Renouncing Chance: A Comprehensive Analysis of Brian Friel’s Faith Healer

Faith Healer by Brian Friel is a play about trauma, addiction, co-dependency, and the inconsistencies of multiples perspectives upon the same narrative. This in-depth academic analysis attempts to examine the themes at play, as well as break-down the script and the characters who are a part of it

The interpretation of discontinuous state feedback control laws as nonanticipative control strategies in differential games

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Checking Interaction-Based Declassification Policies for Android Using Symbolic Execution

Mobile apps can access a wide variety of secure information, such as contacts and location. However, current mobile platforms include only coarse access control mechanisms to protect such data. In this paper, we introduce interaction-based declassification policies, in which the user's interactions with the app constrain the release of sensitive information. Our policies are defined extensionally, so as to be independent of the app's implementation, based on sequences of security-relevant events that occur in app runs. Policies use LTL formulae to precisely specify which secret inputs, read at which times, may be released. We formalize a semantic security condition, interaction-based noninterference, to define our policies precisely. Finally, we describe a prototype tool that uses symbolic execution to check interaction-based declassification policies for Android, and we show that it enforces policies correctly on a set of apps.Comment: This research was supported in part by NSF grants CNS-1064997 and 1421373, AFOSR grants FA9550-12-1-0334 and FA9550-14-1-0334, a partnership between UMIACS and the Laboratory for Telecommunication Sciences, and the National Security Agenc

On the Expansion of the Horse's Foot.

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The ecology of seamounts: structure, function, and human impacts.

In this review of seamount ecology, we address a number of key scientific issues concerning the structure and function of benthic communities, human impacts, and seamount management and conservation. We consider whether community composition and diversity differ between seamounts and continental slopes, how important dispersal capabilities are in seamount connectivity, what environmental factors drive species composition and diversity, whether seamounts are centers of enhanced biological productivity, and whether they have unique trophic architecture. We discuss how vulnerable seamount communities are to fishing and mining, and how we can balance exploitation of resources and conservation of habitat. Despite considerable advances in recent years, there remain many questions about seamount ecosystems that need closer integration of molecular, oceanographic, and ecological research

A Group Intervention for Individuals With Obesity and Comorbid Binge Eating Disorder: Results From a Feasibility Study.

Purpose: A common challenge among a subgroup of individuals with obesity is binge eating, that exists on a continuum from mild binge eating episodes to severe binge eating disorder (BED). BED is common among bariatric patients and the prevalence of disordered eating and ED in bariatric surgery populations is well known. Conventional treatments and assessment of obesity seldom address the underlying psychological mechanisms of binge eating and subsequent obesity. This study, titled PnP (People need People) is a psychoeducational group pilot intervention for individuals with BED and obesity including patients with previous bariatric surgery. Design, feasibility, and a broad description of the study population is reported. Material and Methods: A total of 42 patients were from an obesity clinic referred to assessment and treatment with PnP in a psychoeducational group setting (3-hour weekly meetings for 10 weeks). Of these, 6 (14.3%) patients had a previous history of bariatric surgery. Feasibility was assessed by tracking attendance, potentially adverse effects and outcome measures including body mass index (BMI), eating disorder pathology, overvaluation of shape and weight, impairment, self-reported childhood difficulties, alexithymia, internalized shame as well as health related quality of life (HRQoL). Results: All 42 patients completed the intervention, with no adverse effects and a high attendance rate with a median attendance of 10 sessions, 95% CI (8.9,9.6) and 0% attrition. Extent of psychosocial impairment due to eating disorder pathology, body dissatisfaction and severity of ED symptoms were high among the patients at baseline. Additionally, self-reported childhood difficulties, alexithymia, and internalized shame were high among the patients and indicate a need to address underlying psychological mechanisms in individuals with BED and comorbid obesity. Improvement of HRQoL and reduction of binge eating between baseline and the end of the intervention was observed with a medium effect. Conclusion: This feasibility study supports PnP as a potential group psychoeducational intervention for patients living with BED and comorbid obesity. Assessments of BED and delivery of this intervention may optimize selection of candidates and bariatric outcomes. These preliminary results warrant further investigation via a randomized control trial (RCT) to examine the efficacy and effectiveness of PnP