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This study explored the complex development of identity and lifestyle among the nomadic river gypsies, known as the Bede, in Bangladesh. Methodologically, a comprehensive strategy combining primary and secondary data sources was employed to examine the sociodemographic profile of nomadic fishers. Traditionally, these fishermen depend on water-based enterprises such as fishing, magic shows, and serpent charms, displaying distinctive socio-cultural behaviors and engaging in various economic activities. However, the demands of the contemporary neoliberal economy increasingly conflict with their ancient practices. Their temporal and spatial lives are also undergoing rapid changes due to environmental shifts, institutional neglect, and social stigma associated with being perceived as unclean or as outsiders. This uncertain transition significantly influences their decisions regarding migration. The paper delves into the factors affecting migration decisions among marginalized communities, focusing on the cultural dynamics and adaptability of nomadic fishermen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aims to compare Active and Passive Investment Strategies on the Indonesian Stock Exchange for the 2013-2024 Using the Magic Formula Method introduced by Joel Greenblatt (2010), which is then optimized again using the Single Index Model. Magic formula is a simple stock selection strategy by sorting stocks based on Return on Capital (ROC) and Earning Yield (EY). The shares to be selected are included in the Kompas100 Index. The selected shares have also been listed on the stock exchange for a minimum of 18 months. Shares included in financial shares will be eliminated. The next step is to select 20 shares to be formed into a Portfolio based on the top ranking of the ROC and EY scores, these 20 shares will be optimized using the Single Index Model method. For active strategies, rebalancing will be carried out every year, while for passive strategies, buy and hold will be carried out. The results of this active strategy will be compared with passive strategies and IHSG. Portfolio measurement will be carried out in 4 ways, namely: return, Sharpe ratio, Treynor ratio and Jensen Alpha. The return from the optimized Magic Formula shows a value of 217.04%, higher than the original Magic Formula return of 43.43% and the passive strategy of 35.04% and the IHSG return of 47%, but the final research results of the portfolio show measurements based on return, ratio Sharpe, and Treynor ratios were not significantly different, being significantly different only from Jensen Alpha measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Artery of Percheron (AOP) as main feeder artery of arteriovenous malformation (AVM) is extremely rare. Two cases of thalamic AVM fed by AOP have been reported to date and only one AVM been removed by microsurgery when attempt of intervention embolization failed. Midbrain AVM fed by AOP has not been reported yet. Case presentation: Here, we presented the first successful embolized case of midbrain AVM supplied by the AOP in a 10-year-old boy, who suffered dual oculomotor nerve palsy and secondary hemorrhage before embolization. During endovascular embolization, selective angiography by 1.2 Fr. Magic microcatheter showed an intranidal aneurysm located on the distal AOP. Two injections of a 1:4 ratio mixture of NBCA-MS completely occlude the nidus and intranidal aneurysm with no complications occurred. The child recovered well and the oculomotor deficits improved. Conclusion: This case highlighted that AOP is a clinically significant branch associated with AVM in midbrain and thalamus. Moreover, intervention embolization of midbrain AVM fed by AOP is a considerable therapeutic strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Robert Heller, a virtually unknown figure in music-historical accounts, trained in the 1840s at the Royal Academy of Music in London and gavethe American premieres of Beethoven’s Fourth and Fifth Piano Concertos with the Germania Musical Society. But he also pursued a parallel career in theatrical magic, using his musical virtuosity to elevate his social and artistic stature as a conjurer. Between 1852 and 1878, his magic act was seen by millions in Europe, East Asia, and the United States, including states and territories in the American West never visited by contemporary piano virtuosos like Thalberg and De Meyer. While magicians routinely incorporated music in their acts, Heller’s virtuosity set him apart from his conjuring peers, including those who were themselves musicians. Using his musical expertise, he blended the magic show with other popular forms of spectacle, including minstrelsy, burlesque, and the piano recital, framing the latter as an extraordinary attraction. Advertisements and accounts of his performances reveal the marketing strategies Heller employed to negotiate the crowded landscape of consumer culture and American popular entertainment, especially during the tumultuous years of the Civil War. These strategies included co-branding, altering the titles and descriptions of musical compositions (particularly “Dixie”), and joining forces with “Blind Tom” (Thomas Greene) Wiggins, the Black, enslaved musical prodigy whom Heller had briefly tutored; they performed together in Louisville during one of the magician’s last appearances in the South. Throughout the 1860s, Heller was influenced by gendered musical practices and regional attitudes toward race and politics, leading him to market his act specifically toward middle-class women, music lovers, Unionists, and those seeking postwar reconciliation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthocyanin is a kind of natural pigments widely found in plants. It is colorful and has many physiologic functions. In this science popularization experiment, we have extracted anthocyanin from red cabbage both at home and in the lab. By mixing the extracted anthocyanin with aqueous solutions of different pH and iodophor, we have designed three schemes including “The Change of Four Seasons”, “Belt and Road” and “Write with Anthocyanin” respectively, to introduce the structure of anthocyanin, the colour changes of anthocyanin at different pH, and the principle of oxidation resistance. We have also designed a drawing activity called “Freestyle”, in which the audience at different levels can take part in person. From the above mentioned, not only are the beauty and magic of chemistry shown, but also ideological education is concluded. In addition, we have created lovely purple cabbage images and animation to show the functions and applications of anthocyanin in a vivid and interesting way. We have also indicated some common misunderstandings about anthocyanin in daily life and tried to help people use anthocyanin in the proper way. In a word, this science popularization experiment combines science and art, knowledge and education ingeniously. It is also easy and safe enough to be performed at home. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this letter, we propose and fabricate a waveguide Magic Tee with waveguide filter for Ka-band system. The proposed Magic Tee has a reduced z -axis arm, which must typically be long for impedance matching at the input port. A bridge iris is inserted at port 4 for signal application. The z -axis arm at port 4 is significantly shortened by the impedance matching tuning through the iris that is normally uses to connect the adaptor. Thus, the dimension of the proposed Magic Tee is reduced to 7.12 × 10 × 3.6 m m 3 , and the insertion loss shows good performance of 0.9 dB by applying the impedance matching tuning. The proposed Magic Tee also contains a 7th waveguide filter, which is used to verify the signal division performance. The results of excitation at each port of the Magic Tee show insertion loss less than 4.5 dB and return loss of over 18 dB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross-examination is detrimental to the consistency and accuracy of children's reports and a re-direct interview may rehabilitate accuracy. We compared the effects of cross-examination on reports provided by single-event and repeated-event children. Children participated in one or five magic shows. One week later they were interviewed in a supportive manner (Interview 1). Next, a different interviewer cross-examined half the children or asked the other children all questions again (Interview 2). Finally, the initial interviewer re-directed the children by re-asking questions in a supportive manner (Interview 3). When defined narrowly (the instance children were asked to describe), cross-examination was more detrimental to single-event children and the re-direct interview rehabilitated correct responses for all children. When defined broadly (experienced details), cross-examination was more detrimental to repeated-event children and the re-direct did not rehabilitate correct responses for repeated-event children. Therefore when performance was off the floor, cross-examination was more detrimental to repeated-event children. The changes that repeated-event children make under cross-examination are explained by cognitive factors and social influences Ost et al., [2016]. Recall, verbatim memory and remembered narratives. In G. Oxburgh (Ed.), Communication in investigative and legal contexts: Integrated approaches from forensic psychology, linguistics and law enforcement (pp. 39–54). Wiley Blackwell). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magic shows were one of many illusory spectacles popular in nineteenth-century Europe and North America, co-existing with melodrama, pantomime, and magic lantern displays. Yet there is little scholarship in any field documenting the function and significance of music in theatrical conjuring. This essay introduces a new field of research by surveying common practices in historical and modern magic shows. Historical evidence, drawn from broadsides, handbills, programmes, memoirs, reviews, and instructional guides to magic, supports three themes: (1) the relationship between conjuring, musical institutions, and related theatrical entertainments; (2) the phenomenon of magicians doubling as musical performers; and (3) the link between music, magic, and imperialist projects. Filmed performances of magic and empirical studies on illusion, cross-modal perception, and entrainment suggest a continuity of practice between nineteenth-century conjurers and modern magicians. A scene from the 2006 film The Illusionist links modern film-scoring techniques to musical conventions in nineteenth-century stage magic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study evaluated the efficacy of free-recall, cognitive instruction and closed-ended questions with students (N = 50; ages 6–18) with developmental disabilities. After watching a magic show wherein the magician made a major error, the students were asked by the magician to keep the transgression a secret. Next, students were interviewed using the Cognitive Interview (CI: free-recall, cognitive instruction and closed-ended questions) or a Standard Interview (SI: free-recall and closed-ended questions) by an unfamiliar researcher whereby their statement quality (statement consistency, veracity and disclosure forthcomingness) and quantity (number of words, transgression details and events recalled) were evaluated. The CI group disclosed significantly more total words and events than the SI group, without compromising testimony consistency; while not significant, descriptive differences in transgression details were found between interview groups. Nevertheless, there were no significant interview group differences in disclosure honesty or forthcomingness. Truth-tellers provided the most forthcoming and detailed statements on the free-recall question, irrespective of interview type. Conversely, lie-tellers rarely discussed the alleged transgression, and primarily lied on the final direct closed-ended question. These results suggest that the CI can be effective with students with developmental disabilities for increasing eyewitness memory recall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The figure of the superstitious old woman is common in mid-nineteenth-century literary and graphic representations of magic and optical spectatorship. Through her literal belief in images, the superstitious woman acts as a comic foil against which modern, disenchanted practices of spectatorship can be asserted. This essay examines the representation of female magic spectatorship in Elizabeth Gaskell's Cranford by placing it in the context of Victorian magic practice and discourse. The novel centers on a magic show performed by an itinerant conjurer for a group of women spectators who fear they are witnessing a demonstration of the occult. Cranford portrays magic panic not as a symptom of undisciplined female minds, however, but rather as a manifestation of literary and cultural anxieties about the unstable status of the real. Through a combination of literary close reading and media archaeology, this essay argues for a female-coded counter-discourse to magic's pedagogy of disenchantment. At the same time, it demonstrates that Cranford 's depiction of stage magic is reflexive and allows the novel to conceptualize how representations construct reality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the design, characterization, and manufacture of a circuit for a ${W}$ -band, ultracompact continuous wave sheet beam klystron are described. This klystron, aiming to produce more than 1.5-kW output power, operates at a comparatively low voltage benefiting the device size and extending its application space. However, a lower operation voltage adversely affects the beam-gap interaction efficiency. Two multigap output cavities have been employed to achieve a higher beam interaction efficiency without introducing additional competing modes or shrinking the interval between the operation mode and competing mode. Inspired by the resynchronization technology, the second output cavity can be optimized for the spent beam from the first output cavity. Comprising a single cavity output structure, the circuit efficiency of this double output cavity circuit is increased from 2.37% to 4.96%. In this circuit, electromagnetic modeling and design have been optimized to avoid complicated structures which are constrained by current mechanical design and manufacturing techniques. The MAGIC simulation shows that, driven by a 1-W RF signal, this circuit can extract more than 1.7-kW output power from a 35-kV, 1-A beam. A prototype single output cavity circuit has been designed and manufactured to determine the required machining tolerances for the final double output cavity circuit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tibetan Buddhism is a doctrine that is based on the Vajrāyana of Buddhism, whose foundation was laid in Tibetan geography but eventually reached countries such as China and India. Tibetan Buddhism, which emerged as a result of the synthesis of Bon religion and Shamanist elements in response to Buddhism, attaches importance to tantras composed of speeches whose origin is attributed to Buddha. Tibetan Buddhism, also known as Tantric Buddhism, Esoteric Buddhism, or Secret Buddhism, has an understanding that attaches importance to ceremonies, symbols and prayers. Tibetan Buddhism introduced the formulas of magic to Buddhism. The species that enrich Buddhism in terms of magic are mantras and dhāranīs. These texts, known as the magic formula, take place in Buddhist sūtra and make their believes comfortable by promising long life, rebirth, peace and health. Tantric Turk Buddhism, on the other hand, corresponds to the Tantric Buddhist understanding that the Uyghurs put forward based on Tibetan Buddhism during the Yuan dynasty. One of the most important concepts of Tibetan Buddhism, the Tantra understanding, Uyghurs who turn to formulas, 13-14. century, mainly contributed to this field with religious works translated from Tibetan. Among the texts of this field, the most well-known texts are Unnīna Vijayā Dhāranī Sūtra and Sitātapatrādhāranī which are the source of our study. In this study, the views of the concepts of mantra and dhāranī, which are concrete evidence to show the magic direction of Buddhism through these texts, have been tried to determine the religious value of these terms in line with the promised life style. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a systematic description of the exotic features in the ground states of light nuclei from the stable valley to the drip lines. A study with the even and odd isotopes of Ne, Mg, Si, S and Ar has been performed using theoretical formalisms (i) Relativistic mean-field plus state-dependent BCS approach and (ii) Macroscopic–Microscopic (MM) approach using the triaxially deformed Nilsson–Strutinsky Method. The computed binding energies and one- and two-neutron separation energies using both the theories show magic character of N = 1 4 , 2 0 , 2 8 and 40. The neutron and proton radii and the neutron densities show a well-developed neutron skin in the neutron-rich isotopes. The exotic phenomena such as weakly bound structures and the central density depletion characterized as bubble effect are explored. Our calculations for the single particle levels, density profiles and the charge form factors indicate bubble-like structures. Few new candidates of bubble nuclei are identified. Most of the nuclei in this region are found deformed with mostly prolate shape and few triaxial shapes while many nuclei exhibit the phenomenon of shape coexistence. Our results display a reasonable agreement between both the theories and the available experimental data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A magic trick based on a mathematical principle and popularized by Martin Gardner leads us to an interesting identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay considers the reimagining of feminist performance art, bodily exposure, and female identity in two recent theatrical works, Annie Dorsen and Anne Juren's 2010 Magical, and Young Jean Lee's 2012 Untitled Feminist Show. In Magical, Juren reenacts a series of iconic feminist performance works, such as Carolee Schneeman's Interior Scroll and Martha Rosler's Semiotics of the Kitchen, while combining them with the illusionist tricks of a commercial magic show. In Untitled Feminist Show, an ensemble of six nude female performers stage a series of scenes and movement sequences that draw on feminist histories to offer visions of what Lee has called a "feminist utopia" in which identity is fluid and elective. These recent performances are read alongside their predecessors from the 1960s and '70s and histories of feminist criticism, arguing that Magical and Untitled Feminist Show chart new forms of feminist identity in the theatre, forms built on evasion and nonidentification, anonymity and abstraction. Finally, the essay links these performances to the wider significance of gendered anonymity in the digital age, taking note of new modes of thinking that make their interventions current and pressing today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In her essay in the most recent Re: Sources column, Sharon Marcus argues for the importance of theatrical scrapbooks as historical resources and notes that, to date, they have been largely neglected. I offer the current essay as a companion piece to Marcus's in that I would like to argue for the importance of another largely neglected resource for theatre researchers: trade catalogs. Specifically, I will focus on the mail-order trade catalogs of magic supply houses that were prevalent throughout the twentieth century until Web sites took over as the primary marketing tools for these establishments. I also draw upon Christopher B. Balme's idea that historiographic rewards can be earned by paying close attention to the information contained in theatrical playbills. Balme posits that one reason playbills have been neglected is because they are considered to be further removed from a theatrical performance than visual evidence such as photographs, designs, or videos:In comparison to theatre iconography—which in superficial readings would seem to offer the promise of access to the theatrical event, a performance on the stage (which of course it seldom does)—the playbill is foreplay but not the act itself. Like most foreplay, the playbill is clearly designed to excite, to stimulate; but for the scholar in search of the real thing, the transcendent experience and enchantment that is the “performance,” playbills represent a kind of archival ludus interruptus. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This essay examines midnight ghost shows (alternately known as "spook shows," or "spookers") and seeks to reinsert them into theatre history and to posit them as a cultural barometer of the time in which they were popular. Ghost shows were magic shows presented on the stages of America's movie theatres throughout the first half of the twentieth century. A ghost show was usually part of a double-bill with a film, and each built to a special blackout sequence that would close the show. The earliest ghost shows used illusions borrowed from séances, such as table tipping and the production of apparitions, while later ones featured characters from popular horror films and bloody stage illusions such as decapitations and immolations. These productions represent how some enterprising magicians were able to create a trans-medial synergy between their staged magic shows and the emerging motion-picture industry, allowing them to not only survive, but to thrive in the changing entertainment milieu of early twentieth-century America. Ghost shows also stand as early examples of movie events that prefigured the phenomenon of midnight showings associated with cult films such as The Rocky Horror Picture Show. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the presentation of physics through theatrical performances by magicians in 19th century France. Illusionist Henri Robin presented magic shows in his theater in Paris, France that utilized principles of physics to create illusions and established connections between magic and science in audiences. The author notes how experimental physics professor Jean-Antoine Nollet offered public demonstrations of principles of electricity. Magicians such as Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin utilized mechanical inventions in his magic show and emphasized scientific discoveries in his performances. The use of optics to present illusions by magicians such as Etienne-Gaspard Robertson is discussed.

The article offers the author's personal experience on the trades of magic and magical manifestations. It tells the author's early experience of magic, entertainment, live arts and his theories about magic. He shares his experience of devising expositions of magic to inhabit spaces linked with the modern interdisciplinary arts practice which are unmediated in every sense. His experience of magic has evolved and became active and embarked on a tranche of interventions in the regalia.

Just as vision scientists study visual art and illusions to elucidate the workings of the visual system, so too can cognitive scientists study cognitive illusions to elucidate the underpinnings of cognition. Magic shows are a manifestation of accomplished magic performers' deep intuition for and understanding of human attention and awareness. By studying magicians and their techniques, neuroscientists can learn powerful methods to manipulate attention and awareness in the laboratory. Such methods could be exploited to directly study the behavioural and neural basis of consciousness itself, for instance through the use of brain imaging and other neural recording techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose. This study explored the effectiveness of the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale for Children, version 2 in predicting the tendency of older school-aged children (with and without intellectual disabilities) to generate errors in an independent suggestibility paradigm. Method. Sixty-nine children with an intellectual disability (aged 9-14 years) and 50 mainstream children matched for chronological age participated in a 30-minute magic show that was staged at their school. Three days later, the children participated in a separate biasing interview that provided seven true and seven false details about the magic show. The following day, the children participated in a second interview where they were required to recall the magic show in their own words and answer a series of cued-recall questions. Between 1 and 2 weeks later, the children were administered the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale-2 (GSS-2). Results. While there was no significant association between performance on the GSS-2 and the independent suggestibility paradigm for the children with an intellectual disability, the chronological age-matched children's yield scores predicted their reporting of both false-new details and false-interviewer suggestions for the independent event. Conclusion. When predicting children's recall of false details, the GSS-2 appears to be more useful with mainstream school-aged children compared with children who have an intellectual disability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the emergence and development of Asian magicians in Great Britain. It presents an historical analysis of this phenomenon by charting the arrival of the first recorded Indian magician on the British stage in the early nineteenth century to internationally renowned magician P.C. Sorcar in the mid-twentieth century. Both East and West recognized and adopted the other's modes of performance and marketing strategies to suit their needs and satisfy public demand.