Colonial Politics, Missionary Rivalry, and the Beginnings of Seventh-Day Adventist Mission in Northern Nigeria

When compared to its relative success in the Southern and Western parts of Nigeria, Seventh-Day Adventism (S.D.A.) had some difficulties in establishing its mission in the North from the 1930s onward. This paper argues that there were three reasons why S.D.A. missionaries found the North difficult. First, the S.D.A. joined the Christian missionary scene in Nigeria rather late. Second, due to colonial politics, which did not favor the proselytizing aims of Christian missionaries in the North, Adventist missionaries did not find it easy to immediately establish a mission. Third, the difficult beginnings in northern Nigeria can also be attributed to the relationship between S.D.A. missionaries and other mission bodies, which tended towards rivalry, as a result of the “spheres of influence” established by the colonial government.

Absolute Versus Relative Success: Why Overconfidence Creates an Inefficient Equilibrium

Overconfidence is one of the most ubiquitous biases in the social sciences, but the evidence regarding its overall costs and benefits is mixed. To test the possibility that overconfidence might yield important relative benefits that offset its absolute costs, we conducted an experiment ( N = 298 university students) in which pairs of participants bargained over the unequal allocation of a prize that was earned through a joint effort. We manipulated confidence using a binary noisy signal to investigate the causal effect of negotiators’ beliefs about their relative contribution to the outcome of the negotiation. Our results provide evidence that high levels of confidence lead to relative benefits (how much one earns compared with one’s partner) but absolute costs (how much money one receives overall). These results suggest that overconfidence creates an inefficient equilibrium whereby overconfident negotiators benefit over their partners even as they bring about joint losses.

Comparing long-term projected outcomes of adaptive silvicultural approaches aimed at climate change in red pine forests of northern Minnesota, USA

The Adaptive Silviculture for Climate Change (ASCC) project was developed to test ecosystem-specific adaptation approaches. The first ASCC trial was installed on the Cutfoot Experimental Forest (CEF) in northern Minnesota, USA in 2014. Three adaptation treatments (resistance, resilience, and transition) along with a no action control, were tested and compared using Forest Vegetation Simulator to determine their relative success. We compared mean annual increment (MAI) and mortality and determined how well each treatment achieved its species composition and stand structure targets. MAI was highest in the no action (3.77 ± 0.43 m3 ha-1 yr-1) and lowest in the transition (1.72 ± 0.16 m3 ha-1). However, MAI for the transition treatment continually increased over time, which extended culmination age. The no action had the highest mortality with 38.76 (± 1.32) TPH per 10-year timestep, while the resistance and transition treatments had the lowest levels, at 9.36 (± 0.49) and 4.19 (± 0.35) TPH, respectively. Our findings highlight the relative success of the transition, which had lower mortality, greater structural diversity, and a future-adapted species composition. Results from this study provide important context for adaptive silviculture aimed at climate change and offers an example of potential outcomes of these forest adaptation options.

Towards a New Vision for Australian Politics

Australian politics is often characterized as derivative, pragmatic, and utilitarian—as insufficiently interesting or important to devote much time to. This Handbook challenges that contention, arguing it reflects a narrow, colonial perspective and ignores the richness and diversity of the deep-time history of the Australian continent and the unique inheritance the blending of Australia’s many histories and traditions has produced. Australian political studies encompasses a broad family of research disciplines, whose diverse and methodologically plural efforts have transformed our understanding of Aboriginal cultures and of European settlement. This volume’s thematic approach captures the politics, policies, and societies that have evolved in Australia’s many different landscapes and places. Its chapters present a theoretically rigorous, empirically informed, and historically nuanced account of what is distinctive about Australian politics, its capacity for democratic innovation and what accounts (its many shortcomings notwithstanding), for the resilience of its political traditions and Australia’s relative success.

Absolute vs. relative success: Why overconfidence is an inefficient equilibrium

Overconfidence is one of the most ubiquitous biases in the social sciences, but the evidenceregarding its overall costs and benefits is mixed. To test the possibility that overconfidence mightyield important relative benefits that offset its absolute costs, we conducted an experiment (N=298university students) in which pairs of participants bargain over the unequal allocation of a prizethat was earned via a joint effort. We manipulated confidence using a binary noisy signal toinvestigate the causal effect of negotiators’ beliefs about their relative contribution on the outcomeof the negotiation. Our results provide evidence that high levels of confidence lead to relativebenefits (how much one earns compared to one’s partner) but absolute costs (how much moneyone receives overall). These results suggest that overconfidence creates an inefficient equilibriumwhereby overconfident negotiators benefit over their partners even as they bring about joint losses.

Is there a role for Amniotic Membrane as an antifibrotic agent in MMC-Augmented Trabeculectomy?

Purpose: Amniotic membrane transplantation (AMT) has shown promising results as an antifibrotic agent in trabeculectomy. We aimed to evaluate the additional effect of AMT in M MC-augmented trabeculectomy . Methods: This retrospective study analyzed the results of the first 12 postoperative months of glaucomatous eyes submitted to Moorfields Safer Surgery Trabeculectomy with MMC alone (non-AMT group) compared to MMC and AMT (AMT group). Both groups were compared in terms of intraocular pressure (IOP), number of antihypertensive medications and need for surgical reinterventions. Absolute and relative success rates 12 months after surgery were defined as IOP <18 mmHg, without and with the use of antihypertensive medications, respectively. Results: The analysis included 51 eyes of 45 glaucoma patients (29 eyes in the non-AMT group and 22 in the AMT group). Mean IOP decreased from 24,72±5,11 mmHg and 26,86±10,62 mmHg preoperatively in non-AMT and AMT groups to 12,86±4,22 mmHg and 12,60±4,43 mmHg, respectively, at 12 months (p=0,84). Postoperative number of medications decreased significantly in both groups. Absolute success was seen in 71% of non-AMT eyes and 55% of AMT eyes (p=0,46) whereas relative success was obtained in 14% and 30%, respectively (p=0,55). Reinterventions were needed in 28% of the eyes (11 bleb injection/needling and 4 Ahmed tube implantation) in the non-AMT group and in 27% of the AMT group (10 bleb injection/needling and 1 Ahmed tube implantation) (p=0,89). Conclusion: Trabeculectomy combined with MMC and AMT did not show better results than trabeculectomy with MMC alone.

Canberra expects travel restrictions until 2022

Significance Despite earlier hopes that it could start loosening travel restrictions as early as next month, the government now expects that they will remain in place for the rest of 2021. The impact on the tourism and education sectors will be significant. Impacts Restrictions will be eased gradually through travel 'bubbles', starting with Pacific and Asian countries. Tourism will make a strong post-COVID comeback due to Australia’s relative success in containing the spread of the virus. International education services will not recover for 4-5 years, having lost market share to other countries.

The Role of the EU in Facilitating a Hard Implementation Dialogue

The European Union (EU) plays a facilitating role in the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia. The EU has applied a proactive approach to normalization through several agreements, initially of a technical and later of a political nature. This gradual approach has produced a relative success in the easing of relations between the parties and in creating the conditions for a final agreement, which, however, still remains far from being reached. The main argument of this article is that both sides hold diametrically opposed positions and the EU still remains a powerless actor in pushing the parties to find a long-term solution to the conflict between them.