10,578 research outputs found
Doing what your big sister does : sex, postfeminism and the YA chick lit series
Mass-marketed teen chick lit has become a publishing phenomenon and has begun to attract critical interest among children’s literature scholars. Much of this critical work, however, has shied away from robust critical assessment of the postfeminist conditions informing the production and reception of young adult series like Private, Gossip Girl and Choose Your Own Destiny. Existing analyses may nod to the origins of the genre in women’s chick lit, but do not investigate how the postfeminist construction of ‘empowered’ female (hetero) sexuality translates into chick lit for young adults. Paying particular attention to these issues, this paper draws on feminist critiques of postfeminism to interrogate the implications of the way these novels position readers to understand their sexuality. In doing so, it poses postfeminist criticism as an unconsidered yet significant framework to evaluate novels for teenage girls
Skin-capsular Mismatch According to Knee Positions for Instrument Insertion via Arthroscopic Portals
Damage to soft tissues, chondral surfaces, and the menisci may result from imprise or overly aggressive establishment of portals in arthroscopic knee surgeries. In this note, we address the relationship between the skin and the capsule at portal sites according to knee positions. Understanding the skin-capsular mismatch may facilitate arthroscopic procedures and indirectly reduce the operation time
Performance test of QU-fitting in cosmic magnetism study
QU-fitting is a standard model-fitting method to reconstruct distribution of
magnetic fields and polarized intensity along a line of sight (LOS) from an
observed polarization spectrum. In this paper, we examine the performance of
QU-fitting by simulating observations of two polarized sources located along
the same LOS, varying the widths of the sources and the gap between them in
Faraday depth space, systematically. Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) approach
is used to obtain the best-fit parameters for a fitting model, and Akaike and
Bayesian Information Criteria (AIC and BIC, respectively) are adopted to select
the best model from four fitting models. We find that the combination of MCMC
and AIC/BIC works fairly well in model selection and estimation of model
parameters in the cases where two sources have relatively small widths and a
larger gap in Faraday depth space. On the other hand, when two sources have
large width in Faraday depth space, MCMC chain tends to be trapped in a local
maximum so that AIC/BIC cannot select a correct model. We discuss the causes
and the tendency of the failure of QU-fitting and suggest a way to improve it.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures, submitted to MNRA
Study of the thermodynamics of chromium(III) and chromium(VI) binding to iron(II/III)oxide or magnetite or ferrite and magnanese(II) iron (III) oxide or jacobsite or manganese ferrite nanoparticles
Removal of chromium(III) or (VI) from aqueous solution was achieved using Fe3O4, and MnFe2O4 nanomaterials. The nanomaterials were synthesized using a precipitation method and characterized using XRD. The size of the nanomaterials was determined to be 22.4±0.9 nm (Fe3O4) and 15.5±0.5 nm (MnFe2O4). The optimal binding pH for chromium(III) and chromium(VI) were pH 6 and pH 3. Isotherm studies were performed, under light and dark conditions, to determine the capacity of the nanomaterials. The capacities for the light studies with MnFe2O4 and Fe3O4 were determined to be 7.189 and 10.63 mg/g, respectively, for chromium(III). The capacities for the light studies with MnFe2O4 and Fe3O4 were 3.21 and 3.46 mg/g, respectively, for chromium(VI). Under dark reaction conditions the binding of chromium(III) to the MnFe2O4 and Fe3O4 nanomaterials were 5.74 and 15.9 mg/g, respectively. The binding capacity for the binding of chromium(VI) to MnFe2O4 and Fe3O4 under dark reaction conditions were 3.87 and 8.54 mg/g, respectively. The thermodynamics for the reactions showed negative ΔG values, and positive ΔH values. The ΔS values were positive for the binding of chromium(III) and for chromium(VI) binding under dark reaction conditions. The ΔS values for chromium(VI) binding under the light reaction conditions were determined to be negative
Secular values and the location of religion: a spatial analysis of an English medical centre
What do contemporary controversies in healthcare reveal about secular values and the location of religion within an English medical centre? Using a socio-spatial methodology designed to break open ideological perspectives and normative values, we analyse the doctor-patient relationship, complementary and alternative medicine, and an issue that bridges the two, evidence-based medicine. In the physical, social and mental spaces of the medical centre we uncover the traces of religious activity and roles and of alternative therapeutic regimes often informed by spiritual or religious systems. Furthermore we disclose the heterogeneity of values that comprise the secular worldview of one group of contemporary general practitioners
Algorithms and Complexity Results for Persuasive Argumentation
The study of arguments as abstract entities and their interaction as
introduced by Dung (Artificial Intelligence 177, 1995) has become one of the
most active research branches within Artificial Intelligence and Reasoning. A
main issue for abstract argumentation systems is the selection of acceptable
sets of arguments. Value-based argumentation, as introduced by Bench-Capon (J.
Logic Comput. 13, 2003), extends Dung's framework. It takes into account the
relative strength of arguments with respect to some ranking representing an
audience: an argument is subjectively accepted if it is accepted with respect
to some audience, it is objectively accepted if it is accepted with respect to
all audiences. Deciding whether an argument is subjectively or objectively
accepted, respectively, are computationally intractable problems. In fact, the
problems remain intractable under structural restrictions that render the main
computational problems for non-value-based argumentation systems tractable. In
this paper we identify nontrivial classes of value-based argumentation systems
for which the acceptance problems are polynomial-time tractable. The classes
are defined by means of structural restrictions in terms of the underlying
graphical structure of the value-based system. Furthermore we show that the
acceptance problems are intractable for two classes of value-based systems that
where conjectured to be tractable by Dunne (Artificial Intelligence 171, 2007)
Magnetic fields in the Horsehead Nebula
We present the first polarized dust emission measurements of the Horsehead
Nebula, obtained using the POL-2 polarimeter on the Submillimetre Common-User
Bolometer Array 2 (SCUBA-2) camera on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT).
The Horsehead Nebula contains two sub-millimeter sources, a photodissociation
region (PDR; SMM1) and a starless core (SMM2). We see well-ordered magnetic
fields in both sources. We estimated plane-of-sky magnetic field strengths of
569 and 12921 G in SMM1 and SMM2, respectively, and obtained
mass-to-flux ratios and Alfv\'en Mach numbers of less than 0.6, suggesting that
the magnetic field can resist gravitational collapse and that magnetic pressure
exceeds internal turbulent pressure in these sources. In SMM2, the kinetic and
gravitational energies are comparable to one another, but less than the
magnetic energy. We suggest a schematic view of the overall magnetic field
structure in the Horsehead Nebula. Magnetic field lines in SMM1 appear have
been compressed and reordered during the formation of the PDR, while the likely
more-embedded SMM2 may have inherited its field from that of the pre-shock
molecular cloud. The magnetic fields appear to currently play an important role
in supporting both sources.Comment: Accepted to the Astronomical Journa
Real-time unobtrusive sleep monitoring of in-patients with affective disorders: a feasibility study
Sleep and mental health are highly related concepts, and it is an important
research and clinical priority to understand their interactions. In-bed sensors
using ballistocardiography provide the possibility of unobtrusive measurements
of sleep. In this study, we examined the feasibility of ballistocardiography in
measuring key aspects of sleep in psychiatric in-patients. Specifically, we
examined a sample of patients diagnosed with depression and bipolar disorder.
The subjective experiences of the researchers conducting the study are explored
and descriptive analyses of patient sleep are subsequently presented. The
practicalities of using the ballistocardiography device seem to be favourable.
There were no apparent issues regarding data quality or data integrity. Of
clinical interest, we found no link between length of stay and reduced time in
bed (b = -0.06, SE = 0.03, t = -1.76, p = .08). Using ballistocardiography for
measurements on in-patients with affective disorders seems to be a feasible
approach.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure
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