1,743 research outputs found
Post-war British working-class fiction with special reference to the novels of John Braine, Alan Sillitoe, Stan Barstow, David Storey and Barry Hines
No full textThis study is about British working-class fiction in the post-war period.
It covers various authors such as Robert Tressell, George Orwell, Walter Greenwood, Lewis Grassic Gibbon and DH Lawrence from the early twentieth century; writers traditionally classified as 'Angry Young Men' like John Osborne, Arnold Wesker, Shelagh Delaney, John Wain and
Kingsley Amis; and working-class novelists like John Braine, Stan Barstow, David Storey, Alan Sillitoe and Barry Hines from the 1950s and 1960s.
Some of the main issues dealt with in the course of this study are language, form, community, self/identity/autobiography, sexuality and relationship with bourgeois art. The major argument centres on two questions: representation of working-class life, and the
relationship between working-class literary tradition and dominant ideologies.
We will be arguing that while working-class fiction succeeded in challenging and rupturing bourgeois literary tradition, on the level of language and linguistic medium of expression for example, it utterly failed to break away from dominant, bourgeois modes of literary production in relation to form, for instance.
Our argument is situated within Marxist approaches to literature, a political and aesthetic position from which we attempt an analysis and an evaluation of this working-class literary tradition. These critical approaches provide us also with the theoretical tool to define the political perspective of this tradition, and to judge whether it was confined to a descriptive mode of representation or
located in a radical, political outlook
Shaking table test of a full-scale 3-storey building composed of thin reinforced concrete sandwich walls
No full textThis paper describes the results from a series of shacking table tests conducted on a full-scale reinforced concrete building. The specimen was a 3-storey structural system composed of squat cast-in-situ sandwich concrete walls with 5.50 m length, 4.10 m width and 8.25 m height. Shaking table tests were performed to validate the theoretical formulations which had been already developed by the authors in order to predict the seismic capacity of the tested structural systems. Both white noise and seismic tests were performed increasing the seismic intensity between 0.05 to 1.2 g. At the end of the experimental campaign, the building was essentially undamaged. From the white noise tests, a slight increase in the fundamental period was found, indicating some degradation. Although a meaningful interpretation of the test results in still under development, the structural system showed an impressive seismic capacity
At limits of life: multidisciplinary insights reveal environmental constraints on biotic diversity in continental Antarctica
No full textData source: Supporting information, http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0044578#s5Multitrophic communities that maintain the functionality of the extreme Antarctic terrestrial ecosystems, while the simplest of any natural community, are still challenging our knowledge about the limits to life on earth. In this study, we describe and interpret the linkage between the diversity of different trophic level communities to the geological morphology and soil geochemistry in the remote Transantarctic Mountains (Darwin Mountains, 80uS). We examined the distribution and diversity of biota (bacteria, cyanobacteria, lichens, algae, invertebrates) with respect to elevation, age of glacial drift sheets, and soil physicochemistry. Results showed an abiotic spatial gradient with respect to the diversity of the organisms across different trophic levels. More complex communities, in terms of trophic level diversity, were related to the weakly developed younger drifts (Hatherton and Britannia) with higher soil C/N ratio and lower total soluble salts content (thus lower conductivity). Our results indicate that an increase of ion concentration from younger to older drift regions drives a succession of complex to more simple communities, in terms of number of trophic levels and diversity within each group of organisms analysed. This study revealed that integrating diversity across multi-trophic levels of biotic communities with abiotic spatial heterogeneity and geological history is fundamental to understand environmental constraints influencing biological distribution in Antarctic soil ecosystems.Catarina Magalhães, Mark I. Stevens, S. Craig Cary, Becky A. Ball, Bryan C. Storey, Diana H. Wall, Roman Tűrk and Ulrike Ruprech
Adam und Eva in der byzantinischen und abendländischen Kunst des Mittelalters
No full textThe pictorial art of the Church, as a spiritual product of the Christian civilisation, has continually received great influences from its ecclesiastical tradition and it was defined by its formal aesthetical standards and its iconographic preferences. A more nuanced reading of the parallels can be attained by placing the images in their visual context, which would allow a better appreciation of the meanings within. The biblical story of Adam and Eve, which is the theme of the following thesis, reflects the differentiation between the Eastern and the Western understanding of the events of the history of the holy Oikonomia, a point, which is the major ground for the development of the relative pictorial motifs. The protoplasts are the protagonists from their creation and life in paradise, the fall and expulsion until their resurrection through Christ. Their story is visualised in a number of scenes and episodes, having thus their original sin and resurrection for specific reasons centralised. This doctoral thesis attempts to collect as many parallels of the scenes is possible, trying to collate the Eastern with the Western visual approach in a deductive way, in order to reach our constructive conclusions and make available the combination of the art, theology and liturgy in the scenes of Adam and Eve in Genesis and in Resurrection (Anastasis). The reading we tried to perform was based upon the specific iconographical elements, which were worth to be commented. Our aim was to detect the direct bond between the production of art and the relevant patristic and apocryphal writings or even the theological theories, by quoting texts from the ecclesiastical literature, as well as the liturgical praxis.Die kirchliche Kunst hat als geistiges Produkt der christlichen Kultur stets unter dem Einfluss der kirchlichen Tradition gestanden und wurde durch ihre formalen ästhetischen Standards und ihre ikonographische Auswahl bestimmt. Eine genauere Bestimmung der Parallelen kann erreicht werden, indem man die Bilder in ihren visuellen Kontext stellt, was zu einem besserem Verständnis ihrer Inhalte führt. Die biblische Geschichte von Adam und Eva, welche das Thema unserer Arbeit ist, reflektiert das differenzierte Verständnis der Heilsgeschichte (Oikonomia) in Ost und West, welche die Hauptursache für die Entwicklung der entsprechenden Bildmotive ist. Die Stammeltern sind die Protagonisten dieser Geschichte seit der Schöpfung und dem Leben im Paradies, sowie Sündenfall und Vertreibung, bis zu ihrer Auferweckung durch Christus. Ihre Geschichte wird in einer Reihe von Szenen und Episoden visualisiert, wobei die Ursünde und die Auferstehung aus besonderen Gründen im Mittelpunkt stehen. Diese Dissertation versucht, so viele wie mögliche Gemeinsamkeiten der Darstellung herauszuarbeiten, um so in deduktiver Weise den visuellen Zugang des Ostens und des Westens in Beziehung zu setzen, um zu konstruktiven Ergebnissen zu kommen und eine Verbindung von Kunst, Theologie und Liturgie in den Darstellungen von Adam und Eva in der Genesis und der Anastasis, am Anfang und am Ende also, herzustellen. Unsere Untersuchung basiert auf den spezifischen ikonographischen Elementen, die wir kommentieren. Unser Ziel war es, die unmittelbare Verbindung zwischen der künstlerischen Darstellung und den entsprechenden patristischen oder apokryphen Schriften oder sogar den theologischen Theorien zu ermitteln, indem wir Texte aus der kirchlichen Literatur, aber auch aus der liturgischen Praxis heranzogen. Wir versuchten die Beteiligung der Stammeltern Adam und Eva im Genesis-Zyklus und der Anastasis-Szene in Beziehung zu setzen, deren Darstellungsnormen zur Gänze auf der Heilsverheissung Gottes basieren. So besteht unsere Dissertation aus zwei Teilen: Genesis und Anastasis (Abstieg in den Hades), sowie einem Anhang, welcher die Überschrift „Die Bildsprache der Geschichte der Stammeltern“ trägt, der Bibliographie und einer Liste der verwendeten Abbildungen
Multi performance seismic design through an enhanced first storey isolation system
No full textIn this paper the idea of the “shock-absorbing soft story concept”, originally proposed at the end of ‘60s by Fintel and Khan, is reviewed and developed within the framework of Performance Based Seismic Design. The purpose is to conceive a first-storey isolated building capable of satisfying selected seismic performance objectives. Among all the possible solutions, in this study the seismic story isolation is obtained through the insertion (only at the bottom level of the building) of special hysteretic devices, which are specifically designed in order to satisfy the prefixed seismic performance objectives. Without loss of generality, this design approach is fully detailed with reference to the specific case study of a five-storey steel frame building. The performances of the building under multiple earthquake design levels are finally verified through non-linear time-history analyses whose results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed approach
An Analysis of High-Bar and Low-Bar Back-Squat Techniques in Olympic Weightlifters and Powerlifters
No full textThe barbell back-squat is one of the most common exercises in strength and conditioning practice; especially in Olympic weightlifting and powerlifting. There are two main bar placements within the back-squat; the high-bar and low-bar positions. The high-bar position, favoured by Olympic weightlifters, closely resembles the upright body position of the two competition lifts of the sport; the snatch and clean and jerk. The low-bar position, favoured by powerlifters, typically allows greater loads to be lifted by utilising the posterior-chain musculature during the back-squat (one of the three competition lifts in the sport). Unfortunately, little research exists comparing the high-bar back-squat with the low-bar back-squat, and no research has examined either lift above 90% of one repetition maximum. Furthermore, no authors have biomechanically compared the high-bar back-squat to the Olympic lifts (e.g. snatch and clean and jerk). The aims of this thesis were to (1) review the current literature and quantitatively assess the kinetic and kinematic findings among the limited research; (2) compare and contrast the high-bar back-squat and low-bar back-squat up to maximal effort; and (3) assess the differences and/or similarities between the high-bar back-squat and the Olympic lifts. Through an extensive literature review, the high-bar back-squat was found to commonly present a larger hip angle, smaller knee angle and equivalent ankle angle compared to the low-bar back-squat; inferring the high-bar placement creates a more upright truck position for the lifter and requires more quadriceps muscle activation. Experimentally, these findings were confirmed with the high-bar back-squat producing larger hip angles and smaller knee angles compared to the powerlifters (16–21% larger and 10–12% smaller, respectively) and low-bar controls (16–21% larger and 10–12% smaller, respectively). While the Olympic weightlifters and powerlifters lifted similar relative loads, the low-bar controls were able to lift 2.5–5.2% larger relative loads compared to the high-bar controls. As expected, the high-bar back-squat also showed similar kinematics to the snatch and the clean but substantially different kinetics across all loads lifted. Performing a back-squat with a low-bar placement, situates the lifter (advanced and recreational) in a stronger position to lift larger loads compared to the high-bar placement. The establishment of a more advantageous kinematic posture during the low-bar back-squat could potentially maximise the utilisation of the stronger posterior hip musculature thus increasing the stability and moment arm at the hip. The low-bar back-squat therefore appears to provide the best chance of lifting the largest relative load. The kinematic similarities in posture between the high-bar back-squat and the Olympic lifts suggests the potential of similar trunk, hip and thigh muscular activity of key stabilising muscles and repetitive positional alignment in the “catch” position. The differing kinetics however, are more likely due to technical differences between the high-bar back-squat, snatch and clean; wherein the Olympic lifts require additional elements of upper-body strength and stability. The high-bar back-squat does appear to yield an efficient carryover to the Olympic lifts as a suitable supplementary exercise; provided the technical components of the lifts are maintained
An analysis of high-bar and low-bar back-squat techniques in Olympic weightlifters and powerlifters
No full textThe barbell back-squat is one of the most common exercises in strength and conditioning practice; especially in Olympic weightlifting and powerlifting. There are two main bar placements within the back-squat; the high-bar and low-bar positions. The high-bar position, favoured by Olympic weightlifters, closely resembles the upright body position of the two competition lifts of the sport; the snatch and clean and jerk. The low-bar position, favoured by powerlifters, typically allows greater loads to be lifted by utilising the posterior-chain musculature during the back-squat (one of the three competition lifts in the sport). Unfortunately, little research exists comparing the high-bar back-squat with the low-bar back-squat, and no research has examined either lift above 90% of one repetition maximum. Furthermore, no authors have biomechanically compared the high-bar back-squat to the Olympic lifts (e.g. snatch and clean and jerk). The aims of this thesis were to (1) review the current literature and quantitatively assess the kinetic and kinematic findings among the limited research; (2) compare and contrast the high-bar back-squat and low-bar back-squat up to maximal effort; and (3) assess the differences and/or similarities between the high-bar back-squat and the Olympic lifts. Through an extensive literature review, the high-bar back-squat was found to commonly present a larger hip angle, smaller knee angle and equivalent ankle angle compared to the low-bar back-squat; inferring the high-bar placement creates a more upright truck position for the lifter and requires more quadriceps muscle activation. Experimentally, these findings were confirmed with the high-bar back-squat producing larger hip angles and smaller knee angles compared to the powerlifters (16–21% larger and 10–12% smaller, respectively) and low-bar controls (16–21% larger and 10–12% smaller, respectively). While the Olympic weightlifters and powerlifters lifted similar relative loads, the low-bar controls were able to lift 2.5–5.2% larger relative loads compared to the high-bar controls. As expected, the high-bar back-squat also showed similar kinematics to the snatch and the clean but substantially different kinetics across all loads lifted. Performing a back-squat with a low-bar placement, situates the lifter (advanced and recreational) in a stronger position to lift larger loads compared to the high-bar placement. The establishment of a more advantageous kinematic posture during the low-bar back-squat could potentially maximise the utilisation of the stronger posterior hip musculature thus increasing the stability and moment arm at the hip. The low-bar back-squat therefore appears to provide the best chance of lifting the largest relative load. The kinematic similarities in posture between the high-bar back-squat and the Olympic lifts suggests the potential of similar trunk, hip and thigh muscular activity of key stabilising muscles and repetitive positional alignment in the “catch” position. The differing kinetics however, are more likely due to technical differences between the high-bar back-squat, snatch and clean; wherein the Olympic lifts require additional elements of upper-body strength and stability. The high-bar back-squat does appear to yield an efficient carryover to the Olympic lifts as a suitable supplementary exercise; provided the technical components of the lifts are maintained
Anomalous open-circuit voltage from a high-Tc superconducting dynamo
No full textThis article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and AIP Publishing. This article appeared in C. W. Bumby, Z. Jiang, J. G. Storey, A. E. Pantoja, and R. A. Badcock, Appl. Phys. Lett. 108, 122601 (2016) https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4943663
Hyperfine splitting of [Al VI] 3.66 mu m and the Al isotopic ratio in NGC 6302
No full textThe core of planetary nebula NGC 6302 is filled with high-excitation photoionized gas at low expansion velocities. It represents a unique astrophysical situation in which to search for hyperfine structure (HFS) in coronal emission lines from highly ionized species. HFS is otherwise blended by thermal or velocity broadening. Spectra containing [Al vr] 3.66 mu m P-3(2) <- P-3(1), obtained with Phoenix on Gemini South at resolving powers of up to 75000, resolve the line into five hyperfine components separated by 20-60 km s(-1) as a result of the coupling of the I = 5/2 nuclear spin of Al-27 with the total electronic angular momentum J. The isotope Al-26 has a different nuclear spin of I = 5, and a different HFS, which allows us to place a 3 sigma upper limit on the Al-26/Al-27 abundance ratio of 1/33. We measure the HFS magnetic dipole coupling constants for [Al vr], and provide the first estimates of the electric quadrupole HFS coupling constants obtained through astronomical observations of an atomic transition
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