A Society in Transition: Jews in the Kingdom of Castile from Re-conquest to the Toledo Riots (1248-1449)

PhDThis dissertation traces the course of Jewish history in the kingdom of Castile from the late-thirteenth century to the Toledo riots of 1449. It shows that the security afforded to Jews through their protection by the Crown, and the high-office gained by Jewish royal administrators and tax-farmers, permitted a crossing of cultural boundaries by Jews, rarely seen elsewhere in Europe. Economic reliance underpinned royal protection; a fresh examination of taxation registers shows the extent of the Crown’s dependence upon the substantial revenues provided by the communities. These revenues, however, were considerably diminished in the course of the fourteenth century as a consequence of the war of Trastámaran succession. The Castilian and Hebrew records indicate that the integration of the Jewish court elite conferred privilege but was also dangerous for the individuals involved. Rabbinical correspondence reflects fears of secular learning and apostasy, fears confirmed by the conversion of influential Jewish scholars. These converts soon became supporters of the friars’ mission to the Jews in the fourteenth century. Though their efforts had little initial success, some voluntary conversions did occur even before the mass riots of 1391. A few such individuals showed how thoroughly they integrated into Christian society, acquiring wealth and property through marital alliances following their conversion. The many forced baptisms that occurred in the riots of 1391, were followed by a further wave of conversion in the early fifteenth century owing much to the preaching of Vincent Ferrer, and his insistence on the segregation of Jews. This study portrays the social pressures, even within a permissive cultural environment in late medieval Castile, pressures which led to the emergence of New Christians. Their contested identity was central to the Toledo rebellion of 1449 which marked a new and ominous chapter in faith relations in the Peninsula

Achieving Soft Real-time Guarantees for Interactive Applications in Wireless Mesh Networks

The use of 802.11-based multi-hop wireless mesh networks for Internet access is extensive and growing. The primary advantages of this approach are ease of deployment and lower cost. However, these networks are designed for web and e-mail applications. Highly interactive applications, such as multiplayer online games and VoIP, with their requirements for low delay, present significant challenges to these networks. In particular, the interaction between real-time traffic and TCP traffic tends to result in either a failure of the real-time traffic getting its needed QoS or the TCP traffic unnecessarily experiencing very poor throughput. To solve this problem we place real-time and TCP traffic into separate queues. We then rate-limit TCP traffic based on the average queue size of the local or remote real-time queues. Thus, TCP traffic is permitted to use excess bandwidth as long as it does not interfere with real-time traffic guarantees. We therefore call our scheme Real-time Queue-based Rate and Admission Control, RtQ-RAC. Extensive simulations using the network simulator, ns-2, demonstrate that our approach is effective in providing soft real-time support, while allowing efficient use of the remaining bandwidth for TCP traffic

Risk factors for admission at three urban emergency departments in England: a cross-sectional analysis of attendances over 1 month

Objective: To investigate factors associated with unscheduled admission following presentation to emergency departments (EDs) at three hospitals in England. Design and setting: Cross-sectional analysis of attendance data for patients from three urban EDs in England: a large teaching hospital and major trauma centre (site 1) and two district general hospitals (sites 2 and 3). Variables included patient age, gender, ethnicity, deprivation score, arrival date and time, arrival by ambulance or otherwise, a variety of ED workload measures, inpatient bed occupancy rates and admission outcome. Coding inconsistencies in routine ED data used for this study meant that diagnosis could not be included. Outcome measure: The primary outcome for the study was unscheduled admission. Participants: All adults aged 16 and older attending the three inner London EDs in December 2013. Data on 19 734 unique patient attendances were gathered. Results: Outcome data were available for 19 721 attendances (>99%), of whom 6263 (32%) were admitted to hospital. Site 1 was set as the baseline site for analysis of admission risk. Risk of admission was significantly greater at sites 2 and 3 (adjusted OR (AOR) relative to site 1 for site 2 was 1.89, 95% CI 1.74 to 2.05, p<0.001) and for patients of black or black British ethnicity (AOR 1.29, 1.16 to 1.44, p<0.001). Deprivation was strongly associated with admission. Analysis of departmental and hospital-wide workload pressures gave conflicting results, but proximity to the “4-hour target” (a rule that limits patient stays in EDs to 4 hours in the National Health Service in England) emerged as a strong driver for admission in this analysis (AOR 3.61, 95% CI 3.30 to 3.95, p<0.001). Conclusion: This study found statistically significant variations in odds of admission between hospital sites when adjusting for various patient demographic and presentation factors, suggesting important variations in ED-level and clinician-level behaviour relating to admission decisions. The 4-hour target is a strong driver for emergency admission

Discovery of Candidate H2_2O Disk Masers in AGN and Estimations of Centripetal Accelerations

Based on spectroscopic signatures, about one-third of known H$_2$O maser sources in active galactic nuclei (AGN) are believed to arise in highly inclined accretion disks around central engines. These "disk maser candidates" are of interest primarily because angular structure and rotation curves can be resolved with interferometers, enabling dynamical study. We identify five new disk maser candidates in studies with the Green Bank Telescope, bringing the total number published to 30. We discovered two (NGC1320, NGC17) in a survey of 40 inclined active galaxies (v_{sys}< 20000 kms^{-1}). The remaining three disk maser candidates were identified in monitoring of known sources: NGC449, NGC2979, NGC3735. We also confirm a previously marginal case in UGC4203. For the disk maser candidates reported here, inferred rotation speeds are 130-500 kms^{-1}. Monitoring of three more rapidly rotating candidate disks (CG211, NGC6264, VV340A) has enabled measurement of likely orbital centripetal acceleration, and estimation of central masses (2-7x10^7 M_\odot) and mean disk radii (0.2-0.4pc). Accelerations may ultimately permit estimation of distances when combined with interferometer data. This is notable because the three AGN are relatively distant (10000<v_{sys}<15000 kms^{-1}). As signposts of highly inclined geometries at galactocentric radii of \sim0.1-1pc, disk masers also provide robust orientation references that allow analysis of (mis)alignment between AGN and surrounding galactic stellar disks, even without interferometric mapping. We find no preference among published disk maser candidates to lie in high-inclination galaxies, providing independent support for conclusions that central engines and galactic plane orientations are not correlated. (ABRIDGED)Comment: 7 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ, Dec. 10, 200

Observational Evidence for Massive Black Holes in the Centers of Active Galaxies

Naturally occurring water vapor maser emission at 1.35 cm wavelength provides an accurate probe for the study of accretion disks around highly compact objects, thought to be black holes, in the centers of active galaxies. Because of the exceptionally fine angular resolution, 200 microarcseconds, obtainable with very long baseline interferometry, accompanied by high spectral resolution, < 0.1 km/s, the dynamics and structures of these disks can be probed with exceptional clarity. The data on the galaxy NGC4258 are discussed here in detail. The mass of the black hole binding the accretion disk is 3.9 times 10^7 solar masses. Although the accretion disk has a rotational period of about 800 years, the physical motions of the masers have been directly measured with VLBI over a period of a few years. These measurements also allow the distance from the earth to the black hole to be estimated to an accuracy of 4 percent. The status of the search for other maser/black hole candidates is also discussed.Comment: 24 pages, 11 figures, latex, uses aaspp4 style file. To be published in the Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics (India), proceedings of the Discussion Meeting on the Physics of Black Holes, Bangalore, India: December 199

Supermassive Black Holes in Galactic Nuclei: Past, Present and Future Research

This review discusses the current status of supermassive black hole research, as seen from a purely observational standpoint. Since the early '90s, rapid technological advances, most notably the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the commissioning of the VLBA and improvements in near-infrared speckle imaging techniques, have not only given us incontrovertible proof of the existence of supermassive black holes, but have unveiled fundamental connections between the mass of the central singularity and the global properties of the host galaxy. It is thanks to these observations that we are now, for the first time, in a position to understand the origin, evolution and cosmic relevance of these fascinating objects.Comment: Invited Review, 114 pages. Because of space requirements, this version contains low resolution figures. The full resolution version can be downloaded from http://www.physics.rutgers.edu/~lff/publications.htm

Womens' opinions on antenatal care in developing countries: results of a study in Cuba, Thailand, Saudi Arabia and Argentina

BACKGROUND: The results of a qualitative study carried out in four developing countries (Cuba, Thailand, Saudi Arabia and Argentina) are presented. The study was conducted in the context of a randomised controlled trial to test the benefits of a new antenatal care protocol that reduced the number of visits to the doctor, rationalised the application of technology, and improved the provision of information to women in relation to the traditional protocol applied in each country. METHODS: Through focus groups discussions we were able to assess the concepts and expectations underlying women's evaluation of concepts and experiences of the care received in antenatal care clinics. 164 women participated in 24 focus groups discussion in all countries. RESULTS: Three areas are particularly addressed in this paper: a) concepts about pregnancy and health care, b) experience with health services and health providers, and c) opinions about the modified Antenatal Care (ANC) programme. In all three topics similarities were identified as well as particular opinions related to country specific social and cultural values. In general women have a positive view of the new ANC protocol, particularly regarding the information they receive. However, controversial issues emerged such as the reduction in the number of visits, particularly in Cuba where women are used to have 18 ANC visits in one pregnancy period. CONCLUSION: Recommendations to improve ANC services performance are being proposed. Any country interested in the application of a new ANC protocol should regard the opinion and acceptability of women towards changes

A framework for human microbiome research

A variety of microbial communities and their genes (the microbiome) exist throughout the human body, with fundamental roles in human health and disease. The National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded Human Microbiome Project Consortium has established a population-scale framework to develop metagenomic protocols, resulting in a broad range of quality-controlled resources and data including standardized methods for creating, processing and interpreting distinct types of high-throughput metagenomic data available to the scientific community. Here we present resources from a population of 242 healthy adults sampled at 15 or 18 body sites up to three times, which have generated 5,177 microbial taxonomic profiles from 16S ribosomal RNA genes and over 3.5 terabases of metagenomic sequence so far. In parallel, approximately 800 reference strains isolated from the human body have been sequenced. Collectively, these data represent the largest resource describing the abundance and variety of the human microbiome, while providing a framework for current and future studies

Structure, function and diversity of the healthy human microbiome

Author Posting. © The Authors, 2012. This article is posted here by permission of Nature Publishing Group. The definitive version was published in Nature 486 (2012): 207-214, doi:10.1038/nature11234.Studies of the human microbiome have revealed that even healthy individuals differ remarkably in the microbes that occupy habitats such as the gut, skin and vagina. Much of this diversity remains unexplained, although diet, environment, host genetics and early microbial exposure have all been implicated. Accordingly, to characterize the ecology of human-associated microbial communities, the Human Microbiome Project has analysed the largest cohort and set of distinct, clinically relevant body habitats so far. We found the diversity and abundance of each habitat’s signature microbes to vary widely even among healthy subjects, with strong niche specialization both within and among individuals. The project encountered an estimated 81–99% of the genera, enzyme families and community configurations occupied by the healthy Western microbiome. Metagenomic carriage of metabolic pathways was stable among individuals despite variation in community structure, and ethnic/racial background proved to be one of the strongest associations of both pathways and microbes with clinical metadata. These results thus delineate the range of structural and functional configurations normal in the microbial communities of a healthy population, enabling future characterization of the epidemiology, ecology and translational applications of the human microbiome.This research was supported in part by National Institutes of Health grants U54HG004969 to B.W.B.; U54HG003273 to R.A.G.; U54HG004973 to R.A.G., S.K.H. and J.F.P.; U54HG003067 to E.S.Lander; U54AI084844 to K.E.N.; N01AI30071 to R.L.Strausberg; U54HG004968 to G.M.W.; U01HG004866 to O.R.W.; U54HG003079 to R.K.W.; R01HG005969 to C.H.; R01HG004872 to R.K.; R01HG004885 to M.P.; R01HG005975 to P.D.S.; R01HG004908 to Y.Y.; R01HG004900 to M.K.Cho and P. Sankar; R01HG005171 to D.E.H.; R01HG004853 to A.L.M.; R01HG004856 to R.R.; R01HG004877 to R.R.S. and R.F.; R01HG005172 to P. Spicer.; R01HG004857 to M.P.; R01HG004906 to T.M.S.; R21HG005811 to E.A.V.; M.J.B. was supported by UH2AR057506; G.A.B. was supported by UH2AI083263 and UH3AI083263 (G.A.B., C. N. Cornelissen, L. K. Eaves and J. F. Strauss); S.M.H. was supported by UH3DK083993 (V. B. Young, E. B. Chang, F. Meyer, T. M. S., M. L. Sogin, J. M. Tiedje); K.P.R. was supported by UH2DK083990 (J. V.); J.A.S. and H.H.K. were supported by UH2AR057504 and UH3AR057504 (J.A.S.); DP2OD001500 to K.M.A.; N01HG62088 to the Coriell Institute for Medical Research; U01DE016937 to F.E.D.; S.K.H. was supported by RC1DE0202098 and R01DE021574 (S.K.H. and H. Li); J.I. was supported by R21CA139193 (J.I. and D. S. Michaud); K.P.L. was supported by P30DE020751 (D. J. Smith); Army Research Office grant W911NF-11-1-0473 to C.H.; National Science Foundation grants NSF DBI-1053486 to C.H. and NSF IIS-0812111 to M.P.; The Office of Science of the US Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231 for P.S. C.; LANL Laboratory-Directed Research and Development grant 20100034DR and the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency grants B104153I and B084531I to P.S.C.; Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO) grant to K.F. and J.Raes; R.K. is an HHMI Early Career Scientist; Gordon&BettyMoore Foundation funding and institutional funding fromthe J. David Gladstone Institutes to K.S.P.; A.M.S. was supported by fellowships provided by the Rackham Graduate School and the NIH Molecular Mechanisms in Microbial Pathogenesis Training Grant T32AI007528; a Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of Canada Grant in Aid of Research to E.A.V.; 2010 IBM Faculty Award to K.C.W.; analysis of the HMPdata was performed using National Energy Research Scientific Computing resources, the BluBioU Computational Resource at Rice University

On the mechanisms governing gas penetration into a tokamak plasma during a massive gas injection

A new 1D radial fluid code, IMAGINE, is used to simulate the penetration of gas into a tokamak plasma during a massive gas injection (MGI). The main result is that the gas is in general strongly braked as it reaches the plasma, due to mechanisms related to charge exchange and (to a smaller extent) recombination. As a result, only a fraction of the gas penetrates into the plasma. Also, a shock wave is created in the gas which propagates away from the plasma, braking and compressing the incoming gas. Simulation results are quantitatively consistent, at least in terms of orders of magnitude, with experimental data for a D 2 MGI into a JET Ohmic plasma. Simulations of MGI into the background plasma surrounding a runaway electron beam show that if the background electron density is too high, the gas may not penetrate, suggesting a possible explanation for the recent results of Reux et al in JET (2015 Nucl. Fusion 55 093013)