68 research outputs found
Review of the book Critiquing Brahmanism: A collection of essays, by K. Murali (Ajith)
No full textDr. Devin Zane Shaw (Douglas College) reviews the book Critiquing Brahmanism: A collection of essays, by K. Murali (Ajith) (2020).Final article published
Food nostalgia and food comfort: the role of social connectedness
No full textWe were concerned with the link between nostalgia and comfort in food experiences. In Studies 1 and 2, participants visualised 12 foods (Study 1) or consumed 12 flavour samples (Study 2). Following each respective food experience, they rated each food’s capacity to evoke nostalgia and comfort. In preregistered Studies 3 and 4, participants first visualised and wrote about eating either a personally nostalgic food or a regularly consumed food, and then indicated the extent to which the food experience increased nostalgia, social connectedness, and comfort. In cross-sectional Studies 1 and 2, nostalgia associated with food experiences was linked to more comfort, but this relation exhibited greater complexity in experimental Studies 3 and 4. In the latter two studies, nostalgia for food experiences elevated comfort by strengthening social connectedness.</p
Food-evoked nostalgia
No full textIn three studies, we examined food as an elicitor of nostalgia. Study 1 participants visualised eating either a nostalgic or regularly consumed food. Study 2 participants visualised consuming 12 foods. Study 3 participants consumed 12 flavour samples. Following their food experiences, all participants responded to questions regarding the profile of food-evoked nostalgia (i.e. autobiographical relevance, arousal, familiarity, positive and negative emotions) and several psychological functions (i.e. positive affect, self-esteem, social connectedness, meaning in life). Study 2 and 3 participants also reported their state nostalgia. Results revealed that food is a powerful elicitor of nostalgia. Food-evoked nostalgia has a similar contextual profile to previously examined elicitors, but is a predominantly positive emotional experience. Food-evoked nostalgia served multiple psychological functions and predicted greater state nostalgia.</p
Substantive Representation of Women in Asian Parliaments
No full textCombining data from nearly 100 interviews with national parliamentarians from ten Asian countries, the contributors to this book analyze and evaluate the advancement of gender equality in Asia. As of the year 2022, no country in Asia has gender parity in its parliament. Meanwhile, the proportion of national-level women parliamentarians in Asia averages a mere 20%. What is more important than simple descriptive representation, however, is whether outcomes for women are improving. Rather than focusing on numerical representation, the chapters in this book focus on the substantive representation of women. In other words, what do women and men parliamentarians do to advance women’s well-being and gender equality? Using semi-structured interviews, the author of each chapter examines these efforts in the context of a specific Asian country. The case studies include Bangladesh, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, the Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, and Timor-Leste. The book is an essential resource for scholars and students of Asian politics and the politics of gender
The investigation of phase synchronization in the cortex during a fatiguing muscle contraction using EEG
No full textIncludes bibliographical references (leaves 140-157)
Data-driven support of a sustainable and inclusive urban heat transition in the Netherlands: The data ecosystem approach
No full textThe transition towards a sustainable energy system in the built environment is commonly referred to the incremental adoption of a variety of available technologies, practices and policies that may contribute to decrease the environmental impact, at reasonable costs and adequate quality standards. The complexity of the transition requires a sound information provision in order to make decisions which are future proof and optimal in the context of the system dependencies by both public and private parties. This information provision is lacking maturity, and in the era of Big and Open Data, it is believed that data has a significant role to play in the improvement of the information provision towards all stakeholders. This paper presents a study on the information provision in the Dutch energy transition with the focus on the thermal urban transition away from natural-gas. The study adopts the DE approach to answer the following research question: How and under which Data Ecosystem can Open and Big Data be utilized to improve the information provision and support decision-making in the transition towards a sustainable urban thermal energy system, in the Netherlands, given the perceptions and resources of stakeholders?Complex Systems Engineering and Management (CoSEM
Eastern Europe's experience with banking reform : is there a role for banks in the transition?
No full textAre there lessons to be learned about how Eastern European countries have dealt with problems in their banking systems? What role have these countries assigned to banks during the transition? How have they used banks in dealing with the enterprise problem? The author addresses these questions by analyzing experience in Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the former Czech and Slovak Federal Republic. Most of these countries have made substantial progress in restructuring their banking systems, but few have used their banking systems to improve the allocation of credit and hence stimulate the supply response. The author finds the following. The problem is not whether banks hold nonperforming loans but how banks can avoid accumulating more nonperforming loans. The underlying problem is how to close loss-making and nonviable enterprises. The countries that have encouraged the establishment of new private banks, that have introduced regulation and supervision, and that have tried to make banks more competitive have been more successful at improving the allocation of credit and achieving more control over loss-making enterprises. Banks must focus on assessing risk - and for this, capital, private ownership, and adequate regulation are crucial. How quickly banks achieve independence in credit decisions depends on how fast new governance structures can be introduced. In this, the five countries have been less successful. The objectives of bank recapitulation should be to prevent banks from accumulating more nonperforming loans (that is, dealing with the enterprise problem) and to give them the governance structure that would prevent them from incurring new nonperforming loans. This requires introducing a system of risk and reward - by making banks comply with capital adequacy requirements, by privatizing a critical number of banks, and by introducing strong regulation and supervision. Government should see that banks provide efficient payment systems, the basis for trust in banking systems. Introducing adequate regulation and supervision has been difficult as it requires knowing what the banks'role should be. Evidence strongly supports the need to recapitalize and privatize a critical number of banks. Authorities cannot rely on banks to exert control on enterprises early in the transition. In the early stages, control over state-owned enterprises should be exercised by a semipublic institution.Banks&Banking Reform,Financial Intermediation,Financial Crisis Management&Restructuring,Municipal Financial Management,Banking Law
Principles of regulatory policy design
No full textThe author contrasts command-and-control regulation (tight control of water purification, for example) with more flexible forms, including incentive regulation (such as price cap regulation), potential regulation (providing for closer scrutiny if enough customers complain), and reactive rather than proactive policies (the firm proposing actions, the regulatory saying yes or no). He contrasts informing regulation (for example, requiring that consumers be informed about ingredients in a product) and enforcing regulation (for example, prohibiting the use of certain chemicals in foods). A country's institutional structure can limit the regulators'potential for commitment, he says -- especially if regulators are limited in their ability to deliver rewards or penalties. The scope and function of regulation may also be fairly limited when technological conditions allow competition to discipline producers. Sophisticated buyers with economic power may reduce the need for regulatory control, and rapid technological change can render comprehensive command-and-control regulation ineffective or debilitating. Many forces operate simultaneously, making regulatory design a complex undertaking. Inertia is one such influence. Regulatory policies that once served an important purpose sometimes persist even though they no longer serve that purpose -- sometimes because they favor a constituency that convinces the regulator to keep the control in place. Subsidies and tariff protection often continue long past the time needed to promote the development of an infant industry, for example. When there is limited public outcry against continuing the special treatment, and the affected firms strongly urge its continuance, the regulator may be convinced to continue special treatment that no longer serves the public interest. Regulation may also be affected by the regulators'personal ambition. When regulators are"captured"by regulated firms -- diverted from the goal of protecting consumers through the promise of personal rewards for favorable treatment of the firms -- regulation may not serve society's best interest. Even if regulators are not motivated by self-interest, their ideas of what is best for society may differ from those of other government officials or of society at large. When that happens, which goals are pursued depends largely on the autonomy regulators that are granted and on the balance of power among government bodies.Regulation should be viewed in this large context to be understood fully.Administrative&Regulatory Law,Environmental Economics&Policies,National Governance,Economic Theory&Research,Insurance&Risk Mitigation
Evaluation of a scoring system based on conformation factors to predict cranial cruciate ligament disease in Labrador Retrievers
No full textObjective
To determine the association of a radiographic score derived from tibial plateau angle (TPA) and femoral anteversion (FAA) with an outcome of cranial cruciate ligament deficiency (CCLD) in large dogs.
Study Design
Cross-sectional study.
Animals
167 Labrador Retrievers.
Methods
Hind limbs of sound Labrador Retrievers over 6 years of age were considered at low risk for CCLD. Limbs were considered high risk for CCLD if they were affected or predisposed (sound contralateral limb in dogs with unilateral CCLD). The radiographic CCLD score was calculated for each limb. The TPA, FAA, and CCLD scores were compared between limbs of the same dog and between risk categories. A contingency table was used to evaluate the association of the CCLD score with the CCLD status of limbs.
Results
TPA, FAA, and CCLD scores were greater in limbs categorized as high risk for CCLD than in normal limbs. The sensitivity and specificity of the CCLD score was 87% and 79%, respectively. The positive predictive value was 92% and the negative predictive value was 69%. Scores were similar between paired right and left limbs, but did not agree for predicted status in 14/106 dogs.
Discussion
Our study supports an association between TPA, FAA, and CCLD in Labrador Retrievers. The negative predictive value of the CCLD score supports its application for screening dogs considered at low risk for CCLD. Positive CCLD scores should be interpreted with caution and the status of a dog may be undetermined if scores obtained on each limb disagree
Loss of AMP-activated protein kinase alpha 2 subunit in mouse beta-cells impairs glucose-stimulated insulin secretion and inhibits their sensitivity to hypoglycaemia
No full textAMPK (AMP-activated protein kinase) signalling plays a key role in whole-body energy homoeostasis, although its precise role in pancreatic beta-cell function remains unclear. In the present stusy, we therefore investigated whether AMPK plays a critical function in beta-cell glucose sensing and is required for the maintenance of normal glucose homoeostasis. Mice lacking AMPK alpha 2 in beta-cells and a population of hypothalamic neurons (RIPCre alpha 2KO mice) and RIPCre alpha 2KO mice lacking AMPK alpha 1 (alpha 1KORIP-Cre alpha 2KO) globally were assessed for whole-body glucose homoeostasis and insulin secretion. Isolated pancreatic islets from these mice were assessed for glucose-stimulated insulin secretion and gene expression changes. Cultured beta-cells were examined electrophysiologically for their electrical responsiveness to hypoglycaemia. RIPCre alpha 2KO mice exhibited glucose intolerance and impaired GSIS (glucose-stimulated insulin secretion) and this was exacerbated in alpha IKORIPCre alpha 2KO mice. Reduced glucose concentrations failed to completely suppress insulin secretion in islets from RIPCre alpha 2KO and alpha IKORIPCre alpha 2KO mice, and conversely GSIS was impaired. beta-Cells lacking AMPK alpha 2 or expressing a kinase-dead AMPK alpha 2 failed to hyperpolarize in response to low glucose, although K-ATP (ATP-sensitive potassium) channel function was intact. We could detect no alteration of GLUT2 (glucose transporter 2), glucose uptake or glucokinase that could explain this glucose insensitivity. UCP2 (uncoupling protein 2) expression was reduced in RIPCre alpha 2KO islets and the UCP2 inhibitor genipin suppressed low-glucose-mediated wildtype mouse beta-cell hyperpolarization, mimicking the effect of AMPK alpha 2 loss. These results show that AMPK alpha 2 activity is necessary to maintain normal pancreatic beta-cell glucose sensing, possibly by maintaining high beta-cell levels of UCP2.</p
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