Constitutional self-government and nationalism: Hobbes, Locke and George Lawson

The emphasis in contemporary democratic theory and in the history of political thought on the peculiarly abstract theory of popular sovereignty of Locke and his twentieth-century intellectual descendants obscures a crucial relationship between constitutional self-government and nationalism. Through a Hobbesian and Filmerian critique of Locke and an examination of the political writings of George Lawson , the article shows the necessary connections between popular sovereignty, constitutionalism and a form of national consciousness that renders concrete the otherwise abstract and airy notion of the pre-political community to which government is to be held accountable, and, through amyth of national origin, memories of native traditions of self-government, and stories of heroic ancestors who successfully defended those traditions against usurpers and tyrants, gives substance to theories of constitutional government

Optimal management of urinary tract infections in older people

Urinary tract infections (UTI) occur frequently in older people. Unfortunately, UTI is commonly overdiagnosed and overtreated on the basis of nonspecific clinical signs and symptoms. The diagnosis of a UTI in the older patient requires the presence of new urinary symptoms, with or without systemic symptoms. Urinalysis is commonly used to diagnose infection in this population, however, the evidence for its use is limited. There is overwhelming evidence that asymptomatic bacteriuria should not be treated. Catheter associated urinary tract infection accounts for a significant amount of hospital-associated infection. Indwelling urinary catheters should be avoided where possible and alternatives sought. The use of narrow spectrum antimicrobial agents for urinary tract infection is advocated. Local guidelines are now widely used to reflect local resistance patterns and available agents. Guidelines need to be updated to reflect changes in antimicrobial prescribing and a move from broad to narrow spectrum antimicrobials

Evidence for partial quenching of orbital angular momentum upon complex formation in the infrared spectrum of OH-acetylene

The entrance channel leading to the addition reaction between the hydroxyl radical and acetylene has been examined by spectroscopic characterization of the asymmetric CH stretching band of the π-hydrogen bonded OH-acetylene reactant complex. The infrared action spectrum observed at 3278.6 cm−1 (origin) consists of seven peaks of various intensities and widths, and is very different from those previously reported for closed-shell HF/HCl-acetylene complexes. The unusual spectrum arises from a partial quenching of the OH orbital angular momentum in the complex, which in turn is caused by a significant splitting of the OH monomer orbital degeneracy into 2A′ and 2A″ electronic states. The magnitude of the 2A′−2A″ splitting as well as the A rotational constant for the OH-acetylene complex are determined from the analysis of this b-type infrared band. The most populated OH product rotational state, jOH = 9/2, is consistent with intramolecular vibrational energy transfer to the ν2 C≡C stretching mode of the departing acetylene fragment. The lifting of the OH orbital degeneracy and partial quenching of its electronic orbital angular momentum indicate that the electronic changes accompanying the evolution of reactants into products have begun to occur in the reactant complex

Associations of height, leg length, and lung function with cardiovascular risk factors in the Midspan Family Study

<b>Background</b>: Taller people and those with better lung function are at reduced risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). Biological mechanisms for these associations are not well understood, but both measures may be markers for early life exposures. Some studies have shown that leg length, an indicator of pre-pubertal nutritional status, is the component of height most strongly associated with CHD risk. Other studies show that height-CHD associations are greatly attenuated when lung function is controlled for. This study examines (1) the association of height and the components of height (leg length and trunk length) with CHD risk factors and (2) the relative strength of the association of height and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) with risk factors for CHD. <b>Subjects and methods</b>: Cross sectional analysis of data collected at detailed cardiovascular screening examinations of 1040 men and 1298 women aged 30–59 whose parents were screened in 1972–76. Subjects come from 1477 families and are members of the Midspan Family Study. <b>Setting</b>: The towns of Renfrew and Paisley in the West of Scotland. <b>Results</b>: Taller subjects and those with better lung function had more favourable cardiovascular risk factor profiles, associations were strongest in relation to FEV1. Higher FEV1 was associated with lower blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose, fibrinogen, white blood cell count, and body mass index. Similar, but generally weaker, associations were seen with height. These associations were not attenuated in models controlling for parental height. Longer leg length, but not trunk length, was associated with lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Longer leg length was also associated with more favourable levels of cholesterol and body mass index than trunk length. <b>Conclusions</b>:These findings provide indirect evidence that measures of lung development and pre-pubertal growth act as biomarkers for childhood exposures that may modify an individual's risk of developing CHD. Genetic influences do not seem to underlie height-CHD associations

Solar Coronal Structures and Stray Light in TRACE

Using the 2004 Venus transit of the Sun to constrain a semi-empirical point-spread function for the TRACE EUV solar telescope, we have measured the effect of stray light in that telescope. We find that 43% of 171A EUV light that enters TRACE is scattered, either through diffraction off the entrance filter grid or through other nonspecular effects. We carry this result forward, via known-PSF deconvolution of TRACE images, to identify its effect on analysis of TRACE data. Known-PSF deconvolution by this derived PSF greatly reduces the effect of visible haze in the TRACE 171A images, enhances bright features, and reveals that the smooth background component of the corona is considerably less bright (and hence much more rarefied) than commonly supposed. Deconvolution reveals that some prior conlclusions about the Sun appear to have been based on stray light in the images. In particular, the diffuse background "quiet corona" becomes consistent with hydrostatic support of the coronal plasma; feature contrast is greatly increased, possibly affecting derived parameters such as the form of the coronal heating function; and essentially all existing differential emission measure studies of small features appear to be affected by contamination from nearby features. We speculate on further implications of stray light for interpretation of EUV images from TRACE and similar instruments, and advocate deconvolution as a standard tool for image analysis with future instruments such as SDO/AIA.Comment: Accepted by APJ; v2 reformatted to single-column format for online readabilit

Studies in root crops

I. In the first season of growth the stem, or "neck" of the swede had undeveloped inter - nodes, but the intervals between leaf scars varied in different strains.II . Under certain environmental conditions, e.g. late frosts, the majority of plants in a variety developed longer stems. The response in some varieties was a general lengthening to 10 or 15 inches, in others it was hardly appreciable.III. In long- necked varieties, fully bolted and very short -necked plants were found in small proportions. These types when bred, were found to have had different hereditary tendencies.IV. Great modification in stem length was found in plants of a true -breeding swede 'bolter' strain.V. The "bulbless bolter" is a rogue found in swede crops. It was similar in appearance to winter swede -like rape, but was sometimes completely annual in life term.VI. Progenies of bulbless bolters were found to be very uniform and true breeding.VII. Hybrids obtained from swede x bulbless bolter were strongly developed annuals having partly developed ligneous bulbs, white flesh and lemon flowers. A purple - neck, white -fleshed hybrid, segregated 8.6 white to 1 yellow and 3 purple -neck to 1 bronze. The white flesh of the bulbless bolter was probably due to two pairs of dominant factors.VIII. Swede and bulbless bolter hybridised reciprocally when grown together.IX. The main anthocyanin colour difference on the superficial layers of the swede was found to be determined by either of two allelmorphs N₁ and N₂, the dominant character being detected by the uniform colouring of the internodes of the neck.X. Production of anthocyanin in the region of the shaw was found to depend mainly on the presence of two factors - (i) a purple-neck factor, and (2) a factor extending the area of pigmentation.XI. A number of modifications and minor variations in anthocyanin pigmentation were noted.XII. The two factors governing flesh colour were found to be unlinked. F₂ segregations of 15 white to 1 yellow-flesh were obtained.XIII. There was absence of linkage between flesh and neck colours.XIV. Variability in individual bulb weight was very great. It was subject to modification, but the influence of "total potential variability" of the strain was not proved.XV. Variability in individual dry-matter percentage was comparatively small. It was positively correlated with variability in bulb weight. The influence of "total potential variability" of the strain could not be proved.XVI. The inverse correlation between bulb weight and dry- matter percentage was found to be subject to considerable modification. It was not affected by the "total potential variability" of the strain.XVII. Increase in total solids percentages of bulbs were due to independant increments of both soluble and insoluble substances, the former being more strongly correlated with total solids percentage.XVIII. Hereditary variations were isolated by selection from commercial strains, but not from twice or thrice-selfed lines.XIX. Individual plants high in bulb weight and dry -matter percentage were found to have been modified in one or other of these characters.XX. When bulbs were sampled by boring cores, deflections from the true alignment caused certain excerimental errors which were estimated. The variability of horizontal and diagonal core results was similar.XXI. In the middle region of the bulb the bark was 32% richer in dry-matter than the flesh. The peripheral shell of flesh 1 cm. deep was 6% above average. There were no great differences between portions nearer the centre in the equatorial plane, though those from the South side were slightly richer than those from corresponding positions on the North.XXII. Cores containing the vascular tissues feeding side roots were not significantly different in dry- matter percentage from other cores in the same transverse plane.XXIII. Diagonal cores were slightly higher in dry- matter percentage than horizontal cores. Both types of core gave lower values than the whole bulb