The financialisation of global health

Global health is increasingly reliant on financial markets. The ongoing financialisation of global health raises new questions of governance, which we expect to affect policy makers as much as doctors, nurses and patients in the years to come. In this editorial, we will first explain what is meant by financialisation, then illustrate its nature in the field of global healthviathree examples, and end by highlighting some of the governance issues that the financialisation of global health raises.</p

Structure and dynamics of a model glass: influence of long-range forces

We vary the amplitude of the long-range Coulomb forces within a classical potential describing a model silica glass and study the consequences on the structure and dynamics of the glass, via molecular dynamics simulations. This model allows us to follow the variation of specific features such as the First Sharp Diffraction Peak and the Boson Peak in a system going continuously from a fragile (no Coulomb forces) to a strong (with Coulomb forces) glass. In particular we show that the characteristic features of a strong glass (existence of medium range order, bell-shaped ring size distribution, sharp Boson peak) appear as soon as tetrahedral units are formed.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. To be published in J.Phys.: C

An investigation of children's peer trust across culture: is the composition of peer trust universal?

The components of children's trust in same-gender peers (trust beliefs, ascribed trustworthiness, and dyadic reciprocal trust) were examined in samples of 8- to 11-year-olds from the UK, Italy, and Japan. Trust was assessed by children's ratings of the extent to which same-gender classmates kept promises and kept secrets. Social relations analyses confirmed that children from each country showed significant: (a) actor variance demonstrating reliable individual differences in trust beliefs, (b) partner variance demonstrating reliable individual differences in ascribed trustworthiness, and (c ) relationship variance demonstrating unique relationships between interaction partners. Cultural differences in trust beliefs and ascribed trustworthiness also emerged and these differences were attributed to the tendency for children from cultures that value societal goals to share personal information with the peer group

Offset truss hex solar concentrator

A solar energy concentrator system comprises an offset reflector structure made up of a plurality of solar energy reflector panel sections interconnected with one another to form a piecewise approximation of a portion of a (parabolic) surface of revolution rotated about a prescribed focal axis. Each panel section is comprised of a plurality of reflector facets whose reflective surfaces effectively focus reflected light to preselected surface portions of the interior sidewall of a cylindrically shaped solar energy receiver. The longitudinal axis of the receiver is tilted at an acute angle with respect to the optical axis such that the distribution of focussed solar energy over the interior surface of the solar engine is optimized for dynamic solar energy conversion. Each reflector panel section comprises a flat, hexagonally shaped truss support framework and a plurality of beam members interconnecting diametrically opposed corners of the hexagonal framework recessed within which a plurality of (spherically) contoured reflector facets is disposed. The depth of the framework and the beam members is greater than the thickness of a reflector facet such that a reflector facet may be tilted (for controlling the effective focus of its reflected light through the receiver aperture) without protruding from the panel section

The Resolved Asteroid Program - Size, shape, and pole of (52) Europa

With the adaptive optics (AO) system on the 10 m Keck-II telescope, we acquired a high quality set of 84 images at 14 epochs of asteroid (52) Europa on 2005 January 20. The epochs covered its rotation period and, by following its changing shape and orientation on the plane of sky, we obtained its triaxial ellipsoid dimensions and spin pole location. An independent determination from images at three epochs obtained in 2007 is in good agreement with these results. By combining these two data sets, along with a single epoch data set obtained in 2003, we have derived a global fit for (52) Europa of diameters (379x330x249) +/- (16x8x10) km, yielding a volume-equivalent spherical-diameter of 315 +/- 7 km, and a rotational pole within 7 deg of [RA; Dec] = [257,+12] in an Equatorial J2000 reference frame (ECJ2000: 255,+35). Using the average of all mass determinations available forEuropa, we derive a density of 1.5 +/- 0.4, typical of C-type asteroids. Comparing our images with the shape model of Michalowski et al. (A&A 416, 2004), derived from optical lightcurves, illustrates excellent agreement, although several edge features visible in the images are not rendered by the model. We therefore derived a complete 3-D description of Europa's shape using the KOALA algorithm by combining our imaging epochs with 4 stellar occultations and 49 lightcurves. We use this 3-D shape model to assess these departures from ellipsoidal shape. Flat facets (possible giant craters) appear to be less distinct on (52) Europa than on other C-types that have been imaged in detail. We show that fewer giant craters, or smaller craters, is consistent with its expected impact history. Overall, asteroid (52) Europa is still well modeled as a smooth triaxial ellipsoid with dimensions constrained by observations obtained over several apparitions.Comment: Accepted for publication in Icaru

Parental bonding and identity style as correlates of self-esteem among adult adoptees and nonadoptees

Adult adoptees (n equals 100) and non-adoptees (n equals 100) were compared with regard to selfesteem, identity processing style, and parental bonding. While some differences were found with regard to self-esteem, maternal care, and maternal overprotection, these differences were qualified by reunion status such that only reunited adoptees differed significantly from nonadoptees. Moreover, hierarchical regression analyses indicated that parental bonding and identity processing style were more important than adoptive status per se in predicting self esteem. Implications for practitioners who work with adoptees are discussed

Reconciling social norms with personal interests: indigenous styles of identity formation among Pakistani youth

Research on identity formation has been conducted mostly in Western contexts. We extend and complement such research by exploring qualitatively the strategies and styles of identity formation employed by emerging adults in Pakistan. Whereas Western theories of identity formation often provide a negative view of normative orientation as “blind obedience” without exploring alternatives, our thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with 12 Pakistani emerging adults suggests a much more complex interplay between personal interests and normative influences on identity formation. Participants described various ways of reconciling normative expectations (parental, religious, and cultural) with their personal interests, preferences, and explorations, when deciding about their careers, relationships, and values. In Pakistani culture, normative influences seem to play a more positive and flexible role in identity formation than is suggested by previous Western research

Cooperativity in sandpiles: statistics of bridge geometries

Bridges form dynamically in granular media as a result of spatiotemporal inhomogeneities. We classify bridges as linear and complex, and analyse their geometrical characteristics. In particular, we find that the length distribution of linear bridges is exponential. We then turn to the analysis of the orientational distribution of linear bridges and find that, in three dimensions, they are {\it vertically diffusive but horizontally superdiffusive}; thus, when they exist, long linear bridges form `domes'. Our results are in good accord with Monte Carlo simulations of bridge structure; we make predictions for quantities that are experimentally accessible, and suggest that bridges are very closely related to force chains.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures. Minor changes and update

Trauma as counter-revolutionary colonisation: narratives from (post)revolutionary Egypt

We argue that multiple levels of trauma were present in Egypt before, during and after the 2011 revolution. Individual, social and political trauma constitute a triangle of traumatisation which was strategically employed by the Egyptian counter-revolutionary forces – primarily the army and the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood – to maintain their political and economic power over and above the social, economic and political interests of others. Through the destruction of physical bodies, the fragmentation and polarisation of social relations and the violent closure of the newly emerged political public sphere, these actors actively repressed the potential for creative and revolutionary transformation. To better understand this multi-layered notion of trauma, we turn to Habermas’ ‘colonisation of the lifeworld’ thesis which offers a critical lens through which to examine the wider political and economic structures and context in which trauma occurred as well as its effects on the personal, social and political realms. In doing so, we develop a novel conception of trauma that acknowledges individual, social and political dimensions. We apply this conceptual framing to empirical narratives of trauma in Egypt’s pre- and post-revolutionary phases, thus both developing a non-Western application of Habermas’ framework and revealing ethnographic accounts of the revolution by activists in Cairo

Employment relations and social stratification in contemporary urban China: does Goldthorpe’s class theory still work?

Goldthorpe’s class theory suggests that social class arises from employment relations in industrialised societies. This article assesses whether class in urban China can be approached from the same perspective by addressing three issues: 1) whether employment relations can capture China’s class structure, 2) how differently class is shaped by occupational structure in China, and 3) how useful class is to help us understand income inequality. Based on a recent Chinese social survey, the analysis finds three clusters of Chinese employees that fit into the ‘service’, ‘intermediate’ and ‘labour contract’ class typologies suggested by Goldthorpe’s class theory. Also, there is evidence that class links to occupational structures in a similar way between Chinese and Western societies. Finally class, when directly measured from employment relations, displays a reasonable degree of explanatory power for inter-class income inequality whereas the Goldthorpe class classification fails to differentiate between intermediate and labour class positions