Seasonal predictability of the winter NAO from north Atlantic sea surface temperatures

[1] We examine the seasonal predictability of the winter (December-January-February) North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) from lagged north Atlantic sea surface temperatures (SSTs) for the period 1950/1-2000/1. We identify two lagged modes of SST variability whose principal components (PCs) are correlated significantly to upcoming winter NAO indices. We use linear regression with the PCs as predictors to assess the predictability of the winter NAO from cross-validation over the full period and from replicated real-time forecasts over the recent 15 year period 1986/7-2000/1. The model anticipates, in early November, the upcoming winter NAO - for a range of NAO indices - with a correlation between 0.47 and 0.63 for 1950/ 1-2000/1, and between 0.51 and 0.65 for the replicated real-time forecast period. The model also anticipates the correct NAO sign in 67% to 75% of the last 51 winters and in 80% to 93% of the last 15 winters

Programmable biomaterials for dynamic and responsive drug delivery

Biomaterials are continually being designed that enable new methods for interacting dynamically with cell and tissues, in turn unlocking new capabilities in areas ranging from drug delivery to regenerative medicine. In this review, we explore some of the recent advances being made in regards to programming biomaterials for improved drug delivery, with a focus on cancer and infection. We begin by explaining several of the underlying concepts that are being used to design this new wave of drug delivery vehicles, followed by examining recent materials systems that are able to coordinate the temporal delivery of multiple therapeutics, dynamically respond to changing tissue environments, and reprogram their bioactivity over time

Hornpipes and Disordered Dancing in The Late Lancashire Witches: A Reel Crux?

This note considers a potential crux on the word 'reel' in Thomas Heywood and Richard Brome's The Late Lancashire Witches (1634), as referring to the country dance of the same name as well as a whirling or rolling motion. Contemporary references to witches' dancing alongside the dancing of reels and hornpipes are discussed, and previous editorial treatment of the play is considered alongside that of Shakespeare

RATE OF CONVERGENCE OF THE CONFIGURATION INTERACTION MODEL FOR THE HELIUM GROUND STATE

The rate of convergence of a CI calculation on the ground state of the helium atom is rigorously derived under suitable assumptions on the regularity of the exact wavefunction. For bases consisting of all partial waves with angular momentum less than or equal to L, the large L asymptotic energies are found to obey the well-known formula E-L - E = CL-3 + o(L-3), where C is an explicit constant defined in terms of the exact wavefunction

Opportunities and challenges for the emerging field of positive emotion regulation: A commentary on the special edition on positive emotions in psychopathology

Editorial CommentThis is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Springer via the DOI in this record.The importance of developing a better understanding of positive emotion regulation in both healthy and clinical populations is now recognised. This special edition brings together leading figures in the positive emotion regulation field and has contributions characterizing positive phenomena, differentiating them from negative phenomena, and evaluating underlying psychological mechanisms that drive these phenomena. This commentary reviews these articles to highlight challenges and opportunities for this emerging field, including the need to standardise the measures of positive constructs, to evaluate more robustly underlying mechanisms, to be more explicit about how the links between negative and positive phenomena are conceptualised, and to ensure that these scientific findings lead to meaningful changes in real-world policy and practice

An Italian Werewolf in London: Lycanthropy and The Duchess of Malfi

In an England where wolves were effectively extinct - except for a few tired specimens kept for the occasional Royal viewing in the Tower Menagerie - and where reports of werewolves had to be imported from the Continent, John Webster penned the lycanthrope Ferdinand into The Duchess of Malfi. This article explores the theological, philosophical, and medical perceptions of lycanthropy in early modern European thought in an effort to reconcile Webster's unique choice with the wider concerns of his time, namely: the precarious boundaries between animal and human, male and female, body and soul, sanity and madness, good and evil. This paper suggests that by doing so we may shed some light on the reasons behind Webster's construction of the only werewolf realized on the Jacobean stage, as well as demonstrating how an understanding of the liminal figure of the werewolf enriches our appreciation of the play

The Enigma of the Quistclose Trust

The Quistclose trust is an invaluable commercial device for lenders in view of its unique quasi-security element. It is the product of equity's flexibility in navigating the strict rigours of the common law. Unfortunately, since its inception and recent resurgence in Twinsectra v Yardley, it has been an eternally baffling subject. This mystery is largely caused by the unconventional principles upon which the Quistclose trust is founded and its strategic straddle between the realm of trusts and insolvency law. However, its increasing importance in commercial contracts and international finance transactions such as securitisations sparks renewed interest in the subject. Analysing the doctrinal difficulties which confounds both equity scholars and legal practitioners alike, this paper argues that this trust device is too useful in commercial practice to be abandoned and ultimately lends support to the restitution-inspired arguments of Lord Millett in rationalising the juridical conundrums that afflict the trust