Saint Vincent and Islam

Vincent de Paul took a great interest in Islamic countries; indeed, the Congregation’s first foreign mission was to Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire. He was especially concerned with missions to North African countries and continued them despite considerable obstacles. While conversions of Muslims were desirable, they were to be made discreetly, and the confreres’ main priorities were to minister spiritually and corporally to Christian slaves. If Muslims were to be converted, he believed that they would be won over by deeds and love rather than by force or arguments. Yves Danjou explains how Vincent respected Muslims, especially considering the era. He was well-informed about them from different sources and recommended some of their practices and actions as examples to the Congregation and the Daughters of Charity. He also understood Muslim thought about Jesus and Mary. Vincent’s pastoral theology is explained. Danjou also discusses the importance of Islam in Vincent de Paul’s time, France’s relationship with Islamic countries, and French knowledge of Islam

Reassessment of Acarbose as a Transition State Analogue Inhibitor of Cyclodextrin Glycosyltransferase

The binding of several different active site mutants of Bacillus circulans cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase to the inhibitor acarbose has been investigated through measurement of Ki values. The mutations represent several key amino acid positions, most of which are believed to play important roles in governing the product specificity of cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase. Michaelis-Menten parameters for the substrates α-maltotriosyl fluoride (αG3F) and α-glucosyl fluoride (αGF) with each mutant have been determined by following the enzyme-catalyzed release of fluoride with an ion-selective fluoride electrode. In both cases, reasonable correlations are observed in logarithmic plots relating the Ki value for acarbose with each mutant and both kcat/Km and Km for the hydrolysis of either substrate by the corresponding mutants. This indicates that acarbose, as an inhibitor, is mimicking aspects of both the ground state and the transition state. A better correlation is observed for αGF (r = 0.98) than αG3F (r = 0.90), which can be explained in terms of the modes of binding of these substrates and acarbose. Re-refinement of the previously determined crystal structure of wild-type CGTase complexed with acarbose reveals a binding mode consistent with the transition state analogue character of this inhibitor.

The development, landscapes and habitats of the village of Allithwaite - a representative of overlooked lowlands of the English Lake District

Allithwaite consisted of only a few farms and cottages from the seventeenth until the mid-nineteenth centuries, and maps of the development through the centuries are given. In the next 40 years, a large hall, church, vicarage and school were built followed by about 20 residences. In the twentieth Century, over 170 new buildings were added, mainly in small estates but all were contained in the central area of the village because of effective planning control. Apart from the residential area in the centre of the village, the landscapes have therefore remained little changed since the nineteenth century and vary from the open tidal margins of Morecambe Bay to a patchwork of small fields, except for one area of open grassland on a low limestone hill. The landscapes are described together with the associated habitats using a standard classification. The field boundaries were mapped and are also shown and consist mainly of hedgerows but with walls on the shallow limestone soils and the habitats vary from small deciduous woodlands to limestone grassland

Microstructure modelling of hot deformation of Al–1%Mg alloy

This study presents the application of the finite elementmethod and intelligent systems techniques to the prediction of microstructural mapping for aluminium alloys. Here, the material within each finite element is defined using a hybrid model. The hybrid model is based on neuro-fuzzy and physically based components and it has been combined with the finite element technique. The model simulates the evolution of the internal state variables (i.e. dislocation density, subgrain size and subgrain boundary misorientation) and their effect on the recrystallisation behaviour of the stock. This paper presents the theory behind the model development, the integration between the numerical techniques, and the application of the technique to a hot rolling operation using aluminium, 1 wt% magnesium alloy. Furthermore, experimental data from plane strain compression (PSC) tests and rolling are used to validate the modelling outcome. The results show that the recrystallisation kinetics agree well with the experimental results for different annealing times. This hybrid approach has proved to be more accurate than conventional methods using empirical equations

Nitrogen on the table: the influence of food choices on nitrogen emissions and the European environment

This ENA Special Report has been prepared by the Expert Panel on Nitrogen and Food of the UNECE Task Force on Reactive Nitrogen. It examines nitrogen and other pollution losses from the food system and assesses the potential impacts of alternative diets on emissions of nitrogen to air and water. It then considers the potential impacts on land-use change and associated greenhouse gas emissions. The study finds that reductions in reactive nitrogen emissions associated with decreased intake of meat and dairy products would have substantial benefits, not only within the EU, but also at continental and global scales. The scenarios also match to consumption patterns that are better aligned with international dietary recommendations

Relational EPR

We study the EPR-type correlations from the perspective of the relational interpretation of quantum mechanics. We argue that these correlations do not entail any form of 'non-locality', when viewed in the context of this interpretation. The abandonment of strict Einstein realism implied by the relational stance permits to reconcile quantum mechanics, completeness, (operationally defined) separability, and locality.Comment: Revised, published versio

Einstein, incompleteness, and the epistemic view of quantum states

Does the quantum state represent reality or our knowledge of reality? In making this distinction precise, we are led to a novel classification of hidden variable models of quantum theory. Indeed, representatives of each class can be found among existing constructions for two-dimensional Hilbert spaces. Our approach also provides a fruitful new perspective on arguments for the nonlocality and incompleteness of quantum theory. Specifically, we show that for models wherein the quantum state has the status of something real, the failure of locality can be established through an argument considerably more straightforward than Bell's theorem. The historical significance of this result becomes evident when one recognizes that the same reasoning is present in Einstein's preferred argument for incompleteness, which dates back to 1935. This fact suggests that Einstein was seeking not just any completion of quantum theory, but one wherein quantum states are solely representative of our knowledge. Our hypothesis is supported by an analysis of Einstein's attempts to clarify his views on quantum theory and the circumstance of his otherwise puzzling abandonment of an even simpler argument for incompleteness from 1927.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures, 1 recipe for cupcakes; comments welcom

Test of Sum Rules in Nucleon Transfer Reactions

The quantitative consistency of nucleon transfer reactions as a probe of the occupancy of valence orbits in nuclei is tested. Neutron-adding, neutron-removal, and proton-adding transfer reactions were measured on the four stable even Ni isotopes, with particular attention to the cross section determinations. The data were analyzed consistently in terms of the distorted wave Born approximation to yield spectroscopic factors. Valence-orbit occupancies were extracted, utilizing the Macfarlane-French sum rules. The deduced occupancies are consistent with the changing number of valence neutrons, as are the vacancies for protons, both at the level of <5%. While there has been some debate regarding the true “observability” of spectroscopic factors, the present results indicate that empirically they yield self-consistent results