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Infrastructural power in financial governance:Its meaning, applications, and varieties
Get PDFMichael Mann’s concept of infrastructural power is increasingly invoked to grapple with how state capacity has been leveraged upon processes of financialization since the 1970s. Yet while furnishing new insights about state-market hybridity, the literature risks losing sight of Mann’s historical vision, which concerns the transformations of state-society relations throughout the modern era. This chapter restores the intended scope of Mann’s concept by situating it within the intellectual project of his Sources of Social Power quadrilogy. Finding inspiration in Mann’s Weberian Ideological-Military-Political-Economic (IEMP) model of the evolution of social power, the chapter proposes ideal types of infrastructural power in financial governance – instrumental, communicative and network-forming – illustrated with historical and contemporary examples
Saussure’s last linguistic studies:An introduction to and English translation of "On Latin compounds of the agricola type" (1909) and "Indo-European adjectives of the caecus ‘blind’ type" (1912)
Get PDFThe final two articles published by Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) are of particular importance for having been written in the years when he was giving the lectures in general linguistics at the University of Geneva which, after their posthumous publication as the Course in General Linguistics, would become the basis of modern linguistics. Despite being widely available after their republication in 1922 in a collection of Saussure's works, they have received very little scholarly attention. The present article includes their first English translation, together with an introduction which leads readers through the intricacies of these specialised studies, and draws links to topics treated in the Course in General Linguistics. In particular, the 1912 article implicitly overthrows the widespread reading of the Course as disallowing any possibility of language iconicity
Importance of blood pressure lowering in patients with direct oral anticoagulant-associated intracerebral haemorrhage in the acute phase and for secondary prevention
Get PDFPurpose:Intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) is an important complication of direct oral anticoagulation (DOAC) therapy, where risks and prognosis are potentially modified by effective blood pressure (BP) control, both in the acute phase and for secondary prevention. Herein, we review BP management in the context of general anticoagulation associated ICH and specifically in DOAC-ICH, considering current evidence and highlighting outstanding questions.Method:Narrative review.Findings:Pooled analyses of major trials of BP lowering in acute ICH patients without anticoagulants demonstrate a reduction in the risk of haematoma expansion. As anticoagulant-associated ICH patients tend to be older, have more co-morbidities, and larger haematomas at baseline with a greater risk of expansion, the risks and benefits of intensive BP lowering treatment might both be higher. Small observational studies of DOAC-ICH patients suggest that lower achieved BP is associated with less expansion, lower mortality, and better functional outcomes. Care bundles including both anticoagulant reversal and intensive BP lowering might reduce the risk of death and disability in DOAC-ICH. Optimal control of BP in survivors of ICH reduces the risk of both ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke but whether this modulates the risks and benefits of restarting a DOAC is unknown.Discussion:Limited evidence suggests that BP should be well managed in DOAC-ICH patients, in the same way as ICH patients not on anticoagulants, both in the hyperacute phase and for secondary prevention. Hypothetical differences in the effects of BP lowering treatment in DOAC-ICH need to be tested in clinical trials
Foreign allegiance and constitutional citizenship:Postcolonial (dis)continuities in the Commonwealth Caribbean
Get PDFThe independent states of the Commonwealth Caribbean—all of them former British colonies—share a common constitutional provision, according to which individuals are disqualified from standing for election if they are under a voluntary acknowledgment of allegiance to a foreign state. In this article, I argue that judicial interpretations of this ‘foreign allegiance disqualification’ have been decisively shaped by inherited ideas drawn from the English medieval and British imperial laws of subjecthood. The first of these ideas is the assumption that holding citizenship of a state necessarily gives rise to allegiance to that state. The second is the notion that citizenship and allegiance are singular and uniform across the former territory of the British Empire, now the Commonwealth of Nations. The third is the conception of the relationship between the citizen and the state as hierarchical and quasi-contractual, wherein the citizen’s allegiance is extracted in return for the protection of the state. The region’s post-independence constitutional citizenship jurisprudence thus remains more ‘Commonwealth’ than distinctively ‘Caribbean’ in character, with the consequence that the boundaries of democratic membership continue to be defined by reference to a conceptual framework of the former coloniser’s making
Transatlantic correspondence:The calligraphic traces of Emilia Beatriz and Sofía Gallisá Muriente
Get PDFFor Puerto Rican Glasgow-based artist Emilia Beatriz (they/elle), “lived” spaces are not necessarily defined in terms of geographic proximity. Elsewhere they have reframed diasporic experience in relation to what they call “‘entangled’ action at a distance,” or a “non-local connection, an awareness and experience that is crossing borders.” This essay explores the possibility of dialogue across the Global North and South, but also the troubled nature implied in such conversations. Taking as a point of departure the late 1960s and early seventies epistolary correspondence between the renowned Puerto Rican graphic artist and calligrapher, Lorenzo Homar, and the Scottish calligrapher and academic, Stuart Barrie, the author analyzes the work of Emilia Beatriz and fellow Puerto Rican artist Sofía Gallisá Muriente, by focusing on the arresting artwork and audiovisual constellation declarations on soil and honey (2019), including its subsequent adaptations and iterations. The author demonstrates how writing in these installation pieces extends across varied organic and inorganic matter, from moss and peat, to ice and salt. Closing with analyses of Henry Raeburn’s painting, The Reverend Robert Walker (1755–1808) Skating on Duddingston Loch (c. 1795), and Homar’s print, Unicornio en la Isla (Unicorn on the island; 1965–66), the author demonstrates how writing, language, and speech materialize the corrosive and dislocating forces of colonialism, empire, and militarism. She argues that, in these exemplary works, language and the creative deployment of words, text, and writing, broadly understood, serve to create a “space” of collective mourning—and potentially collective healing. Here, mourning is understood as a collective and restorative ritual in relation to loss
Diffusion Models for Generative Artificial Intelligence: An Introduction for Applied Mathematicians
Get PDFGenerative artificial intelligence (AI) refers to algorithms that create synthetic but realistic output. Diffusion models currently offer state of the art performance in generative AI for images. They also form a key component in more general tools, including text-to-image generators and large language models. Diffusion models work by adding noise to the available training data and then learning how to reverse the process. The reverse operation may then be applied to new random data in order to produce new outputs. We provide a brief introduction to diffusion models for applied mathematicians and statisticians. Our key aims are (a) to present illustrative computational examples, (b) to give a careful derivation of the underlying mathematical formulas involved, and (c) to draw a connection with partial differential equation (PDE) diffusion models. We provide code for the computational experiments. We hope that this topic will be of interest to advanced undergraduate students and postgraduate students. Portions of the material may also provide useful motivational examples for those who teach courses in stochastic processes, inference, machine learning, PDEs or scientific computing
The legal infrastructures of UK border control —Cerberus and the Dispositif of speculative suspicion
Get PDFThe promise of artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly invoked to ‘revolutionize’ practices of global security governance, including in the domain of border control. Legal scholarship tends to confront these changes by foregrounding the rule of law challenges associated with nascent forms of governance by data, and by imposing new regulatory standards. Yet, little is known about how these algorithmic systems are already reconfiguring legal norms and processes, while generating novel security techniques and practices for knowing and governing “risk” before the border. Exploring these questions, this article makes three important contributions to the literature. On an empirical level, it provides an original socio-legal study of the processes constructing and implementing Cerberus – an AI-based risk-analysis platform deployed by the UK Home Office. This analysis provides unique insight into the institutional frictions, legal mediations and emergent governance formations involved in the introduction of this algorithmic bordering system. On a methodological level, the article directly engages with the focus on ‘legal infrastructures’ in this special issue. It uses an original approach (infra-legalities) which follows how legal and infrastructural elements are relationally and materially tied together in practice. Rather than trying to conceptually settle the relation between law and infrastructure – or qualifying law as a sui generis infrastructure – the article traces incipient modes of governmentality and regulatory ordering in which both legal and infrastructural elements are metabolized. In its account of Cerberus, the article analyzes this emergent composition as a dispositif of speculative suspicion. Finally, on a normative and political level, the article signals the significant stakes involved in this algorithmic enactment of risk. It shows how prevailing regulatory tropes revolving around ‘debiasing’ and retention of a ‘human in the loop’ offer a limited register of remedy, and work to amplify the reach of Cerberus. We conclude with reflections on critiquing algorithmic systems like Cerberus through the emergent infrastructural relations they enact
Surrogacy law:Two landmark cases for Scotland
Get PDFA review of two leading cases in Scotland on surrogacy, under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 200
Analyses of Thermo-Active Piles Considering Surface Radiation and Wind Convection Effects
Get PDFEnergy piles present a promising avenue for harnessing shallow geothermal energy, attracting significant attention in recent years, resulting in a surge of studies including field and model tests and numerical analyses. While numerical analyses are valuable for their adaptability, their reliability hinges upon rigorous validation against field or model data. This endeavor is challenging due to the intricate interplay of mechanical, thermal, and hydrological phenomena. Factors such as cyclic thermal loading, seasonal temperature variations and intermittent operational patterns further complicate the validation process. Nonetheless, it's worth noting that most verification studies employ adiabatic thermal boundary conditions, overlooking atmospheric temperature fluctuations and wind effects, which significantly influence the thermal behavior of energy piles, especially near the surface. This study addresses this gap by incorporating atmospheric and solar effects into numerical analysis, utilizing a thermal loading test on a single continuous flight auger pile in Houston, Texas. By accounting for surface solar radiation, this study enhances the understanding of soil and pile thermal responses, yielding results closely aligned with field-measured values. By considering atmospheric and solar effects, this research contributes to advancing the accuracy and applicability of numerical models in simulating energy pile behavior, crucial for optimizing their energy efficiency and performance
A new perspective on models and theories of simultaneous interpreting
Get PDFIn this article, we consider influential theories and models of simultaneous interpreting through the prism of current theories and findings in psycholinguistics. We review evidence suggesting that meaning is routinely accessed during comprehension, and, on this basis, suggest that it is unlikely that interpreters produce translation equivalents without accessing meaning. We also reflect on data showing cross-linguistic activation in two-language settings, and suggest that such cross-linguistic activation regularly takes place in simultaneous interpreting, without interfering with the processing of meaning. Finally, we consider the role of prediction in simultaneous interpreting. Evidence suggests that prediction regularly takes place during simultaneous interpreting and may facilitate the interpreting process. On the basis of this theoretical analysis, we consider that simultaneous interpreting involves a synergy, rather than just an overlap, of comprehension and production. We outline the pedagogical implications of our conclusions, and explain why viewing simultaneous interpreting from this new perspective may open up directions for future research
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