When Do Opponents of Gay Rights Mobilize? Explaining Political Participation in Times of Backlash against Liberalism

Existing research suggests that supporters of gay rights have outmobilized their opponents, leading to policy changes in advanced industrialized democracies. At the same time, we observe the diffusion of state-sponsored homophobia in many parts of the world. The emergence of gay rights as a salient political issue in global politics leads us to ask, “Who is empowered to be politically active in various societies?” What current research misses is a comparison of levels of participation (voting and protesting) between states that make stronger and weaker appeals to homophobia. Voters face contrasting appeals from politicians in favor of and against gay rights globally. In an analysis of survey data from Europe and Latin America, we argue that the alignment between the norms of sexuality a state promotes and an individual’s personal attitudes on sexuality increases felt political efficacy. We find that individuals who are tolerant of homosexuality are more likely to participate in states with gay-friendly policies in comparison with intolerant individuals. The reverse also holds: individuals with low education levels that are intolerant of homosexuality are more likely to participate in states espousing political homophobia

A comparison of isotonic and elastic resistance exercise on trapezius muscle balance in overhead athletes

The scaption exercise (elevation of the arm in the scapular plane) is often performed in shoulder rehabilitation and preventive exercise programs. Three studies were performed to better understand the activation characteristics of the upper trapezius (UT) and lower trapezius (LT) muscles during scaption. The purpose of these studies was to 1) quantify and compare trapezius muscle activation ratios and onset of activation in normal subjects, 2) compare the findings from normal subjects with overhead athletes, and 3) compare the activation ratios and onset of the trapezius with 2 modes of resistance (elastic and isotonic) in overhead athletes. Methods. Healthy college-aged subjects performed scaption to 90⁰ with (W) and without (UW) standardized resistance. The average activation of the UT and LT was determined with surface electromyography (EMG) over 30⁰ increments in concentric and eccentric directions. The UT:LT ratio was then determined for each interval and condition, as well as the average onset of activation. Statistical analysis using repeated measures and t-tests were used to determine significant differences. Results. The UT:LT ratios of both W and UW conditions demonstrated a u-shaped curve over 90⁰. The UW condition consistently demonstrated significantly higher UT:LT ratios ranging from 1.5 to 4.5, while the W ranged from 0.9 to 2.4. There was no significant difference in activation ratios between athletes and non-athletes, or between elastic and isotonic resistance. The UT demonstrated earlier activation than the LT in the UW condition. The LT reduced its latency with the addition of resistance, reversing the firing order in overhead athletes. Isotonic resistance provided slightly faster activation of the LT compared to elastic resistance. Conclusion. These 3 studies suggest that overhead athletes demonstrate the same UT:LT ratios as non-athletes over 90⁰ during scaption with and without resistance. Adding resistance to the scaption exercise significantly reduces the UT:LT ratio and reverses the firing order, activating the LT significantly earlier than the UT. Both elastic and isotonic resistances demonstrate similar activation ratios in overhead athletes, although isotonic resistance activates the LT faster than elastic resistance. Using these results, clinicians may improve their clinical decision-making in prescribing scaption exercises

The Startup and Evolution of The State Journal: A Statewide Newspaper Reports on Business

Two Charleston, West Virginia, brothers, Robert C. and Henry E. Payne, III, and Charleston lawyer Fred F. Holroyd established The State Journal in October 1984 as a weekly newspaper to serve a statewide business readership. The newspaper evolved through difficult early years and eventually became profitable through the sales leadership of Lorenelle White, who would purchase the newspaper with her husband in 1997. She eventually would re-establish the newspaper’s weekly publishing cycle. The Whites would sell The State Journal in 2001 to a newly formed media business, West Virginia Media Holdings, which would increase in the newspaper’s editorial resources. Since that time, the newspaper has received national recognition for its news coverage. The State Journal is now 21 years old and employs about 20 people, including nine news personnel

Theorizing Potential Downstream Cultural Consequences of LGBT+ Activism

Abstract To what extent does local LGBT+ activism have impacts beyond its immediate surroundings? We offer a theoretical framework emphasizing how a combination of local movement visibility and LGBT+ cultural receptivity can account for disseminating influences of LGBT+ activism. We illustrate our framework in part through an analysis of the potential diffusion of LGBT+ support in Bosnia in the aftermath of the country’s first-ever Pride. Our model explains why the 2019 Sarajevo Pride increased LGBT+ support locally but had no immediate effects on attitudes in greater Bosnia. It also explains why LGBT+ support has since expanded beyond the capital to Bosnia’s surrounding regions in a follow-up 2021 study. Even when local LGBT+ visibility is low or nonexistent, underlying cultural receptivity can be conducive to the gradual diffusion of LGBT+ support. Moreover, the challenging circumstances of the pandemic did not undermine the expansion of LGBT+ tolerance across Bosnia. Our findings illustrate the persistent power as well as limitations of LGBT+ activism to usher in downstream cultural change

Mobilization of colloids in groundwater due to infiltration of water at a coal ash disposal site

We investigated groundwaters in the vicinity of a coal ash site near an electric generating station in the western U.S.A. The purpose of the study was to ascertain why fine particles or colloids appear in some subsurface water samples there. If such fine particles are merely introduced during bailing or pumping operations which suspend otherwise immobile soil colloids, we should exclude these particulate materials from the water samples before analysis intended to quantify what is moving through the aquifer. However, if the colloids were truly suspended and moving with the groundwater flow in situ, then we should include their contribution to our assessment of the mobile loads. Application of very careful sampling techniques (slow pumping rates, no atmospheric exposure) did not cause the large quantities of colloids observed previously to disappear from well water in which they occurred. Additionally, the same sampling procedures did not cause similar abun- dances of colloids to appear in waters collected from neighboring wells installed and' developed in the same manner and in the same geologic strata. Thus we believe sampling artifacts do not explain the colloids' presence in the groundwater samples. On the other hand, the groundwater chemistry and the nature of the suspended colloids (size, composition) strongly suggest these fine particles were suspended and therefore moving with the groundwater flow. At wells exhibiting large amounts of suspended colloids (- 10-100mg L-), the water was enriched in CO2 and depleted in 02 relative to nearby locations. The colloids were typically between 0.1 and 2 gm in size and were primarily silicates. These results suggest to us that, where infiltrating water is percolating through a site that has been mixed with coal ash, the secondary carbonate minerals in the soils are being dissolved; removal of this cementing carbonate phase may consequently release soil silicate colloids to be carried in the flowing water. Such processes may enhance contaminant transport in groundwater by augmenting the pollutant load moving in the groundwater, and increasing the permeability of the porous medium to pollutant infiltration with waste water and/or rainwater

Using Bioenergetics and Radar-Derived Bird Abundance to Assess the Impact of a Blackbird Roost on Seasonal Sunflower Damage

Methods aimed at reducing avian damage to agricultural crops are routinely implemented in situations where efficacy can be assessed by quantifying blackbird (Icteridae) abundance relative to environmental variables and extrapolating to ensuing crop damage. Concomitantly, Weather Surveillance Radar (WSR) data may have potential to enhance crop damage mitigation through improved monitoring of nuisance wildlife populations. We used WSR to derive daily abundance estimates of blackbirds at a fall roost in North Dakota, USA from 2012 to 2019. We integrated these estimates with previously developed bioenergetics-economic models to estimate local sunflower (Helianthus annuus) damage. The greatest losses usually occurred during a brief period in October, when peak blackbird abundance coincided with large percentages (\u3e50%) of mature but unharvested sunflower fields. Most sunflower fields were harvested later than peak blackbird abundance (360,000–1,120,000 birds) and maximum daily damages ($900–$2,000 USD per day). This seasonal trend suggests advancing harvest time as a strategy to avoid the greatest losses in yield (up to $1,800 in savings at this 1 roost), which may be attainable by earlier planting of early-maturing crop varieties or crop desiccation

Epigenetics, heritability and longitudinal analysis

Background Longitudinal data and repeated measurements in epigenome-wide association studies (EWAS) provide a rich resource for understanding epigenetics. We summarize 7 analytical approaches to the GAW20 data sets that addressed challenges and potential applications of phenotypic and epigenetic data. All contributions used the GAW20 real data set and employed either linear mixed effect (LME) models or marginal models through generalized estimating equations (GEE). These contributions were subdivided into 3 categories: (a) quality control (QC) methods for DNA methylation data; (b) heritability estimates pretreatment and posttreatment with fenofibrate; and (c) impact of drug response pretreatment and posttreatment with fenofibrate on DNA methylation and blood lipids. Results Two contributions addressed QC and identified large statistical differences with pretreatment and posttreatment DNA methylation, possibly a result of batch effects. Two contributions compared epigenome-wide heritability estimates pretreatment and posttreatment, with one employing a Bayesian LME and the other using a variance-component LME. Density curves comparing these studies indicated these heritability estimates were similar. Another contribution used a variance-component LME to depict the proportion of heritability resulting from a genetic and shared environment. By including environmental exposures as random effects, the authors found heritability estimates became more stable but not significantly different. Two contributions investigated treatment response. One estimated drug-associated methylation effects on triglyceride levels as the response, and identified 11 significant cytosine-phosphate-guanine (CpG) sites with or without adjusting for high-density lipoprotein. The second contribution performed weighted gene coexpression network analysis and identified 6 significant modules of at least 30 CpG sites, including 3 modules with topological differences pretreatment and posttreatment. Conclusions Four conclusions from this GAW20 working group are: (a) QC measures are an important consideration for EWAS studies that are investigating multiple time points or repeated measurements; (b) application of heritability estimates between time points for individual CpG sites is a useful QC measure for DNA methylation studies; (c) drug intervention demonstrated strong epigenome-wide DNA methylation patterns across the 2 time points; and (d) new statistical methods are required to account for the environmental contributions of DNA methylation across time. These contributions demonstrate numerous opportunities exist for the analysis of longitudinal data in future epigenetic studies

Manganese-Enhanced T₁ Mapping in the Myocardium of Normal and Infarcted Hearts

Background. Manganese-enhanced MRI (MEMRI) has the potential to identify viable myocardium and quantify calcium influx and handling. Two distinct manganese contrast media have been developed for clinical application, mangafodipir and EVP1001-1, employing different strategies to mitigate against adverse effects resulting from calcium-channel agonism. Mangafodipir delivers manganese ions as a chelate, and EVP1001-1 coadministers calcium gluconate. Using myocardial T1 mapping, we aimed to explore chelated and nonchelated manganese contrast agents, their mechanism of myocardial uptake, and their application to infarcted hearts. Methods. T1 mapping was performed in healthy adult male Sprague-Dawley rats using a 7T MRI scanner before and after nonchelated (EVP1001-1 or MnCl2 (22 μmol/kg)) or chelated (mangafodipir (22–44 μmol/kg)) manganese-based contrast media in the presence of calcium channel blockade (diltiazem (100–200 μmol/kg/min)) or sodium chloride (0.9%). A second cohort of rats underwent surgery to induce anterior myocardial infarction by permanent coronary artery ligation or sham surgery. Infarcted rats were imaged with standard gadolinium delayed enhancement MRI (DEMRI) with inversion recovery techniques (DEMRI inversion recovery) as well as DEMRI T1 mapping. A subsequent MEMRI scan was performed 48 h later using either nonchelated or chelated manganese and T1 mapping. Finally, animals were culled at 12 weeks, and infarct size was quantified histologically with Masson’s trichrome (MTC). Results. Both manganese agents induced concentration-dependent shortening of myocardial T1 values. This was greatest with nonchelated manganese, and could be inhibited by 30–43% with calcium-channel blockade. Manganese imaging successfully delineated the area of myocardial infarction. Indeed, irrespective of the manganese agent, there was good agreement between infarct size on MEMRI T1 mapping and histology (bias 1.4%, 95% CI −14.8 to 17.1 P&gt;0.05). In contrast, DEMRI inversion recovery overestimated infarct size (bias 11.4%, 95% CI −9.1 to 31.8 P=0.002), as did DEMRI T1 mapping (bias 8.2%, 95% CI −10.7 to 27.2 P=0.008). Increased manganese uptake was also observed in the remote myocardium, with remote myocardial ∆T1 inversely correlating with left ventricular ejection fraction after myocardial infarction (r=−0.61, P=0.022). Conclusions. MEMRI causes concentration and calcium channel-dependent myocardial T1 shortening. MEMRI with T1 mapping provides an accurate assessment of infarct size and can also identify changes in calcium handling in the remote myocardium. This technique has potential applications for the assessment of myocardial viability, remodelling, and regeneration.</jats:p