Globalization, Party Positions, and the Median Voter

The authors argue that the effects of economic globalization on social democratic parties in Western Europe are conditional on the position of the median voter. If the median is far enough to the right, such parties will adopt business-friendly policies because they are required to win office. Only when the median is relatively far to the left will globalization constrain social democratic parties, forcing them to adopt policies further to the right in order to retain credibility. It is on this basis the authors argue that empirical studies are misspecified unless they include an interaction between measures of globalization and the position of the median. In addition to presenting formal theoretical arguments, the article reports empirical findings from fifteen countries in the period from 1973 to 2002 that support the conclusion that the effects of globalization are indeed contingent on the median. The authors find that the effects of globalization are significant for social democratic parties only in circumstances in which the median is relatively far to the left

Feasibility study of the application of existing techniques to remotely monitor hydrochloric acid in the atmosphere

A critical evaluation of existing optical remote sensors for HCl vapor detection in solid propellant rocket plumes is presented. The P branch of the fundamental vibration-rotation band was selected as the most promising spectral feature to sense. A computation of transmittance for HCl vapor, an estimation of interferent spectra, the application of these spectra to computer modelled remote sensors, and a trade-off study for instrument recommendation are also included

Chlamydia diagnosis rate in England in 2012: an ecological study of local authorities

Objectives Local authorities (LAs) in England commission chlamydia screening as part of the National Chlamydia Screening Programme. It is recommended that LAs achieve a chlamydia diagnosis rate of ≥2300 cases per 100 000 population aged 15–24. We describe national patterns in attainment of the chlamydia diagnosis rate recommendation and possible implications of using it to measure LA-level performance. Methods We used publicly available data sets from England (2012) to explore the association between LAs attaining the recommended chlamydia diagnosis rate and population size, socioeconomic deprivation, test setting and sex. Results We used data from 1 197 121 recorded chlamydia tests in females and 564 117 in males. The chlamydia diagnosis rate recommendation was achieved by 22% (72/324) of LAs overall (43% female population; 8% male population). LAs in the highest deprivation quintile were more likely to reach the recommendation than those in the least-deprived quintile for both sexes (women: unadjusted prevalence ratio (UPR) 7.43, 95% CI 3.65 to 15.11; men: UPR 7.00, 95% CI 1.66 to 29.58). The proportion of tests performed in genitourinary medicine clinics was negatively associated with attainment of the recommended diagnosis rate (UPR 0.95, 0.93 to 0.97). Conclusions Chlamydia diagnosis rate recommendations that reflect local area deprivation (as a proxy for disease burden) may be more appropriate than a single national target if the aim is to reduce health inequalities nationally. We suggest LAs monitor their chlamydia diagnosis rate, test coverage and test positivity across a range of measures (including setting and sex) and pre/post changes to commissioned services. Critical evaluation of performance against the recommendation should be reflected in local commissioning decisions

Correlation length and negative phase velocity in isotropic dielectric-magnetic materials

A composite material comprising randomly distributed spherical particles of two different isotropic dielectric-magnetic materials is homogenized using the second-order strong-property-fluctuation theory in the long-wavelength approximation. Whereas neither of the two constituent materials by itself supports planewave propagation with negative phase velocity (NPV), the homogenized composite material (HCM) can. The propensity of the HCM to support NPV propagation is sensitive to the distributional statistics of the constituent material particles, as characterized by a two--point covariance function and its associated correlation length. The scope for NPV propagation diminishes as the correlation length increases

A Notable Evolution

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