University of Zielona Góra
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Byron and Italy
No full textByron in Italy - Venetian debauchery, Roman sight-seeing, revolution, horse-riding and swimming, sword-brandishing and pistol-shooting, the poet's 'last attachment' - forms part of the fabric of Romantic mythology. Yet Byron's time in Italy was crucial to his development as a writer, to Italy's sense of itself as a nation, to Europe's perceptions of national identity and to the evolution of Romanticism across Europe. In this volume, Byron scholars from Britain, Europe and beyond re-assess the topic of 'Byron and Italy' in all its richness and complexity. They consider Byron's relationship to Italian literature, people, geography, art, religion and politics, and discuss his navigations between British and Italian identities
Are the Fenno-Scandinavian Arctic wetlands a significant regional source of formic acid?
No full textThis study presents the first gaseous formic acid (HC(O)OH) concentration measurements collected over the Fenno-Scandinavian wetlands (67.9–68.0° N, 22.1–27.8° E) as part of the MAMM (Methane and other greenhouse gases in the Arctic-Measurements, process studies and Modelling) aircraft campaigns conducted in August and September 2013. A boundary layer box model approach has been used to calculate a regionally representative (~240 km2) surface flux for HC(O)OH of 0.0098 (±0.0057) mg[HCOOH]·m−2·h−1. A surface-type classification map was used to estimate proportional source contributions to the observed HC(O)OH flux over the measurement region. The removal of expected source contributions (using available literature parameterisations) from the calculated surface flux identified that 75% remained unaccounted for. This may suggest that HC(O)OH emission from wetland within the Fenno-Scandinavian region could contribute up to 29 times higher per unit area than previous theoretical HC(O)OH globally-averaged wetland estimates, highlighting a need for further constrained wetland studies of HC(O)OH emission to better understand its potentially significant impact on the Arctic HC(O)OH budget and consequent impacts on oxidative capacit
Dante's Pilgrimage in Dorothy Richardson
No full textThis article analyses Dante’s presence in Dorothy Richardson’s Pilgrimage, focusing on Interim and making references to Deadlock and Revolving Lights.It argues that although Dante’s words are never quoted directly he is both a very strong presence in the novel and a revealing case study to understand the complex theories of intertextuality at work in Pilgrimage. Dante is never an authoritative source to be used ‘as a code or a weapon …to crush someone’ (Interim, 354), but contributes instead to shaping the novel’s reluctance to transform literary precedents in measurable cultural value. The piece explores the significance of the ‘Dante lecture’; looks at how Pilgrimage throws a bridge across modernist experimentalism and the nineteenth century by engaging in a complex dialogue with Philip Wicksteed’s theories of political economy; and, finally, focuses on the ironic ways in which Interim links Dante to gender via the figure of an almost invisible female translator, Wilhelmina Kuenen. <br/
Real-Time Emulation of the Acoustic Violin using Convolution and Arbitrary Equalization
No full textAn audio effects processor is described that modifies in real-time the signal generated by an electric violin, to resemble closely the tonal qualities of an equivalent acoustic instrument. The device operates by convolving the incoming signal with an impulse response measured from an acoustic violin; since accurate measurement of the impulse response is critical, it is described in some detail in the text. The system can store sixteen such responses, so is ideally suited for use in listening studies in which the timbres of different emulations are assessed. The device further incorporates a uniquely adjustable arbitrary equalizer and a blender, optionally invoked after the convolution stage, which allow the performer to modify the instrument voice to suit personnel preferences or room acoustics. The system has been evaluated in a blind listening study, in which participants were asked to rank emulations based on a range of violins of varying quality, including Old Italian models. Statistical analysis suggests strongly that high quality instruments were favored over the raw electric sound and the cheap student model; moreover, the study confirmed that the improvement in tonal quality was convincing and realistic, conveying many of the tonal nuances of the emulated wooden instrument
The International Court of Justice, the Whales and the Blurring of the Lines between Sources and Interpretation
No full textIn the contemporary mainstream configuration of most legal orders, a given norm or standard of behaviour is said to be binding upon legal relations between subjects if that norm or standard can be validated by virtue of the doctrine of sources of that legal order. In most legal orders, including international law, the doctrine of sources even enjoys a monopoly on the tracing of bindingness, bearing only remotely or indirectly upon the interpretation of the content of those standards and norms that sources recognize as valid. The idea that the doctrine of sources enjoys a monopoly on the tracing of bindingness and does not constrain interpretation has been seriously eroded by the International Court of Justice in its 31 March 2014 judgment concerning Whaling in the Antarctic. As will be explained in this article, the Court comes very close to calibrate the interpretive effects of the resolutions of the International Whaling Commission through the doctrine of sources. As will be shown, this blurring between sources and interpretation warrants the attention given the efforts that the Court had, over the years, invested in consolidating two distinct doctrines – that is, the doctrine of sources and the doctrine of interpretation. After briefly recalling how the relation between interpretation and sources was approached by the Court, a critical look is taken at the implications of the judgment from the vantage point of the distinction between bindingness and interpretive effects. This brief article ends with a few remarks on the oscillations between sources and interpretation witnessed in contemporary international legal discourses
Financial Flexibility and Investment Ability Across the Euro Area and the UK
No full textWe use a very large sample of European private and public firms to show that financial flexibility attained through a conservative leverage policy is more important for private, small-medium-sized, and young firms and for firms in countries with less access to credit and weaker investor protection. Further, using the 2007 financial crisis as a natural experiment, we show that a higher degree of financial flexibility allows firms to reduce the negative impact of liquidity shocks on investment. Our findings support the hypothesis that financial flexibility improves companies’ ability to undertake future investment, despite market frictions hampering possible growth opportunities
Finite element models of the human shoulder complex: a review of their clinical implications and modelling techniques
No full textThe human shoulder is a complicated musculoskeletal structure and is a perfect compromise between mobility and stability. The objective of this paper is to provide a thorough review of previous finite element (FE) studies in biomechanics of the human shoulder complex. Those FE studies to investigate shoulder biomechanics have been reviewed according to the physiological and clinical problems addressed: glenohumeral joint stability, rotator cuff tears, joint capsular and labral defects and shoulder arthroplasty. The major findings, limitations, potential clinical applications and modelling techniques of those FE studies are critically discussed. The main challenges faced in order to accurately represent the realistic physiological functions of the shoulder mechanism in FE simulations involve (1) subject-specific representation of the anisotropic nonhomogeneous material properties of the shoulder tissues in both healthy and pathological conditions; (2) definition of boundary and loading conditions based on individualised physiological data; (3) more comprehensive modelling describing the whole shoulder complex including appropriate three-dimensional (3D) representation of all major shoulder hard tissues and soft tissues and their delicate interactions; (4) rigorous in vivo experimental validation of FE simulation results. Fully validated shoulder FE models would greatly enhance our understanding of the aetiology of shoulder disorders, and hence facilitate the development of more efficient clinical diagnoses, non-surgical and surgical treatments, as well as shoulder orthotics and prosthetics