Religion, Culture and Habits: Boundaries Within a Global Village

McLuhan’s idea of a “global village” theory is idealistic. It assumes that the globe shares a single history, economy, and culture. Whereas a common history and economy are arguably present, a shared culture is less realistic. How can the world be a village when war, poverty, indifference, and ignorance have led to the ruin of so many people

Emerging Issues: To Be or Not to Be, That Is the Statehood Question

The Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States lists the four necessary qualifications in order to become a recognized state: a) permanent population; b) defined territory; c) government; and d) capacity to enter into relations with other States.1 However, how does a territory become its own state or part of a new state if it is already a section of another state? There are two different ways this can happen: secession and annexation. While both of these processes are recognized as ways to attain statehood in international law, they are not generally accepted as viable options except in dire circumstances, such as when the people of an area are oppressed and suffering from a lack of self-determination. Emerging from the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, the principles of state sovereignty and non-intervention reigned supreme.3 During this era of reformed statehood, states were in control of their own actions and responsible for governing their own citizens with no interference from outside states. As modern international rule emerged in the mid to late 1900s, the idea of a Westphalian Society started to slowly dissolve as states realized that they must cooperate with one another in order to create a more comprehensive world. Despite the modernization of statehood, there still remained the theory that states’ boundaries are etched into history forever and cannot be easily changed. This concept brings about some difficulty in attempting to annex into, or secede from, an existing state, which causes major changes in state boundaries

Emerging Issues: To Be or Not to Be, That Is the Statehood Question

The Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States lists the four necessary qualifications in order to become a recognized state: a) permanent population; b) defined territory; c) government; and d) capacity to enter into relations with other States.1 However, how does a territory become its own state or part of a new state if it is already a section of another state? There are two different ways this can happen: secession and annexation. While both of these processes are recognized as ways to attain statehood in international law, they are not generally accepted as viable options except in dire circumstances, such as when the people of an area are oppressed and suffering from a lack of self-determination. Emerging from the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, the principles of state sovereignty and non-intervention reigned supreme.3 During this era of reformed statehood, states were in control of their own actions and responsible for governing their own citizens with no interference from outside states. As modern international rule emerged in the mid to late 1900s, the idea of a Westphalian Society started to slowly dissolve as states realized that they must cooperate with one another in order to create a more comprehensive world. Despite the modernization of statehood, there still remained the theory that states’ boundaries are etched into history forever and cannot be easily changed. This concept brings about some difficulty in attempting to annex into, or secede from, an existing state, which causes major changes in state boundaries

Control of interlayer exchange coupling in Fe/Cr/Fe trilayers by ion beam irradiation

The manipulation of the antiferromagnetic interlayer coupling in the epitaxial Fe/Cr/Fe(001) trilayer system by moderate 5 keV He ion beam irradiation has been investigated experimentally. It is shown that even for irradiation with very low fluences (10^14 ions/cm^2) a drastic change in strength of the coupling appears. For thin Cr-spacers (below 0.6 - 0.7 nm) the coupling strength decreases with fluence, becoming ferromagnetic for fluences above (2x10^14 ions/cm^2). The effect is connected with the creation of magnetic bridges in the layered system due to atomic exchange events caused by the bombardment. For thicker Cr spacers (0.8 - 1.2 nm) an enhancement of the antiferromagnetic coupling strength is found. A possible explanation of the enhancement effect is given.Comment: Submitted to PR

Separation of the first- and second-order contributions in magneto-optic Kerr effect magnetometry of epitaxial FeMn/NiFe bilayers

The influence of second-order magneto-optic effects on Kerr effect magnetometry of epitaxial exchange coupled FeMn/NiFe-bilayers is investigated. A procedure for separation of the first- and second-order contributions is presented. The full angular dependence of both contributions during the magnetization reversal is extracted from the experimental data and presented using gray scaled magnetization reversal diagrams. The theoretical description of the investigated system is based on an extended Stoner-Wohlfarth model, which includes an induced unidirectional and fourfold anisotropy in the ferromagnet, caused by the coupling to the antiferromagnet. The agreement between the experimental data and the theoretical model for both the first- and second-order contributions are good, although a coherent reversal of the magnetization is assumed in the model.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures, submitted to J. Appl. Phy

Annihilator Banach ∗-algebras and the Peter-Weyl theorem

The QUO VADIS (the effects of QUinapril On Vascular Ace and Determinants of ISchemia) study was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial designed to evaluate the effects of long-term angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition on angiotensin II formation in human vasculature. Patients (n <187) scheduled for coronary artery bypass surgery used study medication 27 +/- 1 days before surgery. Segments of internal mammary arteries were exposed to increasing doses (0.1 nM-1 mu M) of angiotensin I and II in organ baths. The rate of local angiotensin II formation is a function of the reciprocal of the difference between the pEC(50)'s of the dose response curves to angiotensin I and II (-log/mol) and of the area between the curves (units). Quinapril (40 mg) and captopril (3x50 mg) similarly and significantly reduced mean blood pressure compared with placebo (p = 0.04). Difference between pEC(50)'s was 0.90 +/- 0.08 in quinapril patients compared with 0.60 +/- 0.08 for placebo (p <5 0.01); the area between curves was 91 +/- 8 for quinapril patients compared with 67 +/- 8 for placebo (p = 0.03). Angiotensin II formation was decreased to a lesser extent with captopril and was not statistically different from placebo (p = 0.3); the difference between pEC(50)'s was 0.83 +/- 0.15; the area between curves was 84 +/- 12. This is the first randomized study to demonstrate that long-term oral treatment with an ACE inhibitor reduces vascular angiotensin II formation in humans

Two new species of shrew-rats (Rhynchomys: Muridae; Rodentia) from Luzon Island, Philippines

The murine genus Rhynchomys includes the large-bodied Philippine “shrew-rats,” highly specialized members of the vermivorous clade of Philippine murids. Four species are recognized, all of which are endemic to Luzon Island: R. soricoides from mountains within the Central Cordillera, R. isarogensis from Mt. Isarog on the Bicol Peninsula, R. banahao from Mt. Banahaw in south-central Luzon, and R. tapulao from Mt. Tapulao in the Zambales Mountains. Field surveys in 2006 and 2008 revealed two additional populations of Rhynchomys, one from Mt. Labo (1544 m), a dormant stratovolcano at the base of the Bicol Peninsula, the other from Mt. Mingan (1901 m), the highest peak in the central Sierra Madre of east-central Luzon. Assessment of external and craniodental features of available specimens from throughout Luzon support our description of the populations on Mt. Labo and Mt. Mingan as new species. All species of Rhynchomys are restricted to high-elevation, montane, and mossy forest habitats, separated by intervening lowlands. These discoveries highlight the importance of isolated highland areas in the historical diversification of Southeast Asian murines, and as current centers of endemism

Maxillary Changes Following Facial Bipartition – A Three-Dimensional Quantification

INTRODUCTION: Children with Apert syndrome have hypertelorism and midfacial hypoplasia, which can be treated with facial bipartition (FB), often aided by rigid external distraction. The technique involves a midline osteotomy that lateralizes the maxillary segments, resulting in posterior cross-bites and midline diastema. Varying degrees of spontaneous realignment of the dental arches occurs postoperatively. This study aims to quantify these movements and assess whether they occur as part of a wider skeletal relapse or as dental compensation. METHODS: Patients who underwent FB and had high quality computed tomography scans at the preoperative stage, immediately postsurgery, and later postoperatively were reviewed. DICOM files were converted to three-dimensional bone meshes and anatomical point-to-point displacements were quantified using nonrigid iterative closest point registration. Displacements were visualized using arrow maps, thereby providing an overview of the movements of the facial skeleton and dentition. RESULTS: Five patients with Apert syndrome were included. In all cases, the arrow maps demonstrated initial significant anterior movement of the frontofacial segment coupled with medial rotation of the orbits and transverse divergence of the maxillary arches. The bony position following initial surgery was shown to be largely stable, with primary dentoalveolar relapse correcting the dental alignment. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that spontaneous dental compensation occurs following FB without compromising the surgical result. It may be appropriate to delay active orthodontic for 6-months postoperatively until completion of this early compensatory phase