column density and production rate of each molecular species using the variable temperature and outflow velocity (VTOV) model described by Friedel et al.(2005).Considering the molecular production rate ratios with respect to water, Comet T7 LINEAR is more similar to Comet Hale-Bopp while Comet Q4 NEAT is more similar to Comet Hyakutake. It is unclear, however, due to such a small sample size, whether there is a clear distinction between a Hale-Bopp and Hyakutake class of comet or whether comets have a continuous range of molecular production rate ratios.Comment: Accepted for Publication in the Astrophysical Journa