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This article explores in detail the conditions underpinning why Sub‐Saharan Africa has avoided the Arab Spring phenomenon—despite the existence of extremely fertile grounds for political revolutions. Using a historical comparative method, the study draws chiefly from three Arab Spring countries (Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya), and identifies the key factors that aided the domino‐effect of political revolutions in the Middle East and North African (MENA) region. It then contrasts these with the domino‐inhibiting factors drawn from an examination of four Sub‐Saharan African countries: Chad, Sudan, Cameroon, and Angola. The central argument emphasizes contextual regional uniqueness. While a set of factors unique to the MENA region aided a revolution domino effect, a combination of structural, domestic, and external factors equally unique to Sub‐Saharan Africa have enabled the latter to evade the domino effect of the Arab Spring.Related Articles

Sarquís, David J. 2012. "." Politics & Policy 40 (): 871‐903. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1747-1346.2012.00381.x/abstract


Khodr, Hiba, and
Isabella Ruble. 2013. "." Politics & Policy 41 (): 656‐689. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/polp.12033/abstract


Hiroi, Taeko, and
Sawa Omori. 2013. "." Politics & Policy 41 (): 39‐64. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/polp.12001/abstract
Related Media

Watson, Ivan, and
Jomana Karadsheh. 2011. "The Tunisian Fruitseller who Kickstarted Arab Uprising." CNN.com. http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/03/22/tunisia.bouazizi.arab.unrest/


Al Jazeera. 2011. "The Arab Awakening ‐ Death of Fear." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8_4OzV8DLw

. 2011. "How FaceBook Changed The World: The Arab Spring." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnPR90dJ3Gk

Although women in the United States make up about half of the workforce, only 14.6% of executive officer positions in the Fortune 500 and 16.9% of Fortune 500 board of director seats in 2013 were held by women, numbers that have remained flat for the past decade. Decades after the so-called "feminist revolution," women are still struggling to be seen as leaders within organizations even though many have put in place hiring and recruitment policies to help eliminate this problem. Our study examines this disparity by observing how leadership emerges and is negotiated in discourse among male and female participants in decision-making groups in a masculine organizational culture. First, it identifies whether female participants randomly assigned to mixed-gender groups emerge as leaders. Second, it analyzes the discourse of those competing for leadership positions in mixed groups to identify the effects of leadership style on leader attribution by others. Of the 22 mixed-gender groups ( N = 110) that took part in our study, no woman emerged as the unanimously chosen leader, even though women were identified as leaders by transcript coders. This article uses a case study approach to analyze leadership emergence in two mixed groups in which women were recognized by some members as demonstrating leadership. It then looks at a third case that demonstrates how some discourse behaviors that have been recognized as leadership may not be viewed as such in a masculine organizational culture. Study results illustrate how organizational culture can define accepted ways of "doing" leadership and affect who is and who is not recognized as a leader, particularly in terms of gender.

Purpose
– This study aims to analyse the patterns of growth and income disparities and to have a future insight about its behaviour across 22 Indian states for the period from 1980-1981 to 2010-2011.


Design/methodology/approach
– This paper uses a three-stage methodological procedures to arrive at the results. First, the distributional aspect of per capita income has been analyzed by using Kuznets's Inverted-U Hypothesis. Second, to analyse the relative performance across India states, the Shift Analysis Technique has been utilized. Finally, analyzing the future aspect of the growth and disparities among the low-, middle- and high-income states a catch process has been performed.


Findings
– The empirical results rejects the Kuznets's hypothesis for both aggregate and sectoral incomes across Indian states. The relative performance of Indian states shows signs of decreasing the income disparities over the time with a positive shift. Finally, the catch-up process among the low-, middle- and high-income states suggests different time bands for each group to narrow down or eliminate the income disparities in future.


Originality/value
– This study contributes to the literature in three ways. First, examining the sectoral growth and disparities across Indian states by testing the Kuznets's Inverted-U Hypothesis to highlight the specification issue; second, to measure the relative performance of Indian states over the time that can help us to find out the individual states that are purely responsible for income disparities in India. Finally, estimates of catch-up speed among Indian states provide a prediction about their behaviour to eradicate the disparities in future.

W czerwcu 2015r. Sejm przyjął nowelizację Kodeksu pracy, zgodnie z którą wprowadzone zostaje ograniczenie łącznego czasu trwania umów o pracę na czas określony zawieranych z jednym pracodawcą do 33 miesięcy, o ile nie istnieją obiektywne powody, aby tego typu kontrakt został zawarty na dłuższy okres. Zmiany, które wejdą w życie 22 lutego 2016 r., obejmują również m.in. zrównanie czasu trwania okresów wypowiedzeniamiędzy umowami terminowymi i na czas nieoznaczony – dotychczas w umowie o pracę na czas określony zawieranej na sześć miesięcy lub dłużej można było zawrzeć klauzulę o możliwości jej rozwiązania z dwutygodniowym wypowiedzeniem. Zmiana przepisów jest reakcją na rozpowszechnienie w Polsce praktyki zatrudniania na podstawie umów terminowych. Osiągnęło to skalę niespotykaną w innych krajach Unii Europejskiej. Nowe regulacje mogą spowodować, że po raz pierwszy od kilku lat udział zatrudnionych na czas określony wśród pracowników najemnych może ulec zmniejszeniu.Problem nadmiernego udziału elastycznych form zatrudnienia doczekał się w ostatnich latach w Polsce bogatej literatury. Stał się przedmiotem badań ekonomistów i socjologów oraz dyskusji specjalistów prawa pracy. Popularność elastycznych form zatrudnienia spotkała się również z aktywną krytyką ze strony związków zawodowych, co znalazło odbicie w mediach – dość wspomnieć o karierze terminu "umowy śmieciowe" począwszy od 2012r.Autor podejmuje próbę syntetycznego omówienia problemu elastycznych form zatrudnienia, obejmującego kwestie: przyczyn ich popularności wśród pracodawców, intensywności stosowania różnych form zatrudnienia na podstawie dostępnych danych, kształtu przepisów ochronnych krajowego prawa pracy i praw pokrewnych regulujących zawieranie różnego rodzaju umów na rynku pracy w świetle wymogów stawianych przez Unię Europejską i Międzynarodową Organizację Pracy, a także społecznych i ekonomicznych konsekwencji stosowania elastycznych form zatrudnienia.

<b><i>Background/Aims:</i></b> Considering the role of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in memory processes and its peripheral response during the detoxification of cocaine, the aim of this study was to investigate whether plasma BDNF levels could be related to memory performance in women with crack/cocaine dependence. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Twenty-five abstinent female crack/cocaine users (CCD) and 25 unmedicated healthy women (HW), carefully matched for age and years of formal education, were assessed regarding memory performance. Logical Memory was used to assess the immediate verbal recall (IVR), delayed verbal recall (DVR) and memory retention. Plasma BDNF levels were measured by Elisa immunoassay. Beck Depression Inventory was used to assess the severity of depressive symptoms, and the Cocaine Selective Severity Assessment the severity of cocaine abstinence symptoms. <b><i>Results:</i></b> The CCD group had lower DVR scores and higher plasma BDNF levels when compared to HW group. In addition, a linear regression model showed that BDNF levels predicted DVR scores within CCD group independently of depressive symptoms (R = 0.51; R² = 0.26; t(22) = 4.025, p = 0.03). <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> Despite higher plasma BDNF levels, crack users exhibited memory impairments when compared to healthy women. Specifically, peripheral BDNF levels predicted better cognitive performance only within individuals who already had cognitive impairment.

<p>El presente Trabajo fue presentado al «I Encuentro de Egresados de la Escuela Profesional de Nutrición Humana de la Universidad Nacional de Altiplano-Puno», 21-22 de noviembre 2014. Tiene como objetivo explicitar la relación existente entre nuestra actual realidad demográfica y sus implicancias con la salud. Básicamente nos hemos centrado en dos variables: la fecundidad y la mortalidad. La reducción de la fecundidad ha contribuido para disminuir la mortalidad infantil y materna. Entre 1986 y 2013, la fecundidad disminuyó de 4,3 a 2,4 hijos por mujer. También, la mortalidad infantil, presenta niveles diferenciados por características geográficas donde el riesgo de mortalidad infantil es mayor en áreas urbanas y rurales que en Lima Metropolitana, con 24, 16 y 12 defunciones por cada mil nacimientos. La mortalidad materna, que evidencia la exclusión social, muestra que las principales causas de muerte fueron: la hemorragia, que en la Sierra fue de 51,6 y en la Selva 38,4%, y la hipertensión inducida por el embarazo HIE fue más frecuente en la Costa, 38,4%. En cuanto al lugar de ocurrencia del parto los establecimientos de salud públicos fueron más utilizados por mujeres residentes en el área urbana (81,9%) que en el área rural (65,6%). Sobre la asistencia durante el parto para asegurar la salud de la madre y del niño por nacer, el 58,4% de mujeres con un nacido vivo recibieron dos o más dosis de la vacuna antitetánica. El porcentaje de mujeres cuyo parto más reciente fue protegido contra el tétano alcanzó el 80 ,7%.</p>

AbstractThe National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), specifically the National Weather Service's (NWS) National Hurricane Center (NHC), utilizes the hydrodynamic Sea, Lake, and Overland Surges from Hurricanes (SLOSH) model to simulate storm surge in 27 basins along the U.S East and Gulf Coasts. This information is provided to federal, state, and local partners to assist in a range of planning processes, risk assessment studies, and decision making. Based on climatology, tens of thousands of hypothetical hurricanes are simulated in each basin, and the potential storm surges are calculated. Storm surge composites—maximum envelopes of water (MEOWs) and maximum of maximums (MOMs)—are created to assess and visualize storm surge risk under varying conditions.While MEOWs and MOMs provide a local assessment of storm surge risk, they do not provide a national perspective owing to the 27 discrete grids. National assessments must therefore merge the grids together, which is a laborious task requiring considerable SLOSH and hydrodynamic modeling expertise. This paper describes the technique used to create national inundation maps for category 1–5 hurricanes using the SLOSH MOM product, and it provides a simple quantitative assessment of the potential societal impacts. Approximately 22 million people along the U.S East and Gulf Coasts are vulnerable to storm surge. For all hurricane categories, a substantial portion of the coastal population and housing units are at risk, and many evacuation routes become inundated. Florida is the most vulnerable state with 40% of its population at risk. These maps and analyses provide a new way to view, analyze, and communicate national storm surge risk and inundation.

Abstract
Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is one of the most common single gene disorders, which is mostly inherited as an autosomal dominant trait. The physical signs of FH are elevated low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), elevated total cholesterol (TC) levels and tendon xantomas. Identification and early treatment of affected individuals is desirable and in lack of physical symptoms DNA-based diagnosis provides confirmation of diagnosis and enables early patient management. The majority of FH cases are caused by mutations in four genes (APOB, LADLR, PCSK9, and LDLRAP1). There are commercial kits available for testing of the 20 most common FH causing mutations, but the spectrum of disease-causing mutations is quite diverse in various populations and these tests cover only a minority of disease-causing genetic variants. There is therefore a need to determine the full spectrum of mutations in LDLR, APOB, PCSK9, and LDLRAP1 genes in each population. Here we report mutations found in 16 patients with suspected FH in a sample from the Genome Database of the Latvian population enrolled at the Latvian Centre of Cardiology. We used the next generation sequencing approach to determine the full spectrum of mutations in coding regions of LDLR, APOB, PCSK9, and LDLRAP1. In total we found 22 missense mutations, from which only rs5742904 (Arg3527Gln) in APOB gene had been previously described as a FH-causing mutation confirming FH in one patient. Possible FH-causing mutations however, were identified in the majority of patients. The conclusion is that the most commonly employed commercial mutation panel is not sufficient for diagnosis of FH patients and NGS can help to identify FH-causing mutations in the Latvian population.

Purpose. There is a need for a self-report measure that assesses use of recommended strategies related to weight management. Design. Cross-sectional analysis. Setting. Universities, community. Subjects. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) involved data from 404 overweight/obese young adults (mean age = 22 years, 48% non-Hispanic white, 68% ethnic minority). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) involved data from 236 overweight/obese adults (mean age = 42 years, 63% non-Hispanic white, 84% ethnic minority). Measures. The Strategies for Weight Management (SWM) measure is a 35-item questionnaire that assesses use of recommended behavioral strategies for reducing energy intake and increasing energy expenditure in overweight/obese adults. Analysis. EFA and CFA were conducted on the SWM. Correlate models assessed the associations between SWM factor/total scores and demographics by using linear regressions. Results. EFA suggested a four-factor model: strategies categorized as targeting (1) energy intake, (2) energy expenditure, (3) self-monitoring, and (4) self-regulation. CFA indicated good model fit (χ2/df=2.0, comparative fit index = .90, standardized root mean square residual = .06, and root mean square error of approximation = .07, confidence interval = .06–.08, R2 = .11–.74). The fourth factor had the lowest loadings, possibly because the items cover a wide domain. The final model included 20 items. Correlate models revealed weak associations between the SWM scores and age, gender, Hispanic ethnicity, and relationship status in both samples, with the models explaining only 1% to 8% of the variance (betas = –.04 to .29, p < .05). Conclusion. The SWM has promising psychometric qualities in two diverse samples.

Purpose
– Audio-diary methods are under-utilised in contemporary qualitative research. The purpose of this paper is to discuss participants and researchers' experiences of using audio-diaries alongside semi-structured interviews to explore breastfeeding experiences in a short-term longitudinal study with 22 first-time mothers.


Design/methodology/approach
– The authors provide a qualitative content analysis of the participants' feedback about their experiences of the audio-diary method and supplement this with the perspectives of the research team based on fieldwork notes, memos and team discussions. The authors pay particular attention to the ways in which the data attained from diaries compared with those from the interviews.


Findings
– The diaries produced were highly heterogeneous in terms of data length and quality. Participants' experiences with the method were varied. Some found the process therapeutic and useful for reflecting upon the development of breastfeeding skills whilst negative aspects related to lack of mobility, self-consciousness and concerns about confidentiality. Researchers were positive about the audio-diary method but raised certain ethical, epistemological and methodological concerns. These include debates around the use of prompts, appropriate support for participants and the potential of the method to influence the behaviour under scrutiny. Interview and diary accounts contrasted and complemented in ways which typically enriched data analysis.


Practical implications
– The authors conclude that audio-diaries are a flexible and useful tool for qualitative research especially within critical realist and phenomenological paradigms.


Originality/value
– This appears to be the first paper to evaluate both participants and researchers' experiences of using audio-diaries in a detailed and systematic fashion.

Occupational exposure modeling is widely used in the context of the E.U. regulation on the registration, evaluation, authorization, and restriction of chemicals (REACH). First tier tools, such as European Centre for Ecotoxicology and TOxicology of Chemicals (ECETOC) targeted risk assessment (TRA) or Stoffenmanager, are used to screen a wide range of substances. Those of concern are investigated further using second tier tools, e.g., Advanced REACH Tool (ART). Local sensitivity analysis (SA) methods are used here to determine dominant factors for three models commonly used within the REACH framework: ECETOC TRA v3, Stoffenmanager 4.5, and ART 1.5. Based on the results of the SA, the robustness of the models is assessed.For ECETOC, the process category (PROC) is the most important factor. A failure to identify the correct PROC has severe consequences for the exposure estimate. Stoffenmanager is the most balanced model and decision making uncertainties in one modifying factor are less severe in Stoffenmanager. ART requires a careful evaluation of the decisions in the source compartment since it constitutes ∼75% of the total exposure range, which corresponds to an exposure estimate of 20–22 orders of magnitude.Our results indicate that there is a trade off between accuracy and precision of the models. Previous studies suggested that ART may lead to more accurate results in well‐documented exposure situations. However, the choice of the adequate model should ultimately be determined by the quality of the available exposure data: if the practitioner is uncertain concerning two or more decisions in the entry parameters, Stoffenmanager may be more robust than ART.

AbstractIn this article, we focus on relatively new maintenance and operational scheduling challenges that are faced by the United States Air Force concerning low‐observable (LO) or stealth aircraft. The LO capabilities of an aircraft degrade stochastically as it flies, making it difficult to make maintenance scheduling decisions. Maintainers can address these damages, but must decide, which aircraft should be put into maintenance, and for how long. Using data obtained from an active duty Air Force F‐22 wing and interviews with Air Force maintainers and program specialists, we model this problem as a generalization of the well‐known restless multiarmed bandit superprocess. Specifically, we use an extension of the traditional model to allow for actions that require varying lengths of time, and generate two separate index policies from a single model; one for maintenance actions and one for the flying action. These index policies allow maintenance schedulers to intuitively, quickly, and effectively rank a fleet of aircraft based on each aircraft's LO status and decide, which aircraft should enter into LO maintenance and for how long, and which aircraft should be used to satisfy daily sortie requirements. Finally, we present extensive data‐driven, detailed simulation results, where we compare the performance of the index policies against policies currently used by the Air Force, as well as some other possible more naive heuristics. The results indicate that the index policies significantly outperform existing policies in terms of fully mission capable (FMC) rates. In particular, the experiments highlight the importance of coordinated maintenance and flying decisions. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 62:60–80, 2015

La investigación realiza un estudio histórico-normativo del intento de Modernización del Estado ecuatoriano, en dos momentos, el denominado neoliberal, y el del "correismo"; obteniendo como alternativa el partenariado público-privado, siendo interesante en el segundo caso el cambio ideológico-político sufrido a raíz de la crisis económica, pasando de un desplazamiento de la participación privada, a un cambio sustancial a través de alianzas estratégicas entre los dos sectores con el propósito de contar con recursos suficientes para el financiamiento de la obra pública. La novedad del trabajo se debe a la reciente incorporación en el Ecuador de las APP, el cual ha sido abordado de manera incipiente por la academia debido a la reciente aprobación de la norma, y por tanto constituye un escenario base para investigaciones posteriores relacionadas con el poscorreismo. ; The paper makes an historic and legal study of the Ecuadorian State Modernization, and divide in two moments, the neoliberal, and the present government called "correismo"; which obtain an interesting alternative trough the PPP. In the second case is interesting the ideological and political change since the economic crises, with an initial step where the private sector was displaced, and then a substantial change where the strategic alliance between public and private became important because is the form to get enough resources to finance public utilities. The originality of this work is because the new incorporation of the PPP in Ecuador, situation that hadn´t been studied enough by the academia because it´s recent approbation, so it´s become an opportunity to make a base for future researches in relation to the "poscorreismo". ; Cuenca ; no. 22

Background: Although the role of folic acid (FA) in preventing neural tube defects (NTDs) is well documented, its optimal intake in pregnant women is still low in many countries. Here, we prospectively studied the prevalence of NTDs in the newborns and the patterns of FA intake in pregnant Saudi mothers. Methods: This case-control study was nested within a 3-year project (July 2010 to June 2013) to study the patterns of birth defects in the offspring of Saudi women who received their antenatal care and delivered at Prince Sultan Military Medical City, Riyadh-Saudi Arabia. Enrolled mothers were divided into 4 groups: group 1 (FA taken before pregnancy and continued regularly after conception), group 2 (FA taken post-conception), group 3 (no FA intake), and group 4 (did not remember or were unsure of taking FA). Control mothers were randomly selected from those with normal first obstetrical ultrasound scan at 18-22. weeks of gestation. Results: The cohort included 30,531 mothers giving birth to 28,646 infants. We studied 1179 mothers of babies with birth defects (BDs) and 1262 control mothers. There were 237 (9.7%) mothers in-group 1; 2001 (82%) in-group 2; 154 (6.3%) in-group 3; and 49 (2%) in-group 4. There were 49 babies with NTDs, a prevalence of 1.7/1000 total births. Among the studied mothers 2274 (93%) took FA either full or partial course. Conclusion: The high prevalence of NTDs and the low optimal FA intake highlight the need for a strict implementation of staple food fortification and health education program for Saudi women.

Background: The cost-effectiveness of screening for type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) in developing countries remains unknown. The Brazilian government conducted a nationwide population screening program for type 2 diabetes mellitus (BNDSP) in which 22 million capillary glucose tests were performed in individuals aged 40 years and older. The objective of this study was to evaluate the life-time cost-effectiveness of a national population-based screening program for DM2 conducted in Brazil. Methods: We used a Markov-based cost-effectiveness model to simulate the long-term costs and benefits of screening for DM2, compared to no screening program. The analysis was conducted from a public health care system perspective. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to examine the robustness of results to key model parameters. Results: Brazilian National diabetes screening program will yield a large health benefit and higher costs. Compared with no screening, screen detection of undiagnosed diabetes resulted in US$ 31,147 per QALY gained. Results from sensitivity analyses found that screening targeted at hypertensive individuals would cost US$ 22,695/QALY. When benefits from early glycemic control on cardiovascular outcomes were considered, the cost per QALY gained would reduce significantly. Conclusions: In the base case analysis, not considering the intangible benefit of transferring diabetes management to primary care nor the benefit of using statin to treat eligible diabetic patients, CE ratios were not cost-effective considering thresholds proposed by the World Health Organization. However, significant uncertainty was demonstrated in sensitivity analysis. Our results indicate that policy-makers should carefully balance the benefit and cost of the program while considering using a population-based approach to screen for diabetes.