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Economic activity continues during war. But what rules apply when US troops occupy Syrian oil fields? Who is responsible when multinational companies use minerals extracted by child labourers in war zones? This book examines how international law regulates the war economies that are at the heart of strategic competition between great powers and help sustain the irregular warfare in today's war zones. Drawing on advances in our understanding of the social and economic dynamics in war zones, this book identifies predation, a combination of violence and economic opportunity, as the core pathology of war economies. The author presents a framework for understanding the regulation of war economies based on the history of international law and existing norms of international humanitarian law, international criminal law, international human rights law and the law of international peace and security. War Economies and International Law concludes that the pathologies of predation in war demand answers based on an international regulatory strategy.
We study the evolution of unidirectional water waves from a randomly forced input condition with uncorrelated Fourier components. We examine the kurtosis of the linearised free surface as a convenient proxy for the probability of a rogue wave. We repeat the laboratory experiments of Onorato et al. (Phys. Rev. E, vol. 70, 2004, 067302), both experimentally and numerically, and extend the parameter space in our numerical simulations. We consider numerical simulations based on the modified nonlinear Schrödinger equation and the fully nonlinear water wave equations, which are in good agreement. For low steepness, existing analytical models based on the nonlinear Schrödinger equation (NLS) are found to be accurate. For cases which are steep or have very narrow bandwidths, these analytical models over-predict the rate at which excess kurtosis develops. In these steep cases, the kurtosis in both our experiments and numerical simulations peaks before returning to an equilibrium level. Such transient maxima are not predicted by NLS-based analytical models. Above a certain threshold of steepness, the steady-state value of kurtosis is primarily dependent on the spectral bandwidth. We also examine how the average shape of extreme events is modified by nonlinearity over the evolution distance, showing significant asymmetry during the initial evolution, which is greatly reduced once the spectrum has reached equilibrium. The locations of the maxima in asymmetry coincide approximately with the locations of the maxima in kurtosis.
We have investigated steep three-dimensional surface gravity wave groups formed by dispersive focusing using a fully nonlinear potential flow solver. We find that third-order resonant interactions result in rapid energy transfers to higher wavenumbers and reduced directional spreading during focusing, followed by spectral broadening during defocusing, forming steep wave groups with augmented kinematics and a prolonged lifespan. If the wave group is initially narrow-banded, quasi-degenerate interactions arise, characterised by energy transfers along the resonance angle, ${\pm }35.26^{\circ }$, of the Phillips ‘figure-of-eight’ loop. Spectral broadening due to the quasi-degenerate interactions facilitates non-degenerate interactions, characterised by oblique energy transfers at approximately ${\pm }55^{\circ }$ to the spectral peak. We consider the influence of steepness, finite depth, directional spreading and the high-wavenumber tail on spectral evolution. Steepness is found to augment both the quasi-degenerate and non-degenerate interactions similarly. However, a reduction in depth is found to weaken the quasi-degenerate interactions more severely than the non-degenerate interactions. We observe that increased directional spreading reduces spectral evolution, partially because wave groups with more spreading focus for a shorter duration due to linear dispersion. However, we also find that directional spreading reduces the peak rates of energy transfer. Inclusion of the high-wavenumber tail of the Joint North Sea Wave Project spectrum further reduces rates of energy transfer compared with a Gaussian wavenumber spectrum. Thus, directional spreading and the high-wavenumber tail may be integral to a form of spectral equilibrium that reduces rapid energy transfers during a steep wave event.
A Canadian outbreak investigation into a cluster of Escherichia coli O121 was initiated in late 2016. When initial interviews using a closed-ended hypothesis-generating questionnaire did not point to a common source, cases were centrally re-interviewed using an open-ended approach. The open-ended interviews led cases to describe exposures with greater specificity, as well as food preparation activities. Data collected supported hypothesis generation, particularly with respect to flour exposures. In March 2017, an open sample of Brand X flour from a case home, and a closed sample collected at retail of the same brand and production date, tested positive for the outbreak strain of E. coli O121. In total, 76% (16/21) of cases reported that they used or probably used Brand X flour or that it was used or probably was used in the home during their exposure period. Crucial hypothesis-generating techniques used during the course of the investigation included a centralised open-ended interviewing approach and product sampling from case homes. This was the first outbreak investigation in Canada to identify flour as the source of infection.
Compulsory admission procedures of patients with mental disorders vary between countries in Europe. The Ethics Committee of the European Psychiatric Association (EPA) launched a survey on involuntary admission procedures of patients with mental disorders in 40 countries to gather information from all National Psychiatric Associations that are members of the EPA to develop recommendations for improving involuntary admission processes and promote voluntary care.
Methods.
The survey focused on legislation of involuntary admissions and key actors involved in the admission procedure as well as most common reasons for involuntary admissions.
Results.
We analyzed the survey categorical data in themes, which highlight that both medical and legal actors are involved in involuntary admission procedures.
Conclusions.
We conclude that legal reasons for compulsory admission should be reworded in order to remove stigmatization of the patient, that raising awareness about involuntary admission procedures and patient rights with both patients and family advocacy groups is paramount, that communication about procedures should be widely available in lay-language for the general population, and that training sessions and guidance should be available for legal and medical practitioners. Finally, people working in the field need to be constantly aware about the ethical challenges surrounding compulsory admissions.
This article examines provincial policy influence on long-term care (LTC) professionals’ advice-seeking networks in Canada’s Maritime provinces. The effects of facility ownership, geography, and region-specific political landscapes on LTC best-practice dissemination are examined. We used sociometric statistics and network sociograms, calculated from surveys with 169 senior leaders in LTC facilities, to identify advice-seeking network structures and to select 11 follow-up interview participants. Network structures were distinguished by density, sub-group number, opinion leader, and boundary spanner distribution. Network structure was affected by ownership model in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, and by regional geography in New Brunswick. Political instability within each province’s LTC system negatively affected network actors’ capabilities to enact innovation. Moreover, provincial policy variations influence advice-seeking network structures, facilitating and constraining relationship development and networking. Consequently, local policy context is essential to informing dissemination strategy design or implementation.
OBJECTIVES/GOALS: To examine the relationship between epigenetic age acceleration (EAA) and depressive symptoms in a cohort of African American women (AAW) with cardiometabolic conditions (CMC) including hypertension, diabetes, obesity; and to explore clinical phenotypes of depressive symptoms in this population. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: This secondary analysis utilized genomic and longitudinal clinical data from AAW in the InterGEN cohort (n = 250). EWAS data was used to estimate EAA based on the Horvath method, which incorporates the DNA methylation statuses at 353 specific CpG sites and regresses this epigenetic age on chronological age to determine EAA. Pearson’s correlations and linear regression will be used to examine the relationship between EAA and depressive symptoms and a linear mixed model will investigate this relationship over four time points during a two-year period. Clinical phenotyping of depressive symptoms will be explored using a cluster analysis. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Analysis is underway and will be complete by the time of presentation. We hypothesize that higher EAA will associate with higher depressive symptoms and poorer trajectories over time. We expect that this relationship may be meditated by the presence of CMCs. Exploratory analysis of clinical phenotyping is expected to provide descriptive evidence with respect to specific depressive symptoms or clusters which are most associated with EAA and CMCs. These results will address several gaps. To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine the relationship of EAA and depressive symptoms considering the role of CMC, in a historically understudied population with disproportionate risk. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: Depression limits life quality and quantity and is highly comorbid in CMC. AAW have high risk of comorbidity, and this study furthers knowledge of depression and aging with a clinically accessible marker and aids recognition of a heterogenous phenotype in an undertreated population.
Children treated for brain tumors often experience social and emotional difficulties, including challenges with emotion regulation; our goal was to investigate the attention-related component processes of emotion regulation, using a novel eye-tracking measure, and to evaluate its relations with emotional functioning and white matter (WM) organization.
Method:
Fifty-four children participated in this study; 36 children treated for posterior fossa tumors, and 18 typically developing children. Participants completed two versions of an emotion regulation eye-tracking task, designed to differentiate between implicit (i.e., automatic) and explicit (i.e., voluntary) subprocesses. The Emotional Control scale from the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function was used to evaluate emotional control in daily life, and WM organization was assessed with diffusion tensor imaging.
Results:
We found that emotional faces captured attention across all groups (F(1,51) = 32.18, p < .001, η2p = .39). However, unlike typically developing children, patients were unable to override the attentional capture of emotional faces when instructed to (emotional face-by-group interaction: F(2,51) = 5.58, p = .006, η2p = .18). Across all children, our eye-tracking measure of emotion regulation was modestly associated with the parent-report emotional control score (r = .29, p = .045), and in patients it was associated with WM microstructure in the body and splenium of the corpus callosum (all t > 3.03, all p < .05).
Conclusions:
Our findings suggest that an attention-related component process of emotion regulation is disrupted in children treated for brain tumors, and that it may relate to their emotional difficulties and WM organization. This work provides a foundation for future theoretical and mechanistic investigations of emotional difficulties in brain tumor survivors.
Atypical and melancholic subtypes of depression based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) IV are important concepts, especially for biological psychiatry. The aim of this study was to determine whether the symptoms used for the diagnoses of atypical and melancholic depression can distinguish these subtypes during pregnancy.
Method
A modified version of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM IV (SCID interview) was used that allowed assessment of all DSM IV symptoms of melancholic and atypical depression with depressed and non depressed women in pregnancy. A Swiss cohort of 449 women was interviewed. Four diagnostic groups were compared: women with melancholic, atypical, or non specified depression, and those without depression.
Results
Seventeen per cent of the cohort met SCID criteria for a depressive episode of depression at least once in pregnancy, with melancholic depression 2.4%, atypical depression 4.4%, and non specified depression 10.2%. Many of the symptoms used to distinguish atypical and melancholic depression did not discriminate between these groups during pregnancy. However some, such as mood reactivity, distinct quality of mood and sleep pattern, did discriminate.
Conclusions
Differential diagnosis between melancholic and atypical depression in pregnancy needs to be based on pregnancy specific definitions. The possible therapeutic consequences and the neurobiological basis for these findings warrant further research.
To determine whether chronic medical conditions mediate the association between depression and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality.
Methods
Data analyzed were from 6,394 subjects aged 25–74 years who participated in extensive health examinations in the NHEFS conducted between 1971 and 1975 and follow-up studies to 1992. CVD mortality was the endpoint. Depression predictors were clinically significant depressive symptoms at baseline by the GWB-D, and/or at 1982–84 by the CES-D (‘baseline’, ‘new’, or ‘twice’ depression). Chronic conditions were prevalent/incident high blood pressure, diabetes, and nonfatal CVD by examination and/or self-report. Mediation effects were assessed by stepwise adjustments of covariates and additive interactions in competing-risks regression models (accounting for other mortality causes) and logit models.
Results
Baseline, new, and twice depression were significant predictors of CVD mortality in competing-risks models adjusted for demographics (HRs 1.3, 1.4, and 2.0), but effects were progressively weakened and became non-significant after adjustment for lifestyle factors, prevalent and incident medical conditions, respectively. CVD mortality risk was 80% higher for depression plus incident nonfatal CVD than without (HR 4.0 vs. 3.2, additive interaction), and mediation effects of depression via chronic medical conditions (particularly via incident nonfatal CVD) increased the risk by 2 to 11% in logit models, independent of all covariates.
Conclusions
Several levels of evidence suggest that the association between depression and CVD mortality is partially mediated by prevalent/incident chronic medical conditions, as well as unhealthy lifestyle behaviors. Patients presenting with clinically significant depressive symptoms, particularly if persistent, should be assessed for both chronic conditions and lifestyle risk factors.
Why patients with psychosis use cannabis remains debated. The self-medication hypothesis has received some support but other evidence points towards an alleviation of dysphoria model. This study investigated the reasons for cannabis use in first-episode psychosis (FEP) and whether strength in their endorsement changed over time.
Methods:
FEP inpatients and outpatients at the South London and Maudsley, Oxleas and Sussex NHS Trusts UK, who used cannabis, rated their motives at baseline (n = 69), 3 months (n = 29) and 12 months (n = 36). A random intercept model was used to test the change in strength of endorsement over the 12 months. Paired-sample t-tests assessed the differences in mean scores between the five subscales on the Reasons for Use Scale (enhancement, social motive, coping with unpleasant affect, conformity and acceptance and relief of positive symptoms and side effects), at each time-point.
Results:
Time had a significant effect on scores when controlling for reason; average scores on each subscale were higher at baseline than at 3 months and 12 months. At each time-point, patients endorsed ‘enhancement’ followed by ‘coping with unpleasant affect’ and ‘social motive’ more highly for their cannabis use than any other reason. ‘Conformity and acceptance’ followed closely. ‘Relief of positive symptoms and side effects’ was the least endorsed motive.
Conclusions:
Patients endorsed their reasons for use at 3 months and 12 months less strongly than at baseline. Little support for the self-medication or alleviation of dysphoria models was found. Rather, patients rated ‘enhancement’ most highly for their cannabis use.
A physical oceanographic, geophysical and marine geological survey of Edward VIII Gulf, Kemp Coast, collected data from conductivity–temperature–depth casts, multi-beam bathymetric swath mapping and 3.5 kHz sub-bottom surveying. Modified circumpolar deep water (mCDW) is observed in Edward VIII Gulf, as well as notable bathymetric features including mega-scale glacial lineations and a 1750 m-deep trough. Sedimentological, geochemical, rock-magnetic and micropalaeontological analysis of two kasten cores document regional palaeoclimate and palaeo-oceanographic conditions over the past 8000 years, with a warm period occurring from c. 8 to 4 ka and a shift to cooler conditions beginning at c. 4 ka and persisting until at least 0.9 ka. Sediment packages > 40 m thick within deep troughs in Edward VIII Gulf present potential targets for higher-resolution Holocene and deglacial climate studies. Despite the presence of mCDW on the shelf, inland bed topography consisting of highland terrain suggests the likelihood of relative stability of this sector of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet.
The mechanism through which developmental programming of offspring overweight/obesity following in utero exposure to maternal overweight/obesity operates is unknown but may operate through biologic pathways involving offspring anthropometry at birth. Thus, we sought to examine to what extent the association between in utero exposure to maternal overweight/obesity and childhood overweight/obesity is mediated by birth anthropometry. Analyses were conducted on a retrospective cohort with data obtained from one hospital system. A natural effects model framework was used to estimate the natural direct effect and natural indirect effect of birth anthropometry (weight, length, head circumference, ponderal index, and small-for-gestational age [SGA] or large-for-gestational age [LGA]) for the association between pre-pregnancy maternal body mass index (BMI) category (overweight/obese vs normal weight) and offspring overweight/obesity in childhood. Models were adjusted for maternal and child socio-demographics. Three thousand nine hundred and fifty mother–child dyads were included in analyses (1467 [57.8%] of mothers and 913 [34.4%] of children were overweight/obese). Results suggest that a small percentage of the effect of maternal pre-pregnancy BMI overweight/obesity on offspring overweight/obesity operated through offspring anthropometry at birth (weight: 15.5%, length: 5.2%, head circumference: 8.5%, ponderal index: 2.2%, SGA: 2.9%, and LGA: 4.2%). There was a small increase in the percentage mediated when gestational diabetes or hypertensive disorders were added to the models. Our study suggests that some measures of birth anthropometry mediate the association between maternal pre-pregnancy overweight/obesity and offspring overweight/obesity in childhood and that the size of this mediated effect is small.
Twelve evidence-based profiles of roles across the translational workforce and two patients were made available through clinical and translational science (CTS) Personas, a project of the Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) Program National Center for Data to Health (CD2H). The persona profiles were designed and researched to demonstrate the key responsibilities, motivators, goals, software use, pain points, and professional development needs of those working across the spectrum of translation, from basic science to clinical research to public health. The project’s goal was to provide reliable documents that could be used to inform CTSA software development projects, educational resources, and communication initiatives. This paper presents the initiative to create personas for the translational workforce, including the methodology, engagement strategy, and lessons learned. Challenges faced and successes achieved by the project may serve as a roadmap for others searching for best practices in the creation of Persona profiles.
The RemoveDEBRIS mission has been the first mission to successfully demonstrate, in-orbit, a series of technologies that can be used for the active removal of space debris. The mission started late in 2014 and was sponsored by a grant from the EC that saw a consortium led by the Surrey Space Centre to develop the mission, from concept to in-orbit demonstrations, that terminated in March 2019. Technologies for the capture of large space debris, like a net and a harpoon, have been successfully tested together with hardware and software to retrieve data on non-cooperative target debris kinematics from observations carried out with on board cameras. The final demonstration consisted of the deployment of a drag-sail to increase the drag of the satellite to accelerate its demise.
The spatial and temporal structure of the resonant fluid response in a narrow gap (the so-called gap resonance) between two identical fixed boxes is investigated experimentally. Transient wave groups are used to excite the gap resonance from different wave approach directions. This shows a strong beating pattern and a very long duration, reflecting that gap resonance is a multi-mode resonant and weakly damped phenomenon. For head sea excitation the linear transfer function of the
$m=2$
gap mode is as significant as that of the
$m=1$
mode. Gap resonance can be driven through different mechanisms, e.g. linear excitation and a nonlinear frequency-doubling process. Significant wave group structure is shown in the gap, and the group structure is more distinct in the case with frequency doubling, i.e. long wave, excitation. Then it is clearer visually that the groups originate at the end of the gap, propagate along the gap and are then partially reflected from the other end. The groups within the gap are very clear because the group velocity is close to constant for the first few gap resonance modes, and much smaller than that for free waves on the open sea. In contrast, the phase speed of waves in the gap is larger than that for free waves outside. Only in the limit of short waves do the group velocity and phase speed of the gap modes tend to those of deep-water free waves. The group and phase speeds from these experiments match well the theoretical forms given by Molin et al. (Appl. Ocean Res., vol. 24 (5), 2002, pp. 247–260), albeit for a slightly different box cross-sectional shape.