The legal capacity of child-headed households

Article by Graham Ritchie setting out thoughts for a discussion topic for a multi-disciplinary group, aiming not at legal theory but at a signpost for the direction of work to be undertaken by the IALS; the Child Rights Unit of the Department of Law, Free State University, South Africa; and the National University of Lesotho. The article was published in Amicus Curiae - Journal of the Society for Advanced Legal Studies. The Journal is produced by the Society for Advanced Legal Studies at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London

Celtic defensive weaponry in Britain: and its continental background

This thesis is concerned with the defensive armour of the Celtic tribes on the continent of Europe (exclusive of Iberia and much of Italy) from the 5th to approximately the 1st century B.C., or to the date of their subjugation to Roman authority. British helmets, shields and examples of body armour are, wherever possible, discussed in this context and their continental analogies noted. The evidence provided by the arms themselves has been complemented by an examination of the representations of barbarian weaponry in classical sculpture and of the descriptions by Greek and Roman writers of battles with the Celts.The helmets are divided into three main groups; the first consists of the conical helmets of La Tene I date which may owe their origin to local Bronze Age types. The second, which includes the types here labelled Castelrotto and Batina, dates mainly to the 3rd and 2nd centuries B.C., and the armourers appear to have adapted Italian helmet types current during the Celtic invasions of Northern Italy. The third group is of 1st century B.C. to 1st century A.D. date and consists of helmets of the Men and Coolus types, the former found in Southern Prance, the Alps and in Slovenia, and the latter in Eastern Prance and Rhineland Germany. Some of the helmets of Agen type may show a number of features which may be compared to Roman pieces of Haguenau-Weisenau types; other features, such as the use of enamel are more distinctly Celtic. The lack of associated finds makes it difficult to date the Coolus type firmly, but it is important because it is the class with which the British helmets have most affinity, although each British example is unique in some respect. Finally horned helmets are shown to be much rarer than was previously thought, and it is suggested that some of them were not intended for the battle-field.The adoption of the shield also appears to result from the experience of the Celts in Italy and shields are found North of the Alps only from about 300 B.C. The diversity of the surviving remains of shields does not allow such a useful division into types as was possible in the case of helmets, and the chronological groupings are also less clear-cut. The British shields, because of their frequent use of elaborate bronze decoration, are distinct from the continental examples, but an examination of the structural features of these shields and of the art styles of their decoration has made possible their inclusion into the general European framework. The representations of barbarian shields on Roman auxiliary grave stelai of the 1st century A.D. show that the long oval shape seems to have been the most common form of practical shield at this time. From the 2nd century A. D., however, in North Britain a new group of shields, more rectangular in shape with a round central boss, is isolated here for the first time; the adoption of this type may be due to the influence of both Roman and Belgic ideas.Three types of body armour are found in Celtic contexts, namely mail shirts, leather cuirasses and bronze corslets. Both mail shirts and cuirasses have the same shape and seem to have been secured by shoulder straps, decorated by some form of knob. The frequency with which this type of decoration appears on sculpture and figurines might make it possible to interpret the small decorated roundels found at the shoulders.Warriors in this light. Because of the use of perishable materials for the inner linings and crests of helmets, for shields and for many types of body armour, a number of features, such as the painted decoration on shields, can only tentatively be discussed. But the use of leather was probably much more widespread than the surviving evidence suggests. It is clear however, from the small number of helmets and of traces of body armour that the wearing of such arms was the prerogative of the chieftains and the leaders of the bands of warriors

A study of certain addition compounds of the carbohydrates

1. By the addition of ether to an alcoholic solution of a- methylgalactoside containing potassium hydroxide a complex has been isolated.2. Direct analysis showed that the probable composition of this could be represented by C₇H₁₄O₆,KOH.3. Controlled methylation followed by acetylation resulted in the isolation of a triacetyl methyl methylgalactoside.4. On treatment of the monomethyl galactose derived from this, galactosazone in a yield of 20% was isolated, thus assigning position 2 to the methyl group.5. From the above results it is concluded that the potassium hydroxide residue is associated with the hydroxyl group in position 2 in the α-methylgalactoside

Anomalous spin-dependent behaviour of one-dimensional subbands

We report a new electron interaction effect in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wires. Using DC-bias spectroscopy, we show that large and abrupt changes occur to the energies of spin-down (lower energy) states as they populate. The effect is not observed for spin-up energy states. At B=0, interactions have a pronounced effect, in the form of the well-known 0.7 Structure. However, our new results show that interactions strongly affect the energy spectrum at all magnetic fields, from 0 to 16T, not just in the vicinity of the 0.7 Structure.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Chapter Functional Annotation of Rare Genetic Variants

Genome-wide association studies have successfully identified a growing number of common variants that robustly associate with a wide range of complex diseases and phenotypes. In the majority of cases though, the variants are predicted to have small to modest effect sizes, and, due to the technologies used, many of the signals discovered so far may not be the causal loci. As rare variation studies begin to explore the lower ranges of the allele frequency spectrum, using whole genome or whole exome sequencing to capture a larger proportion of variants, we expect to find variants with a more direct causal role in the phenotype(s) of interest. Interpreting possible functional mechanisms linking variants with phenotypes will become increasingly important

Automated design analysis, assembly planning and motion study analysis using immersive virtual reality

Previous research work at Heriot-Watt University using immersive virtual reality (VR) for cable harness design showed that VR provided substantial productivity gains over traditional computer-aided design (CAD) systems. This follow-on work was aimed at understanding the degree to which aspects of this technology were contributed to these benefits and to determine if engineering design and planning processes could be analysed in detail by nonintrusively monitoring and logging engineering tasks. This involved using a CAD-equivalent VR system for cable harness routing design, harness assembly and installation planning that can be functionally evaluated using a set of creative design-tasks to measure the system and users' performance. A novel design task categorisation scheme was created and formalised which broke down the cable harness design process and associated activities. The system was also used to demonstrate the automatic generation of usable bulkhead connector, cable harness assembly and cable harness installation plans from non-intrusive user logging. Finally, the data generated from the user-logging allowed the automated activity categorisation of the user actions, automated generation of process flow diagrams and chronocyclegraphs

Anticrossing of spin-split subbands in quasi-one-dimensional wires

In quantum Hall systems, both anticrossings and magnetic phase transitions can occur when opposite-spin Landau levels coincide. Our results indicate that both processes are also possible in quasi-1D quantum wires in an in-plane B field, B-parallel to. Crossings of opposite-spin 1D subbands resemble magnetic phase transitions at zero dc source-drain bias, but display anticrossings at high dc bias. Our data also imply that the well-known 0.7 structure may evolve into a spin-hybridized state in finite dc bias

Energy-level pinning and the 0.7 spin state in one dimension: GaAs quantum wires studied using finite-bias spectroscopy

We study the effects of electron-electron interactions on the energy levels of GaAs quantum wires (QWs) using finite-bias spectroscopy. We probe the energy spectrum at zero magnetic field, and at crossings of opposite-spin-levels in high in-plane magnetic field B. Our results constitute direct evidence that spin-up (higher energy) levels pin to the chemical potential as they populate. We also show that spin-up and spin-down levels abruptly rearrange at the crossing in a manner resembling the magnetic phase transitions predicted to occur at crossings of Landau levels. This rearranging and pinning of subbands provides a phenomenological explanation for the 0.7 structure, a one-dimensional (1D) nanomagnetic state, and its high-B variants.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Modeling superimposed preeclampsia using Ang II (Angiotensin II) infusion in pregnant stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats

Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy are the second leading cause of maternal deaths worldwide. Superimposed preeclampsia is an increasingly common problem and often associated with impaired placental perfusion. Understanding the underlying mechanisms and developing treatment options are crucial. The pregnant stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rat has impaired uteroplacental blood flow and abnormal uterine artery remodeling. We used Ang II (angiotensin II) infusion in pregnant stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats to mimic the increased cardiovascular stress associated with superimposed preeclampsia and examine the impact on the maternal cardiovascular system and fetal development. Continuous infusion of Ang II at 500 or 1000 ng/kg per minute was administered from gestational day 10.5 until term. Radiotelemetry and echocardiography were used to monitor hemodynamic and cardiovascular changes, and urine was collected prepregnancy and throughout gestation. Uterine artery myography assessed uteroplacental vascular function and structure. Fetal measurements were made at gestational day 18.5, and placentas were collected for histological and gene expression analyses. The 1000 ng/kg per minute Ang II treatment significantly increased blood pressure (P<0.01), reduced cardiac output (P<0.05), and reduced diameter and increased stiffness of the uterine arteries (P<0.01) during pregnancy. The albumin:creatinine ratio was increased in both Ang II treatment groups (P<0.05; P<0.0001). The 1000 ng/kg per minute–treated fetuses were significantly smaller than vehicle treatment (P<0.001). Placental expression of Ang II receptors was increased in the junctional zone in 1000 ng/kg per minute Ang II–treated groups (P<0.05), with this zone showing depletion of glycogen content and structural abnormalities. Ang II infusion in pregnant stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats mirrors hemodynamic, cardiac, and urinary profiles observed in preeclamptic women, with evidence of impaired fetal growth

Modelling the transition to complex, culturally transmitted communication

Institute for Communicating and Collaborative SystemsHuman language is undoubtedly one of the most complex and powerful communication systems to have evolved on Earth. Study of the evolution of this behaviour is made difficult by the lack of comparable communication systems elsewhere in the animal kingdom, and by the fact that language leaves little trace in the fossil record. The human language faculty can, however, be decomposed into several component abilities and a proposed evolutionary explanation of the whole must address (at least) the evolution of each of these components. Some of these features may also be found in other species, and thus permit use of the powerful comparative method. This thesis addresses the evolution of two such component features of human language; complex vocal signalling and the cultural transmission of these vocal signals. I argue that these features make a significant contribution to the nature of human language as we observe it today and so a better understanding of the evolutionary processes that gave rise to them will contribute to study of the evolution of language. This thesis addresses the evolution of these features firstly by identifying other communication systems found in nature that display them, and focusing in particular on the song of the oscine passerines (songbirds). Bird song is chosen as a model system because of the wealth of empirical data on nearly all aspects of the behaviour and the variety of song behaviour found in this group. There also appear to be some striking similarities in the development of language and song. I argue that a better understanding of the evolution of complex signalling and cultural transmission in songbirds and other species will provide useful insight into the evolution of these features in language. This thesis presents a series of related formal models that investigate several issues in the evolution of these features. I firstly present a simple formal model of bird song acquisition and use this in a computational model of evolution to investigate some ecological conditions under which vocal behaviour can become more or less reliant on cultural transmission. I then present a pertinent case study of two closely related songbird sub-species and develop a computational model that demonstrates that domestication, or a similar shift in the fitness landscape, may play a surprising role in the evolution of signal complexity (in some sense) and increased vocal plasticity. Finally, I present several models that investigate the plausibility and consistency of the ‘developmental stress hypothesis’, an important hypothesis drawn from the biological literature that proposes that song learning and song complexity may serve as a sexually selected mate quality indicator mechanism. These models provide the first theoretical support for this important but complex hypothesis and identify a number of relevant parameters that may affect the evolution of such a system