3,377 research outputs found

    The life and works of James Miller, 1704-1744, with particular reference to the satiric content of his poetry and plays.

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    PhDJames Miller was born the son of a Dorset rector in 1704. He was himself ordained, but acquired no benefice until just before his early death, probably because of a scathing portrayal of the Bishop of London in one of his verse satires. At Oxford he wrote a vivacious comedy of humours, set in the University. Its production in 1730 began his dramatic career, at a time when the number of London theatres had just doubled, and new dramatic forms were being invented. In 1731 his poem Harlequin-Horace, a witty inversion of the Ars Poetica, attacked pantomime and opera, but also painted a lively portrait of the entire theatrical world, in the tradition of the Dunciad. After collaborating in a translation of Moliere's works Miller wrote two plays based on this author. Of all his dramatic works these were the most successful with his contemporaries, and were followed by a modernisation of Much Ado, and a ballad-opera adapted from an afterpiece by Jean-Baptiste Rousseau, and rendered highly topical. Miller made similar use of a recent French comedy showing a Red Indian's reactions to civilisation, a satiric "fable" by Walsh and Voltaire's Mahomet. A large quantity of original material was incorporated into most of these, and this is generally satirical in nature. The Indian is made to voice almost egalitarian sentiments. An afterpiece, "The Camp Visitants", satirised military inaction in the war, and was apparently banned. The manuscripts of the six plays produced after the Licensing Act bear the examiner's deletions, and illustrate the nature of the censorship at this time. Miller's greatest strength is probably his flexible, vigorously colloquial dialogue. His political satire is mostly contained in the poetry, which attacks Walpole's administration with increasing vehemence through the seventeen-thirties, until its fall. In 1740 two poems that used Pope in symbolic contrast to Walpole caused a sensation. In both poetry and plays Miller is also a social satirist, who lays unusually strong emphasis on false taste and the deterioration of culture

    Comparison of convergence characteristics of adaptive IIR and FIR filters for active noise control in a duct

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    There are perceived drawbacks to using adaptive IIR filters, as opposed to adaptive FIR filters, for active noise control (ANC). These include stability issues, the possible convergence of estimated parameters to biased and/or local minimum solutions and relatively slow rate of convergence. Stability issues can generally be resolved easily using well-established methods. In this Technical Note convergence rates are compared with particular reference to the active control of noise in a duct, for which the dynamics of the cancellation path are important. The characteristics of this application of ANC set it apart from usual signal processing applications of adaptive IIR filters and this has implications for the convergence properties. Various control approaches are considered: IIR least mean squares (IIR-LMS), IIR recursive least squares (IIR-RLS) with FASPIS (Fast Algorithm Secondary Path Integration Scheme) and FIR-LMS. Numerical examples are presented. It is seen that the cancellation path dynamics generally have the effect of changing the performance surface of the estimated IIR filter from bimodal to unimodal, which has consequences for improving the convergence rate of adaptive IIR filters. It is also seen that IIR-RLS has a comparable rate of convergence to FIR-LMS, with the steady-state performance being as good or better

    Photograph: Group Portrait, James Jones Lodge #123

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    Image of two rows of men sitting and standing in meeting room. Front row center holding a sign. Sign: JAX. FLA. DEC. 16.48 JAMES JONES LODGE #123 K. OF P. HON. B.L. COINS. G.C.C.D.C. JONES C.C. Date: 12/16/1948. One of 156 black and white photographs by R. Lee Thomas, an African American photographer active in the early twentieth century in the southern United States. Thomas’ work provides photographic documentation of southern black social life, primarily religious and labor groups, circa 1946-1949. The majority of the photographs depict groups from Birmingham, Alabama, and adjacent areas. His imprint contains the caption: Made by R. Lee Thomas, Mound Bayou, Mississippi, The Oldest Negro Town in America.https://digitalcommons.unf.edu/rthomas/1083/thumbnail.jp

    SEP-1 – a subtilisin-like serine endopeptidase from germinated seeds of Hordeum vulgare L. cv. Morex

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    Proteolysis is crucial for all living cells. It regulates protein processing, intracellular protein levels and removes abnormalor damaged proteins from the cell, working as a cellular housekeeper. By means of proteolysis, cells can control the short-lived regulatory proteins that affect processes such as signaltra nsduction and reception, transcription, division and cellular growth. Proteolysis also furnishes amino acids for the de novo synthesis of proteins. In germinating seeds, its main role is to degrade storage proteins into small peptides and amino acids that can be used by the embryo during autotrophic growth. We have isolated and purified a serine endopeptidase, one of the many proteolytic enzymes that occur in germinated barley seeds (green malt), using chromatofocusing and DEAE-, CM-, and size-exclusion chromatographies. The enzyme, named SEP-1, has a molecular weight of 70 kDa, as estimated by both sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and size-exclusion chromatography. SEP-1 was detected and measured by its ability to digest gelatin in gels and to hydrolyze the synthetic substrate N-succinyl Ala-Ala-Pro-Leu p-nitroanilide. The hydrolysis of the synthetic substrate was optimal at pH 6.5 and 50 C with a Km of 2.6 mM. The enzyme was inhibited by phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride and p-amidinophenylmet hanesulfonylfluorid e but not by any other class-specific inhibitor, suggesting it was a serine endopeptidase. Its amino acid sequence was similar to those of other plant subtilisin-like serine peptidases (EC 3.4.21), especially to the cucumisin-like group. SEP-1 was present in resting seeds, and its activity increased during germination in all of the malted barley tissues except for the endosperm, where it never occurred, suggesting that the enzyme is not likely involved in storage-protein degradation
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