Robert Ashley and the Authorship of Newberry MS 5017, The Book of Magical Charms

This article examines Newberry MS 5017, the Book of Magical Charms, a manuscript miscellany dated no later than 1639. The manuscript formed part of the Newberry Library\u27s crowd-sourcing project to transcribe and translate three of the manuscripts in their exhibition, Religious Change 1450-1700. This article establishes Robert Ashley (1565-1641) as the manuscript\u27s author. Ashley was a lawyer, translator and bibliophile whose bequest of over 5,000 books established the library at Middle Temple, one of the four Inns of Court. The article analyses the manuscript\u27s charms, ritual magic, medical recipes and Christian esotericism excerpts to show that they were mainly transcribed from identifiable manuscript sources, with some from printed books. The author draws conclusions, based on Ashley\u27s Ashley’s life, translations and book collection, about the manuscript\u27s purpose and use, situating it within Ashley\u27s library and the information gathering networks centered around the Inns of Court in the early modern period

Terrorism in the Eye of the Beholder. The Imperative Quest for a Universally Agreed Definition of Terrorism

Reaching an agreed definition of terrorism has proved problematic, with over 100 different working definitions counted. Consensus stumbles particularly on issues of legitimacy, assessing reasons behind the violence and whether a state can commit acts of terrorism - or whether they are to be excluded as they have the monopoly on legitimate violence. Greater empirical research and independence in terrorism scholarship is required to formulate an agreed definition. States should not be exempt from terrorism as part of a broader movement excluding any consideration of the motives or causes cited as the reason for the attack. The definition should focus on the nature of the act, not the philosophy behind it. For even if the cause or grievance is understandable, and can be reasonably argued with a defence of necessity, that does not mean the violence undertaken should cease to be illegal and inhumane. The ends must be separated from the means. Clarity of definition is crucial for counter-terrorism efforts and the protection of civil liberties. Over-zealous recourse to draconian legislation peddled to prevent terrorism has qualified the rights of citizens, not only reducing their ability to hold their government to account, but also imposing laws that have the potential to work as a tool for terrorist recruitment rather than counter-terrorism.

Ultrasonic inspection of flooded mineshafts for stability monitoring

This is the author accepted manuscript.The final version is available from Maney via the DOI in this record.Inspecting abandoned mine shafts is critical in ensuring their safety through early identification of signs of deterioration. Since the common inspection methods of CCTV and LiDAR are not very effective underwater, two modules have been designed for inspecting the linings of flooded, abandoned mine shafts. Using sonar technology, they allow the early stages of degradation to the lining to be detected which – since this could be indicative of imminent collapse – provides protection against the consequential risk to property and human life. Detailed measurements of several shafts’ cross-sections have been recorded using profiling and imaging sonar technology. Although imaging sonar provides very different results in the confined and reverberant environment of a mine shaft, compared to its more common environment of a seabed, it was shown that when combined with the profiling sonar, it allows shafts to be surveyed in a shorter period of time and improves the reliability of the profiling function.European Commissio

True nature of an archetypal self-assembly system: Mobile Au-thiolate species on Au(111)

Alkanethiol self-assembled monolayer (SAM) phases on Au(111) have been assumed to involve direct S head group bonding to the substrate. Using x-ray standing wave experiments, we show the thiolate actually bonds to gold adatoms; self-organization in these archetypal SAM systems must therefore be governed by the movement of these Au-S-R moieties on the surface between two distinct local hollow sites on the surface. The results of recent ab initio total energy calculations provide strong support for this description, and a rationale for the implied significant molecular mobility in these systems

On the suitability of high vacuum electrospray deposition for the fabrication of molecular electronic devices

We present a series of three studies investigating the potential application of high vacuum electrospray deposition to construct molecular electronic devices. Through the use of time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry we explore the use of this novel deposition technique to fabricating multilayer structures using materials that are compatible with the same solvents and films containing a mixture of molecules from orthogonal solvents. Using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy we study the deposition of a polymer blend using electrospray and find evidence of preferential deposition of one of the components

Integration of microRNA signatures of distinct mammary epithelial cell types with their gene expression and epigenetic portraits

Introduction: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been implicated in governing lineage specification and differentiation in multiple organs; however, little is known about their specific roles in mammopoiesis. We have determined the global miRNA expression profiles of functionally distinct epithelial subpopulations in mouse and human mammary tissue, and compared these to their cognate transcriptomes and epigenomes. Finally, the human miRNA signatures were used to interrogate the different subtypes of breast cancer, with a view to determining miRNA networks deregulated during oncogenesis. Methods: RNA from sorted mouse and human mammary cell subpopulations was subjected to miRNA expression analysis using the TaqMan MicroRNA Array. Differentially expressed (DE) miRNAs were correlated with gene expression and histone methylation profiles. Analysis of miRNA signatures of the intrinsic subtypes of breast cancer in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database versus those of normal human epithelial subpopulations was performed. Results: Unique miRNA signatures characterized each subset (mammary stem cell (MaSC)/basal, luminal progenitor, mature luminal, stromal), with a high degree of conservation across species. Comparison of miRNA and transcriptome profiles for the epithelial subtypes revealed an inverse relationship and pinpointed key developmental genes. Interestingly, expression of the primate-specific miRNA cluster (19q13.4) was found to be restricted to the MaSC/basal subset. Comparative analysis of miRNA signatures with H3 lysine modification maps of the different epithelial subsets revealed a tight correlation between active or repressive marks for the top DE miRNAs, including derepression of miRNAs in Ezh2-deficient cellular subsets. Interrogation of TCGA-identified miRNA profiles with the miRNA signatures of different human subsets revealed specific relationships. Conclusions: The derivation of global miRNA expression profiles for the different mammary subpopulations provides a comprehensive resource for understanding the interplay between miRNA networks and target gene expression. These data have highlighted lineage-specific miRNAs and potential miRNA-mRNA networks, some of which are disrupted in neoplasia. Furthermore, our findings suggest that key developmental miRNAs are regulated by global changes in histone modification, thus linking the mammary epigenome with genome-wide changes in the expression of genes and miRNAs. Comparative miRNA signature analyses between normal breast epithelial cells and breast tumors confirmed an important linkage between luminal progenitor cells and basal-like tumors.Bhupinder Pal, Yunshun Chen, Andrew Bert, Yifang Hu, Julie M. Sheridan, Tamara Beck, Wei Shi, Keith Satterley, Paul Jamieson, Gregory J. Goodall, Geoffrey J. Lindeman, Gordon K. Smyth, and Jane E. Visvade

Variations in architecture and cyclicity in fault-bounded carbonate platforms: Early Miocene Red Sea Rift, NW Saudi Arabia

The Early Miocene was a period of active rifting and carbonate platform development in the Midyan Peninsula, NW Saudi Arabia. However, there is no published literatures available dealing with detail characterization of the different carbonate platforms in this study area. Therefore, this study aims at presenting new stratigraphic architectural models that illustrate the formation of different carbonate platforms in the region and its forcing mechanisms that likely drove their formation. This study identified the following features formed during active rifting: a) a Late Aquitanian (N4) fault-block hangingwall dipslope carbonate ramp b) a Late Burdigalian (N7-N8) isolated normal fault-controlled carbonate platform with associated slope deposits, and c) a Late Burdigalian (N7-N8) attached fault-bounded, rimmed shelf developed on a footwall fault-tip within a basin margin structural relay zone formed coinciding with the second stage of rifting. Variations in cyclicity have been observed within the internal stratigraphic architecture of each platform and also between platforms. High-resolution sequence stratigraphic analysis show parasequences observed as the smallest depositional packages (meter-scale cycles) within the platforms. The hangingwall dipslope carbonate ramp and the attached platform demonstrate aggradational-progradational parasequence stacking patterns. These locations appear to have been more sensitive to eustatic cyclicities, despite the active tectonic setting. The isolated, fault-controlled carbonate platform reveals disorganized stratal geometries in both platform-top and slope facies, suggesting a more complex interplay of rates of tectonic uplift and subsidence, variation in carbonate productivity, and resedimentation of carbonates, such that any sea-level cyclicity is obscure. This study explores the interplay between different forcing mechanisms in the evolution of carbonate platforms in active extensional tectonic regions. Characterization of detailed parasequence-scale internal architecture allows the spatial variation in syn-depositional relative base-level changes to be inferred and is critical for understanding the development of rift basin carbonate platforms. Such concepts may be useful for the prediction of subsurface facies relationships beyond interwell areas in hydrocarbon exploration and reservoir modeling activities

Resonant core spectroscopies of the charge transfer interactions between C60 and the surfaces of Au(111), Ag(111), Cu(111) and Pt(111)

Charge transfer interactions between C60 and the metal surfaces of Ag(111), Cu(111), Au(111) and Pt(111) have been studied using synchrotron-based photoemission, resonant photoemission and X-ray absorption spectroscopies. By placing the X-ray absorption and valence band spectra on a common binding energy scale, the energetic overlap of the unoccupied molecular orbitals with the density of states of the underlying metal surface have been assessed in the context of possible charge transfer pathways. Resonant photoemission and resonant Auger data, measuring the valence region as a function of photon energy for C60 adsorbed on Au(111) reveals three constant high kinetic energy features associated with Auger-like core-hole decay involving an electron transferred from the surface to the LUMO of the molecule and electrons from the three highest occupied molecular orbitals, respectively and in the presence of ultra-fast charge transfer of the originally photoexcited molecule to the surface. Data for the C60/Ag(111) surface reveals an additional Auger-like feature arising from a core-hole decay process involving more than one electron transferred from the surface into the LUMO. An analysis of the relative abundance of these core-hole decay channels estimates that on average 2.4 $\pm$ 0.3 electrons are transferred from the Ag(111) surface into the LUMO. A core-hole clock analysis has also been applied to assess the charge transfer coupling in the other direction, from the molecule to the Au(111) and Ag(111) surfaces. Resonant photoemission and resonant Auger data for C60 molecules adsorbed on the Pt(111) and Cu(111) surfaces are shown to exhibit no super-Auger features, which is attributed to the strong modification of the unoccupied molecular orbitals arising from stronger chemical coupling of the molecule to the surface