Clubbing masculinities: Gender shifts in gay men's dance floor choreographies

This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in Journal of Homosexuality, 58(5), 608-625, 2011 [copyright Taylor & Francis], available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/00918369.2011.563660This article adopts an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the intersections of gender, sexuality, and dance. It examines the expressions of sexuality among gay males through culturally popular forms of club dancing. Drawing on political and musical history, I outline an account of how gay men's gendered choreographies changed throughout the 1970s, 80s, and 90s. Through a notion of “technologies of the body,” I situate these developments in relation to cultural levels of homophobia, exploring how masculine expressions are entangled with and regulated by musical structures. My driving hypothesis is that as perceptions of cultural homophobia decrease, popular choreographies of gay men's dance have become more feminine in expression. Exploring this idea in the context of the first decade of the new millennium, I present a case study of TigerHeat, one of the largest weekly gay dance club events in the United States

Towards the automation of the Local Analytic Sector subtraction

We present the state of the art of the Local Analytic Sector subtraction. The scheme is now complete at NLO in the massless case for the treatment of initial- and final-state radiations. Its flexibility has been improved by the introduction of damping factors, which can be tuned to reduce numerical instabilities, though preserving the simplicity of the algorithm. The same degree of universality has been reached at NNLO for final-state radiation, where we derived fully analytic and compact results for all integrated counterterms. This allows us to explicitly check the cancellation of the virtual infrared singularities in generic processes with massless final-state partons

Candidate genes and quantitative trait loci for grain yield and seed size in durum wheat

Grain yield (YLD) is affected by thousand kernel weight (TKW) which reflects the combination of grain length (GL), grain width (GW) and grain area (AREA). Grain weight is also influenced by heading time (HT) and plant height (PH). To detect candidate genes and quantitative trait loci (QTL) of yield components, a durum wheat recombinant inbred line (RIL) population was evaluated in three field trials. The RIL was genotyped with a 90K single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array and a high-density genetic linkage map with 5134 markers was obtained. A total of 30 QTL were detected including 23 QTL grouped in clusters on 1B, 2A, 3A, 4B and 6B chromosomes. A QTL cluster on 2A chromosome included a major QTL for HT co-located with QTL for YLD, TKW, GL, GW and AREA, respectively. The photoperiod sensitivity (Ppd-A1) gene was found in the physical position of this cluster. Serine carboxypeptidase, Big grain 1 and β-fructofuranosidase candidate genes were mapped in clusters containing QTL for seed size. This study showed that yield components and phenological traits had higher inheritances than grain yield, allowing an accurate QTL cluster detection. This was a requisite to physically map QTL on durum genome and to identify candidate genes affecting grain yield

Mixed QCD-electroweak corrections to dilepton production at the LHC in the high invariant mass region

We compute mixed QCD-electroweak corrections to the neutral-current Drell-Yan production of a pair of massless leptons in the high invariant mass region. Our computation is fully differential with respect to the final state particles. At relatively low values of the dilepton invariant mass, mℓℓ ∼ 200 GeV, we find unexpectedly large mixed QCD-electroweak corrections at the level of −1%. At higher invariant masses, mℓℓ ∼ 1 TeV, we observe that these corrections can be well approximated by the product of QCD and electroweak corrections. Hence, thanks to the well-known Sudakov enhancement of the latter, they increase at large invariant mass and reach e.g. −3% at mℓℓ = 3 TeV. Finally, we note that the inclusion of mixed corrections reduces the theoretical uncertainty related to the choice of electroweak input parameters to below the percent level

Insights on a Hierarchical MFI Zeolite: A Combined Spectroscopic and Catalytic Approach for Exploring the Multilevel Porous System down to the Active Sites

The hierarchization of zeolites to overcome the major drawbacks related to molecular diffusion limitation in micropores is a popular concept in heterogeneous catalysis. Despite the constant increase of new synthesis strategies to produce such hierarchical systems, the deep knowledge of their structural arrangement and how the zeolitic lattice is organized in a multilevel porous system is often missing. This information is essential to design a structure, tuning the porosity and the distribution of easily accessible active sites, and successively controlling the catalytic properties. In the present work, the synthesis of one of the most sophisticated forms of the hierarchical ZSM-5 zeolite has been reproduced, obtaining two multilevel porous materials with different crystallinity degrees, with the final aim of investigating and clarifying the finest features of their active sites. For this purpose, an extended characterization step by means of a unique multitechnique approach has been performed, thus revealing the active site nature, abundance, and distribution. IR spectroscopy with different molecular probes and a targeted catalytic test based on the hydroconversion reaction of n-decane were the toolbox for disclosing how the MFI lattice takes part in the hierarchical structure and how it, working in synergy with the mesoporous system, confers to this material a totally new shape-size selectivity. Merging the information obtained for the synthesized hierarchical zeolite with the characterization results of two reference materials (a mesoporous aluminum-containing MCM-41 and a microporous commercial ZSM-5), it was possible to define an internal and external map of the pore network of this complex and unique molecular sieve, where strong Bronsted acidic sites are located at the mouth of the MFI micropores and, at the same time, exposed at the surface of the mesoporous channels. Hence, the possibility of easily releasing bulky products is ensured and the application possibilities of the MFI lattice are expanded beyond cracking reactions

Walker use, but not falls, is associated with lower physical functioning and health of residents in an assisted-living environment

The relationship between perceived health and walker use has seldom been addressed. Concerns over falls and falls risk are precursors to walker use. We compared the SF-36 scores of 26 women and 14 men, mean age 86.8 ± 6.0 years based on walker use and faller status. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) with age as the covariate, compared groups for the SF-36 constructs and totals score. Significant differences were noted between walker users and nonusers in physical functioning, role limitations due to physical problems, general health, and the total SF-36 score. Pairwise comparisons favored nonusers, while no differences were seen due to faller status. Walker use is associated with lower self-perceptions of physical functioning, role limitations due to physical problems, and general health in assisted-living residents. Faller status is not associated with self-perceived health status. Although walker use aids mobility and lowers the probability of falls, further research is needed to determine if the prescription of assistive devices has a more negative impact on self-perceived health than does falling. This possibility could be explained, in part, by the greater activity levels of those individuals who do not depend on walkers

Evaluation of toxic chemical parameters and ecotoxicity levels in bottled mineral waters

Heavy metals, phthalates, characterizing elements, CO2 concentrations and pH and hardness levels were measured in forty samples of bottled mineral waters. In some samples arsenic, manganese, mercury and selenium were present in higher concentrations than permitted by Italian law. No significant release of phthalates from containers in PET was observed. In the same samples, toxicity tests with Daphnia magna were carried out. Toxicity levels, expressed as % of immobile organisms, ranged from 0 to 100%; generally the highest toxicity values were found in the hardwaters