580 research outputs found
Conditional citizens? welfare rights and responsibilities in the late 1990s
In Britain the relationship between welfare rights and responsibilities has undergone change. A new welfare 'consensus' that emphasizes a citizen ship centred on notions of duty rather than rights has been built. This has allowed the state to reduce its role as a provider of welfare and also defend a position in which the welfare rights of some citizens are increas ingly conditional on those individuals meeting compulsory responsibili ties or duties. This concentration on individual responsibility/duty has undermined the welfare rights of some of the poorest members of society. Three levels of debate are considered within the article: academic, pol itical and 'grassroots'. The latter is included in an attempt to allow some 'bottom up' views into what is largely a debate dominated by social sci entists and politicians
The influence of νh11/2 occupancy on the magnetic moments of collective 21+ states in A∼100 fission fragments
AbstractThe magnetic moments of Iπ=21+ states in even–even A∼100 fission fragments have been measured using the Gammasphere array, using the technique of time-integral perturbed angular correlations. The data are interpreted within the context of the interacting boson model (IBA2) leading to the suggestion of a strong νh11/2 component in the deformed 21+ states of this region
Active Galactic Nuclei at the Crossroads of Astrophysics
Over the last five decades, AGN studies have produced a number of spectacular
examples of synergies and multifaceted approaches in astrophysics. The field of
AGN research now spans the entire spectral range and covers more than twelve
orders of magnitude in the spatial and temporal domains. The next generation of
astrophysical facilities will open up new possibilities for AGN studies,
especially in the areas of high-resolution and high-fidelity imaging and
spectroscopy of nuclear regions in the X-ray, optical, and radio bands. These
studies will address in detail a number of critical issues in AGN research such
as processes in the immediate vicinity of supermassive black holes, physical
conditions of broad-line and narrow-line regions, formation and evolution of
accretion disks and relativistic outflows, and the connection between nuclear
activity and galaxy evolution.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures; review contribution; "Exploring the Cosmic
Frontier: Astrophysical Instruments for the 21st Century", ESO Astrophysical
Symposia Serie
In vitro assessment of antibiotic-resistance reversal of a methanol extract from Rosa canina L.
The crude methanol extract of Rosa canina (RC) fruit was tested against multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterial strains, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus SA1199B, EMRSA16 and XU212 harbouring NorA, PBP2a and TetK resistance mechanisms, respectively, as well as S. aureus ATCC25923, a standard antimicrobial susceptible laboratory strain. The inhibition of the conjugal transfer of plasmid PKM101 and TP114 by the RC extract was also evaluated. The RC extract demonstrated a mild to poor antibacterial activity against the panel of bacteria having MIC values ranging from 256 to >512 μg/mL but strongly potentiated tetracycline activity (64-fold) against XU212, a tetracycline-effluxing and resistant strain. Furthermore, the extract showed moderate capacity to inhibit the conjugal transfer of TP114 and PKM101; transfer frequencies were between 40% and 45%. Cytotoxicity analysis of the RC extract against HepG2 cells line showed the IC50 > 500 mg/L and, thus, was considered non-toxic towards human cells. Phytochemical characterisation of the extracts was performed by the assessment of total phenolic content (RC: 60.86 mg TAE/g) and HPLC fingerprints with five main peaks at 360 nm. The results from this study provide new mechanistic evidence justifying, at least in part, the traditional use of this extract. However, the inhibition of bacterial plasmid conjugation opens the possibility of combination therapies to overcome antibiotic resistance
Environmental monitoring : phase 5 final report (April 2019 - March 2020)
This report presents the results and interpretation for Phase 5 of an integrated environmental
monitoring programme that is being undertaken around two proposed shale gas sites in England –
Preston New Road, Lancashire and Kirby Misperton, North Yorkshire. The report should be read
in conjunction with previous reports freely available through the project website1
. These provide
additional background to the project, presentation of earlier results and the rationale for
establishment of the different elements of the monitoring programme
Environmental monitoring : phase 4 final report (April 2018 - March 2019)
This report describes the results of activities carried out as part of the Environmental
Monitoring Project (EMP) led by the British Geological Survey (BGS) in areas around two
shale gas sites in England – Kirby Misperton (Vale of Pickering, North Yorkshire) and Preston
New Road (Fylde, Lancashire). It focuses on the monitoring undertaken during the period April
2018–March 2019 but also considers this in the context of earlier monitoring results that have
been covered in reports for earlier phases of the project (Phases I–IV)
2
.
The EMP project is a multi-partner project involving BGS together with Public Health England
(PHE), University of Birmingham, University of Bristol, University of Manchester, Royal
Holloway University of London (RHUL) and University of York. The work has been enabled
by funding from a combination of the BGS National Capability programme, a grant awarded
by the UK Government’s Department for Business Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and
additional benefit-in-kind contributions from all partners.
The project comprises the comprehensive monitoring of different environment compartments
and properties at and around the two shale-gas sites. The component parts of the EMP are all
of significance when considering environmental and human health risks associated with shale
gas development. Included are seismicity, ground motion, water (groundwater and surface
water), soil gas, greenhouse gases, air quality, and radon.
The monitoring started before hydraulic fracturing had taken place at the two locations, and so
the results obtained before the initiation of operations at the shale-gas sites represent baseline
conditions. It is important to characterise adequately the baseline conditions so that any future
changes caused by shale gas operations, including hydraulic fracturing, can be identified. This
is also the case for any other new activities that may impact those compartments of the
environment being monitored as part of the project.
In the period October 2018–December 2018, an initial phase of hydraulic fracturing took place
at the Preston New Road (PNR) shale-gas site (shale gas well PNR1-z) in Lancashire. This was
followed by a period of flow testing of the well to assess its performance (to end of January
2019). The project team continued monitoring during these various activities and several
environmental effects were observed. These are summarised below and described in more
detail within the report. The initiation of operations at the shale-gas site signified the end of
baseline monitoring. At the Kirby Misperton site (KMA), approval has not yet been granted
for hydraulic fracturing of the shale gas well (KM8), and so no associated operations have
taken place during the period covered by this report. The effects on air quality arising from the
mobilisation of equipment in anticipation of hydraulic fracturing operations starting was
reported in the Phase III report, and in a recently published paper3
. Following demobilisation of the equipment and its removal from the site, conditions returned to baseline and the on-going
monitoring (reported in this report) is effectively a continuation of baseline monitoring
High-spin study of rotational structures in 72Br
High-spin states in 3572Br37 were studied using the 40Ca(36Ar, 3pn) reaction. The existing level scheme has been significantly modified and extended. Evidence has been found for a spin reassignment of -1ℏh to the previously observed negative-parity band, which carries implications for the interpretation of a signature inversion in this structure. One signature of the previously assigned positive-parity band is interpreted as negative parity and has been extended to I π=(22-) and its signature partner has been observed up to Iπ = (19-) for the first time. The remaining positive-parity band has been extended to Iπ=(29+). A sequence of states observed to Iπ=(22+) may be the signature partner of this structure. Configurations have been assigned to each of these three structures through comparisons to cranked Nilsson-Strutinsky calculations
Global Search for New Physics with 2.0/fb at CDF
Data collected in Run II of the Fermilab Tevatron are searched for
indications of new electroweak-scale physics. Rather than focusing on
particular new physics scenarios, CDF data are analyzed for discrepancies with
the standard model prediction. A model-independent approach (Vista) considers
gross features of the data, and is sensitive to new large cross-section
physics. Further sensitivity to new physics is provided by two additional
algorithms: a Bump Hunter searches invariant mass distributions for "bumps"
that could indicate resonant production of new particles; and the Sleuth
procedure scans for data excesses at large summed transverse momentum. This
combined global search for new physics in 2.0/fb of ppbar collisions at
sqrt(s)=1.96 TeV reveals no indication of physics beyond the standard model.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures. Final version which appeared in Physical Review D
Rapid Communication
Observation of Orbitally Excited B_s Mesons
We report the first observation of two narrow resonances consistent with
states of orbitally excited (L=1) B_s mesons using 1 fb^{-1} of ppbar
collisions at sqrt{s} = 1.96 TeV collected with the CDF II detector at the
Fermilab Tevatron. We use two-body decays into K^- and B^+ mesons reconstructed
as B^+ \to J/\psi K^+, J/\psi \to \mu^+ \mu^- or B^+ \to \bar{D}^0 \pi^+,
\bar{D}^0 \to K^+ \pi^-. We deduce the masses of the two states to be m(B_{s1})
= 5829.4 +- 0.7 MeV/c^2 and m(B_{s2}^*) = 5839.7 +- 0.7 MeV/c^2.Comment: Version accepted and published by Phys. Rev. Let
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