Is the pinning of ordinary dislocations in γ-TiAl intrinsic or extrinsic in nature? A combined atomistic and kinetic Monte Carlo approach

We address the question of the observed pinning of 1/2

What is a reasonable time from decision to delivery by Caesarean section? Evidence from 533 deliveries.

Objective To determine how long it takes from the decision to achieve delivery by non-elective caesarean section (DDI), the influence on this interval, and the impact on neonatal condition at birth. Design Twelve months prospective data collection on all non-elective caesarean sections. Methods Prospective collection of data relating to all caesarean sections in 1996 in a major teaching hospital obstetric unit was conducted, without the knowledge of the other clinicians providing clinical care. Details of the indication for section, the day and time of the decision and the interval till delivery were recorded as well as the seniority of the surgeon, and condition of the baby at birth. Results The mean time from decision-to-delivery for 100 emergency intrapartum caesarean sections was 42.9 minutes for fetal distress and 71.1 minutes for 230 without fetal distress (P<0.0001). For 22 'crash' sections the mean time from decision-to-delivery was 27.4 minutes; for 13 urgent antepartum deliveries for fetal reasons it was 124.7 minutes and for 21 with maternal reasons it was 97.4 minutes. The seniority of the surgeon managing the patient did not appear to influence the interval, nor did the time of day or day of the week when the delivery occurred. Intrapartum sections were quicker the more advanced the labour, and general anaesthesia was associated with shorter intervals than regional anaesthesia for emergency caesarean section for fetal distress (P<0.001). Babies born within one hour of the decision tended to be more acidaemic than those born later, irrespective of the indication for delivery. Babies tended to be in better condition when a time from decision-to-delivery was not recorded than those for whom the information had been recorded. Conclusion Fewer than 40% intrapartum deliveries by caesarean section for fetal distress were achieved within 30 minutes of the decision, despite that being the unit standard. There was, however, no evidence to indicate that overall an interval up to 120 minutes was detrimental to the neonate unless the delivery was a 'crash' caesarean section. These data thus do not provide evidence to sustain the recommendation of a standard of 30 minutes for intrapartum delivery by caesarean section.

So mechanical or routine: The not original in Feist

The United States Supreme Court case of 1991, Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural Tel. Service Co., continues to be highly significant for property in data and databases, but remains poorly understood. The approach taken in this article contrasts with previous studies. It focuses upon the “not original” rather than the original. The delineation of the absence of a modicum of creativity in selection, coordination, and arrangement of data as a component of the not original forms a pivotal point in the Supreme Court decision. The author also aims at elucidation rather than critique, using close textual exegesis of the Supreme Court decision. The results of the exegesis are translated into a more formal logical form to enhance clarity and rigor.


The insufficiently creative is initially characterized as “so mechanical or routine.” Mechanical and routine are understood in their ordinary discourse senses, as a conjunction or as connected by AND, and as the central clause. Subsequent clauses amplify the senses of mechanical and routine without disturbing their conjunction.


The delineation of the absence of a modicum of creativity can be correlated with classic conceptions of computability. The insufficiently creative can then be understood as a routine selection, coordination, or arrangement produced by an automatic mechanical procedure or algorithm. An understanding of a modicum of creativity and of copyright law is also indicated.


The value of the exegesis and interpretation is identified as its final simplicity, clarity, comprehensiveness, and potential practical utility.

Nonlinear perpendicular propagation of ordinary mode electromagnetic wave packets in pair plasmas and electron-positron-ion plasmas

The nonlinear amplitude modulation of electromagnetic waves propagating in pair plasmas, e.g., electron-positron or fullerene pair-ion plasmas, as well as three-component pair plasmas, e.g., electron-positron-ion plasmas or doped (dusty) fullerene pair-ion plasmas, assuming wave propagation in a direction perpendicular to the ambient magnetic field, obeying the ordinary (O-) mode dispersion characteristics. Adopting a multiple scales (reductive perturbation) technique, a nonlinear Schrodinger-type equation is shown to govern the modulated amplitude of the magnetic field (perturbation). The conditions for modulation instability are investigated, in terms of relevant parameters. It is shown that localized envelope modes (envelope solitons) occur, of the bright- (dark-) type envelope solitons, i.e., envelope pulses (holes, respectively), for frequencies below (above) an explicit threshold. Long wavelength waves with frequency near the effective pair plasma frequency are therefore unstable, and may evolve into bright solitons, while higher frequency (shorter wavelength) waves are stable, and may propagate as envelope holes.(c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.

Long-term return reversals-Value and growth or tax? UK evidence

This paper examines (i) whether value-growth characteristics have more power than past performance in predicting return reversals; and (ii) whether typical rational behaviour such as incentives to delay paying capital gain taxes can better explain long-term reversals than past performance. We find that value-growth characteristics generally provide better explanations for long-term stock returns than past performance. The evidence also shows that winners identified by capital gains dominate past performance winners in predicting reversals in the cross-sectional comparison. However, in the time-series analysis, when returns on capital gain winners are adjusted by the Fama and French (1996) risk factors, the predictive power of capital gain winners disappears. Our results show that capital gain winners are heavily featured as growth stocks. Return reversals in capital gain winners potentially reflect market price corrections for growth stocks. We conclude that investors’ incentives to delay paying capital gain taxes cannot fully rationalise long-term reversals in the UK market. Our results also imply that the long-term return pattern potentially reflects a mixture of investor rational and irrational behaviour.

Foveal relocation surgery:Is it a reasonable option for patients with age-related macular degeneration?

Foveal relocation (or translocation) has been reintroduced recently as a possible treatment for patients with subfoveal choroidal neovascular membranes secondary to age-related macular degeneration and degenerative myopia. Different surgical techniques have been proposed and the results, although encouraging, are not completely satisfactory yet. Most surgical procedures described are technically difficult and require special vitreo-retinal expertise. Furthermore, although marked improvements in visual acuity have been observed in some patients, others do not experience visual improvement, even after a successful surgery. Additionally, devastating complications, such as proliferative vitreo-retinopathy (PVR) can occur, impairing the final visual outcome. Although foveal relocation surgery may be a promising direction in research and development, as yet, there is no randomised controlled trial to show that it is more effective than any other forms of treatment for macular degeneration. The validity of this surgical approach needs to be evaluated by the results of longer-term follow-up. This article reviews the current surgical techniques for foveal relocation, their outcomes and complications, and discusses the surgical problems that vitreo-retinal surgeons face when performing foveal relocation surgery.

The single component geochemical map: Fact or fiction?

Single component geochemical maps are the most basic representation of spatial elemental distributions and commonly used in environmental and exploration geochemistry. However, the compositional nature of geochemical data imposes several limitations on how the data should be presented. The problems relate to the constant sum problem (closure), and the inherently multivariate relative information conveyed by compositional data. Well known is, for instance, the tendency of all heavy metals to show lower values in soils with significant contributions of diluting elements (e.g., the quartz dilution effect); or the contrary effect, apparent enrichment in many elements due to removal of potassium during weathering. The validity of classical single component maps is thus investigated, and reasonable alternatives that honour the compositional character of geochemical concentrations are presented. The first recommended such method relies on knowledge-driven log-ratios, chosen to highlight certain geochemical relations or to filter known artefacts (e.g. dilution with SiO2 or volatiles). This is similar to the classical normalisation approach to a single element. The second approach uses the (so called) log-contrasts, that employ suitable statistical methods (such as classification techniques, regression analysis, principal component analysis, clustering of variables, etc.) to extract potentially interesting geochemical summaries. The caution from this work is that if a compositional approach is not used, it becomes difficult to guarantee that any identified pattern, trend or anomaly is not an artefact of the constant sum constraint. In summary the authors recommend a chain of enquiry that involves searching for the appropriate statistical method that can answer the required geological or geochemical question whilst maintaining the integrity of the compositional nature of the data. The required log-ratio transformations should be applied followed by the chosen statistical method. Interpreting the results may require a closer working relationship between statisticians, data analysts and geochemists.

MODERN SPORT COACHING AND THE LAW: IMPLICATIONS FOR COACH EDUCATION

Introduction
The intersection between the law of negligence and sport coaching in the UK is a developing area (Partington, 2014; Kevan, 2005). Crucially, since the law of negligence may be regarded as generally similar everywhere (Magnus, 2006), with the predominance of volunteer coaches in the UK reflective of the majority of countries in the world (Duffy et al., 2011), a detailed scrutiny of this relationship from the perspective of the coach uncovers important implications for coach education beyond this jurisdiction.  
Argumentation
Fulfilment of the legal duty of discharging reasonable care may be regarded as consistent with the ethical obligation not to expose athletes to unreasonable risks of injury (Mitten, 2013). More specifically, any ‘profession’ requiring ‘special skill or competence’ (Bolam v Friern Hospital Management Committee [1957] 1 WLR 582), including the coaching of sport (e.g., Davenport v Farrow [2010] EWHC 550), requires a higher standard of care to be displayed than would be expected of the ordinary reasonable person (Lunney & Oliphant, 2013; Jones & Dugdale, 2010). For instance, volunteer coaches with no formal qualifications (e.g., Fowles v Bedfordshire County Council [1996] ELR 51) would be judged by this benchmark of professional liability (Powell & Stewart, 2012). Further, as the principles of coaching are constantly assessed and revised (Cassidy et al., 2009; Taylor & Garratt, 2010), so too is the legal standard of care required of coaches (Powell & Stewart, 2012). Problematically, ethical concerns may include coaches being unwilling to increase knowledge, abusive treatment of players and incompetence/inexperience (Haney et al., 1998). These factors accentuate coaches’ exposure to civil liability.
Implications
It is imperative that coaches have an awareness of this emerging intersection and develop a ‘proactive risk assessment lens’ (Hartley, 2010). In addition to supporting the professionalisation of sport coaching, coach education/CPD focused on the legal and ethical aspects of coaching (Duffy et al., 2011; Telfer, 2010; Haney et al., 1998) would enhance the safety and welfare of performers, safeguard coaches from litigation risk, and potentially improve all levels of coaching (Partington, 2014). Interestingly, there is evidence to suggest a demand from coaches for more training on health and safety issues, including risk management and (ir)responsible coaching (Stirling et al., 2012). Accordingly, critical examination of the issue of negligent coaching would inform coach education by: enabling the modelling and sharing of best practice; unpacking important ethical concerns; and, further informing the classification of coaching as a ‘profession’.

Alkali-Activated Natural Pozzolan Concrete as New Construction Material

In the near future, geopolymers or alkali-activated cementitious materials will be used as new high-performance construction materials of low environmental impact with a reasonable cost. This material is a good candidate to partially replace ordinary portland cement (OPC) in concrete as a major construction material that plays an outstanding role in the construction industry of different structures. Geopolymer materials are inorganic polymers based on alumina and silica units; they are synthesized from a wide range of dehydroxylated alumina-silicate powders condensed with alkaline silicate in a highly alkaline environment. Geopolymeric materials can be produced from a wide range of alumina-silica, including natural products--such as natural pozzolan and metakaolin--or coproducts--such as fly ash (coal and lignite), oil fuel ash, blast furnace or steel slag, and silica fume--and provide a route toward sustainable development. Using lesser amounts of calcium-based raw materials, lower manufacturing temperature, and lower amounts of fuel result in reduced carbon emissions for geopolymer cement manufacture up to 22 to 72% in comparison with portland cement. A study has been done by the authors to investigate the intrinsic nature of different types of Iranian natural pozzolans to determine the activators and methods that could be used to produce a geopolymer concrete based on alkali-activated natural pozzolan (AANP) and optimize mixture design. The mechanical behavior and durability of these types of geopolymer concrete were investigated and compared with normal OPC concrete mixtures cast by the authors and also reported in the literature. This paper summarizes the main conclusions of the research regarding pozzolanic activity, activator properties, engineering and durability properties, applications and evaluation of carbon footprint, and cost for AANP concrete.