Thinking beyond the hybrid:“actually-existing” cities “after neoliberalism” in Boyle <i>et al.</i>

In their article, ‘The spatialities of actually existing neoliberalism in Glasgow, 1977 to present’, Mark Boyle, Christopher McWilliams and Gareth Rice (2008) usefully problematise our current understanding of neoliberal urbanism. Our response is aimed at developing a sympathetic but critical approach to Boyle et al's understanding of neoliberal urbanism as illustrated by the Glasgow example. In particular, the counterposing by Boyle et al of a 'hybrid, mutant' model to a 'pure' model of neoliberalism for us misrepresents existing models of neoliberalism as a perfectly finished object rather than a roughly mottled process. That they do not identify any ‘pure’ model leads them to create a straw construct against which they can claim a more sophisticated, refined approach to the messiness of neoliberal urbanism. In contrast, we view neoliberalism as a contested and unstable response to accumulation crises at various scales of analysis

Obscuration of the Parsec Scale Jets in the Compact Symmetric Object 1946+708

We present results of VLA and VLBA observations of the 1.420 GHz neutral hydrogen absorption associated with the Compact Symmetric Object 1946+708 (z=0.101). We find significant structure in the gas on parsec scales. The peak column density in the HI (N_HI~2.2x10^23 cm^-2 (T_s/8000K)) occurs toward the center of activity of the source, as does the highest velocity dispersion (FWHM~350 \kms). In addition, we find that the continuum spectra of the various radio components associated with these jets strongly indicate free-free absorption. This effect is particularly pronounced toward the core and inner components of the receding jet, suggesting the presence of a screen local to the source, perhaps part of an obscuring torus.Comment: revised version, some text added, 1 figure changed; accepted to Astrophysical Journal, 22 page LaTeX document includes 8 postscript figure

On the Prospects for Laser Cooling of TlF

We measure the upper state lifetime and two ratios of vibrational branching fractions f_{v'v} on the B^{3}\Pi_{1}(v') - X^{1}\Sigma^{+}(v) transition of TlF. We find the B state lifetime to be 99(9) ns. We also determine that the off-diagonal vibrational decays are highly suppressed: f_{01}/f_{00} < 2x10^{-4} and f_{02}/f_{00} = 1.10(6)%, in excellent agreement with their predicted values of f_{01}/f_{00} < 8x10^{-4} and f_{02}/f_{00} = 1.0(2)% based on Franck-Condon factors calculated using Morse and RKR potentials. The implications of these results for the possible laser cooling of TlF and fundamental symmetries experiments are discussed.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure

Occupational (Im)mobility in the Global Care Economy: The Case of Foreign-Trained Nurses in the Canadian Context

The twenty-first century has witnessed a number of significant demographic and political shifts that have resulted in a care crisis. Addressing the deficit of care provision has led many nations to actively recruit migrant care labour, often under temporary forms of migration. The emergence of this phenomenon has resulted in a rich field of analysis using the lens of care, including the idea of the Global Care Chain. Revisions to this conceptualization have pushed for its extension beyond domestic workers in the home to include skilled workers in other institutional settings, particularly nurses in hospitals and long-term care settings. Reviewing relevant literature on migrant nurses, this article explores the labour market experiences of internationally educated nurses in Canada. The article reviews research on the barriers facing migrant nurses as they transfer their credentials to the Canadian context. Analysis of this literature suggests that internationally trained nurses experience a form of occupational (im)mobility, paradoxical, ambiguous and contingent processes that exploit global mobility, and results in the stratified incorporation of skilled migrant women into healthcare workplaces

Extragalactic water masers in bright IRAS sources

We report the results of a search for 22 GHz water maser emission in IRAS-bright galaxies, using the 100-m Effelsberg telescope. In particular, we present the details of four new maser detections (IC342, NGC2146, NGC3556, and Arp299) and follow-up interferometric studies. A comparison between water maser detection rates derived in the present study and those in previous similar surveys is also presented.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, to appear in "The Neutral ISM in Starburst Galaxies", ASP Conference Series, Volume xxx, 2003, eds. S. Aalto, S. Huettemeister, A. Pedla

Disentangling the Circumnuclear Environs of Centaurus A: III. An Inner Molecular Ring, Nuclear Shocks and the CO to warm H2 interface

We present the distribution and kinematics of the molecular gas in the circumnuclear disk (CND, 400 pc x 200 pc) of Centaurus A with resolutions of ~5 pc (0.3 arcsec) and shed light onto the mechanism feeding the Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) using CO(3-2), HCO+(4-3), HCN(4-3), and CO(6-5) observations obtained with ALMA. Multiple filaments or streamers of tens to a hundred parsec scale exist within the CND, which form a ring-like structure with an unprojected diameter of 9 x 6 arcsec (162pc x 108pc) and a position angle PA = 155deg. Inside the nuclear ring, there are two leading and straight filamentary structures with lengths of about 30-60pc at PA = 120deg on opposite sides of the AGN, with a rotational symmetry of 180deg and steeper position-velocity diagrams, which are interpreted as nuclear shocks due to non-circular motions. Along the filaments, and unlike other nearby AGNs, several dense molecular clumps present low HCN/HCO+(4-3) ratios (~0.5). The filaments abruptly end in the probed transitions at r = 20pc from the AGN, but previous near-IR H2 (J=1-0) S(1) maps show that they continue in an even ~1000 K), winding up in the form of nuclear spirals, and forming an inner ring structure with another set of symmetric filaments along the N-S direction and within r = 10pc. The molecular gas is governed primarily by non-circular motions, being the successive shock fronts at different scales where loss of angular momentum occurs, a mechanism which may feed efficiently powerful radio galaxies down to parsec scales.Comment: 46 pages. Accepted for publication in Ap

X-ray emission from massive stars in Cyg OB2

We report on the analysis of the Chandra-ACIS data of O, B and WR stars in the young association Cyg OB2. X-ray spectra of 49 O-stars, 54 B-stars and 3 WR-stars are analyzed and for the brighter sources, the epoch dependence of the X-ray fluxes is investigated. The O-stars in Cyg\,OB2 follow a well-defined scaling relation between their X-ray and bolometric luminosities: log(Lx/Lbol) = -7.2 +/- 0.2. This relation is in excellent agreement with the one previously derived for the Carina OB1 association. Except for the brightest O-star binaries, there is no general X-ray overluminosity due to colliding winds in O-star binaries. Roughly half of the known B-stars in the surveyed field are detected, but they fail to display a clear relationship between Lx and Lbol. Out of the three WR stars in Cyg OB2, probably only WR144 is itself responsible for the observed level of X-ray emission, at a very low log(Lx/Lbol) = -8.8 +/- 0.2. The X-ray emission of the other two WR-stars (WR145 and 146) is most probably due to their O-type companion along with a moderate contribution from a wind-wind interaction zone.Comment: Accepted for an ApJS Special Issue devoted to the Chandra Cygnus OB2 Legacy Surve