The Rings of Power Book Club (Part 1): Seduction, Knowledge, and Metallurgy in the Second Age of Middle-earth

The upcoming Amazon-produced streaming series The Rings of Power represents the most expensive adaptation of Tolkien’s Middle-earth to date, and will explore the Second Age, of which Tolkien wrote relatively little. This adaptation has generated massive buzz, both positive and negative, prior to its airing, often centered around issues of race, gender, and diversity. Over the past 5 months, a group of Mythies have gathered periodically on the Mythopoeic Society’s Discord server to pore over Tolkien’s meager writings about the Second Age, and how this material could be adapted into a live action streaming series. We will revisit some of the recurring themes from our book club meetings; Which Second Age elements and characters likely will/will not be portrayed, depictions of race/culture/religion, origins of histories, descriptions of Sauron’s influence in Numenor, and more

The Rings of Power Book Club (Part 2): Open Discussion on ‘The Peoples of Middle-earth: Tar-Elmar\u27

Participate in or spectate a hybrid in-person/online MythCon edition of ‘The Rings of Power Book Club,’ where we discuss excerpts from Tolkien’s writings on the Second Age of Middle-earth, and how they could relate to the upcoming Amazon streaming series. We will be discussing the following passage: The History of Middle-earth XII: The Peoples of Middle-earth: Tar-Elmar (422-427)

Numerical Updates of Lifetimes and Mixing Parameters of B Mesons

We update the Standard-Model predictions for several quantities related to Bs−B¯s and Bd−B¯d mixing. The mass and width differences in the Bs system read ΔMSMs=(17.3±2.6)ps−1 and ΔΓSMs=(0.087±0.021)ps−1, respectively. The CP asymmetries in flavour-specific decays are as,SMfs=(1.9±0.3)⋅10−5 and ad,SMfs=−(4.1±0.6)⋅10−4. We further critically discuss the sensitivity of ΔΓd to new physics and the uncertainties in the relation between ΔΓs and the branching fraction of Bs→D(∗)s+D(∗)s−. Then we present a numerical update of the average width Γs in the Bs system and correlate Γs with the B+-Bd lifetime ratio. Finally we summarise the key results of our recent global analysis with the CKMfitter collaboration addressing new physics in B−B¯-mixing. In an appropriately defined scenario parametrising new physics in B−B¯-mixing by two complex parameters Δd and Δs the Standard-Model point {Δd=Δs=1} is disfavoured by 3.6 standard deviations

Microbiota analysis of environmental slurry and its potential role as a reservoir of bovine digital dermatitis pathogens

ABSTRACT At present, very little information exists regarding what role the environmental slurry may play as an infection reservoir and/or route of transmission for bovine digital dermatitis (DD), a disease which is a global problem in dairy herds. To investigate whether DD-related bacteria belong to the indigenous microbiota of the dairy herd environment, we used deep amplicon sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene in 135 slurry samples collected from different sites in 22 dairy farms, with and without DD-infected cows. Both the general bacterial populations and digital dermatitis-associated Treponema were targeted in this study. The results revealed significant differences in the bacterial communities between the herds, with only 12 bacterial taxa shared across at least 80% of all the individual samples. These differences in the herd microbiota appeared to reflect mainly between-herd variation. Not surprisingly, the slurry was dominated by ubiquitous gastrointestinal bacteria, such as Ruminococcaceae and Lachnospiraceae . Despite the low relative abundance of spirochetes, which ranged from 0 to 0.6%, we were able to detect small amounts of bacterial DNA from DD-associated treponemes in the slurry. However, the DD-associated Treponema spp. were detected only in samples from herds with reported DD problems. These data indicate that treponemes involved in the pathogenesis of DD are not part of the normal environmental microflora in dairy herds without clinical DD and, consequently, that slurry is not a primary reservoir of infection. IMPORTANCE Bovine digital dermatitis (DD), a dermal disease which causes lameness in dairy cattle, is a serious problem worldwide. To control this disease, the infection reservoirs and transmission routes of DD pathogens need to be clarified. The dairy herd slurry may be a pathogen reservoir of DD-associated bacteria. The rationale for the present study was, therefore, to examine whether DD-associated bacteria are always present in slurry or if they are found only in DD-afflicted herds. The results strongly indicated that DD Treponema spp. are not part of the indigenous slurry and, therefore, do not comprise an infection reservoir in healthy herds. This study applied next-generation sequencing technology to decipher the microbial compositions of environmental slurry of dairy herds with and without digital dermatitis. </jats:p

Prevalence of antibody to Trypanosoma cruzi in Hispanic-surnamed patients seen at Parkland Health & Hospital System, Dallas, Texas

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Chagas disease constitutes an important public health threat in terms of morbidity and mortality in the areas in the United States where immigrant populations from Latin America are conspicuous. We conducted a survey to assess the prevalence of anti-<it>T. cruzi </it>antibody in Hispanic-surnamed patients seen at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Texas.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>Five hundred serum specimens from Hispanic-surnamed patients were tested by a preliminary ELISA method. On a subset of 50 sera confirmatory testing was also performed using an alternative ELISA, indirect immunofluorescence, and TESA immunoblot. For 274 of 500 Hispanic-surnamed patients, we were able to ascertain immigration status upon medical chart review. Of the 274 sera analyzed, one sample tested as positive for anti-<it>T. cruzi </it>antibody by the preliminary ELISA, and by the three confirmatory methods.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The goal of this study is to increase the awareness of <it>T. cruzi </it>infection and Chagas disease in areas where the Latin American immigrant communities are growing. Our study highlights the importance of testing for Chagas disease in the populations most at risk, and the need for current data on the actual seroprevalence in areas where such immigrant populations are conspicuous. Larger-scale epidemiologic surveys on Chagas disease in the immigrant communities from Latin America are warranted.</p

PANEL: The Rings of Power Season 1: Underworlds, Overworlds, and Ocean Worlds

Now that the first of five planned seasons of Amazon’s big budget Second Age adaptation The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has aired, we will provide a retrospective of Season 1. We will compare Tolkien’s Second Age writings with the realized version in the show, including how the writers and showrunners have interpreted certain specific passages from the texts, and where significant departures were made for sake of adaptation. We will highlight themes of the season, as well as specific characters, relationships, and settings that have resonated with audiences, and speculate on where the series could potentially progress in Season 2 and beyond. From Númenor to Near Harad, Harfoots to High Elves, we will give you the meat, and give it to you raw

Measured Composite Collision Models: Quantum Trajectory Purities and Channel Divisibility

We investigate a composite quantum collision model with measurements on the memory part, which effectively probe the system. The framework allows us to adjust the measurement strength, thereby tuning the dynamical map of the system. For a two-qubit setup with a symmetric and informationally complete measurement on the memory, we study the divisibility of the resulting dynamics in dependence of the measurement strength. The measurements give rise to quantum trajectories of the system and we show that the average asymptotic purity depends on the specific form of the measurement. With the help of numerical simulations, we demonstrate that the different performance of the measurements is generic and holds for almost all interaction gates between the system and the memory in the composite collision model. The discrete model is then extended to a time-continuous limit

Entwicklung eines konfigurierbaren Flugtaxi-Simulators mit Hilfe einer kopfgetragenen Anzeige mit Video-Durchsicht - Ein Vergleich verschiedener Mixed-Reality-Ansätze

Um zukünftige Flugtaxi-Konzepte frühzeitig aus Passagiersicht bewerten zu können, wird ein immersiver und gleichzeitig konfigurierbarer Kabinensimulator benötigt. Dieser Vortrag zeigt wie moderne Mixed-Reality-Technologien bei der Umsetzung eines solchen Simulators helfen können. So kann zum Beispiel mit Hilfe einer Video-Durchsicht-Brille das reale Kabinenmockup flexibel um virtuelle Objekte erweitert werden. Die durchgeführte Probandenstudie zeigt die Vorteile und Grenzen solcher Ansätze