Do Terrorist Attacks Feed Populist Eurosceptics? Evidence from Two Comparative Quasi-Experiments

Over the recent years, Europe has experienced a series of Islamic terrorist attacks. We derive conflicting theoretical expectations on whether such attacks increase populist Euroscepticism in the form of anti-immigration, anti-refugee and anti-EU sentiment. Empirically, we exploit plausible exogenous variation in the exposure to the 2016 Berlin attack in two nationally representative surveys covering multiple European countries. We find no evidence for a populist response to the terrorist attack in any of the surveyed countries. On the contrary, people in Germany became more positive towards the EU in the wake of the Berlin attack. Moreover, we find little evidence that ideology shaped the response to the attack. Our findings suggest that terrorist attacks are not met by an immediate public populist response

Risk profiles and one-year outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation in India: Insights from the GARFIELD-AF Registry.

BACKGROUND: The Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF) is an ongoing prospective noninterventional registry, which is providing important information on the baseline characteristics, treatment patterns, and 1-year outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). This report describes data from Indian patients recruited in this registry. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 52,014 patients with newly diagnosed AF were enrolled globally; of these, 1388 patients were recruited from 26 sites within India (2012-2016). In India, the mean age was 65.8 years at diagnosis of NVAF. Hypertension was the most prevalent risk factor for AF, present in 68.5% of patients from India and in 76.3% of patients globally (P < 0.001). Diabetes and coronary artery disease (CAD) were prevalent in 36.2% and 28.1% of patients as compared with global prevalence of 22.2% and 21.6%, respectively (P < 0.001 for both). Antiplatelet therapy was the most common antithrombotic treatment in India. With increasing stroke risk, however, patients were more likely to receive oral anticoagulant therapy [mainly vitamin K antagonist (VKA)], but average international normalized ratio (INR) was lower among Indian patients [median INR value 1.6 (interquartile range {IQR}: 1.3-2.3) versus 2.3 (IQR 1.8-2.8) (P < 0.001)]. Compared with other countries, patients from India had markedly higher rates of all-cause mortality [7.68 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval 6.32-9.35) vs 4.34 (4.16-4.53), P < 0.0001], while rates of stroke/systemic embolism and major bleeding were lower after 1 year of follow-up. CONCLUSION: Compared to previously published registries from India, the GARFIELD-AF registry describes clinical profiles and outcomes in Indian patients with AF of a different etiology. The registry data show that compared to the rest of the world, Indian AF patients are younger in age and have more diabetes and CAD. Patients with a higher stroke risk are more likely to receive anticoagulation therapy with VKA but are underdosed compared with the global average in the GARFIELD-AF. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION-URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01090362

Engineering geology of British rocks and soils : Lambeth Group

The report is the fourth of a series that examines the distribution, lithostratigraphy, lithology, engineering properties and regional variation of the geological units that are significant to engineering geology, civil engineering construction and land-use in Britain. In this volume the Lambeth Group is described by its lithological variation, mineral composition, geophysical characterisation methods, geotechnical properties and engineering behaviour. The first section describes the geology including the deposits below and above, the named units, sequence stratigraphy and the lithological variation. The next chapter discusses the mineralogy, in particular the clay mineralogy and changes due to pedogenesis, which are illustrated with electron micrographs. Geophysical methods applicable to the Lambeth Group are described and discussed in the next section. This is followed by two sections on the geotechnical characteristics, the former describing the data acquisition, storage in the database, access and analysis and the latter the interpretation and presentation of the geotechnical data. The final chapter, on the engineering geology of the Lambeth Group, draws on the preceding chapters. A comprehensive cited reference list and bibliography are provided. The first three appendices provide extra information on the variability and distribution of the Lambeth Group and includes the type borehole, various cross-sections and an analysis of the described lithology type from borehole descriptions. The final appendix provided statistical summaries of the more commonly carried out geotechnical tests. The lithology of different boreholes are presented as in cross-sections and as with all nonconfidential boreholes held by the BGS are available, free to download (http://www.bgs.ac.uk/data/boreholescans/home.html). The individual items of data in the database are not attributed. The authors would like to thank all those who have contributed data to the BGS including clients, consultancies, contractors, authorities and individuals. It is hoped that this report will provide a useful sources of information to a wide range of engineers, planners, scientists and other interested parties concerned with the Lambeth Group. It is stressed that whilst data are included in this report, these indicate the variability of the particular parameter of each unit and might be used to identify hazards or risk; they are not a substitute for an appropriate ground investigation for the project, including desk study and site investigation. This is the case for all the ‘Engineering geology of UK rocks and soils’ reports but is more important for the Lambeth Group, which is often lithologically variable