56 research outputs found
Françoise Fauconnet-Buzelin, Un évêque au pays des Talapoins. Louis Laneau, premier vicaire apostolique du Siam 1637‑1696
No full textDocteur en histoire de l’art, conservatrice du patrimoine et chargée de recherche aux Missions Étrangères de Paris depuis 1996, Françoise Fauconnet-Buzelin a consacré nombre d’articles et d’essais à la Société des Missions Étrangères de Paris. Par certains aspects, ce livre est la continuation de son Aux sources des Missions Étrangères : Pierre Lambert de la Motte (1624‑1679) publié en 2006 : une pièce de plus dans l’édifice de l’histoire de la Société.Louis Laneau (né le 31 mai 1637 à Montd..
A new method to objectively classify extratropical cyclones for climate studies: Testing in the Southwest Pacific region
No full textThis is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from American Meteorological Society via the DOI in this recordExtratropical cyclones can vary widely in their configuration during cyclogenesis, development mechanisms, spatial and temporal characteristics, and impacts. An automated method to classify extratropical cyclones identified in ERA-Interim data from 1979 to 2010 in the Australia and New Zealand region has been developed. The technique uses K-means clustering on two upper-tropospheric flow fields at the time of cyclogenesis and identifies four distinct clusters. Composites of these clusters are investigated, along with their life cycles and their spatial and temporal variability. The four clusters are similar to a previous manual classification. Cluster 1 develops in the equatorward entrance region of the subtropical jet, clusters 2 and 4 develop in the poleward exit region of the subtropical jet but with different relative positions of the upper-level trough and jet streak, and cluster 3 resembles secondary cyclogenesis on a preexisting front far poleward of the subtropical jet. The clusters have different impacts in terms of their precipitation (cluster 1 has the highest average precipitation), different seasonal cycles, and different preferred genesis locations. Features of the composite cyclones resemble extratropical cyclones from other regions, indicating the utility of the method over larger regions. The method has been developed to be easily applied to climate model output in order to evaluate the ability of models to represent the full range of observed extratropical cyclones.This work was funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC) through a Discovery Early Career Research Award (DE140101305) and supported by the Centre of Excellence for Climate Systems Science (CE110001028). Thanks to Julian Quinting and Duncan Ackerley for comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. Thanks also to Matt Hawcroft (University of Exeter) for use of his precipitation data. ERA-Interim data are available online (http://apps.ecmwf.int/datasets/). The author acknowledges with thanks the valuable comments and suggestions from a number of anonymous reviewers
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Teaching natural philosophy and mathematics at Oxford and Cambridge 1500-1570
No full textThe syllabus in natural philosophy and mathematics was radically changed in the course of the sixteenth century with new subjects, textbooks and methods introduced. Education became more practical and less dependent on medieval antecedents. Printing technology improved textbooks and made it possible to replace them with newer versions.
Following sweeping syllabus reform around 1500, the Cambridge Master of Arts course was heavily slanted towards humanism. The old scholastic textbooks were rejected and replaced with modern authors. The purpose of natural philosophy was explicitly to illuminate the providential work of the creator, especially through natural history (a newly developing subject in the sixteenth century thanks to newly translated and promulgated Greek texts) where examples of God’s work were there for all to see. Oxford remained wedded to scholastic texts although the trivium was reformed along humanistic lines. Cromwell’s visitors in 1535 outlawed scholasticism by decree but gave little indication of the alternative (their white list stipulating only Aristotle). The solution adopted by the Oxford masters was to import the Cambridge syllabus and textbooks wholesale. When the evangelical regime of Edward VI reformed the universities in 1549, the humanist natural philosophy syllabus was adjudged appropriate, especially those parts promoted by Philip Melanchthon at the University of Wittenberg. However, the visitors’ background at court meant they valued ethics and politics more highly. The Reformation itself left natural philosophy largely unaffected although the barrier preventing Catholics from entering clerical careers after 1558 appears to have encouraged some to remain philosophers. In mathematics, the 1549 visitation was highly significant. Cambridge University’s initiative in 1500 in employing a university lecturer in the subject was in danger of stagnating due to inappropriate appointments. However, John Cheke’s statutes in 1549 promoted the use of modern textbooks of practical arithmetic, finance and surveying useful to the centralised Tudor state. He also introduced the new subject of geography as a result of his contacts at court with merchants and explorers. The thesis concludes that during the second half of the sixteenth century,
English students could expect a mathematical and philosophical education comparable to that of their Italian peers. This was sufficient to provide graduates with the knowledge they needed to carry these subjects forward in the seventeenth centur
Microwave response of a metallic superconductor subject to a high-voltage gate electrode
No full textProcesses that lead to the critical-current suppression and change of impedance of a superconductor under the application of an external voltage is an active area of research, especially due to various possible technological applications. In particular, field-effect transistors and radiation detectors have been developed in the recent years, showing the potential for precision and sensitivity exceeding their normal-metal counterparts. In order to describe the phenomenon that leads to the critical-current suppression in metallic superconducting structures, a field-effect hypothesis has been formulated, stating that an electric field can penetrate the metallic superconductor and affect its characteristics. The existence of such an effect would imply the incompleteness of the underlying theory, and hence indicate an important gap in the general comprehension of superconductors. In addition to its theoretical value, a complete understanding of the phenomenon underneath the electric-field response of the superconductor is important in the light of the related technological applications. In this paper, we study the change of the characteristics of a superconductor implementing a coplanar-waveguide resonator as a tank circuit, by relating our measurements to the reactance and resistance of the material. Namely, we track the state of the superconductor at different voltages and resulting leakage currents of a nearby gate electrode which is not galvanically connected to the resonator. By comparing the effects of the leakage current and of a change in the temperature of the system, we conclude that the observed behaviour in the superconductor is mainly caused by the heat that is deposited by the leakage current, and bearing the experimental uncertainties, we are not able to observe the effect of the applied electric field in our sample. In addition, we present a relatively good quantitative agreement between the Mattis–Bardeen theory of a heated superconductor and the experimental observations. Importantly, we do not claim this work to nullify the results of previous works, but rather to provide inspiration for future more thorough experiments and analysis using the methods presented here.</p
Climatology and dynamics of the link between dry intrusions and cold fronts during winter, Part II: Front-centred perspective
No full textThis is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Springer via the DOI in this record.The conceptual picture of an extratropical cyclone typically includes a cold front and a dry intrusion (DI) behind it. By objectively identifying fronts and DIs in ECMWF ERA-Interim data for 1979–2014, Part I quantified the climatological relationship between cold fronts and DIs. Driven by the finding that front intensity and frontal precipitation are enhanced in the presence of DIs, here we employ a front-centred perspective to focus on the dynamical and thermodynamical environment of cold fronts with and without DIs in the Northern Hemisphere winter. Distinguishing between trailing fronts (that connect to a parent cyclone) and isolated fronts, examples of DIs behind each type illustrate the baroclinic environment of the trailing front, and the lack of strong temperature gradients across the isolated front. Composite analyses of North Atlantic and North Pacific fronts outline the major differences in the presence of DIs, compared to similar fronts but without DIs in their vicinity. The magnitude and spatial structure of the modification by DIs depends on the front intensity. Yet, generally with DIs, trailing fronts occur with stronger SLP dipole, deeper upper-tropospheric trough, stronger 10-m wind gusts, enhanced ocean sensible and latent heat fluxes in the cyclone cold sector and heavier precipitation. Isolated weak fronts exhibit similar behaviour, with different spatial structure. This study highlights the central role of DIs for shaping the variability of fronts and their associated environment and impact.Australian Research Council DECR
Writing and Reading in the Circle of Sir John Fastolf (d. 1459)
No full textThis thesis is a study of all aspects of writing and reading connected with Sir John Fastolf, a military captain and steward of the household of John Duke of Bedford, who returned to England from the later battles of the Hundred Years War in 1438. Using the circumstantial, palaeographical, and codicological evidence contained in
the letters, documents, and literary texts associated with Fastolf, the thesis performs a survey of the men who wrote for Fastolf, their interactions with him and with each other, and their positions in what might be deemed a ‘readership community’. The thesis takes a detailed look at letter and document composition, delivery, and storage,
then relates this administrative writing to the production and reception of texts in manuscript books. It argues that there was a close relationship between these two types of work, finding that the administrators of the Fastolf circle were also the scribes of literary texts. The thesis consistently reinforces the importance of oral communication within this circle, emphasising that though there is a substantial amount of surviving written material associated with this circle, the written word was
not the sole form of communication within it.
The first section of the thesis is an introduction to the circle of Sir John Fastolf,since it is necessary to comprehend this complex and multitudinous group before
considering reading and writing within it. Chapter One gives biographical information about Fastolf and the associates who were most involved with writing and reading. It then reconsiders the highly-contended issue of Fastolf's relations with these men: was Fastolf a harsh master, or badly-served by his men? Chapter Two explains the choice of the word ‘circle’ to describe this group, and considers potential subdivisions within it according to responsibilities or linguistic descriptions. It emphasises the individuality within the master-servant relationship, as is indicated by the evidence that Fastolf’s servants maintained various levels of proximity and permanence of service.
In the second section, Chapter Three is a detailed examination of the writing of letters and administrative documents. It opens with a discussion of the interplay between oral conversation and written correspondence. It then looks at the evidence for the way in which Fastolf’s letters (none of which were autograph) were composed, and argues that they were not dictated. It progresses to examine the practicalities of correspondence and administration: drafting, copying, letter delivery,
and storage. Finally, there is a look at the watermarks of paper associated with Fastolf. This leads into Chapter Four, which is a study of interactions between the men who wrote for Fastolf. It shows that there was consistent co-operation between Fastolf’s scribes, and suggests that collaboration had an effect upon the linguistic features of their work. Finally, Chapter Five looks at Fastolf’s collection of literary manuscript books, and considers the evidence about who read literary texts, as indicated by circumstantial evidence, as well codicological evidence such as annotations within the books themselves. It provides case studies of the men who can be shown to have written these books, and a focused study of one of these books in particular, the hitherto under-studied manuscript, College of Arms, MS. Arundel 48.
Finally, there is an overview of the formation of a sub-section of Fastolf’s readership community in the west country, especially in Bristol, Glastonbury and Wells, which
was facilitated by Fastolf’s Bristol-born secretary William Worcester
The intensity and motion of hybrid cyclones in the Australian region in a composite potential vorticity framework
No full textThis is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via the DOI in this recordHybrid cyclones (HCs) in the Australian region typically reach their peak intensity in an amplified flow comprising upper‐tropospheric ridges upstream and downstream of the cyclone and a north–south elongated trough. Nonetheless, there is considerable case‐to‐case variability. Taking a composite viewpoint, the present study investigates how such variations in the upper‐tropospheric potential vorticity (PV) anomalies affect the subsequent intensity and motion of HCs in the Australian region. First, cyclones are grouped into four clusters with structurally‐similar environments through a k‐means clustering of the 315‐K PV anomaly. The clusters reveal that HCs can be associated with a north–south elongated trough (Cluster 1), a PV cut‐off (Cluster 2), and cyclonically breaking troughs (Clusters 3 and 4). Second, the effect of these features on the intensity and tracks is quantified using piecewise PV inversion. The maximum intensity of cyclones in Cluster 1 is largely determined by their upper‐tropospheric cyclonic PV anomaly. Conversely, diabatically generated lower‐tropospheric PV anomalies dominate the intensity of cyclones in Clusters 3 and 4. In these two clusters, the cyclonically breaking trough and a downstream ridge induce an anomalous northeasterly low‐level flow across the cyclone centre. The downstream ridge is most pronounced in Cluster 4, leading to the greatest poleward cyclone displacement compared to the other clusters. In Clusters 1 and 2, the upper‐level PV anomaly primarily slows the eastward motion of the cyclones. In agreement with recent idealised studies, the analysis suggests that the effect of upper‐tropospheric PV anomalies on the poleward motion of HCs is analogous to the beta‐gyres that influence the motion of tropical cyclones.Helmholtz-AssociationAustralian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Climate ExtremesAustralian Research Counci
Synoptic climatology of hybrid cyclones in the Australian region
No full textThis is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via the DOI in this record In May and September 2016, two intense hybrid cyclones (HCs) developed over the Great Australian Bight damaging infrastructure and causing a state‐wide power outage in South Australia. These two cyclones motivate the compilation of the first synoptic climatology of HCs in the Australian region, including an analysis of their importance for wind and precipitation extremes, and a composite view of the large‐scale flow in which they develop. HCs are identified in ERA‐Interim data from 1979 to 2010 using an objective feature tracking method and a cyclone phase space diagnostic. HCs exhibit a pronounced seasonal cycle with most of them occurring from May to September. During these months, HCs are most frequent over the Tasman Sea and the Great Australian Bight where they account for 50% of all cyclones. A common characteristic of all HCs is that the strongest precipitation, which is locally extreme in 91% of all HCs, falls in the warm‐sector and along a bent‐back warm front on the poleward side of the cyclones. Moreover, the area affected by extreme precipitation and the maximum precipitation in HCs are no different from non‐hybrid cyclones (NHCs). In contrast, the area affected by extreme wind gusts is significantly larger in HCs than for NHCs. In both HCs and NHCs the strongest near‐surface wind gusts typically occur in the cold air mass in the wake of the cyclones, especially in those over the Great Australian Bight. The upper‐tropospheric structure of HCs is characterised by an elongated cyclonic potential vorticity anomaly embedded between two ridges that eventually cuts off. In contrast, NHCs are characterised by a zonal flow upstream and upper‐tropospheric cyclonic wave breaking.Helmholtz-AssociationAustralian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Climate ExtremesAustralian Research Counci
Employment of the steamship in the Scottish east coast trades to 1850
No full textThe importance of the east of Scotland in the early use and development of
the steamship appears to have been undervalued by most writers.
A general description of the development of steam navigation before about
1850 is given in order to set the scene for the specific study of Scotland's
east coast. This is followed by a brief account of the state of transport in that
area before the invention of the steamship.
A narrative is given of the introduction of steamers there, at first in the
sheltered estuaries, but gradually out into the very exposed North Sea and
waters surrounding the northern isles. This is followed by analysis of the
patterns of building and ownership of the vessels engaged in that trade. That
part of the work relies heavily on contemporary Parliamentary papers.
The influence of the early railways, as both competitors and customers is
examined.
The effect of legislation, and other action by government, is considered.
The fate of wrecked ships, and the potential for the assistance of underwater
archaeologists in assisting the historian to understand the early steamship is
assessed. This includes specific recommendations for possible future
archaeological research.
It is concluded that the east of Scotland did have an important role in the
world of the early steamship. Many of the largest steam ships in the world,
for their time, served these routes. A number of important technical
developments were tried out in the area. East of Scotland shipbuilders had a
more prominent role in constructing early steamships than has been
suggested elsewhere.
Topological maps of steamship routes for three selected years are included in
the text. Appendices give an outline chronology and a list of steam related
publications by the candidate. The final appendix gives details of the 201
steamships identified as having traded on the east of Scotland during the
period. Seventeen other ships, built in the area, but used elsewhere are listed
in a supplement at the end of that appendix
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