Remnants of the past, history and the present.

The article interprets that it is hardly surprising then that philosophers of history point to the slender relationship between the raw facts of the past and understanding the past. The latter is an act of interpreting fragments from the past and not infrequently these support several points of view. This question has particular significance at a time when historians are increasingly thinking about historical materials and evidence in radically new ways that are fundamentally changing the nature of history as an academic discipline. In the light of these changes, the first part of the article sketches three different sets of epistemological assumptions that operate in contemporary history; the second applies these assumptions to a more detailed analysis of four pieces of historical material. Reflecting on the analysis in part two, the conclusion discusses the complex relations between the present and the past

Hydroelectric Dams and the Decline of Chinook Salmon in the Columbia River Basin

The decline of chinook salmon runs into the mouth of the Columbia River in recent decades is thought to be partly attributable to the construction of hydroelectric dams. The purpose of this article is to estimate the magnitude of losses in chinook salmon runs caused by hydroelectric dams, using regression analysis. Such estimates are not only of historical interest but also can potentially affect the extent of efforts to mitigate salmon losses from hydropower operations. Congress has mandated the Northwest Power Planning Council to consider the magnitude of run losses caused by hydroelectric operations in determining the extent of mitigation efforts.habitat, Northwest Power Planning Council, hydroelectric dams, Chinook salmon, smolt production., Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Risk Based Urban Watershed Management Under Conflicting Objectives

Ecological impairment and flooding caused by urbanization can be expressed numerically by calculating the risks throughout the watershed (floodplain) and along the main stems of the streams. The risks can be evaluated in terms of the present and/or future. This article describes the methodologies for ascertaining the risks in the Geographical Information Systems (GIS) environment. The objectives of urban flood controls and ecological preservation/restoration of urban waters are often conflicting and, in the past, the sole emphasis on flood control led to destruction of habitat and deterioration of water quality. An optimal solution to these two problems may be achieved by linking the risks to the concepts of risk communication, risk perception, and public willingness to pay for projects leading to ecological restoration and ecologically sustainable flood control. This method is appropriate because, in each case, public funds are used and the projects require approval and backing of policy makers and stakeholders. This article briefly describes a research project that attempts to resolve the conflict between the flood protection and stream ecological preservation and restoration and suggests alternative ways of expressing benefits of urban stream flood control and restoration projects

Mortality in intensive care: The impact of bacteremia and the utility of systemic inflammatory response syndrome

Background: The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of bacteremia on intensive care unit (ICU) mortality and to develop a bacteremia prediction tool using systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) criteria. Methods: Patients included those aged >18 years who had blood cultures taken in the ICU from January 1, 2011-December 31, 2013. Eligible patients were identified from microbiology records of the Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Scotland. Clinical and outcome data were gathered from ICU records. Patients with clinically significant bacteremia were matched to controls using propensity scores. SIRS criteria were gathered and used to create decision rules to predict the absence of bacteremia. The main outcome was mortality at ICU discharge. The utility of the decision tools was measured using sensitivity and specificity. Results: One hundred patients had a clinically significant positive blood culture and were matched to 100 controls. Patients with bacteremia had higher ICU mortality (odds ratio [OR], 2.35; P = .001) and longer ICU stay (OR, 17.0 vs 7.8 days; P ≤ .001). Of 1,548 blood culture episodes, 1,274 met ≥2 SIRS criteria (106 significant positive cultures and 1,168 negative cultures). There was no association between SIRS criteria and positive blood cultures (P = .11). A decision rule using 3 SIRS criteria had optimal predictive performance (sensitivity, 56%; specificity, 50%) but low accuracy. Conclusions: ICU patients with bacteremia have increased mortality and length of ICU stay. SIRS criteria cannot be used to identify patients at low risk of bacteremia

Semi-leptonic decays of heavy mesons and the Isgur-Wise function in quenched lattice QCD

The form factors for the semi-leptonic B->D and B->D* decays are evaluated in quenched lattice QCD at two different values of the coupling, beta=6.0 and 6.2. The action and the operators are fully O(a) non-perturbatively improved. The slope of the Isgur-Wise function is evaluated, and found to be rho^2=0.83^{+15+24}_{-11-1} (quoted errors are statistical and systematic respectively). Ratios of form factors are evaluated and compared to experimental determinations.Comment: 21 pages, 10 figure

Balancing act: exploring the tone of The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

This paper provides an analysis of The Life Aquatic in the context of debates around tone, irony, the Smart Film, the New Sincerity and the Quirky. It argues that Anderson is one of a small but significant number of filmmakers to escape from the indiscriminate irony of fin de sie`cle cinema, and finds The Life Aquatic Aquatic a particularly interesting film in which to explore such matters because of its ready artifice, strong elements of pastiche and measuredly preposterous excesses. Offering a critical analysis, the paper balances an engagement with some of the systemic elements of the film’s tone with the detailed organisation of tonal elements in particular sequences