Barnes v. Glen Theatre, Inc.: Nude Dancing and the First Amendment Question

Erotic dancers Gayle Sutro, Carla Johnson, and Darlene Miller can no longer dance nude in Indiana. In Barnes v. Glen Theatre, Inc. the United States Supreme Court held that Indiana\u27s prohibition of nude dancing did not violate the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Court\u27s holding ended years of controversy and debate over Indiana\u27s public indecency statute. In 1979, in State v. Baysinger, the Indiana Supreme Court held that Indiana\u27s public indecency statute could be used to prohibit nude dancing. The court stated that the statute could not prohibit some larger forms of expression involving the communication of ideas. The court concluded, however, that nude dancing was mere conduct without ,the expression of ideas. Since Baysinger the Indiana Court of Appeals has struggled with the constitutional issues surrounding nude dancing. In 1990 the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit considered the application of the Indiana public indecency statute to nude dancing in Miller v. Civil City of South Bend.\u27 The Miller decision contained six separate opinions, revealing a court sharply divided on the basis of legal analysis as well as personal opinions and cultural views. The majority held that non-obscene nude dancing, performed as entertainment, is expression entitled to limited First Amendment protection.\u27 The majority suggested that the Indiana legislature could regulate nude dancing for reasons unrelated to the suppression of free expression. The court, however, found that the public indecency statute\u27s total ban on this protected activity was unconstitutional. The United States Supreme Court, in Barnes v. Glen Theatre, Inc., reversed the Seventh Circuit. Chief Justice Rehnquist wrote the plurality opinion, joined by Justices O\u27Connor and Kennedy. Chief Justice Rehnquist conceded that nude dancing is expressive conduct that falls within the outer perimeters of the First Amendment.\u27 Nonetheless, he determined that the Indiana statute\u27s prohibition of nude dancing was clearly within the State\u27s constitutional power.\u27 In reaching this decision, Chief Justice Rehnquist applied the four-part test announced in United States v. O\u27Brien and concluded that Indiana\u27s substantial governmental interest in promoting morality and protecting societal order justified the application of the statute to this expressive activity. He reasoned that the public indecency statute was unrelated to the suppression of free expression and only incidentally infringed upon the protected activity at issue.\u2

Neutrino masses and mixing

Status of determination of the neutrino masses and mixing is formulated and possible uncertainties, especially due to presence of the sterile neutrinos, are discussed. The data hint an existence of special ``neutrino'' symmetries. If not accidental these symmetries have profound implications and can substantially change the unification program. The key issue on the way to underlying physics is relations between quarks and leptons. The approximate quark-lepton symmetry or universality can be reconciled with strongly different patterns of masses and mixings due to nearly singular character of the mass matrices or screening of the Dirac structures in the double see-saw mechanism.Comment: 11 pages, latex, iopams.sty, 3 figures. Invited talk given at TAUP2005, September 10 - 14, 2005, Zaragoza, Spai

The dynamical viability of scalar-tensor gravity theories

We establish the dynamical attractor behavior in scalar-tensor theories of dark energy, providing a powerful framework to analyze classes of theories, predicting common evolutionary characteristics that can be compared against cosmological constraints. In the Jordan frame the theories are viewed as a coupling between a scalar field, \Phi, and the Ricci scalar, R, F(\Phi)R. The Jordan frame evolution is described in terms of dynamical variables m \equiv d\ln F/d\ln \Phi and r \equiv -\Phi F/f, where F(\Phi) = d f(\Phi)/d\Phi. The evolution can be alternatively viewed in the Einstein frame as a general coupling between scalar dark energy and matter, \beta. We present a complete, consistent picture of evolution in the Einstein and Jordan frames and consider the conditions on the form of the coupling F and \beta required to give the observed cold dark matter (CDM) dominated era that transitions into a late time accelerative phase, including transitory accelerative eras that have not previously been investigated. We find five classes of evolutionary behavior of which four are qualitatively similar to those for f(R) theories (which have \beta=1/2). The fifth class exists only for |\beta| < \sqrt{3}/4, i.e. not for f(R) theories. In models giving transitory late time acceleration, we find a viable accelerative region of the (r,m) plane accessible to scalar-tensor theories with any coupling, \beta (at least in the range |\beta| \leq 1/2, which we study in detail), and an additional region open only to theories with |\beta| < \sqrt{3}/4.Comment: 24 pages, 3 figure

Current and future management of non-tuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease (NTM-PD) in the UK

A rising number of non-tuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) isolates are being identified in UK clinical practice. There are many uncertainties around the management of non-tuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease (NTM-PD), including its epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment and prevention. Regional variations in how patients with NTM-PD are managed reflects the lack of standardised pathways in the UK. Service optimisation and multidisciplinary working can improve the quality of care for patients with NTM-PD, including (1) better identification of patients at risk of NTM-PD and modification of risk factors where applicable; (2) standardisation of reference laboratory testing to offer clinicians access to accurate and prompt information on NTM species and drug sensitivities; (3) development of recognised specialist NTM nursing care; (4) standardisation of NTM-PD imaging strategies for monitoring of treatment and disease progression; (5) establishment of a hub-and-spoke model of care, including clear referral and management pathways, dedicated NTM-PD multidisciplinary teams, and long-term patient follow-up; (6) formation of clinical networks to link experts who manage diseases associated with NTM; (7) enabling patients to access relevant support groups that can provide information and support for their condition; and (8) development of NTM research groups to allow patient participation in clinical trials and to facilitate professional education

Statistical Analysis of future Neutrino Mass Experiments including Neutrino-less Double Beta Decay

We perform a statistical analysis with the prospective results of future experiments on neutrino-less double beta decay, direct searches for neutrino mass (KATRIN) and cosmological observations. Realistic errors are used and the nuclear matrix element uncertainty for neutrino-less double beta decay is also taken into account. Three benchmark scenarios are introduced, corresponding to quasi-degenerate, inverse hierarchical neutrinos, and an intermediate case. We investigate to what extend these scenarios can be reconstructed. Furthermore, we check the compatibility of the scenarios with the claimed evidence of neutrino-less double beta decay.Comment: Matches published version: Europhys.Lett.85:51002 (2009). Format changed suitably for ArXi

The impact of acute air pollution fluctuations on bronchiectasis pulmonary exacerbation:A case-crossover analysis

In bronchiectasis, exacerbations are believed to be triggered by infectious agents, but often no pathogen can be identified. We hypothesised that acute air pollution exposure may be associated with bronchiectasis exacerbations.We combined a case-crossover design with distributed lag models in an observational record linkage study. Patients were recruited from a specialist bronchiectasis clinic at Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, UK.We recruited 432 patients with clinically confirmed bronchiectasis, as diagnosed by high-resolution computed tomography. After excluding days with missing air pollution data, the final model for particles with a 50% cut-off aerodynamic diameter of 10 µm (PM; 10; ) was based on 6741 exacerbations from 430 patients and for nitrogen dioxide (NO; 2; ) it included 6248 exacerbations from 426 patients. For each 10 µg·m; -; ³ increase in PM; 10; and NO; 2; , the risk of having an exacerbation that same day increased significantly by 4.5% (95% CI 0.9-8.3) and 3.2% (95% CI 0.7-5.8) respectively. The overall (lag zero to four) increase in risk of exacerbation for a 10 μg·m; -3; increase in air pollutant concentration was 11.2% (95% CI 6.0-16.8) for PM; 10; and 4.7% (95% CI 0.1-9.5) for NO; 2; Subanalysis showed higher relative risks during spring (PM; 10; 1.198 (95% CI 1.102-1.303), NO; 2; 1.146 (95% CI 1.035-1.268)) and summer (PM; 10; 2.142 (95% CI 1.785-2.570), NO; 2; 1.352 (95% CI 1.140-1.602)) when outdoor air pollution exposure would be expected to be highest.In conclusion, acute air pollution fluctuations are associated with increased exacerbation risk in bronchiectasis

Dark world and baryon asymmetry from a common source

We study generation of baryon number asymmetry and both abundance of dark matter and dark energy on the basis of global symmetry and its associating flat directions in a supersymmetric model. We assume the existence of a model independent axion which is generally expected in the effective theory of superstring. If we consider a combined field of the model independent axion and a pseudo Nambu-Goldstone boson coming from spontaneous breaking of the global symmetry, its potential can be sufficiently flat and then it may present a candidate of the dark energy as a quintessential axion. Both the baryon asymmetry and the dark matter are supposed to be produced nonthermally as the asymmetry of another global charge through the Affleck-Dine mechanism along the relevant flat direction. Its decay to the observable and hidden sectors explains the baryon number asymmetry and the dark matter abundance, respectively.Comment: 28 page

Bronchiectasis Rheumatoid Overlap Syndrome Is an Independent Risk Factor for Mortality in Patients With Bronchiectasis:A Multicenter Cohort Study

BACKGROUND: This study assessed if bronchiectasis (BR) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), when manifesting as an overlap syndrome (BROS), were associated with worse outcomes than other BR etiologies applying the Bronchiectasis Severity Index (BSI). METHODS: Data were collected from the BSI databases of 1,716 adult patients with BR across six centers: Edinburgh, United Kingdom (608 patients); Dundee, United Kingdom (n = 286); Leuven, Belgium (n = 253); Monza, Italy (n = 201); Galway, Ireland (n = 242); and Newcastle, United Kingdom (n = 126). Patients were categorized as having BROS (those with RA and BR without interstitial lung disease), idiopathic BR, bronchiectasis-COPD overlap syndrome (BCOS), and "other" BR etiologies. Mortality rates, hospitalization, and exacerbation frequency were recorded. RESULTS: A total of 147 patients with BROS (8.5% of the cohort) were identified. There was a statistically significant relationship between BROS and mortality, although this relationship was not associated with higher rates of BR exacerbations or BR-related hospitalizations. The mortality rate over a mean of 48 months was 9.3% for idiopathic BR, 8.6% in patients with other causes of BR, 18% for RA, and 28.5% for BCOS. Mortality was statistically higher in patients with BROS and BCOS compared with those with all other etiologies. The BSI scores were statistically but not clinically significantly higher in those with BROS compared with those with idiopathic BR (BSI mean, 7.7 vs 7.1, respectively; P < .05). Patients with BCOS had significantly higher BSI scores (mean, 10.4), Pseudomonas aeruginosa colonization rates (24%), and previous hospitalization rates (58%). CONCLUSIONS: Both the BROS and BCOS groups have an excess of mortality. The mechanisms for this finding may be complex, but these data emphasize that these subgroups require additional study to understand this excess mortality

Determining neutrino absorption spectra at Ultra-High Energies

A very efficient method to measure the flux of Ultra-high energy (UHE) neutrinos is through the detection of radio waves which are emitted by the particle shower in the lunar regolith. The highest acceptance is reached for radio waves in the frequency band of 100-200 MHz which can be measured with modern radio telescopes. In this work we investigate the sensitivity of this detection method to structures in the UHE neutrino spectrum caused by their absorption on the low-energy relic anti-neutrino background through the Z-boson resonance. The position of the absorption peak is sensitive to the neutrino mass and the redshift of the source. A new generation of low-frequency digital radio telescopes will provide excellent detection capabilities for measuring these radio pulses, thus making our consideration here very timely.Comment: 7 figures, submitted to JCAP revision: References updated and minor changes in tex