The Missing Rhetoric of Gender in Responses to Abu Ghraib

This paper explores Western responses to the torture inflicted upon Iraqi detainees by U.S. soldiers at the Abu Ghraib facility near Baghdad. More specifically, however, this paper examines responses to photographic representations of this torture, which began to surface in the April of 2004. The analysis that follows engages closely with the status of the photographs as images, arguing that existing critical interpretations fail to account for the particular issues and problems that the visual image presents. Through detailed reference work by Judith Butler and Susan Sontag, this paper will also interrogate the limitations of recent theoretical approaches to the Abu Ghraib photographs, and consider the extent to which discussions of gender have been excluded from these discourses

Origins Space Telescope: predictions for far-IR spectroscopic surveys

We illustrate the extraordinary potential of the (far-IR) Origins Survey Spectrometer (OSS) on board the Origins Space Telescope (OST) to address a variety of open issues on the co-evolution of galaxies and AGNs. We present predictions for blind surveys, each of 1000 h, with different mapped areas (a shallow survey covering an area of 10 deg$^{2}$ and a deep survey of 1 deg$^{2}$) and two different concepts of the OST/OSS: with a 5.9 m telescope (Concept 2, our reference configuration) and with a 9.1 m telescope (Concept 1, previous configuration). In 1000 h, surveys with the reference concept will detect from $\sim 1.9 \times 10^{6}$ to $\sim 8.7 \times 10^{6}$ lines from $\sim 4.8 \times 10^{5}$-$2.7 \times 10^{6}$ star-forming galaxies and from $\sim 1.4 \times 10^{4}$ to $\sim 3.8 \times 10^{4}$ lines from $\sim 1.3 \times 10^{4}$-$3.5 \times 10^{4}$ AGNs. The shallow survey will detect substantially more sources than the deep one; the advantage of the latter in pushing detections to lower luminosities/higher redshifts turns out to be quite limited. The OST/OSS will reach, in the same observing time, line fluxes more than one order of magnitude fainter than the SPICA/SMI and will cover a much broader redshift range. In particular it will detect tens of thousands of galaxies at $z \geq 5$, beyond the reach of that instrument. The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons lines are potentially bright enough to allow the detection of hundreds of thousands of star-forming galaxies up to $z \sim 8.5$, i.e. all the way through the re-ionization epoch. The proposed surveys will allow us to explore the galaxy-AGN co-evolution up to $z\sim 5.5-6$ with very good statistics. OST Concept 1 does not offer significant advantages for the scientific goals presented here.Comment: 24 pages, 20 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in PAS

Real-time flood inundation forecasting and mapping for key railway infrastructure: a UK case study

Flooding events that impede railway infrastructure can cause severe travel delays for the general public and large fines in delayed minutes for the rail industry. Early warnings of flood inundation can give more time to implement mitigation measures which help reduce cancellations, delays and fines. Initial work is reported on the development of a real-time flood inundation forecasting and mapping system for the Cowley Bridge track area near Exeter, UK. This location is on one of the main access routes to South West England and has suffered major floods in the past resulting in significant transport impacts. Flood forecasting systems in the UK mainly forecast river level/flow rather than extent and depth of flood inundation. Here, the development of a chain of coupled models is discussed that link rainfall to river flow, river level and flood extent for the rail track area relating to Cowley Bridge. Historical events are identified to test model performance in predicting inundation of railway infrastructure. The modelling system will operate alongside a series of in-situ sensors chosen to enhance the flood mapping forecasting system. Sensor data will support offline model calibration/verification and real-time data assimilation as well as monitoring flood conditions to inform track closure decisions

RNA-dependent RNA polymerase 1 in potato (Solanum tuberosum) and its relationship to other plant RNA-dependent RNA polymerases

Cellular RNA-dependent RNA polymerases (RDR) catalyze synthesis of double stranded RNAs that can serve to initiate or amplify RNA silencing. Arabidopsis thaliana has six RDR genes; RDRs 1, 2 and 6 have roles in anti-viral RNA silencing. RDR6 is constitutively expressed but RDR1 expression is elevated following plant treatment with defensive phytohormones. RDR1 also contributes to basal virus resistance. RDR1 has been studied in several species including A. thaliana, tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum), N. benthamiana, N. attenuata and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) but not to our knowledge in potato (S. tuberosum). StRDR1 was identified and shown to be salicylic acid-responsive. StRDR1 transcript accumulation decreased in transgenic potato plants constitutively expressing a hairpin construct and these plants were challenged with three viruses: potato virus Y, potato virus X, and tobacco mosaic virus. Suppression of StRDR1 gene expression did not increase the susceptibility of potato to these viruses. Phylogenetic analysis of RDR genes present in potato and in a range of other plant species identified a new RDR gene family, not present in potato and found only in Rosids (but apparently lost in the Rosid A. thaliana) for which we propose the name RDR7.LJRH was supported by a studentship co-funded by the James Hutton Institute (formerly Scottish Crop Research Institute) and the UK Biotechnological and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). Work in the JPC lab is funded by The Leverhulme Trust (RPG-2012-667), BBSRC (BB/D014376/1, BB/J011762/1) and the Cambridge University Newton Trust. SFB was funded by Leverhulme grant F/09-741/G to Professor Beverley Glover. KG was funded by an EMBO Short Term Fellowship. Work in the PP lab is funded by grant number NRF-2013R1A2A2A01016282 from the Korean National Research Foundation.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Nature Publishing Group via https://doi.org/10.1038/srep2308

Washington Park Main Street Plan

There is an immense variety of privately owned businesses. They will be stakeholders because their businesses are located there, but they will also be assets in themselves in drawing people to the area. There is basically everything anyone could possible want or need in this area. There are two gas stations, a Family Dollar, a liquor store, a few sit down restaurants, numerous places where one can get a quick bite to eat, a frame shop, a clothing store, a pawn shop, a store with fresh produce (which is hard to find in urban areas), a store that sells sports uniforms, a frame shop, a lawyerʼs office, an animal hospital, two Laundromats, a record shop, a health food store, two cell phone stores, an automotive shop, and a karate school with an afterschool program. With such variety, it will draw people to the area and then give them other reasons to keep coming back

Spectroscopy and Time Variability of Absorption Lines in the Direction of the Vela Supernova Remnant

We present high resolution (R~75,000), high signal-to-noise (S/N~100) Ca II $\lambda$3933.663 and Na I $\lambda\lambda$5889.951, 5895.924 spectra of 68 stars in the direction of the Vela supernova remnant. The spectra comprise the most complete high resolution, high S/N, optical survey of early type stars in this region of the sky. A subset of the sight lines has been observed at multiple epochs, 1993/1994 and 1996. Of the thirteen stars observed twice, seven have spectra revealing changes in the equivalent width and/or velocity structure of lines, most of which arise from remnant gas. Such time variability has been reported previously for the sight lines towards HD 72089 and HD 72997 by Danks & Sembach (1995) and for HD 72127 by Hobbs et al. (1991). We have confirmed the ongoing time variability of these spectra and present new evidence of variability in the spectra of HD 73658, HD 74455, HD 75309 and HD 75821. We have tabulated Na I and Ca II absorption line information for the sight lines in our sample to serve as a benchmark for further investigations of the dynamics and evolution of the Vela SNR.Comment: 8 pages of text, 4 tables, 16 pages of figures Accepted and to be published in ApJ

Adherence to antiretroviral therapy assessed by drug level monitoring and self-report in cameroon

OBJECTIVES: To compare adherence to antiretroviral therapy using drug level monitoring and self-report and to explore the relation between these 2 methods and viral load measurements. METHODS: Sixty patients received a fixed-dose combination of nevirapine, stavudine, and lamivudine in a clinical study in Cameroon. Adherence was assessed every 6 months until month 36 by nevirapine minimal plasma concentration and self-report. Plasma HIV-1 viral load was determined at the same time. Analyses included 159 complete observations. RESULTS: The proportion of patients labeled as "adherent" was significantly lower using nevirapine monitoring (88.7%, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 82.7 to 93.2) than self-report (97.5%, CI: 93.7 to 99.3; P = 0.002). Virologic failure was associated with the nevirapine concentration (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 4.43; P = 0.018) but not with the self-reported adherence (aOR = 0.84; P = 0.9). As compared with the virologic outcome, the sensitivity of nevirapine level monitoring for predicting inadequate adherence was 20.5%, the specificity was 91.7%, the positive predictive value was 44.4%, and the negative predictive value was 78.0%. For self-report, the respective values were 2.6%, 97.5%, 25.0%, and 75.5%. CONCLUSIONS: Drug level monitoring provided a more reliable estimate of adherence than self-report. This method could be used in research settings. Operational research is required to define how to improve the accuracy of the self-report method because it is the most feasible method in clinical practice

Invisible Inequalities of Austerity: Everyday Life, Mothers and Health in Stockton-on-Tees

Austerity in the UK has been ongoing since 2010 and is contributing to widening health, economic, gender and social inequalities. There has been little contemporary qualitative research into the gendered inequalities of austerity in the context of health inequalities. This thesis presents findings from research with mothers in Stockton-on-Tees, a borough in the North East of England with wide health inequalities. The research focuses on the interplay between the macro and micro consequences of austerity for mothers – the impact of welfare retrenchment, public sector cuts and local labour market conditions, and how these effect everyday life in the context of unpaid care work and mothers experiences of depletion through social reproduction. This is contextualised through the lens of feminist political economy as an essential framework for diagnosing the symptoms of austerity and proposing productive alternatives. Qualitative longitudinal interviewing and ethnographic research are used to draw out the perspectives of respondents in relation to austerity and everyday life. The ‘intersectionality’ of inequality is emphasised – how gender interacts with age, class, place, ethnicity and disability to produce complex effects on health and wellbeing. Findings indicate that austerity is making Stockton-on-Tees a more uneven place - once-strong ties to communities are perceived to be deteriorating, and the socio-spatial distribution of inequality increasing. Mothers expressed a need for more space and time to care without the pressures of welfare reform and the associated risks. ‘Invisible inequalities’ are depleting the mental wellbeing of many mothers. This research provides a contribution to the growing body of evidence indicating that austerity is damaging to social equality, widening the health gap, contributing to worsening mental health, and intensifying intersecting inequalities for women. It is unique in its application of the concept of intersectionality to health inequalities in the context of austerity, and the novel contribution of a feminist political economy approach to the study of health and austerity