Architecture in Neoliberalism

Neoliberalism, as a form of capitalism that redistributes wealth to existing accumulations of money, has reorganized our society around market relations resulting in extreme inequality. Architecture has been both captive and complicit in this process because it relies on the largess of its clients who benefit most from the process of neoliberalization. We must dissolve the dogma of architectural practice, and become free entrepreneurial operators in a neoliberal society with architecture as a core skill set, able to operate on risk and its dimensions of time, space, and money without the servitude to our risk ordered professional relationships in order to deploy active forms that dismantle neoliberalism from within. The project explores new models of architectural practice that constitute greater agency than the standard client service model as a point of departure to devise a series of projects representing deployable active forms that drive wedges in the cracks of neoliberalism. The project aims to contribute to an architecture of and against neoliberalism amongst an interdisciplinary resistance

Photometric Supernova Cosmology with BEAMS and SDSS-II

Supernova cosmology without spectroscopic confirmation is an exciting new frontier which we address here with the Bayesian Estimation Applied to Multiple Species (BEAMS) algorithm and the full three years of data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey II Supernova Survey (SDSS-II SN). BEAMS is a Bayesian framework for using data from multiple species in statistical inference when one has the probability that each data point belongs to a given species, corresponding in this context to different types of supernovae with their probabilities derived from their multi-band lightcurves. We run the BEAMS algorithm on both Gaussian and more realistic SNANA simulations with of order 10^4 supernovae, testing the algorithm against various pitfalls one might expect in the new and somewhat uncharted territory of photometric supernova cosmology. We compare the performance of BEAMS to that of both mock spectroscopic surveys and photometric samples which have been cut using typical selection criteria. The latter typically are either biased due to contamination or have significantly larger contours in the cosmological parameters due to small data-sets. We then apply BEAMS to the 792 SDSS-II photometric supernovae with host spectroscopic redshifts. In this case, BEAMS reduces the area of the (\Omega_m,\Omega_\Lambda) contours by a factor of three relative to the case where only spectroscopically confirmed data are used (297 supernovae). In the case of flatness, the constraints obtained on the matter density applying BEAMS to the photometric SDSS-II data are \Omega_m(BEAMS)=0.194\pm0.07. This illustrates the potential power of BEAMS for future large photometric supernova surveys such as LSST.Comment: 25 pages, 15 figures, submitted to Ap

Insights into GABA receptor signalling in TM3 Leydig cells

gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) is an emerging signalling molecule in endocrine organs, since it is produced by endocrine cells and acts via GABA(A) receptors in a paracrine/autocrine fashion. Testicular Leydig cells are producers and targets for GABA. These cells express GABA(A) receptor subunits and in the murine Leydig cell line TM3 pharmacological activation leads to increased proliferation. The signalling pathway of GABA in these cells is not known in this study. We therefore attempted to elucidate details of GABA(A) signalling in TM3 and adult mouse Leydig cells using several experimental approaches. TM3 cells not only express GABA(A) receptor subunits, but also bind the GABA agonist {[}H-3] muscimol with a binding affinity in the range reported for other endocrine cells (K-d = 2.740 +/- 0.721 nM). However, they exhibit a low B-max value of 28.08 fmol/mg protein. Typical GABA(A) receptor-associated events, including Cl- currents, changes in resting membrane potential, intracellular Ca2+ or cAMP, were not measurable with the methods employed in TM3 cells, or, as studied in part, in primary mouse Leydig cells. GABA or GABA(A) agonist isoguvacine treatment resulted in increased or decreased levels of several mRNAs, including transcription factors (c-fos, hsf-1, egr-1) and cell cycle-associated genes (Cdk2, cyclin D1). In an attempt to verify the cDNA array results and because egr-1 was recently implied in Leydig cell development, we further studied this factor. RT-PCR and Western blotting confirmed a time-dependent regulation of egr-1 in TM3. In the postnatal testis egr-1 was seen in cytoplasmic and nuclear locations of developing Leydig cells, which bear GABA(A) receptors and correspond well to TM3 cells. Thus, GABA acts via an untypical novel signalling pathway in TM3 cells. Further details of this pathway remain to be elucidated. Copyright (c) 2005 S. Karger AG, Base

Traitors and the meaning of treason in Austria-Hungary's Great War

Treason is a ubiquitous historical phenomenon, one particularly associated with regime instability or wartime loyalties. This paper explores the practice and prosecution of treason in the last decades of the Habsburg monarchy with a special focus on some notorious wartime treason trials. It first sets the rhetoric and law of treason in a comparative historical context before assessing the legal framework supplied by the Austrian penal code of 1852. Although the treason law was exploited quite arbitrarily after 1914, the state authorities in the pre-war decade were already targeting irredentist suspects due to major anxiety about domestic and foreign security. In the Great War, the military were then given extensive powers to prosecute all political crimes including treason, causing a string of show-trials of Bosnian Serbs and some leading Czech politicians. By 1917–18, however, this onslaught on disloyalty was backfiring in the wake of an imperial amnesty: as loyalties shifted away from the Habsburg regime, the former criminals themselves proudly began to assume the title of ‘traitor’. The paper is a case-study of how regimes in crisis have used treason as a powerful moral instrument for managing allegiance. It also offers a new basis for understanding instability in the late Habsburg monarchy

How are "teaching the teachers" courses in evidence based medicine evaluated? A systematic review

Background Teaching of evidence-based medicine (EBM) has become widespread in medical education. Teaching the teachers (TTT) courses address the increased teaching demand and the need to improve effectiveness of EBM teaching. We conducted a systematic review of assessment tools for EBM TTT courses. To summarise and appraise existing assessment methods for teaching the teachers courses in EBM by a systematic review. Methods We searched PubMed, BioMed, EmBase, Cochrane and Eric databases without language restrictions and included articles that assessed its participants. Study selection and data extraction were conducted independently by two reviewers. Results Of 1230 potentially relevant studies, five papers met the selection criteria. There were no specific assessment tools for evaluating effectiveness of EBM TTT courses. Some of the material available might be useful in initiating the development of such an assessment tool. Conclusion There is a need for the development of educationally sound assessment tools for teaching the teachers courses in EBM, without which it would be impossible to ascertain if such courses have the desired effect

Clinically focused multi-cohort benchmarking as a tool for external validation of artificial intelligence algorithm performance in basic chest radiography analysis

Artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms evaluating [supine] chest radiographs ([S]CXRs) have remarkably increased in number recently. Since training and validation are often performed on subsets of the same overall dataset, external validation is mandatory to reproduce results and reveal potential training errors. We applied a multicohort benchmarking to the publicly accessible (S)CXR analyzing AI algorithm CheXNet, comprising three clinically relevant study cohorts which differ in patient positioning ([S]CXRs), the applied reference standards (CT-/[S]CXR-based) and the possibility to also compare algorithm classification with different medical experts’ reading performance. The study cohorts include [1] a cohort, characterized by 563 CXRs acquired in the emergency unit that were evaluated by 9 readers (radiologists and non-radiologists) in terms of 4 common pathologies, [2] a collection of 6,248 SCXRs annotated by radiologists in terms of pneumothorax presence, its size and presence of inserted thoracic tube material which allowed for subgroup and confounding bias analysis and [3] a cohort consisting of 166 patients with SCXRs that were evaluated by radiologists for underlying causes of basal lung opacities, all of those cases having been correlated to a timely acquired computed tomography scan (SCXR and CT within < 90 min). CheXNet non-significantly exceeded the radiology resident (RR) consensus in the detection of suspicious lung nodules (cohort [1], AUC AI/RR: 0.851/0.839, p = 0.793) and the radiological readers in the detection of basal pneumonia (cohort [3], AUC AI/reader consensus: 0.825/0.782, p = 0.390) and basal pleural effusion (cohort [3], AUC AI/reader consensus: 0.762/0.710, p = 0.336) in SCXR, partly with AUC values higher than originally published (“Nodule”: 0.780, “Infiltration”: 0.735, “Effusion”: 0.864). The classifier “Infiltration” turned out to be very dependent on patient positioning (best in CXR, worst in SCXR). The pneumothorax SCXR cohort [2] revealed poor algorithm performance in CXRs without inserted thoracic material and in the detection of small pneumothoraces, which can be explained by a known systematic confounding error in the algorithm training process. The benefit of clinically relevant external validation is demonstrated by the differences in algorithm performance as compared to the original publication. Our multi-cohort benchmarking finally enables the consideration of confounders, different reference standards and patient positioning as well as the AI performance comparison with differentially qualified medical readers

The XMM Cluster Survey: Forecasting cosmological and cluster scaling-relation parameter constraints

We forecast the constraints on the values of sigma_8, Omega_m, and cluster scaling relation parameters which we expect to obtain from the XMM Cluster Survey (XCS). We assume a flat Lambda-CDM Universe and perform a Monte Carlo Markov Chain analysis of the evolution of the number density of galaxy clusters that takes into account a detailed simulated selection function. Comparing our current observed number of clusters shows good agreement with predictions. We determine the expected degradation of the constraints as a result of self-calibrating the luminosity-temperature relation (with scatter), including temperature measurement errors, and relying on photometric methods for the estimation of galaxy cluster redshifts. We examine the effects of systematic errors in scaling relation and measurement error assumptions. Using only (T,z) self-calibration, we expect to measure Omega_m to +-0.03 (and Omega_Lambda to the same accuracy assuming flatness), and sigma_8 to +-0.05, also constraining the normalization and slope of the luminosity-temperature relation to +-6 and +-13 per cent (at 1sigma) respectively in the process. Self-calibration fails to jointly constrain the scatter and redshift evolution of the luminosity-temperature relation significantly. Additional archival and/or follow-up data will improve on this. We do not expect measurement errors or imperfect knowledge of their distribution to degrade constraints significantly. Scaling-relation systematics can easily lead to cosmological constraints 2sigma or more away from the fiducial model. Our treatment is the first exact treatment to this level of detail, and introduces a new `smoothed ML' estimate of expected constraints.Comment: 28 pages, 17 figures. Revised version, as accepted for publication in MNRAS. High-resolution figures available at http://xcs-home.org (under "Publications"

Cropping sequences and no-till quality indicators in the Middle Plateau of Rio Grande do Sul

O sistema plantio direto (SPD) reúne o maior complexo de tecnologias conservacionistas para solos tropicais e subtropicais, entretanto muitos produtores estão adotando parcialmente estes preceitos, potencializando a degradação do mesmo. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a qualidade do SPD em uma localidade, localizada no Planalto Médio do Rio Grande do Sul, observando qual a situação atual do manejo do solo e das glebas agrícolas da região conduzidas sob SPD. Foi realizado o monitoramento do uso do solo da localidade de Linha Cristal, situada no município de Selbach, RS, bem como a avaliação de glebas agrícolas que representassem diferentes manejos ali observados, além de uma mata nativa servindo de referência. Para isso, nestas glebas foram determinados os aportes de fitomassa seca (FMS) e o índice de cobertura (IC) da superfície do solo, a densidade (Ds), densidade crítica (Dsc) e grau de compactação (GC) do solo, além dos teores de matéria orgânica do solo (MOS). A análise estatística consistiu em análises univariadas (média e desvio padrão), já os resultados entre os teores de MOS e a Ds, também foram submetidos à análise de regressão. A área cultivada apresentou baixa diversidade de culturas no período de verão, predominando a soja (88,6%). Maior parte do milho em 2016/2017, destinou-se a produção de silagem (59%). Os cultivos de inverno foram mais diversificados, predominando a cultura do trigo, cevada, aveia branca e aveia preta. As médias anuais de FMS adicionada ao solo (13.147 e 11.508 kg/hectare/ano) estiveram acima do mínimo para manter os níveis de MOS estipulado pela literatura (9.000 kg/hectare/ano). As glebas agrícolas apresentaram a camada de 7- 14 centímetros mais densa, onde apenas uma das glebas apresentou valor de Ds inferior a Dsc. Houve correlação linear inversa entre Ds e MOS, onde as áreas que continham maiores teores de MOS, apresentavam menores Ds.The no-tillage system (SPD) brings together the largest complex of conservation technologies for tropical and subtropical soils, however many producers are partially adopting these precepts, enhancing its degradation. The objective of this work was to evaluate the quality of SPD in a locality, located in the Middle Plateau of Rio Grande do Sul, observing the current situation of soil management and agricultural plots in the region conducted under SPD. Land use monitoring was carried out at Linha Cristal, located in the city of Selbach, RS, as well as the evaluation of agricultural plots that represented the different managements observed there, as well as a native forest as reference. For this, the dry phytomass (DP) and the soil surface coverage rate (CR), the density (Sd), critical density (Bd) and degree of compaction (DC) of the soil were determined, in addiction to soil organic matter (SOM). Statistical analysis consisted of univariate analyzes (mean and standard deviation), while the results between the SOM and Ds levels were also submitted to regression analysis. The cultivated area showed low crop diversity in summer crops, predominating soybean (88.6%). Most of the corn in 2016/17 was destined to silage production (59%). The winter harvests were more diversified, with predominance of wheat, barley, white oats and black oats. The annual average DP added to the soil (13,147 and 11,508 kg/hectare/year) were above the minimum to maintain the SOM levels stipulated by the literature (9,000 kg/hectare/year). Farmland presented the Passinato et al. Rev. Ciênc. Agrovet., Lages, SC, Brasil (ISSN 2238-1171) 355 densest 7-14 cm layer, where only one of the farmland presented Ds value lower than Dsc. There was an inverse linear correlation between Ds and MOS, where the areas containing the highest SOM contents had the lowest Ds