Salient Markers Research Articles

Biochemical and Physical Screening Using Optical Oxygen-Sensing and Multispectral Imaging in Sea Oats Seeds

Physical, physiological, and biochemical traits control critical seed functions such as germination, longevity, persistence, and seedling establishment. These traits are diverse between and among species, and they are also controlled by the environment in which the seed originated. Therefore, screening seed traits and understanding their roles in seed functions is crucial to facilitate the economical use of resources in collecting, sorting, and conserving seed materials of agronomical and ecological importance. We hypothesized the existence of physical and biochemical traits in sea oats seeds that can be used as proxies to predict viability and vigor to develop underpinnings for survival after non-optimal storage conditions. Using multispectral imaging and optical oxygen-sensing analyses, we evaluated the physical and biochemical traits of Uniola paniculata L. (sea oats) seeds collected from the US Atlantic and Gulf coastlines. Our results showed that several traits correlate to aging stress survival in sea oats seeds. These results confirm the potential of using physical and biochemical screening to predict seed quality while offering insights into extended seed longevity periods. Therefore, exploring and analyzing the physical and biochemical properties of seeds could reveal salient markers that contribute to viability and longevity.

The Employment Effects of Ethnic Politics

We study the labor market consequences of ethnic politics in African democracies. Using subnational georeferenced data from 15 countries from 1996 to 2017, we compare individuals from ethnicities linked to parties at the margin of electing a representative in the national parliament. Having a local ethnic party politician in parliament increases the likelihood of being employed by 2–3 percentage points. The effect is concentrated in the agricultural sector and mostly driven by self-employment, suggesting increased access to land as the main channel. We also show that religion and age are salient markers in African politics that trigger similar employment effects. (JEL D72, J15, J23, J43, O15, O17, Z12)

Towards the Development of Indicators of Fake Websites for Digital Investigation

A fake website is considered a website that is intended to cause harm and manipulate users, especially novice users without some knowledge of indicators of fakeness. Understanding the indicators of fake websites is thus considered an important concept to avoid being a victim of malicious attacks in online engagements. In some cases, such knowledge is required to reduce the potential attack surface of cyber criminals. However, the increasing rate of website diversity and complexities makes it difficult for an individual to distinguish between a fake and a real website while compounding the investigation process of a website. Also, the growing rate of website imitation technology and website domain closure presents a veritable platform for the development of fake websites. As a step towards determining the genuineness of a website, this study developed a forensic framework based on an exploratory analysis of different genres of fake websites. To achieve this, forensic methodologies and processes were applied to methodically selected samples of known fake websites based on three fakeness categories: Hoaxes, Cybersquatting, and Sweepstakes. The result revealed the existence of salient markers which can be used as indicators of fakeness and can be applied across a wide genre of websites. Furthermore, the resultant observation was used to develop a digital forensic framework for website fakeness evaluation. The developed framework was benchmarked to the ISO 27043/2015 and the NIST SP800-86 standard for completeness and relevance to forensic investigation processes. By leveraging the proposed digital forensic framework, an investigation can develop a reliable pointer to evaluate the genuineness of any website, which can significantly reduce the investigation time. For a non-forensic individual, the developed framework can be leveraged to identify, at first glance, the degree of fakeness of a website. Such a mechanism can therefore provide a useful tool to reduce the potential susceptibility of users thereby creating user awareness.

IMPACT OF UNINTENTIONAL WEIGHT LOSS AND EXHAUSTION ON CLINICAL OUTCOMES FOLLOWING SURGERY

Abstract For patients undergoing surgery, unintentional weight loss and exhaustion, two hallmarks of frailty, may be salient markers for identifying patients at risk for adverse postsurgical outcomes. This study examined how these frailty components impact postsurgical outcomes including length of stay, 30-day mortality, and discharge disposition. Patients with weight loss and exhaustion pre-surgery experienced greater length of stay, and higher odds of 30-day mortality as well as lower likelihood of being discharged home. After adjustment for confounders including age, sex, race, and disease history, the above results for the most part remained significant, although statistical significance was lost for 30-day mortality and some discharge dispositions. Results highlight importance of assessing frailty components to enhance surgical care in older adults.

Theorizing justice from the margins: Black feminist insights on political (protest) behavior

ABSTRACT Variations in perceptions of and attitudes towards justice animate how different people decide to engage in politics. In the US, political attitudes typically vary across salient identity markers such as race, gender, and socio-economic class. Drawing on insights from the Black Lives Matter movement, this research note advances a theoretical framework for understanding justice and political protests through a transnational Black feminist lens. Here, I consider political behavior through the Black feminist frame of interlocking identities and the notion of “the personal being political.” I examine the diverse ways in which Black feminism provides novel insights for better understanding justice and political behavior in terms of theory, methodology, and praxis.

Longitudinal within- and between-person associations of substance use, social influences, and loneliness among adolescents and emerging adults who use drugs

Loneliness is a public health problem causing morbidity and mortality. Individuals with substance use problems are often lonelier than the general population. We evaluate the longitudinal associations between social influences, substance use, and loneliness among adolescents and young adults recruited from an urban Emergency Department (ED). We use secondary data from a natural history study of N = 599 youth (ages 14–24) who used drugs at baseline and completed biannual assessments for 24 months; 58% presented to the ED for an assault-related injury and a comparison group comprised 42% presenting for other reasons. Measures assessed cannabis use, alcohol use, and loneliness. Using GEE models, we evaluated the relationships between social influences (peers, parents), substance use, and loneliness via longitudinal data, de-coupling within- and between-person effects. Men reported lower loneliness over time. At the between-person level, individuals with greater alcohol and cannabis use severity and negative peer influences had greater loneliness; positive parental influences were associated with less loneliness. At the within-person level, greater alcohol use severity, negative peer influences, and parental substance use corresponded to increases in loneliness; positive parental influences corresponded to decreases in loneliness. Youth with more severe alcohol and cannabis use had greater loneliness over time. Within individuals, peer and parental social influences were particularly salient markers of loneliness. An ED visit provides an opportunity for linkage to personalized, supportive interventions to curtail negative outcomes of substance use and loneliness.

Association of aspartate and alanine transaminases with dyslipidemia in newly diagnosed and long duration of type 2 diabetes mellitus subjects.

Objective: Association between alanine transaminase (ALT) and aspartate transaminase (AST) with newly diagnosed and known type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and to estimate association of liver enzymes with lipid profile in type 2 DM subjects. Study Design: Prospective Clinical study. Setting: Karachi University with Collaboration of Baqai Institute of Diabetology and Endocrinology. Period: November 2018 to May 2019. Material & Methods: Total 100 people were divided into four groups; Group I: 25 healthy controls with normal glucose tolerance, Group II: 25 newly diagnosed DM, Group III: 25 known DM type 2 with <5years duration and Group IV: 25 known DM type 2 between 5-10 years duration. Baseline data was collected on predesigned questionnaire. Blood samples for biochemical parameters were analyzed using standardized laboratory techniques. Results: Group I mean age (years) was 50.78±2.34, group II 50.56±1.96, group III 50.37±1.46 and group IV 56±1.36. In Group I, ALT and AST were significantly correlated to each other’s. In group II, ALT was significantly correlated with AST, triglycerides and HDL-C, while AST correlated with ALT and HDL-C. In group III, ALT was significantly correlated with AST, while AST correlated to ALT, triglycerides and HbA1c. However, in group IV, ALT was significantly correlated with AST, LDL-C and HDL-C, and, AST with ALT, total cholesterol, LDL-C and HDL-C. Conclusion: Elevated ALT and AST- the salient markers for disease of non-alcoholic fatty liver with deranged dyslipidemia were found in known type 2 DM as well as in newly diagnosed type 2 DM subjects.

Posttraumatic stress disorder and aggression among post-9/11 veterans: The role of shame

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is often accompanied by elevated aggression. PTSD and combat exposure alone do not fully explain the reliable finding of heightened aggression among trauma-exposed veterans. Shame may be an important affective feature in this relationship. The present study examined the role of shame from a social hierarchy theoretical perspective in a sample of 52 combat veterans from the post-9/11 era. Correlational analyses indicated moderately strong positive relationships among PTSD, shame, and aggression. Trait shame was found to significantly mediate the relationship between total PTSD severity and physical aggression, but not other forms of aggression. For veterans within the context of a hierarchical military culture, separation from the military and PTSD diagnosis may be very salient markers of social loss and social exclusion. Aggression may operate to reduce the negative affective experience associated with shame and to regain social standing. Findings implicate shame as an important emotional component in the relationship between PTSD and aggression.

Purity and Polemics: Zoroastrian Women’s Bodies as Sites of Difference and Contestation in Early Islamic Iran

ABSTRACT Zoroastrian menstrual purity laws served as one of the most salient markers of socio-religious distinction during the tumultuous early centuries of Islamic rule in the Iranian world. This article surveys Islamic polemics – particularly by the Muʿtazilah—directed against these Zoroastrian strictures on bodily purity and reads them intertextually, as it were, in conjunction with Pahlavi apologetic texts that defend the sanctity of these millennia-old practices. It is argued that the Zoroastrian scholar-priests were responding directly to the charges levelled against them by their Muslim counterparts, clearly suggesting that both theology and jurisprudence were produced through inter-confessional debate and dialogue, much as we find in the better-studied cases of Christian-Islamic interactions.

The politics of identity in diasporic media1

Abstract By following a sociolinguistic, ethnographic approach, this paper explores the intricacies behind the construction of a collective identity in the practices of a community radio station, off- and on-air, that serves the Spanish speaking Latin American community in London. The analysis of the information gathered from a 6-months ethnography conducted in a well-established radio station in South London, allowed me to document how the politics of identity delivered on air, far from being a straightforward process, entails some decisions regarding what to say and how, in order to deliver harmonious relations. The shared use of the Spanish language, albeit in different varieties, and some perceived shared values, become the salient markers to present this harmonious identity. Projecting a unified group identity is seen as an important aim for migrants when navigating diaspora in the UK.

Features of speech and swallowing dysfunction in pre-ataxic spinocerebellar ataxia type 2.

To determine whether objective and quantitative assessment of dysarthria and dysphagia in spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 (SCA2), specifically at pre-ataxic and early disease phases, can act as sensitive disease markers. Forty-six individuals (16 with pre-ataxic SCA2, 14 with early-stage ataxic SCA2, and 16 healthy controls) were recruited in Holguin, Cuba. All participants underwent a comprehensive battery of assessments including objective acoustic analysis, clinician-derived ratings of speech function and swallowing, and quality of life assessments of swallowing. Reduced speech agility manifest at the pre-ataxic stage was observed during diadochokinetic tasks, with the magnitude of speech deficit augmented in the early ataxic stage. Speech rate was slower in early-stage ataxic SCA2 compared with pre-ataxic SCA2 and healthy controls. Reduced speech agility and speech rate correlated with disease severity and time to ataxia onset, verifying that speech deficits occur prior to ataxia onset and increase in severity as the disease progresses. Whereas dysphagia was observed in both pre-ataxic and ataxic SCA2, it was not associated with swallowing-related quality of life, disease severity, or time to ataxia onset. Speech and swallowing deficits appear sensitive to disease progression in early-stage SCA2, with syllabic rate a viable marker. Findings provide insight into mechanisms of disease progression in early-stage SCA2, signaling an opportunity for stratifying early-stage SCA2 and identifying salient markers of disease onset as well as outcome measures in future early-stage therapeutic studies.

Being white is a full time job? Explaining skin tone gradients in income in Mexico

ABSTRACT While scholarship on wage discrimination has confirmed that ‘racism’ is persistent, recent insights indicate that ‘colorism’ – the idea that lighter skin tones are rewarded more compared to darker ones, all else equal – is often more relevant in some societies where race or ethnicity are less salient markers. In this article, the following underlying theoretical mechanisms are discussed and are subjected to an empirical test: differential investment in human capital, i.e. education; variation in occupational status, i.e. being employed in indoor white-collar vs outdoor blue-collar jobs; and concentration in richer vs poorer regions. Mexico, known as a country where race and ethnicity generally are less salient categories for social stratification while skin tone is more important, is used as a case. Based on regression analyses on the most recent 2017 wave of the National Survey on Discrimination in Mexico, we show that there is an effect of skin tone on income that is explained by differences in education, occupational status and, to a lesser extent, regional concentration. Triangulating the findings with data from 2010 indicate that if colorism is at work, it are the lightest tones that are privileged, not the darkest ones that are penalised.

Automatic Detection of Target Engagement in Transcutaneous Cervical Vagal Nerve Stimulation for Traumatic Stress Triggers.

Transcutaneous cervical vagal nerve stimulation (tcVNS) devices are attractive alternatives to surgical implants, and can be applied for a number of conditions in ambulatory settings, including stress-related neuropsychiatric disorders. Transferring tcVNS technologies to at-home settings brings challenges associated with the assessment of therapy response. The ability to accurately detect whether tcVNS has been effectively delivered in a remote setting such as the home has never been investigated. We designed and conducted a study in which 12 human subjects received active tcVNS and 14 received sham stimulation in tandem with traumatic stress, and measured continuous cardiopulmonary signals including the electrocardiogram (ECG), photoplethysmogram (PPG), seismocardiogram (SCG), and respiratory effort (RSP). We extracted physiological parameters related to autonomic nervous system activity, and created a feature set from these parameters to: 1) detect active (vs. sham) tcVNS stimulation presence with machine learning methods, and 2) determine which sensing modalities and features provide the most salient markers of tcVNS-based changes in physiological signals. Heart rate (ECG), vasomotor activity (PPG), and pulse arrival time (ECG+PPG) provided sufficient information to determine target engagement (compared to sham) in addition to other combinations of sensors. resulting in 96% accuracy, precision, and recall with a receiver operator characteristics area of 0.96. Two commonly utilized sensing modalities (ECG and PPG) that are suitable for home use can provide useful information on therapy response for tcVNS. The methods presented herein could be deployed in wearable devices to quantify adherence for at-home use of tcVNS technologies.

Immigrant meanings of citizenship: mobility, stability, and recognition

ABSTRACTBased on interviews with 21 immigrants in Norway, including both naturalized citizens and ‘denizens’, this article addresses immigrant meanings of citizenship and naturalization. The findings show that the interviewees attributed three meanings to citizenship. First, Norwegian citizenship served as a powerful means of spatial mobility, thereby facilitating transnational connections. Second, citizenship signified a legal stability that may guard precarious immigrants against ‘liminal legality’, i.e. enduring legal uncertainty. Third, citizenship was conceptualized as a formal recognition of equality and belonging, although ‘race’ and ethnicity persisted as salient markers of inequality and alienage. The article contributes empirically to the growing literature on the experiencing side of citizenship and naturalization by delineating what citizenship means to different groups, and to whom it matters the most. Theoretically, it contributes by demonstrating that citizenship acquisition may not only be strategic, but also rooted in needs of symbolic sanctioning of equality and belonging, particularly important to individuals debarred from naturalization.

Uropygial gland size: a marker of phenotypic quality that shows no senescence in a long-lived seabird.

Studies of senescence in the wild have traditionally focused on traits like survival or fecundity. Although efforts to measure other salient phenotypic traits and markers of relevant physiological processes are rapidly increasing, traits related to self-maintenance remain understudied in the context of aging. Uropygial or preen gland is a holocrine gland, exclusive to birds, directly linked to self-maintenance of the quality of plumage. We measured the size of uropygial glands of common gulls (Larus canus) in a cross sectional manner in order to test whether it shows the similar age-related decline as reproductive traits previously recorded in this species. Gulls with larger glands started breeding earlier in the season, indicating that gland size is a marker of individual phenotypic quality. We found a senescent decline in the onset of breeding and the size of white wing patches, a sexually dimorphic ornamental trait, while in contrast, preen gland increased with advancing age. This finding supports the view of life-history theory that in long-lived species whose lifetime reproductive success depends heavily on lifespan, self-maintenance is prioritized over reproduction. Altogether our results support the concept that senescence in the wild can be asynchronous for traits related to maintenance versus reproduction.

The what and the how: Information-seeking pointing gestures facilitate learning labels and functions

Infants’ pointing gestures are clear and salient markers of their interest. As a result, they afford infants with a targeted and precise way of eliciting information from others. The current study investigated whether, similar to older children’s question asking, infants’ pointing gestures are produced to obtain information. Specifically, in a single experimental study, we examined whether 18-month-olds (N = 36) point to request specific types of information and how this translates into learning across domains. We elicited pointing from infants in a context that would naturally lend itself to information seeking (i.e., out-of-reach novel objects). In response to infants’ points, an experimenter provided a label, a function, or no information for each pointed-to object. We assessed infants’ persistence after receiving different types of information and their subsequent ability to form label–object or function–object associations. When infants pointed and received no information or functions, they persisted significantly more often than when they pointed and received labels, suggesting that they were most satisfied with receiving labels for objects compared with functions or no information. Infants successfully mapped both labels and functions onto objects. When infants expressed their interest in a novel object in a manner other than pointing, such as reaching, they (a) were equally satisfied with receiving object labels, functions, or no information and (b) did not successfully learn either labels or functions. Together, these findings demonstrate that infants’ pointing gestures are specific requests for labels that facilitate the acquisition of various types of information. In doing so, this work connects the research on information seeking during infancy to the established literature on question asking during childhood.

Catching Power: Problems with Possession, Sovereignty, and African Religions in Trinidad

ABSTRACTIn 2010 and 2011, female students at my field site in southern Trinidad experienced ‘mass possessions’ that closed down the secondary school. While Pentecostal-charismatic Christians figured African traditions (particularly ‘Obeah’) as atavisms that caused the events, observers also blamed the ‘possessions’ on salient markers of a twenty-first-century modernity – particularly the Internet, ‘science’, citizen insecurity, and illicit transnational networks. I argue that this seeming temporal disjuncture in causal narratives points towards some common problems with sovereignty that have marked representations of both African religions of ‘possession’ and (neo)Liberal politics. African spirit manifestation religions have often been characterised by the trope of slavery, as a relation of non-sovereign possession between spirit and human, while Liberal politics (or born-again Christianity) have ostensibly promoted a contrasting ideal of self-determination and national (or spiritual) sovereignty. While these seemingly opposed representations show how ‘spirit possession’ has shaped modern ideals of sovereignty through a racialised ‘labour of the negative’, I examine how practitioners of an African religion at my field site questioned these terms of (dis)possession at the school. These practitioners’ conceptions of ‘catching power’ suggest alternatives to both political models of sovereign ‘possession’ and anthropological models of ‘spirit possession’. I close by arguing that African religious practices of ‘catching power’ can provide a critical alternative to these racialised and gendered dynamics of ‘possession’, modifying the conceptual and geographic province of Foucault's critique of Western political theories of sovereignty.

„Wenn der Sprache Grenzen gesetzt werden“ – Eine wahrnehmungsdialektologische Untersuchung im Fränkischen und Thüringischen an der ehemaligen deutsch-deutschen Grenze

This text is about the former inner-German state border between Thuringia and Bavaria inside the border regions of the “Eastern Franconian” language area and its effect on the spoken dialectic varieties. The main focus is not to research dialectgeographical dissimilarities between the border areas in former East Germany and West Germany as already explored (Lösch 2000, Fritz-Scheuplein 2001, Harnisch 2015) but to show perceptual linguistic concepts in the minds of linguistic laymen. The central question in this article is which salient dialect markers do the informants discern and use to locate a speech sample to a certain area inside the “Eastern Franconian” language area. Which salient dialect markers exist in informants perception about the varieties in former East German and West German border areas? Do they perceive a new linguistic variety border at the former political border between German Democratic Republic and Federal Republic of Germany?

The politics of “understanding”: secrecy, language, and Manouche song

ABSTRACTThis article explores how song operates as a forum through which Alsatian Manouches (a subgroup of Romanies/“Gypsies”) negotiate social relations with non-Manouches and with each other. Two of the most salient identity markers for Manouches are music and language. Whereas Manouches regard instrumental music as a legitimate means of engaging with non-Manouche people, it is often considered inappropriate to share their spoken dialect of Romani with others. As a combination of both, Manouche song represents a complex juncture of volition and apprehension towards their interactions with non-Manouches. Drawing on fieldwork among Manouche and non-Manouche performers, I investigate how public Manouche vocal performance ironically connotes an ambivalence towards cross-cultural sharing, and how power relations unfold through varying degrees of linguistic concealment and openness. This article theorizes the (il-)legibility of the voice in music and illustrates how song reflects Manouche language ideologies in flux.

Developmental coordination disorder (DCD), an umbrella term for motor dysfunctions, which could associate minor neurological dysfunctions

Introduction Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) defines a heterogeneous class of children exhibiting marked impairment in motor coordination. Objectives Explore in depth a general group of deficits in fine and gross motricity (subtype mixed group) common to all research subtyping studies. We aimed to highlight discriminant features and specific comorbidities. Methods Data from DCD children aged between 6 and 13years were eligible for inclusion in this study on DSM-5 criteria. All children were assessed with a neuropsychological evaluation of all brain functions and with developmental standardized physical tasks in the neuropsychomotor battery (NP-MOT) which include detection of minor neurological dysfunction (MND) and neurological soft signs (NSS) using tone examination, never considered in most previous studies. Results Findings show in an unexpected way, a high incidence, in 33% of the children, of a motor pathway dysfunction, evidenced by mild spasticity of gastrocnemius muscles in the lower limbs, associated with NSS, for instance failure of standing tone ( P =0.004) and dysdiadochokinesia ( P =0.011) versus salient DCD markers of the mixed subtype as imitation of gestures, fingers digital perception, digital praxia, manual dexterity, and upper and lower limbs coordination. This mild spasticity (MND) appears as a comorbid disorder increasing impairment of coordination between upper and lower limbs and manual dexterity. It could explain why DCD appears as a collection of motor disorders in a heterogeneous groups in numerous studies. Conclusions Our results provide important new evidence to implement an extensive neuro-developmental assessment (mental and physical), including neuromuscular tone examination using appropriate standardized neurodevelopmental tools (common tasks across ages).