The Lost Fortune of the Virginiaman: Analyzing the History of the Beale Ciphers Using Historical Land Grants

Since the mid-19th century, the mystery of the Beale ciphers has confounded cryptanalysts, intelligence agencies, historians, and treasure hunters alike. Countless works of scholarship have analyzed the story, the ciphers, and possible locations for the massive buried treasure allegedly in rural Bedford County, Virginia. However, prior methodology applied to historiography on the subject has been unsuccessful in making headway in an understanding of the history and location of the Beale treasure. In examining prior scholarship in conjunction with recorded land grants and associated archaeological scholarship, this paper proposes a new direction for research into the Beale cipher mystery and new locations to search for the treasure. In addition, this paper provides explanations as to potential members of the Beale party as not previously identified. It can be concluded that the Beale treasure has likely been moved from its original location in Virginia, and that Thomas Beale was a real person despite limited records on the matter. It can also be concluded that George Strother and Roger Weightman were most likely members of the Beale party, and these new conclusions are crucial to any future efforts to locate a potential vault

Dignifying Madness: Rethinking Commitment Law in an Age of Mass Incarceration

Modern nation-states have been trapped in recurring cycles of incarcerating and emancipating residents with psychiatric disabilities. New cycles of enthusiasm for incarceration generally commence with well-defined claims about the evils of allowing “the mad” to remain at liberty and the benefits incarceration would bring to the afflicted. A generation or two later, at most, reports of terrible conditions in institutions circulate and new laws follow, setting high burdens for those seeking to imprison and demanding exacting legal procedures with an emphasis on individual civil liberties. Today, we seem to be arriving at another turn in the familiar cycle. A growing movement led by professionals and family members of people with mental health disabilities is calling for new laws enabling earlier and more assertive treatment. After reviewing the history of civil commitment law, this essay suggests that the time is ripe in the United States to end this recurring cycle and make conservation of human dignity the core legal authority behind the state’s power of civil commitment and the major normative guide for both legal procedure and treatment. We conclude that the dignity approach has the potential to move the debate beyond the current face-off between consumer and peer advocates, who wish to avoid any revision of the civil commitment reforms enacted forty years ago, and families and professionals, who favor significant changes

Dignifying Madness: Rethinking Commitment Law in an Age of Mass Incarceration

Modern nation-states have been trapped in recurring cycles of incarcerating and emancipating residents with psychiatric disabilities. New cycles of enthusiasm for incarceration generally commence with well-defined claims about the evils of allowing “the mad” to remain at liberty and the benefits incarceration would bring to the afflicted. A generation or two later, at most, reports of terrible conditions in institutions circulate and new laws follow, setting high burdens for those seeking to imprison and demanding exacting legal procedures with an emphasis on individual civil liberties. Today, we seem to be arriving at another turn in the familiar cycle. A growing movement led by professionals and family members of people with mental health disabilities is calling for new laws enabling earlier and more assertive treatment. After reviewing the history of civil commitment law, this essay suggests that the time is ripe in the United States to end this recurring cycle and make conservation of human dignity the core legal authority behind the state’s power of civil commitment and the major normative guide for both legal procedure and treatment. We conclude that the dignity approach has the potential to move the debate beyond the current face-off between consumer and peer advocates, who wish to avoid any revision of the civil commitment reforms enacted forty years ago, and families and professionals, who favor significant changes

What are the top 10 physical activity research questions in schizophrenia?

Purpose: Research has only recently started to consider the applicability of physical activity (PA) for people with schizophrenia. Although there is increasing evidence for the benefits of physical activity, this population remains generally physically inactive and sedentary. The aim of the current study is to highlight 10 pertinent physical activity research questions in people with schizophrenia. Method: The International Organisation of Physical Therapy in Mental Health (IOPTMH) executed a consultation of its National Organisations (n=13) to identify the most salient questions relevant to guide clinical practice on physical activity in people with schizophrenia. Results: We identified the following 10 questions: (1) What are the benefits of physical activity for people with schizophrenia? (2) What are the mechanisms of the physical activity effects in people with schizophrenia? (3) What are the most prominent safety issues for physical activity prescription in people with schizophrenia? (4) What is the most optimal physical activity prescription for people with schizophrenia? (5) What are the key barriers for engaging people with schizophrenia in physical activity? (6) What are the most effective motivational interventions for physical activity adoption and maintenance in people with schizophrenia? (7) How do we translate physical activity research into clinical and community practice? (8) How can we ensure integration of physical therapists within the multidisciplinary mental health treatment team? (9) How can we prevent sedentary behaviour in people with schizophrenia? (10) What is the most appropriate physical activity assessment method in clinical practice? Conclusions: Addressing these questions is critical for developing evidence-based approaches for promoting and sustaining an active lifestyle in people with schizophrenia. Ultimately, achieving this will improve the quality of life of this population. Implications for Rehabilitation: · Investigation of behaviour change interventions for people with schizophrenia is critical · A low cost, easy to use, clinical, valid physical activity questionnaire is urgently needed

Resilience in the pork supply chain from the food safety perspective

Challenges in food production are plenty, while resources are scarce. In the interest of the consumer as well as the producer, it is of utmost importance to prevent unwanted events from happening. This may be done through focus on resilience in the pig and pork supply production in relation to food safety. In this paper, resilience—and its counterpart vulnerability—is introduced and discussed specifically for food safety. It is noted that to manage unwanted events, focus must be on effective handling on the event itself. But focus should also be on the patterns of events - including the trends in society which may be leading to increased or decreased risks. To gain a more comprehendsive understanding of these patterns, an analysis of the entire structure of the production system is necessary. Through an analysis of these three levels—event, patterns and structure—and their complex interrelationships, targeted prevention activeties may be identified and put in place to raise the system’s long-term resilience. Hereby, the risk to consumers and producers can be reduced to an acceptable level. Such risk-mitigating activities may consist of surveillance, own check systems, HACCP, risk analysis, and legislation including use of private standards

Are people with schizophrenia adherent to diabetes medication? A comparative meta-analysis

Individuals living with schizophrenia are 2–3 times more likely to experience type 2 diabetes mellitus. Diabetes medication adherence is essential to reduce morbidity and mortality in this population. We conducted a meta-analysis of diabetes medication adherence among people with schizophrenia, and compared this to those without schizophrenia. A systematic search strategy was used to identify all articles reporting adherence to diabetes medications among patients with schizophrenia. In total, 10 unique studies reporting data from 33,910 people with schizophrenia were included. Random effects meta-analysis showed people with schizophrenia adhered to medication on 77.3% of days prescribed (n=32080, 95%CI=73.6–81%, I2=99.2%,), and adhered on 4.6% more days per year than those without schizophrenia (p<0.01, 95%CI=2.4–6.7%, I2=92.5%, schizophrenia n=19367, controls=170,853). Furthermore, 56% of individuals with schizophrenia (n=33680) were considered “adherent” (i.e. >80% adherence over 12–24 month) to diabetes medication, which was significantly more than those without schizophrenia (OR=1.34, 95%CI: 1.18–1.52, p<0.01). Factors which were positively associated with diabetes medication adherence were age, number of outpatient visits, along with multiple medication administration variables. Future prospective research should examine diabetes monitoring, medication prescription, and subsequent adherence in fully representative samples. Novel interventions for maximizing compliance to diabetes medication in this vulnerable population should also be explored

The Roles of Exercise and Yoga in Ameliorating Depression as a Risk Factor for Cognitive Decline

Currently, there are no effective pharmaceutical treatments to reduce cognitive decline or prevent dementia. At the same time, the global population is aging, and rates of dementia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) are on the rise. As such, there is an increasing interest in complementary and alternative interventions to treat or reduce the risk of cognitive decline. Depression is one potentially modifiable risk factor for cognitive decline and dementia. Notably, exercise and yoga are two interventions known to both reduce symptoms of depression and improve cognitive function. The current review discusses the efficacy of exercise and yoga to ameliorate depression and thereby reduce the risk of cognitive decline and potentially prevent dementia. Potential mechanisms of change, treatment implications, and future directions are discussed

Quantum Barkhausen Noise Induced by Domain Wall Co-Tunneling

Most macroscopic magnetic phenomena (including magnetic hysteresis) are typically understood classically. Here, we examine the dynamics of a uniaxial rare-earth ferromagnet deep within the quantum regime, so that domain wall motion, and the associated hysteresis, is dominated by large-scale quantum tunneling of spins, rather than classical thermal activation over a potential barrier. The domain wall motion is found to exhibit avalanche dynamics, observable as an unusual form of Barkhausen noise. We observe non-critical behavior in the avalanche dynamics that only can be explained by going beyond traditional renormalization group methods or classical domain wall models. We find that this ``quantum Barkhausen noise'' exhibits two distinct mechanisms for domain wall movement, each of which is quantum-mechanical, but with very different dependences on an external magnetic field applied transverse to the spin (Ising) axis. These observations can be understood in terms of the correlated motion of pairs of domain walls, nucleated by co-tunneling of plaquettes (sections of domain wall), with plaquette pairs correlated by dipolar interactions; this correlation is suppressed by the transverse field. Similar macroscopic correlations may be expected to appear in the hysteresis of other systems with long-range interactions.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure