The Electoral Rise of Populist Radical Right Parties in Europe: Ideological Parameters and Social Motivations

Populist radical right parties have become major political actors in Europe. This paper analyses the path and the different phases that have led them from the fringes of public debate to their present signifi cance, which is based on their capacity to attract electoral support and infl uence the political agendas in their respective countries. Besides, an analysis of the core ideological beliefs of these parties, and of the topics on which their mobilization capacity rests, is provided, as well as of the type of voters that are attracted by them. Finally, the authors discuss the meaning and impact of the growing popularity of the ideas and proposals put forward by the populist radical right parties.

Who needs evidence? Radical Feminism, the Christian Right and sex work research in Northern Ireland

This chapter describes my experiences of conducting research on commercial sex in Belfast, Northern Ireland which was conducted as part of a larger British Academy – Leverhulme Trust funded study that examined the policing and legal regulation of commercial sex in Belfast (Northern Ireland) along with three other cities: Manchester (England), Berlin (Germany) and Prague (Czech Republic). This study provided the first empirical analysis of commercial sex in the jurisdiction and was instrumental in shedding light on prevalence rates for those involved in the industry as well as providing demographic information on the age, nationality and sexual orientation of sex workers along with the sector worked in, whether on-street or off-street. In the chapter I consider my role as a researcher and highlight some of the difficulties that I experienced conducting what was seen as controversial research in the politically, socially and culturally conservative context of Northern Ireland.

Oxygen targeting in preterm infants using the Masimo SET Radical pulse oximeter

BACKGROUND: A pretrial clinical improvement project for the BOOST-II UK trial of oxygen saturation targeting revealed an artefact affecting saturation profiles obtained from the Masimo Set Radical pulse oximeter.

METHODS: Saturation was recorded every 10 s for up to 2 weeks in 176 oxygen dependent preterm infants in 35 UK and Irish neonatal units between August 2006 and April 2009 using Masimo SET Radical pulse oximeters. Frequency distributions of % time at each saturation were plotted. An artefact affecting the saturation distribution was found to be attributable to the oximeter's internal calibration algorithm. Revised software was installed and saturation distributions obtained were compared with four other current oximeters in paired studies.

RESULTS: There was a reduction in saturation values of 87-90%. Values above 87% were elevated by up to 2%, giving a relative excess of higher values. The software revision eliminated this, improving the distribution of saturation values. In paired comparisons with four current commercially available oximeters, Masimo oximeters with the revised software returned similar saturation distributions.

CONCLUSIONS: A characteristic of the software algorithm reduces the frequency of saturations of 87-90% and increases the frequency of higher values returned by the Masimo SET Radical pulse oximeter. This effect, which remains within the recommended standards for accuracy, is removed by installing revised software (board firmware V4.8 or higher). Because this observation is likely to influence oxygen targeting, it should be considered in the analysis of the oxygen trial results to maximise their generalisability.

Why Radical Librarianship? An Introduction

Presented at CILIP in Scotland Conference 2016: 'Making Connections', 06.06.16

AN EXAMINATION OF HYDROXYL RADICAL: OUR CURRENT UNDERSTANDING OF THE OXIDATIVE CAPACITY OF THE TROPOSPHERE THROUGH EMPIRICAL, BOX, AND GLOBAL MODELING APPROACHES

Hydroxyl radical (OH) is the primary oxidant in the troposphere, initiating the removal of numerous atmospheric species including greenhouse gases, pollutants that are detrimental to human health, and ozone-depleting substances. Because of the complexity of OH chemistry, models vary widely in their OH chemistry schemes and resulting methane (CH4) lifetimes. The current state of knowledge concerning global OH abundances is often contradictory. This body of work encompasses three projects that investigate tropospheric OH from a modeling perspective, with the goal of improving the tropospheric community’s knowledge of the atmospheric lifetime of CH4. First, measurements taken during the airborne CONvective TRansport of Active Species in the Tropics (CONTRAST) field campaign are used to evaluate OH in global models. A box model constrained to measured variables is utilized to infer concentrations of OH along the flight track. Results are used to evaluate global model performance, suggest against the existence of a proposed “OH Hole” in the tropical Western Pacific, and investigate implications of high O3/low H2O filaments on chemical transport to the stratosphere. While methyl chloroform-based estimates of global mean OH suggest that models are overestimating OH, we report evidence that these models are actually underestimating OH in the tropical Western Pacific. The second project examines OH within global models to diagnose differences in CH4 lifetime. I developed an approach to quantify the roles of OH precursor field differences (O3, H2O, CO, NOx, etc.) using a neural network method. This technique enables us to approximate the change in CH4 lifetime resulting from variations in individual precursor fields. The dominant factors driving CH4 lifetime differences between models are O3, CO, and J(O3-O1D). My third project evaluates the effect of climate change on global fields of OH using an empirical model. Observations of H2O and O3 from satellite instruments are combined with a simulation of tropical expansion to derive changes in global mean OH over the past 25 years. We find that increasing H2O and increasing width of the tropics tend to increase global mean OH, countering the increasing CH4 sink and resulting in well-buffered global tropospheric OH concentrations.

Effect of ambient levels of ozone on photosynthetic components and radical scavenging system in leaves of African cowpea varieties

Tropospheric ozone (O3), a main component of photochemical oxidants, adversely affects not only human health but also vegetation. To clarify the long-term effects of ambient levels of tropospheric ozone (O3) on photosynthetic components and radical scavenging system in the leaves of cowpea ( Vigna unguiculata L.), two African varieties, Blackeye and Asontem, were grown in open-top chambers and exposed to filtered air (FA), non-filtered air (NF) or non-filtered air with additional O3 of approximately 50 nl l-1. Ambient levels of O3 significantly reduced chlorophyll concentration, quantum yield and activity of ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco), thus contributing to the reduction in net photosynthetic rate at the reproductive growth stage of both varieties; with no significant variety difference in the sensitivity to O3. The O3-induced significant reduction in catalase activity was observed in Blackeye at vegetative and reproductive growth stages; and in Asontem at reproductive growth stage. On the other hand, exposure to O3 significantly increased ascorbate peroxidase activity in Blackeye at reproductive stage and did not significantly affect that in Blackeye at vegetative growth stage and that in Asontem at both growth stages. At reproductive growth stage, activities of monodehydroascorbate reductase and glutathione reductase were significantly increased by the exposure to O3 in both varieties. The results obtained in this study suggest that, although ascorbate peroxidase, monodehydroascorbate reductase and glutathione reductase played important roles in scavenging O3-induced reactive oxygen species in the leaves, radical scavenging ability of these enzymes is not sufficient to avoid detrimental effects of ambient levels of O3 on photosynthesis in both African cowpea varieties.

Intervenciones de enfermería en pacientes con disfunción eréctil después de prostatectomía radical: una revisión integral

Este estudio tuvo como objetivo identificar las intervenciones de enfermería en pacientes sometidos a prostatectomía radical. Se trata de una revisión integradora guiada por la pregunta "¿Cuáles son las intervenciones de enfermería dirigidas a pacientes con disfunción eréctil después de una prostatectomía radical?" buscado en PubMed, Web of Science, CINAHL, Scopus, Cochrane Library, LILACS y en la lista de las referencias de los artículos seleccionados. Compusieron la muestra final 10 artículos y 43 intervenciones de enfermería fueron identificadas y agrupadas en 10 categorías. Las intervenciones de enfermería para pacientes con disfunción eréctil después de prostatectomía radical se centraron en la educación sobre la naturaleza de la disfunción eréctil, el tratamiento y la sexualidad; además de fortalecer el compromiso de las esposas durante el proceso de abordaje y tratamiento de la disfunción. Estas intervenciones pueden ser útiles para que las enfermeras puedan actuar durante el seguimiento de estos pacientes, proporcionando una mejor calidad de vida y bienestar.

Nanotechnology: radical new science or plus ça change?

Is a radical nanotechnology involving the construction of macroscopic products via software-directed manipulation of single molecules possible? Are we only a few decades away from a technological utopia where virtually any product may be constructed via molecular manufacturing? These and other similarly provocative questions formed the backdrop for a well-attended debate on nanotechnology held in the University of Nottingham last year (26 August 2005).

The Educational Imaginary in Radical Reconstruction: Congressional Public Policy Rhetoric and American Federalism, 1862-1872

Facing the exigencies of Emancipation, a South in ruins, and ongoing violence, between 1862 and 1872 the United States Congress debated the role education would play in the postbellum polity. Positing schooling as a panacea for the nation’s problems, a determiner of individual worth, and a way of ameliorating state and federal tensions, congressional leaders envisioned education as a way of reshaping American political life. In pursuit of this vision, many policymakers advocated national school agencies and assertive interventions into state educational systems. Interrogating the meaning of “education” for congressional leaders, this study examines the role of this ambiguous concept in negotiating the contradictions of federal and state identity, projecting visions of social change, evaluating civic preparedness, and enabling broader debates over the nation’s future. Examining legislative debates over the Reconstruction Acts, Freedmen’s Bureau, Bureau of Education, and two bills for national education reform in the early 1870s, this project examines how disparate educational visions of Republicans and Democrats collided and mutated amid the vicissitudes of public policy argument. Engaging rhetorical concepts of temporality, disposition, and political judgment, it examines the allure and limitations of education policy rhetoric, and how this rhetoric shifted amid the difficult process of coming to policy agreements in a tumultuous era. In a broader historical sense, this project considers the role of Reconstruction Era congressional rhetoric in shaping the long-term development of contemporary Americans’ “educational imaginary,” the tacit, often unarticulated assumptions about schooling that inflect how contemporary Americans engage in political life, civic judgment, and social reform. Treating the analysis of public policy debate as a way to gain insights into transitions in American political life, the study considers how Reconstruction Era debate converged upon certain common agreements, and obfuscated significant fault lines, that persist in contemporary arguments.

EL MENSAJE DE LA ECONOMIA POLITICA RADICAL

La economía se presenta a menudo como la ciencia social más madura y exacta, capaz de orientar acciones, realizar pronósticos, explicar el pasado. Todo ello de una manera, si no impecable, sí satisfactoria a grandes rasgos. Ya lo dijo Popper de manera poco cautelosa: "El éxito de la Economía Matemática muestra que por lo menos una ciencia social ha pasado por su revolución newtoniana" (Popper, 1957, 74). También goza la economía de buenas referencias en lo que atañe a su genealogía y tradición intelectual: algunas de sus máximas tienen un respetable pedigrí de más de dos siglos. Por otra parte, sus argumentaciones más preciadas suelen presentarse en la alta sociedad académica vestidas con formalismos matemáticos aparatosos, cuando no espectaculares. A primera vista parece, pues, hallarse en un estado muy saludable, bien orientada en cuanto a bases y perspectivas. Luego no es de extrañar que sea motivo de envidia y de imitación por parte de investigadores de campos vecinos que también aspiran a entender cómo funcionan los seres humanos en sociedad.El resultado final es un texto un tanto híbrido, a medio camino entre el ensayo de divulgación y las notas de clase. De todos modos, aunque sus objetivos sean modestos en lo que se refiere a rigor y originalidad, confío en que cumpla en alguna medida el cometido asignado, a saber, sugerir e incluso provocar. Deseo puntualizar, por último, que algunas de las ideas aquí expuestas se hallan argumentadas de forma más sistemática y cuidada en el artículo "Teoría económica y enfoque de la reproducción" (in Febrero, ed., Qué es la economía, Madrid, Pirámide, 1997, págs. 241-269), así como en mis libros Filosofía de la economía (Barcelona, Icaria, 1992) y Economía política radical (Madrid, Síntesis, 1998).

Iniltration vs. instillation of ropivacaine 7.5% in radical mastectomies for postoperative analgesia

Objective: Determining the effectiveness of iniltration versus instillation with 7.5% ropivacaine in reducing the intensity of postoperative pain in patients undergoing a radical mastectomy. Material and methods: Clinical, prospective, and comparative analytical study in a sample of 20 female patients between 20 and 60 years of age, ASA I and II, weight 50-90 kg, who were divided into 2 groups (10 patients each). In Group 1 infiltration with ropivacaine 7.5% (20 ml) was applied prior to closure of the surgical wound, meanwhile in Group 2 ropivacaine 7.5% (20 ml), was instilled into the surgical wound. P ain intensity was assessed by a visual analog scale (V AS) upon extubation. The need for rescue medication and the incidence of nausea and vomiting were measured from 0 to 30 minutes postoperatively and at 2, 4, 8 and 12 hours. Results: There was no statistical difference between the groups (only the group managed through iniltration required rescue medications), but the iniltration group had a lower perception of pain. Conclusions: This study reported the same eficacy of preventive treatment of postoperative pain in patients who underwent radical mastectomy for instillation and iniltration with 7.5% ropivacaine and little need for rescue medication postoperatively.

Manifiesto inflexivo: 10 ideas para construir una cultura radical de paz y derechos humanos

Imaginar una cultura radical de paz y de derechos humanos pasa por el descubrimiento de las fisuras, de las quiebras y de las ambigüedades del proyecto conservador hegemónico. Ello permite, primero, denunciar su naturaleza contradictoria; y segundo, irrumpir en lo real refundando una política de transformación y de emancipación. En la actualidad, se vive y se produce bajo un proceso de subsunción “global” del hacer humano en el modelo de relaciones impuesto por la globalización neoliberal. Todo puede ser explotado. Las  fronteras de la cumulación se extienden hasta tragarse el lenguaje, los afectos, los cerebros, la capacidad de cooperación, la actividad de cuidado, el uso y el conocimiento de nuevas (y viejas) tecnologías e incluso, el propio saber tradicional de pueblos históricamente marginados y explotados. La producción se confunde hoy con la actividad social. Pero, aunque la forma salarial siga dominado como forma arbitraria de dominación, la actividad social en su plenitud excede con mucho lo que se paga por su puesta en práctica.