Empire and nation revisited: 50 years after Bandung

Abstract

I wish to propose a general definition of empire that does not tie it with annexation and occupation of foreign territories and, therefore, is able to capture the new forms of indirect and informal control that have become common in recent decades. The imperial prerogative, I suggest, is the power to declare the colonial exception. Everyone agrees that nuclear proliferation is dangerous and should be stopped. But who decides that India may be allowed to have nuclear weapons, and also Israel, and may be even Pakistan, but not North Korea or Iran? We all know that there are many sources of international terrorism, but who decides that it is not Saudi Arabia or Pakistan but the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq that must be overthrown by force? Those who claim to decide on the exception are indeed arrogating to themselves the imperial prerogative.     

Snow leopard

Snow leopard, an elusive mammal species of the cat family, is the top-predator of the Central and South Asian, high-altitude ecosystem. Snow leopards occur at low densities across the Central Asian mountains and the Indian Himalayan region. Owing to their secretive nature and inaccessible habitat, little is known about its ecology and distribution. Due to its endangered status and high aesthetic value, the snow leopard is considered as an ‘umbrella species’ for wildlife conservation in the Indian Himalayas. This article summarizes the current knowledge on snow leopard ecology and conservation issues in the Indian context.     

Unpacking the effects of adverse regulatory events: Evidence from pharmaceutical relabeling

We provide causal evidence that regulation induced product shocks significantly impact aggregate demand and firm performance in pharmaceutical markets. Event study results suggest an average loss between $569 million and $882 million. Affected products lose, on average, $186 million over their remaining effective patent life. This leaves a loss of between $383 million and $696 million attributable to declines in future innovation. Our findings complement research that shows drugs receiving expedited review are more likely to suffer from regulation induced product shocks. Thus, it appears we may be trading off quicker access to drugs today for less innovation tomorrow. Results remain robust to variation across types of relabeling, market sizes, and levels of competition.     

E-Government readiness index: A methodology and analysis

E-Government has received significant attention as digital technologies transcend private businesses and serve as a basic source of transformation in government functions. One most notable project is the United Nations Public Administration Network (UNPAN) that assesses the e-Government readiness of the 192 member nations according to a quantitative composite index involving website assessment, telecommunication infrastructure, and human resource endowment. However, the UNPAN index, though rich in depth and breadth of data collection, relies on a method that is a simple mathematical average of the values of the variables measured. This paper revisits the UNPAN index and proposes alternative indices based on principal components analysis (PCA). Using the UNPAN survey data, four different versions of the index are presented and the resulting rankings of the nations are examined vis-à-vis the existing ranking. The theoretical and policy implications of the proposed methodology and its results are discussed.     

An inexpensive microfluidic device for three-dimensional hydrodynamic focusing in imaging flow cytometry

We present design, characterization, and testing of an inexpensive, sheath-flow based microfluidic device for three-dimensional (3D) hydrodynamic focusing of cells in imaging flow cytometry. In contrast to other 3D sheathing devices, our device hydrodynamically focuses the cells in a single-file near the bottom wall of the microchannel that allows imaging cells with high magnification and low working distance objectives, without the need for small device dimensions. The relatively large dimensions of the microchannels enable easy fabrication using less-precise fabrication techniques, and the simplicity of the device design avoids the need for tedious alignment of various layers. We have characterized the performance of the device with 3D numerical simulations and validated these simulations with experiments of hydrodynamic focusing of a fluorescently dyed sample fluid. The simulations show that the width and the height of the 3D focused sample stream can be controlled independently by varying the heights of main and side channels of the device, and the flow rates of sample and sheath fluids. Based on simulations, we also provide useful guidelines for choosing the device dimensions and flow rates for focusing cells of a particular size. Thereafter, we demonstrate the applicability of our device for imaging a large number of RBCs using brightfield microscopy. We also discuss the choice of the region of interest and camera frame rate so as to image each cell individually in our device. The design of our microfluidic device makes it equally applicable for imaging cells of different sizes using various other imaging techniques such as phase-contrast and fluorescence microscopy.     

Muslim Women’s Use of Internet Media in the Process of Acculturation in the United States

This study examines how Muslim women use Internet-based media in the process of acculturation in the United States. Grounded theory methodology (Glaser, 1992) and Sam and Berry’s (2006) model of acculturation were used as theoretical and analytical frameworks. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 Muslim women to learn about their media use and experiences in forming and maintaining relationships in the United States. Educational opportunities were an emerging theme in the determining factors of immigrating to the United States. The data indicated that Muslim women use a variety of Internet-based media such as Facebook, Skype, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Viber for communicating with family and friends locally and abroad. A majority of the participants reported that social media allowed them to express a part of their identities. The data suggests that the participants attained the level of acculturation defined as integration. The participants use these media to build and create relationships in their new communities. The combined relationships the participants maintain both locally and abroad seem to play a role in the creation of balance in their lives, which allows them to thrive in their new communities, at school, and at work.     

Apparent Decline As A Sign Of Improvement? or,Can Less Be More?

Improvement of a system need not be the usual growth expected of dynamic systems. Decreasing variability, an important index of improvement, is discussed. The disappearance of 0.400 hitters from professional baseball can be better understood under such an assumption. Other examples illustrating the apparent paradox are also mentioned.     

Extremely High Ferritinemia Associated with Haemophagocytic Lympho Histiocytosis (HLH)

Hyperferritinemia (>10,000 ng/ml) is an important hallmark used as an indicator of infection triggered macrophage activation syndrome leading to hemophagocytic lympho histiocytosis (HLH). Measurement of serum ferritin can be used in diagnosis as well as disease monitoring indicator and prognosis related to HLH, cAPS, sepsis, neoplasm and inflammatory conditions. It is a major contributor to manage critically ill patients as predicting and monitoring indicator. It can be used as acute phase response in conditions of MAS, AOSD, cAPS etc. A case study in our hospital showed extremely high ferritin values along with low hemoglobin, elevated LDH and triglycerides with positive MRSA in sputum culture and macrophage proliferation and hemophagocytosis in the bone marrow examination. Patient showed definite inverse relation with steroid therapy and serum ferritin levels.     

Florida public hurricane loss model: Research in multi-disciplinary system integration assisting government policy making

Homeowner insurance rate making is an important public policy issue in the State of Florida. The State of Florida has over 2 trillion dollars of residential properties exposed to hurricane risk. The State has declared that it shall adopt public policy to encourage the use of sophisticated actuarial methods to assure that consumers are charged lawful insurance rates (Section 627.0628(1)(a)). To that effect, the State's insurance regulatory agency, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR), sponsored the development of a Florida Public Hurricane Loss Model (FPHLM) to assess the risk and project insured residential losses. The FPHLM is an open and public model that has been developed primarily by university experts without influence from either the insurance industry or the state regulators. It is open to public scrutiny and provides an understandable baseline to check the assumptions as well as the outputs of the proprietary models. The FPHLM thus makes the rate evaluation process more objective and less political. It enables the state to justify rejecting or accepting rate increases based on an independent and transparent model, rather than a process that can be influenced politically. As a multi-disciplinary large scale research project with an iterative and incremental development cycle, the FPHLM system development and integration faced numerous challenges varying from technical factors to project management aspects. This paper will discuss the research experiences accumulated during the development of the FPHLM and the impact it has had on the homeowner insurance rate filing process in the State of Florida.     

Neurochemical and Behavioral Dysfunctions in Pesticide Exposed Farm Workers: A Clinical Outcome

The problem of pesticides is not new and its exposure to human due to indiscriminate use is largely associated with the health related problems including neurotoxicological alterations. High levels of pesticide residues and their metabolites in the dietary constituents, food materials, maternal blood, cord blood, placenta breast milk have been reported and linked to alterations in birth weight, crown heel length, head circumference, mid-arm circumference and ponderal index of the neonates. Epidemiological studies have suggested that exposure of pesticide to human could be a significant risk factor for neurological disorders, including Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis. Cholinergic and non-cholinergic dysfunctions in pesticide exposed population, especially in children have also been frequently reported in recent years. Developmental neurotoxicity is another concern in the area where pregnant are more prone towards its exposure and which results in the abnormalities in the fetus. In view of the increasing risk of human health through pesticide exposure, the present review has been focused on the studies pertaining to pesticide induced neurochemical alterations and associated behavioral abnormalities in farm workers which could establish a possible link between the its exposure and associated health hazards.