Book Reviews: Practicing Medicine and Ethics: Integrating Wisdom, Conscience, and Goals of Care

Book review: - Practicing Medicine and Ethics: Integrating Wisom, Conscience, and Goals of Care, Lauris Christopher Kaldjian. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2014. ISBN 978-110701216

6C radio galaxies at z~1: The influence of radio power on the alignment effect

Powerful radio galaxies often display enhanced optical/UV continuum emission and extended emission line regions, elongated and aligned with the radio jet axis. The expansion of the radio source strongly affects the gas clouds in the surrounding IGM, and the kinematic and ionization properties of the extended emission line regions display considerable variation over the lifetime of individual sources, as well as with cosmic epoch. We present the results of deep rest-frame UV and optical imaging and UV spectroscopy of high redshift 6C radio galaxies. The interdependence of the host galaxy and radio source properties are discussed, considering: (i) the relative contribution of shocks associated with the expanding radio source to the observed emission line gas kinematics, and their effect on the ionization state of the gas; (ii) the similarities and differences between the morphologies of the host galaxies and aligned emission for a range of radio source powers; and (iii) the influence of radio power on the strength of the observed alignment effect.Comment: LaTeX, 6 pages, 5 figures, Elsevier Science format. To appear in "Radio galaxies: past, present & future". eds. M. Jarvis et al., Leiden, Nov 200

Shared scepticism, different motives: Franco-German perceptions of a common European safe asset. Bertelsmann Stiftung 26 October 2018

A common European safe asset is a highly contentious proposal within the Euro area reform agenda. Various safe asset proposals have been put forward since the onset of the Euro crisis ranging from Eurobonds to European Safe Bonds (ESBies), also known as Sovereign Bond- Backed Securities (SBBS), which currently enjoy the institutional support of the European Commission as well as the High-Level Task Force on Safe Assets at the European Systemic Risk Board. Its proponents argue that a European safe asset is required to break the bank-sovereign nexus and limit destabilising capital flows, ultimately improving financial stability in the Euro area. Nevertheless, the concept of a European safe asset remains controversial among national policymakers; some consider the idea promising, while others see it as a threat to market discipline, national sovereignty, or long-term fiscal stability

Rare B Decays at BaBar

We report recent results in the search for the rare B meson decays B-->rho gamma and B0-->pi0 pi0. These results are based on 56.4 1/fb collected by the BaBar Collaboration at the SLAC PEP-II e+e- B Factory. We set new 90% confidence level upper limits BR(B0 --> rho0 gamma) rho+ gamma) pi0 pi0) < 3.4 x 10^-6.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures; invited talk given at XXXVIIth Rencontres de Moriond QCD and High Energy Hadronic Interactions, 16-23 March 200

Crossing the Bridge of Size: Reaching a Deal at Nice

The Intergovernmental Conference which should conclude at Nice in December 2000 deals with issues of institutional reform which must be resolved before proceeding with enlargement. There are four main questions. Should all countries be able to name a Member of the European Commission, or should the number of Commissioners be ‘capped’ at a number lower than the number of Member States? How should the weighting of Member States’ votes in the Council be adjusted to ensure that winning coalitions under qualified-majority voting represent an adequate proportion of the total EU population – as well as to ‘compensate’ those five Member States which lose their second Commissioner? How far should qualified-majority voting be extended? Should the conditions for ‘closer cooperation’ be relaxed to make it easier to press ahead with integration in particular areas without the participation of all Member States? A deal must be reached at Nice, but the IGC has revealed serious differences between the Member States. There is likely to be an agreement: for one Commissioner per Member State, probably with an internal hierarchy; a significant reweighting of votes in favour of the big Member States; a moderate extension of qualified-majority voting; and at least the removal of the veto regarding closer cooperation. Yet relative size has emerged as a source of frictions and concerns about long-term solidarity. The big countries fear being tied down. The smaller ones have long-term concerns about being dominated or absorbed, as well as presentational problems. If all the results of the IGC are seen as concessions to the large countries, it will be hard to sell the Nice Treaty at home – and Denmark has again shown that people can say No. Too much intergovernmentalism is not the answer. The Community institutions cannot do everything, but they have played an essential role in overcoming fears about relative power. They need to be renewed, not replaced

What's new in mouth rinse nutrition? Update on fluid and menthol

This session will provide an update on the perceptual, physiological and performance effects of menthol mouth swilling during exercise performance, and the associated mechanisms underpinning these changes. Cooling stimuli applied to the oral cavity impart feelings of freshness that are familiar to users of oral hygiene and other menthol containing products, such as confectionary or oral analgesics, this sensation can be imparted by either physiological or perceptual cooling. Cold fluids provide a cooling sensation by stimulating oral cold receptors, and can attenuate thirst through post-absorptive mechanisms; menthol mimics the provision of oral cooling stimuli, by acting as a cold-receptor agonist to TRPM8 channels, and trigeminal and cold-sensitive neurons in the face and oral cavity. This invokes perceived thermal changes in congruence with an environmental temperature range of 8-28°c, the magnitude of which is inversely proportional to the thickness of the stratum corneum in the region that menthol is applied. Hence, the oral application of menthol and cold fluids may lower individuals’ thermal sensation, improve thermal comfort and attenuate thirst, independent of physiological changes in temperature. This attenuation of thermal symptoms may be perceived as hedonic, and concomitantly improve exercise performance. To date literature has focused on endurance exercise performance in hot environmental conditions, with menthol mouth swilling improving time to exhaustion performance in cyclists, and time trial performance in runners and triathletes. Menthol may also provide an additive perceptual cooling stimulus when applied alongside physiological cooling strategies, in a temperature dependent manner. There are limited data pertaining to menthol mouth swilling and power related activities at present. The timing of menthol throughout the exercise bout may affect its ergogenic properties, but this research is also in its preliminary stages. Future research should aim to individualise menthol mouth swilling based upon personal preference and sensitivity; further personalisation of swilling strategies may be achieved by investigating the timing of swilling during the exercise bout and utilising menthol in conjunction with other ergogenic nutritional strategies. The possibility of habituation to menthol mouth swilling also warrants investigation

Player heart rate responses and pony external load measures during 16-goal Polo

This dataset provides information pertaining to the spatiotemporal stresses experienced by Polo ponies in play and the cardiovascular responses to these demands by Polo players, during 16-goal Polo. Data were collected by player-worn GPS units and paired heart rate monitors, across a New Zealand Polo season. The dataset comprises observations from 160 chukkas of Open Polo, and is presented as per chukka per game (curated) and in per effort per player (raw) formats. Data for distance, speed, and high intensity metrics are presented and are further categorised into five equine-based speed zones, in accordance with previous literature. The purpose of this dataset is to provide a detailed quantification of the load experienced by Polo players and their ponies at the highest domestic performance level in New Zealand, as well as advancing the scope of previous Polo literature that has employed GPS or heart rate monitoring technologies. This dataset may be of interest to equine scientists and trainers, veterinary practitioners, and sports scientists. An exemplar template is provided to facilitate the adoption of this data collection approach by other practitioner