Towards the Post-Secular City? London since the 1960s

It is possible to interpret the available statistical evidence to argue that — when the presence of minority traditions is taken into account — the level of religious prac-tice in London in the early twenty-first century was quite similar to that in the early twentieth century. London may be exceptional in some respects, but it is nevertheless indicative of wider patterns of religious change over the last half-century,which have hitherto received little academic attention. The London case reveals a dynamic picture of simultaneous decline and resurgence, with overall rapid growth in Pentecostalism, Hinduism, Islam, and Sikhism while traditional Christian denominations have generally been contracting. However, the Christian picture is further variegated at the local level, with significant pockets of growth even in the historic churches, notably but not only in the Church of England Diocese of Lon-don. Moreover, the wider social engagements of many religious groups have given them an impact beyond their actual membership

Fashioning the Flapper: Clothing as a Catalyst for Social Change in 1920s America

Fashion has been a catalyst for social change throughout human history. Fashion in 1920s America in particular reflects society\u27s rapidly evolving attitudes towards gender and race. Beginning with how corsetry heavily restricted women for nearly four hundred years up until the twentieth century, this thesis explores how clothing has acted as a tool for societal progression following World War I and Women\u27s Suffrage and during the Jazz Age and The Harlem Renaissance. Specifically, this thesis examines how the influence of jazz music and dance that originated from Black American communities led to the creation of the flapper evening dress. The impact of the rise and fall of corsetry, the infamous flapper, and Black culture has shaped fashion throughout this highly influential decade and in turn, these fashions helped shape society

Protestant-Catholic divisions in Europe and the United States: an historical and comparative perspective

The article opens by highlighting the parallels between expressions of Protestant feeling in the aftermath of the death of Queen Victoria in 1901 and Islamophobia in the wake of the 9/11 attacks of 2001. The history of Protestant-Catholic conflict is worthy of attention both in its own right because it provides context for understanding enduring tensions in the North Atlantic and European worlds, and because it suggests comparisons with the contemporary perceived ‘clash of civilizations’ between Christianity and Islam. Focusing on the nineteenth century, the diversity of anti-Catholicism is explored, and particular attention given to the development of the Protestant internationalism associated with the Evangelical Alliance, contrasted with the Catholic internationalism of the Papacy. On both sides of the Atlantic, Protestantism has sometimes been nationalistic and confrontational, tendencies which have persisted to the present, albeit normally in secularised forms. At the same time though, Protestantism has also inspired a model of ‘unity in diversity’, mediated by American constitutional practice, which may prove helpful in furthering European acceptance of wider religious pluralism

What’s Behind the Curtain? The Infrastructure Supporting Big Data

A look at the infrastructure of cloud computing and how it supports Big Data research

Childhood Mental Illness: Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder

Many children are inflicted with psychosis. The following essay is an investigation of the characteristics of mental illness as it appears in youths. Studies have been conducted as to what mental illness looks like in children. Various treatment options are described. The body of this work has been compiled, predominantly, through the review of literature on the subject matter. Limited observation of a child that has been diagnosed with a severe form of psychotic illness has been noted

Unwrapping of DNA-protein complexes under external stretching

A DNA-protein complex modelled by a semiflexible chain and an attractive spherical core is studied in the situation when an external stretching force is acting on one end monomer of the chain while the other end monomer is kept fixed in space. Without stretching force, the chain is wrapped around the core. By applying an external stretching force, unwrapping of the complex is induced. We study the statics and the dynamics of the unwrapping process by computer simulation and simple phenomenological theory. We find two different scenarios depending on the chain stiffness: For a flexible chain, the extension of the complex scales linearly with the external force applied. The sphere-chain complex is disordered, i.e. there is no clear winding of the chain around the sphere. For a stiff chain, on the other hand, the complex structure is ordered, which is reminiscent to nucleosome. There is a clear winding number and the unwrapping process under external stretching is discontinuous with jumps of the distance-force curve. This is associated to discrete unwinding processes of the complex. Our predictions are of relevance for experiments, which measure force-extension curves of DNA-protein complexes, such as nucleosome, using optical tweezers.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure

How does torsional rigidity affect the wrapping transition of a semiflexible chain around a spherical core?

We investigated the effect of torsional rigidity of a semiflexible chain on the wrapping transition around a spherical core, as a model of nucleosome, the fundamental unit of chromatin. Through molecular dynamics simulation, we show that the torsional effect has a crucial effect on the chain wrapping around the core under the topological constraints. In particular, the torsional stress (i) induces the wrapping/unwrapping transition, and (ii) leads to a unique complex structure with an antagonistic wrapping direction which never appears without the topological constraints. We further examine the effect of the stretching stress for the nucleosome model, in relation to the unique characteristic effect of the torsional stress on the manner of wrapping

Axial turbulent flow in a circular pipe containing a fixed eccentric core

The turbulent flow of air through a circular pipe containing a fixed eccentric core was investigated at one air flow and one fixed eccentricity