Cultural contacts and ethnic origins in Viking Age Wales and northern Britain: the case of Albanus, Britain's first inhabitant and Scottish ancestor

Albanus, an eponymous ancestor for the kingdom of Alba, provides an example of the extent to which the creation of an ethnic identity was accompanied by new ideas about origins, which replaced previous accounts. Through an analysis of the Historia Brittonum’s textual tradition and Welsh knowledge of early Roman history and medieval ethnic groups, this article establishes that Albanus was added to the Historia Brittonum in the late ninth or early tenth century as an ancestral figure for the new kingdom of Alba in northern Britain. This was potentially a result of shared political situations in Gwynedd, Alba (formerly Pictland) and Strathclyde in relation to Scandinavian power at this time, which encouraged contacts and the spread of Alba-based ideology to Gwynedd. The later development of this idea and its significance in Alba itself, Geoffrey of Monmouth's account and English claims to supremacy over Scotland are also traced

Aliens en route : European transmigration through Britain, 1836-1914

This thesis discusses the agencies, transport systems, and infrastructure that enabled more than 3.15 million Europeans to emigrate to the United States, Canada, and South Africa through Britain between 1836 and 1914. Rather than travelling directly from the European mainland, these transmigrants broke their journeys by travelling to Britain where they boarded another vessel that conveyed them across the Atlantic. The control that Britain exerted over both the short-sea and long-haul passenger routes thus involved was as important to British maritime commerce as similar controls over freight or direct long-haul passenger routes to the far-flung corners of the British Empire. However the crucial significance of the transmigrant business to the British merchant marine has been largely overlooked in recent historiography, and it is this lacuna that the present dissertation seeks to redress.The study is split into three sections. The first part quantifies the patterns of the transmigrant business, answering questions such as: what were the origins of the migrants and what routes did they use to reach Britain? When did they come? Where in Britain did they land, where were they bound, and where did they re-embark? Having charted these issues, the thesis turns in the second section to investigate how the transmigrant business developed and evolved, paying particular attention to the factors that conditioned the market throughout the 78 year period. Finally, the thesis examines the significance of the transmigrant business to British ports serving as conduits for the passenger movement, to the companies involved in transporting the aliens, and to the migrants themselves.By exploring these issues this thesis has made a significant contribution to migrant and maritime historiography in the following ways. First, it has broadened the chronological and geographical focus of migrancy back from the 1880s to the 1830s and stressed Scandinavian as well as Central/East European movements. Second, it has demonstrated how European transmigrants were as important to British shipping companies as were British emigrants seeking to settle in Britain's overseas dominions. Third, immigration to Britain has been incorrectly conceptualised because historians and social commentators fail to take account of the onward movement of aliens arriving in Britain and assume instead that most were permanent settlers. Fourth, the primacy of Britain's maritime links to the United States was more important for the passenger business than has been previously acknowledged.Finally, this study disproves theories by immigrant historians that centres of alien settlement across Northern Britain arose because they were situated along the transmigrant corridor between the Humber and Mersey. In reality many of the trains carrying transmigrants never passed through the towns and cities where large-scale immigration took place. By combining a mixture of global, national and local studies, and a longer chronology, this thesis offers an important intersection of transport and maritime studies that shows how transmigration has been under appreciated by both maritime and migrants historians alike

The Mid-Infrared Extinction Law in the Ophiuchus, Perseus, and Serpens Molecular Clouds

We compute the mid-infrared extinction law from 3.6-24 microns in three molecular clouds: Ophiuchus, Perseus, and Serpens, by combining data from the "Cores to Disks" Spitzer Legacy Science program with deep JHKs imaging. Using a new technique, we are able to calculate the line-of-sight extinction law towards each background star in our fields. With these line-of-sight measurements, we create, for the first time, maps of the chi-squared deviation of the data from two extinction law models. Because our chi-squared maps have the same spatial resolution as our extinction maps, we can directly observe the changing extinction law as a function of the total column density. In the Spitzer IRAC bands, 3.6-8 microns, we see evidence for grain growth. Below $A_{K_s} = 0.5$, our extinction law is well-fit by the Weingartner & Draine (2001) $R_V = 3.1$ diffuse interstellar medium dust model. As the extinction increases, our law gradually flattens, and for $A_{K_s} >= 1$, the data are more consistent with the Weingartner & Draine $R_V = 5.5$ model that uses larger maximum dust grain sizes. At 24 microns, our extinction law is 2-4 times higher than the values predicted by theoretical dust models, but is more consistent with the observational results of Flaherty et al. (2007). Lastly, from our chi-squared maps we identify a region in Perseus where the IRAC extinction law is anomalously high considering its column density. A steeper near-infrared extinction law than the one we have assumed may partially explain the IRAC extinction law in this region.Comment: 38 pages, 19 figures in pre-print format. Accepted for publication in ApJ. A version with full-resolution figures can be found here: http://peggysue.as.utexas.edu/SIRTF

Three-coordinate iron(II) expanded ring N-heterocyclic carbene complexes

A sterically demanding seven-membered expanded ring N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligand allows access to rare examples of three-coordinate iron(II)-NHC complexes incorporating only halide coligands of the general formula [Fe(NHC)X 2 ] (NHC = 7-DiPP; X = Br (1) Cl (2)). Reducing the steric influence of the ancillary NHC ligand through modulation of the N-aryl substituents leads to either four- or three-coordinate complexes of the general formula [Fe(NHC)Br 2 (THF)] (3) or [Fe(NHC)Br 2 ] (4) (NHC = 7-Mes), dependent upon the solvent of recrystallization. The further reduction of NHC steric influence results in four-coordinate geometries at iron in the form of the dimeric species [Fe(NHC)Br(μ-Br)] 2 (5) or [Fe(NHC)Br 2 (THF)] (6) (NHC = SDiPP), again dependent upon the solvent of recrystallization. Compounds 1-6 have been analyzed by 1 H NMR spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography, elemental microanalysis, Mössbauer spectroscopy (for 1 and 3-5), and Evans method magnetic susceptibility. In addition to these measurements the three-coordinate species 1 and 4 have been further analyzed by SQUID magnetometry and CASSCF calculations, which show significant magnetic anisotropy that is extremely sensitive to the coordination geometry

Solution phase, solid state, and theoretical investigations on the MacMillan imidazolidinone

A combination of soln. phase NMR, X-ray crystallog. studies, and DFT calcns. provide a consistent structural conformation for iminium ions derived from the MacMillan imidazolidinone

Time-course changes associated with PA Lumbar Mobilizations on Lumbar and Hamstring Range of Motion:A Randomized Controlled Crossover Trial

Objective: We aimed to compare the post-intervention time-course changes in active knee extension (AKE) and active lumbar flexion (ALF) range of motion in response to unilateral posterior–anterior (UPA) mobilizations of the lumbar spine (L4/5 zygapophyseal). Methods: Twenty-four asymptomatic participants (maleness: 0.58, age [mean ± standard deviation]: 32 ± 8 years, body mass index 25.9 ± 2.6 kg m2) were recruited to a fully controlled crossover trial. Following either the intervention (L4/5 zygapophyseal mobilizations) or control, participants immediately performed the AKE and ALF tests, which were also performed at baseline. Subsequent tests were made at intervals of 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 45 and 60 min. Results: After adjustment for baseline (mean AKE: 37.2° from full extension, mean ALF: 14.37 cm), sex and age, UPA lumbar mobilizations had a most likely moderate effect on AKE (9.8° closer to full extension; ±1.9) and a likely moderate effect on ALF (1.34 cm; ±90% confidence limits 0.43). The magnitude of the AKE effect became most likely small 20-min posttreatment (5.3; ±1.7) and possibly small/possibly trivial 60-min posttreatment (2.1; ±1.4). For ALF, the magnitude of the effect became most likely small 15-min posttreatment (0.76; ±0.25), possibly small/possibly trivial 25-min posttreatment (0.38; ±0.18) and likely trivial 60-min posttreatment (0.26; ±1.8). Discussion: UPA lumbar mobilizations increased lumbar Range of Motion and hamstring extensibility by a moderate magnitude, with the effect reducing after 10–20-min posttreatment. Clinicians should consider these time-course changes when applying UPA lumbar mobilizations

Cybersecurity: mapping the ethical terrain

This edited collection examines the ethical trade-offs involved in cybersecurity: between security and privacy; individual rights and the good of a society; and between the types of burdens placed on particular groups in order to protect others. Foreword Governments and society are increasingly reliant on cyber systems. Yet the more reliant we are upon cyber systems, the more vulnerable we are to serious harm should these systems be attacked or used in an attack. This problem of reliance and vulnerability is driving a concern with securing cyberspace. For example, a ‘cybersecurity’ team now forms part of the US Secret Service. Its job is to respond to cyber-attacks in specific environments such as elevators in a building that hosts politically vulnerable individuals, for example, state representatives. Cybersecurity aims to protect cyberinfrastructure from cyber-attacks; the concerning aspect of the threat from cyber-attack is the potential for serious harm that damage to cyber-infrastructure presents to resources and people. These types of threats to cybersecurity might simply target information and communication systems: a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack on a government website does not harm a website in any direct way, but prevents its normal use by stifling the ability of users to connect to the site. Alternatively, cyber-attacks might disrupt physical devices or resources, such as the Stuxnet virus, which caused the malfunction and destruction of Iranian nuclear centrifuges. Cyber-attacks might also enhance activities that are enabled through cyberspace, such as the use of online media by extremists to recruit members and promote radicalisation. Cyber-attacks are diverse: as a result, cybersecurity requires a comparable diversity of approaches. Cyber-attacks can have powerful impacts on people’s lives, and so—in liberal democratic societies at least—governments have a duty to ensure cybersecurity in order to protect the inhabitants within their own jurisdiction and, arguably, the people of other nations. But, as recent events following the revelations of Edward Snowden have demonstrated, there is a risk that the governmental pursuit of cybersecurity might overstep the mark and subvert fundamental privacy rights. Popular comment on these episodes advocates transparency of government processes, yet given that cybersecurity risks represent major challenges to national security, it is unlikely that simple transparency will suffice. Managing the risks of cybersecurity involves trade-offs: between security and privacy; individual rights and the good of a society; and types of burdens placed on particular groups in order to protect others. These trade-offs are often ethical trade-offs, involving questions of how we act, what values we should aim to promote, and what means of anticipating and responding to the risks are reasonably—and publicly—justifiable. This Occasional Paper (prepared for the National Security College) provides a brief conceptual analysis of cybersecurity, demonstrates the relevance of ethics to cybersecurity and outlines various ways in which to approach ethical decision-making when responding to cyber-attacks

Fields Medals and Nevanlinna Prize Presented at ICM-94 in Zurich

The Notices solicited the following five articles describing the work of the Fields Medalists and Nevanlinna Prize winner

Carotid Atheroinflammation Is Associated With Cerebral Small Vessel Disease Severity.

Background: Atherosclerosis is a systemic inflammatory disease, with common inflammatory processes implicated in both atheroma vulnerability and blood-brain barrier disruption. This prospective multimodal imaging study aimed to measure directly the association between systemic atheroma inflammation ("atheroinflammation") and downstream chronic cerebral small vessel disease severity. Methods: Twenty-six individuals with ischemic stroke with ipsilateral carotid artery stenosis of >50% underwent 18fluoride-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography within 2 weeks of stroke. Small vessel disease severity and white matter hyperintensity volume were assessed using 3-tesla magnetic resonance imaging also within 2 weeks of stroke. Results: Fluorodeoxyglucose uptake was independently associated with more severe small vessel disease (odds ratio 6.18, 95% confidence interval 2.1-18.2, P < 0.01 for the non-culprit carotid artery) and larger white matter hyperintensity volumes (coefficient = 14.33 mL, P < 0.01 for the non-culprit carotid artery). Conclusion: These proof-of-concept results have important implications for our understanding of the neurovascular interface and potential therapeutic exploitation in the management of systemic atherosclerosis, particularly non-stenotic disease previously considered asymptomatic, in order to reduce the burden of chronic cerebrovascular disease

Advancing Precambrian palaeomagnetism with the PALEOMAGIA and PINT(_QPI) databases.

State-of-the-art measurements of the direction and intensity of Earth's ancient magnetic field have made important contributions to our understanding of the geology and palaeogeography of Precambrian Earth. The PALEOMAGIA and PINT(QPI) databases provide thorough public collections of important palaeomagnetic data of this kind. They comprise more than 4,100 observations in total and have been essential in supporting our international collaborative efforts to understand Earth's magnetic history on a timescale far longer than that of the present Phanerozoic Eon. Here, we provide an overview of the technical structure and applications of both databases, paying particular attention to recent improvements and discoveries