Commentary: Have a cigar

A cigar - like Universe

We study the localization of gravity on a string-like topological defect within a 6-dimensional space-time. Assuming zero cosmological constant we find complete numerical solutions to a set of first-order, Bogomol'nyi-Prasad-Sommeferld (BPS)-like, equations for the metric and the scalar field, where the dynamics of the latter are dictated by a supergravity-type potential. Our axially symmetric ...

Sometimes a cigar [magazine] is more than just a cigar [magazine]: pro-smoking arguments in Cigar Aficionado, 1992-2000.

Since its first issue in 1992, few periodicals have enjoyed the rapid growth and international popularity of Cigar Aficionado. Although the magazine professes to simply celebrate "the good life and the joys of cigar smoking," we argue that it serves a more insidious function; specifically, the periodical supplies readers with 7 persuasive strategies aimed at rebuking dominant anti-smoking healt...

Rebuttal: When it comes to scientific inference, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

2012;379:1173. 26 Swanson JM. UK Biobank and selection bias. Lancet 2012; 380:110. 27 Davey Smith G, Lawlor DA, Harbord R et al. Clustered environments and randomized genes: a fundamental distinction between conventional and genetic epidemiology. PLoS Med 2007;4:e352. 28 Mayer-Schonberger V, Cukier K. Big Data. London: John Murray, 2013. 29 Mills H. Analytics: turning data into dollars. Forward...

a commentary on: does living donor hyperoxia have an impact on kidney graft function after transplantation

Commentary: till we have faces--on humiliation.

My commentary takes up two points raised by Drs. Torres and Bergner: first, the social context in which humiliation takes place and the way such behavior is normalized; and second, the question of face, and in this context, the loss of face and its impact on identity. For me, the key concern in relation to humiliation is not so much loss of entitlement status, but a loss of identity. Humiliatio...