Neoliberal reform and protest in Latin American democracies: A replication and correction

Do neoliberal economic reforms in Latin American democracies mobilize citizens to overcome their collective action problems and protest? A recent addition to the scholarship on this crucial question of the relationship of markets and politics, Bellinger and Arce (2011), concludes that economic liberalization does have this effect, working to repoliticize collective actors and reinvigorate democracy. We reexamine the article’s analyses and demonstrate that they misinterpret the marginal effect of the variables of theoretical interest. Thus, the article’s optimistic claims about the consequences for democracy of economic liberalization in the region are not supported by its own empirical results. It is argued here that its results suggest instead that protests became more common in autocracies when they moved away from markets. Rather than speaking to how people have mobilized to protest against liberal reforms in Latin America’s democracies, the work’s analyses illuminate only when people protested against the region’s dictatorship

Prevalence of <i>Mycobacterium avium</i> in Slaughter Pigs Based on Serological Monitoring Results and Bacteriological Validation

Mycobacterium avium (MA) is a potential food safety hazard in pigs. Blood samples of slaughtered pigs in the Netherlands and Germany were tested for the presence of MA antibodies to estimate the serological prevalence in the tested population. In the Dutch and German population 1.0% and 1.7% samples were positive, and 0.5% and 17.4% of the herds were at risk for having a MA infection respectively. The validity of the applied MA-ELISA was evaluated under field conditions. The specificity of the MA-ELISA was high (>98.4%). The average herd sensitivity was 18%. In the affected herds on average 50% of the animals were tested bacteriological positive for MA. It can be concluded that serological screening for the presence of MA antibodies is capable of identifying pig populations that are at risk for a MA infection

Muon spin rotation and relaxation in magnetic materials

A review of the muon spin rotation and relaxation ($\mu$SR) studies on magnetic materials published from July 1993 is presented. It covers the investigation of magnetic phase diagrams, of spin dynamics and the analysis of the magnetic properties of superconductors. We have chosen to focus on selected experimental works in these different topics. In addition, a list of published works is provided.Comment: Review article, 59 pages, LaTeX with IoP macro

The IDvIP Trial: A two-centre randomised double-blind controlled trial comparing intramuscular diamorphine and intramuscular pethidine for labour analgesia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Intramuscular pethidine is routinely used throughout the UK for labour analgesia. Studies have suggested that pethidine provides little pain relief in labour and has a number of side effects affecting mother and neonate. It can cause nausea, vomiting and dysphoria in mothers and can cause reduced fetal heart rate variability and accelerations. Neonatal effects include respiratory depression and impaired feeding. There are few large studies comparing the relative side effects and efficacy of different opioids in labour. A small trial comparing intramuscular pethidine with diamorphine, showed diamorphine to have some benefits over pethidine when used for labour analgesia but the study did not investigate the adverse effects of either opioid.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The Intramuscular Diamorphine versus Intramuscular Pethidine (IDvIP) trial is a randomised double-blind two centre controlled trial comparing intramuscular diamorphine and pethidine regarding their analgesic efficacy in labour and their side effects in mother, fetus and neonate. Information about the trial will be provided to women in the antenatal period or in early labour. Consent and recruitment to the trial will be obtained when the mother requests opioid analgesia. The sample size requirement is 406 women with data on primary outcomes. The maternal primary outcomes are pain relief during the first 3 hours after trial analgesia and specifically pain relief after 60 minutes. The neonatal primary outcomes are need for resuscitation and Apgar Score <7 at 1 minute. The secondary outcomes are an additional measure of pain relief, maternal sedation, nausea and vomiting, maternal oxygen saturation, satisfaction with analgesia, whether method of analgesia would be used again, use of Entonox, umbilical arterial and venous pH, fetal heart rate, meconium staining, time from delivery to first breath, Apgar scores at 5 mins, naloxone requirement, transfer to neonatal intensive care unit, neonatal haemoglobin oxygen saturation at 30, 60, 90, and 120 mins after delivery, and neonatal sedation and feeding behaviour during first 2 hours.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>If the trial demonstrates that diamorphine provides better analgesia with fewer side effects in mother and neonate this could lead to a change in national practice and result in diamorphine becoming the preferred intramuscular opioid for analgesia in labour.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p><a href="http://www.controlled-trials.com/ISRCTN14898678">ISRCTN14898678</a></p> <p>Eudra No: 2006-003250-18, REC Reference No: 06/Q1702/95, MHRA Authorisation No: 1443/0001/001-0001, NIHR UKCRN reference 6895, RfPB grant PB-PG-0407-13170_IR5</p

Therapeutic Targeting of STAT3 (Signal Transducers and Activators of Transcription 3) Pathway Inhibits Experimental Autoimmune Uveitis

Mice with targeted deletion of STAT3 in CD4+ T-cells do not develop experimental autoimmune uveitis (EAU) or experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), in part, because they cannot generate pathogenic Th17 cells. In this study, we have used ORLL-NIH001, a small synthetic compound that inhibits transcriptional activity of STAT3, to ameliorate EAU, an animal model of human posterior uveitis. We show that by attenuating inflammatory properties of uveitogenic lymphocytes, ORLL-NIH001 inhibited the recruitment of inflammatory cells into the retina during EAU and prevented the massive destruction of the neuroretina caused by pro-inflammatory cytokines produced by the autoreactive lymphocytes. Decrease in disease severity observed in ORLL-NIH001-treated mice, correlated with the down-regulation of α4β1 and α4β7 integrin activation and marked reduction of CCR6 and CXCR3 expression, providing a mechanism by which ORLL-NIH001 mitigated EAU. Furthermore, we show that ORLL-NIH001 inhibited the expansion of human Th17 cells, underscoring its potential as a drug for the treatment of human uveitis. Two synthetic molecules that target the Th17 lineage transcription factors, RORγt and RORα, have recently been suggested as potential drugs for inhibiting Th17 development and treating CNS inflammatory diseases. However, inhibiting STAT3 pathways completely blocks Th17 development, as well as, prevents trafficking of inflammatory cells into CNS tissues, making STAT3 a more attractive therapeutic target. Thus, use of ORLL-NIH001 to target the STAT3 transcription factor, thereby antagonizing Th17 expansion and expression of proteins that mediate T cell chemotaxis, provides an attractive new therapeutic approach for treatment of posterior uveitis and other CNS autoimmune diseases mediated by Th17 cells

Experimental investigations of ambiguity: the case of most

In the study of natural language quantification, much recent attention has been devoted to the investigation of verification procedures associated with the proportional quantifier most. The aim of these studies is to go beyond the traditional characterization of the semantics of most, which is confined to explicating its truth-functional and presuppositional content as well as its combinatorial properties, as these aspects underdetermine the correct analysis of most. The present paper contributes to this effort by presenting new experimental evidence in support of a decompositional analysis of most according to which it is a superlative construction built from a gradable predicate many or much and the superlative operator -est (Hackl, in Nat Lang Semant 17:63–98, 2009). Our evidence comes in the form of verification profiles for sentences like Most of the dots are blue which, we argue, reflect the existence of a superlative reading of most. This notably contrasts with Lidz et al.’s (Nat Lang Semant 19:227–256, 2011) results. To reconcile the two sets of data, we argue, it is necessary to take important differences in task demands into account, which impose limits on the conclusions that can be drawn from these studies

US Cosmic Visions: New Ideas in Dark Matter 2017: Community Report

This white paper summarizes the workshop "U.S. Cosmic Visions: New Ideas in Dark Matter" held at University of Maryland on March 23-25, 2017.Comment: 102 pages + reference

Broad Anti-tumor Activity of a Small Molecule that Selectively Targets the Warburg Effect and Lipogenesis

Malignant cells exhibit aerobic glycolysis (the Warburg effect) and become dependent on de novo lipogenesis, which sustains rapid proliferation and resistance to cellular stress. The nuclear receptor liver-X-receptor (LXR) directly regulates expression of key glycolytic and lipogenic genes. To disrupt these oncogenic metabolism pathways, we designed an LXR inverse agonist SR9243 that induces LXR-corepressor interaction. In cancer cells, SR9243 significantly inhibited the Warburg effect and lipogenesis by reducing glycolytic and lipogenic gene expression. SR9243 induced apoptosis in tumors without inducing weight loss, hepatotoxicity, or inflammation. Our results suggest that LXR inverse agonists may be an effective cancer treatment approach

Broad Anti-tumor Activity of a Small Molecule that Selectively Targets the Warburg Effect and Lipogenesis

Malignant cells exhibit aerobic glycolysis (the Warburg effect) and become dependent on de novo lipogenesis, which sustains rapid proliferation and resistance to cellular stress. The nuclear receptor liver-X-receptor (LXR) directly regulates expression of key glycolytic and lipogenic genes. To disrupt these oncogenic metabolism pathways, we designed an LXR inverse agonist SR9243 that induces LXR-corepressor interaction. In cancer cells, SR9243 significantly inhibited the Warburg effect and lipogenesis by reducing glycolytic and lipogenic gene expression. SR9243 induced apoptosis in tumors without inducing weight loss, hepatotoxicity, or inflammation. Our results suggest that LXR inverse agonists may be an effective cancer treatment approach