New York Times v. U.S.: Implications and Relevance in the 21st Century

In 1971, the New York Times released the first installment in a series later referred to as the Pentagon Papers that would eventually have significant political, social, and historical impacts that are felt even in the 21st Century. Following the first release, President Nixon’s administration sought an injunction against the publication of the remaining contents of the classified study, ultimately becoming an extensive legal process that culminated in the Supreme Court. In a per curiam opinion, the Court ruled that in accordance with Organization for a Better Austin v. Keefe and Near v. Minnesota that the federal government did not meet the burden of proof required for prior restraint. The individual Justices’ opinions were divergent on several fronts and provide unique insight into the complexity of the issue. This decision was the driving force behind the formation of the White House Plumbers, the group that orchestrated one of the most infamous political scandals and the eventual implosion of Nixon’s career. It also effectively changed the tide of the Vietnam War, contributed to the credibility gap, and forever modified the relationship between the press and the federal government. The Pentagon Papers case has also served as one of the most famous freedom of the press cases and established a de facto precedent. The aftermath of its outcome is still felt today with the increasing prevalence of government whistle-blowers, such as WikiLeaks, PFC. Manning, and Edward Snowden

Queen Ástrí∂r and Sigvatr Thór∂arson: A Political Alliance. Three Skaldic Stanzas in praise of Queen Ástrí∂r in Snorri's Heimskringla

Queen Ástriðr and Sigvatr Þórðarson: a political alliance. Three skaldic stanzas in Snorri’s Heimskringla\ud \ud This paper analyzes Sigvatr Þórðarson’s stanzas in praise of queen Ástriðr - the daughter of Óláfr Skottkonung of Sweden and the wife of Óláfr the Saint of Norway - reported in Magnús saga ins góða (Heimskringla), where she plays an important role as an inciter in a new and unusual space for a woman. By actively partecipating at the þing of Hangtar (Sweden) and speaking in favour of her stepson Magnús, she crossed her gender borders.\ud I will compare the poem by Sigvatr with the prose passage by Snorri in which it is embedded, pointing out the different political strategies lying behind them

Some reasoning on the RELM-CSEP likelihood-based tests

The null hypothesis is the essence of any statistical test: this is basically a comparison of what we observe with what we would expect to see if the null hypothesis was true. In this work, I explore the suitability of the null hypothesis of likelihood-based tests (LBTs), which are often adopted by the laboratories of the Collaboratory for the Study of Earthquake Predictability (CSEP), to check earthquake forecast models. First, I discuss the LBT in the wider context of classical statistical hypothesis testing. Then, I present some cases in which the null hypothesis of LBT is not appropriate for determining the merits of earthquake forecast models. I justify these results from a theoretical point of view, within the framework of point process theory. Finally, I propose a possible upgrade of LBT to enable the correct assessment of the forecasting capability of earthquake models. This study may provide new insights to the CSEP LBT

Calibration of the ASTRI SST-2M Prototype using Muon Ring Images

The study of ring images generated from high-energy muons is a very useful tool for the performance monitoring and calibration of any Imaging Atmosphere Cherenkov Telescope. Isolated muons travelling towards the telescope light collector system produce characteristic Cherenkov ring images in the focal plane camera. Since the geometry and the distribution of light deployed onto the camera can be easily reconstructed analytically for a muon of given energy and direction, muon rings are a powerful tool for monitoring the behaviour of crucial properties of an imaging telescope such as the point-spread-function and the overall light collection efficiency. In this contribution we present the possibility of using the analysis of muon ring images as calibrator for the ASTRI SST-2M prototype point spread function.Comment: In Proceedings of the 33rd International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC2013), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). All ASTRI contributions at arXiv:1307.463

An Attempted Suicide with Copper Sulphate injected intravenously:Pathopsysiology and Therapy about a case report

Acute copper sulphate poisoning is an unusual event, rarely following parenteral exposure, complicated by toxicological effects as haemolytic anaemia, methaemoglobinaemia , hepato-renal damage and acute rhabdomyolysis. Currently, the therapeutic management ignores unique classes of evidence and is mainly based on supportive and chelation therapies. Case details. This case report describes acute copper sulphate poisoning in a 37-year-old man who attempted suicide by self-injecting an unknown amount of copper sulphate. Within three days the patient developed severe intravascular haemolysis and rhabdomyolysis. Initial therapy relied on intensive supportive care with fluids administration, electrolyte correction and packed red blood cells transfusion. The D-penicillamine (30 mg/Kg/day per os) was prescribed as chelation therapy by the poison control centre. The N-acetilcysteine and ascorbic acid were administered to prevent further oxidative stress. Later on, two sessions of therapeutic plasma exchange were performed in order to support the drug therapy. Haemolysis and rhabdomyolysis reversed throughout the hospital stay. Discussion. In this case the antidotic and antioxidant therapy resulted effective to reverse haemolysis and rhabdomyolysis and to prevent hepatic and renal damage. Moreover, this case underlies that therapeutic plasma exchange should be considered as an additive measure to undertake since the earlier stages of the emergency intervention. Acute copper sulphate poisoning is an event complicated by toxicological effects: haemolytic anaemia, methaemoglobinaemia, hepato-renal damage, acute rhabdomyolysis. The therapeutic management ignores unique classes of evidence and is based on supportive and chelation therapies. In this case: i) the antidotic and antioxidant therapy resulted effective to reverse haemolysis and rhabdomyolysis and to prevent hepatic and renal damage, ii) therapeutic plasma exchange should be considered as an additive measure to undertake