Understanding the Alt-Right Brand Through a Comparative Look at Internal vs. External Rhetoric

This project examines the communications of the alt-Right, a relatively new white supremacist social movement in the US. The popularity of the alt-Right can be attributed to not only changing social conditions leading to rising instability but also rhetorically astute uses of new media. The alt-Right has been able to define its brand as an anti-political correctness coalition, and to communicate that brand identity to the public. When the brand identity eventually fell apart, so too did the movement.ut

Impacts of elevated atmospheric CO₂ on nutrient content of important food crops.

One of the many ways that climate change may affect human health is by altering the nutrient content of food crops. However, previous attempts to study the effects of increased atmospheric CO2 on crop nutrition have been limited by small sample sizes and/or artificial growing conditions. Here we present data from a meta-analysis of the nutritional contents of the edible portions of 41 cultivars of six major crop species grown using free-air CO2 enrichment (FACE) technology to expose crops to ambient and elevated CO2 concentrations in otherwise normal field cultivation conditions. This data, collected across three continents, represents over ten times more data on the nutrient content of crops grown in FACE experiments than was previously available. We expect it to be deeply useful to future studies, such as efforts to understand the impacts of elevated atmospheric CO2 on crop macro- and micronutrient concentrations, or attempts to alleviate harmful effects of these changes for the billions of people who depend on these crops for essential nutrients

Lay Theories About White Racists: What Constitutes Racism (and What Doesn't)

Psychological theories of racial bias assume a pervasive motivation to avoid appearing racist, yet researchers know little regarding laypeople's theories about what constitutes racism. By investigating lay theories of White racism across both college and community samples, we seek to develop a more complete understanding of the nature of race-related norms, motivations, and processes of social perception in the contemporary United States. Factor analyses in Studies 1 and 1a indicated three factors underlying the traits laypeople associate with White racism: evaluative, psychological, and demographic. Studies 2 and 2a revealed a three-factor solution for behaviors associated with White racism: discomfort/unfamiliarity, overt racism, and denial of problem. For both traits and behaviors, lay theories varied by participants' race and their race-related attitudes and motivations. Specifically, support emerged for the prediction that lay theories of racism reflect a desire to distance the self from any aspect of the category ‘racist’

Mitigation of Moral Hazard and Adverse Selection in Venture Capital Financing: The Influence of the Country’s Institutional Setting

A venture capitalist (VC) needs to trade off benefits and costs when attempting to mitigate agency problems in their investor-investee relationship. We argue that signals of ventures complement the VC’s capacity to screen and conduct a due diligence during the pre-investment phase, but its attractiveness may diminish in institutional settings supporting greater transparency. Similarly, whereas a VC may opt for contractual covenants to curb potential opportunism by ventures in the post-investment phase, this may only be effective in settings supportive of shareholder rights enforcement. Using an international sample of VC contracts, our study finds broad support for these conjectures. It delineates theoretical and practical implications for how investors can best deploy their capital in different institutional settings whilst nurturing their relationships with entrepreneurs

The Course of Psychological Distress and Determinants of Adjustment Following Diagnosis of Rheumatoid Arthritis

Chronic physical illnesses, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), that are painful and disabling not only impact on a person’s ability to complete normal daily activities (e.g. dressing, bathing, walking etc.) but may also have a negative impact on psychological well-being. Although a large number of prospective observational studies have examined psychological well-being in RA, none has used appropriate statistical techniques to examine variability in change over time at the individual level. The overarching aim of this dissertation is to use advanced quantitative methods to examine how psychological well-being in RA changes over the course of the disease; and to identify demographic, clinical and psychosocial factors that influence how the disease affects psychological well-being. This aim is addressed via a programme of research with three objectives: (i) to describe patterns of change in psychological well-being during the RA disease course; (ii) to quantify the association between psychological well-being and somatic symptoms; and (iii) to investigate the impact of illness cognitions and coping on psychological well-being. The programme of research consists mainly of analysis of a subsample of data collected as part of the Early RA Study (ERAS, N = 784), an ongoing observational study of RA patients followed prospectively from first presentation to a rheumatologist. A major problem relating to the assessment of psychological distress in individuals with chronic physical illness is the overlapping symptomatology with depression. An examination of the factorial validity of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), in the ERAS cohort, indicated the presence of a bifactor structure. Specifically, a general distress factor along with orthogonal (autonomic) anxiety and (anhedonic) depression factors was found to provide the optimal empirical explanation of the covariance in item responses. Further analysis, revealed that responses to one of the depression items were biased by disease severity. However, the magnitude of this bias was negligible, confirming the suitability of this tool in RA populations. For the ERAS cohort, general psychological distress was observed to reduce rapidly early in the course of the disease, stabilising after around two to three-years. However, further analysis suggested that subgroups with distinct longitudinal patterns of distress were present within the sample. Confirming observations in other disease groups, four distinct longitudinal patterns of distress were identified: resilient, chronic distress, delayed distress and recovered. Interestingly, changes in distress were related to self-reported somatic symptoms but not serological markers of disease activity. Building on these findings, analyses that jointly modelled changes in psychological distress with changes in the common somatic symptoms of pain and functional limitation revealed strong cross-sectional and longitudinal associations. This extends the findings of previous research by showing the importance of considering the impact of the disease course on the underlying trajectory of distress. Due to the lack of psychosocial data available in the ERAS cohort a further prospective study, involving 230 RA patients, was conducted to examine the influence of illness cognitions and coping on the affect of the disease on psychological well-being over a period of 6-months. Coping was not found to be related to changes in psychological well-being. Analysis revealed two groupings of patients with similar patterns of illness cognitions that were labelled adapters and non-adapters. Furthermore, cognitions concerning the attribution of symptoms to RA and the perceived personal consequences of their condition were related to changes in psychological distress, even after controlling for demographic and clinical characteristics; and there was some indication that a higher reported level of understanding of their condition was related to increased future positive outlook. In conclusion, the findings of this programme of research highlight the need for the early identification and treatment of RA, not only to slow the progression of the disease but also to maintain or improve psychological well-being. Early treatment is currently focused on pharmaceutical interventions. A tailored psychosomatic approach to treatment involving the skills of a wide range of health professionals, such as nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and psychologists is likely to improve outcomes in RA

Development, sensitivity and uncertainty analysis of LASH model

Diversos modelos hidrológicos têm sido desenvolvidos no intuito de auxiliar na gestão de recursos naturais em todo o mundo. Porém, a maioria desses modelos apresenta um alto grau de complexidade em relação tanto à necessidade de base de dados, quanto ao número de parâmetros de calibração. Em virtude desses fatores, se torna difícil a aplicação em bacias hidrográficas que têm bases de dados reduzidas. Neste artigo é descrito o desenvolvimento do modelo Lavras Simulation of Hydrology (LASH) em uma estrutura de SIG, buscando enfatizar seus principais componentes e parâmetros, bem como suas potencialidades. Além da descrição do modelo, também foram realizadas a análise de sensibilidade, a redução do intervalo de parâmetros e a análise de incertezas, anteriormente à fase de calibração, utilizando metodologias específicas (método de Morris, simulação de Monte Carlo e o método Generalized Likelihood Uncertainty Equation (GLUE)), com a base de dados de uma bacia hidrográfica experimental tropical brasileira (32 km²), a fim de simular a vazão total média diária. O LASH é um modelo classificado como determinístico e distribuído, que utiliza dados de longo termo e poucos mapas para predizer vazão na seção de controle de bacias hidrográficas. Foi possível identificar os parâmetros mais sensíveis do modelo para a bacia hidrográfica de referência, os quais estão associados com os componentes de escoamento de base e superficial direto. Em função do limiar conservador utilizado neste estudo, foram reduzidos os intervalos de dois parâmetros, dessa forma gerando resultados simulados mais realísticos e também facilitando a calibração automática do modelo com um menor número de iterações necessárias. O método da GLUE mostrou ser eficiente frente à análise de incertezas relacionadas à predição de vazão na bacia de estudo.Many hydrologic models have been developed to help manage natural resources all over the world. Nevertheless, most models have presented a high complexity regarding data base requirements, as well as, many calibration parameters. This has brought serious difficulties for applying them in watersheds where there is scarcity of data. The development of the Lavras Simulation of Hydrology (LASH) in a GIS framework is described in this study, which focuses on its main components, parameters, and capabilities. Coupled with LASH, sensitivity analysis, parameter range reduction, and uncertainty analysis were performed prior to the calibration effort by using specific techniques (Morris method, Monte Carlo simulation and a Generalized Likelihood Uncertainty Estimation -GLUE) with a data base from a Brazilian Tropical Experimental Watershed (32 km²), in order to predict streamflow on a daily basis. LASH is a simple deterministic and spatially distributed model using long-term data sets, and a few maps to predict streamflow at a watershed outlet. We were able to identify the most sensitive parameters which are associated with the base flow and surface runoff components, using a reference watershed. Using a conservative threshold, two parameters had their range of values reduced, thus resulting in outputs closer to measured values and facilitating automatic calibration of the model with less required iterations. GLUE was found to be an efficient method to analyze uncertainties related to the prediction of mean daily streamflow in the watershed

An Association of Cancer Physicians' strategy for improving services and outcomes for cancer patients.

The Association of Cancer Physicians in the United Kingdom has developed a strategy to improve outcomes for cancer patients and identified the goals and commitments of the Association and its members.The ACP is very grateful to all of its members who have expressed views on the development of the strategy and to the sponsors of our workshops and publications, especially Cancer Research UK and Macmillan Cancer SupportThis is the final version of the article. It was first available from Cancer Intelligence via http://dx.doi.org/10.3332/ecancer.2016.60

The Effect of the Environment on California's Commercial Fisheries

Long-term, naturally occurring cycles can cause significant shifts in marine ecosystems referred to as regime shifts. While the new regime can be as diverse and ecologically acceptable as that which it replaced, individual species may completely disappear or be greatly depressed when a regime shift occurs. In this work we examine an 80 year time series of California commercial fishery landings during which time the California current has been observed to shift from a warm to a cold then back to a warm regime. This period also captures the heyday of the U.S. Pacific sardine fishery in the 1930s, its collapse and its subsequent reemergence in the 1990s. We observe major changes in the species composition of commercial landings over this period and relate these changes to changes in the environment as expressed through changes in the forage base. Our initial findings suggest that while aggregate biomass may not be greatly affected by a regime shift, there can be significant changes in the operations of fisheries and in the economic value they generate.Keywords: Environmental, Ecological and Economic Considerations in the Conservation and Management of Forage Fish, Fisheries Economics, Fishery ManagementKeywords: Environmental, Ecological and Economic Considerations in the Conservation and Management of Forage Fish, Fisheries Economics, Fishery Managemen

Obstetric professionals’ perceptions of non-invasive prenatal testing for Down syndrome: clinical usefulness compared with existing tests and ethical implications

Background: While non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) for fetal aneuploidy is commercially available in many countries, little is known about how obstetric professionals in non-Western populations perceive the clinical usefulness of NIPT in comparison with existing first-trimester combined screening (FTS) for Down syndrome (DS) or invasive prenatal diagnosis (IPD), or perceptions of their ethical concerns arising from the use of NIPT. Methods: A cross-sectional survey among 327 obstetric professionals (237 midwives, 90 obstetricians) in Hong Kong. Results: Compared to FTS, NIPT was believed to: provide more psychological benefits and enable earlier consideration of termination of pregnancy. Compared to IPD, NIPT was believed to: provide less psychological stress for high-risk women and more psychological assurance for low-risk women, and offer an advantage to detect chromosomal abnormalities earlier. Significant differences in perceived clinical usefulness were found by profession and healthcare sector: (1) obstetricians reported more certain views towards the usefulness of NIPT than midwives and (2) professionals in the public sector perceived less usefulness of NIPT than the private sector. Beliefs about earlier detection of DS using NIPT were associated with ethical concerns about increasing abortion. Participants believing that NIPT provided psychological assurance among low-risk women were less likely to be concerned about ethical issues relating to informed decision-making and pre-test consultation for NIPT. Conclusions: Our findings suggest the need for political debate initially on how to ensure pregnant women accessing public services are informed about commercially available more advanced technology, but also on the potential implementation of NIPT within public services to improve access and equity to DS screening services