The Paradoxes of Recovery Policy: Exploring the Impact of Austerity and Responsibilisation for the Citizenship Claims of People with Drug Problems

This article critically examines the implications accompanying the introduction and implementation of recovery-based policy. The article draws upon research conducted in Lancashire, England, where commissioners have been at the forefront of recent developments in ‘whole system’ models of commissioning. Empirical data are drawn on to make a series of new arguments about the tensions and practice implications of the new recovery agenda. The article has three main objectives. First, it explores current shifts in England, in which drug service commissioning has moved from being centrally funded and directed, to locally determined. Second, it references the rise of the well-informed user in the reconfigured landscape of recovery and the ways in which commissioning models may enhance or negate the contribution of user activists to local cultures of recovery. Third, it references the changing political context, in which austerity is being used to increase the pressure on provider services to demonstrate social value, utility and effectiveness. The article argues that there is a palpable need to re-politicize drug debates and recognize the structural and demographic factors which frame problem drug use, as well as the social and cultural factors which support or negate their opportunities for recovery

An Examination of Heir Property, the 1980 Emergency Land Fund Study, and Analysis of Factors that Influence African American Farmers\u27 Actions Related to Farmland

Abstract The study focused on heir property and analyzing African American farmers continuing in farming and dealing with clouded title. It specifically assessed the main issues raised by the 1980 Emergency Land Fund’s (ELF) study. It also surveyed a sample of African American farmers on heir property and related issues. It used descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis to analyze the data. It found that 35% of respondents had a portion of their farms (50% or less) on heir property. This study reasonably confirms ELF’s findings on the percentage of African American-owned land held as heir property. Also, for farmers, being paid a claim under Pigford, filing a claim, and farm size had significant effects on continue farming (i.e., staying in farming). Continue farming had a significant effect on taking action to resolve clouded title. Being paid and size matters to continue farming, and continue farming matters to clearing clouded title. Keywords: Heir Property, Emergency Land Fund, Land Loss, African American Farmer

Genetic Analysis of Yeast Sec24p Mutants Suggests Cargo Binding Is Not Co-operative during ER Export

Many eukaryotic secretory proteins are selected forexport from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) through theirinteraction with the Sec24p subunit of the coat protein II(COPII) coat. Three distinct cargo-binding sites on yeastSec24p have been described by biochemical, genetic andstructural studies. Each site recognizes a limited set ofpeptide motifs or a folded structural domain, however,the breadth of cargo recognized by a given site and thedynamics of cargo engagement remain poorly under-stood. We aimed to gain further insight into the broadermolecular function of one of these cargo-binding sitesusing a non-biased genetic approach. We exploited thein vivolethality associated with mutation of the Sec24pB-site to identify genes that suppress this phenotypewhen overexpressed. We identifiedSMY2as a gen-eral suppressor that rescued multiple defects in Sec24p,andSEC22as a specific suppressor of two adjacentcargo-binding sites, raising the possibility of allostericregulation of these domains. We generated a novel setof mutations in Sec24p thatdistinguish these two sitesand examined the ability of Sec22p to rescue these muta-tions. Our findings suggest that co-operativity does notinfluence cargo capture at these sites, and that Sec22prescue occurs via its function as a retrograde SNARE

Magnetic Vortex Resonance in Patterned Ferromagnetic Dots

We report a high-resolution experimental detection of the resonant behavior of magnetic vortices confined in small disk-shaped ferromagnetic dots. The samples are magnetically soft Fe-Ni disks of diameter 1.1 and 2.2 um, and thickness 20 and 40 nm patterned via electron beam lithography onto microwave co-planar waveguides. The vortex excitation spectra were probed by a vector network analyzer operating in reflection mode, which records the derivative of the real and the imaginary impedance as a function of frequency. The spectra show well-defined resonance peaks in magnetic fields smaller than the characteristic vortex annihilation field. Resonances at 162 and 272 MHz were detected for 2.2 and 1.1 um disks with thickness 40 nm, respectively. A resonance peak at 83 MHz was detected for 20-nm thick, 2-um diameter disks. The resonance frequencies exhibit weak field dependence, and scale as a function of the dot geometrical aspect ratio. The measured frequencies are well described by micromagnetic and analytical calculations that rely only on known properties of the dots (such as the dot diameter, thickness, saturation magnetization, and exchange stiffness constant) without any adjustable parameters. We find that the observed resonance originates from the translational motion of the magnetic vortex core.Comment: submitted to PRB, 17 pages, 5 Fig

Useful knowledge, 'industrial enlightenment', and the place of India

Research is now turning to the missing place of technology and ‘useful knowledge’ in the debate on the ‘great divergence’ between East and West. Parallel research in the history of science has sought the global dimensions of European knowledge. Joel Mokyr's recent The Enlightened Economy (2009) argued the place of an exceptional ‘industrial enlightenment’ in Europe in explaining industrialization there, but neglected the wide geographic framework of European investigation of the arts and manufactures. This article presents two case studies of European industrial travellers who accessed and described Indian crafts and industries at the time of Britain's industrial revolution and Europe's Enlightenment discourse on crafts and manufactures. The efforts of Anton Hove and Benjamin Heyne to ‘codify’ the ‘tacit’ knowledge of a part of the world distant from Europe were hindered by the English East India Company and the British state. Their accounts, only published much later, provide insight into European perceptions of India's ‘useful knowledge’

Broadband terahertz heterodyne spectrometer exploiting synchrotron radiation at megahertz resolution

International audienceA new spectrometer allowing both high resolution and broadband coverage in the terahertz (THz) domain is proposed. This instrument exploits the heterodyne technique between broadband synchrotron radiation and a quantum cascade laser (QCL) based molecular THz laser that acts as the local oscillator (LO). Proof of principle for exploitation for spectroscopy is provided by the recording of molecular absorptions of hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) and methanol (CH 3 OH) around 1.073 THz. Ultimately, the spectrometer will enable to cover the 1-4 THz region in 5 GHz windows at Doppler resolution

SCoOP Acute Hospital Outcomes Report : An overview of outcomes of acute geriatric medicine services in Scotland

Hospital Reports 2017/18Publisher PD

Prevalence and temporal trends of crack injection among injection drug users in eastern central Canada

Background: Little is known about crack injection and its temporal trends in North America. This article describes the extent of crack injection and examines temporal trends among injection drug users (IDUs) recruited from 2003 to 2010 in the SurvUDI network. Methods: IDUs who injected recently (past 6 months) were recruited in harm reduction and health programs in eastern central Canada. Trend analyses were performed using generalized estimating equations. Some IDUs participated multiple times; first interview was retained for the descriptive analyses, while first interview per year was retained for the trend analyses. Results: Of the 4088 IDUs recruited, 15.2% (621) reported crack injection; large variations across sites were noted (range: 0.3%-39.5%). Trend analyses were limited to Ottawa (449 crack injectors) and Montréal (121). For Ottawa, a significant decline was observed, from 48.3% to 36.9%, with a prevalence ratio (PR) of 0.97 per year (95%CI: 0.94-0.99). For Montréal, a significant rise was observed, from 6.0% to 18.4%, with a PR of 1.29 per year (95%CI: 1.19-1.40). Conclusions: Strong variations in crack injection exist throughout the SurvUDI network, and reversed temporal trends have been observed in Ottawa and Montréal. These data will be useful to local harm reduction programs to evaluate the need to distribute items required by crack injectors and to develop prevention messages

Sec24p and Sec16p cooperate to regulate the GTP cycle of the COPII coat

Vesicle budding from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) employs a cycle of GTP binding and hydrolysis to regulate assembly of the COPII coat. We have identified a novel mutation (sec24‐m11) in the cargo‐binding subunit, Sec24p, that specifically impacts the GTP‐dependent generation of vesicles in vitro. Using a high‐throughput approach, we defined genetic interactions between sec24‐m11 and a variety of trafficking components of the early secretory pathway, including the candidate COPII regulators, Sed4p and Sec16p. We defined a fragment of Sec16p that markedly inhibits the Sec23p‐ and Sec31p‐stimulated GTPase activity of Sar1p, and demonstrated that the Sec24p‐m11 mutation diminished this inhibitory activity, likely by perturbing the interaction of Sec24p with Sec16p. The consequence of the heightened GTPase activity when Sec24p‐m11 is present is the generation of smaller vesicles, leading to accumulation of ER membranes and more stable ER exit sites. We propose that association of Sec24p with Sec16p creates a novel regulatory complex that retards the GTPase activity of the COPII coat to prevent premature vesicle scission, pointing to a fundamental role for GTP hydrolysis in vesicle release rather than in coat assembly/disassembly

Soliton pair dynamics in patterned ferromagnetic ellipses

Confinement alters the energy landscape of nanoscale magnets, leading to the appearance of unusual magnetic states, such as vortices, for example. Many basic questions concerning dynamical and interaction effects remain unanswered, and nanomagnets are convenient model systems for studying these fundamental physical phenomena. A single vortex in restricted geometry, also known as a non-localized soliton, possesses a characteristic translational excitation mode that corresponds to spiral-like motion of the vortex core around its equilibrium position. Here, we investigate, by a microwave reflection technique, the dynamics of magnetic soliton pairs confined in lithographically defined, ferromagnetic Permalloy ellipses. Through a comparison with micromagnetic simulations, the observed strong resonances in the subgigahertz frequency range can be assigned to the translational modes of vortex pairs with parallel or antiparallel core polarizations. Vortex polarizations play a negligible role in the static interaction between two vortices, but their effect dominates the dynamics.Comment: supplemental movies on http://www.nature.com/nphys/journal/v1/n3/suppinfo/nphys173_S1.htm