Snorre Sturlason som balanskonstnär

This article discusses the historical context of Snorri Sturlusonôs work, known as ââ¬ÅKingsô Sagasââ¬Â, its title and structure as well as his purposes and intended audiences. Snorri was not the first to write about Norwegian kings; several authors had treated the same period because their purposes were different. Snorri is very critical of increased central power; the title ââ¬ÅKingsââ¬â¢ Sagasââ¬Â is misleading, since Snorri does not treat kings as the main figures but emphasizes the importance of others: earls, chieftains â and women. The division into kingsââ¬â¢ sagas may well have happened later. The structure of Snorriôs history is revealing; he begins by ridiculing the mythical ââ¬ÅYnglingââ¬Â kings, and ends by belittling king Magnus Erlingsson.à Snorri sought not only to defend old law and the rights of magnates, but also to emphasize the qualities of Icelanders, thereby satisfying both Norwegian and Icelandic audiences. His sophisticated style could satisfy both less and better educated listeners/readers

An international effort towards developing standards for best practices in analysis, interpretation and reporting of clinical genome sequencing results in the CLARITY Challenge

There is tremendous potential for genome sequencing to improve clinical diagnosis and care once it becomes routinely accessible, but this will require formalizing research methods into clinical best practices in the areas of sequence data generation, analysis, interpretation and reporting. The CLARITY Challenge was designed to spur convergence in methods for diagnosing genetic disease starting from clinical case history and genome sequencing data. DNA samples were obtained from three families with heritable genetic disorders and genomic sequence data were donated by sequencing platform vendors. The challenge was to analyze and interpret these data with the goals of identifying disease-causing variants and reporting the findings in a clinically useful format. Participating contestant groups were solicited broadly, and an independent panel of judges evaluated their performance. RESULTS: A total of 30 international groups were engaged. The entries reveal a general convergence of practices on most elements of the analysis and interpretation process. However, even given this commonality of approach, only two groups identified the consensus candidate variants in all disease cases, demonstrating a need for consistent fine-tuning of the generally accepted methods. There was greater diversity of the final clinical report content and in the patient consenting process, demonstrating that these areas require additional exploration and standardization. CONCLUSIONS: The CLARITY Challenge provides a comprehensive assessment of current practices for using genome sequencing to diagnose and report genetic diseases. There is remarkable convergence in bioinformatic techniques, but medical interpretation and reporting are areas that require further development by many groups

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements

Analysis of long-term observations of NOx and CO in megacities and application to constraining emissions inventories

Long-term atmospheric NOx/CO enhancement ratios in megacities provide evaluations of emission inventories. A fuel-based emission inventory approach that diverges from conventional bottom-up inventory methods explains 1970–2015 trends in NOx/CO enhancement ratios in Los Angeles. Combining this comparison with similar measurements in other U.S. cities demonstrates that motor vehicle emissions controls were largely responsible for U.S. urban NOx/CO trends in the past half century. Differing NOx/CO enhancement ratio trends in U.S. and European cities over the past 25 years highlights alternative strategies for mitigating transportation emissions, reflecting Europe's increased use of light-duty diesel vehicles and correspondingly slower decreases in NOx emissions compared to the U.S. A global inventory widely used by global chemistry models fails to capture these long-term trends and regional differences in U.S. and Europe megacity NOx/CO enhancement ratios, possibly contributing to these models' inability to accurately reproduce observed long-term changes in tropospheric ozone

Valdemar, Absalon and Saxo : Historiography and Politics in Medieval Denmark

Sawyer Birgit. Valdemar, Absalon and Saxo : Historiography and Politics in Medieval Denmark. In: Revue belge de philologie et d'histoire, tome 63, fasc. 4, 1985. Histoire médiévale, moderne et contemporaine. pp. 685-705