Liberation Period Research Articles

Changes in Incident Schizophrenia Diagnoses Associated With Cannabis Use Disorder After Cannabis Legalization.

Despite public health concerns that cannabis legalization may increase the number of cases of schizophrenia caused by cannabis, there is limited evidence on this topic. To examine changes in the population-attributable risk fraction (PARF) for cannabis use disorder (CUD) associated with schizophrenia after liberalization of medical cannabis and legalization of nonmedical cannabis in Canada. This population-based cohort study was conducted in Ontario, Canada, from January 1, 2006, to December 31, 2022, among 13 588 681 people aged 14 to 65 years without a history of schizophrenia. Diagnosis of CUD in the emergency department or hospital setting (International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision, Canada [ICD-10-CA] codes F12x and T40.7). Changes in the PARF for CUD associated with schizophrenia (ICD-10-CA codes F20x and F25x and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders [Fourth Edition] [DSM-IV] code 295x) over 3 policy periods: prelegalization (January 2006 to November 2015), liberalization of medical and nonmedical cannabis (December 2015 to September 2018), and legalization of nonmedical cannabis (October 2018 to December 2022). A secondary outcome was diagnosis of psychosis not otherwise specified (NOS) (ICD-10-CA code F29x and DSM-IV code 298x). Segmented linear regression was used to examine changes after the liberalization of medical cannabis in 2015 and the legalization of nonmedical cannabis in 2018. The study included 13 588 681 individuals (mean [SD] age, 39.3 [16.1] years; 6 804 906 males [50.1%]), of whom 118 650 (0.9%) had CUD. A total of 91 106 individuals (0.7%) developed schizophrenia (80 523 of 13 470 031 [0.6%] in the general population without CUD vs 10 583 of 118 650 [8.9%] with CUD). The PARF for CUD associated with schizophrenia almost tripled from 3.7% (95% CI, 2.7%-4.7%) during the prelegalization period to 10.3% (95% CI, 8.9%-11.7%) during the legalization period. The PARF in the postlegalization period ranged from 18.9% (95% CI, 16.8%-21.0%) among males aged 19 to 24 years to 1.8% (95% CI, 1.1%-2.6%) among females aged 45 to 65 years. The annual incidence of schizophrenia was stable over time, while the incidence of psychosis NOS increased from 30.0 to 55.1 per 100 000 individuals (83.7%) in the postlegalization period relative to the prelegalization period. The PARF for CUD associated with schizophrenia increased steadily over the study with no accelerations after cannabis policy changes, while increases in the PARF for CUD associated with psychosis NOS accelerated after medical cannabis liberalization. In this cohort study of individuals aged 14 to 65 years in Ontario, Canada, the proportion of incident cases of schizophrenia associated with CUD almost tripled during a period of substantial liberalization of cannabis policy. Ongoing research is indicated to understand the long-term associations of cannabis policy with the prevalence of psychotic disorders.

Benzodiazepine-Free Cardiac Anesthesia for Reduction of Postoperative Delirium

Delirium is common after cardiac surgery and associated with adverse outcomes. Intraoperative benzodiazepines may increase postoperative delirium but restricting intraoperative benzodiazepines has not yet been evaluated in a randomized trial. To determine whether an institutional policy of restricted intraoperative benzodiazepine administration reduced the incidence of postoperative delirium. This pragmatic, multiperiod, patient- and assessor-blinded, cluster randomized crossover trial took place at 20 North American cardiac surgical centers. All adults undergoing open cardiac surgery at participating centers during the trial period were included through a waiver of individual patient consent between November 2019 and December 2022. Institutional policies of restrictive vs liberal intraoperative benzodiazepine administration were compared. Hospitals (clusters) were randomized to cross between the restricted and liberal benzodiazepine policies 12 to 18 times over 4-week periods. The primary outcome was the incidence of delirium within 72 hours of surgery as detected in routine clinical care, using either the Confusion Assessment Method-Intensive Care Unit or the Intensive Care Delirium Screening Checklist. Intraoperative awareness by patient report was assessed as an adverse event. During the trial, 19 768 patients (mean [SD] age, 65 [12] years; 14 528 [73.5%] male) underwent cardiac surgery, 9827 during restricted benzodiazepine periods and 9941 during liberal benzodiazepine periods. During restricted periods, clinicians adhered to assigned policy in 8928 patients (90.9%), compared to 9268 patients (93.2%) during liberal periods. Delirium occurred in 1373 patients (14.0%) during restricted periods and 1485 (14.9%) during liberal periods (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.92; 95% CI, 0.84-1.01; P = .07). No patient spontaneously reported intraoperative awareness. In intention-to-treat analyses, restricting benzodiazepines during cardiac surgery did not reduce delirium incidence but was also not associated with an increase in the incidence of patient-reported intraoperative awareness. Given that smaller effect sizes cannot be ruled out, restriction of benzodiazepines during cardiac surgery may be considered. Research is required to determine whether restricting intraoperative benzodiazepines at the patient level can reduce the incidence of postoperative delirium. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03928236.

Three types of Poetic practices that traverse the Liberation Period

Three types of Poetic practices that traverse the Liberation Period

Digital Sovereignty, the Private Sector, and a Social Republican Alternative

The European Union has stated the ambition to regain control over the digital sphere, which academics have construed as both a push for digital sovereignty and as a form of digital constitutionalism. The strategy promises to be an improvement over the previous period of digital liberalism. I suggest, however, from a republican perspective, that this strategy of digital sovereignty is not sufficiently critical of the reliance on the private sector. A dominant private sector comes with a risk of widespread infrastructural dependency and yields too much of the digital sphere to a way of thinking that is shaped in accordance with silicon valley companies. On a republican account, these are arguably forms of structural domination. To prevent these risks from materialising, the European strategy should instead emphasize the role of alternative ownership models, such as those found in the digital commons and in public service media organisations.

Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Against Romani Women and Girls in Occupied Poland during World War II

ABSTRACT This paper examines the various forms of sexual violence experienced by Romani women and girls in occupied Poland during World War II. These acts were perpetrated by German soldiers and SS men and their collaborators, in particular Ukrainian nationalists, as well as by Soviet soldiers during the period of liberation. Romani women found themselves in an especially precarious situation due to both Nazi persecution as well as long-standing history of exoticization and sexualization of Romani women in Europe, dating back to the eighteenth century. The persecution of Romani people during WWII, including sexual violence and assault of Romani women and girls, still remains on the margins of Holocaust research. Moreover, the harmful and traumatic experiences of gender-based violence continue to remain taboo subjects within Romani culture. Drawing on testimonies of Romani survivors collected in Polish by the USC Shoah Foundation Visual History Archive, this article examines how the affected women and girls, as well as other survivors, talked or rather remained silent about sexual violence. I also discuss the forms, situations, and patterns of violence perpetrated by various groups and explore the influence of cultural assumptions and situational conditions on sexual and gender-based violence against Romani women and girls.

The Formulation of Modern Dance in Busan During the Liberation Period

The Formulation of Modern Dance in Busan During the Liberation Period

한국과 오스트리아의 초기 해방정국 비교: 단일 임시정부와 국제 차원을 중심으로

한국과 오스트리아의 초기 해방정국 비교: 단일 임시정부와 국제 차원을 중심으로

Changes in self-reported cannabis use in the United States from 1979 to 2022.

Multiple countries are considering revising cannabis policies. This study aimed to measure long-term trends in cannabis use in the United States and compare them with alcohol use. Secondary analysis of United States general population survey data. The national surveys had a total of 1 641 041 participants across 27 surveys from 1979 to 2022. Rates of use reported to the US National Survey on Drug Use and Health and its predecessors are described, as are trends in days of use reported. Four milepost years are contrasted: 1979 (first available data and end of relatively liberal policies of the 1970s), 1992 (end of 12 years of conservative Reagan-Bush era policies), 2008 (last year before the Justice Department signaled explicit federal non-interference with state-level legalizations) and 2022 (most recent data available). Reported cannabis use declined to a nadir in 1992, with partial recovery through 2008, and substantial increases since then, particularly for measures of more intensive use. Between 2008 and 2022, the per capita rate of reporting past-year use increased by 120%, and days of use reported per capita increased by 218% (in absolute terms from the annual equivalent of 2.3 to 8.1 billion days per year). From 1992 to 2022, there was a 15-fold increase in the per capita rate of reporting daily or near daily use. Whereas the 1992 survey recorded 10 times as many daily or near daily alcohol as cannabis users (8.9 vs. 0.9 M), the 2022 survey, for the first time, recorded more daily and near daily users of cannabis than alcohol (17.7 vs. 14.7 M). Far more people drink, but high-frequency drinking is less common. In 2022, the median drinker reported drinking on 4-5days in the past month, versus 15-16 days in the past month for cannabis. In 2022, past-month cannabis consumers were almost four times as likely to report daily or near daily use (42.3% vs. 10.9%) and 7.4 times more likely to report daily use (28.2% vs. 3.8%). Long-term trends in cannabis use in the United States parallel corresponding changes in cannabis policy, with declines during periods of greater restriction and growth during periods of policy liberalization. A growing share of cannabis consumers report daily or near daily use, and their numbers now exceed the number of daily and near daily drinkers.

Language choices reflecting social changes: multilingualism in the popular music of Guinean jelis

ABSTRACT This paper explores multilingual popular music in the Republic of Guinea (West Africa) by focussing on hereditary musicians of Manding origin, known as jelis or griots. I demonstrate how jeli songs developed in the course of recent Guinean history as divided into three periods: the Colonial period (1898–1958), the Decolonial Socialist Regime of Sekou Touré (1958–1984), and the Liberalisation period (1984 – present). While the Colonial period featured the dominance of European music and languages in the public domain, the jeli music and Maninka language appeared at the forefront of Guinean popular music stage in the radically decolonising Socialist regime of Sekou Touré. The Liberalisation period saw a growing capitalist economy and the rise of Susu urban music. In this more competitive context, the jeli songs have become truly multilingual, featuring other local Guinean languages, mainly Susu and Pular, which now appear as mixed registers, or urban vernaculars, influenced by French through code-mixing and borrowings. The transitions between local languages, however, are constrained by the song structure, first, reflecting the actual patterns of multilingual language use in Guinea, but also potentially signalling more discreet identities of the musicians reinforced via using Maninka jeli family names as professional ‘brands’.

Отношения России и Турции во второй половине ХХ – первой половине XXI в. Циклический характер отношений

The article develops the ideas of the publication “Relations between Russia and Turkey in the XIX – first half of the XX century. The peacefulness of conservatism and the conflictogenicity of liberalism” by R.R. Vakhitov. The purpose of this article is to test the hypothesis that during the periods of conservative modernization in Russia (USSR) and Turkey there was a desire for peace and cooperation between the countries, while conflicts occurred mainly during periods of liberalization and Westernization. The article examines the stage from the late 1930s (the death of Ataturk) to the present and concludes that the hypothesis is generally confirmed. The periods of authoritarianism and conservative modernization (the 1970s and the present) are marked by cooperation and rapprochement between the two countries, and the periods of liberalization (1950–1960 and the 1990s) – by conflict.

Freedom of speech and the right to information in gemeronyms of the periodical press of Yakutia (1887-1928)

This article examines the connection of the gemeronyms of Yakut periodicals with cultural and historical phenomena, where the desire for freedom of speech and the right to information influenced the formation and dissemination of a democratic and national press in Yakutia. However, during the historical process, there was no stable media system during this period. Consequently, the press of Yakutia reflected the movement of the socio-political life of that time and depended on fluctuations in political power. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the fact that for the first time in Yakut journalism, an attempt was made to comprehend and systematise the names of newspapers and magazines as an independent unit, taking into account its functional specificity in communication processes. The purpose of the study is to determine the peculiarity of the reflection of freedom of speech and the right to information in the gemeronyms of newspapers and magazines in Yakutia in the pre–revolutionary period, after the February Revolution and during the period of liberalisation of Soviet power. The relevance of studying the gemeronym has become the basis for further research, which is due to its special role in the historiographical process as a whole. In our case, a distinctive feature of the media onomasticon is its interdisciplinarity. The study used methods of observation and content analysis of the hemeronyms of periodicals as onomastic realities. In addition, the method of retrospective analysis using "keywords" and "key meanings" is used to systematise the history of the Yakut periodical press.

Language policy of North and South Korean academism during the liberation period

Language policy of North and South Korean academism during the liberation period

The state of scientific research of militia activity in Ukraine during the period of partial liberalisation of the political regime in the USSR (1953–1962)

The state of scientific research of militia activity in Ukraine during the period of partial liberalisation of the political regime in the USSR (1953–1962)

Muhammad Khatami’s Reforms in Iran from the Perspective of Transitology and the Outlook for Democratic Change

On May 23, 1997, a victory of Muhammad Khatami in the presidential election in the Islamic Republic of Iran started a brief period of liberalization in the country long mired in a repressive and authoritarian political regime. The new government loosened the restrictions imposed on the public space, widened the scope of some civil liberties and under the slogans of “religious democracy”, “rule of law” and “participation” aroused expectations of a further political change. Nevertheless these expectations were futile and the widely popular reform movement was stifled by a repression on the part of the conservative core of the regime. This study attempts to analyze these events as a failed attempt to democratic transition, leaning on the theory of Guillermo O’Donnell and Philipe Schmitter. It demonstrates that the transitive period under Khatami’s presidency followed the typical path of the disintegration of the post-World War II authoritarian regimes, which usually begins by the split within the governing elite of the régime itself and proceed through gradual and contingent introduction of liberalizing and democratizing reforms by its “soft-liner”. On this basis it attempts to capture the overall dynamic of the transitive process, define its turning points, identify the causes of its ultimate successful obstruction by the “hard-line” conservatives and derive from this experience implications for a possibility of democratic change in future.

Determinants of Private Infrastructure Investment in India: A Post-liberalization Analysis

In spite of the initiatives by the Government of India for reviving private infrastructure investment, its growth is not up to the mark, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. It is well known that the contribution of the private sector to infrastructure is inevitable to the overall growth of a country. An enquiry into its determining factors will help to explore the reasons behind the ebb and flow of private infrastructure investment in India and helps in finding solutions to revive it. This paper aims to identify the macroeconomic determining factors of private infrastructure investment in India after the liberalization period. ARDL-bound test results show that in the long run, there exists a positive long-run relationship between private infrastructure investment with gross domestic product (GDP), public infrastructure investment and domestic credit to the private sector, whereas in the short run, it was found that only the GDP and domestic credit to the private sector are statistically significant. Although there are many empirical studies that presented the contribution of macroeconomic factors to the growth of private investment in general, this study stands out as this is the first attempt to identify the determinants of private infrastructure investment.

The impact of trade reforms on industry wage premia in Pakistan: A sectoral perspective

Pakistan witnessed significant trade liberalization reforms between 1988 and 2005. This study investigates the impact of Pakistan's significant trade liberalization policies in 1988 on industry wage premia. We use an estimation strategy that takes into account dispersion in sector wage premiums and trade reforms over time and across sectors. We employed the wage premium approach and Restricted Least Squares to obtain sectoral wage premia. We used weighted least squares and two-stage-least-squares (2SLS) to explore the liaison between trade reforms and sector wage premia. Contrary to previous empirical studies on less developed economies, our findings reveal a significant and resilient correlation between changes in trade reforms and fluctuations in sector wage premiums during the liberalisation period of 1990-2005. Our findings are consistent with short- and medium-run trade models in which workers are immobile across industries or, on the other hand, with the presence of sector rents that are reduced when trade policy is liberalized.

Tea Trade Scenario in the Pre and Post Liberalization Period in India

Indian tea, which has maintained its supremacy both in production and export for more than a century, has started to lose its pre-eminence. Other tea producing countries like China, Kenya, Sri Lanka and Kenya are strongly competing for Market share. The increase in production in China has pushed India to second position in production and the country lost its domination of the export market to Kenya, China and Sri Lanka. Given this backdrop, the present study attempts to analyse the export growth, instability in export earnings, export quantity and unit value and concentration of export destinations evaluate India’s tea export performance. The growth of export quantity, value and unit value from India (1988-2022) was worked out using compound growth rate and the results indicated an increased growth in the post–WTO period which could be attributed to the expansion in trade to the Near East, with their growth and strength of the economies in the region (Hicks, 2009). Instability in export can affect the economic growth of the country as it has adverse effect on the countries export earnings, trade balance, and confidence of international trading partners. The export instability calculated using Coppock’s instability index showed an increasing trend in the post-WTO period. In 1990’s about 6 countries viz., U.S.S.R, U.K, Iran, Iraq, Egypt and Poland accounted for about 90 per cent of total tea exports from India. But over a period of time the demand in these countries weakened. The Indian exports continue to lose volume in countries like Russia Europe, USA and some middle east countries (Dutt, 2007). The share in Iraq, Netherland and Poland was maintained and it improved in UAE, Germany, Pakistan and china. Overall in the past 3 decades, India’s world ranking as an exporter has dropped to fourthowing to competition from China, Kenya and Sri Lanka. (Majumder et al., 2010). The reduction in values of the Hirschmann index indicated increased geographic diversification of tea exports thereby reducing the possibility of market risk due to dependence on few markets. The commodity diversification in the form of various tea products exported is very limited, the major share of exports being in the form of black tea especially in bulk form. Received: 1 February 2024 / Accepted: 29 April 2024 / Published: 5 May 2024

INVESTIGATING THE IMPACT OF CREDIT RISK ON FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE OF COMMERCIAL BANK IN INDIA

In this liberalization period, credit Risk Management has got much importance in the Indian Economy. The main challenges faced by the banking sector today are the challenge of identifying the risk and managing it. The risk is imbibed nature of the banking business. The main role of a bank is of intermediate for those having resources and requiring resources. For risk management various risks like credit risk, market risk or operational risk have to be converted into one composite measure. The importance of credit risk management and its impact on profitability has motivated us to pursue this study. We assume that if the credit risk management is sound, the profit level will be satisfactory. The other way around, if the credit risk management is poor, the profit level will be relatively lower. Because the less the banks loss from credits, the more the banks gain. Therefore, it is necessary that measurement of credit risk should be in tandem with other measurements of operation and market risk so that the requisite composite estimate can be worked out. So, in banking sector credit risk management is being most important task of all. Moreover, the central question is how significant the impact of credit risk management on profitability is. This thesis is an endeavor to find the answer. The principal concern of this thesis is to ascertain to what extent banks can manage their credit risks, what tools or techniques are at their disposal and to what extent their performance can be augmented by proper credit risk management policies and strategies.

Can operational efficiency in the Portuguese electricity sector be improved? Yes, but...

Efficiency has long been an issue of concern in the electricity sector. Most existing studies relate technical efficiency in electricity generation to policy factors while that in transmission and distribution is associated with environmental factors. Although firm operation is also a relevant perspective on this topic, its explicit impact upon technical efficiency has rarely been studied. In order to analyze the evolution and operational determinants of productive and cost efficiency in the Portuguese electricity sector (including generation from different sources, trade, transmission and distribution), this study estimates Stochastic Frontier models using firm-level panel data from 2006 to 2019, covering the period of liberalization of the Portuguese electricity market. The evidence indicates efficiency improvement through time, which is likely to slow down and needs to be consolidated. Results on the inefficiency determinants suggest that it is possible to improve productive technical efficiency by encouraging investment in fixed assets, higher average hourly wage and moderate average working hours. In addition, based on the results, we advocate deepening the integration of the Iberian electricity market and stimulating competition in the renewable energy sector.

Drivers of socio-spatial change in Istanbul: Historical and longitudinal analysis of 5 cases from Bakırköy

This article aims to reveal the social and spatial change in Bakırköy through time and to identify the drivers behind this transformation. Bakırköy has been chosen as it hosted the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman Empires, leading to its multicultural and layered structure. It has been influenced by the dominant features of each era, shaping socio-economic changes, spatial transformations, and urban planning practices over the historical process. The interaction of these socio-spatial elements within Bakırköy encompasses broad themes such as social differentiation, economic change, and urban governance, thereby presenting case studies to examine the dynamics of urban areas in Istanbul. The research has been conducted at two levels. First, spatial changes were examined through relevant documents, literature, and historical maps. The periods were determined as the state-led development period (1923-1950), liberalization period (1950-1980), neoliberal transformation period (1980-2000), and globalization period (post-2000), with the pre-1923 period being considered separately. Subsequently, five case studies were selected to represent different functional land use at the local level. The first case study involves an area known as the İskender Çelebi Farm in the 17th century, which was chosen to represent the transformation from a food production area to industrial production in the 18th century and has become a mass housing area in the 20th century, now known as the Ataköy districts. The second and third case studies represent the transformation from industrial production areas in the 19th and early 20th centuries to residential, tourism, and shopping areas. The fourth case study focuses on the coastal strip, which was used as a public space for ‘sea baths’ in the 19th century and today exists as luxury housing projects under private ownership. The fifth case study involves an area that served as an airport in the early 20th century and is currently planned for a hospital and green spaces, although it remains a public service.Through these cases, which demonstrate the shift from the productional use of space to consumption, the study seeks to answer the following questions: First, how do demographic and economic changes play a significant role in the differentiation of urban space, and in a related context, what is the local-scale impact of changing policies on the functional change of the selected cases? The findings reveal that industrial investments, supported by transportation investments, choose their locations in the changing/transforming economic order. The decentralization of industry and the privatization or transformation of public investments into consumption-focused urban areas through public-private partnerships have also been observed. The study aims to prove that this change in space lays the groundwork for social differentiation.