Philippe de la Hire’s eighteenth century eclipse predictor

We investigate the workings of an early eighteenth century instrument for predicting eclipses described by the French astronomer de la Hire in his book Tabulae Astronomicae

Burmese shadow calculations

The methods of calculation of shadow lengths of the Sun and the Moon seem to be a specific for Burmese astronomy and have many original features. The present paper gives a detailed exposition of these methods with an analysis of an example taken from a Burmese manuscript

The Natural History of Ooliths: Franz Ernst Brückmann’s Treatise of 1721 and its Significance for the Understanding of Oolites

Franz Brückmann schrieb 1721 seine erste Abhandlung über Oolithe. Wir stellen hier eine Übersetzung des lateinischen Originaltextes ins Englische vor. Brückmann beschreibt die Herkunft des Namens Oolith und seine Synonyme; interpretiert Oolithe als Ansammlung von Fisch-Eiern; klassifiziert sie als Steine; gibt Auftreten und Häufigkeit an; erklärt das Ablagerungsmilieu und Prozesse der Versteinerung und die große Menge der gefundenen Eier; beweist ihre biologische Herkunft und ihre biologischen Beziehungen; unterscheidet die Oolithe von den Pisolithen und gibt Orte an, wo sie gefunden werden. Wir kommentieren Brückmanns Text, besprechen die Wirkung seines Werkes und verfolgen die Forschung über Oolithe bis zum frühen 20. Jahrhundert. Wir schließen, dass Brückmanns Abhandlung am besten als Überblick anzusehen ist, der eine Grundlage für spätere Forschungen bildete. Sein wichtigster Beitrag war, Oolithe eher als Anhäufungen von biologischen Überresten als „Spiele der Natur“ (lusus naturae) anzusehen. Einige von Brückmanns Zeitgenossen, wie Da Costa und De Saussure zweifelten, dass Fischeier versteinern könnenund – obgleich sie die biologische Herkunft einräumten – zogen es vor, sie als mineralische Konkretionen zu betrachten. Große Neuerungen in der Stratigraphie, Paläontologie, Mikrobiologie, Mikroskopie, vergleichenden Sedimentologie und Petrologie mußten stattfinden, bevor im 19. Jahrhundert signifikante Fortschritte von Brückmanns Interpretationen gemacht werden konnten.Franz Brückmann wrote his treatise on oolites in 1721. We present here an English translation of his Latin text which describes the following topics; derivation of the name “oolith” and its synonyms; interpretation as accumulations of fish-eggs; classification as stones; occurrence and diversity; environments of deposition and processes of lithification; explanations for the large quantities of eggs found; evidence for their biological origin; evidence for their biological associations; the distinction between ooliths and pisoliths; and localities of occurrence. We provide a commentary on Brückmann’s text, and then review the impact of his work by tracing the subsequent development of research on Oolites up to the early twentieth century. We conclude that Brückmann’s treatise is best regarded as a review paper that provided a platform for later research. His most significant contribution was to view oolites as accumulations of petrified biological remains rather than as “sports of nature”. Some of Brückmann’s near contemporaries such as Da Costa and De Saussure doubted that fish eggs could lithify and, although conceding their sedimentary origin, preferred to regard them as mineral concretions. Major developments in the sciences of stratigraphy, palaeontology, microbiology, microscopy, comparative sedimentology, and petrology would be required before more significant advances could be made on Brückmann’s interpretations

Urban encounters: juxtapositions of difference and the communicative interface of global cities

This article explores the communicative interface of global cities, especially as it is shaped in the juxtapositions of difference in culturally diverse urban neighbourhoods. These urban zones present powerful examples, where different groups live cheek by jowl, in close proximity and in intimate interaction — desired or unavoidable. In these urban locations, the need to manage difference is synonymous to making them liveable and one's own. In seeking (and sometimes finding) a location in the city and a location in the world, urban dwellers shape their communication practices as forms of everyday, mundane and bottom-up tactics for the management of diversity. The article looks at three particular areas where cultural diversity and urban communication practices come together into meaningful political and cultural relations for a sustainable cosmopolitan life: citizenship, imagination and identity

Labour market experiences of young UK Bangladeshi men: Identity, inclusion and exclusion in inner-city London

Detailed qualitative data are used to explore the processes perpetuatinglabour market disadvantage among young UK-Bangladeshi men living in central London. Strong forces of inclusion within the Bangladeshi community are found to interact with forces of exclusion from ‘mainstream’ society to constrain aspirations and limit opportunities. Though diverse forms of young Bangladeshi masculinity are found, a common pattern is heavy dependency on intra-ethnic networks. Negative experiences of and isolation from ‘mainstream’ society further reinforce reliance on ‘our own people’. However, acute ambivalence towards belonging to a dense Bangladeshi community exists, exemplified in the widespread denigration of the restaurant trade. Many respondents express the desire to ‘break out’ and access new experiences. The findings support current policy emphasis on ‘connecting people to work’ but highlight the more fundamental need to connect people across ethnic boundaries. The paper urges researchers to ‘unpack’ ethnicity to consider carefully what ethnic identity implies in terms of access to resources and opportunities for different individuals in different contexts in order better to understand the diversity of labour market outcomes and the persistence of disadvantage

Applying a perceptions and practicalities approach to understanding nonadherence to antiepileptic drugs

Summary Objective Nonadherence to antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) is a common cause of poor seizure control. This study examines whether reported adherence to AEDs is related to variables identified in the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) Medicines Adherence Guidelines as being important to adherence: perceptual factors (AED necessity beliefs and concerns), practical factors (limitations in capability and resources), and perceptions of involvement in treatment decisions. Methods This was a cross-sectional study of people with epilepsy receiving AEDs. Participants completed an online survey hosted by the Epilepsy Society (n = 1,010), or as an audit during inpatient admission (n = 118). Validated questionnaires, adapted for epilepsy, assessed reported adherence to AEDs (Medication Adherence Report Scale [MARS]), perceptions of AEDs (Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire [BMQ]), and patient perceptions of involvement in treatment decisions (Treatment Empowerment Scale [TES]). Results Low adherence was related to AED beliefs (doubts about necessity: t(577) = 3.90, p < 0.001; and concerns: t(995) = 3.45, p = 0.001), reported limitations in capability and resources (t(589) = 7.78, p < 0.001), and to perceptions of a lack of involvement in treatment decisions (t(623) = 4.48, p < 0.001). In multiple logistic regression analyses, these factors significantly (p < 0.001) increased variance in reported adherence, above that which could be explained by age and clinical variables (seizure frequency, type, epilepsy duration, number of AEDs prescribed). Significance Variables identified in the NICE Medicines Adherence Guidelines as potentially important factors for adherence were found to be related to adherence to AEDs. These factors are potentially modifiable. Interventions to support optimal adherence to AEDs should be tailored to address doubts about AED necessity and concerns about harm, and to overcome practical difficulties, while engaging patients in treatment decisions

Global unions: chasing the dream or building the reality?

This article takes as its theme the global restructuring of capital and its impact on worker organization. It argues for a reassertion of class in any analysis of global solidarity, and assesses the opportunities and barriers to effective global unionization. Rooted in the UK experience, the article analyzes the impact of the European social dimension on trade unions, before taking the discussion into a global dimension. It concludes by suggesting that there are reasons for cautious optimism in terms of solidarity building, despite difficult historical legacies and the common replacement of action with rhetoric

Dose reconstruction including dynamic six-degree of freedom motion during prostate radiotherapy

© Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd. An in-house developed program for real-time reconstruction of motion-induced dose errors, DoseTracker, was extended to handle rotational target motion in addition to the previously implemented translational motion, and applied offline for prostate VMAT treatments. For translational motion, the motion-induced errors of DoseTracker were in good agreement with ground truth dose reconstructions performed in a commercial treatment planning system. For rotational motion, no ground truth was available, but DoseTracker showed that the VMAT dose is highly robust against static interfractional rotations but quite sensitive to dynamic intrafraction rotations due to interplay effects between target motion and machine motion