Stepped Down Research Articles

Untangling anti-Indian narratives in the 2019 Bolivian crisis: violence, anxiety and discourse

ABSTRACT The 2005 arrival of Evo Morales to power came with high expectations about the increased participation of indigenous people in the country’s social and political life. However, the violence perpetrated against urban indigenous people allied to MAS from the moment Morales stepped down has shone a light on the volatile nature of unresolved racial tensions in Bolivia. This article centers on the rapid escalation of anti-Indian racism during the 2019 electoral crisis and ensuing political conflict and the weight of anti-Indian racial narratives at the heart of the violence. Through an analysis of archives and data collected during the conflict through mediated approaches , this paper examines the 2019 crisis, focusing on the surge in anti-Indian violence, and briefly discusses pre-crisis anti-racist efforts by the MAS administration. Then, it reflects on the idea of the ‘savage Indian’ and racial regimes that produced key ‘discursive formations’ that continue to polarize Bolivia. It then critically assesses the ideology of mestizaje’s racial role in the crisis, positioning it within a broader anti-Indian narrative that confines Indianness to the past while hindering acknowledgement, reconciliation, and healing from racial trauma.

Contiguous identity between entire coding regions of transgenic and native genes rather than special regions is essential for a strong co-suppression

The discovery of co-suppression in plants has greatly boosted the study of gene silencing mechanisms, but its triggering mechanism has remained a mystery. In this study, we explored its possible trigger mechanism by using Fatty acid desaturase 2 (FAD2) and Fatty acid elongase 1 (FAE1) strong co-suppression systems. Analysis of small RNAs in FAD2 co-suppression lines showed that siRNAs distributed throughout the coding region of FAD2 with an accumulated peak. However, mutations of the peak siRNA-matched site and siRNA derived site had not alleviated the co-suppression of its transgenic lines. Synthetic FAD2 (AtFAD2sm), which has synonymous mutations in the entire coding region, failed to trigger any co-suppression. Furthermore, 5′ and 3′ portions of AtFAD2 and AtFAD2sm were swapped to form two hybrid genes, AtFAD2–3sm and AtFAD2–5sm. 80 % and 92 % of their transgenic lines exhibited co-suppression, respectively. Finally, FAE1s with different degrees of the continuous sequence identity compared with AtFAE1 were tested in their Arabidopsis transgenic lines, and the results showed the co-suppression frequency was reduced as their continuous sequence identity stepped down. This work suggests that contiguous identity between the entire coding regions of transgenic and native genes rather than a special region is essential for a strong co-suppression.

Multi-disciplinary support for families with complex needs and children on the edge of care in the UK: a mixed methods evaluation

ABSTRACTFamilies on the ‘edge of care’ face complex intersecting issues that can work against positive changes and lead to the re-involvement of social care. A multi-disciplinary service working alongside social work and community services teams to respond to the multiple needs of vulnerable families was evaluated. A mixed methods evaluation drew upon service data and cost saving modelling, interviews and a survey of social care practitioners. The evaluation data relates to the period February 2021 -July 2022 and covers 81 families, of whom 41 families had their cases closed. There was a high level of engagement with families with complex issues who struggle to engage with community-based services, with improvements in parental and child risk factors. The programme was successful for many of the families that engaged and half of the children had their safeguarding level stepped down. Significant net cost savings were estimated for avoided care placements plus additional savings such as reduced social care staff hours. The service was clearly seen as an effective and valuable service by social care practitioners and was characterised as having good working relationships, good communication and distinct but complementary roles. The service offered a positive support service model to families based on trust, consistency and immediacy.

제2차 고당전쟁기(661~662) 사수 전투의 전개 양상

In July 660, Silla-Tang allied forces destroyed Baekje. In 661, the Tang launched an attack on Goguryeo. The battle between Goguryeo and Tang from 661 to 662 was called the Second Go-Tang War. The Second Go-Tang War ended with the Battle of the Sasu in 662. In this study, the military base of the Tang army was specifically determined, and based on this, the defense battle was reconstructed. It is believed that the Sasu is located in the west, not east of Pyongyang Castle. The Tang army formed four camps to surround Pyongyang Castle. Bang Hyo-tae's troops were stationed in the west of Pyongyang Castle, installing a barrier along the shooter. Yoo Baek-young's unit was stationed on the left side of Bang Hyo-tae's unit, and Im Ah-sang and Jo Gye-sook's unit were stationed on the right side. And So Jeong-Bang is believed to have been stationed in the area of Maeup-san. Goguryeo troops first attacked Im Ah-sang's troops with weak defense facilities. When Im Ah-sang's unit was defeated, Bang Hyo-tae's unit was isolated and annihilated. As a result, the Tang army's siege of Pyongyang could no longer be maintained. In addition, the cold and food shortages were further aggravated by heavy snow at the time. In the end, the party forces, which received the military supplies supported by Silla, were relieved of the siege of Pyongyang and stepped down.

Through the Lens of Slavery: A Look at Early America

Through the Lens of SlaveryA Look at Early America Marie Jenkins Schwartz (bio) The Antebellum Origins of the Modern Constitution: Slavery and the Spirit of the American Founding simon j. gilhooley Cambridge University Press, 2022 350 pp. Thirteen Clocks: How Race United the Colonies and Made the Declaration of Independence robert g. parkinson Omohundro Institute for Early American History and Culture and University of North Carolina Press, 2021 256 pp. Washington at the Plow: The Founding Farmer and the Question of Slavery bruce a. ragsdale Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2021 368 pp. Race, Removal, and the Right to Remain: Migration and the Making of the United States samantha seeley Omohundro Institute for Early American History and Culture and University of North Carolina Press, 2021 368 pp. Slavery is a lens through which academics, journalists, and members of the general public are increasingly looking to learn about the founding of the United States. Some people might prefer a more positive approach to understanding the nation's origins. After all, Americans threw off British imperial rule and established the world's first modern republic. They united under a written Constitution that together with its first [End Page 219] ten amendments protected individual civil rights and limited the power of the federal government to do such things as restrict speech, establish a state religion, or control the press. War hero George Washington refused to be made president for life and stepped down of his own accord after two terms. The problem with limiting discussion of early America to such celebratory events is that slavery was a blight that left a legacy of racism. Incomplete or distorted versions of history will not help a nation that continues to struggle with issues of inequality and exclusion. Four recent books answer important questions about slavery in early America. How and why did thirteen disparate colonies unite to fight and defeat the British? Who, exactly, was included in the definition of "American"? Who were the nation's founders, really? And when the founders wrote the US Constitution, what was their original intent? One scholar considers the efforts of the nation's founders to incite fears among white colonists of Black and Native peoples as a means of uniting against British rule. Another engages and carries this narrative forward by looking at how, in the aftermath of the Revolution, federal and state officials, with the backing of eager white settlers, attempted to exclude from America these same peoples, and how and why Black and Native Americans struggled to remain in the places they called home. A third author examines George Washington, not as war hero or first president, but as slaveholding agriculturalist. The fourth makes the case that the concept of originalism as applied to judicial interpretation of the US Constitution was established in the antebellum era by men intent on preserving slavery. Although all four books focus on the distant past, each in its own way has something to say about modern America. _______ The subtitle of Robert G. Parkinson's Thirteen Clocks makes clear its central theme: "how race united the colonies and made the Declaration of Independence." Focusing on the fifteen months that separated the start of the Revolutionary War and the Declaration of Independence (April 19, 1775, to July 4, 1776), Parkinson takes issue with John Adams's oft-quoted observation that "the Revolution was effected before the war commenced." It had occurred, Adams said, "in the minds and hearts of the people," who had undergone a radical change in thinking before the first shots were fired. Adams's words, Parkinson says, make a violent event seem like an intellectual disagreement. In truth, to keep up momentum for war and [End Page 220] independence after the skirmishes in Lexington and Concord, Patriot leaders deliberately set out to instill fear. The British, they insisted, were planning to employ enslaved people and Native Americans to slaughter settlers and upend the domestic order. When later certain British officials called for arming or aligning with Black or Native Americans to put down the rebellion, the situation played into Patriot leaders' hands. Rather than talk of liberty, rights, and republicanism, Parkinson says, "weaponized prejudice" caused thirteen...

Health and cost impact of stepping down asthma medication for UK patients, 2001-2017: A population-based observational study.

Guidelines recommend stepping down asthma treatment to the minimum effective dose to achieve symptom control, prevent adverse side effects, and reduce costs. Limited data exist on asthma prescription patterns in a real-world setting. We aimed to evaluate the appropriateness of doses prescribed to a UK general asthma population and assess whether stepping down medication increased exacerbations or reliever use, as well as its impact on costs. We used nationwide UK primary care medical records, 2001-2017, to identify 508,459 adult asthma patients managed with preventer medication. Prescriptions of higher-level medication: medium/high-dose inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs) or ICSs + add-on medication (long-acting β2-agonist [LABA], leukotriene receptor antagonist [LTRA], theophylline, or long-acting muscarinic antagonist [LAMA]) steadily increased over time (2001 = 49.8%, 2017 = 68.3%). Of those prescribed their first preventer, one-third were prescribed a higher-level medication, of whom half had no reliever prescription or exacerbation in the year prior. Of patients first prescribed ICSs + 1 add-on, 70.4% remained on the same medication during a mean follow-up of 6.6 years. Of those prescribed medium/high-dose ICSs as their first preventer, 13.0% already had documented diabetes, cataracts, glaucoma, or osteopenia/osteoporosis. A cohort of 125,341 patients were drawn to assess the impact of stepping down medication: mean age 50.4 years, 39.4% males, 39,881 stepped down. Exposed patients were stepped down by dropping their LABAs or another add-on or by halving their ICS dose (halving their mean-daily dose or their inhaler dose). The primary and secondary outcomes were, respectively, exacerbations and an increase in reliever prescriptions. Multivariable regression was used to assess outcomes and determine the prognostic factors for initiating stepdown. There was no increased exacerbation risk for each possible medication stepdown (adjusted hazard ratio, 95% CI, p-value: ICS inhaler dose = 0.86, 0.77-0.93, p < 0.001; ICS mean daily = 0.80, 0.74-0.87, p < 0.001; LABA = 1.01, 0.92-1.11, p = 0.87, other add-on = 1.00, 0.91-1.09, p = 0.79) and no increase in reliever prescriptions (adjusted odds ratio, 95% CI, p-value: ICS inhaler dose = 0.99, 0.98-1.00, p = 0.59; ICS mean daily = 0.78, 0.76-0.79, p < 0.001; LABA = 0.83, 0.82-0.85, p < 0.001; other add-on = 0.86, 0.85-0.87, p < 0.001). Prognostic factors to initiate stepdown included medication burden, but not medication side effects. National Health Service (NHS) indicative prices were used for cost estimates. Stepping down medication, either LABAs or ICSs, could save annually around £17,000,000 or £8,600,000, respectively. Study limitations include the possibility that prescribed medication may not have been dispensed or adhered to and the reason for stepdown was not documented. In this UK study, we observed that asthma patients were increasingly prescribed higher levels of treatment, often without clear clinical indication for such high doses. Stepping down medication did not adversely affect outcomes and was associated with substantial cost savings.

How the changing relationship between labour and political party influenced growth of autonomous labour unions in Taiwan

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to find how the changing relationship between labour and political parties influenced the growth of reasonably independent labour unions in Taiwan.Design/methodology/approachThe authors have drawn on data collected through in-depth interviews of union officials, labour activists and members of legislature from two major political parties in Taiwan.FindingsThe authors found that the breach between labour and political parties was affected by the eventualities contemplated in democratisation. Though the DPP (Minchin-tang/Democratic Progressive Party) provided the initial “shot in arm”, autonomous unions have not necessarily grown underneath DPP’s dominion. Political liberalisation of Taiwan’s industrial relations systems has gained more momentum when the DPP was in opposition than in power. Anti-incumbency pushed independent unions to sway the opposition’s backing when Kuomintang (KMT/the Chinese Nationalists) was in power and not to that extent when the KMT stepped down. The autonomous labour movement in Taiwan was initially influenced by the changing relationship between labour and ruling parties. However, the movement was subsequently shaped by the ethnic and political characteristics based on the historical divide between the mainlanders and Taiwanese and Taiwan’s changing economic landscape.Research limitations/implicationsSpecific limitations include the subjectivity of the inference and lack of generalisability of the findings that are based on interviews with two out of three players of industrial relations system.Practical implicationsBecause of globalisation and global financial crisis that brought together a new generation of workforce who hold individualistic values, have lesser faith in collectivism and perform new forms of work where unionisation is no more relevant, the autonomous labour movement in Taiwan was hugely impacted.Originality/valueGrowth of independent unions is not being shaped by democratisation alone. If we refocus the debate about democracy’s implied relationship with the rhetoric of national identity, one can see the crucial role played by the changing economic landscape and ethnic divisions ingrained in political origins.

The Netherlands: Political development and data for 2017

The year 2017 was a period of contradictionary development in terms of political stability in the Netherlands. On te one hand, the Mark Rutte II cabinet, the longest serving cabinet since the Second World War, was the first since 1998 to complete the entire term. On the other hand, the highly volatile 2017 national elections yielded the most fractionalized parliament in Dutch history. The ensuing cabinet formation was the longest on to date.

The Formalization of Islamic Sharia in Public Sphere: A Case Study of Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia

Following the stepped down of the New Order, the movements of establishing Islamic sharia in Indonesia has increased. Some of the organizations which promote Islamic sharia on their movements are Majelis Mujahidin Indonesia (MMI), Front Pembela Islam (FPI), and Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI). This paper observes the movements of HTI by using the perspective of public reason, especially the theories of John Rawls and Abdullah An-Naim. The results show that HTI should use more democratic methods in delivering its notion. As Indonesia is a democratic nation, creating the appropriate form of discussion and conversation would be an effective way in introducing Islamic sharia to the public. Later, the decision of accepting or rejecting the idea is in the hands of the public. Keywords:Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia, Islamic sharia, and public reasonÂ

Deutsche Bank and the Road to Basel Iii

This public-sourced case was named the best finance case of 2013 in the 24th annual awards and competition sponsored by The Case Centre. It was designed for and works well in the latter portion of a GEMBA Financial Management and Policies course and in the early stage of a second-year MBA elective Financial Institutions and Markets course. The case is set in mid-2012 as the new co-CEOs of Deutsche Bank are about to speak in an analyst call. Students are the decision makers and have the opportunity to evaluate the various factors affecting a bank's situation in a changing global industry, such as leverage and credit quality, as well as to discuss the implications on Deutsche Bank and the banking sector more broadly of Basel III, the global regulatory reform. The students also have the opportunity to conduct a valuation of the bank. Investors were anxious to know whether the new co-CEOs would discuss the strategy of how Deutsche Bank planned to meet the new regulatory requirements, what effect Basel III would have on the company's profitability, and what lines of business it would focus on going forward in a new banking environment. They also wanted to know more about the benefits of the 2010 majority stake investment in Postbank, a German commercial bank. In class, this discussion also allows for a broader examination of the universal bank model and the role of banks within society. Excerpt UVA-F-1695 Rev. Jan. 28, 2019 Deutsche Bank and the Road to Basel III On July 31, 2012, Deutsche Bank Group (Deutsche Bank) reported its 2nd quarter 2012 financial results. What made this earnings report different from the company's past earnings announcements was that it marked the first time after former CEO Joseph Ackermann stepped down that co-CEOs Jurgen Fitschen and Anshu Jain would publicly address investment analysts and shareholders on Deutsche Bank's quarterly conference call since assuming their roles on June 1, 2012. The biggest question on the minds of analysts and investors was whether or not Deutsche Bank would be able to meet the capital requirements imposed under a revised global banking regulatory framework—Basel III. In response to the global financial crisis, the Basel Committee on Bank Supervision, consisting of senior representatives of the G20 central banks, began formulating the new framework in an effort to raise “the quality, consistency, and transparency of the capital base” of financial institutions worldwide. Although approved in December 2010, the new requirements would not take effect immediately. Rather, the various requirements would be phased in gradually, beginning in 2013 and becoming fully implemented by January 1, 2019. For banks, Basel III meant clearing a series of regulatory hurdles starting in 2013 that would fundamentally change the banking industry landscape. Investors were concerned that Deutsche Bank would need to raise fresh equity capital to meet the requirements, thereby diluting the equity value of existing shares. In addition, profitability in the banking sector had been in steady decline since the global financial crisis of 2008, and investors worried that stricter capital requirements would further reduce profitability at Deutsche Bank going forward. And the sovereign debt issues plaguing many European Union countries added more insecurity. . . .

E. C. (Bill) Slater: An appreciation.

E. C. (Bill) Slater died in March 2016, at the age of 99. Australian by birth, he spent most of his life in Europe. He is survived by his wife Marion, who celebrated her 100th birthday in May. This is a personal account of the life and times that Bill and I shared together, over fifty years. Other biographical and autobiographical accounts available are one written by his pupil, Piet Borst, published in these pages 1, another in these pages by Bill 2, on how he became a biochemist, and a magisterial autobiography 3, meticulous in its detail and detachment, in which he is very frank about his own shortcomings. Reference 2 relates how Bill grew up in Australia, became an organic chemist, was thwarted by World War II in moving to England to gain a Ph.D., became a biochemist, and at war's end went to study with Keilin in Cambridge and became a bioenergeticist. In 1955 he was appointed director of the Laboratory of Physiological Chemistry of the medical faculty at the University of Amsterdam and proceeded to learn the Dutch language. Bill had a powerful influence on the development of biochemistry in The Netherlands. He brought this fledgling discipline to the forefront and his pupils spread the message. In his role as Editor-in-Chief of BBA, he was world renowned and as a scientist he was equally renowned as one of the foremost bioenergeticists of the second half of the twentieth century My first connections with Bill were in the 60s when I was the first secretary general of FEBS and Bill a member of the Council of the International Union of Biochemistry (IUB). This brought us into occasional contact, even when I moved to Miami in 1967. The contact became formal when I became the general secretary of the IUB in 1973. Bill was already the treasurer. We worked together for the six years until Bill stepped down. Together we established TiBS, the first, and very successful Trends journal, and a source of income and publicity for the IUB. We both later served as presidents of the Union, Bill serving as (acting) treasurer, for a second time, during my term of office. In 1979, we embarked on an odyssey that had broad implications for international science. At the end of the cultural revolution, mainland China began to rejoin the scientific unions it had resigned from when they admitted Taiwan. As a condition, the People's Republic of China (PRC) demanded the expulsion of Taiwan, and some other unions began to agree. I received a similar request. It happened that the IUB had changed its definition of member (Adhering Body) so that both the PRC and Taiwan were eligible. This was the basis of our reply to the PRC. It helped that one of the PRC negotiators was a longtime colleague of Bill's, from their days, 30 years earlier, in Cambridge. The Taiwanese biochemists were astounded, and deeply suspicious. Bill and I spent what seemed like a fruitless week in Taipei, but on the morning of our departure I noticed the letterhead of one of the academicians, which read, at the end of the address, Taipei, China. I took out a yellow pad, that I still have, and wrote: “For the time being, there will be two Adhering Bodies from China.” That was the basis of an ultimate agreement, widely copied by other unions, and the overall union council, ICSU. The full story was published in TiBS by Bill and me 4. Bill's stay in Amsterdam came to an unexpected end when the government retroactively lowered the retirement age for university faculty. In sharp contrast, at precisely the same time the opposite happened in the USA, to my lasting gratitude, where, at the age of 91, I am still at work. In Bill's case, it decided him to move to England, off the south coast, near the University of Southampton, where he took a position in biochemistry, and remained for several years. That he lived by the water in Lymington, allowed him to sail alone in the Channel in his yacht for days at a time. This article is headed by a photo of Bill in his sailing cap, taken from Ref. 1. With the death of Bill Slater, we have lost a distinguished, and principled scientist, a scientific statesman, and a dear friend.

Some Relationships Between Cronbach’s Alpha and the Spearman-Brown Formula

Cronbach’s alpha is an estimate of the reliability of a test score if the items are essentially tau-equivalent. Several authors have derived results that provide alternative interpretations of alpha. These interpretations are also valid if essential tau-equivalency does not hold. For example, alpha is the mean of all split-half reliabilities if the test is split into two halves that are equal in size. This note presents several connections between Cronbach’s alpha and the Spearman-Brown formula. The results provide new interpretations of Cronbach’s alpha, the stepped down alpha, and standardized alpha, that are also valid in the case that essential tau-equivalency or parallel equivalency do not hold. The main result is that the stepped down alpha is a weighted average of the alphas of all subtests of a specific size, where the weights are the denominators of the subtest alphas. Thus, the stepped down alpha can be interpreted as an average subtest alpha. Furthermore, we may calculate the stepped down alpha without using the Spearman-Brown formula.

Syria's Forgotten First President Mohammad Ali al-Abed

The story of Syria's first president Mohammad Ali al-Abed is not told in Syrian history books, for a variety of reasons. One is the drama of Syrian history after 1936, when he stepped down. Another is the fact that he came to power with French blessing, making him an easy target for the National Bloc, which dominated Syrian public life from 1936 until 1958. When the Ba'athists came to power in 1963, they systematically excised entire sections of modern Syrian history; anything that came before the socialist revolution, they claimed, was capitalistic, imperialistic, elitist, backward, and ultimately wrong. Any praise of Abed, or his generation of Syrian nationalists, tended to result in harassment by the security services, or jail. As a result, four generations grew up in Ba'athist Syria knowing of no other president than Hafez al-Assad. This article tries to remedy this by shedding light on the career of a forgotten president from pre-Baath Syria.

Why hasn’t China’s high-profile health reform (2003–2012) delivered? An analysis of its neoliberal roots

In March 2013, China’s so-called fourth generation of leadership stepped down. Upon taking office a decade ago, they launched a series of high-profile health reform programmes, which have often been touted as a prime example of their commitment to prioritizing social welfare. However, throughout their period in power the reform remained remarkably unsuccessful at delivering as promised. This paper explains the failure. Unlike most of the existing literature which hinges upon issues within the health sector, this paper places the country’s political economy at the centre of the analysis. In particular, it highlights the role of neoliberalism. It argues that rather than improving the population’s health, the primary purposes of the health reform were to, first, accommodate socio-political unrest that was caused by neoliberal policies implemented prior to the early 2000s, and, second, facilitate further neoliberal economic restructuring. Moreover, anti-welfare neoliberal tenets, which run counter to improving health outcomes, were deeply imbedded in the formulation of health reform policies.

Asthma Control Can Be Maintained after Fixed-Dose, Budesonide/Formoterol Combination Inhaler Therapy is Stepped Down from Medium to Low Dose

In cases using a budesonide/formoterol combination inhaler, many patients are started on fixed-dose treatment at 640/18 μg (4 puffs) daily, but there are no guidelines yet regarding the step-down method when control has been maintained. Patients with moderate asthma treated with either budesonide 400 μg and salmeterol 100 μg (GINA step3 group) or salmeterol/fluticasone 250 at 2 puffs (GINA step4 group) were enrolled and started on therapy of budesonide/formoterol 4 puffs. Thereafter, step-down to 2 puffs was performed if either of the following criteria was met at 8-week intervals: fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO)≤28 ppb plus asthma control test (ACT) score≥22, or ACT score≥24 at 3 consecutive visits regardless of FeNO level. Thereafter, changes in ACT score, the number of acute exacerbations and reliever use, and FeNO level were monitored through 48th week. Fifty-one patients, 27 in step3 group and 24 in step4 group, underwent step-down. ACT scores and the number of reliever use remained stable in both groups even after step-down. In contrast, FeNO levels increased gradually in step4 group, whereas in the step3 group they increased immediately after step-down. Step-down was considered to be safely performed because the numbers of reliever use and those of moderate or more severe exacerbations during the 48-week period has not changed significantly compared to before step-down. If complete control of asthma, not only of clinical symptoms but also airway inflammation, is achieved by 3-6 months of fixed-dose budesonide/formoterol 4 puffs/day, it should be possible to safely perform step-down to 2 puffs/day.

A Single-Phase Z-Source Buck–Boost Matrix Converter

This paper proposes a new type of converter called a single-phase Z-source buck-boost matrix converter. The converter can buck and boost with step-changed frequency, and both the frequency and the voltage can be stepped up or stepped down. In addition, the converter employs a safe-commutation strategy to conduct along a continuous current path, which results in the elimination of voltage spikes on switches without the need for a snubber circuit. The operating principles of the proposed single-phase Z-source buck-boost matrix converter are described, and a circuit analysis is provided. To verify the performance of the proposed converter, a laboratory prototype was constructed with a voltage of 40 Vrms/60 Hz and a passive RL load. The simulation and the experimental results verified that the converter can produce an output voltage with three different frequencies 120, 60, and 30 Hz, and that the amplitude of the output voltage can be bucked and boosted.

The Evolution of American Spiritual Communities, 1965–2009

The great outpouring of new religious and spiritual movements in the United States after 1965 led to the formation of thousands of spiritual intentional communities. Those communities were based in all the world's major religions, as well as in new expressions of religion articulated by a rising generation of independent spiritual teachers. Many communities gathered around charismatic leaders, and quite a few of them continued after the leader died or stepped down. Over time those communities that survived evolved in form and outlook; in some cases once-authoritative leaders were deposed, and in others the death or departure of a leader led to changes in the group. External social pressure in several cases influenced various groups' developmental trajectories. This paper examines the histories of several religious communal groups, focusing on ones that have survived and exploring the modifications they have undertaken as their members have matured.

State of the Transactions Editorial

I has been a year since I assumed the role of TKDE Editor-in-Chief, and I would like to review the progress made in the past year, and present to you my future plans. As outlined in my fi rst EIC Editorial in January 2009, I have made conscious efforts to bring onto the editorial board well-established researchers from different parts of the world with diverse backgrounds and areas of strengths. Among the 18 new associate editors, and a few additional ones who will be joining us soon, are colleagues from Australia, China, India, Japan, and Korea, in addition to those from Europe and North America. I will continue to search for highly qualifi ed editors who are committed and dedicated in handling the review process. In the past year, 19 associate editors have completed their terms or stepped down. Therefore, we have almost the same number of editors as before. Paper submissions have increased by 5 percent from about 690 to about 730. As it is our goal to improve the quality of the journal, we have meanwhile substantially lowered the acceptance rate. Many papers that are out of the scope of TKDE were administratively rejected. I have also run random checks on submissions using cross-checking software, and have rejected a number of papers whose authors did not declare prior work clearly. When authors do not state prior work clearly, reviewers cannot evaluate submissions fairly, especially in terms of novelty and signifi cance of the contributions. With the dedication of the associate editors and more aggressive administrative rejections, we have reduced the turnaround time of fi rst reviews from seven months to 4.4 months. I hope to further shorten the turnaround time, and call on the cooperation of authors, reviewers, and associated editors to do so. To further improve the coverage of the journal, I have sought the help of established researchers to run special issues, such as the forthcoming “Cloud Data Management” and “Keyword Search.” I have also worked with the Steering Committee of the IEEE ICDE (International Conference of Data Engineering) to publish extended versions of its best papers each year as a special issue of TKDE. The fi rst special issue, which will include the best papers of ICDE ’09, will appear soon. I have also individually invited authors to submit experimental and survey articles. It is my hope that the timeliness and appeal of the research topics as well as the raised quality of the papers will together improve the readership and impact of TKDE. In the new year, I plan to further enhance the editorial board as well as the quality and composition of papers. In this regard, I hope to have your continued support as a good journal will benefi t us all, especially our graduate students. I would like to express my appreciation to all the associate editors, guest editors, reviewers, and authors for their hard work, understanding, and support. Thank you very much.

Leadership succession and the emergence of an organizational identity threat

AbstractLeadership succession, and the associated changes that new leaders make, can have profound impacts on nonprofit organizations. Despite its importance, there is limited research that examines succession from the point of view of employees and considers how their interpretations of organizational identity and proposed change shape their responses to leadership transitions. In this article, we examine the dynamics that ensued when the founder of Friends of the Earth, a nonprofit environmental organization, stepped down. The case shows how the succession process can expose latent disagreement about an organization's identity and give rise to internal conflict. These patterns suggest that leaders must be attentive to different and often conflicting interpretations of an organization's identity.

One Man's Plan: The Story of Gerald Melling's Tenure as Editor of New Zealand Architect, and some Implications Thereof

In late 1983 Gerald Melling replaced Gordon Moller as editor of the New Zealand Institute of Architects' journal, New Zealand Architect. The appointment of Melling was not contentious, Moller was stepping aside after a lengthy term, and while Melling brought less architectural experience to the job he added weight as a noted writer and editor. Melling edited New Zealand Architect for 11 issues, from No.4, 1983, through to issue No.2, 1986, and, as the NZIA might have expected, the first issues under Melling's influence displayed a far greater degree of creative and editorial urgency than had been the case previously. Yet, the end, when it came, was sharp, with Melling stepping down from the role in the aftermath of legal threats, and there are still rumours that the Institute abandoned its editorial association to the journal as a direct result of Melling's editorial control. This is not true, and this paper traces the circumstances of that myth. During Melling's supervision New Zealand Architect entered into a brief period of critical commentary in which New Zealand's buildings were viewed as a responsible to a wider public, and accountable to that audience through criticism. In his first editorial Melling wrote of the need for openness where architects get things right, and an honest reflection on where they get them wrong. Unfortunately the principle audience for New Zealand Architect, New Zealand's architects, did not always feel quite so happy about discussing their failures. Indeed, in one key instance they felt compelled to defend their work through legal channels. In his 1985 end-of-year Wellington BLAND Awards (Blatantly Limpwristed Acceptance of Nondescript Design) Melling erroneously named the architects responsible for the "Gross, overbearing, cheap and nasty" Control Data Building as Williams Developments. The architects, understandably perhaps, reacted immediately to what they perceived as a harmful association and demanded a retraction. One was offered, in the next issue, but it must be added that the sceptical tone of Melling's withdrawal, which involved reiterating his condemnation of the Control Data Building, was not helped by another mistaken attribution. The next issue, in which authorship was finally resolved, was to be Melling's last. Behind the print of the BLAND Awards was a flurry of threats, legal and otherwise, which called into attention the financial responsibility held by the NZIA in the advent of legitimate claims of slander being upheld, soon after Melling stepped down. This paper reviews the editorial content of New Zealand Architect immediately prior to, during the period of, and subsequent to Gerald Melling's dismissal as editor. Attention is given to the circumstances of his departure from, and the NZIA's subsequent dissolution of any legal relationship with the journal. I suggest that after Melling the journal's intellectual attention focused on the successful activities of architects and has not since seriously discussed wider issues regarding the social and public responsibilities of buildings, or architects. As Gerald Melling wrote in his first editorial, architects are seldom held to public account for their failures. Sadly, the Institute's response to one editor's attempt to rectify this oversight set its own journal on a course of social disengagement from which it has never been able to recover.