Framing the neoliberal canon: resisting the market myth via literary enquiry

here is widespread recognition that neoliberal rhetoric about ‘free markets’ stands in considerable tension with ‘really existing’ neoliberalizing processes. However, the oft-utilized analytical distinction between ‘pure’ economic and political theory and ‘messy’ empirical developments takes for granted that neoliberalism, at its core, valorizes free markets. In contrast, the paper explores whether neoliberal intellectuals ever made such an argument. Using Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman as exemplars, our reading of canonical neoliberal texts focuses on author framing gestures, particular understandings of the term ‘science’, techniques of characterization, and constructions of epistemological legitimacy. This enables us to avoid the trap of assuming that these texts are about free markets and instead enquires into their constitution as literary artefacts. As such, we argue that the remaking of states and households rather than the promotion of free markets is at the core of neoliberalism. Our analysis has significant implications. For example, it means that authoritarian neoliberalism is not a departure from but actually more in line with the ‘pure’ neoliberal canon than in the past. Therefore, neoliberalism ought to be critiqued not for its rhetorical promotion of free markets but instead for seeking to reorganize societies in coercive, non-democratic and unequal ways. This also enables us to acknowledge that households are central to resistance to neoliberalism as well as to the neoliberal worldview itself

Accuracy tests of radiation schemes used in hot Jupiter global circulation models

The treatment of radiation transport in global circulation models (GCMs) is crucial to correctly describe Earth and exoplanet atmospheric dynamics processes. The two-stream approximation and correlated-k method are currently state-of-the-art approximations applied in both Earth and hot Jupiter GCM radiation schemes to facilitate rapid calculation of fluxes and heating rates. Their accuracy have been tested extensively for Earth-like conditions, but verification of the methods' applicability to hot Jupiter-like conditions is lacking in the literature. We are adapting the UK Met Office GCM, the Unified Model (UM), for the study of hot Jupiters, and present in this work the adaptation of the Edwards-Slingo radiation scheme based on the two-stream approximation and the correlated-k method. We discuss the calculation of absorption coefficients from high temperature line lists and highlight the large uncertainty in the pressure-broadened line widths. We compare fluxes and heating rates obtained with our adapted scheme to more accurate discrete ordinate (DO) line-by-line (LbL) calculations ignoring scattering effects. We find that, in most cases, errors stay below 10 % for both heating rates and fluxes using ~ 10 k-coefficients in each band and a diffusivity factor D = 1.66. The two-stream approximation and the correlated-k method both contribute non-negligibly to the total error. We also find that using band-averaged absorption coefficients, which have previously been used in radiative-hydrodynamical simulations of a hot Jupiter, may yield errors of ~ 100 %, and should thus be used with caution.European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme FP7/2007-2013Science & Technology Facilities Council (STFC)Royal Societ

Observation of exotic meson production in the reaction π−p→η′π−p \pi^{-} p \to \eta^{\prime} \pi^- p at 18 GeV/c

An amplitude analysis of an exclusive sample of 5765 events from the reaction $\pi^{-} p \to \eta^{\prime} \pi^- p$ at 18 GeV/c is described. The $\eta^{\prime} \pi^-$ production is dominated by natural parity exchange and by three partial waves: those with $J^{PC} = 1^{-+}, 2^{++},$ and $4^{++}$. A mass-dependent analysis of the partial-wave amplitudes indicates the production of the $a_2(1320)$ meson as well as the $a_4(2040)$ meson, observed for the first time decaying to $\eta^{\prime}\pi^-$. The dominant, exotic (non-$q\bar{q})$ $1^{-+}$ partial wave is shown to be resonant with a mass of $1.597 \pm 0.010^{+0.045}_{-0.010}$ GeV/c^2 and a width of $0.340 \pm 0.040 \pm 0.050$ GeV/c^2 . This exotic state, the $\pi_1(1600)$, is produced with a $t$ dependence which is different from that of the $a_2(1320)$ meson, indicating differences between the production mechanisms for the two states.Comment: 5 pages with 4 figure

Theorising Disability: Beyond Common Sense

This article seeks to introduce the topic of disability to political theory via a discussion of some of the literature produced by disability theorists. The author argues that these more radical approaches conceptualise disability in ways that conflict with ‘common-sense’ notions of disability that tend to underpin political theoretical considerations of the topic. Furthermore, the author suggests that these more radical conceptualisations have profound implications for current debates on social justice, equality and citizenship that highlight the extent to which these notions are also currently underpinned by ‘common-sense’ notions of ‘normality’

Evidence for Exotic J^{PC}=1^{-+} Meson Production in the Reaction pi- p --> eta pi- p at 18 GeV/c

Details of the analysis of the eta pi- system studied in the reaction pi^{-} p --> eta pi^{-} p at 18 GeV/c are given. Separate analyses for the 2 gamma and pi+ pi- pi0 decay modes of the eta are presented. An amplitude analysis of the data indicates the presence of interference between the a(2)(1320)- and a J^{PC}=1^{-+} wave between 1.2 and 1.6 GeV/c^2. The phase difference between these waves shows phase motion not attributable solely to the a(2)(1320)-. The data can be fitted by interference between the a(2)(1320)- and an exotic 1^{-+} resonance with M = 1370 +-16 +50 -30} MeV/c^2 and Gamma = 385 +- 40 +65 -105 MeV/c^2. Our results are compared with those of other experiments.Comment: 50 pages of text and 34 figure

Partial-wave analysis of the eta pi+ pi- system produced in the reaction pi-p --> eta pi+ pi- n at 18 GeV/c

A partial-wave analysis of 9082 eta pi+ pi- n events produced in the reaction pi- p --> eta pi+ pi- n at 18.3 GeV/c has been carried out using data from experiment 852 at Brookhaven National Laboratory. The data are dominated by J^{PC} = 0^{-+} partial waves consistent with observation of the eta(1295) and the eta(1440). The mass and width of the eta(1295) were determined to be 1282 +- 5 MeV and 66 +- 13 Mev respectively while the eta(1440) was observed with a mass of 1404 +- 6 MeV and width of 80 +- 21 MeV. Other partial waves of importance include the 1++ and the 1+- waves. Results of the partial wave analysis are combined with results of other experiments to estimate f1(1285) branching fractions. These values are considerably different from current values determined without the aid of amplitude analyses.Comment: 22 pages, 8 figure

Dilute gas of ultracold two-level atoms inside a cavity; generalized Dicke model

We consider a gas of ultracold two-level atoms confined in a cavity, taking into account for atomic center-of-mass motion and cavity mode variations. We use the generalized Dicke model, and analyze separately the cases of a Gaussian, and a standing wave mode shape. Owing to the interplay between external motional energies of the atoms and internal atomic and field energies, the phase-diagrams exhibit novel features not encountered in the standard Dicke model, such as the existence of first and second order phase transitions between normal and superradiant phases. Due to the quantum description of atomic motion, internal and external atomic degrees of freedom are highly correlated leading to modified normal and superradiant phases.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure

Altered gut microbiota in Rett syndrome

Background The human gut microbiota directly affects human health, and its alteration can lead to gastrointestinal abnormalities and inflammation. Rett syndrome (RTT), a progressive neurological disorder mainly caused by mutations in MeCP2 gene, is commonly associated with gastrointestinal dysfunctions and constipation, suggesting a link between RTT’s gastrointestinal abnormalities and the gut microbiota. The aim of this study was to evaluate the bacterial and fungal gut microbiota in a cohort of RTT subjects integrating clinical, metabolomics and metagenomics data to understand if changes in the gut microbiota of RTT subjects could be associated with gastrointestinal abnormalities and inflammatory status. Results Our findings revealed the occurrence of an intestinal sub-inflammatory status in RTT subjects as measured by the elevated values of faecal calprotectin and erythrocyte sedimentation rate. We showed that, overall, RTT subjects harbour bacterial and fungal microbiota altered in terms of relative abundances from those of healthy controls, with a reduced microbial richness and dominated by microbial taxa belonging to Bifidobacterium, several Clostridia (among which Anaerostipes, Clostridium XIVa, Clostridium XIVb) as well as Erysipelotrichaceae, Actinomyces, Lactobacillus, Enterococcus, Eggerthella, Escherichia/Shigella and the fungal genus Candida. We further observed that alterations of the gut microbiota do not depend on the constipation status of RTT subjects and that this dysbiotic microbiota produced altered short chain fatty acids profiles. Conclusions We demonstrated for the first time that RTT is associated with a dysbiosis of both the bacterial and fungal component of the gut microbiota, suggesting that impairments of MeCP2 functioning favour the establishment of a microbial community adapted to the costive gastrointestinal niche of RTT subjects. The altered production of short chain fatty acids associated with this microbiota might reinforce the constipation status of RTT subjects and contribute to RTT gastrointestinal physiopathology

A partial wave analysis of the π0π0\pi ^0\pi ^0 system produced in π−p\pi ^-p charge exchange collisions

A partial wave analysis of the of the $\pi ^0\pi ^0$ system produced in the charge exchange reaction: $\pi ^-p\to \pi ^0\pi ^0n$ at an incident momentum of $18.3 GeV/c$ is presented as a function of ${\pi ^0\pi ^0}$ invariant mass, $m_{\pi^0\pi^0}$, and momentum transfer squared, $| {t} |$, from the incident $\pi^-$ to the outgoing ${\pi ^0\pi ^0}$ system.Comment: 24 pages total,8 pages text, 14 figures, 1 table. Submitted to Phys Rev

Circulating Progenitor Cells Identify Peripheral Arterial Disease in Patients With Coronary Artery Disease

RATIONALE: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a clinical manifestation of extracoronary atherosclerosis. Despite sharing the same risk factors, only 20% to 30% of patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) develop PAD. Decline in the number of bone marrow–derived circulating progenitor cells (PCs) is thought to contribute to the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Whether specific changes in PCs differentiate patients with both PAD and CAD from those with CAD alone is unknown. OBJECTIVE: Determine whether differences exist in PCs counts of CAD patients with and without known PAD. METHODS AND RESULTS: 1497 patients (mean age: 65 years; 62% men) with known CAD were identified in the Emory Cardiovascular Biobank. Presence of PAD (n=308) was determined by history, review of medical records, or imaging and was classified as carotid (53%), lower extremity (41%), upper extremity (3%), and aortic disease (33%). Circulating PCs were enumerated by flow cytometry. Patients with CAD and PAD had significantly lower PC counts compared with those with only CAD. In multivariable analysis, a 50% decrease in cluster of differentiation 34 (CD34+) or CD34+/vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 (VEGFR2+) counts was associated with a 31% (P=0.032) and 183% (P=0.002) increase in the odds of having PAD, respectively. CD34+ and CD34+/VEGFR2+ counts significantly improved risk prediction metrics for prevalent PAD. Low CD34+/VEGFR2+ counts were associated with a 1.40-fold (95% confidence interval, 1.03–1.91) and a 1.64-fold (95% confidence interval, 1.07–2.50) increases in the risk of mortality and PAD-related events, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: PAD is associated with low CD34+ and CD34+/VEGFR2+ PC counts. Whether low PC counts are useful in screening for PAD needs to be investigated