International Influences and Drag: Just a Case of Tucking or Binding?

Recently there has been an  internationalisation in the training of UK drag performers. Whilst papers exist focused on drag kings and queens related to their community, few explore how kings/queens train – and fewer still explore international aspects. There are formal courses for drag, but historically this training was informal, present within specific performance communities built around LGBTQ cultures. Tracing dominant figures in such training – the drag mother/father – in order to historicise and contextualise the current explosion in drag performance,the paper argues that the potential globalisation of drag is largely down to the diversification of sources of knowledge available via the internet. Traditionally, performers trained with an established practitioner, where regional variances of drag were passed on. However, current new performers often learn ‘tricks of the trade’ through internet videos posted by people on other continents. In these videos, practitioners pass on their knowledge from the perspective of their locality, as if universal. New kings/queens are not passive in this training and locally infuse their acts, yet historical and local erasures persist. The paper argues that to engage with drag as performance one must be aware of locality and the deep connects drag has with its communities

Febrile and afebrile or provoked and unprovoked seizures? (multiple letters)

10.1016/j.pediatrneurol.2005.01.004Pediatric Neurology324291-292PNEU

SAFETY-RELATED DEFECTS IN MOTOR VEHICLES AND THE EVALUATION OF SELF-REGULATION *

Tobin reviews the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) self-regulating program including recall of vehicles, the ever-changing definition of defects, frequency of defect reports, and the notification of vehicle owners. He concludes that self-regulation-while minimizing government's cost and involvement in the private sector-has serious defects of its own. It gives manufacturers too much latitude in determining the existence of a defect and makes government overly dependent on the manufacturers for information. Under self-regulation the definition of what constitutes a defect changes from year-to-year; and under it manufacturer's recalcitrance in acknowledging a defect has kept the NHTSA from ordering recalls. Copyright 1982 by The Policy Studies Organization.

The Student Nitric Oxide Explorer

The Student Nitric Oxide Explorer (SNOE) is a small scientific spacecraft designed for launch on a Pegasus™ XL launch vehicle for the USRA Student Explorer Demonstration Initiative. Its scientific goals are to measure nitric oxide density in the lower thermosphere and analyze the energy inputs to that region from the sun and magnetosphere that create it and cause its abundance to vary dramatically. These inputs are energetic solar photons in the EUV and X -ray spectral regions, and energetic electrons that are accelerated into the polar regions, where they cause auroral disturbances and displays. Both of these phenomena are aspects of solar variability; thermospheric nitric oxide responds to that variability and in turn determines key temperature and compositional aspects of the thermosphere and ionosphere through its radiative and chemical properties. The SNOE ( snowy ) spacecraft and its instrument complement is being designed, built, and operated entirely at the University of Colorado, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (CU/LASP). The spacecraft is a compact hexagonal structure, 37 high and 39 across its widest dimension, weighing approximately 220 Ibs. It will be launched into a circular orbit, 550±50 km altitude, at 97.5° inclination for sun-synchronous precession at 10:30-22:30 solar time. It will spin at 5 rpm with the spin axis normal to the orbit plane. It carries three instruments: An ultraviolet spectrometer to measure nitric oxide altitude profiles, a two-channel ultraviolet photometer to measure auroral emissions beneath the spacecraft, and a five-channel solar soft X-ray photometer. The spacecraft structure is aluminum, with a center platform section for the instruments and primary components and truss work to hold the solar arrays. Power is regulated using switched arrays and a partial shunt. The attitude determination and control system uses a magnetometer, two torque rods, and two horizon crossing indicators to measure spin rate and orientation. Attitude control is implemented open-loop by ground commands. The command and data handling system is implemented using a single spacecraft microprocessor that handles all spacecraft and communications functions and instrument data. The communications system is NASA compatible for downlink using the Autonomous Ground Services station at Poker Flat; all mission operations, data processing, and analysis will be performed using a project operations control center (POCC) at the LASP Space Technology Research building

A Retrospective Analysis and Comparative Study of Stony Coral Assemblages in Biscayne National Park, FL (1977-2000)

The hardbottom, patch, and bank reefs of Biscayne National Park (BNP) are among the most northern reef communities in the Florida Keys reef tract. The close proximity of BNP reefs to highly developed areas (i.e., the greater Miami metropolitan area) make them both heavily used and susceptible to a multitude of anthropogenic stresses. This study analyzes a unique 1977-1981 data set on stony-coral abundances and percent cover, collected from eight reefs in BNP, and compares this more than 25-year old data set with published data from surveys conducted from 1994-1996 and 1998-2000. In 1977-81, stony-coral cover on the eight reefs ranged between 8% and 28%, whereas coral cover reported from surveys in 1998-2000 ranged between 0.4% and 10%. Significant declines in cover of all coral species were seen at BNP reefs in the -20 years between data sets, although few changes were observed in species richness and taxonomic distinctness values. Spatial differences were observed between lagoonal patch reefs and outer bank reefs, consistent with previous reports of greater loss of coral cover on offshore reefs. Previous reports have suggested that high juvenile coral mortality due to fish predation, physical stresses, and thermal stresses have contributed to reduced cover at offshore BNP reefs