L’utilisation de dictionnaires de langues algonquiennes comme sources ethnographiques : étude de cas sur la culture légale et les pratiques juridiques illinoises au tournant du XVIIIe siècle

Abstract: Miami-Illinois is an Algonquian language that, in the 18th century, was to be heard to the south of the Great Lakes. In the 19th century, forced removals and the reservation system led to cultural and linguistic fragmentation amongst Miami-Illinois speakers. Against this current, language revitalization efforts began in the mid-1990s and, due to these, Miami-Illinois is again a spoken language. A wealth of documentation is now available through the Indigenous Languages Digital Archive. This thesis draws on this resource, in conjunction with other archival and published sources, to elicit an understanding of the legal culture of the people called Illinois by the French, particularly that of the Kaskaskias (kaahkaahkiaki), as it was in the early 18th century. Building on linguistic and historical sources, this work explores their jurispractice in relation to cases that have been preserved in the archives of the French overseas empire. Three points are addressed, namely: (i) how the Illinois (and Myaamia) thought about justice in the early 18th century; (ii) how the Miami-Illinois–and–French dictionaries can provide a new depth of understanding about this; and (iii) the limits to our ability to elicit abstract concepts from a fragmentary historical record.Au XVIIIe siècle, le miami-illinois (langue de la famille algonquienne) était traditionnellement parlée au sud des Grands Lacs. Le XIXe siècle a vu une fragmentation culturelle et linguistique parmi les locuteurs du miami-illinois. Des efforts de revitalisation de la langue ont commencé vers 1995. Grâce à ce travail minutieux, le miami-illinois est redevenu une langue parlée. Il y a maintenant une grande richesse de matériels linguistiques disponibles grâce à la banque de données Indigenous Languages Digital Archive. Cette thèse a pour but d’explorer la culture juridique des Illinois au début du XVIIIe siècle, avec une attention particulière pour le peuple kaskaskia (kaahkaahkiaki). En étudiant des cas réels préservés dans les archives de la Nouvelle France et en se basant sur des sources linguistiques et historiques, ce texte explore les pratiques juridiques des Illinois. Trois points sont étudiés : (i) la conception de la justice des Illinois (et Myaamia) au début du XVIIIe siècle; (ii) comment les dictionnaires jésuites en miami-illinois et français peuvent améliorer notre connaissance et compréhension de cette période; et (iii) les limites de la recherche dans l’histoire des idées dans les archives historiques incomplètes

Bilinear control of a binary distillation column.

Bilinear systems are an attractive alternative to the traditional linearisation approach for many chemical plant items. Techniques for the identification and control of discrete time bilinear systems were examined and developed. The performance of four reccursive identification methods was compared for a discrete bilinear system with white noise contamination of the output. Reccursive least squares methods gave the best performance for a number of criteria. A reccursive maximum likelihood gave similar performance to standard reccursive least squares despite having double the computational requirements. A design method for a discrete time, globally asymptotically stabilising, optimal controller with a quadratic performance function was developed based on the solution to the algebraic matrix Riccati equation. The controller design was successfully and safely applied to both simulated and pilot scale, constant volume, heated tank systems and a simulated binary distillation column. Application of the discrete-time, bilinear controller to the heated tank system gave good control over the full operating range. Conventional linear and PID controllers, while accurate near the tuning point, were unable to cope when away from this region. The linear controller gave large steady state offset, while the PID controller suffered from stability problems. A method of deadtime compensation, based on a discrete time bilinear model of the system, reduced deadtime induced overshoot after set point changes or disturbances, however, steady state offset resulted, due to the amplification of errors in the model. The discrete bilinear controller gave good, safe, control of a simulated binary distillation column. A reduction in steady state offset was observed when compared to a linear optimal regulator with similar weighting matrices. The weakly bilinear nature of the distillation simulation did not threaten the stability of either the linear regulator or a PID controller with static decoupling. Versions of both the linear regulator and bilinear controller with added integral action gave almost identical performance. The presence of integral action dominated the system response. Significant improvements in control and safety may be achieved for strongly bilinear systems such as the constant volume heated tank. For systems which display weak bilinearity, such as the distillation simulation, the bilinear controller may improve the steady state performance, eliminating the need for controllers with integral action in some applications

Interplay between Cocaine, Drug Removal, and Methylphenidate Reversal on Phospholipid Alterations in Drosophila Brain Determined by Imaging Mass Spectrometry

Cocaine dependence displays a broad impairment in cognitive performance including attention, learning, and memory. To obtain a better understanding of the action of cocaine in the nervous system, and the relation between phospholipids and memory, we have investigated whether phospholipids recover in the brain following cocaine removal using the fly model, Drosophila melanogaster. In addition, the effects of methylphenidate, a substitute medication for cocaine dependence, on fly brain lipids after cocaine abuse are also determined to see if it can rescue the lipid changes caused by cocaine. Time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry with a (CO2)6000+ gas cluster ion beam was used to detect intact phospholipids. We show that cocaine has persistent effects, both increasing and decreasing the levels of specific phosphatidylethanolamines and phosphatidylinositols. These changes remain after cocaine withdrawal and are not rescued by methylphenidate. Cocaine is again shown to generally increase the levels of phosphatidylcholines in the fly brain; however, after drug withdrawal, the abundance of these lipids returns to the original level and methylphenidate treatment of the flies following cocaine exposure enhances the reversal of the lipid level reducing them below the original control. The study provides insight into the molecular effects of cocaine and methylphenidate on brain lipids. We suggest that phosphatidylcholines could be a potential target for the treatment of cocaine abuse as well as be a significant hallmark of cognition and memory loss with cocaine

Time-varying investment barriers and closed-end country fund pricing

We examine the effect of time-varying investment barriers on the pricing of UK closed-end emerging market country funds. We find that a direct measure of capital market segmentation is significantly negatively related to both country fund stock return and Net Asset Value (NAV) return of the fund, but there is no relation to the premium. Also we find some evidence of a positive relation for an indirect barrier (inflation variability) and stock return, NAV return and the premium. Overall our results support an information hypothesis of the impact of investment barriers on closed-end fund pricing

A multicomponent holistic care pathway for people who use drugs in Tayside, Scotland

Background: People Who Use Drugs (PWUD) are at high risk of non-fatal overdose and other drug-related harms. The United Kingdom drugs policy landscape makes it challenging to support those at risk. Tayside, in East Scotland, has a sizeable population at risk of drug-related harms. In 2021, the National Health Service implemented a care pathway for PWUD to provide multidimensional healthcare interventions. We aimed to quantify drug-related harms; assess wider health and well-being; and understand substance use trends and behaviours, among those engaged in the pathway.Methods: Existing community-embedded blood-borne virus pathways were adapted to provide multiple healthcare assessments over three visits. We undertook an observational cohort study to analyse uptake and outcomes for the initial cohort of PWUD engaged at appointment one.Results: From August 2021–September 2022, 150 PWUD engaged with the pathway. Median age was 39 (34–42) years, 108 (72%) were male, and 124 (83%) lived in deprived areas. Seventy (47%) had been disengaged from healthcare for over a year. Polysubstance use was reported by 124 (83%), 42 (28%) disclosed injecting daily, and 54 (36%) shared equipment. Fifty-four (36%) experienced recent non-fatal overdose, and there were six overdose fatalities (4.1 [1.5–9.0] per 100PY). The offer of take-home naloxone was accepted by 108 (72%). Fourteen (9%) were diagnosed with Hepatitis C and two (1%) with HIV. Renal, hepatological, and endocrine impairment were observed among 30 (20%), 23 (15%), and 11 (7%), people respectively. Ninety-six (65%) had high risk of clinical depression. Forty-eight (32%) declined Covid-19 vaccination.Conclusion: The pathway engaged PWUD with high exposure to recent non-fatal overdose and other drug-related harms, alongside co-morbid health issues. Our results suggest multi-dimensional health assessments coupled with harm reduction in community settings, with appropriate linkage to care, are warranted for PWUD. Service commissioners should seek to integrate these assessments where possible

Prompt Optical Observations of Gamma-ray Bursts

The Robotic Optical Transient Search Experiment (ROTSE) seeks to measure simultaneous and early afterglow optical emission from gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). A search for optical counterparts to six GRBs with localization errors of 1 square degree or better produced no detections. The earliest limiting sensitivity is m(ROTSE) > 13.1 at 10.85 seconds (5 second exposure) after the gamma-ray rise, and the best limit is m(ROTSE) > 16.0 at 62 minutes (897 second exposure). These are the most stringent limits obtained for GRB optical counterpart brightness in the first hour after the burst. Consideration of the gamma-ray fluence and peak flux for these bursts and for GRB990123 indicates that there is not a strong positive correlation between optical flux and gamma-ray emission.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, submitted to ApJ Letter

Cortisol shifts financial risk preferences.

Risk taking is central to human activity. Consequently, it lies at the focal point of behavioral sciences such as neuroscience, economics, and finance. Many influential models from these sciences assume that financial risk preferences form a stable trait. Is this assumption justified and, if not, what causes the appetite for risk to fluctuate? We have previously found that traders experience a sustained increase in the stress hormone cortisol when the amount of uncertainty, in the form of market volatility, increases. Here we ask whether these elevated cortisol levels shift risk preferences. Using a double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over protocol we raised cortisol levels in volunteers over 8 d to the same extent previously observed in traders. We then tested for the utility and probability weighting functions underlying their risk taking and found that participants became more risk-averse. We also observed that the weighting of probabilities became more distorted among men relative to women. These results suggest that risk preferences are highly dynamic. Specifically, the stress response calibrates risk taking to our circumstances, reducing it in times of prolonged uncertainty, such as a financial crisis. Physiology-induced shifts in risk preferences may thus be an underappreciated cause of market instability.This research was supported by a Programme Grant from the Economic and Social Research Council.This is the version of record of the article "Cortisol shifts financial risk preferences" published in PNAS on March 2104 under the PNAS Open Access option. The published version of record is available on the journal website at http://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.131790811

Gerald Lincoln: a man for all seasons

Gerald Anthony Lincoln died after a short illness on 15 July 2020 at the age of 75 years. Gerald was Emeritus Professor of Biological Timing at Edinburgh University and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He was an outstanding scientist and naturalist who was a seminal figure in developing our understanding of the neuroendocrine mechanisms underlying seasonal rhythmicity. This review considers his life and some of his major scientific contributions to our understanding of seasonality, photoperiodism and circannual rhythmicity. It is based on a presentation at the online 2nd annual seasonality symposium (2 October 2020) that was supported financially by the Journal of Neuroendocrinology

Balloon pulmonary angioplasty for inoperable chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension: the UK experience.

OBJECTIVE: Inoperable chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) managed medically has a poor prognosis. Balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA) offers a new treatment for inoperable patients. The national BPA service for the UK opened in October 2015 and we now describe the treatment of our initial patient cohort. METHODS: Thirty consecutive, inoperable, anatomically suitable, symptomatic patients on stable medical therapy for CTEPH were identified and offered BPA. They initially underwent baseline investigations including Cambridge Pulmonary Hypertension Outcome Review (CAMPHOR) quality of life (QoL) questionnaire, cardiopulmonary exercise test, 6 min walk distance (6MWD), transthoracic echocardiography, N-terminal probrain natriuretic peptide (NT pro-BNP) and right heart catheterisation. Serial BPA sessions were then performed and after completion, the treatment effect was gauged by comparing the same investigations at 3 months follow-up. RESULTS: A median of 3 (IQR 1-6) BPA sessions per patient resulted in a significant improvement in functional status (WHO functional class ≥3: 24 vs 4, p<0.0001) and QoL (CAMPHOR symptom score: 8.7±5.4 vs 5.6±6.1, p=0.0005) with reductions in pulmonary pressures (mean pulmonary artery pressure: 44.7±11.0 vs 34.4±8.3 mm Hg, p<0.0001) and resistance (pulmonary vascular resistance: 663±281 vs 436±196 dyn.s.cm-5, p<0.0001). Exercise capacity improved (minute ventilation/carbon dioxide production: 55.3±12.2 vs 45.0±7.8, p=0.03 and 6MWD: 366±107 vs 440±94 m, p<0.0001) and there was reduction in right ventricular (RV) stretch (NT pro-BNP: 442 (IQR 168-1607) vs 202 (IQR 105-447) pg/mL, p<0.0001) and dimensions (mid RV diameter: 4.4±1.0 vs 3.8±0.7 cm, p=0.002). There were no deaths or life-threatening complications and the mild-moderate per-procedure complication rate was 10.5%. CONCLUSIONS: BPA is safe and improves the functional status, QoL, pulmonary haemodynamics and RV dimensions of patients with inoperable CTEPH