What Is Liberalism?

Liberalism is a term employed in a dizzying variety of ways in political thought and social science. This essay challenges how the liberal tradition is typically understood. I start by delineating different types of response—prescriptive, comprehensive, explanatory—that are frequently conflated in answering the question “what is liberalism?” I then discuss assorted methodological strategies employed in the existing literature: after rejecting “stipulative” and “canonical” approaches, I outline a contextualist alternative. Liberalism, on this (comprehensive) account, is best characterised as the sum of the arguments that have been classified as liberal, and recognised as such by other self-proclaimed liberals, over time and space. In the remainder of the article, I present an historical analysis of shifts in the meaning of liberalism in Anglo-American political thought between 1850 and 1950, focusing in particular on how Locke came to be characterised as a liberal. I argue that the scope of the liberal traditionexpanded during the middle decades of the twentieth century, such that it came to be seen by many as the constitutive ideology of the West. This capacious (and deeply confusing) understanding of liberalism was a product of the ideological wars fought against “totalitarianism” and assorted developments in the social sciences. Today we both inherit and inhabit it. This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Sage via http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/009059171453510

Exercise-induced muscle damage is reduced in resistance-trained males by branched chain amino acids: a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled study

Background: It is well documented that exercise-induced muscle damage (EIMD) decreases muscle function and causes soreness and discomfort. Branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) supplementation has been shown to increase protein synthesis and decrease muscle protein breakdown, however, the effects of BCAAs on recovery from damaging resistance training are unclear. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the effects of a BCAA supplementation on markers of muscle damage elicited via a sport specific bout of damaging exercise in trained volunteers. Methods: Twelve males (mean ± SD age, 23 ± 2 y; stature, 178.3 ± 3.6 cm and body mass, 79.6 ± 8.4 kg) were randomly assigned to a supplement (n = 6) or placebo (n = 6) group. The damaging exercise consisted of 100 consecutive drop-jumps. Creatine kinase (CK), maximal voluntary contraction (MVC), muscle soreness (DOMS), vertical jump (VJ), thigh circumference (TC) and calf circumference (CC) were measured as markers of muscle damage. All variables were measured immediately before the damaging exercise and at 24, 48, 72 and 96 h post-exercise. Results: A significant time effect was seen for all variables. There were significant group effects showing a reduction in CK efflux and muscle soreness in the BCAA group compared to the placebo (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the recovery of MVC was greater in the BCAA group (P < 0.05). The VJ, TC and CC were not different between groups. Conclusion: The present study has shown that BCAA administered before and following damaging resistance exercise reduces indices of muscle damage and accelerates recovery in resistance-trained males. It seems likely that BCAA provided greater bioavailablity of substrate to improve protein synthesis and thereby the extent of secondary muscle damage associated with strenuous resistance exercise. Clinical Trial Registration Number: NCT01529281

Adoption of Computer Science in NZ schools

In 2011, Programming and Computer Science standards were made available as part of NCEA in New Zealand high schools. Because little guidance and professional development was available initially, teachers have found it challenging to present the content effectively to their students. In response to this, several resources and professional development opportunities have been made available, including the widely used Computer Science Field Guide for Computer Science, and several programming resources specific to the new standards. In this paper we outline the deployment of the new standards and supporting material, and look at the uptake of the new standards over the first three years that they were phased in. This reveals increasing participation at schools, and higher enrolments at university as a flow-on effect. The introduction of Computer Science has also helped to address perception and stereotypes about the industry, with high achievement by female students, although participation rates are not ideal

Presenting Computer Science Concepts to High School Students

Computer science at high school often focusses on programming, but a broader view of other areas of computer science has key benefits for both writing programs that are more efficient and making more theoretical concepts more accessible to those who do not find programming intrinsically interesting. With the introduction of computer science at high schools, a lack of coherent resources for teachers and students prompted the development of the NZ Computer Science Field Guide, an open-source, on-line textbook. This paper describes the design of the Field Guide, which has fourteen chapters about various topics of computer science. The design includes written text, videos, classroom activities and interactive applications. The need for a broad view of computer science is discussed, and programming exercises to go with the topics are suggested

A Newly Discovered Large and Significant Population of Castela emoryi (Emory’s Crucifixion Thorn, Simaroubaceae) in California

Castela emoryi is an understudied species, and recent visits to populations across California have shed new light on its distribution and biology, including recruitment, natural history, and herbivory. Field exploration in Rice Valley in Riverside County revealed what is considered to be the largest population of C. emoryi in California. Possible threats and conservation needs of this species are discussed

Evaluation of 3D Printed Immobilisation Shells for Head and Neck IMRT

This paper presents the preclinical evaluation of a novel immobilization system for patients undergoing external beam radiation treatment of head and neck tumors. An immobilization mask is manufactured directly from a 3-D model, built using the CT data routinely acquired for treatment planning so there is no need to take plaster of Paris moulds. Research suggests that many patients find the mould room visit distressing and so rapid prototyping could potentially improve the overall patient experience. Evaluation of a computer model of the immobilization system using an anthropomorphic phantom shows that >99% of vertices are within a tolerance of ±0.2 mm. Hausdorff distance was used to analyze CT slices obtained by rescanning the phantom with a printed mask in position. These results show that for >80% of the slices the median “worse-case” tolerance is approximately 4 mm. These measurements suggest that printed masks can achieve similar levels of immobilization to those of systems currently in clinical use

Parameters of core-collapse

This paper considers the phenomenon of deep core collapse in collisional stellar systems, with stars of equal mass. The collapse takes place on some multiple, $\xi ^{-1}$, of the central relaxation time, and produces a density profile in which $\rho \propto r^{-\alpha}$, where $\alpha$ is a constant. The parameters $\alpha$ and $\xi$ have usually been determined from simplified models, such as gas and Fokker-Planck models, often with the simplification of isotropy. Here we determine the parameters directly from N-body simulations carried out using the newly completed GRAPE-6.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, accepted by MNRAS. Reference added to Table

A New Species of Linanthus (Polemoniaceae) from San Bernardino County, California

Linanthus bernardinus is described as new from San Bernardino County, California. It is morphologically similar to L. killipii and L. orcuttii subsp. pacificus but differs from plants of these taxa in height, corolla length, seed morphology, and habitat. Linanthus bernardinus can be found growing in vernally moist areas within Joshua tree woodland, often in shallow depressions, or on gentle slopes, in decomposed granite sand that is surrounded by large granite boulder fields

An investigation to establish the source of the Roman lime mortars used in Wallsend, UK

This paper presents the results of analytical work which aimed to explore potential sources for the lime mortar used in the Hadrianic fort baths and a third-century repair to Hadrian's Wall at Wallsend, UK. It is generally assumed that quick lime for mortar is produced close to the source, however, as yet, no archaeological evidence of kilns has been found in the Wallsend area. After extensive analysis the mortars were found to be very different in characteristics and suggest variable sources for the quarried limestone and for the aggregates used to manufacture the mortar. Precedence exists in other locations for quicklime to be sourced from kilns set at some considerable distance from Roman construction sites. It is only at Housesteads and Vindolanda, sited close to Carboniferous Limestone outcrops, that Roman lime kilns have been discovered to date. Therefore the investigation included a number of potential sources in the vicinity of Housesteads as well as Permian limestones at Trow Point which is geographically the closest source of limestone. Results suggest that Carboniferous limestone was the most likely source for some of the mortars analysed which may suggest that areas for lime production are less numerous than previously thought and may even have been concentrated around one area