International Coercion, Emulation and Policy Diffusion: Market-Oriented Infrastructure Reforms, 1977-1999

Why do some countries adopt market-oriented reforms such as deregulation, privatization and liberalization of competition in their infrastructure industries while others do not? Why did the pace of adoption accelerate in the 1990s? Building on neo-institutional theory in sociology, we argue that the domestic adoption of market-oriented reforms is strongly influenced by international pressures of coercion and emulation. We find robust support for these arguments with an event-history analysis of the determinants of reform in the telecommunications and electricity sectors of as many as 205 countries and territories between 1977 and 1999. Our results also suggest that the coercive effect of multilateral lending from the IMF, the World Bank or Regional Development Banks is increasing over time, a finding that is consistent with anecdotal evidence that multilateral organizations have broadened the scope of the “conditionality” terms specifying market-oriented reforms imposed on borrowing countries. We discuss the possibility that, by pressuring countries into policy reform, cross-national coercion and emulation may not produce ideal outcomes.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/40099/3/wp713.pd

Cosmic Physics: The High Energy Frontier

Cosmic rays have been observed up to energies $10^8$ times larger than those of the best particle accelerators. Studies of astrophysical particles (hadrons, neutrinos and photons) at their highest observed energies have implications for fundamental physics as well as astrophysics. Thus, the cosmic high energy frontier is the nexus to new particle physics. This overview discusses recent advances being made in the physics and astrophysics of cosmic rays and cosmic gamma-rays at the highest observed energies as well as the related physics and astrophysics of very high energy cosmic neutrinos. These topics touch on questions of grand unification, violation of Lorentz invariance, as well as Planck scale physics and quantum gravity.Comment: Topical Review Paper to be published in the Journal of Physics G, 50 page

Xanthine oxidase inhibition and white matter hyperintensity progression following ischaemic stroke and transient ischaemic attack (XILO-FIST): a multicentre, double-blinded, randomised, placebo-controlled trial

Acknowledgments This work was supported by the Stroke Association and British Heart Foundation [grant number TSA BHF 2013/01]. The work of Dr David Dickie and Dr Terry Quinn is funded by the Stroke Association. We would like to thank Christine McAlpine, Ruth Graham, Glasgow Royal Infirmary, UK; Lauren Pearce, Royal United Hospital, UK; Caroline Fornolles, Louise Tate, Frances Justin, Luton and Dunstable University Hospital, UK; Dean Waugh, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, UK; Donal Concannon, Altnagelvin Hospital, UK; Sharon Tysoe, Nina Francia, Nisha Menon, Raji Prabakaran, Southend University Hospital, UK; Amy Ashton, Caroline Watchurst, Marilena Marinescu, Sabaa Obarey, Scheherazade Feerick, University College London NHS Foundation Trust, UK; and Janice Irvine, Sandra Williams, and German Guzman Gutierrez, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, UK; Caroline Fox and Joanne Topliffe, Broomfield Hospital, Essex, UK.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Physics, Astrophysics and Cosmology with Gravitational Waves

Gravitational wave detectors are already operating at interesting sensitivity levels, and they have an upgrade path that should result in secure detections by 2014. We review the physics of gravitational waves, how they interact with detectors (bars and interferometers), and how these detectors operate. We study the most likely sources of gravitational waves and review the data analysis methods that are used to extract their signals from detector noise. Then we consider the consequences of gravitational wave detections and observations for physics, astrophysics, and cosmology.Comment: 137 pages, 16 figures, Published version <http://www.livingreviews.org/lrr-2009-2

Long-Term Effects of the Cleaner Fish Labroides dimidiatus on Coral Reef Fish Communities

Cleaning behaviour is deemed a mutualism, however the benefit of cleaning interactions to client individuals is unknown. Furthermore, mechanisms that may shift fish community structure in the presence of cleaning organisms are unclear. Here we show that on patch reefs (61–285 m2) which had all cleaner wrasse Labroides dimidiatus (Labridae) experimentally removed (1–5 adults reef−1) and which were then maintained cleaner-fish free over 8.5 years, individuals of two site-attached (resident) client damselfishes (Pomacentridae) were smaller compared to those on control reefs. Furthermore, resident fishes were 37% less abundant and 23% less species rich per reef, compared to control reefs. Such changes in site-attached fish may reflect lower fish growth rates and/or survivorship. Additionally, juveniles of visitors (fish likely to move between reefs) were 65% less abundant on removal reefs suggesting cleaners may also affect recruitment. This may, in part, explain the 23% lower abundance and 33% lower species richness of visitor fishes, and 66% lower abundance of visitor herbivores (Acanthuridae) on removal reefs that we also observed. This is the first study to demonstrate a benefit of cleaning behaviour to client individuals, in the form of increased size, and to elucidate potential mechanisms leading to community-wide effects on the fish population. Many of the fish groups affected may also indirectly affect other reef organisms, thus further impacting the reef community. The large-scale effect of the presence of the relatively small and uncommon fish, Labroides dimidiadus, on other fishes is unparalleled on coral reefs

Xanthine oxidase inhibition and white matter hyperintensity progression following ischaemic stroke and transient ischaemic attack (XILO-FIST): a multicentre, double-blinded, randomised, placebo-controlled trial

Background: People who experience an ischaemic stroke are at risk of recurrent vascular events, progression of cerebrovascular disease, and cognitive decline. We assessed whether allopurinol, a xanthine oxidase inhibitor, reduced white matter hyperintensity (WMH) progression and blood pressure (BP) following ischaemic stroke or transient ischaemic attack (TIA). Methods: In this multicentre, prospective, randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial conducted in 22 stroke units in the United Kingdom, we randomly assigned participants within 30-days of ischaemic stroke or TIA to receive oral allopurinol 300 mg twice daily or placebo for 104 weeks. All participants had brain MRI performed at baseline and week 104 and ambulatory blood pressure monitoring at baseline, week 4 and week 104. The primary outcome was the WMH Rotterdam Progression Score (RPS) at week 104. Analyses were by intention to treat. Participants who received at least one dose of allopurinol or placebo were included in the safety analysis. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02122718. Findings: Between 25th May 2015 and the 29th November 2018, 464 participants were enrolled (232 per group). A total of 372 (189 with placebo and 183 with allopurinol) attended for week 104 MRI and were included in analysis of the primary outcome. The RPS at week 104 was 1.3 (SD 1.8) with allopurinol and 1.5 (SD 1.9) with placebo (between group difference −0.17, 95% CI −0.52 to 0.17, p = 0.33). Serious adverse events were reported in 73 (32%) participants with allopurinol and in 64 (28%) with placebo. There was one potentially treatment related death in the allopurinol group. Interpretation: Allopurinol use did not reduce WMH progression in people with recent ischaemic stroke or TIA and is unlikely to reduce the risk of stroke in unselected people. Funding: The British Heart Foundation and the UK Stroke Association

Common genetic variants in the CLDN2 and PRSS1-PRSS2 loci alter risk for alcohol-related and sporadic pancreatitis

Pancreatitis is a complex, progressively destructive inflammatory disorder. Alcohol was long thought to be the primary causative agent, but genetic contributions have been of interest since the discovery that rare PRSS1, CFTR, and SPINK1 variants were associated with pancreatitis risk. We now report two significant genome-wide associations identified and replicated at PRSS1-PRSS2 (1×10-12) and x-linked CLDN2 (p < 1×10-21) through a two-stage genome-wide study (Stage 1, 676 cases and 4507 controls; Stage 2, 910 cases and 4170 controls). The PRSS1 variant affects susceptibility by altering expression of the primary trypsinogen gene. The CLDN2 risk allele is associated with atypical localization of claudin-2 in pancreatic acinar cells. The homozygous (or hemizygous male) CLDN2 genotype confers the greatest risk, and its alleles interact with alcohol consumption to amplify risk. These results could partially explain the high frequency of alcohol-related pancreatitis in men – male hemizygous frequency is 0.26, female homozygote is 0.07