The Aesthetic Uncanny: Staging Dorian Gray

This article discusses my theatrical adaptation of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891) for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (2008). Freud's concept of the uncanny (1919) was treated as a purely aesthetic phenomenon and related to late nineteenth century social and literary preoccupations such as Christianity, the supernatural and glamorous, criminal homosexuality. These considerations led to a conceptual ground plan that allowed for experiments during rehearsal in a form of theatrical shorthand

Status of Chiral-Scale Perturbation Theory

Chiral-scale perturbation theory $\chi$PT$_\sigma$ has been proposed as an alternative to chiral $SU(3)_L\times SU(3)_R$ perturbation theory which explains the $\Delta I = 1/2$ rule for kaon decays. It is based on a low-energy expansion about an infrared fixed point in three-flavor QCD. In $\chi$PT$_\sigma$, quark condensation $\langle\bar q q \rangle_\mathrm{vac} \neq 0$ induces nine Nambu-Goldstone bosons: $\pi, K, \eta$ and a QCD dilaton $\sigma$ which we identify with the $f_0(500)$ resonance. Partial conservation of the dilatation and chiral currents constrains low-energy constants which enter the effective Lagrangian of $\chi$PT$_\sigma$. These constraints allow us to obtain new phenomenological bounds on the dilaton decay constant via the coupling of $\sigma/f_0$ to pions, whose value is known precisely from dispersive analyses of $\pi\pi$ scattering. Improved predictions for $\sigma \to \gamma \gamma$ and the $\sigma NN$ coupling are also noted. To test $\chi$PT$_\sigma$ for kaon decays, we revive a 1985 proposal for lattice methods to be applied to $K \to \pi$ on-shell.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure. Presented at the 8th International Workshop on Chiral Dynamics, 29 June 2015 - 03 July 2015, Pisa, Italy. Revision: references and comment adde

Magnetic properties of strongly disordered electronic systems

We present a unified, global perspective on the magnetic properties of strongly disordered electronic systems, with special emphasis on the case where the ground state is metallic. We review the arguments for the instability of the disordered Fermi liquid state towards the formation of local magnetic moments, and argue that their singular low temperature thermodynamics are the ``quantum Griffiths'' precursors of the quantum phase transition to a metallic spin glass; the local moment formation is therefore not directly related to the metal-insulator transition. We also review the the mean-field theory of the disordered Fermi liquid to metallic spin glass transition and describe the separate regime of ``non-Fermi liquid'' behavior at higher temperatures near the quantum critical point. The relationship to experimental results on doped semiconductors and heavy-fermion compounds is noted.Comment: 25 pages; Contribution to the Royal Society Discussion Meeting on "The Metal-Non Metal Transition in Macroscopic and Microscopic Systems", March 5-6, 199

Comparison of Howland and General Impedance Converter (GIC) circuit based current sources for bio-impedance measurements

The current source is a key component in bio-impedance measurement systems. The accuracy of the current source can be measured in terms of its output impedance together with other parameters, with certain applications demanding extremely high output impedance. This paper presents an investigation and comparison of different current source designs based on the Enhanced Howland circuit combined with a General Impedance Converter (GIC) circuit using both ideal and non-ideal operational amplifiers. Under differing load conditions two different settings of the GIC are evaluated and the results are compared to show its performance settings. Whilst the study has shown that over a wide bandwidth (i.e. 100Hz-100MHz) the output impedance is limited, operation over a more limited range offers output impedance in the Giga-ohm range, which can be considered as being infinite

Nasal Lipopolysaccharide Challenge and Cytokine Measurement Reflects Innate Mucosal Immune Responsiveness

<div><p>Background</p><p><b>P</b>ractical methods of monitoring innate immune mucosal responsiveness are lacking. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is a component of the cell wall of Gram negative bacteria and a potent activator of Toll-like receptor (TLR)-4. To measure LPS responsiveness of the nasal mucosa, we administered LPS as a nasal spray and quantified chemokine and cytokine levels in mucosal lining fluid (MLF).</p><p>Methods</p><p>We performed a 5-way cross-over, single blind, placebo-controlled study in 15 healthy non-atopic subjects (n = 14 <i>per protocol</i>). Doses of ultrapure LPS (1, 10, 30 or 100μg/100μl) or placebo were administered by a single nasal spray to each nostril. Using the recently developed method of nasosorption with synthetic adsorptive matrices (SAM), a series of samples were taken. A panel of seven cytokines/chemokines were measured by multiplex immunoassay in MLF. mRNA for intercellular cell adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) was quantified from nasal epithelial curettage samples taken before and after challenge.</p><p>Results</p><p>Topical nasal LPS was well tolerated, causing no symptoms and no visible changes to the nasal mucosa. LPS induced dose-related increases in MLF levels of IL-1β, IL-6, CXCL8 (IL-8) and CCL3 (MIP-1α) (AUC at 0.5 to 10h, compared to placebo, p<0.05 at 30 and 100μg LPS). At 100μg LPS, IL-10, IFN-α and TNF-α were also increased (p<0.05). Dose-related changes in mucosal ICAM-1 mRNA were also seen after challenge, and neutrophils appeared to peak in MLF at 8h. However, 2 subjects with high baseline cytokine levels showed prominent cytokine and chemokine responses to relatively low LPS doses (10μg and 30μg LPS).</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>Topical nasal LPS causes dose-dependent increases in cytokines, chemokines, mRNA and cells. However, responsiveness can show unpredictable variations, possibly because baseline innate tone is affected by environmental factors. We believe that this new technique will have wide application in the study of the innate immune responses of the respiratory mucosa.</p><p>Key Messages</p><p>Ultrapure LPS was used as innate immune stimulus in a human nasal challenge model, with serial sampling of nasal mucosal lining fluid (MLF) by nasosorption using a synthetic absorptive matrix (SAM), and nasal curettage of mucosal cells. A dose response could be demonstrated in terms of levels of IL-1β, IL-6, CXCL8 and CCL3 in MLF, as well as ICAM-1 mRNA in nasal curettage specimens, and levels of neutrophils in nasal lavage. Depending on higher baseline levels of inflammation, there were occasional magnified innate inflammatory responses to LPS.</p><p>Trial Registration</p><p>Clinical Trials.gov <a href="https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02284074?term=nasal+lipopolysaccharide&rank=1" target="_blank">NCT02284074</a></p></div

Understanding the scale and nature of outcome change in area-regeneration programmes: evidence from the New Deal for Communities Programme in England

The New Deal for Communities (NDC) Programme is one of the most intensive area-based initiatives (ABIs) launched in England. Between 1998 and 2010, 39 NDC Partnerships were charged with improving conditions in relation to six outcomes within deprived neighbourhoods, each accommodating around 9,800 people. Data point to only modest change, much of which reflected improving attitudes towards the area and the environment. There are problems in identifying positive people-based outcomes because relatively few individuals benefit from relevant initiatives. Few positive benefits leak out of NDC areas. Transformational change was always unlikely bearing in mind the limited nature of additional resources, and because only a minority of individuals directly engage with NDC projects. This evidence supports perspectives of ABIs rooted in 'local-managerialism'

Media outlets and their moguls: why concentrated individual or family ownership is bad for editorial independence

This article investigates the levels of owner influence in 211 different print and broadcast outlets in 32 different European media markets. Drawing on the literature from industrial organisation, it sets out reasons why we should expect greater levels of influence where ownership of individual outlets is concentrated; where it is concentrated in the hands of individuals or families; and where ownership groups own multiple outlets in the same media market. Conversely, we should expect lower levels of influence where ownership is dispersed between transnational companies. The articles uses original data on the ownership structures of these outlets, and combines it with reliable expert judgments as to the level of owner influence in each of the outlets. These hypotheses are tested and confirmed in a multilevel regression model of owner influence. The findings are relevant for policy on ownership limits in the media, and for the debate over transnational versus local control of media

The uses and functions of ageing celebrity war reporters

This article starts from the premise that recognition of professional authority and celebrity status depends on the embodiment and performance of field-specific dispositional practices: there’s no such thing as a natural, though we often talk about journalistic instinct as something someone simply has or doesn’t have. Next, we have little control over how we are perceived by peers and publics, and what we think are active positioning or subjectifying practices are in fact, after Bourdieu, revelations of already-determined delegation. The upshot is that two journalists can arrive at diametrically opposed judgements on the basis of observation of the same actions of a colleague, and as individuals we are blithely hypocritical in forming (or reciting) evaluations of the professional identity of celebrities. Nowhere is this starker than in the discourse of age-appropriate behaviour, which this paper addresses using the examples of ‘star’ war reporters John Simpson, Kate Adie and Martin Bell. A certain rough-around-the-edges irreverence is central to dispositional authenticity amongst war correspondents, and for ageing hacks this incorporates gendered attitudes to sex and alcohol as well as indifference to protocol. And yet perceived age-inappropriate sexual behaviour is also used to undermine professional integrity, and the paper ends by outlining the phenomenological context that makes possible this effortless switching between amoral and moralising recognition by peers and audiences alike

Comparing international coverage of 9/11 : towards an interdisciplinary explanation of the construction of news

This article presents an interdisciplinary model attempting to explain how news is constructed by relying on the contributions of different fields of study: News Sociology, Political Communications, International Communications, International Relations. It is a first step towards developing a holistic theoretical approach to what shapes the news, which bridges current micro to macro approaches. More precisely the model explains news variation across different media organization and countries by focusing on the different way the sense of newsworthiness of journalists is affected by three main variables: national interest, national journalistic culture, and editorial policy of each media organization. The model is developed on the basis of an investigation into what shaped the media coverage of 9/11 in eight elite newspapers across the US, France, Italy and Pakistan