Fossil fuel companies have made major investments in mobilizing citizen support in recent decades, funding advocacy groups to stoke climate denial, doubt, and delay. Scholars and activists have ...tended to condemn these “front groups” as corporate mouthpieces, calling for new laws mandating disclosure of the financial relationship between companies and their political scions. Critiques like these tap into vital political impulses; however, they have failed to fully keep pace with evolving corporate strategies. Today many industry-backed groups openly identify their corporate sponsors, framing companies’ largesse as a means to amplify the voices of unionized pipefitters, local business leaders, and others who want to commend the positive impacts of fossil fuel production. Many so-called “front groups” are not hiding, which renders critical exposé moot. In response, this essay argues for the usefulness of investigating the social bonds and affective experiences of participants in pro-fossil fuel campaigns. The feelings of community, precarity, and risk that help these campaigns cohere can act as important sites of intervention for climate action. I suggest that scholars must consider the limitations of exposé and develop strategies to intercede in the more open ties between fossil fuel companies and their publics.
Propaganda analysis has long focused on revealing the rhetorical tricks and hidden special interests behind persuasion campaigns. But what are critics to do when propaganda is obvious? In the late ...1930s the Institute for Propaganda Analysis faced this question while investigating the public politicking of A&P, then the largest retailer in the United States. While contemporary critics lambasted A&P for their secretive campaign, particularly their use of front groups, A&P used many relatively overt methods of propaganda to win political victories. Propaganda analysis then, as now, fixated on the concealed, failing to adequately critique conspicuous communicative power.
Stringent nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) such as lockdowns and border closures are not currently recommended for pandemic influenza control. New Zealand used these NPIs to eliminate ...coronavirus disease 2019 during its first wave. Using multiple surveillance systems, we observed a parallel and unprecedented reduction of influenza and other respiratory viral infections in 2020. This finding supports the use of these NPIs for controlling pandemic influenza and other severe respiratory viral threats.
With the increasing interest in mindfulness practices within clinical as well as non-clinical settings and the increasing body of research on the positive effects of mindfulness, concerns have been ...raised that mindfulness might also produce adverse effects including intense experiences and psychosis. The aim of this study was to investigate if intense experiences occur as a natural part of mindfulness practice, and if so to examine the characteristics of such experiences. We conducted a qualitative analysis based on fortnightly meditation reports from 13 mindfulness teacher trainees for 4 months. Intense experiences in meditation were frequently expressed in the reports of most of the practitioners and in some individuals these experiences were similar to psychotic-like experiences. This study presents suggestive evidence that mindfulness practices can produce intense experiences and that for some individuals these intense experiences may resemble psychotic-like experiences.
Enzyme analysis is the gold standard for the diagnosis of lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs). However, enzyme analysis in leukocytes requires that whole blood samples arrive to the testing laboratory ...within 24-48 hours of collection, and requires a relatively large volume of blood. This is problematic for the international shipment of specimens and for testing infants. The adaptation of these enzyme assays for use in dried blood spots (DBS) has ameliorated these issues for a large number of LSDs. Initially enzyme analysis in DBS exclusively utilized 4-methylumbelliferone (4-MU) fluorogenic substrates. The limitation of this methodology is that each enzyme must be measured individually. The development of tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) substrates has allowed multiple enzyme reactions to be combined in a single reaction, increasing efficiency. We report validation results for a new 6-plex assay for the diagnosis of five Mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) disorders (MPS II, IIIB, IVA, VI and VII) and neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis type 2 (CLN2) in DBS using UPLC-MS/MS. Normal reference ranges were developed using a minimum of 236 DBS samples from unaffected controls or patients with an alternate diagnosis, and 100% clinical sensitivity was established using 99 samples from patients affected with one of the six disorders. Both intra-day and inter-day precision were acceptable (< 20% CV) and 6 month long term sample stability has been verified. Our laboratory can now analyze 18 enzymes in DBS (12 utilizing MS/MS substrates and 6 utilizing 4-MU substrates) to diagnose 20 different LSDs (including Multiple Sulfatase Deficiency and Mucolipidosis II/III). Furthermore, we can now offer a 7 enzyme MPS panel in DBS, which will significantly enhance the worldwide diagnosis of MPS patients. Finally, the development of this 6-plex has significant implications for newborn screening, as FDA approved therapies are available for five of the six included conditions.
To examine the epidemiology and in-event treatment frequency of injury at the 2011-2016 Australian Open tournaments.
Injury incidence was defined as a medical consultation by a tournament physician ...and in-event treatment frequency as the mean total number of follow-up medical/physiotherapy consultations (2013-2016 tournaments only). Data were collated by sex, injury region and type and reported as frequencies per 10 000 game exposures. Incidence rate s± 95% CI and rate ratios were used to test effects for injury, sex and year.
Female players experienced more injuries than male players (201.7 vs 148.6). The shoulder (5.1±1.1 injuries per year), foot (3.2±1.1), wrist (3.1±1.5) and knee (3.1±1.1) were the most commonly injured regions among females. Knee (3.5±1.6), ankle (2.3±1.3) and thigh (2.3±1.5) were the most prevalent male injuries. Upper arm injuries and in-event treatment frequency increased by ≥2.4 times in both sexes over the 5-year period. Muscle injuries were most frequent. There was a greater than twofold increase in men and women with stress fractures over the 5-year period. The torso region, including the neck, thoracic spine, trunk and abdominal, lumbar spine, hip and groin, pelvis/buttock, attracted high in-event treatment frequencies in both sexes.
Investigation of injury at the Australian Open suggests that females are more commonly injured than males. Upper and lower extremity injuries affected females while lower limb injuries were more prominent in males. There was an increasing rate of in-event treatments of upper limb and torso injuries as well as stress fractures during the observation period.
We describe the epidemiological characteristics, pattern of circulation, and geographical distribution of influenza B viruses and its lineages using data from the Global Influenza B Study. We ...included over 1.8 million influenza cases occurred in thirty-one countries during 2000-2018. We calculated the proportion of cases caused by influenza B and its lineages; determined the timing of influenza A and B epidemics; compared the age distribution of B/Victoria and B/Yamagata cases; and evaluated the frequency of lineage-level mismatch for the trivalent vaccine. The median proportion of influenza cases caused by influenza B virus was 23.4%, with a tendency (borderline statistical significance, p = 0.060) to be higher in tropical vs. temperate countries. Influenza B was the dominant virus type in about one every seven seasons. In temperate countries, influenza B epidemics occurred on average three weeks later than influenza A epidemics; no consistent pattern emerged in the tropics. The two B lineages caused a comparable proportion of influenza B cases globally, however the B/Yamagata was more frequent in temperate countries, and the B/Victoria in the tropics (p = 0.048). B/Yamagata patients were significantly older than B/Victoria patients in almost all countries. A lineage-level vaccine mismatch was observed in over 40% of seasons in temperate countries and in 30% of seasons in the tropics. The type B virus caused a substantial proportion of influenza infections globally in the 21st century, and its two virus lineages differed in terms of age and geographical distribution of patients. These findings will help inform health policy decisions aiming to reduce disease burden associated with seasonal influenza.
Demand for donor hearts has increased globally due to cardiovascular diseases. Recently, three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting technology has been aimed at creating clinically viable cardiac constructs ...for the management of myocardial infarction (MI) and associated complications. Advances in 3D bioprinting show promise in aiding cardiac tissue repair following injury/infarction and offer an alternative to organ transplantation. This article summarizes the basic principles of 3D bioprinting and recent attempts at reconstructing functional adult native cardiac tissue with a focus on current challenges and prospective strategies.
To profile multi-year injury incidence and severity trends in elite junior tennis players from a national program.
Prospective cohort.
Injury data was collated by sex, age and region for all ...nationally-supported Australian junior players (58m, 43f 13–18y) between 2012–2016. Injury was defined as a physical complaint from training/matchplay interrupting training/matchplay determined by presiding physiotherapists and doctors. Severity represented the days of interrupted training/matchplay per injury. Injury incidence was reported per 1000 exposure hours. Incidence rate change and rate ratios (RR) ±95% confidence intervals were used to assess changes over time.
No difference in male and female injury incidence existed (2.7±0.0 v 2.8±0.0) yet male injuries were more severe (3.6±0.6 v 1.1±0.9 days). The lumbar spine was the most commonly and severely injured region in both sexes (4.3±0.2, 9.9±1.4d). Shoulder injuries were the second most common in both sexes (3.1±0.2) and with the second highest severity in males (7.3±1.4d). Knee injuries were also common in males (2.3±0.2) yet potentially reduced over time (0.4±0.6 RR) as pelvis/buttock injuries increased (3.4±14.0 RR). Females had high trunk and abdominal injury incidences (2.5±0.3). Independent of sex, the injury incidence increased with age from 2.0±0.1 (13y) to 2.9±0.1 (18y).
Despite no sex-based difference in injury incidence, male injuries resulted in more interrupted days of training/matchplay. The lumbar spine and shoulder were the most commonly injured body regions in both sexes. The number of injuries sustained by players also increased as they aged.
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