Post-transitional Period Research Articles

Acute Myocardial Infarction and Daylight Saving Time Transitions: Is There a Risk?

Available evidence on the risk of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in the days after the spring daylight saving time (DST) transition suggests either a modest increase or no risk increase. Partial sleep deprivation and enhanced circadian clock misalignment have been implicated as the underlying mechanisms for increased AMI risk, probably via enhanced thrombo-inflammatory processes and activation of the sympathetic nervous system. Most of the studies, as we suggest as a perspective here, have used potentially inappropriate control periods, including the two post-transitional weeks, because adjustment after the spring DST transition lasts at least four weeks for all chronotypes and probably even beyond this period for late chronotypes. The most plausible conclusions, at the moment, for the risk of AMI after the spring DST transition are: (1) the risk is increased, (2) a relatively modest risk increase could be currently underestimated or in some studies undetected, (3) late chronotypes and/or individuals with high levels of social jetlag (a proxy for circadian clock misalignment) could be more affected by the phenomenon, and (4) underlying pathophysiological mechanisms should be further explored. As a significant part of world’s population continues to be affected by the biannual clock change, the question of increased AMI risk in the post-transitional period remains an intriguing public health issue.

Child and Family Benefits to Halt Hungary’s Population Decline, 1965-2020: A Comparison with Polish and Romanian Family Policies

Based on the long-term, demographic forecast, Hungary faces a significant population loss. This paper examines the continuing low level of Hungarian fertility, as well as the marked decline of population due to out-migration beginning in the mid-2000s. First, I will discuss the role governmental family policies play in halting fertility decline before 1989, the demographic post-transitional period of 1960-1980 and the past thirty years since 1989. Second, this paper particularly aims to highlight the impact of the new family policy since 2010, a reverse redistribution of resources from poor to the better-off families which did not result in a marked growth of birth rates. The new family benefits possibly further contribute to the existing polarization of Hungarian society without altering Hungary’s demographic data. Finally, the paper also compares the recent changes of family policies in Poland, Hungary and Romania since 2004.

“My Mother Was a Fish”: Racial Trauma, Precarity, and Grief in K. Sello Duiker’s <em>Thirteen Cents</em>

In this article, I explore manifestations of (inter)subjectivity in relation to racial trauma and grief as portrayed through the child protagonist of K. Sello Duiker's Thirteen Cents, Azure. This discussion is informed by the representation of the black body in light of post-transitional politics, paying specific attention to Azure's connection to the historically maligned figure of Saartjie, a connection that reflects the reenactment of racial trauma in the contemporary moment. Azure's encounters with violence and loss, I posit, result in a psychic break that forms an index to the failure of recognition inherent in intersubjective relations grounded on racism. I argue that we can understand Azure's subjectivity by paying attention to the ways in which his subjectivity is mitigated by psychosocial directives on racialized existence, the symbolic potential of his repressed rage, and the transformative potential of filial connections. I contend that Azure stands as an individualized meditation on the shortcomings of the reconciliation narrative of the post-transitional period that tends to erase the more immediate consequences of South Africa's violent past for those who are most vulnerable. Ultimately, this child protagonist exemplifies the ways in which trauma and violence interfere with the most human of impulses, grief.

Motives and Characteristics of Highly Qualified Labor Force Migration: Case Study of Serbia

The emigration of highly qualified labour from the countries of Eastern Europe is one of the worst effects of transitional and post-transitional period. It discredits the educational system of Eastern European countries, but also creates long-term problems in the development of the economy and all other sectors of society. The difference in earnings between immigrant countries of Western Europe and North America and the countries of emigration is the dominant motive for migration. But other motives are also not irrelevant. This paper is an initial part of a wider research of the international movement of labour which should provide guidance to the countries of emigration to mitigate the consequences of this process. Student surveys in Eastern European countries, their thoughts and plans, will provide information on the motives of emigration. On the other hand, by surveying the experiences of young highly educated workforce who has already emigrated, a true picture of experiences and the expected and achieved intentions will be obtained. Finally, certain questions in the questionnaire will also give an answer to the question, which would be new moments that would encourage young experts not to leave the country, or to return those who emigrated.
 Keywords: International migration, brain drain, state measures, retaining talent

Posttranzicioni status i odabrani izazovi zdravstvenog sistema Srbije

This paper discusses the position of the healthcare system of the Republic of Serbia in the post-transitional period, in the context of the challenges and sustainability. Some of the most important problems that the healthcare system faces, including financial aspects, demography, corruption, public health, environmental protection, etc., are selected and discussed. Developmental potentials of the healthcare system were also noted, as well as the possibility of developing medical research. Socioeconomic factors have been analyzed to determine the relationship between costs and quality of life of the inhabitants of Serbia. The paper concludes that the entire healthcare system requires more efficient optimization (especially the financial sector and resource optimization) as well as the necessity of a higher level of intersectoral connectivity.

Temptation of the “Powerful”: The politics of electoral reform in Central Europe in post-transitional period

Abstract The paper explores and analyses processes of electoral reforms in selected Central European countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, and Slovenia) in post-transitional period. The qualitative analysis focuses “only” on the enacted changes in electoral systems and its purpose is not to evaluate the impact and political consequences of individual changes but rather to concentrate, through a theoretically-informed detailed contextual analysis, on the electoral reform process itself. It is therefore concerned with contextual factors affecting, underlying, initiating and/or controlling these changes. The paper identifies political elites as the main actors of electoral reform processes in selected countries, and it tries to explain both motivations of political elites for changing status quo electoral systems and other circumstances of electoral reform processes in Central Europe as well. The analysis also suggests that processes of electoral reform in post-transitional period in Central Europe are characterized by a tendency to less proportional electoral system designs, with the only exception of the Slovak electoral reform of 1999 (due to specific political constellation), while it did not discover any clear tendency regarding personalization of electoral systems.

De las transiciones al estancamiento Revisitando la democratización en la obra de Guillermo O’Donnell

El presente texto realiza una reconstrucción de las influyentes contribuciones del politólogo Guillermo O’Donnell a los estudios sobre los procesos de democratización. Para ello, discute sus principales elaboraciones analíticas y conceptuales situándolas en el contexto político e histórico en el que se desarrollaron, así como frente a otros adelantos teóricos y discusiones ideológicas que les han seguido. En particular, esta revisión se concentra, primero, en el período de las transiciones a la democracia en América Latina, mostrando cómo los constructos teóricos desarrollados por O’Donnell estaban vinculados a las visiones políticas y los compromisos normativos más amplios de su parte. Tales compromisos se ven reflejados, posteriormente, en los intereses investigativos y apuestas conceptuales del autor durante el período post-transicional, específicamente en sus preocupaciones frente a la democracia delegativa y la accountability horizontal, elementos que ocupan la segunda parte de esta revisión.

Developmental trajectories of school burnout: Evidence from two longitudinal studies

To examine school burnout trajectories, in Study 1, 15-year-old adolescents (N=614) completed the School Burnout Inventory twice during their final term of comprehensive school and twice after the transition to upper secondary high school or vocational school. In Study 2, school burnout in 17-year-old adolescents was measured twice annually (N=575) during their upper secondary education. In Study 1, growth mixture modeling for school burnout yielded a four-latent-group solution: 60% of the adolescents showed a low and stable level of school burnout, 29% increasing burnout, 3% strongly increasing burnout and 8% high-decreasing school burnout. In Study 2, we identified two latent groups of school burnout: 94% moderate and slightly decreasing, and 6% high-increasing. In support of the demands–resources model during the educational transition, more changes were observed in the trajectories of school burnout, while during the stable post-transitional period, the trajectories of school burnout were mostly stable.

A sociolinguistic study: a contrastive analysis of the advertisements of private and public institutions in Pakistan

It is a qualitative study and aims at providing an in depth analysis of promotional discourse in academic settings, with the focus on the analysis of powerful and hegemonic use of language to publicize, persuade and to hit specific audience, who aspire high to become iconic managers in competitive economic world.
  Furthermore, the analysis of interdiscursivity as a sign of social change and transitional period. In order to analyze the commercialization of academic discourse of private intuitions of Pakistan, the contrastive analysis, of the advertisements of a private and a public institution, is focused to highlight that the promotional and consumer discourse places consumption in the central position, in the life of people. The comparative analysis of public and private sector not only highlights the marketizing effect on private sector, but also confirms that public institutions in Pakistan still preserve scholarly and academic discourse. They need not to promote and publicize themselves as the previous result and the fame of the institution are the proof of quality edducatin.As it is a sociolinguistic study so, the analysis also reflects the social post modernity transitional period of Pakistani society.

Clinical features of late-onset circulatory dysfunction in premature infants

Background: Sudden unpredictable hypotension during the post-transitional period, termed late-onset circulatory dysfunction (LCD) of premature infants, has been reported in low birthweight infants who overcame major problems during the early neonatal period. We investigated the clinical features of LCD and factors associated with the occurrence of LCD. Methods: A multicenter retrospective case-control study. The clinical records of 1,004 children born at less than 32 weeks of gestation were reviewed. Patients with LCD were compared with age-matched non-LCD controls. Results: Of the 1,004 infants, 73 (7.3%) were diagnosed with LCD, with the incidence differing significantly among institutions ( P,0.0001). The median age of diagnosis was 16 days of age (range: 4–50 days) and 29 weeks of postmenstrual age (range: 25–35 weeks). The incidence of LCD was inversely correlated with gestational age at birth, except at 22 and 23 weeks. Compared with the control infants, the LCD infants had significantly higher incidences of birth by cesar ean section (61/73 versus 48/73, P,0.05); hyponatremia (sodium ,130 mEq/L) at the time of diagnosis (24/66 versus 3/39, P,0.01); deterioration of respiratory status within 24 hours before diagnosis (36/73 versus 6/73, P,0.0001); and periventricular leukomalacia (14/73 versus 4/73, P,0.05). Corticosteroids were effective in 52 infants who were unresponsive to volume expansion or inotropic agents. None of these infants died of LCD. Conclusion: LCD is common but worthy of attention due to its association with periventricular leukomalacia. A review of institutional differences in treatment policies may contribute to the prevention of LCD.

The European Court of Human Rights in the Post‐Cold War Era: Universality in TransitionSweeney, James A.Oxon, New York, Routledge (2013), 262 p., ISBN: 978‐0415‐54433‐7

The European Court of Human Rights in the Post‐Cold War Era: Universality in TransitionSweeney, James A.Oxon, New York, Routledge (2013), 262 p., ISBN: 978‐0415‐54433‐7

The Impact of Cigarette Excise Taxes on Smoking Cessation Rates From 1994 to 2010 in Poland, Russia, and Ukraine

We studied the impact of cigarette excise taxes on the rates of smoking cessation with data from 3 neighboring Eastern European countries (Russia, Poland, and Ukraine) during the post-transitional period of the 1990s and 2000s. Using Global Adult Tobacco Survey data from 11,106 former and current smokers, we estimated the impact of cigarette taxes on the smokers' likelihood of quitting over time. We first transformed the survey's cross-sectional data into a pseudo-longitudinal format in which the average observation period for individual subjects was 12 years and then employed duration analysis. We estimated that a 10% increase in cigarette taxes during the observation period increased the probability of smoking cessation among smokers in these countries by 1.6% to 2.3%. Cigarette tax increases have played a significant role in driving smoking cessation in Poland, Russia, and Ukraine. Further increases in cigarette excise taxes are likely to encourage further cessation and thus impact the prevalence of smoking in the region.

New Directions in Post‐Apartheid South African Fiction and Scholarship

AbstractAfter the formal end of the apartheid period in 1994, some writers and critics expressed a sense of unease about the future of South African literature. Yet, the post‐apartheid period has produced an array of texts on topics not previously part of South African literary discourse. Writing from the transitional period for the most part turned inward, working in or against the confessional mode modeled by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. During the current post‐transitional period, marked loosely by the publication of J. M. Coetzee's Disgrace in 1999, a younger generation of writers has begun to represent new social issues surrounding difference and inequality, especially representations of Black women, gays and lesbians, and migrants. Recent critical approaches to this literature have offered valuable conceptual tools for further research.

Daylight saving time transitions and acute myocardial infarction

Most recently, the possible impact of transitions to and from daylight saving time (DST) on the increased incidence of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) has been suggested. The goal of this report was to analyze independent influence of DST transitions on the incidence of AMI with simultaneous control for the confounding presence of situational triggers such as physical exertion, emotional stress, heavy meals, and sexual intercourse, as well as for other clinical factors. Detailed information was obtained from 2412 patients and included baseline characteristics, working status, exact time of AMI, possible external triggers, cardiovascular risk factors, and prehospital medication. AMI incidence on days after the DST was compared with incidence during control periods and patient characteristics, cardiovascular medication, and circumstances of AMI were evaluated to identify potential risk modifiers. Relative risks of AMI and differences in patient characteristics were expressed through incidence ratios and odds ratios, respectively, with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Multivariate analysis was performed by using a stepwise multiple regression to assess the independent predictive significance of the characteristics of patients for the AMI occurring in the posttransitional period. The incidence ratio for AMI for the first four workdays after the spring DST transition was 1.29 (95% CI: 1.09–1.49) and the excess was particularly prominent on Monday. In autumn, the incidence ratio for AMI for this 4-d period was 1.44 (95% CI: 1.19–1.69), with peaks on Tuesday and Thursday. The independent predictors for AMI during this period in spring were male sex (p = 0.03) and nonengagement in physical activity (p = 0.02) and there was a trend for the lower risk of incident among those taking calcium antagonists (p = 0.07). In autumn, the predictors were female sex (p = 0.04), current employment (p = 0.006), not taking β-blocker (p = 0.03), and nonengagement in physical activity (p = 0.02). The present report supports the possibility that DST transitions represent additional chronobiological feature of AMI, and that risk of an onset varies according to sex, employment status, and the taking of cardiovascular medication. (Author correspondence: viktor.culic@st.t-com.hr)

PH Effects on Cardiac Function and Systemic Vascular Resistance in Preterm Infants

To investigate the effect of pH on cardiac function and systemic vascular resistance (SVR) in preterm infants. In this prospective observational study, we evaluated hemodynamically stable, ≤ 30 weeks' gestation preterm infants during the first 2 postnatal weeks. Cardiac function was assessed by echocardiography at the time of arterial blood draw for clinically indicated blood gas analysis. Data were separately analyzed for the transitional (days 1-3) and post-transitional (days 4-14) periods. We evaluated 147 pairs of arterial blood gases and echocardiograms in 29 preterm neonates (gestational age = 26.2 ± 1.5 weeks). Arterial pH ranged from 7.02-7.46. There was no linear relationship between pH and shortening fraction or stress-velocity index in transitional or post-transitional periods. We found a weak negative linear relationship between pH and left ventricular output and a positive linear relationship between pH and SVR only during the post-transitional period. These relationships were maintained after adjustment for the degree of base deficit. Arterial CO2 had effects similar to pH on myocardial function. Unlike adults, myocardial contractility remains relatively unaffected by acidosis even at pH values close to 7.00 in hemodynamically stable preterm neonates during the first 2 postnatal weeks. However, as in adults, worsening acidosis in preterm neonates after the immediate transitional period is associated with a decrease in SVR along with an increase in left ventricular output. Thus, although myocardial contractility remains unaffected in preterm neonates during the first 2 postnatal weeks, the vascular response to acidosis undergoes a relatively rapid postnatal maturational process.

Editorial: The Public Health Needs for an Ageing Society

Population ageing is the sought-for outcome of improved public health, education and medical care over the last century. Worldwide, life expectancy is increasing. The health with which people age, given longer lives, has become a critically important determinant of population health and of development agendas as well as the economic well-being of nations. This issue of Public Health Reviews is devoted to the description and the analysis of how increased life expectancy and ageing affect population needs and compel us to modify public health science and leadership. It lays out the transitions in population science and the multilevel public health and policy agenda for the future necessary to support longer lives that are healthy and engaged. The public health consequences of longevity and population ageing do not come as a surprise. The emergence of ageing as a public health issue dates back to the mid-20 century. The demographic transition (as originally expressed in the 1920’s by Warren Thompson) predicted an increase in the proportion of aged people in the post-transitional period, i.e., as a result of the combination of low mortality and low birth rate. The link between the demographic transition and population health was further characterized by Omran in the 1970’s. The so-called epidemiologic transition characterizes the secular change between two epidemiological stages, i.e., from high fertility and a high, unstable frequency of rapidly lethal infectious diseases to a new situation of low fertility and health issues dominated by slowly progressing chronic and degenerative diseases. Cardiometabolic disease, cancer, neuropsychiatric diseases and musculo-skeletal conditions are now predominant (or will be soon) in most parts of the world. Several current observations were, however, unexpected. One is the ever-increasing longevity in most high income countries. Mortality is low,

Thermosensitivity of pattern formation in a ciliate Chilodonella cucullulus

AbstractDuring divisional morphogenesis of the ciliate protozoan Chilodonella cucullulus different thermosensitivity is observed at early and advanced stages of development.Thermic shocks (of 31 or 32°C) applied to cells early in division bring about resorption of new developing cortical organelles, while the same shocks do not prevent further development and cell division if applied to advanced dividers. Thus as in many other cells a transition point in thermosensitivity occurs during the cell cycle.The period before the transition point corresponds to primary pattern formation of primordia of new cortical organelles, the post transitional period corresponds to final pattern formation of sets of organelles for offspring. In control (unheated) cells some simultaneous processes of differentiation and dedifferentiation are observed both in the pre‐transitional and post‐transitional periods. Therefore the stability of development at high temperature which is attained in the post‐transitional period concerns specific selection of organelles for further development rather than over‐all stability of formed structures.The effect of preincubation at low temperature and at mild temperature on thermosensitivity at 31°C is compared. Cells preincubated at low temperature can go through one round of divisional morphogenesis, while those preincubated at mild temperature are not able to do this; instead they regress into a resorption stage. Cells preincubated at low temperature and shifted to high temperature also sometimes manifest abnormalities in the number and disposition of contractile vacuole pores (CVPs). Hence in these cells thermosensitivity of pattern formation is demonstrated.