Troubling children's families: who's troubled and why? Approaches to inter-cultural dialogue

This article draws on multi-disciplinary perspectives to consider the need and the possibilities for inter-cultural dialogue concerning families that may be seen by some to be ‘troubling’. Starting from the premise that ‘troubles’ are a ‘normal’ part of children’s family lives, we consider the boundary between ‘normal’ troubles and troubles that are troubling (whether to family members or others). Such troubling families potentially indicate an intervention to prevent harm to less powerful family members (notably children). On what basis can such decisions be made in children’s family lives, how can this question be answered across diverse cultural contexts, and are all answers inevitably subject to uncertainty? Such questions arguably re-frame and broaden existing debates about ‘child maltreatment’ across diverse cultural contexts. Beyond recognizing power dynamics, material inequalities, and historical and contemporary colonialism, we argue that attempts to answer the question on an empirical basis risk a form of neo-colonialism, since values inevitably permeate research and knowledge claims. We briefly exemplify such difficulties, examining psychological studies of childrearing in China, and the application of neuroscience to early childhood interventions in the UK. Turning to issues of values and moral relativism, we also question the possibility of an objective moral standard that avoids cultural imperialism, but ask whether cultural relativism is the only alternative position available. Here we briefly explore other possibilities in the space between ‘facile’ universalism and ‘lazy’ relativism (Jullien, 2008/2014). Such approaches bring into focus core philosophical and cultural questions about the possibilities for ‘happiness’, and for what it means to be a ‘person’, living in the social world. Throughout, we centralize theoretical and conceptual issues, drawing on the work of Jullien (2008/2014) to recognize the immense complexities inter-cultural dialogue entails in terms of language and communication

Development of an aeroelastic stability boundary for a rotor in autorotation

<p>For the present study, a mathematical model AMRA was created to simulate the aeroelastic behaviour of a rotor during autorotation. Our model: Aeroelastic Model of a Rotor in Autorotation (AMRA) captures transverse bending and teeter, torsional twist and lag-wise motion of the rotor blade and hence it is used to investigate couplings between blade flapping, torsion and rotor speed. Lagrange’s method was used for the modelling of blade flapping and chord-wise bending. Torsional twist of the rotor blade was modelled with the aid of finite element method (FEM), and blade transverse bending could also be modelled in FEM. The model can switch between using a full FEM model for bending and torsion, or a FEM model for torsion and simple blade teeter, depending on the complexity that the user requires.</p> <p>The AMRA model was verified against experimental data obtained during a CAA sponsored flight test programme of the G-UNIV autogyro. Published results of modal analysis of helicopter rotor blades and other data published in open literature were used to validate the FEM model of the rotor blade. The first torsional natural frequency of the ’McCutcheon’ rotor blades was measured with the aid of high-speed camera and used for validation of the FEM model of blade torsional twist. As a further verification of the modelling method, Aérospatiale Puma helicopter rotor blade data were compared on a Southwell plot showing comparison between experimental results and AMRA estimation.</p> <p>The aeromechanical behaviour of the rotor during both axial flight and forward flight in autorotation was investigated. A significant part of the research was focused on investigation of the effect of different values of torsional and flexural stiffness, and the relative positions of blade shear centre/elastic axis and centre of mass of the blade on stability during the autorotation.</p> <p>The results obtained with the aid of the model demonstrate the interesting, and unique, characteristics of the autorotative regime - with instabilities possible in bending and torsion, but also in rotorspeed. Coupled rotor speed/flap/twist oscillations (flutter and divergence) occur if the torsional stiffness of the blade is lower than a critical value, or if the blade centre of mass is significantly aft of the blade twisting axis, as is the case in helicopter pitch-flap flutter. The instability shown here, however, is specific to the autogyro, or autorotating rotor, as it is coupled with rotorspeed, and so differs from both helicopter rotor flutter and fixed-wing flutter. The coupling with rotorspeed allows a combined flutter and divergence instability, where the rotor begins to flutter in rotorspeed, teeter angle and torsional twist and, once the rotorspeed had dropped below a critical value, then moves into divergence in flap and rotorspeed. It was found that the aeroelastic behaviour of a rotor in autorotation is significantly affected by the strong coupling of blade bending stiffness and teeter angle with rotorspeed, and the strong coupling between blade aeroelastic twist and rotor torque.</p&gt

The Question of Original Sin in Hamlet

The idea that original sin is not only present in Hamlet but also heavy with moral and aesthetic meaning is relatively recent but also implicit at earlier stages of the critical tradition. In 1980, Alan Sinfield crucially drew attention to Hamlet?s ?special providence in the fall of a sparrow? (F 5.2.167?68) as the play?s Calvinist turning point, one which ?we are slow to recognise because we have been taught a more amiable conception of the Christian God.?1 Some few years later, Philip Edwards asserted the play?s ?religious element? after the moral disenchantment of the ?anti-Hamlet? school of the midcentury.2 Although the anti-Hamlet critics had not grasped the pertinence of original sin to their own argument, in retrospect, their leveling of the moral distinctions between Hamlet and his adversaries is clearly in step with more recent original-sin readings, not to mention a longstanding ?counter-enlightenment? project to rehabilitate original sin as a philosophical category.3 What Edwards and Sinfield reluctantly acknowledged is the virtually scandalous thought welcomed by Kierkegaard: that the conclusion of Hamlet is deliberately framed in religious categories and is incomprehensible without them. Kierkegaard imagines Hamlet shrinking back from his revenge in ?religious doubt? or a religious horror at the depravity of human nature.4 By contrast, Sinfield?s Hamlet, like those Dutch and Huguenot Protestants who evolved a theory of resistance or ?controlled revolt? from Calvin, ?believes that providence wants Claudius removed and that he should do it.?5 Edwards, remarking the disinclination of the anti-Hamlet critics to endorse Hamlet?s sense of holy mission, concludes, ?It is not faith we need to understand Hamlet but doubt about our own skepticism.?6 We might say that independently of its becoming an object of critical discussion, the meaning of original sin in Hamlet has been in question. The theme of original sin was explicitly recognized in Donald V. Stump?s demonstration of how motifs of the Fall and Cain?s murder of Abel in chapters 3 and 4 of Genesis join in a coherent thematic symbolism.7 The result is a leveling reading: Hamlet?s disastrous impatience with Providence shows that he ?is doomed to become like Cain.?8 Catherine Belsey teases out further links between the Fall story and that of Cain in the context of Elizabethan family values.9 Heather Hirschfeld reads the architecture of the Fall in terms of the logic of trauma: ?It is this type of deferred or belated recognition that underwrites the sustained allusions throughout Hamlet to the early chapters of Genesis.?10 The play presents us with ?a narrative of repeated and deferred recognitions,? the effect of which is to capture Hamlet?s project within a compulsive rehearsal of sin?s traumatic origin. This logic extends to the supposed metanoia of Act 5, which is no ?providential sea change.?11 Hirschfeld?s is the most comprehensive original-sin reading of Hamlet that we have and, to my mind, the most thoughtful. Insofar as it sees Hamlet?s awareness of original sin condemning him to repetition, it too is a leveling reading. Two further leveling studies are worthy of mention. John Alvis comes at the play from the republican angle of Machiavelli?s commentary on Livy, wanting to know why Hamlet can?t dispose of the tyrant cleanly. To Alvis?s chagrin, the answer is that Hamlet is disabled by his original-sin fixation.12 Finally, Vladimir Brljak reads Hamlet?s excuse to Laertes in Act 5 for killing Polonius (?That I have shot mine arrow o?er the house / And hurt my brother? [Q2 5.2.190?91]) as a reference to a late medieval legend derived from an obscure utterance in Genesis 4 by Lamech (an impious descendant of Cain whose inadvertent killing of Cain brings God?s curse upon him).13 Again, the consequence for Hamlet?whose traditional name ?Amleth? is an anagram of ?Lameth,? a common form of ?Lamech??is a leveling of moral distinction. Of all these original-sin-focused studies, only Belsey?s is not a leveling reading. To my mind, the presence of original sin in the play provokes more fundamental questions..

Outcomes of a specialist weight management programme in the UK national health service: prospective study of 1838 patients

Objectives There is limited evidence on the effectiveness of weight management programmes provided within routine healthcare and inconsistent use of outcome measures. Our aim was to evaluate a large National Health Service (NHS) weight management service and report absolute and proportional weight losses over 12 months.<p></p> Design Prospective observational study.<p></p> Setting Glasgow and Clyde Weight Management Service (GCWMS), which provides care for residents of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde area (population 1.2 million).<p></p> Participants All patients who began GCWMS between 1 October 2008 and 30 September 2009.<p></p> Interventions Structured educational lifestyle programme employing cognitive behavioural therapy, 600 kcal deficit diet, physical activity advice, lower calorie diet and pharmacotherapy.<p></p> Primary and secondary outcomes measures Baseline observation carried forward (BOCF), last observation carried forward (LOCF) and changes in programme completers reported using outcomes of absolute 5 kg and 5% weight losses and mean weight changes at a variety of time points.<p></p> Results 6505 referrals were made to GCWMS, 5637 were eligible, 3460 opted in and 1916 (34%) attended a first session. 78 patients were excluded from our analysis on 1838 patients. 72.9% of patients were women, mean age of all patients at baseline was 49.1 years, 43.3% lived in highly socioeconomically deprived areas and mean weights and body mass indices at baseline were 118.1 kg and 43.3 kg/m2, respectively. 26% lost ≥5 kg by the end of phase 1, 30% by the end of phase 2 and 28% by the end of phase 3 (all LOCF). Weight loss was more successful among men, particularly those ≤29 years old.<p></p> Conclusions Routine NHS weight management services may achieve moderate weight losses through a comprehensive evidence-based dietary, activity and behavioural approach including psychological care. Weight losses should be reported using a range of outcome measures so that the effectiveness of different services can be compared

New Constraints on the Yukawa-Type Hypothetical Interaction From The Recent Casimir Force Measurement

We calculate the constraints on the constants of hypothetical long-range interactions which follow from the recent measurement of the Casimir force. A comparison with previous constraints is given. The new constraints are up to a factor of 3000 stronger in some parameter regions .Comment: 10 pages, Latex, 2 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Observations of the Vortex Ring State

This paper considers the vortex ring state, a flow condition usually associated with the descent of a rotor into its own wake. The phenomenon is investigated through experiments on simple rotor systems, and a comparison is then made with observations of a flow generated by a specially designed open core, annular jet that generates a mean flow velocity profile similar to the mean flow in a rotor wake in hover. In an experimentally simulated descent, the jet flow generates a flow state that shares many features of the rotor vortex ring state

New species of Afroptilum (Baetidae, Ephemeroptera)

Quatre nouvelles espèces du genre #Afroptilum Gillies provenant d'Afrique del'Ouest sont décrites. Parmi ces espèces, trois appartiennent au groupe "tarsale" alors que la dernière, #A. plumosum, caractérisée par l'absence d'aile postérieure chez le mâle imago, est placée dans le groupe "dimorphicum". La suture tibio-patellaire est absente sur les pattes antérieures des larves des quatre espèces d'#Afroptilum étudiées, ce qui permet de les différencier du genre #Centroptilum Eaton

Cheleocloeon, a new genus of Baetidae (Ephemeroptera) from West Africa

L'adulte et la larve d'un nouveau genre d'éphémère (#Baetidae) sont décrits.Ce genre est un groupe-frère de l'éphémère sud-africaine, #Demoulinia. Deux espèces sont connues, provenant toutes deux de Guinée. Elles se rencontrent dans les zones de courant calme, près des rives des ruisseaux forestiers. (Résumé d'auteur