Queer Communities and Activism in South Korea: Periphery-Center Currents.

Research into South Korea's LGBT+ communities is growing but still very limited, especially regarding communities in Busan and other urban areas outside the capital city, Seoul. We collected and analyzed responses from young LGBT+ who resided in the periphery and center and who described the two communities, their activist tactics, the connections/separations between them, and periphery-center characteristics of dialogue with opponents and participation in Korea's conservative, evangelical Christian churches. We reveal attitudinal and behavioral differences between Seoul and Busan (and other outlying areas), and we suggest that the differences reflect, in part, physical, social, and psychological distances between LGBT+ residing in the periphery and center. In time, outlying areas may converge with the center, imitating, though perhaps incompletely, Seoul's strong identity activism and more integrated community, or the periphery may pursue an independent, local identity.

Environmental versus operational drivers of drifting FAD beaching in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean.

In an effort to increase purse seine fishing efficiency for tropical tunas, over 30,000 drifting Fish Aggregating Devices (dFADs) are deployed every year by fishers in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO). The use of dFADs also impacts ecosystems, in particular through marine pollution and dFAD beaching. This paper presents the first estimate of dFAD beaching events in the WCPO (>1300 in 2016-2017) and their distribution. Lagrangian simulations of virtual dFADs, released subject to contrasting deployment distributions, help us determine the relative importance of operational versus environmental drivers of dFADs drifting to beaching areas. The highest levels of beaching, occurring on Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands, are likely a result of the prevailing westward oceanic circulation and subsequent local processes driving dFADs towards land. Similarly, high beaching rates in Tuvalu appear to be due to the general circulation of the WCPO. In contrast, beaching in Kiribati Gilbert Islands appear to be more strongly related to dFAD deployment strategy. These findings indicate that reducing beaching events via changes in deployment locations may be difficult. As such, management approaches combining dFAD deployment limits, the use of biodegradable dFADs, recoveries at-sea close to sensitive areas and/or beached dFAD removal should be considered.

High rates of unprotected anal sex and use of generic direct-acting antivirals in a cohort of MSM with acute HCV infection.

The role of condomless anal intercourse (CAI) as a driver for the epidemic of hepatitis C in MSM is still debated. Timely access to direct-acting antivirals (DAA) could represent an essential strategy to tackle this. Case notes of MSM diagnosed with acute hepatitis C (AHC) between July 2016 and June 2017 in a sexual health clinic in London were included. Behavioural data on sexual practices and STI monitoring in the 6 months prior to AHC diagnosis were collected. DAA routes of access and timing from AHC diagnosis to start of treatment were analysed. A total of 60 individuals were enrolled (median age 39 years, IQR = 33-46, 62% HIV co-infected, 72% genotype 1a). CAI was reported by 97%, drug use prior to or during sex by 73%; 46% was diagnosed with a rectal STI and 29% with syphilis. About 37% did not report any HCV risk factors other than condomless anal sex. About 36% had a new rectal STI in the 6 months following AHC. About 82% accessed DAA treatment and median time from AHC to DAA start was 278 days for those following the NHS standard of care route, 132 days for those accessing DAA via participation in trials and 114 for those who had self-sourced DAA online (P < 0.0011). SVR12 was achieved in 100% of the patients who received DAA treatment.In conclusion, CAI is a significant risk factor for HCV acquisition in MSM, irrespective of their HIV status. Rapid and wider access to treatment with DAA could represent a powerful strategy to reduce onward transmission and risk of reinfection in MSM.

Gay Seouls: Expanding Religious Spaces for Non-Heterosexuals in South Korea.

What Protestant congregations offer spaces for worship and dialogue among persons with different sexual orientations? The academic literature finds or assumes that non-heterosexuals are stigmatized or invisible in theologically conservative congregations and are welcomed in progressive, affirming congregations. This article develops an alternative claim that some conservative or evangelical congregations offer attractive spaces for non-heterosexuals to worship and dialogue. We illustrate with an exploratory study of four congregations in South Korea-two theologically progressive, two evangelical-whose pastors welcomed everybody regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. The "inclusive-evangelical" congregations retained conservative theology on sexuality (sexual relations only within heterosexual marriage) but offered more empathic dialogue with non-heterosexuals than did most evangelical congregations; they also provided more resources, conventional religious culture, and ties to traditional affective networks than the affirming-progressive congregations. Inclusive-evangelical congregations offer an institutional venue for non-heterosexual Christians in Korea to potentially reconcile three central values: conservative Christianity, traditional (Confucian) affective networks, and expressive individualism.

Revisiting the vulnerability of juvenile bigeye (Thunnus obesus) and yellowfin (T. albacares) tuna caught by purse-seine fisheries while associating with surface waters and floating objects.

Tuna fisheries catch over three million tonnes of skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis) each year, the majority of which come from purse-seine vessels targeting fish associated with man-made fish aggregating devices (FADs). A significant challenge for fisheries management is to maximize the efficiency of skipjack tuna catches whilst minimizing the bycatch of small and immature bigeye (Thunnus obesus) and yellowfin (T. albacares) tuna, for which long-term sustainability is uncertain in 75% of the world's stocks. To better manage the issues common with this fishing method, an improved understanding of tuna behaviour around FADs is necessary. We probabilistically classified the vertical behavioural patterns of 50 bigeye and 35 yellowfin tuna (mean fork length 72cm and 70cm, respectively) electronically tagged throughout the western and central Pacific Ocean into shallow and deep states, using a state-space modelling approach. The occurrence of surface-association behaviours, defined as an individual remaining in a shallow state for 24-hours, was examined in relation to known capture events and FAD density. In general, surface-association events for both species were short and lasted on average less than three days, although events as long as 28 days were observed, and were more common in yellowfin when in archipelagic waters. Events were longest immediately following tagging in 62% and 17% of bigeye and yellowfin, respectively. Surface-association behaviour was not generally estimated just prior to recapture, being either non-existent or shorter than two days for 85% of bigeye and 74% of yellowfin. Current management measures in purse-seine tuna fisheries involve periodic or spatial closures for FAD use. If the chief benefit to purse-seine fishers of surface-association around floating objects is in locating schools in horizontal space at short-term time-scales, rather than holding fish near the surface for extended periods, controlling the number of sets made on FADs should be explored further as an additional management tool.

Anti-HMGCR antibodies as a biomarker for immune-mediated necrotizing myopathies: A history of statins and experience from a large international multi-center study.

In an effort to find naturally occurring substances that reduce cholesterol by inhibiting 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase (HMGCR), statins were first discovered by Endo in 1972. With the widespread prescription and use of statins to decrease morbidity from myocardial infarction and stroke, it was noted that approximately 5% of all statin users experienced muscle pain and weakness during treatment. In a smaller proportion of patients, the myopathy progressed to severe morbidity marked by proximal weakness and severe muscle wasting. Remarkably, Mammen and colleagues were the first to discover that the molecular target of statins, 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMGCR), is an autoantibody target in patients that develop an immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy (IMNM). These observations have been confirmed in a number of studies but, until today, a multi-center, international study of IMNM, related idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM), other auto-inflammatory conditions and controls has not been published. Accordingly, an international, multi-center study investigated the utility of anti-HMGCR antibodies in the diagnosis of statin-associated IMNM in comparison to different forms of IIM and controls. This study included samples from patients with different forms of IIM (n=1250) and patients with other diseases (n=656) that were collected from twelve sites and tested for anti-HMGCR antibodies by ELISA. This study confirmed that anti-HMGCR autoantibodies, when found in conjunction with statin use, characterize a subset of IIM who are older and have necrosis on muscle biopsy. Taken together, the data to date indicates that testing for anti-HMGCR antibodies is important in the differential diagnosis of IIM and might be considered for future classification criteria.

Objective classification of latent behavioral states in bio-logging data using multivariate-normal hidden Markov models.

Analysis of complex time-series data from ecological system study requires quantitative tools for objective description and classification. These tools must take into account largely ignored problems of bias in manual classification, autocorrelation, and noise. Here we describe a method using existing estimation techniques for multivariate-normal hidden Markov models (HMMs) to develop such a classification. We use high-resolution behavioral data from bio-loggers attached to free-roaming pelagic tuna as an example. Observed patterns are assumed to be generated by an unseen Markov process that switches between several multivariate-normal distributions. Our approach is assessed in two parts. The first uses simulation experiments, from which the ability of the HMM to estimate known parameter values is examined using artificial time series of data consistent with hypotheses about pelagic predator foraging ecology. The second is the application to time series of continuous vertical movement data from yellowfin and bigeye tuna taken from tuna tagging experiments. These data were compressed into summary metrics capturing the variation of patterns in diving behavior and formed into a multivariate time series used to estimate a HMM. Each observation was associated with covariate information incorporating the effect of day and night on behavioral switching. Known parameter values were well recovered by the HMMs in our simulation experiments, resulting in mean correct classification rates of 90-97%, although some variance-covariance parameters were estimated less accurately. HMMs with two distinct behavioral states were selected for every time series of real tuna data, predicting a shallow warm state, which was similar across all individuals, and a deep colder state, which was more variable. Marked diurnal behavioral switching was predicted, consistent with many previous empirical studies on tuna. HMMs provide easily interpretable models for the objective classification of many different types of noisy autocorrelated data, as typically found across a range of ecological systems. Summarizing time-series data into a multivariate assemblage of dimensions relevant to the desired classification provides a means to examine these data in an appropriate behavioral space. We discuss how outputs of these models can be applied to bio-logging and other imperfect behavioral data, providing easily interpretable models for hypothesis testing.

Analysis of autoantibodies to 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase using different technologies.

Diagnostic tests are needed to aid in the diagnosis of necrotizing myopathies associated with statin use. This study aimed to compare different technologies for the detection of anti-HMGCR antibodies and analyze the clinical phenotype and autoantibody profile of the patients. Twenty samples from myositis patients positive for anti-HMGCR antibodies using a research addressable laser bead assay and 20 negative controls were tested for autoantibodies to HMGCR: QUANTA Lite HMGCR ELISA and QUANTA Flash HMGCR CIA. All patients were also tested for antibodies to extractable nuclear antigens and myositis related antibodies. To verify the specificity of the ELISA, 824 controls were tested. All three assays showed qualitative agreements of 100% and levels of anti-HMGCR antibodies showed significant correlation: Spearman's rho > 0.8. The mean age of the anti-HMGCR antibody positive patients was 54.4 years, 16/20 were females, and 18/20 had necrotizing myopathy (two patients were not diagnosed). Nine out of 20 anti-HMGCR positive patients were on statin. All patients with anti-HMGCR antibodies were negative for all other autoantibodies tested. Testing various controls showed high specificity (99.3%). Anti-HMGCR antibodies are not always associated with the use of statin and appear to be the exclusive autoantibody specificity in patients with statin associated myopathies.