"Crime and Testament: Enemy Direct Speech in Inscriptions of Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal"

Neo-Assyrian royal inscriptions are always narrated in the first-person voice of the king. Within this framing narrative, the device that we would call ‘direct speech’ is used only rarely, and judiciously. The texts that make the greatest use of this literary device both come from a period of particular innovation and experimentation in royal text forms: Esarhaddon’s Nineveh A and Ashurbanipal’s narratives about his campaign against Elamite king Teumman. In these examples, and in other texts of the time including Esarhaddon’s Succession Treaty, the words of enemies stand out as particularly threatening—and yet also particularly useful, as a literary device employed to further Assyrian agendas. Royal narratives use enemy speech for one of two purposes: either to document criminality, or to show enemies, in defeat and despair, testifying to the might and rightness of their Assyrian conquerors. Looking at all examples of speech—from enemies, gods, and the Assyrian king—I distinguish between ‘direct speech’ (as a literary device) and ‘quotation’ (as a practice). Most, though not all, direct speech in the sources considered here is also quotation, in that it seeks to document and preserve speech made in some other prior form (a verbal statement, a letter, an omen on an animal’s liver). Quotations demonstrate royal legitimacy and enemy culpability, while literary invention allows enemy voices to be turned to new purposes, as forced testament to Assyrian supremacy

Is meaning fraught with ought?

According to Normativism, what an expression means has immediate implications for how a subject should or may (not) employ that expression. Many view this thesis as imposing substantive constraints upon theories of linguistic meaning. In this paper, I shall not consider that view; instead, I shall address the prior issue of whether or not one should accept Normativism. Against certain recent prominent lines of attack common to a number of different anti-Normativist discussions, I shall defend both the Normativist thesis and an attempt to appeal to a certain platitude in its support

Incidence and costs of injuries to children and adults in the United States

Background: Injuries are a leading cause of death and acquired disability, and result in significant medical spending. Prior estimates of injury-related cost have been limited by older data, for certain population, or specific mechanisms. Findings: This study estimated the incidence of hospital-treated nonfatal injuries in the United States (US) in 2013 and the related comprehensive costs. Injury-related emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations were identified using 2013 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) data. Models estimated the costs of medical spending and lost future work due to injuries in 2013 U.S. dollars. A total of 31,038,072 nonfatal injury-related hospitalizations and ED visits were identified, representing 9.8 per 100 people. Hospital-treated nonfatal injuries cost an estimated $1.853 trillion, including$168 billion in medical spending, $223 billion in work losses, and$1.461 trillion in quality of life losses. Conclusions: Approximately one in 10 individuals in the US is treated in the hospital for injury each year, with high corresponding costs. These data support priority-setting to reduce the injury burden in the US

Spin-enhanced nanodiamond biosensing for ultrasensitive diagnostics

The quantum spin properties of nitrogen-vacancy defects in diamond enable diverse applications in quantum computing and communications. However, fluorescent nanodiamonds also have attractive properties for in vitro biosensing, including brightness, low cost and selective manipulation of their emission. Nanoparticle-based biosensors are essential for the early detection of disease, but they often lack the required sensitivity. Here we investigate fluorescent nanodiamonds as an ultrasensitive label for in vitro diagnostics, using a microwave field to modulate emission intensity and frequency-domain analysis to separate the signal from background autofluorescence, which typically limits sensitivity. Focusing on the widely used, low-cost lateral flow format as an exemplar, we achieve a detection limit of 8.2 × 10−19 molar for a biotin–avidin model, 105 times more sensitive than that obtained using gold nanoparticles. Single-copy detection of HIV-1 RNA can be achieved with the addition of a 10-minute isothermal amplification step, and is further demonstrated using a clinical plasma sample with an extraction step. This ultrasensitive quantum diagnostics platform is applicable to numerous diagnostic test formats and diseases, and has the potential to transform early diagnosis of disease for the benefit of patients and populations

Imaging the Impact of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure on the Structure of the Developing Human Brain

Prenatal alcohol exposure has numerous effects on the developing brain, including damage to selective brain structure. We review structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies of brain abnormalities in subjects prenatally exposed to alcohol. The most common findings include reduced brain volume and malformations of the corpus callosum. Advanced methods have been able to detect shape, thickness and displacement changes throughout multiple brain regions. The teratogenic effects of alcohol appear to be widespread, affecting almost the entire brain. The only region that appears to be relatively spared is the occipital lobe. More recent studies have linked cognition to the underlying brain structure in alcohol-exposed subjects, and several report patterns in the severity of brain damage as it relates to facial dysmorphology or to extent of alcohol exposure. Future studies exploring relationships between brain structure, cognitive measures, dysmorphology, age, and other variables will be valuable for further comprehending the vast effects of prenatal alcohol exposure and for evaluating possible interventions

Increasing the simulation performance of large-scale evacuations using parallel computing techniques based on domain decomposition

Evacuation simulation has the potential to be used as part of a decision support system during large-scale incidents to provide advice to incident commanders. To be viable in these applications, it is essential that the simulation can run many times faster than real time. Parallel processing is a method of reducing run times for very large computational simulations by distributing the workload amongst a number of processors. This paper presents the development of a parallel version of the rule based evacuation simulation software buildingEXODUS using domain decomposition. Four Case Studies (CS) were tested using a cluster, consisting of 10 Intel Core 2 Duo (dual core) 3.16 GHz CPUs. CS-1 involved an idealised large geometry, with 20 exits, intended to illustrate the peak computational speed up performance of the parallel implementation, the population consisted of 100,000 agents; the peak computational speedup (PCS) was 14.6 and the peak real-time speedup (PRTS) was 4.0. CS-2 was a long area with a single exit area with a population of 100,000 agents; the PCS was 13.2 and the PRTS was 17.2. CS-3 was a 50 storey high rise building with a population of 8000/16,000 agents; the PCS was 2.48/4.49 and the PRTS was 17.9/12.9. CS-4 is a large realistic urban area with 60,000/120,000 agents; the PCS was 5.3/6.89 and the PRTS was 5.31/3.0. This type of computational performance opens evacuation simulation to a range of new innovative application areas such as real-time incident support, dynamic signage in smart buildings and virtual training environments

Demographic survey of pediatric patients presenting to a chiropractic teaching clinic

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Considering the increasing use of alternative therapies for children, it is appropriate to determine the demographic profile of pediatric patients entering a chiropractic clinic.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Collection of demographic data including age, gender, condition at presentation, previous clinicians consulted and medical referral rates of pediatric patients presenting to a chiropractic teaching clinic between 2006 and 2010.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Over-all, 20.5% of patients were aged between two days and 15 years and classified as pediatric patients. The most common presenting complaint was musculoskeletal (35%). Excess crying (30%) was the most common complaint in the largest presenting age group which was under 12 weeks of age (62.3%). All children had previously presented for medical care for the same condition. Most (83%) of the infant patients under 12 weeks of age were referred for care by a medical practitioner.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Parents commonly presented their child for care at this chiropractic clinic with a recommendation from a medical practitioner. The most common complaints were musculoskeletal and excessive crying conditions and the most prevalent age group was under 12 weeks of age.</p

Callers’ attitudes and experiences of UK breastfeeding helpline support

Background: Breastfeeding peer support, is considered to be a key intervention for increasing breastfeeding duration rates. Whilst a number of national organisations provide telephone based breastfeeding peer support, to date there have been no published evaluations into callers’ experiences and attitudes of this support. In this study we report on the descriptive and qualitative insights provided by 908 callers as part of an evaluation of UK-based breastfeeding helpline(s). Methods: A structured telephone interview, incorporating Likert scale responses and open-ended questions was undertaken with 908 callers over May to August, 2011 to explore callers’ experiences of the help and support received via the breastfeeding helpline(s). Results: Overall satisfaction with the helpline was high, with the vast majority of callers’ recalling positive experiences of the help and support received. Thematic analysis was undertaken on all qualitative and descriptive data recorded during the evaluation, contextualised within the main areas addressed within the interview schedule in terms of ‘contact with the helplines’; ‘experiences of the helpline service’, ‘perceived effectiveness of support provision’ and ‘impact on caller wellbeing’. Conclusion: Callers valued the opportunity for accessible, targeted, non-judgmental and convenient support. Whilst the telephone support did not necessarily influence women’s breastfeeding decisions, the support they received left them feeling reassured, confident and more determined to continue breastfeeding. We recommend extending the helpline service to ensure support can be accessed when needed, and ongoing training and support for volunteers. Further advertising and promotion of the service within wider demographic groups is warranted

Quantifying Biomolecular Binding Constants Using Video Paper Analytical Devices

A novel ultra‐low‐cost biochemical analysis platform to quantify protein dissociation binding constants and kinetics using paper microfluidics is reported. This approach marries video imaging with one of humankind's oldest materials: paper, requiring no large, expensive laboratory equipment, complex microfluidics or external power. Temporal measurements of nanoparticle–antibody conjugates binding on paper is found to follow the Langmuir Adsorption Model. This is exploited to measure a series of antibody–antigen dissociation constants on paper, showing excellent agreement with a gold‐standard benchtop interferometer. The concept is demonstrated with a camera and low‐end smartphone, 500‐fold cheaper than the reference method, and can be multiplexed to measure ten reactions in parallel. These findings will help to widen access to quantitative analytical biochemistry, for diverse applications spanning disease diagnostics, drug discovery, and environmental analysis in resource‐limited settings