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Brokers and the Roots of Partisanship in Indonesia
No full textWhy are parties stable and voters loyal when brokers are independent, vote-buying is ubiquitous, rates of party identification are low, intra-party competition is fierce, and ideology is absent? In other words, why might stable partisan voting patterns exist in a place where most of the things believed to generate that stability do not?
Drawing on the example of Indonesia, I show that extra-party mobilization networks can produce stable voting patterns in contexts where parties themselves cannot. In Indonesia, extra-party mobilization networks place vote brokers at the center of electoral mobilization for all parties. Links between parties and these mobilization networks provide parties differing levels of access to different kinds of brokers, some with high capacity to deliver votes and other with less. These links explain which parties are stable and which are not.
This project draws two-and-a-half years of fieldwork in six provinces of Indonesia, a novel survey of vote brokers using a respondent-driven sampling design, a survey of candidates for legislative office, and an original dataset of local election results collected by hand (2004 – 2009) and scraped from election databases (2014 – 2019). Interviews included candidates for all levels of elected office, election administrators at the national, provincial, and district levels, party leaders, neighborhood leaders, district- and provincial-level religious leaders, and civil servants at the village and subdistrict levels.
I show that candidates for office in Indonesia are primarily focused on vote mobilization through brokers. Vote brokers vary widely in their accountability to candidates and their ability to deliver votes. Brokers comprise at least two distinct mobilization networks—one secular and one religious. Vote administrators are a distinct third type of vote broker. Parties with access to more accountable vote brokers perform better than parties without. At the candidate level, there is almost no accountability
A meta-analysis preliminary result: Effectiveness and Safety of Oral Semaglutide vs. Injectable Semaglutide in Weight Loss in General Population Indifferent of Diabetic Status
No full textHello DASH, This is Dr Thach Nguyen MD FACC FSCAI. This is the 3rd time I submitted my publications to DASH (more than 15 papers). I am attending the Effective Writing for Healthcare Professional so I am eligible to submit my papers to DASH
AlWAYS APPRECIATE YOUR HELPBackground: Semaglutide, a well-known medication used in treating type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, has gained attention for its beneficial effects on weight loss, leading to its investigation for use in obesity management. The US Food and Drug Administration recently approved a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist for chronic weight management. Semaglutide is the only drug among GLP-1RAs available in injectable and oral forms for treating diabetes. However, its approval for obesity treatment is limited to subcutaneous injection.
Methods: This study aims to conduct a meta-analysis comparing the efficacy and safety of oral and injectable forms of Semaglutide in overweight patients. PubMed, Medline, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, Embase, Google Scholar, and CINAHL databases were systematically searched. Comprehensive Meta-Analysis version 3 was utilized for statistical analysis.
Results: A total of 20 eligible articles published between 2015 and 2023 were included, comprising 7,852 participants (4,525 in the Semaglutide group and 3,327 in the placebo group). Seventeen studies utilized subcutaneous Semaglutide, while five studies evaluated the oral form. Analysis was conducted on the overall efficacy of Semaglutide, with subsequent sub-analysis comparing oral versus injectable forms, high-dose versus low-dose, diabetic versus non-diabetic patients, and the general population versus specific comorbidities. Additionally, side effects of oral versus injectable forms were assessed.
Conclusion: Overall, our findings contribute to the understanding of Semaglutide’s effectiveness and safety pro-file in managing obesity, providing insights into potential differences between oral and injectable formulations.Version of Recor
Genetic Expression Assessment of N6-Methyladenosine (m6A) in Relation to Migraine Remission After Pregnancy
No full textMigraine is a complex neurological disorder with its cause most likely stemming from polygenic and environmental factors (Aczél et al., 2021; Vetvik & MacGregor, 2021). Migraine attacks involve the activation of the trigeminovascular system, resulting in neurogenic vasodilation and inflammation of the meninges (Aczél et al., 2021). N⁶-Methyladenosine (m6A) is a potential factor in migraine etiology because of the transient state of a migraine and the fact that epitranscriptomic marks are dynamic and reversible, responding to conditions such as stress, pollutants, and hormonal imbalances (Wang, H. et al., 2022; Wang, Q. et al., 2022; Zhang et al., 2020).
Studies show that the m6A level in the uterus increases as pregnancy progresses (Tarca et al., 2021), which inspired this exploration of m6A regulators in migraine remission. Epitranscriptomic regulation of gene expression related to migraine risk may explain the difficulty in connecting single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) found in genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and the diagnosis and treatment of migraine (Dias et al., 2022). Pregnancy is when epigenetic and epitranscriptomic regulation occurs on a large scale to allow the woman’s body to adapt to support a fetus and birth (Arck & Hecher, 2013; Jenkins et al., 2021; Li et al., 2022; Tarca et al., 2021). Around 20% of women with recurrent menstrual migraine (onset at menarche) are more likely to experience remission during pregnancy while over 70% have improved symptoms (Nappi et al., 2011; Nappi et al., 2022; Vetvik & MacGregor, 2021).
This analysis focuses on menstrual migraines to explore whether m6A mRNA and the downstream resulting protein level changes occurring during the third trimester of pregnancy have a role in migraine remission. Since migraine is a threshold disorder, samples from pregnant women and women with menstrual migraines expressed similar genes or at least genes involved in similar processes related to immune response, signaling, and vasculature changes.
M6A regulators are linked to immune responses in migraineurs and are also active in the third trimester (Aczél et al., 2021; Brennan & Steitz, 2001; Jenkins et al., 2021; Dixon et al., 2001). The m6A regulators Alpha-ketoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase (FTO), Ras GTPase-activating protein-binding protein 1 (G3BP1), and human antigen R (HuR, also known as ELAVL1) deserve further investigation concerning migraine. If the hypothesis holds, FTO, G3BP1, and HuR will be essential in adapting components of the postpartum milieu to a new normal. We will explore whether the putative pregnancy-migraine genes are regulated to protect women against migraine. Migraine remission due to m6A regulation during pregnancy has not been explored before, underscoring the novelty and impact of this study
Between Scylla and Charybdis: An Investigation of China’s Prosperity and Stagnation in the Face of Thucydides’ Trap
No full textThis study explores the People’s Republic of China’s arc of national development
in the context of the Thucydides Trap. Harvard political scientist Graham Allison
conceived Thucydides’ Trap as a theory to explain the dynamic that arises when the
established hegemon of an international system is made to reckon with another nation
recently growing in wealth, influence, and military power. The strain on the international
system from two rival nations jockeying for primacy becomes too much to absorb, and
the end result is often war between the hegemon and the challenger, with the potential to
replace it.
Allison uses this conceptual framework, with a historical link to the Classical
Era’s great power conflict between ancient Athens and Sparta, to illustrate the looming
danger of a new great power war in the 21st century. The hegemon of the contemporary
international order, the United States, must now reckon with a potential challenger to that
order—a rising and prospering China.
Hal Brands of Johns Hopkins University and Michael Beckley of Tufts University
offer a response to Allison and a reinterpretation of Thucydides’ Trap. A rising power
introduced to the international system does not invite war so much as that ambitious
power’s subsequent stagnation in the face of its rivals, and the desperate behavior that
follows when ambitions fall out of grasp. Brands and Beckley identify a China that is no
longer rising but rather stagnating.
This thesis aims to empirically assess the state of China’s development between
the portrait of a rising China (painted by Allison) and a stagnating China (painted by
Brands and Beckley). I examined a selection of statistical trends identified by either
group that were offered as evidence for their cases.
The results are mixed. Many positive trends, established over decades, continue to
the current day. There are also several negative trends that have manifested themselves:
many in the short time between the published works of Allison, and Brands and Beckley
on this subject, and some much more durable
Sculpting the dark: Singularity engineering with metasurfaces
No full textOptical singularities refer to the phenomenon of light's zeros. They constitute a broad class of field behavior in which zeros of various observable electromagnetic parameters appear. This thesis examines the properties of optical singularities, their applications in metrology and microscopy, and the design principles required for their creation. We introduce a straightforward classification system for singularities based on their co-dimension, providing a framework to manage the diverse array of terms referring to the same singular behavior. We further illustrate that superoscillations, a counterintuitive wave phenomenon resulting from near-complete destructive interference, owe their oscillatory behavior to the proximity of singularities. Even when a superoscillatory function lacks complex zeros on the real line, its spatial behavior can be elucidated via complex zeros located nearby in the imaginary direction. Optical singularities can be shaped by wavefront shaping devices such as metasurfaces, a burgeoning class of optical devices composed of subwavelength nanostructures precisely arranged on a flat surface. We demonstrate the use of efficient computational algorithms, such as automatic differentiation, to inverse-design optical devices capable of generating high-fidelity singular light. These design algorithms maximize a parameter known as the phase gradient as a proxy to enforce singular behavior. We experimentally realize rare, non-generic optical singularities using nanofabricated dielectric metasurfaces and examine how these singularities can be utilized in microscopy, remote sensing, and atomic trapping applications. Finally, we identify future directions and areas of growth that these unique singular characteristics may enable
Waveform-based modulation of non-invasive peripheral nerve stimulation
No full textElectromagnetic peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) has many wide-reaching diagnostic and therapeutic applications ranging from assessment of nerve injury to rehabilitation therapy and pain management. Non-invasive electrical stimulation techniques using surface electrodes are preferred when possible. However, due to the highly spatially local fields produced by electrode-to-electrode current flow, deeper stimulation targets such as spinal cord, nerve roots, and ganglia currently require surgically implanted electrodes. In magnetostimulation, the electric field is induced by the time-varying magnetic field which penetrates the body, enabling non-invasive stimulation at depth. While magnetostimulation of nerves in magnetic resonance imaging should be avoided to ensure patient comfort and safety, magnetostimulation is the primary mechanism of action in non-invasive transcranial magnetic stimulation and has been reported to have benefits over traditional electrical peripheral nerve stimulation. The induced electric field is highly shaped by the body and so generating targeted, specific magnetostimulation requires an in depth understanding of the dynamics of the electric potential across the axon membrane through complex mechanisms including charge build up at the axon’s membrane and charge redistribution along the axon over time. This motivates the need for detailed analysis of how temporal modulation of the waveform including the application of multiple frequency waveforms might alter the nerve membrane state and its excitation threshold.
In this dissertation I characterize magnetostimualtion axon excitability as a function of stimulus waveform, present experimental high frequency stimulation thresholds, and propose waveform-based methods to exploit the biophysical properties of axons and reduce excitation. This work shows that a deeper understanding of axonal excitation can lead to informed waveform design and better control of magnetostimulation. This work may be useful in MRI where the detailed knowledge of anatomy and electric field induction can be used to prevent stimulation and also in clinical neurostimulation where better understanding of excitation may enable increased targeting and neuromodulation
On the Justification of State Authority through the Social Contract
No full textThis paper seeks to determine the justification for state authority under the social contract by examining two popular appeals. First, it looks at the idea that the contract grants legitimacy to the state based on residency, and that an individual who disagrees with its terms is free to leave. By closely examining the accounts in Plato’s Crito and Robert Nozick’s Anarchy, State and Utopia, I conclude that this exit clause as a theoretical possibility is not justified. The subsequent empirical analysis affirms the idea that the state is not left because of disagreement in significant numbers. Next, I examine modern work on hypothetical consent from Cynthia Stark and David Enoch to see if this model of consent works for the social contract and would grant legitimacy of their authority. I find that the condition of living in a state is sufficiently different from other accounts where hypothetical consent would be justified that this kind of consent cannot be extended to the social contract
Advancing Postsecondary Policy Ethics
No full textIn recent years, debates around postsecondary funding have taken more space over the airwaves and around dinner tables across the country. But when representatives debate a policy or when we debrief a news story with friends and family, we do not rely on economic evidence and political strategy alone. Our positions are also guided by our ethical and moral commitments. Choosing any given policy may involve, for instance, some conception of what postsecondary education is and should achieve, whether it is a right or merely a privilege, what just access to it entails, and so on. Philosophy is an excellent companion for pulling these commitments into the foreground, helping us clarify or even change our ethical understandings of postsecondary policy, and aiding us in better unlocking and understanding each other’s differing views. However, American philosophy of education has largely abstained from these policy questions, particularly as they arise within the constraints of modern economic and political life.
My dissertation takes some initial steps forward within this much broader project of re-engagement. Across all three articles, I draw extensively from existing sociological and economic literature on financial aid and college access, while also engaging with existing philosophy of higher education writ large. In doing so, I aim to offer three open accounts of different aspects of the public postsecondary debate that both are normatively interesting to philosophers and where philosophy can be interesting and action-guiding to practitioners and empirical researchers who share the aim of improving college access and affordability (Dotson, 2012). Put differently, this dissertation does not seek to definitively resolve or make a final conclusion about this debate, but rather hopes to begin a dialogue with existing empirical work for us to aid us in understanding and finding common ground in each other’s hopes for what postsecondary education can do
Building a model of cultural universality with specificity for global early childhood development
No full textNumerous longstanding developmental theories have emphasized the important role that culture and context play in shaping young children’s skill development. Nevertheless, the field lacks explicit models describing the extent to which early childhood development may be similar (universal) versus different (specific) across cultures. In this article, I review evidence from multiple fields regarding both similarities and differences in the form, timing, and relevance of early health, learning, and psychosocial skills across cultures. I then synthesize this evidence, highlighting themes intended to build an integrated model of developmental universality with specificity that can be used to inform science and policy. I conclude with recommendations for the field, including suggestions for a more inclusive approach to studying early childhood development that breaks down established barriers among fields, stakeholders, and geographies.Accepted Manuscrip
Political Ecologies and the Transformation of Landscape in the Early Modern Delaware Valley
No full textThis dissertation uses the concept of political ecology to explore the nature of colonization and the subsequent landscape transformation in the early modern Delaware Valley. The question of how European colonization changed the landscape of the Americas has been central to the environmental history of the early modern Atlantic world for more than a generation. The ecological impact of colonization in the Delaware Valley, where multiple empires and groups, such as the Netherlands, Sweden, and England (Britain after 1707), as well as Indigenous peoples, attempted to colonize and transform the landscape, is an especially challenging scenario. In the multiple colonizations of the region, each European empire had its own political economy and negotiations with local Indigenous peoples, hence each group prioritized different uses of the land and different natural resources. Therefore, this dissertation uses the perspective of political ecology, which interpret shifts in human use of land and natural resources as part of a larger-scale political economy, to examine how colonization and landscape developed in the Delaware Valley. The political ecology approach allows us to examine the driving forces of environmental change at multiple scales, from local to imperial. Landscape transformation can only be explained by considering multiple factors at multiple scales, including settlers’ ideological and socio-cultural preferences, market demands, and relationships with local ecosystems and people.
It is well known that colonists established a grainfield landscape in the eighteenth-century Delaware Valley, based on grain exports to the West Indies and southern Europe. This study examines why the region was ultimately transformed into the breadbasket of the British empire by chronicling the earlier projects that preceded and informed that shift. Just after the region’s Natives adopted maize-based agriculture through the Medieval Warm Period and the Little Ice Age, the Dutch, Swedish, and English (later British) brought their visions of colonization based on their respective empires’ political economies into the region. The Dutch sought furs, whalebone, and whale oil, while the Swedes intended to establish tobacco plantations comparable to those in Chesapeake Bay. However, their attempts did not lead to large-scale environmental change. Although the colonizing schemes of William Penn, who became the proprietor of Pennsylvania after the English conquest, ultimately failed, Quaker colonists, with their agrarian ideology and ties to the Atlantic market, transformed the landscape and ecosystems of the region through mixed husbandry and the spread of scattered farmsteads. In the late eighteenth century, a search for new commodity crops and agricultural diversification arose in the region, based not only on enlightened natural knowledge of climate and soil, but also on the new political ecology of empire, which continued until the war for independence. At the same time, colonists faced the crisis of resource depletion, such as wood and fish resources, and sought to conserve those resources and solve the environmental problems in the region. Among many possibilities, several contingent and complex factors in the British Atlantic world, such as agrarian ideology, commercial networks, and a large amount of free labor, all led by Quaker colonization, shaped the grainfield landscape