Tattooing and piercing--the need for guidelines in EU.

As in Amsterdam [1], the impetus for UK guidelines for hygienic tattooing came from an outbreak of hepatitis B caused in 1978 by a tattooist. The outbreak resulted in 30 primary and three secondary cases [2]. Guidelines for hygienic tattooing followed soon after, and were taken up, fairly enthusiastically on the whole, by the tattooists. These were expanded in 1982 to include acupuncture, ear-piercing and hair electrolysis. Laws to control the hygiene of these practitioners were introduced at the same time {Local Government Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1982 [amended 2003] and the Greater London Council [General Powers] Act 1982}. Body piercing was hardly heard of at the time: although it was undoubtedly and somewhat furtively practised, it was not as popular or as open as it is now. Guidelines for beauty therapy, hygienic hairdressing and micropigmentation followed

Problems with the "Problems" with psychophysical causation

In this essay, I defend a mind-body dualism, according to which human minds are immaterial substances that exercise non-redundant causal powers over bodies, against the notorious problem of psychophysical causation. I explicate and reply to three formulations of the problem: (i) the claim that, on dualism, psychophysical causation is inconsistent with physical causal closure, (ii) the claim that psychophysical causation on the dualist view is intolerably mysterious, and (iii) Jaegwon Kim’s claim that dualism fails to account for causal pairings. Ultimately, I conclude that these objections fail and that dualist interactionism is no more problematic or mysterious than physical causation

Schwarzschild Quantum Fluctuations from Regge-Wheeler Scattering

We apply a multichannel variable phase method to scattering from Regge-Wheeler potentials. Using a reduced version of the WKB subtraction developed by Candelas and Howard, this approach allows for efficient numerical calculations of scattering data for imaginary wave number, making it possible to compute quantum expectation values in a Schwarzschild curved spacetime background through Wick rotation to the imaginary frequency axis. These scattering theory techniques are also potentially applicable to a variety of other problems involving wave propagation in curved spacetime.Comment: 12 pages, 4 .eps figures. v2: fixed typos, added example calculatio

Hydration Patterns in Division I Football Players in Pre-Season Training Camp

Proper hydration during vigorous intense exercise is important to maintaining optimal performance. Without proper hydration, the body cannot cool off heated muscles in a hot and humid environment. This study attempts to discover if the Valparaiso University football team is properly hydrated during pre-season training in a hot and humid environment. Participants included 102 football players who participated in 16 total practices. Data consisted of pre- and post-weigh-ins for each athlete for every practice. Sixty-five of the athletes completed questionnaires, which were created to discover the athletes’ knowledge of hydration. Results indicated that a significant amount of players were dehydrated enough to impact performance. A frequency distribution was used to analyze the percentage of weight loss by each participant for every practice. A frequency distribution was used to analyze the questionnaire. The major findings from the questionnaire indicated that 67 percent of the participants did not think that they hydrated enough and that the coaches did not allow enough time to hydrate. The results of the study suggest two things: (1) That 84 percent of the football players experience fluid loss of at least 1 percent of their body weight, and (2) that 67 percent of Division I football players should be hydrating more