Comparisons of Celiac Disease and Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity

Celiac disease (CD) and non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) are often confused or grouped together due to their commonalities. However, this is careless behavior because there are clinically significant differences between the two diseases. Similarities between them include varying degrees of damage or permeability in the lining of the small intestine, involvement of the innate immune system, alleviation of symptoms upon implementation of a gluten-free diet (GFD), and the possibility for complications if the pathology is not adequately treated. Despite these similarities, minor details such as the following make CD and NCGS worth differentiating: the question of gluten as the true trigger for NCGS, severity of villous atrophy present in only CD, psychiatric comorbidities present in NCGS, and possibility of a less restrictive treatment for NCGS using gluten detoxification

Foreign currency returns and systematic risks

The decomposition of the market return into its cash-flow and discount-rate news driven components reveals that excess returns on low forward discount currency portfolios load positively on "good" news about the stock market's discount rates while high forward discount currencies load negatively on this news. Average currency portfolio returns are hence explained by different sensitivities to discount-rate news. A two-beta version of the CAPM, distinguishing between cash-flow and discount-rate betas, is able to price both currency and stock portfolio returns at the same time. Finally, we find that the relation between stock market news and foreign currency returns varies across the two either discount-rate news or both discount-rate and cash-flow news driven stock market booms of the past two decades.Currency returns, cash-flow news, discount-rate news, market return, UIP

The Bohm sheath criterion in strongly coupled complex plasmas

A modification of the classical Bohm sheath criterion is investigated in complex plasmas containing Boltzmann electrons, cold fluid ions and strongly coupled microparticles. Equilibrium is provided by an effective 'temperature' associated with electrostatic interactions between charged grains. Using the small-potential expansion approach of the Sagdeev potential, a significant reduction of the ion Bohm velocity is obtained for complex plasma parameters relevant for experiments. The result is of consequence for all problems involving ion drag on microparticles, including parametric instability, structure formation, wave propagation, etc

The effect of induced charges on low-energy particle trajectories near conducting and semiconducting plates

The effect of the induced charge was found on particles less than 1 eV as they passed through simulated parallel, grounded channels that are comparable in dimension to those that are presently in space plasma instruments which measure the flux of low-energy ions. Applications were made to both conducting and semiconducting channels that ranged in length from 0.1 to 50 mm and in aspect ratio from 1 to 100. The effect of the induced charge on particle trajectories from simple straight lines. Several configurations of channel aspect ratio and detector locations are considered. The effect is important only at very low energies with small dimensions

Towards a remote animal tagging method with minimal detriment; how do animals react to new constructions in their environment?

Tags that researchers attach to animals are equipped with a variety of sensory systems which allow us to quantify the ultra-fine scale movement of animals. Such technology aids conservation efforts by providing evidence-based data on the causal drivers behind animal space use. Yet, the attachment of tags sometimes requires individuals to be captured or restrained, which can cause acute stress and unusual movement patterns. To circumvent these issues, we are developing a remote tagging apparatus (TA), consisting of a gateway which deploys a tag when an animal walks underneath. A first step in investigating the feasibility of this tagging system in the wild is to investigate how animals react to a TA in their environment. Here, I deployed TAs at 22 field sites around Swansea, South Wales, and monitored the reactions of animals to them using camera traps. I focused on terrestrial carnivores (particularly foxes (Vulpes vulpes), otters (Lutra lutra) and badgers (Meles meles), but also recorded the reactions of other mammals and birds to the gateways. I aimed to examine (1) how animals react to the gateway, (2) whether animals showed neophobia to the gateway, and if this decreased over time, (3) how the siting of the gateway influenced whether animals were more likely to walk under it, and (4) whether baiting around the gateway increased the number of individuals that visited the site. I demonstrate that animals initially show neophobia of the gateway, but this decreases over time. Habitat specifics (i.e. vegetation cover and the density of the animal path/trail) made no difference in the number of times animals walked under the gateway, whereas baiting the gateway significantly increased number of animals visiting the site. These findings imply that remote tagging is possible but neophobia must be taken into account. Whilst still in the developmental stage, this remote tagging project shows potential for future studies wishing to tag animals without capturing or restraining them

Piers Plowman, Legal Authority and the Law of Subject Status.

This project examines the legal discourses surrounding Langland\u27s Piers Plowman to show that the language of the law courts, and the dilemmas faced there on a daily basis about the authority of the law, are mirrored in the way in which Langland presents Christ\u27s harrowing of hell at one of the narrative climaxes of the poem. The state of English law inflects the literature, even when the issue presented appears to be covenantal theology, because the questions over the basis of legal authority being asked in the courtroom were so enmeshed in the language of the courtroom being used in the poem. Although it is impossible to say which of the law or literature influenced the other more, this project demonstrates how Langland, when speaking of the nature of legal authority, carves out a place for his poem as an authoritative alternative discourse that might bridge the gaps between theology and the common law. To show how Langland achieves this, chapter one of the project focuses on his engagement with the four main institutional sources of contemporary authority: the church, the law, the political community, and the schools. I argue that Langland creates authority for his poem by reframing their main ideas through his poem\u27s creative manipulation of their discourses. Specifically, chapter two illustrates how he enters the debate over the basis of the authority of the law through his framing of Christ\u27s harrowing of hell in an unequivocably legal understanding of the terms \u27riht\u27 and \u27reson\u27 in order to emphasize the importance of Christian ideas of Mercy in the administration of justice. Chapter three focuses on Langland\u27s understanding of reason as the conduit to legal authority to show his belief that justice demands `riht\u27 and `reson\u27 must act together. The second part of the project examines the legal, historical and literary circumstances surrounding Edward III\u27s passing of the 1351 statute, De natis ultra mare, and its later interpretation to illustrate how Langland\u27s views on the nature of kingship examined in chapter four promoted ideas that played an integral part in the legal development of the idea of citizenship and the role of the king. Chapter fives details the shift from the legal definitions of personal status in terms of slave and master to those of citizen and king - a process which led eventually to the divisions by nation and nationality that still define the contemporary world - to demonstrate how it was the acceptance of the ideas of kingship reflected in Piers Plowman that led the statute to be interpreted by judges as it was, so enshrining Langland\u27s ideas on kingship into law