Unethical aspects of homeopathic dentistry

In the last year there has been a great deal of public debate about homeopathy, the system of alternative medicine whose main principles are that like cures like and that potency increases relative to dilution. The House of Commons Select Committee on Science and Technology concluded in November 2009 that there is no evidence base for homeopathy, and agreed with some academic commentators that homeopathy should not be funded by the NHS. While homeopathic doctors and hospitals are quite commonplace, some might be surprised to learn that there are also many homeopathic dentists practising in the UK. This paper examines the statements made by several organisations on behalf of homeopathic dentistry and suggests that they are not entirely ethical and may be in breach of various professional guidelines

The application of the scanning electron microscope to studies of current multiplication, avalanche breakdown and thermal runaway. Part 1 - General physical basis

Scanning electron microscope applications in study of current multiplication, avalanche breakdown, and thermal runaway - Physical basi

Kinetics of non-equilibrium quasiparticle tunneling in superconducting charge qubits

We directly observe low-temperature non-equilibrium quasiparticle tunneling in a pair of charge qubits based on the single Cooper-pair box. We measure even- and odd-state dwell time distributions as a function of temperature, and interpret these results using a kinetic theory. While the even-state lifetime is exponentially distributed, the odd-state distribution is more heavily weighted to short times, implying that odd-to-even tunnel events are not described by a homogenous Poisson process. The mean odd-state dwell time increases sharply at low temperature, which is consistent with quasiparticles tunneling out of the island before reaching thermal equilibrium.Comment: Replaced Figure 1 with color version, corrected more typos. Version submitted to PR

A low-luminosity soft state in the short period black hole X-ray binary Swift J1753.5-0127

We present results from the spectral fitting of the candidate black hole X-ray binary Swift J1753.5-0127 in an accretion state previously unseen in this source. We fit the 0.7-78 keV spectrum with a number of models, however the preferred model is one of a multi-temperature disk with an inner disk temperature $\mathrm{k}T_\mathrm{in}=0.252\pm0.003$ keV scattered into a steep power-law with photon index $\Gamma=6.39^{+0.08}_{-0.02}$ and an additional hard power law tail ($\Gamma=1.79\pm0.02$). We report on the emergence of a strong disk-dominated component in the X-ray spectrum and we conclude that the source has entered the soft state for the first time in its ~10 year prolonged outburst. Using reasonable estimates for the distance to the source ($3$ kpc) and black hole mass ($5M_{\odot}$), we find the unabsorbed luminosity (0.1-100 keV) to be $\approx0.60$% of the Eddington luminosity, making this one of the lowest luminosity soft states recorded in X-ray binaries. We also find that the accretion disk extended towards the compact object during its transition from hard to soft, with the inner radius estimated to be $R_{\mathrm{in}}=28.0^{+0.7}_{-0.4} R_g$ or ~$12R_g$, dependent on the boundary condition chosen, assuming the above distance and mass, a spectral hardening factor $f=1.7$ and a binary inclination $i=55^{\circ}$.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

V. problem presentation and advice-giving on a home birth helpline

The rate of home births in the UK is very low (around 2%) and many women who would like to give birth at home find it impossible to get midwifery cover or are advised of medical contraindications. The Home Birth Helpline offers support and expertise for women in this situation. Based on the analysis of 80 recorded calls, this article uses conversation analysis (CA) to explore how callers present their reason for calling the helpline, and what this shows about the culturally shared medicalized culture of birth. This research is an example of feminist CA in that it contributes both to the study of childbirth as a key women's health issue and to the study of helpline interaction from a conversation analytic perspectiv

Non-Gaussian Scatter in Cluster Scaling Relations

We investigate the impact of non-Gaussian scatter in the cluster mass-observable scaling relation on the mass and redshift distribution of clusters detected by wide area surveys. We parameterize non-Gaussian scatter by incorporating the third and forth moments (skewness and kurtosis) into the distribution P(Mobs|M). We demonstrate that for low scatter mass proxies the higher order moments do not significantly affect the observed cluster mass and redshift distributions. However, for high scatter mass indicators it is necessary for the survey limiting mass threshold to be less than 10^14 h^-1 Msol to prevent the skewness from having a significant impact on the observed number counts, particularly at high redshift. We also show that an unknown level of non-Gaussianity in the scatter is equivalent to an additional uncertainty on the variance in P(Mobs|M) and thus may limit the constraints that can be placed on the dark energy equation of state parameter w. Furthermore, positive skewness flattens the mass function at the high mass end, and so one must also account for skewness in P(Mobs|M) when using the shape of the mass function to constrain cluster scaling-relations.Comment: 6 Pages, 3 Figures, to be submitted to ApJ Letter

Characterization of a Differential Radio-Frequency Single-Electron Transistor

We have fabricated and characterized a new type of electrometer that couples two parallel single-electron transistors (SETs) to a radio-frequency tank circuit for use as a differential RF-SET. We demonstrate operation of this device in summing, differential, and single-SET operation modes, and use it to measure a Coulomb staircase from a differential single Cooper-pair box. In differential mode, the device is sensitive to uncorrelated input signals while screening out correlated ones.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Applied Physics Letter