Years Of Uncertainty Research Articles

Ladies Dressed as Men Dressed as Ladies

Can you hear that beat, that drum beat? . . . It must be a Masquerade!! Though her sons and daughters be scattered across God's great earth, it takes nothing more than sound of these drums beating with that steady rhythm mixed with that joyous fife set her children's heart and souls alight!! It must be a Masquerade!!-Thamar White, Enchantment of Montserrat's Masquerade MusicCARNIVAL PROVIDES A TECHNIQUE BOTH TO REMEMBER THE PAST and to reimagine future.1 Performing troupes, through their music, gestures and dance, teach lessons in streets during carnival. In addition, through training and rehearsal, these troupes community memory in behind-the-scenes moments when new dancers learn from expert practitioners. Public celebrations and rigorous rehearsals both communicate collective identity, based on common memory of past and futures. As scholar Diana Taylor has pointed out, performances function as vital acts of transfer, transmitted social knowledge, memory, and a sense of identity through reiterated, or what Richard Schechner has called 'twice-behaved behaviour'. Taylor highlights particular significance of this non-archival system of transfer that she calls the repertoire in settings throughout Americas, but particularly for societies that have endured traumatic change.2On Montserrat, a distinctive Masquerade tradition preserves cultural memory through music and dance in face of dramatic transformations of landscape, economy, culture and politics of island caused by volcano. Before 1995 volcano, local people formed bands in their communities. They dressed in matching costumes and concealed their identities with masks. They practised their dances behind scenes before proceeding public streets compete with other groups for supremacy in quality of their performances. Musicians accompanied processions with fifes and drums while members sang songs. In aftermath of volcanic eruption, performance practices had adapt new contexts. Montserrat Masquerade now symbolises nation as a whole, binding Montserratians at home and in diaspora. Although built on tradition, Masquerade has adapted changes in social and economic conditions on island, demonstrating its vigour and vitality.Geol ogic time an d Monts err atCultural change, like geologic processes, often proceeds in infinitesimally slow increments; occasionally, however, both geological and cultural transformations occur as dramatic fissures, as they did in Montserrat. In 1995, once dormant volcano began spewing ash before exploding on Boxing Day, 1997, generating a pyroclastic flow that buried capital city and agriculturally rich southern portion of country. People lost their homes, their possessions, and their livelihoods. After years of uncertainty and trauma, so many residents migrated that Montserrat had highest rate of emigration in Caricom during 1990s. Meanwhile, as population dispersed, new immigrants arrived from Jamaica, Guyana and Dominica, seeking economic opportunities and bringing their own cultural practices.3 The volcano shattered economy and tourism suffered when visitor arrivals dropped by 46 percent. In response, Montserrat Tourist Board hopes develop tourism in future by offering more deeply engaging intellectual experiences that highlight island's distinctive history, heritage, culture and environment in what one scholar has called knowledge-based tourism.4Montserrat Masquerade represents nation, but it also deliberately contributes economy of island. As a result, ascribing ownership of what UNESCO calls intangible heritage becomes complicated.5 Museums and historical organisations are increasingly adopting methods of shared authority in preservation, education, and exhibition of past, further de-centring notions of possession of heritage, but Masquerade has a long tradition of collective ownership. …

Focus: Workers mustn't pay for Brexit

INTERNATIONAL union rights Page 3 Volume 23 Issue 2 2016 FOCUS ❐ BREXIT Workers mustn’t pay for Brexit In response to EU requirements, the government had to legislate to protect rights that would have been difficult to secure in the UK and are particularly vulnerable to attack because of Brexit The government should also act to protect working people’s pensions. The shock experienced by investment markets since the referendum risks inflating pension scheme deficits and undermining trustees’ funding plans. The Pensions Regulator should allow maximum flexibility in scheme funding to ensure that short-term volatility doesn’t lead to a fresh round of pension fund closures and a hit to both the long-term savings of UK workers and the capacity of British companies to invest for the future. Rights at work UK workers should also not pay the price of voting to leave the EU in terms of reduced rights at work. The European Union has played a central role in protecting working people from exploitation , combating discrimination and promoting good employment practices. Politicians from both sides defended these rights as part of the referendum campaign. The government should commit not to repeal any of the rights which are guaranteed by the EU. Watering down or dismantling this legislation would amount to a direct attack on the basic rights, security and standards of living working people and a denial of campaign promises. It would also risk further damaging confidence and spending, when it is vital not to let demand in the economy weaken. Since the mid-1970s, action taken by the European Union has played a central role in maintaining employment, in protecting of working people from exploitation, in combating discrimination and social exclusion and promoting good employment practices. In response to campaigns by trade unions in Britain and the rest of Europe, the EU adopted a diverse range of treaty provisions and directives that provide important employment protections, safeguard health and safety, and promote equality in the workplace. In some areas where the EU has legislated the UK already had laws in place such as equal pay, maternity rights, sex, disability and race discrimination, and health and safety. Even so, EU action in these areas has improved and extended rights and now underpins them, making it more difficult for the UK government to undermine them unilaterally. In other areas, the UK had to legislate for the first time in response to EU requirements. In some cases laws that resulted directly from EU directives are now broadly accepted, for example around sexual orientation, age and religion or belief discrimination. But other rights would have been difficult to secure in the UK and are particularly vulnerable to attack because of the referendum result. For example, UK governments strongly resisted equal treatment rights for agency workT he voters have been clear that they want the UK to leave the European Union. The task for the UK’s leaders is to work out how that can be achieved without working people paying the price. Years of uncertainty will be unhelpful for investment and would leave working people unable to plan their own futures. Investors will postpone job-creating investment until they know the UK’s future path, and people will put off major life decisions such as whether to marry, change jobs, start a family or buy a home. The government must urgently bring together a team of people to plan Britain’s next steps. This team must be cross-party, and have members not only from the London, Northern Ireland, Scottish and Welsh administrations but also representatives of employers and unions. The top priority is to protect access to the EU’s single market, to which nearly half of our manufacturing and much of our services are exported. We need to build the growing consensus in favour of an arrangement that would guarantee jobs and rights at work, while respecting the wishes of the electorate to leave the EU. It may not be possible to secure consensus for an existing model of such relationships: we may need a specifically ‘British model’. But there are some key areas we can already map out – about wages, rights and taking back control of...

2015 – year of uncertainty

Chemistry & IndustryVolume 79, Issue 1 p. 16-19 Feature (2015 – year of uncertainty) 2015 – year of uncertainty First published: 26 January 2015 https://doi.org/10.1002/cind.791_4.xAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Volume79, Issue1January 2015Pages 16-19 RelatedInformation

The United States and South Korea: Who Does What if the North Fails?

After several years of uncertainty about Kim Jong-un and his grip on power, analysis of North Korea has settled back into well-worn patterns. In Washington, Seoul, and elsewhere, mainstream comment...

The search for a timely diagnosis: Parents’ experiences of their child being diagnosed with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder

ObjectiveThis study aimed to describe the experiences of a group of South African parents whose children had received Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnoses.MethodA qualitative approach involving semi-structured interviews with a sample of eight parents (seven mothers and one father) of ASD children was used.ResultsThese interviews highlighted key issues in the area of ASD in South Africa, including: a lack of knowledge amongst professionals, an unwillingness to diagnose, and lack of available support and facilities. Many of the parents in the sample reported significant difficulties in obtaining an ASD diagnosis. These findings are discussed in the light of the importance of early intervention in South Africa.ConclusionsPractitioners appear to be reluctant to diagnose and label children with ASD at an early age. This reluctance results in lost opportunities for early intervention and years of uncertainty and distress for families. Access to resources for diagnosis and intervention for children with ASD in South Africa appears to be limited to a few families. For this select population, many difficulties and much dissatisfaction with diagnostic processes remain. The study recommends enhancing awareness of ASD to facilitate early identification, and to strengthen the support offered to parents of children with ASD.

From heroes to vulnerable victims: labelling Christian Turks as genuine refugees in the 1970s

In 1975, the first Christian Turks applied for asylum in the Netherlands. They were at first denied, and only in the early 1980s did they finally begin to win refugee status from the Dutch government. In the meantime, they faced years of uncertainty. Campaigns of lobbyists in the years between 1977 and 1983 contributed to end their waiting. Their campaigns caused a drastic change of the image of the ‘deserving refugee’ in the Netherlands. This article explores the arguments that lobbyists used to influence decision-makers. It shows how and why the public and political image of the ‘deserving refugee’ had to change in order to successfully claim refugee status.

SP0087 Taking Charge Patient Power

My personal story on learning to live and self-manage my condition of Fibromyalgia.After many years of uncertainty the importance to finally receive a diagnosis.The awful realisation of being unable to...

Abstract ES7-2: Tumor Dormancy from an Experimental Biologist's Perspective

Abstract Survival from breast cancer has improved steadily over the past decades. However, most breast cancer deaths are due to metastasis, and considerably less progress has been made against metastatic disease. We still know remarkably little about preventing or delaying metastatic recurrence or effectively treating the cancer if it does recur. Making breast cancer treatment even more challenging is the fact that breast cancer patients may appear to be cured of their disease, only to have it return later. These recurrences can happen even decades after apparently successful primary treatment. This creates years of uncertainty for breast cancer patients, who do not know if they have been cured or if the cancer will return, and makes clinical management difficult. We have used experimental models, both in vitro and in vivo, to try to understand the process of breast cancer metastasis. We have found that a population of cancer cells can remain as dormant cells, and have shown that these cells can resist being killed by cytotoxic chemotherapy that successfully kills actively diving cells. Experimental studies raise questions that must be addressed clinically. For example, what is the prevalence of dormant cells in breast cancer patients – are they common or rare? Are there factors inherent to the cancer cells that influence the likelihood of dormant cells persisting and subsequently re-awakening? Conversely, are there host microenvironmental factors, such as diet, exercise or stress, that can influence whether dormant cells persist and re-awaken? This information will be important in learning better how to prevent, delay and treat metastatic breast cancer. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2012;72(24 Suppl):Abstract nr ES7-2.

Epidermal growth factor vaccine in non-small-cell lung cancer

After many years of uncertainty regarding the role of immunotherapy in cancer, we finally have vaccines approved for the treatment of some malignancies (e.g., prostate cancer and melanoma). In non-small-cell lung cancer, several vaccines are being studied in randomized Phase III clinical trials due to their promising results seen in the clinic, such as BLP-25 and melanoma-associated antigen A3. Traditionally, non-small-cell lung cancer has not been considered a good target for immunotherapy due to lack of immunogenicity and the strong presence of regulatory T cells, which do not allow an adequate immune response in the host. EGF vaccination is a novel area of immunotherapy for this disease. Thus far, there has been success in generating immune and clinical responses with this vaccine in several clinical trials, and we will review in depth the efficacy and toxicity of this novel agent.

Participatory enumerations, in situ upgrading and mega events: the 2009 survey in Joe Slovo, Cape Town

This paper describes the survey and enumeration held in Joe Slovo, an informal settlement of about 8,000 inhabitants located along one of the major highways in Cape Town. The residents of Joe Slovo had faced years of uncertainty as the national government was planning to redevelop their settlement as part of its preparations for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. They had also suffered a series of devastating fires and floods. The inhabitants were suspicious of any survey, fearing that this was part of the plan to evict them. This paper describes how these fears were overcome and how an enumeration was planned and implemented – using enumeration teams that included residents and that were tasked with talking to a member of each household in the settlement as well as numbering each shack. The enumeration served to highlight the likely negative impacts of the proposed resettlement, as many residents faced difficulties affording transportation and relied on being able to work nearby. The enumeration also opened up the possibility of in situ redevelopment as the population of Joe Slovo was found to be much smaller than expected. The enumeration process and data were then used to facilitate cluster upgrading and improved sanitation within the settlement.

On the Battlefront: Canadian Soldiers, an Imperial War, and America's National Pastime

“The moment our men get out of the trenches they begin to play baseball… .”1 —Lieutenant Coningsby Dawson, an officer in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War The Great War is credited by some historians for giving direction to Canadian nationalism. Success on the battlefields provided many citizens with patriotic pride, as well as a sense of brotherhood as Canadian troops fought alongside the British in an imperial struggle. Despite an environment that favoured nationalism and imperialism, Canadian soldiers embraced America's national pastime. For many of the rank and file, baseball was an important part of their war experience. The commanding officers' support for sport, however, was essential to baseball's existence in the Canadian Expeditionary Forces. Despite the enjoyment baseball brought soldiers, a handful of officers in the military's high command were apprehensive about sport's rising status. By 1917, after years of uncertainty about how to incorporate baseball into the soldiers' training regimen, the military could no longer ignore the need and role for sport in military life. Perhaps spurred by American entry into the conflict, the CEF issued a report that officially authorized baseball and like games.

Load or concentration, logged or unlogged? Addressing ten years of uncertainty in neural network suspended sediment prediction

AbstractThis paper addresses current inconsistencies in methodological approaches for neural network modelling of suspended sediment. An expansion in the number of case studies being published over the last decade has yet to result in agreed guidelines on whether suspended sediment load or concentration should be modelled, and whether log‐transformation of data is either necessary or potentially beneficial. This contrasts with the well‐recognized guidelines that direct traditional sediment rating curve studies. The paper reports a comprehensive set of single‐input single‐output neural network suspended sediment modelling experiments performed on two catchments in Puerto Rico. It examines the impact of internal complexity, input variable choice and data transformation on the form, consistency and physical rationality of model outputs, the existence of localized overfitting and the usefulness of global performance metrics. Sound guidance on whether to model sediment load or concentration, and whether to model log‐transformed data is provided. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

I. HARMONIZING THE LAW APPLICABLE TO DIVORCE AND LEGAL SEPARATION—ENHANCED COOPERATION AS THE WAY FORWARD?

After almost two years of uncertainty, the EU is now progressing towards the adoption of harmonized rules on the law applicable to divorce through the activation, for the very first time, of the enhanced cooperation mechanism.

Making optimal use of available molybdenum-99

Summary The recent shortage of 99 Mo has created a challenge forradiopharmacy; indeed, it has been extremely stressful attimes. Even if supplies stabilize towards the end of 2010we face several years of uncertainty before more robustsolutions are implemented. However, this has forced us totake a perhaps overdue closer look at how we can makemore efficient use of available 99 Mo to provide as much 99m Tc as possible for the preparation and supply ofradiopharmaceuticals. References 1 Ramamoorthy N. Commentary: supplies of molybdenum-99 – need forsustainable strategies and enhanced international cooperation. Nucl MedCommun 2009; 30:899–905.2 Lewis DM. 99 Mo supply – the times they are a-changing. Eur J Nucl Med MolImaging 2009; 36:1371–1374.3 Ballinger JR. 99 Mo shortage in nuclear medicine: crisis or challenge? J LabelCompd Radiopharm 2010; 53:167–168.4 Bradley E, Adelfang P, Ramamoorthy N, editors. Homogeneous aqueoussolution nuclear reactors for the production of 99 Mo and other short-livedradioistotopes. IAEA-TECDOC-1601. Vienna: International Atomic EnergyAgency; 2008.5 Ruth T. Accelerating production of medical isotopes. Nature 2009;457:536–537.6 Guerin B, Tremblay S, Rodrigue S, Rousseau JA, Dumulon-Perreault V,Lecomte R, et al. Cyclotron production of

Microenvironment and Macroenvironment in Hypertensive Hearts

Diastolic heart failure has had a troubled past, with years of uncertainty over its very existence as a specific clinical entity. However, clinicians are seeing growing numbers of patients in our ageing populations where no other adequate and plausible explanation appears to be appropriate. Understandably, a whole literature has grown in attempts to improve sensitivity, specificity, and precision of diagnosis. Heart failure with normal ejection fraction (HFNEF) is the cumbersome term that is now agreed to describe the condition. With progress in availability and capability of echocardiography, HFNEF has attracted the interest of investigators wishing to better understand more basic cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in the development and maintenance of HFNEF, with the aim of developing targeted and effective therapies. Changes in muscle mass, size, and heart shape classically describe cardiac remodeling, but this process is being increasingly linked to dysfunction at the subcellular level, including the extracellular matrix, where alterations in biochemical composition and molecular structure may eventually transition from hypertrophy to heart failure. Activation of different proteases and phospholipases and alterations in gene expression are suggested as the basis for these changes.1 The article by Gonzalez et al2 in this issue of Hypertension makes a bold attempt to unravel some of the complex pathways leading to heart failure with normal ejection fraction, with an emphasis on collagen and the proteolytic tissue digesting matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and their antagonists, the tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases (TIMPs), …

US Taxation of Foreign Currency Derivatives: 30 Years of Uncertainty

Foreign currency contracts were required to be marked to market in the United States in 1982, but since then practitioners have argued about the scope of the rule. Specifically, does the rule apply to foreign currency forwards only or to options, swaps and other derivatives as well?

Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: Developments in Diagnosis and Treatment

After many years of uncertainty regarding the true pathological nature of mild gestational diabetes and the possible benefits of treatment, the situation appears to have been resolved by the publication of the Australian Carbohydrate Intolerance Study in Pregnant Women (ACHOIS). It is now appropriate for obstetric units to review their treatment and screening programs for gestational diabetes mellitus. Furthermore, with the publication of the Metformin in Gestational Diabetes (MiG) trial, consideration should be given as to whether metformin should be the first choice when diet fails to maintain glycemic control.

Review: Back to the future

Review: Back to the future

Papa Abel Remembers -- The Tale of a Band of Booksellers, Fasicle 6: 1959 -- A Year of Uncertainty and Turmoil, Followed by Radical Change

Papa Abel Remembers -- The Tale of a Band of Booksellers, Fasicle 6: 1959 -- A Year of Uncertainty and Turmoil, Followed by Radical Change

An ethical rebellion?

In this issue of the JRSM, Heather Payne, a paediatrician from Caerphilly, attempts to piece together the jigsaw of child protection (JRSM 2008;101:93-94). She echoes the concerns of many paediatricians about the recent verdict against David Southall when she says that the GMC needs to examine itself to see whether its decisions are justified and really serve children. The trap that the GMC has fallen into, she argues, is one that paediatric trainees are taught to avoid: always listen to the child as well as the parent. Whatever our personal opinions on the Southall verdict, it is easy to understand why the ‘illusion of safe practice’ in child protection has been shattered by recent GMC decisions. Is society prepared to protect parents but place children at greater risk? Shouldn't the balance be in favour of child protection? These are ethical questions as well as moral and criminal ones, yet doctors are usually ill prepared for ethical dilemmas, especially at the beginning of their careers. In response, Rosalind MacDougall and Daniel Sokol have devised a typology of ethical problems faced by house officers (JRSM 2008;101:67-70). Should a clinician always tell the truth? How do you set an appropriate personal boundary with patients? What can you do about the inappropriate behaviour of others? And how do you manage the limits of your own competence? The issues addressed by the authors, of course, are equally relevant to lowly medical students and grandiose professors. The medical profession has grappled with them for centuries and will continue to do so, except that many of its practitioners now feel besieged, unloved, and exploited. General practitioners are angered by the government's desire to extend working hours; junior doctors face another year of uncertainty over job interviews and career trajectories. This modern discontent has removed the pleasure from one of humanity's greatest professions. Doctors old and young wonder how they were duped and how they might emerge with a sense of job satisfaction. The classic counterargument is that doctors are well paid but, as any cursory glance at the evidence will agree, job satisfaction is more dependent on a sense of control, autonomy, and career development than it is on salary. Doctors might be easily dismissed as well-heeled whingers - a cheap jibe of which the media is fond - but this unhappiness is a symptom of an unhappy profession that feels unfairly victimized. Indeed, these sentiments are strengthened when medical bodies and organizations are perceived to have deserted their own members. The British Medical Association is yet to recover from the political disaster of MTAS - no trade union can expect to take sides against its membership and flourish. Meanwhile, the General Medical Council continues to be perceived as a self-regulator that fails to fairly serve the interests of its profession. All of this leaves doctors busier discussing the ethics of a strike, revolt or rebellion than debating the ethics of UK's postmortem organ retention crisis -the effects of which on the parents involved are explored by Magi Sque and colleagues (JRSM 2008;101:71-77).