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\"India is a vast sub-continent with a complex history and a great array of languages, cultures and religions. This book serves as a short introduction to the exquisite weapons used in the region, focusing on the Royal Armouries' collections from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries. Beautiful photography is interwoven with remarkable historical and cultural detail about archery, swords, shields, daggers, firearms, artillery and elephant armour.\"--Publisher description.

This study explored measures of subjective and objective sleep health and the association with fall occurrence and falls risk for older adults. A longitudinal observational study was conducted with participants in residential aged care (n = 36) and community dwelling (n = 35) settings. At baseline, objective sleep data involved wearing wrist worn accelerometers and measuring falls risk by walking using the Quantitative timed up and go (QTUG) of a simple, cognitive, and motor task. Subjective sleep data was collected by completing sleep diaries using the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale and sleep quality scale, respectively. Longitudinal falls data were collected at baseline, 3, 6, and 9 months. Falls risk was calculated via QTUG. Responses to a fall questionnaire were used to quantify fall occurrence. Independent samples t-test examined differences in objective and subjective sleep variables between settings. Logistic regression explored whether objective or subjective sleep variables could predict an overall fall occurrence. Linear regression determined if a particular sleep variable could predict an overall falls risk. Multiple regression determined if sleep variables could predict falls risk. No significant differences were found between residential and community-dwelling adults in subjective or objective sleep measures. Logistic regression showed no significant associations between most sleep variables and falls risk, except for average awakening length, where each additional minute was associated with a 1.8% increase in fall likelihood (OR = 1.02, 95% CI [1.00-1.03], P = .037). Conversely, higher awakening frequency was associated with reduced falls risk in the simple timed up-and-go task (R² = .21, β = −.69, P = .009, 95% CI [−1.20 to −0.18]). Findings suggest no significant differences in sleep health or falls risk between residential and community-dwelling older adults, though specific sleep disruptions showed minor associations with falls risk.

BackgroundHuntington’s disease (HD) is a progressive autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disease caused by a CAG repeat expansion in the huntingtin (HTT) gene. NT-0100D, a PATrOL™ enabled compound, crosses the blood brain barrier (BBB) following subcutaneous delivery, invading the duplex genome, and directly engages the CAG expansion on the mutant huntingtin gene in a sequence-specific manner to inhibit transcription.AimsDefine allele-selectivity, dose-response, and cortico-striatal distribution of mutant huntingtin knock-down in the brains of R6/2 transgenic mice following subcutaneous delivery of NT-100D.MethodsFour-week-old female R6/2 and wildtype B6-CBA mice were treated subcutaneously with NT-0100D b.i.w. x 8 weeks at 5, 10, and 21 mg/kg. The Rotarod test was performed weekly. At 12 weeks of age, mutant and wildtype brain HTT mRNA levels were determined by qRT-PCR. Brain HTT aggregates were quantified by IHC and western blotting. Neurofilament light chain (NfL) levels were measured in plasma.ResultsSubcutaneous delivery of NT-0100D inhibited transcription of HTT >75% across the brain in a dose-dependent manner (p<0.001). No change in wild type HTT was observed. Assessment of aggregates by IHC showed a dose-dependent decrease. Immunoblot analysis from brain showed a similar significant reduction. No reduction in wild type HTT was observed in livers of treated animals. NfL levels were unchanged with treatment. Dose-dependent trends in functional improvement were noted.ConclusionsIn a preclinical model, NT-0100D can be subcutaneously delivered, crosses the BBB, selectively reduces mutant huntingtin throughout the brain without inducing neurotoxicity, and has the potential to be a whole-body solution for patients with HD.

\"Dangerous Arts reveals a world that combines art with conflict, death with beauty. Replete with gorgeous photography, it showcases works of art that adorned the great palaces of the world. These are objects made to kill but also to impress: a magnificent testament to craftsmanship, engineering and high fashion.\"--Book jacket.

The close of the twentieth century saw the unexpected rise of an indigenous peoples' rights movement in Latin America and worldwide, contesting 500 years of oppression and the emerging challenges of globalization. By the turn of the millennium, indigenous rights campaigns had gained a voice in local, national, and international political arenas. Yet the legacies of oppression and the pressures of globalization continue, and inclusion has translated only partially into empowerment. Bolivia provides a good case study in indigenous empowerment, since it is an indigenous majority country whose marginalized population has been struggling for rights in waves since the 1952 Revolution. After centuries of chronic marginalization, indigenous peoples found their voice in the era of globalization. The key to their mobilization was the transnational formation of a pan-indigenous identity, coalitions with global civil society, and a series of appeals to international institutions and grassroots supporters above and below blocked state institutions.

Greater life expectancy has resulted in older adults becoming more vulnerable to socialisolation, with increasing numbers of British older adults reporting loneliness in recent years.This trend is of concern as it has been documented that feeling a connection to others is afundamental need for psychological well-being. It is therefore important to support olderadults to maintain connections with others, in order to help increase, and preventdeterioration of, their well-being. The social presence theory asserts that visual presenceduring conversations can enhance the quality of communications between individuals andthus strengthen relationships. The use of video-communication by older adults may thereforelend itself as a tool to enhance communications with others and consequently increase theirpsychological well-being. This research utilised a mixed-methods quasi-experimental designto explore the impact of video-communication on the psychological well-being of olderadults. Participants in the intervention condition received video-communication trainingsessions to help them communicate with their friends or relatives remotely via video.Participants in the control conditions received either email or basic computer skills training.Self-report measures were used to investigate the effectiveness of the video-communicationin enhancing psychological well-being. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted withthe participants in the intervention condition in order to capture the participants’ experienceswith using the video-communication and to corroborate the quantitative data. Thequantitative data was subjected to statistical and clinically significant change tests, while thequalitative data was analysed using thematic analysis. Triangulation of the quantitative andqualitative data revealed that the video-communication increased some older adults’psychological well-being and the social support they received. The findings are discussed inrelation to previous research. The clinical implications of the findings and directions forfuture research are also discussed.

The international human rights regime sets out to safeguard human rights and human dignity through an international architecture designed to protect vulnerable populations. Yet, those populations who have the most to benefit from an extensive human rights regime, face some of the greatest difficulties in accessing the institutions designed to protect them. Marginality and human rights appear incompatible because marginalized groups fall out of the purview of state-based human rights protection and fulfillment. While much of the literature on social human rights examines specific social rights in particular contexts, this dissertation broadens the scope to identify and analyze similar patterns across contexts, beginning with best-test cases. The aim of this study is to determine the central barriers that marginalized groups face in accessing social rights in democratic societies. It asks, “Why is it that even in the most favorable conditions, marginalized ethnic groups continue to face difficulties accessing social rights?” In order to answer these questions, this dissertation includes two controlled comparisons of marginalized ethnic groups that have historically been excluded, but that are in the process of acquiring expanded citizenship rights: indigenous populations in Latin America and ethnic Romani groups in Europe. Despite centuries of exclusion and discrimination, these two groups are now in a process of new rights acquisition. Indigenous rights and representation are flourishing in Latin American democracies, and many ethnic Romani groups are now citizens of the European Union. To answer the central question, I analyze how citizenship regimes and state capacity influence indigenous groups’ access to housing, and health care rights in Bolivia and Peru, and the same for Romani migrants in France and Spain. Using qualitative methods such as process tracing, content analysis, and in-depth interviews collected through multi-sited field work, the main finding of this dissertation is that in democratic societies, two key variables affect the ability of marginalized ethnic groups to access social rights: the nature of the state's citizenship regime and its state capacity. For marginalized ethnic groups to have the best chance at accessing social rights, they must live in a state whose citizenship regime provides institutional opportunities to accommodate ethnic diversity, and that has both financial and administrative capacity. For marginalized groups to successfully access social rights, favorable citizenship is not enough. Social and political inclusion only helps to ensure that individuals have a say in their governments, but if their governments cannot effectively govern or provide material resources, their input may not have much of an effect. However, when states do have the capacity to provide material resources, and effectively govern and distribute those resources, citizenship regimes can make a considerable difference in improving access to social rights for marginalized groups. Additionally, from the perspective of social goods provisions, there can be a trade off between social and cultural belonging, and material wellbeing. Having one without having the other will perpetrate marginality and undermine the protection and fulfillment of human rights. This trade off has implications for human rights fulfillment in conjunction with development policy design; development policy must avoid a myopic focus on welfare outcomes that does not integrate mechanisms for access to justice and social inclusion. Unfortunately, the enjoyment of social rights specifically continues to rely on state-based institutions. However, improvements in states’ citizenship regimes and capacity can go a long way in providing more opportunities for marginalized ethnic groups to access those human rights institutions designed to protect their human rights and improve their welfare.