Witchcraft and the Somerset idyll : The depiction of folk belief in Walter Raymond’s novels

The work of Walter Raymond (1852-1931) is now largely forgotten. Yet his Somerset novels, complemented by his ethnographic writings, contain depictions of local witchcraft belief that are worthy of study in literary and historical contexts. They raise issues regarding the fictional depiction of rural life and tradition, and the value of fiction as a folkloric and historical sourcePeer reviewe

Modelling residential segregation as unevenness and clustering: A multilevel modelling approach incorporating spatial dependence and tackling the MAUP

Traditional studies of residential segregation use a descriptive index approach with predefined spatial units to report the degree of neighbourhood differentiation. We develop a model-based approach which explicitly includes spatial effects at multiple scales, recognising the complexity of the urban environment while simultaneously distinguishing segregation at each scale net of all other scales. Moreover, this model distinguishes segregation as unevenness and as spatial clustering in the presence of stochastic variation. The modelling approach, unlike traditional index approaches, allows hypothesis evaluation concerning alternative scales and zonation through an accompanying badness-of-fit measure. Ultimately, this permits the identification of the scale and zonation regime where the spatial patterns come into focus thereby directly tackling the modifiable areal unit problem. The model is applied to Indian ethnicity in Leicester, UK, finding segregation as unevenness and as spatial clustering at multiple scales.OLD Urban Renewal and Housin

Macro-, Meso- and Microscale Segregation: Modeling Changing Ethnic Residential Patterns in Auckland, New Zealand, 2001–2013

“David Manley's contribution was partially supported by funding from the European Research Council under the European Union's Seventy Framework Programme (FP/2007–2013)/ERC Grant Agreement n.615159 (ERC Consolidator Grant “DEPRIVEDHOODS, Socio-spatial inequality, deprived neighbourhoods, and neighbourhood effects.)” Most world cities can now be characterized as multiethnic and multicultural in their population composition, and the residential patterning of their major component ethnic groups remains a topic of substantial research interest. Many studies of the degree of residential segregation of ethnic groups recognize that this is multiscalar in its composition, but few have incorporated this major feature into their analyses: Those that do mostly conclude that segregation is greater at the microscale than at the macroscale. This article uses a recently developed alternative procedure for assessing the degree of segregation that differs from all others in that it analyzes the geography of all groups simultaneously, providing a single, synoptic view of their relative segregation; can incorporate data for more than one date and therefore evaluate the statistical significance of the extent of any change over time; operates at several geographical scales, allowing appreciation of the extent of clustering and congregation for the various ethnic groups at different levels of spatial resolution; and—most important—is based on a firm statistical foundation that allows for robust assessments of differences in the levels of segregation for different groups between each other at different scales over time. This modeling procedure is illustrated by a three-scale analysis of ethnic residential segregation in Auckland, New Zealand, as depicted by the country’s 2001, 2006, and 2013 censuses.OTBArchitecture and The Built Environmen

Ethnic Residential Segregation: A Multilevel, Multigroup, Multiscale Approach Exemplified by London in 2011

We develop and apply a multilevel modeling approach that is simultaneously capable of assessing multigroup and multiscale segregation in the presence of substantial stochastic variation that accompanies ethnicity rates based on small absolute counts. Bayesian MCMC estimation of a log-normal Poisson model allows the calculation of the variance estimates of the degree of segregation in a single overall model, and credible intervals are obtained to provide a measure of uncertainty around those estimates. The procedure partitions the variance at different levels and implicitly models the dependency (or autocorrelation) at each spatial scale below the topmost one. Substantively, we apply the model to 2011 census data for London, one of the world’s most ethnically diverse cities. We find that the degree of segregation depends both on scale and group.OTBArchitecture and The Built Environmen

Synthesis and electrochemical characterization of thiophenes with pendant fluorescent terpyridine

A novel series of thiophenes with terpyridine pendant groups were synthesized by Steglich esterification in the presence of DCC/DMAP and the synthesized monomers were electrochemically polymerized onto microelectrodes using glassy carbon and carbon fiber as active electrode materials. Each pendant group has aliphatic spacers with different chain lengths affecting the movement of the terpyridine groups. The synthesized thiophene derivatives were characterized by electrochemical and spectroscopic methods. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopic measurements of polythiophene-terpyridine (PTh-Terpy) derivatives were given comparatively. The fluorescence properties of the compounds were observed; all compounds were fluorescent, with higher fluorescence intensity for the shorter chain length, and slightly reduced fluorescence relative to that of the free terpyridine fluorophore. Morphological characterization was achieved via scanning electron microscopy

Measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution coexisting with classical communication

The possibility for quantum and classical communication to coexist on the same fiber is important for deployment and widespread adoption of quantum key distribution (QKD) and, more generally, a future quantum internet. While coexistence has been demonstrated for different QKD implementations, a comprehensive investigation for measurement-device independent (MDI) QKD - a recently proposed QKD protocol that cannot be broken by quantum hacking that targets vulnerabilities of single-photon detectors - is still missing. Here we experimentally demonstrate that MDI-QKD can operate simultaneously with at least five 10 Gbps bidirectional classical communication channels operating at around 1550 nm wavelength and over 40 km of spooled fiber, and we project communication rates in excess of 10 THz when moving the quantum channel from the third to the second telecommunication window. The similarity of MDI-QKD with quantum repeaters suggests that classical and generalized quantum networks can co-exist on the same fiber infrastructure.QID/Tittel GroupQuantum Communications LabQuTec

More sea fights of the great war, including the battle of Jutland,

Mode of access: Internet

Report of the European Myeloma Network on multiparametric flow cytometry in multiple myeloma and related disorders.

The European Myeloma Network (EMN) organized two flow cytometry workshops. The first aimed to identify specific indications for flow cytometry in patients with monoclonal gammopathies, and consensus technical approaches through a questionnaire-based review of current practice in participating laboratories. The second aimed to resolve outstanding technical issues and develop a consensus approach to analysis of plasma cells. The primary clinical applications identified were: differential diagnosis of neoplastic plasma cell disorders from reactive plasmacytosis; identifying risk of progression in patients with MGUS and detecting minimal residual disease. A range of technical recommendations were identified, including: 1) CD38, CD138 and CD45 should all be included in at least one tube for plasma cell identification and enumeration. The primary gate should be based on CD38 vs. CD138 expression; 2) after treatment, clonality assessment is only likely to be informative when combined with immunophenotype to detect abnormal cells. Flow cytometry is suitable for demonstrating a stringent complete remission; 3) for detection of abnormal plasma cells, a minimal panel should include CD19 and CD56. A preferred panel would also include CD20, CD117, CD28 and CD27; 4) discrepancies between the percentage of plasma cells detected by flow cytometry and morphology are primarily related to sample quality and it is, therefore, important to determine that marrow elements are present in follow-up samples, particularly normal plasma cells in MRD negative cases

Identification of genetic variants associated with Huntington's disease progression: a genome-wide association study

Background Huntington's disease is caused by a CAG repeat expansion in the huntingtin gene, HTT. Age at onset has been used as a quantitative phenotype in genetic analysis looking for Huntington's disease modifiers, but is hard to define and not always available. Therefore, we aimed to generate a novel measure of disease progression and to identify genetic markers associated with this progression measure. Methods We generated a progression score on the basis of principal component analysis of prospectively acquired longitudinal changes in motor, cognitive, and imaging measures in the 218 indivduals in the TRACK-HD cohort of Huntington's disease gene mutation carriers (data collected 2008–11). We generated a parallel progression score using data from 1773 previously genotyped participants from the European Huntington's Disease Network REGISTRY study of Huntington's disease mutation carriers (data collected 2003–13). We did a genome-wide association analyses in terms of progression for 216 TRACK-HD participants and 1773 REGISTRY participants, then a meta-analysis of these results was undertaken. Findings Longitudinal motor, cognitive, and imaging scores were correlated with each other in TRACK-HD participants, justifying use of a single, cross-domain measure of disease progression in both studies. The TRACK-HD and REGISTRY progression measures were correlated with each other (r=0·674), and with age at onset (TRACK-HD, r=0·315; REGISTRY, r=0·234). The meta-analysis of progression in TRACK-HD and REGISTRY gave a genome-wide significant signal (p=1·12 × 10−10) on chromosome 5 spanning three genes: MSH3, DHFR, and MTRNR2L2. The genes in this locus were associated with progression in TRACK-HD (MSH3 p=2·94 × 10−8 DHFR p=8·37 × 10−7 MTRNR2L2 p=2·15 × 10−9) and to a lesser extent in REGISTRY (MSH3 p=9·36 × 10−4 DHFR p=8·45 × 10−4 MTRNR2L2 p=1·20 × 10−3). The lead single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in TRACK-HD (rs557874766) was genome-wide significant in the meta-analysis (p=1·58 × 10−8), and encodes an aminoacid change (Pro67Ala) in MSH3. In TRACK-HD, each copy of the minor allele at this SNP was associated with a 0·4 units per year (95% CI 0·16–0·66) reduction in the rate of change of the Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale (UHDRS) Total Motor Score, and a reduction of 0·12 units per year (95% CI 0·06–0·18) in the rate of change of UHDRS Total Functional Capacity score. These associations remained significant after adjusting for age of onset. Interpretation The multidomain progression measure in TRACK-HD was associated with a functional variant that was genome-wide significant in our meta-analysis. The association in only 216 participants implies that the progression measure is a sensitive reflection of disease burden, that the effect size at this locus is large, or both. Knockout of Msh3 reduces somatic expansion in Huntington's disease mouse models, suggesting this mechanism as an area for future therapeutic investigation