Effect of Social Disruption on Sense of National Identity

The concept of national identity is prevalent in contemporary debate as it is constantly being challenged due to factors such as immigration, globalization, and significant social transformation. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of social disruption, or societal collapse, on sense of national identity. Societal collapse raises many fundamental questions of sociological concern. Specifically, what are the consequences of structural breakdown in a society? Also, do individuals’ identities become compromised in the process of such social disruption? To address these questions, surveys were conducted with individuals in Russia. I argue that, with the establishment of the Soviet Union, the previously established Russian identity was forcibly merged with a new “Soviet” identity. Once the Soviet Union fell, the old “Russian” identity resurfaced. Also, subjective and objective forces played a key role in determining the identities that drove individuals to occupy positions in society based on the emerging internal shift. Findings and implications are discussed

Keeping both eyes wide open: The life of a competitive authority among sectoral regulators

Competition authorities must pay attention to many industries simultaneously. Sectoral regulators concentrate on their own industry. Often both types of authority may intervene in specific industries and there is an overlap of jurisdictions. We show how a competition authority's resource allocation is affected by its relationships with sectoral regulators and their biases. If agencies collaborate (compete), the competition authority spends more effort on the industry with the more (less) consumer-biased sectoral regulator. The competition authority spends budget increases on the industry whose regulator reacts less to more effort. The socially optimal budget corrects for distortions due to regulatory bias, but only downwards

HUBUNGAN ANTARA IMPLEMENTASI PERPADUAN SISTEM PENDIDIKAN PESANTREN MODERN DAN TRADISIONAL DENGAN MOTIVASI DAN PRESTASI BELAJAR SANTRI (Studi Kasus di Pesantren Sabilunnajat KecamatanRancahKabupaten Ciamis)

Aip Syarifudin NIM 505810002: Hubungan Implementasi Pola Pendidikan Pesantren Tradisional dan Modern dengan Motivasi Belajar dan Prestasi Belajar Santri di Pesantren Sabilunnajat Rancah Kabupaten Ciamis Berdasarkan studi pendahuluan yang penulis lakukan di Pesantren Sabilunnajat Rancah Kabupaten Ciamis telah menerapkan perpaduan pola pendidikan pesantren tradisional dan modern. Implementasi ini dilakukan dengan memasukan kurikulum pendidikan umum yang dikolaborasikan dengan pendidikan agama. Implementasi perpaduan ini juga dilakukan dengan mendirikan lembaga pendidikan formal mulai dari tingkat RA sampai SMK. Dalam praktiknya, pola ini masih harus diuji dan dibuktikan pengaruhnya terhadap peningkatan motivasi dan prestasi belajar santri. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk: 1). Menjelaskan implementasi perpaduan pola pendidikan pesantren tradisional dan pesantren; 2). Menjelaskan motivasi dan prestasi Belajar Santri di Pesantren Sabilunnajat Rancah Kabupaten Ciamis; dan 3). Mengetahui seberapa besar hubungan Implementasi Pola Pendidikan Pesantren Tradisional dan Modern dengan Motivasi Belajar dan Prestasi Belajar Santri di Pesantren Sabilunnajat Rancah Kabupaten Ciamis. Dasar pemikiran penelitian ini adalah isu pembaharuan pendidikan di pesantren yang selama ini di kenal dengan pesantren tradisional (salafy) sudah mulai marak. Pembaharuan ini dilakukan dengan pertimbangan semakin pesatnya zaman menuntut lembaga pendidikan untuk merespons dengan penerapan kurikulum berbasis pasar. Hal ini mendorong beberapa pesantren tradisional untuk melakukan inovasi dengan mengkombinasikan pendidikan tradisional khas pesantren dan modern yang banyak mengadopsi dari pendidikan formal. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah metode observasi, angket dan studi dokumentasi. Metode survey adalah penelitian yang dilakukan pada populasi besar maupun kecil, tetapi data yang dipelajari adalah data dari sampel yang diambil dari populasi tersebut. Metode survey biasanya digunakan untuk menjelaskan hubungan-hubungan korelasional antara satu variabel dengan variabel lainnya (corelational relationship), disamping untuk menguji hipotesis dan signifikansinya Hasil Penelitian ini yaitu; [1] implementasi perpaduan pola pendidikan pesantren tradisional dan modern di Pesantren Sabilunnajat Rancah Kabupaten Ciamis berdasarkan hasil angket termasuk dalam Kriteria baik. Hal ini dapat diketahui dari pola pendidikan yang ada terbukti telah berjaalan dengan baik. [2] Motivasi belajar belajar santri di Pesantren Sabilunnajat Rancah Kabupaten Ciamis berdasarkan angket termasuk dalam kriteria baik. Dimana 80% santri memiliki nilai rata-rata 90. [3] Hubungan Motivasi Belajar santri dan Prestasi Belajar Santri dengan pola pendidikan di Pesantren Sabilunnajat Rancah Kabupaten Ciamis terdapat korelasi yang signifikan (0,517) dengan kisaran hubungan korelasional sebesar 26%. Hasil pengujian hipotesis antar variabel Motivasi Belajar dan Prestasi Belajar Santri berhubungan positif dan signifikan

Evaluation of a modified co-heating test for in-situ measurements of thermal transmittance of single family houses

Within two years after commissioning the energy use for heating and operation of new buildings in Sweden should be verified by measurements. These have to be corrected for energy usage deviating from what has been defined normal during the building design, e.g. excessive venting and hot water use. This is practically difficult since the transmission losses of the building in use cannot be verified due to lack of a standard practical methods for their evaluation. Designers and producers of low-energy houses would benefit of such a method as the design of well-insulated envelopes is an essential quality of these buildings. A recently reintroduced method, the so called co-heating test, could be used for the verification of the overall thermal transmittance of buildings. To test the applicability of the co-heating test in-situ, measurements were performed on two test objects. A two years old low-energy house and a new summer cottage were tested. During the measurements, the latter was placed in a laboratory environment with a stable climate. Air tightness was measured on both houses. The overall average heat transfer coefficients were obtained and compared to theoretical values. This paper describes how the co-heating test has been modified to be used in in-situ conditions. Findings from both the measurements and following analyses are presented. The results obtained indicate that there is a clear potential for further simplifications of the co-heating test in future

Fit is fat: winter body mass of Atlantic puffins Fratercula arctica

Capsule: Atlantic Puffins Fratercula arctica from Scottish and Norwegian populations were significantly heavier in winter than when rearing chicks. Aims: To compare body masses of Atlantic Puffins on their wintering grounds off the Faroe Islands with those of birds rearing chicks at colonies in Scotland and Norway. Methods: We took standardized measurements of wing length and body mass of Atlantic Puffins during the summer chick-rearing period and on the wintering grounds near the Faroe Islands. These measurements were used to estimate seasonal changes in body mass for the two breeding populations. In three cases data were available for individuals weighed both at the colony and on the wintering grounds. Results: On average, Atlantic Puffins breeding in Scotland and Norway increased their body mass by 20–30% between the chick-rearing period and winter. The very limited individual level data accorded well with the population level estimates. Conclusions: Our results provide the first estimates of the order of magnitude in mass change between two key life history stages in this species. They indicate that gains in body mass between chick-rearing and winter are at least double the decline in mass previously recorded between incubation and chick-rearing. Given the Atlantic Puffin’s deteriorating conservation status, improved information on seasonal changes in body condition should help determine the underlying causes of die-offs in major wreck incidents such as those reported in recent years

Computer vision enables short- and long-term analysis of <i>Lophelia pertusa</i> polyp behaviour and colour from an underwater observatory

An array of sensors, including an HD camera mounted on a Fixed Underwater Observatory (FUO) were used to monitor a cold-water coral (Lophelia pertusa) reef in the Lofoten-Vesterålen area from April to November 2015. Image processing and deep learning enabled extraction of time series describing changes in coral colour and polyp activity (feeding). The image data was analysed together with data from the other sensors from the same period, to provide new insights into the short- and long-term dynamics in polyp features. The results indicate that diurnal variations and tidal current influenced polyp activity, by controlling the food supply. On a longer time-scale, the coral’s tissue colour changed from white in the spring to slightly red during the summer months, which can be explained by a seasonal change in food supply. Our work shows, that using an effective integrative computational approach, the image time series is a new and rich source of information to understand and monitor the dynamics in underwater environments due to the high temporal resolution and coverage enabled with FUOs

Fall risk in an active elderly population – can it be assessed?

BACKGROUND: Falls amongst elderly people are often associated with fractures. Training of balance and physical performance can reduce fall risk; however, it remains a challenge to identify individuals at increased risk of falling to whom this training should be offered. It is believed that fall risk can be assessed by testing balance performance. In this study a test battery of physiological parameters related to balance and falls was designed to address fall risk in a community dwelling elderly population. RESULTS: Ninety-four elderly males and females between 70 and 80 years of age were included in a one year follow-up study. A fall incidence of 15% was reported. The test battery scores were not different between the fallers and non-fallers. Test scores were, however, related to self-reported health. In spite of inclusion of dynamic tests, the test battery had low fall prediction rates, with a sensitivity and specificity of 50% and 43% respectively. CONCLUSION: Individuals with poor balance were identified but falls were not predicted by this test battery. Physiological balance characteristics can apparently not be used in isolation as adequate indicators of fall risk in this population of community dwelling elderly. Falling is a complex phenomenon of multifactorial origin. The crucial factor in relation to fall risk is the redundancy of balance capacity against the balance demands of the individuals levels of fall-risky lifestyle and behavior. This calls for an approach to fall risk assessment in which the physiological performance is evaluated in relation to the activity profile of the individual

Multi-colony tracking reveals spatio-temporal variation in carry-over effects between breeding success and winter movements in a pelagic seabird

Carry-over effects, whereby events in one season have consequences in subsequent seasons, have important demographic implications. Although most studies examine carry-over effects across 2 seasons in single populations, the effects may persist beyond the following season and vary across a species’ range. To assess potential carry-over effects across the annual cycle and among populations, we deployed geolocation loggers on black-legged kittiwakes Rissa tridactyla at 10 colonies in the north-east Atlantic and examined relationships between the timing and destination of migratory movements and breeding success in the year of deployment and subsequent season. Both successful and unsuccessful breeders wintered primarily in the north-west Atlantic. Breeding success affected the timing of migration, whereby unsuccessful breeders departed the colony earlier, arrived at the post-breeding and main wintering areas sooner, and departed later the following spring. However, these patterns were only apparent in colonies in the south-west of the study region. Furthermore, the effect of breeding success was stronger on migration timing in the first part of the winter than later. Timing of migratory movements was weakly linked to subsequent breeding success, and there was no detectable association between breeding success in the 2 seasons. Our results indicate temporal structure and spatial hetero - geneity in the strength of seasonal interactions among kittiwakes breeding in the north-east Atlantic. Variable fitness consequences for individuals from different colonies could have important implications for population processes across the species’ range and suggest that the spatio-temporal dynamics of carry-over effects warrant further study

Characterising B cell numbers and memory B cells in HIV infected and uninfected Malawian adults

BACKGROUND: Untreated human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease disrupts B cell populations causing reduced memory and reduced naïve resting B cells leading to increases in specific co-infections and impaired responses to vaccines. To what extent antiretroviral treatment reverses these changes in an African population is uncertain. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was performed. We recruited HIV-uninfected and HIV-infected Malawian adults both on and off antiretroviral therapy attending the Queen Elizabeth Central hospital in Malawi. Using flow cytometry, we enumerated B cells and characterized memory B cells and compared these measurements by the different recruitment groups. RESULTS: Overall 64 participants were recruited - 20 HIV uninfected (HIV-), 30 HIV infected ART naïve (HIV+N) and 14 HIV-infected ART treated (HIV+T). ART treatment had been taken for a median of 33 months (Range 12-60 months). Compared to HIV- the HIV+N adults had low absolute number of naïve resting B cells (111 vs. 180 cells/μl p = 0.008); reduced memory B cells (27 vs. 51 cells/μl p = 0.0008). The HIV+T adults had B-cell numbers similar to HIV- except for memory B cells that remained significantly lower (30 vs. 51 cells/μl p = 0.02). In the HIV+N group we did not find an association between CD4 count and B cell numbers. CONCLUSIONS: HIV infected Malawian adults have abnormal B-cell numbers. Individuals treated with ART show a return to normal in B-cell numbers but a persistent deficit in the memory subset is noted. This has important implications for long term susceptibility to co-infections and should be evaluated further in a larger cohort study

High Resolution MEMS Accelerometers to Estimate VO2 and Compare Running Mechanics between Highly Trained Inter-Collegiate and Untrained Runners

BACKGROUND: The purposes of this study were to determine the validity and reliability of high resolution accelerometers (HRA) relative to VO(2) and speed, and compare putative differences in HRA signal between trained (T) and untrained (UT) runners during treadmill locomotion. METHODOLOGY: Runners performed 2 incremental VO(2max) trials while wearing HRA. RMS of high frequency signal from three axes (VT, ML, AP) and the Euclidean resultant (RES) were compared to VO(2) to determine validity and reliability. Additionally, axial rms relative to speed, and ratio of axial accelerations to RES were compared between T and UT to determine if differences in running mechanics could be identified between the two groups. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Regression of RES was strongly related to VO(2), but T was different than UT (r = 0.96 vs 0.92; p<.001) for walking and running. During walking, only the ratio of ML and AP to RES were different between groups. For running, nearly all acceleration parameters were lower for T than UT, the exception being ratio of VT to RES, which was higher in T than UT. All of these differences during running were despite higher VO(2), O(2) cost, and lower RER in T vs UT, which resulted in no significant difference in energy expenditure between groups. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNFICANCE: These results indicate that HRA can accurately and reliably estimate VO(2) during treadmill locomotion, but differences exist between T and UT that should be considered when estimating energy expenditure. Differences in running mechanics between T and UT were identified, yet the importance of these differences remains to be determined