Why People Protest: Explaining Participation in Collective Action

Revolution is too difficult to be empirically studied. Revolutionary collective action can be defined as “simultaneous large-scale and spatially diffused protest”. This definition captures the complexity of the phenomenon in terms of three features- think about them as sufficient conditions- that should accompany protest for a collective action situation to be described as “revolutionary” collective action, as follows: a. Number of Actors. Although Olson (1968) argues that there is a negative relationship between group size and the propensity to participate in collective action as the increase in the number of participants makes the individual unnoticeable and decreases the marginal profit of participation, others like Schelling (1978:41) argues that “[sometimes] there is “immunity in numbers”. Between both arguments, it remains as the first obvious feature of revolutionary collective action is the large number of participants. This is even more important when individuals protest in authoritarian contexts where freedom of expression is expected and so is violence from security apparatus. b. Spatial Diffusion. A second distinctive feature of revolutionary collective action is its simultaneous spread over space. While some studies refer to the spatial dimension when analysing the spread of revolutionary vibes across countries, spatial dispersion here is confined to the sub-state units, be it states in federal systems, cantons in confederal system, cities, counties, or governorates…etc. Of course, this spatial diffusion in itself signals successful coordination efforts of the organizing agents. Yet, as a feature of revolutionary collective action, the importance of the momentum’s spatial diffusion is double fold. On one side, some are concerned with the peripheries-centre relationship, the level of urbanization and how the state controls the revolution. On the other side, another group of scholars put more emphasis on the city as an interactional field where distinctive features, be it static (population density, size, area, distance from the capital) (Kuran. 1989) or dynamic (social relations, information cascading and resources) contribute to individuals’ mobilizability (Lohmann.1994). My concern about the sub-state unit, aka the city, falls under the rubric of the dynamic/relational aspect of the latter. c. Time Synchronization. The third feature of revolutionary collective action is its simultaneity across different sub-state units. People act together in different places at the same time to express their dissatisfaction and desire for change. However, it is noteworthy that features of spatial diffusion and time synchronization might interact. Charlesworth (1983) compared rural protests in British and French cities in the 1800s and the line of analysis showed that sometimes spatial diffusion takes place over time. In other words, riots start in one city, and because of media coverage showing what happened in neighbouring cities, it became contagion that other cities start to riot as well. For this, if we cannot study revolutions as they happen or detect the simultaneous nature of people’s collective actions, it can be relegated for now to protest as the core/essential component. Next is to question the spatial diffusion of this collective action situation. Accordingly, this thesis main research question can be simplified to be: when/under what conditions do individuals protest? Related to this is the following three questions: 1. How can the interaction between social and political trust affect individuals’ decision to participate in collective action? 2. How can the interaction between social and political trust affect individuals’ (non)compliance with social and political authorities? 3. How can the interaction between social and political trust explain the spatial diffusion of collective action? The reason why trust is chosen as the main explanatory variable will be explained in detail in the literature review and the theoretical framework

Correlation between Metabolic Syndrome and Psoriasis

Background: Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disease that is mediated by the immune system. It was thought to be a specific skin condition, but numerous studies have shown that it is a systemic disorder, as well as psychological difficulties like shyness, low self-esteem, and anxiety are related with it. Resistin is considered to be an important modulator of chronic inflammation.Objective: To determine serum level of resistin and C-reactive protien (CRP) in psoriasis vulgaris patients with metabolic syndrome (MetS).Patients and Methods: Clinical examinations were performed on 40 patients ranging in age from 28 to 53, and venous blood samples were collected. Tests were performed on the blood samples to identify levels of, resistin, and C-reactive protein (CRP). Results: levels of resistin were elevated with increased severity of psoriasis as measured by Psoriasis Area/Severity Index (PASI) score with statistically significant relation; p value (0.04), PASI score also was positively associated with elevated CRP levels; p value (0.001) .Conclusion: We conclude that resistin levels provide important value to optimize medical treatment and improve clinical outcomes in patients with psoriasis

Accuracy of the cutoff value of the third molar maturity index: an Egyptian study

Abstract Background This study aimed to test the sensitivity and specificity of the third molar maturity index (I3M) cutoff value to discriminate between individuals above and below 18 years of age in an Egyptian sample. Material and methods Digital images of 247 orthopantographs (97 boys and 150 girls) were evaluated. The cutoff value of I3M obtained from the results of Cameriere et al. (Int J Legal Med 122:493–497, 2008) was evaluated in both girls and boys. Results Sensitivity (the proportion of individuals being 18 years of age or older) was 95% and 73% in boys and girls, respectively. Meanwhile, specificity (the proportion of individuals younger than 18) was 100% in boys and 97% in girls. The proportion of correctly classified boys was 97% while it was 59% in girls. Conclusion It can be concluded that the third molar maturity index can discriminate between individuals who are 18 years and over and those under 18 with higher accuracy in boys

Iodoarene-Catalyzed Cyclizations of Unsaturated Amides

The cyclization of N-alkenylamides catalyzed by iodoarenes under oxidative conditions is presented. Five-, six-, and seven-membered rings with a range of substitutions can be prepared by this route. Preliminary data from the use of chiral iodoarenes as precatalysts show that enantiocontrol is feasible

Targeting gp100 and TRP-2 with a DNA vaccine: incorporating T cell epitopes with a human IgG1 antibody induces potent T cell responses that are associated with favourable clinical outcome in a phase I/II trial

A DNA vaccine, SCIB1, incorporating two CD8 and two CD4 epitopes from TRP-2/gp100 was evaluated in patients with metastatic melanoma. Each patient received SCIB1 via intramuscular injection with electroporation. The trial was designed to find the safest dose of SCIB1 which induced immune/clinical responses in patients with or without tumour. Fifteen patients with tumor received SCIB1 doses of 0.4-8 mg whilst 20 fully-resected patients received 2-8 mg doses. Twelve patients elected to continue immunization every 3 months for up to 39 months. SCIB1 induced dose-dependent T cell responses in 88% of patients with no serious adverse effects or dose limiting toxicities. The intensity of the T cell responses was significantly higher in patients receiving 4 mg doses without tumor when compared to those with tumor (p< 0.01). In contrast, patients with tumor showed a significantly higher response to the 8 mg dose than the 4 mg dose (p< 0.03) but there was no significant difference in the patients without tumor. One of 15 patients with measurable disease showed an objective tumor response and 7/15 showed stable disease. 5/20 fully-resected patients have experienced disease recurrence but all remained alive at the cut-off date with a median observation time of 37 months. A positive clinical outcome was associated with MHC-I and MHC-II expression on tumors prior to therapy (p=0.027). We conclude that SCIB1 is well tolerated and stimulates potent T cell responses in melanoma patients. It deserves further evaluation as a single agent adjuvant therapy or in combination with checkpoint inhibitors in advanced disease

Immune-Instructive Polymers Control Macrophage Phenotype and Modulate the Foreign Body Response In Vivo

© 2020 The Author(s) Implantation of medical devices can result in inflammation. A large library of polymers is screened, and a selection found to promote macrophage differentiation towards pro- or anti-inflammatory phenotypes. The bioinstructive properties of these materials are validated within a rodent model. By identifying novel materials with immune-instructive properties, the relationship between material-immune cell interactions could be investigated, and this offers exciting possibilities to design novel bioinstructive materials that can be used for numerous clinical applications including medical implants

Impact of Second-Generation Antipsychotics and Perphenazine on Depressive Symptoms in a Randomized Trial of Treatment for Chronic Schizophrenia

According to the American Psychiatric Association Clinical Practice Guidelines for schizophrenia, second-generation antipsychotics may be specifically indicated for the treatment of depression in schizophrenia. We examined the impact of these medications on symptoms of depression using the data from the Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness (CATIE), conducted between January 2001 and December 2004

Hormonal and inflammatory modulatory effects of hesperidin in hyperthyroidism-modeled rats

The goal of the current study was to investigate the hormonal modulatory efficiency of hesperidin, through its regulatory potential of immunological, inflammatory, and/or antioxidant changes in on hyperthyroidism modeled adult female albino rats. Both normal and hyperthyroidism modeled rats (140-160g) were randomly divided into four groups (10 animals each) as follows: 1) healthy animals were daily ingested with saline for six weeks, and served as control group, 2) healthy animals were intraperitoneally injected with hesperidin (50 mg/kg/day) for a similar period, 3) hyperthyroidism-modeled animals without any treatment acted as positive control, and 4) hyperthyroidism-modeled animals were treated intraperitoneally with hesperidin for a similar period. The findings showed that hesperidin significantly modulated hyperthyroidism deteriorations, this was evidenced by a remarkable decline in serum T4, FT4, T3, FT3, TNF-α, IL1β-, IL4-, IL-6, and IL-10 levels, with a minor increase in TSH and significant raise in CD4+ level. Similarly, valuable improvement was observed in the oxidative status; serum SOD, GPx, CAT, and GSH levels were dramatically enhanced, associated with remarkable drop in MDA and NO levels. Also, hesperidin demonstrated nephro-hepatoprotective and anti-atherogenic potential, this was achieved from the notable reduction in ALAT and ASAT activities as well as urea, creatinine, cholesterol, and triglyceride close to the corresponding values of healthy group. These findings were supported by histological and immunohistochemical ones that showed a notable decrease in the expression of the calcitonin antibody. In conclusion, hesperidin possesses anti-hyperthyroidism, immunoinflammatory regulatory, and antioxidant activities that evidenced from the improvement of physio-architecture of the thyroid gland, reduction of inflammation and restoration of the impaired oxidative stress. This effect might be mechanized through immunological, inflammatory, apoptotic, and/or antioxidant modulatory pathways