Brick Lane, curry and Covid-19

Brick Lane in London is one of the world’s most iconic streets. Representations through literature, film and its reputation as the UK’s ‘Curry Capital’ have all contributed to its status, so much so that some British Bangladeshis claim that ‘There are three Bengals – west Bengal, east Bengal and Brick Lane’. Nevertheless, the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the Lane have been considerable. Seán Carey looks at the restaurant sector in particular, which is under threat as city workers and international tourists are both in short supply

Abdul Rezak’s ‘Star Café’ on Brick Lane

This post tells the story of one café on one street in London. The life-story of the late Abdul Rezak from Lahore, and his Star Café on Brick Lane, by Seán Carey is also a commentary on the changing opportunities, choices & profile of successive generations of immigrants from South Asia & elsewhere, as London gradually transforms ‘from a fading imperial capital to a dynamic, services-oriented global city’

Spectroscopic infrared extinction mapping as a probe of grain growth in IRDCs

We present spectroscopic tests of MIR to FIR extinction laws in IRDC G028.36+00.07, a potential site of massive star and star cluster formation. Lim & Tan (2014) developed methods of FIR extinction mapping of this source using ${\it Spitzer}$-MIPS ${\rm 24\mu m}$ and ${\it Herschel}$-PACS ${\rm 70\mu m}$ images, and by comparing to MIR ${\it Spitzer}$-IRAC $3$--${\rm 8\mu m}$ extinction maps, found tentative evidence for grain growth in the highest mass surface density regions. Here we present results of spectroscopic infrared extinction (SIREX) mapping using ${\it Spitzer}$-IRS (14 to ${\rm 38\mu m}$) data of the same IRDC. These methods allow us to first measure the SED of the diffuse Galactic ISM that is in the foreground of the IRDC. We then carry out our primary investigation of measuring the MIR to FIR opacity law and searching for potential variations as a function of mass surface density within the IRDC. We find relatively flat, featureless MIR-FIR opacity laws that lack the $\sim{\rm 12\mu m}$ and $\sim{\rm 35\mu m}$ features associated with the thick water ice mantle models of Ossenkopf & Henning (1994). Their thin ice mantle models and the coagulating aggregate dust models of Ormel et al. (2011) are a generally better match to the observed opacity laws. We also find evidence for generally flatter MIR to FIR extinction laws as mass surface density increases, strengthening the evidence for grain and ice mantle growth in higher density regions.Comment: 12 pages, 12 Figures, 1 Table, Accepted to be published to Ap

The impact of family and other social involvement on overall client satisfaction for individuals with developmental disabilities

This study investigated the impact of family and other social involvement on overall client satisfaction for individuals with developmental disabilities. The family-related outcome measures reviewed included social-role fulfillment, the existence of a natural support network, and the existence of intimate relationships. The other social outcome measures investigated included the impact of having friends, community involvement, and community interaction. This study found that there was a relationship between the life satisfaction level of individuals with mental retardation and their level of social involvement. Also discussed were various variables that impact family involvement such as parenting styles, family characteristics, reasons for out-of-home placements, siblings\u27 role, and specific problems related to unique transitional periods during the individuals\u27 lifetime. Quality of life issues and their relation to family and social involvement are discussed. Recommendations to enhance family involvement for service providers were made

Cirrus Color Variations Due to Enhanced Radiation Fields

We have investigated the variations in 12/100, 25/100, 60/100, and 12/25 μm colors for seven main-sequence B stars and three F and G supergiants associated with infrared cirrus. All sources displayed an increase in 60/100 color above the background cirrus color. In two of the sources, Apodis and HR 890, the 12/100 and 25/100 colors decline toward the embedded star in a similar fashion to the IR colors of S264 and the Rosette Nebula. Current grain models composed of equilibrium-heated submicron grains, transiently heated small grains, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons cannot account for the color variations observed around Aps and HR 890. The supergiants exhibited 12/100 and 25/100 increases, suggesting that the color deficits observed for the B stars are due to an enhancement in the soft UV component of the radiation field only. A candidate explanation for the color variations is a conglomerate small grain component, composed of very small grains and/or large molecules, that is fragmented in the enhanced radiation field around Aps and HR 890

High-Dimensional Data Reduction, Image Inpainting and their Astronomical Applications

Technological advances are revolutionizing multispectral astrophysics as well as the detection and study of transient sources. This new era of multitemporal and multispectral data sets demands new ways of data representation, processing and management thus making data dimension reduction instrumental in efficient data organization, retrieval, analysis and information visualization. Other astrophysical applications of data dimension reduction which require new paradigms of data analysis include knowledge discovery, cluster analysis, feature extraction and object classification, de-correlating data elements, discovering meaningful patterns and finding essential representation of correlated variables that form a manifold (e.g. the manifold of galaxies), tagging astronomical images, multiscale analysis synchronized across all available wavelengths, denoising, etc. The second part of this paper is dedicated to a new, active area of image processing: image inpainting that consists of automated methods for filling in missing or damaged regions in images. Inpainting has multiple astronomical applications including restoring images corrupted by instrument artifacts, removing undesirable objects like bright stars and their halos, sky estimating, and pre-processing for the Fourier or wavelet transforms. Applications of high-dimensional data reduction and mitigation of instrument artifacts are demonstrated on images taken by the Spitzer Space Telescope

Gender and violence: A study of inpatients at a forensic psychiatric hospital

Our society has generally viewed women as less aggressive and less likely to commit acts of violence in comparison to men. Statistics show that only 13 per cent of the violent crimes in the United States have been committed by women (Steffensmeier and Allan, 1996). However, employees at psychiatric hospitals often report problems of increased violent behavior among their female inpatients. This perception of the female inpatient population is further complicated by the mixed research findings regarding gender and violence. Considering the possible other environmental causations, gender alone should not prove an accurate variable in addressing violent behavior. Variables such as age, location, time, ethnicity, institutionalization and violence to self as opposed to violence to others will likely show significant relevance. This study will attempt to demonstrate how these other biopsychosocial variables play a role in violence prediction for this group of forensically committed patients other than gender

Spitzer Warm Mission Workshop Introduction

The Spitzer Warm Mission Workshop was held June 4–5, 2007, to explore the science drivers for the warm Spitzer mission and help the Spitzer Science Center develop a new science operations philosophy. We must continue to maximize the science return with the reduced resources available, both using (a) the shortest two IRAC channels, and (b) archival research with the rich Spitzer archive. This paper summarizes the overview slides presented to the workshop participant

Comparison of Algorithms and Parameterisations for Infiltration into Organic-Covered Permafrost Soils

Infiltration into frozen and unfrozen soils is critical in hydrology, controlling active layer soil water dynamics and influencing runoff. Few Land Surface Models (LSMs) and Hydrological Models (HMs) have been developed, adapted or tested for frozen conditions and permafrost soils. Considering the vast geographical area influenced by freeze/thaw processes and permafrost, and the rapid environmental change observed worldwide in these regions, a need exists to improve models to better represent their hydrology. In this study, various infiltration algorithms and parameterisation methods, which are commonly employed in current LSMs and HMs were tested against detailed measurements at three sites in Canada’s discontinuous permafrost region with organic soil depths ranging from 0.02 to 3 m. Field data from two consecutive years were used to calibrate and evaluate the infiltration algorithms and parameterisations. Important conclusions include: (1) the single most important factor that controls the infiltration at permafrost sites is ground thaw depth, (2) differences among the simulated infiltration by different algorithms and parameterisations were only found when the ground was frozen or during the initial fast thawing stages, but not after ground thaw reaches a critical depth of 15 to 30 cm, (3) despite similarities in simulated total infiltration after ground thaw reaches the critical depth, the choice of algorithm influenced the distribution of water among the soil layers, and (4) the ice impedance factor for hydraulic conductivity, which is commonly used in LSMs and HMs, may not be necessary once the water potential driven frozen soil parameterisation is employed. Results from this work provide guidelines that can be directly implemented in LSMs and HMs to improve their application in organic covered permafrost soils