Did somebody say Neoliberalism? On the uses and limitations of a critical concept in media and communication studies

This paper explores the political-economic basis and ideological effects of talk about neoliberalism with respect to media and communication studies. In response to the supposed ascendancy of the neoliberal order since the 1980s, many media and communication scholars have redirected their critical attentions from capitalism to neoliberalism. This paper tries to clarify the significance of the relatively new emphasis on neoliberalism in the discourse of media and communication studies, with particular reference to the 2011 phone hacking scandal at The News of the World. Questioning whether the discursive substitution of ‘neoliberalism’ for ‘capitalism’ offers any advances in critical purchase or explanatory power to critics of capitalist society and its media, the paper proposes that critics substitute a Marxist class analysis in place of the neoliberalism-versus-democracy framework that currently dominates in the field

Multi-wavelength Radio Continuum Emission Studies of Dust-free Red Giants

Multi-wavelength centimeter continuum observations of non-dusty, non-pulsating K spectral-type red giants directly sample their chromospheres and wind acceleration zones. Such stars are feeble emitters at these wavelengths however, and previous observations have provided only a small number of modest S/N measurements slowly accumulated over three decades. We present multi-wavelength Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array thermal continuum observations of the wind acceleration zones of two dust-free red giants, Arcturus (Alpha Boo: K2 III) and Aldebaran (Alpha Tau: K5 III). Importantly, most of our observations of each star were carried out over just a few days, so that we obtained a snapshot of the different stellar atmospheric layers sampled at different wavelengths, independent of any long-term variability. We report the first detections at several wavelengths for each star including a detection at 10 cm (3.0 GHz: S band) for both stars and a 20 cm (1.5 GHz: L band) detection for Alpha Boo. This is the first time single luminosity class III red giants have been detected at these continuum wavelengths. Our long-wavelength data sample the outer layers of Alpha Boo's atmosphere where its wind velocity is approaching its terminal value and the ionization balance is becoming frozen-in. For Alpha Tau, however, our long-wavelength data are still sampling its inner atmosphere, where the wind is still accelerating probably due to its lower mass-loss rate. We compare our data with published semi-empirical models based on ultraviolet data, and the marked deviations highlight the need for new atmospheric models to be developed. Spectral indices are used to discuss the possible properties of the stellar atmospheres, and we find evidence for a rapidly cooling wind in the case of Alpha Boo. Finally, we develop a simple analytical wind model for Alpha Boo based on our new long-wavelength flux measurements

Adaptation and validation of the Charlson Index for Read/OXMIS coded databases

Background: The Charlson comorbidity index is widely used in ICD-9 administrative data, however, there is no translation for Read/OXMIS coded data despite increasing use of the General Practice Research Database (GPRD). Our main objective was to translate the Charlson index for use with Read/OXMIS coded data such as the GPRD and test its association with mortality. We also aimed to provide a version of the comorbidity index for other researchers using similar datasets. Methods: Two clinicians translated the Charlson index into Read/OXMIS codes. We tested the association between comorbidity score and increased mortality in 146 441 patients from the GPRD using proportional hazards models. Results: This Read/OXMIS translation of the Charlson index contains 3156 codes. Our validation showed a strong positive association between Charlson score and age. Cox proportional models show a positive increasing association with mortality and Charlson score. The discrimination of the logistic regression model for mortality was good (AUC = 0.853). Conclusion: We have translated a commonly used comorbidity index into Read/OXMIS for use in UK primary care databases. The translated index showed a good discrimination in our study population. This is the first study to develop a co-morbidity index for use with the Read/OXMIS coding system and the GPRD. A copy of the co-morbidity index is provided for other researchers using similar databases

Διερεύνηση Πλημυρικής Κατάκλυσης σε συνθήκες μη μόνιμης ροής με τη χρήση Λογισμικών Υδραυλικής Προσομοίωση. Εφαρμογή στον Πηνειό Θεσσαλίας.

Εθνικό Μετσόβιο Πολυτεχνείο--Μεταπτυχιακή Εργασία. Διεπιστημονικό-Διατμηματικό Πρόγραμμα Μεταπτυχιακών Σπουδών (Δ.Π.Μ.Σ.) “Επιστήμη και Τεχνολογία Υδατικών Πόρων

Error Compensation of Single-Qubit Gates in a Surface Electrode Ion Trap Using Composite Pulses

The fidelity of laser-driven quantum logic operations on trapped ion qubits tend to be lower than microwave-driven logic operations due to the difficulty of stabilizing the driving fields at the ion location. Through stabilization of the driving optical fields and use of composite pulse sequences, we demonstrate high fidelity single-qubit gates for the hyperfine qubit of a $^{171}\text{Yb}^+$ ion trapped in a microfabricated surface electrode ion trap. Gate error is characterized using a randomized benchmarking protocol, and an average error per randomized Clifford group gate of $3.6(3)\times10^{-4}$ is measured. We also report experimental realization of palindromic pulse sequences that scale efficiently in sequence length

The subject of madness : insanity, individuals and society in late-medieval English literature

Chapter Three discusses the dream vision of Book I of the Vox Clamantis; it shows how Gower repeats the commonplaces of medieval didactic writers, regarding the peasant insurrection of 1381 as an outbreak of demonic derangement. It is seen that Gower makes use of the 'organic analogy' of society to show this madness as an infection of the entire social body. The sufferings of the nobility at the hands of the rioting mobs are described sympathetically in terms of 'grief-madness'. Thus Gower presents two very different, class-based, attitudes towards insanity. The discussion of Chaucer's Miller's and Summoner's tales in the following chapter continues the investigation of the link between madness and social class. Here it is seen how Chaucer undermines the traditional theological interpretation of madness as a punishment for sin by encouraging comparison and contrast of the many allegations of insanity in the texts. A rather different approach is taken in Chapter Five, which examines the major works of the civil servant Thomas Hoccleve. Far from regarding madness as essentially spectacular, the apparently insane narrator of Hoccleve's major poems stresses that insanity is a hidden and undetectable affliction. This conclusion, it is argued, contradicts the standard view of psychiatric history regarding madness in the Middle Ages. The relationship between madness, expressions of interiority and medieval autobiography is considered. The final chapter explores the association of madness, female unruliness and mystical rapture in The Book of Margery Kempe. It argues that the Book displays two contradictory attitudes towards madness. Kempe is eager to present madness as a moral abomination and she frequently invokes ecclesiastical authority to do so. Nevertheless, she herself is held mad by many of her contemporaries on account of her controversial devotional behaviour; this explains why madness is presented positively elsewhere in the Book, as a blessed condition of increased spiritual insight. In this sense the Book contains a craftily double-edged attempt by Kempe to vindicate her conduct

Elemental concentrations in the seed of mutants and natural variants of Arabidopsis thaliana grown under varying soil conditions

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