Kashmir has a new Chief Minister, but while the question of self-determination remains unresolved there is little hope of change

Earlier this month Mehbooba Mufti became the first female Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, following the death of her father and political predecessor, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed. But two weeks into her tenure the killing of five civilians by security forces in Handwara suggests little change and mounting challenges. Mark Mistry examines the in-tray of Kashmir’s latest dynastic leader

Kashmir in crisis – before and after the killing of Burhan Wani

The killing of a senior militant commander in Kashmir a month ago sparked a series of protests across the Valley. A heavy-handed response from security forces has left scores of civilians dead, thousands injured, including hundreds at risk of blindness owing to the widespread use of pellet guns. Mark Mistry, who visited the disputed territory in May, examines the reasons behind the reactions of the people as the new Chief Minister’s reputation lies in tatters

The Kashmiri conundrum: why is ‘the world’s largest democracy’ rated so poorly for press freedoms? (guest blog)

As voters go to the polls in Indian-administered Kashmir, freelance journalist Mark Mistry looks at how the Indian media’s treatment of the region’s fiercely disputed status, coupled with violations of press freedoms by the state’s security forces, has contributed to its poor reputation

Direct rule from Delhi imposed in restive Kashmir

Despite the optimism generated by record turnout in last month’s election, elected representatives in Jammu and Kashmir have failed to form a government and Governor rule has been imposed. Mark Mistry reflects on the current situation and argues the unaccountability of direct rule from Delhi will only further the alienation felt by many Kashmiris

Tropospheric sounding with low-cost particulate matter sensors

The high-altitude balloon (HAB) platform has allowed scientists to measure vertical profiles in the atmosphere at a relatively low cost. The current project combines the HAB platform with low-cost air quality sensors that measure particulate matter (PM). PM is detrimental to human health and can exacerbate asthma. In the atmosphere, PM can affect cloud formation and also radiative transfer, which links emissions of PM to climate change. Therefore, understanding and controlling PM emissions is vital to air quality and climate change. In agricultural regions, several practices produce significant PM emissions. Tilling can release PM in the form of dust, especially under arid conditions. The burning of crop residue is also a common practice practice that releases PM in the form of partially combusted organics (soot). The ultimate goal of this project is to use low-cost PM sensors and HAB to assess PM sources from agricultural regions using citizen scientists. The current presentation evaluates the performance of two different PM sensors over flights conducted during the summer of 2017

The ecology of algal assemblages across a gradient of acid mine drainage stress on the West Coast, South Island, New Zealand

Physicochemical factors, algal diversity, taxonomic composition and standing crop were investigated across a broad gradient of AMD stress in streams and rivers. 52 sites were surveyed in the vicinity of Greymouth, Reefton, Westport and Blackball, on the West Coast, South Island. Seven sites in the Reefton area were sampled from April 2006 - February 2007 to establish changes over time in benthic algal communities of AMD and reference streams. Longitudinal change and ecosystem recovery were also investigated by sampling eight sites down Devils Creek, Reefton, and two of its tributaries. AMD has negative impacts on algal diversity, generally increases the dominance of certain taxa and, where metal oxide deposition or hydraulic disturbance are not great, can lead to algal proliferations. These proliferations were chlorophyte dominated, predominantly by filamentous Klebsormidium acidophilum. From the general survey a total of 15 taxa were identified from the most severely impacted sites (pH <3.6), which included both acidophiles and acidotolerant algae. Multivariate analyses strongly suggest that pH was the dominant factor controlling taxonomic occurrence of diatoms, macroalgae and the structure of the total assemblage. Other factors such as conductivity, metal oxide deposition, temperature, depth, month, geographic location and altitude were also important. Algal communities changed over time and this became more marked as AMD impact decreased. This was presumably due to AMD stressors reducing diversity, and thus the available scope for assemblage change. Longitudinal differences in assemblage structure within Devils Creek appeared to be in response to dilution of AMD in upper reaches and to changes in natural physical features such as gradient in mid and lower reaches. After a distance of 7.2 km the physicochemical effects of AMD and suspended clay inputs were minimal. At this site and at several previous sites, the assemblage exhibited a degree of recovery towards that found at unimpacted sites. A range of algae found in the broad scale-survey are potentially useful 'sensitive' indicators. These included: Heteroleibleinia purpurascens; Achnanthes oblongella; Oedogonium sp. and Spirogyra sp. In contrast: Euglena mutabilis; Navicula cincta; K. acidophilum; Microspora quadrata and Microthamnion kuetzingianum may be useful 'tolerance' indicators. These data show that AMD has a range of negative impacts on algae, and algae may be a useful tool for monitoring these impacts in West Coast streams

Prevalence of non-communicable chronic conditions, multimorbidity and its correlates among older adults in rural Nepal : a cross-sectional study

Objectives This study's objectives were to estimate the prevalence of major non-communicable conditions and multimorbidity among older adults in rural Nepal and examine the associated socioeconomic and behavioural risk factors. Design This was a community-based cross-sectional study conducted between January and April 2018. Setting Rural municipalities of Sunsari and Morang districts in eastern Nepal. Participants 794 older Nepalese adults, 60 years and older, were recruited using a multistage cluster sampling approach. Primary outcome measure(s) Prevalence of four major non-communicable chronic conditions (osteoarthritis, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and multimorbidity. Results Almost half (48.9%: men 45.3%; women 52.4%) of the participants had at least one of four non-communicable chronic conditions, and 14.6% (men 12.5%; women 16.8%) had two or more conditions. The prevalence of individual conditions included: osteoarthritis-41.7% (men 37.5%; women 45.9%), cardiovascular disease-2.4% (men 2.8%; women 2.0%), diabetes-5.3% (men 6.0%; women 4.6%) and COPD-15.4% (men 13.3%; women 17.5%). In the adjusted model, older adults aged 70-79 years (adjusted OR (AOR): 1.62; 95% CI: 1.04 to 2.54), those from Madhesi and other ethnic groups (AOR: 1.08; 95% CI: 1.02 to 1.72), without a history of alcohol drinking (AOR: 1.53; 95% CI: 1.18 to 2.01) and those physically inactive (AOR: 5.02; 95% CI: 1.47 to 17.17) had significantly higher odds of multimorbidity. Conclusions This study found one in seven study participants had multimorbidity. The prevalence of multimorbidity and associated socioeconomic and behavioural correlates need to be addressed by integrating social programmes with health prevention and management at multiple levels. Moreover, a longitudinal study is suggested to understand the temporal relationship between lifestyle predictors and multimorbidity among older Nepalese adults

The Transformative Possibilities of the Microbiota and Mycobiota for Health, Disease, Aging, and Technological Innovation

The gut microbiota is extremely important for the health of the host across its lifespan. Recent studies have elucidated connections between the gut microbiota and neurological disease and disorders such as depression, anxiety, Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD), autism, and a host of other brain illnesses. Dysbiosis of the normal gut flora can have negative consequences for humans, especially throughout key periods during our lifespan as the gut microbes change with age in both phenotype and number of bacterial species. Neurologic diseases, mental disorders, and euthymic states are influenced by alterations in the metabolites produced by gut microbial milieu. We introduce a new concept, namely, the mycobiota and microbiota-gut-brain neuroendocrine axis and discuss co-metabolism with emphasis on means to influence or correct disruptions to normal gut flora throughout the lifespan from early development to old age. These changes involve inflammation and involve the permeability of barriers, such as the intestine blood barrier, the blood-brain barrier, and others. The mycobiota and microbiota-gut-brain axis offer new research horizons and represents a great potential target for new therapeutics, including approaches based around inflammatory disruptive process, genetically engineered drug delivery systems, diseased cell culling kill switches , phage-like therapies, medicinal chemistry, or microbial parabiosis to name a few

From commodification to entrepreneurialism : how commercial income is transforming the English NHS

IMPACT The authors explore the way in which National Health Service (NHS) organizations in England are becoming more entrepreneurial through seeking more commercial income. As a form of commodification, commercialization has become more salient because of tightened public spending and the relaxation of regulations governing the scale of commercial income that the NHS could earn (since 2012). In turn, a stronger entrepreneurial ethos and practice has developed. The purpose and impact of commercialization is examined using secondary data from six NHS organizations (narrating developments post-2012), demonstrating the extent of and their justifications for commercialization. Recent and planned changes are explained. These income-generation activities, which are often set up to support or maintain existing NHS services, may unwittingly accelerate further commercialization—particularly in post-pandemic recovery. The authors conclude that the NHS risks becoming predicated upon commercial logics, thereby undermining public service logics. ABSTRACT Commodification of health services involves objects that can be traded—private patients’ facilities, treatments for international patients and the development of joint ventures and trading entities. This article explores the extent to which the NHS in England is becoming more commercial in its aims and practices, and how this is being justified. The authors focus on the commercial income of six NHS trusts who are thought to be at the forefront of this development. The income the trusts are generating is examined using the lens of competing institutional logics and of Polanyi’s ‘double movement’ thesis

Orientation dependence of thermal and mechanical hysteresis in Ni51Fe18Ga27Co4 single crystals

The orientation dependence of thermal ΔТ and mechanical Δσ hysteresis was investigated in Ni51Fe18Ga27Co4 single crystals as-grown with isobaric (shape memory effect) and isothermal (superelasticity) experiments. Single crystals oriented along the [001]-direction show a high reversible deformation of 001 ЭПФ ε = (4,0 ± 0,2) % for martensitic transformations, small thermal hysteresis ΔТ = (22 ± 2) K and mechanical Δσ001 = (47 ± 2) МПа hysteresis, as compared with to single crystals oriented along the [110]-direction. Such orientation dependence is determined by the contribution of the L10-martensite under the εdetw in deformation of transformation