The Gangster in Our Midst: Al Capone in South Florida, 1930-1947

As the sun rose over Miami on the morning of April 20, 1930, thousands of residents were attending Easter services on Miami Beach. A few miles north, the Dixie Limited was braking to a stop at the Florida East Coast Railway station in Hollywood. Aboard the southbound train was no ordinary seasonal visitor— or “snowbird’‘— but one of the most notorious vacationers who ever sought a little rest and relaxation in the Florida sun: Al Capone. “Scarface Al.” “Public Enemy Number One.” Overlord of the Chicago underworld. It was quite a ride. A Miami man who was on the train south described a continuous poker game with uniformed attendants rushing around, carrying buckets of cracked ice and mixer bottles of ginger ale, each waiter trying to out-hustle the other in anticipation of $100 tips.

ARIA 2016 : Care pathways implementing emerging technologies for predictive medicine in rhinitis and asthma across the life cycle

European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing Reference Site MACVIA-France, EU Structural and Development Fund Languedoc-Roussillon, ARIA.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Asymptotic Behavior of Inflated Lattice Polygons

We study the inflated phase of two dimensional lattice polygons with fixed perimeter $N$ and variable area, associating a weight $\exp[pA - Jb ]$ to a polygon with area $A$ and $b$ bends. For convex and column-convex polygons, we show that $/A_{max} = 1 - K(J)/\tilde{p}^2 + \mathcal{O}(\rho^{-\tilde{p}})$, where $\tilde{p}=pN \gg 1$, and $\rho<1$. The constant $K(J)$ is found to be the same for both types of polygons. We argue that self-avoiding polygons should exhibit the same asymptotic behavior. For self-avoiding polygons, our predictions are in good agreement with exact enumeration data for J=0 and Monte Carlo simulations for $J \neq 0$. We also study polygons where self-intersections are allowed, verifying numerically that the asymptotic behavior described above continues to hold.Comment: 7 page

First-principles study of the ferroelectric Aurivillius phase Bi2WO6

In order to better understand the reconstructive ferroelectric-paraelectric transition of Bi2WO6, which is unusual within the Aurivillius family of compounds, we performed first principles calculations of the dielectric and dynamical properties on two possible high-temperature paraelectic structures: the monoclinic phase of A2/m symmetry observed experimentally and the tetragonal phase of I4/mmm symmetry, common to most Aurivillius phase components. Both paraelectric structures exhibits various unstable modes, which after their condensation bring the system toward more stable structures of lower symmetry. The calculations confirms that, starting from the paraelectric A2/m phase at high temperature, the system must undergo a reconstructive transition to reach the P2_1ab ferroelectric ground state.Comment: added Appendix and two table

The hidden burden of adult allergic rhinitis : UK healthcare resource utilisation survey

Funding Funding for this survey was provided by Meda Pharma.Peer reviewedPublisher PD