Using the technology of the confessional as an analytical resource: four analytical stances towards research interviews in discourse analysis

Among the various approaches that have developed from FOUCAULT's work is an Anglophone discourse analysis that has attempted to combine Foucaultian insights with the techniques of Conversation Analysis. An important current methodological issue in this discourse analytical approach is its theoretical preference for "naturally occurring" rather than research interview data. A Foucaultian perspective on the interview as a research instrument, questions the idea of "naturally-occurring discourse". The "technology of the confessional" operates, not only within research interviews, but permeates other interactions as well. Drawing on FOUCAULT does not dismiss the problems of the interview as research instrument rather it shows they cannot be escaped by simply switching to more "natural" interactions. Combining these insights with recent developments within discourse analysis can provide analytical resources for, rather than barriers to, the discourse analysis of research interviews. To aid such an approach, we develop a four-way categorisation of analytical stances towards the research interview in discourse analysis. A demonstration of how a research interview might be subjected to a discourse analysis using elements of this approach is then provided

Democracy and Protectionism

Does democracy encourage free trade? It depends. Broadening the franchise involves transferring power from non-elected elites to the wider population, most of whom will be workers. The Hecksher-Ohlin-Stolper-Samuelson logic says that democratization should lead to more liberal trade policies in countries where workers stand to gain from free trade; and to more protectionist policies in countries where workers will benefit from the imposition of tariffs and quotas. We test and confirm these political economy implications of trade theory hypothesis using data on democracy, factor endowments, and protection in the late nineteenth century.

Made in America? The New World, the Old, and the Industrial Revolution

For two decades, the consensus explanation of the British Industrial Revolution has placed technological change and the supply side at center stage, affording little or no role for demand or overseas trade. Recently, alternative explanations have placed an emphasis on the importance of trade with New World colonies, and the expanded supply of raw cotton it provided. We test both hypotheses using calibrated general equilibrium models of the British economy and the rest of the world for 1760 and 1850. Neither claim is supported. Trade was vital for the progress of the industrial revolution; but it was trade with the rest of the world, not the American colonies, that allowed Britain to export its rapidly expanding textile output and achieve growth through extreme specialization in response to shifting comparative advantage.

Trade, Knowledge, and the Industrial Revolution

Technological change was unskilled-labor-biased during the early Industrial Revolution of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, but is skill-biased today. This fact is not embedded in extant unified growth models. We develop a model of the transition to sustained economic growth which can endogenously account for both these facts, by allowing the factor bias of technological innovations to reflect the profitmaximising decisions of innovators. Endowments dictated that the initial stages of the Industrial Revolution be unskilled-labor biased. The transition to skill-biased technological change was due to a growth in “Baconian knowledge” and international trade. Simulations show that the model does a good job of tracking reality, at least until the mass education reforms of the late nineteenth century.Endogenous growth, Demography, Trade

Luddites and the Demographic Transition

Technological change was unskilled-labor-biased during the early Industrial Revolution, but is skill-biased today. This is not embedded in extant unified growth models. We develop a model which can endogenously account for these facts, where factor bias reflects profit-maximizing decisions by innovators. Endowments dictate that the early Industrial Revolution be unskilled-labor-biased. Increasing basic knowledge causes a growth takeoff, an income-led demand for fewer educated children, and the transition to skill-biased technological change. The simulated model tracks British industrialization in the 18th and 19th centuries and generates a demographic transition without relying on either rising skill premia or exogenous educational supply shocks.

Isoform-level gene signature improves prognostic stratification and accurately classifies glioblastoma subtypes.

Molecular stratification of tumors is essential for developing personalized therapies. Although patient stratification strategies have been successful; computational methods to accurately translate the gene-signature from high-throughput platform to a clinically adaptable low-dimensional platform are currently lacking. Here, we describe PIGExClass (platform-independent isoform-level gene-expression based classification-system), a novel computational approach to derive and then transfer gene-signatures from one analytical platform to another. We applied PIGExClass to design a reverse transcriptase-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) based molecular-subtyping assay for glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the most aggressive primary brain tumors. Unsupervised clustering of TCGA (the Cancer Genome Altas Consortium) GBM samples, based on isoform-level gene-expression profiles, recaptured the four known molecular subgroups but switched the subtype for 19% of the samples, resulting in significant (P = 0.0103) survival differences among the refined subgroups. PIGExClass derived four-class classifier, which requires only 121 transcript-variants, assigns GBM patients' molecular subtype with 92% accuracy. This classifier was translated to an RT-qPCR assay and validated in an independent cohort of 206 GBM samples. Our results demonstrate the efficacy of PIGExClass in the design of clinically adaptable molecular subtyping assay and have implications for developing robust diagnostic assays for cancer patient stratification

Physical Properties of OSIRIS-REx Target Asteroid (101955) 1999 RQ36 derived from Herschel, ESO-VISIR and Spitzer observations

In September 2011, the Herschel Space Observatory performed an observation campaign with the PACS photometer observing the asteroid (101955) 1999 RQ36 in the far infrared. The Herschel observations were analysed, together with ESO VLT-VISIR and Spitzer-IRS data, by means of a thermophysical model in order to derive the physical properties of 1999 RQ36. We find the asteroid has an effective diameter in the range 480 to 511 m, a slightly elongated shape with a semi-major axis ratio of a/b=1.04, a geometric albedo of 0.045 +0.015/-0.012, and a retrograde rotation with a spin vector between -70 and -90 deg ecliptic latitude. The thermal emission at wavelengths below 12 micron -originating in the hot sub-solar region- shows that there may be large variations in roughness on the surface along the equatorial zone of 1999 RQ36, but further measurements are required for final proof. We determine that the asteroid has a disk-averaged thermal inertia of Gamma = 650 Jm-2s-0.5K-1 with a 3-sigma confidence range of 350 to 950 Jm-2s-0.5K-1, equivalent to what is observed for 25143 Itokawa and suggestive that 1999 RQ36 has a similar surface texture and may also be a rubble-pile in nature. The low albedo indicates that 1999 RQ36 very likely contains primitive volatile-rich material, consistent with its spectral type, and that it is an ideal target for the OSIRIS-REx sample return mission.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics, 9 pages, 7 figure

Trade, Knowledge, and the Industrial Revolution

Technological change was unskilled-labor-biased during the early Industrial Revolution of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, but is skill-biased today. This fact is not embedded in extant unified growth models. We develop a model of the transition to sustained economic growth which can endogenously account for both these facts, by allowing the factor bias of technological innovations to reflect the profit-maximising decisions of innovators. Endowments dictated that the initial stages of the Industrial Revolution be unskilled-labor biased. The transition to skill-biased technological change was due to a growth in "Baconian knowledge" and international trade. Simulations show that the model does a good job of tracking reality, at least until the mass education reforms of the late nineteenth century.

Factors associated with increased survival after surgical resection of glioblastoma in octogenarians.

Elderly patients with glioblastoma represent a clinical challenge for neurosurgeons and oncologists. The data available on outcomes of patients greater than 80 undergoing resection is limited. In this study, factors linked to increased survival in patients over the age of 80 were analyzed. A retrospective chart review of all patients over the age of 80 with a new diagnosis of glioblastoma and who underwent surgical resection with intent for maximal resection were examined. Patients who had only stereotactic biopsies were excluded. Immunohistochemical expression of oncogenic drivers (p53, EGFR, IDH-1) and a marker of cell proliferation (Ki-67 index) performed upon routine neuropathological examination were recorded. Stepwise logistic regression and Kaplan Meier survival curves were plotted to determine correlations to overall survival. Fifty-eight patients fit inclusion criteria with a mean age of 83 (range 80-93 years). The overall median survival was 4.2 months. There was a statistically significant correlation between Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) and overall survival (P < 0.05). There was a significantly longer survival among patients undergoing either radiation alone or radiation and chemotherapy compared to those who underwent no postoperative adjuvant therapy (p < 0.05). There was also an association between overall survival and lack of p53 expression (p < 0.001) and lack of EGFR expression (p <0.05). In this very elderly population, overall survival advantage was conferred to those with higher preoperative KPS, postoperative adjuvant therapy, and lack of protein expression of EGFR and p53. These findings may be useful in clinical decision analysis for management of patients with glioblastoma who are octogenarians, and also validate the critical role of EGFR and p53 expression in oncogenesis, particularly with advancing age

Luminous Intensity for Traffic Signals: A Scientific Basis for Performance Specifications

Humnan factors experiments on visual responses to simulated traffic signals using incandescent lamps and light-emitting diodes are described