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Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of Abbreviations -- 1. Introduction -- Part I. National Identity -- 2. Taiwan's National Identity and Cross-Strait Relations -- 3. Changing Identities in Taiwan under Ma Ying-jeou -- 4. Mingling but Not Merging: Changes and Continuities in the Identity of Taiwanese in Mainland China -- 5. Chinese National Identity under Reconstruction -- 6. Chinese Youth Nationalism in a Pressure Cooker -- Part II. Political Economy -- 7. Varieties of State Capitalism across the Taiwan Strait: A Comparison and Its Implications -- 8. The Nature and Trend of Taiwanese Investment in China (1991-2014): Business Orientation, Profit Seeking, and Depoliticization -- 9. Cross-Strait Economic Relations and China's Rise: The Case of the IT Sector -- 10. Social Entrepreneurialism and Social Media in Post-developmental state Taiwan -- Part III. Political Strategy -- 11. Pivot, Hedger, or Partner: Strategies of Lesser Powers Caught between Hegemons -- 12. A Farewell to Arms? US Security Relations with Taiwan and the Prospects for Stability in the Taiwan Strait -- 13. Xi Jinping's Taiwan Policy: Boxing Taiwan In with the One-China Framework -- 14. Strategies of China's Expansion and Taiwan's Survival in Southeast Asia: A Comparative Perspective -- IV. Conclusion -- 15. Taiwan and the Waning Dream of Reunification -- List of Contributors -- Index

AIM: Million Veteran Program (MVP) is the largest ongoing mega-cohort biobank program in the US with 570,131 enrollees as of May 2017. The primary aim is to describe demographics, military service, and major diseases and comorbidities of the MVP cohort. Our secondary aim is to examine body mass index (BMI), a proxy for general health, among enrollees. MATERIALS AND METHOD: The study population consists of Veterans who actively use the Veterans Health Administration in the US. Data evaluated in this paper combine health information from multiple sources to provide the most comprehensive demographic profile and information on height and weight of MVP enrollees. A standardized cleaning algorithm was used to curate the demographic variables for each participant in MVP. For height and weight, we derived a final data point for each participant to evaluate BMI. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Multivariable logistic regression was used to compare the differences in BMI categories across enrollment years adjusting for gender, race, and age. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. All analyses were conducted using Statistical Analysis System 9.2. RESULTS: The MVP cohort consists of 90.4% of males with an average age of 61.9 years (standard deviation [SD] = 13.9). MVP is the largest multiethnic biobank cohort within the Veteran population with 73.9% White, 19.0% Black, and 6.5% Hispanic. The most common self-reported disease was hypertension (62.6%) for males and depression (47.5%) for females. Mean BMI was 29.7 kg/m(2) (SD = 5.8) with 38.2% obese and 42.3% overweight. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that demographic representation in MVP is similar to the Veterans Health Administration population and contrasts with the overall National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey US population. The prevalence of overweight and obese is high among US Veterans, and future studies will examine the role of BMI and disease risk in the Veteran population.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has resulted in an unprecedented research response, demonstrating exceptional examples of rapid research and collaboration. There is however a need for greater coordination, with limited resources and the shifting global nature of the pandemic resulting in a proliferation of research projects underpowered and unable to achieve their aims. Methods: The UK Collaborative on Development Research (UKCDR) and Global Research Collaboration for Infectious Disease Preparedness (GloPID-R), two funder coordination groups have collaborated to develop a live database of funded research projects across the world relating to COVID-19. Drawing data continually from their members and further global funding bodies, as of 15 th January 2021 the database contains 7,778 projects, funded by 101 funders, taking place across 136 countries representing an investment of at least $3.8 billion. To our knowledge it is one of the most comprehensive databases. The database is aligned to the World Health Organisation (WHO) Global Research Roadmap: 2019 Novel Coronavirus. It is being used by the WHO, governments and multi-lateral policy makers, research funders and researchers. This living mapping review aims to supplement the database by providing an open accessible and frequently updated resource summarising the characteristics of the COVID-19 funded research portfolio. Both descriptive and thematic analysis will be presented and updated frequently to aid interpretation of the global COVID-19 funded research portfolio. Results: In this version three analysis we provide an updated detailed descriptive analysis of the database (three months after version two) and focus our thematic analysis on research gaps, research areas in need of coordination, study populations and research locations (with a focus on resource-limited countries). Conclusions: As the global funding response to COVID-19 plateaus, this living mapping review helps both funders and researchers to prioritise resources to areas ...

A range of published arguments against formalizing the Anthropocene as a geological time unit have variously suggested that it is a misleading term of non-stratigraphic origin and usage, is based on insignificant temporal and material stratigraphic content unlike that used to define older geological time units, is focused on observation of human history or speculation about the future rather than geologically significant events, and is driven more by politics than science. In response, we contend that the Anthropocene is a functional term that has firm geological grounding in a well-characterized stratigraphic record. This record, although often lithologically thin, is laterally extensive, rich in detail and already reflects substantial elapsed (and in part irreversible) change to the Earth System that is comparable to or greater in magnitude than that of previous epoch-scale transitions. The Anthropocene differs from previously defined epochs in reflecting contemporary geological change, which in turn also leads to the term's use over a wide range of social and political discourse. Nevertheless, that use remains entirely distinct from its demonstrable stratigraphic underpinning. Here we respond to the arguments opposing the geological validity and utility of the Anthropocene, and submit that a strong case may be made for the Anthropocene to be treated as a formal chronostratigraphic unit and added to the Geological Time Scale.

This book provides an in-depth analysis of the NHS reforms ushered in by UK Coalition Government under the 2012 Health and Social Care Act, arguably the most extensive reforms ever introduced in the NHS. Contributions from leading researchers from the UK, the US and New Zealand examine the reforms in the contexts of national health policy, commissioning and service provision, governance and others. Collectively, the chapters presents a broader assessment of the trajectory of health reforms in the context of marketisation, the rise of health consumerism and the revelation of medical scandals. This is essential reading for those studying the NHS, those who work in it, and those who seek to gain a better understanding of this key public service

The Million Veteran Program (MVP) was established in 2011 as a national research initiative to determine how genetic variation influences the health of U.S. military veterans. We genotyped 312,571 MVP participants using a custom biobank array and linked the genetic data to laboratory and clinical phenotypes extracted from electronic health records covering a median of 10.0 years of follow-up. Among 297,626 veterans with at least 1 blood lipid measurement including 57,332 blacks and 24,743 Hispanics, we tested up to ~32 million variants for association with lipid levels and identified 118 novel genome-wide significant loci after meta-analysis with data from the Global Lipids Genetics Consortium (total N > 600,000). Through a focus on mutations predicted to result in a loss of gene function and a phenome-wide association study, we propose novel indications for pharmaceutical inhibitors targeting PCSK9 (abdominal aortic aneurysm), ANGPTL4 (type 2 diabetes), and PDE3B (triglycerides and coronary disease).