This lecture covers two approaches to the measurement problem. Recall that in Bell’s taxonomy of ‘six possible worlds of quantum mechanics’, there were three pairs of views: each with a romantic element, and an unromantic element. Our first approach is the romantic element in the pair one might call Endorsing the orthodox formalism. The corresponding unromantic view is instrumentalism: what Bel...

The meaning of superselection rules in Bohm–Bell theories (i.e., quantum theories with particle trajectories) is different from that in orthodox quantum theory. More precisely, there are two concepts of superselection rule, a weak and a strong one. Weak superselection rules exist both in orthodox quantum theory and in Bohm–Bell theories and represent the conventional understanding of superselec...

In 1653, the Patriarch Nikon modified liturgical practices to bring the Russian Orthodox Church in line with those of the Eastern (Greek) Orthodox Church, from which it had split 200 years earlier. The Old Believers (staroveri) rejected these changes and continued to worship using the earlier practices. These actions resulted in their persecution by the Russian Orthodox Church, which forced the...

Dual fluorescent reporter constructs, which measure gene expression from two identical promoters within the same cell, allow total gene expression noise to be decomposed into an extrinsic component, roughly associated with cell-to-cell fluctuations in cellular component concentrations, and intrinsic noise, roughly associated with inherent stochasticity of the biochemical reactions involved in g...

BACKGROUND The combined measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine has been successfully administered for >20 years. Because of this, protection by maternal antibodies in infants born to vaccinated mothers might be negatively affected. METHODS  A large cross-sectional serologic survey was conducted in the Netherlands during 2006-2007. We compared the kinetics of antibody concentrations in chil...

OBJECTIVE To report on the oral health status and oral health behaviours of five-year-old Charedi Orthodox Jewish children attending schools in London, UK. BASIC RESEARCH DESIGN Cross-sectional survey. METHOD Clinical examinations mirroring the 2015 National Dental Public Health Epidemiology Programme for England for five-year-olds and a parental questionnaire on oral health behaviours. P...

Hallucinations that occur predominantly at night are reported in 122 out of a sample of 302 ultra-orthodox Jewish Israeli men referred for psychiatric evaluation. Demographic data and the content of a semistructured interview in 302 ultra-orthodox Jewish young men seen over a 10-year period in Jerusalem were evaluated retrospectively by two researchers. Of the 302 subjects, 122 reported halluci...

a,-Proteinase inhibitors (a,-PIs) are members of the serpin superfamily of proteinase inhibitors, and are important in the maintenance of homeostasis in a wide variety of animal taxa. Previous studies have shown that in mice (genus Mus), evolution of cx,-PIs is characterized by gene amplification, region-specific concerted evolution, and rapid accumulation of amino acid substitutions. The latte...