25 research outputs found
Cancerous dramaturgy: using biology as a dramaturgical template in writing for performance
No full text© 2021 Diane StubbingsThis practice-based research investigates the concept of a biological dramaturgy, and is structured as a dissertation (60%) and accompanying creative works (40%).
Working with cancer as a dramaturgical template, the research proposes that a creative writing practice which models itself on the biological processes which drive cancer will foster a dramaturgy that is essentially cancerous in nature. This proposition is tested through three creative experiments which use cancer biology (experiments A and C) and evolutionary-developmental biology (experiment B) as illustrative systems for the generation of writing for performance.
The thesis employs a critical framework which synthesises Critical Literary Geography and Systems Biology to allow for a phenomenological account of the creative process. This synthesis enables the articulation of a textual system, one which encapsulates the dwelling within and shaping of imaginative spaces that come through the act of writing, as well as the notion of a dynamic creative system that is generated by concurrent environmental, structural (text-driven) and organisational (author-driven) forces.
Through this combined practical and theoretical inquiry – and building on discourse concerning the relationship between form and content in the science play, as well as dramaturgical theories and practices that accentuate process, intertextuality, the organic and the viral – the thesis concludes that the deployment of cancerous processes has the potential to seed and nurture new performance texts that are cancerous in nature. Further, this approach to dramatic composition can be applied to biological processes more broadly, the results of the experiments revealing how a biological organism’s ‘evolution from within’ might be modelled in the dramaturgy of a performance text.
The research establishes that working towards a biological dramaturgy requires the nurturing of an embodied sense of the relevant biological processes and a biological sensibility, such that the balance between the environmental, structural and organisational elements of the work might best be negotiated and the author-God resisted. It is also suggested that biologically driven dramaturgies might potentially facilitate a reconfiguration that pushes dramatic form beyond the postdramatic.
The practice outcomes of the thesis are demonstrated by three performance texts: Blood & Shadow, Variation for Three Voices on a Letter to Nature and Self Portrait / In Cross-Sections / With Bird
Renaissance Spain in its Literary Relations with England and France: A Critical Bibliography
No full textThe 2011 eruption of the recurrent nova T Pyxidis: The discovery, the pre-eruption rise, the pre-eruption orbital period, and the reason for the long delay
No full textWe report the discovery by M. Linnolt on JD 2,455,665.7931 (UT 2011 April 14.29) of the sixth eruption of the recurrent nova T Pyxidis. This discovery was made just as the initial fast rise was starting, so with fast notification and response by observers worldwide, the entire initial rise was covered (the first for any nova), and with high time resolution in three filters. The speed of the rise peaked at 9 mag day-1, while the light curve is well fit over only the first two days by a model with a uniformly expanding sphere. We also report the discovery by R. Stubbings of a pre-eruption rise starting 18 days before the eruption, peaking 1.1 mag brighter than its long-time average, and then fading back toward quiescence 4 days before the eruption. This unique and mysterious behavior is only the fourth known (with V1500 Cyg, V533 Her, and T CrB) anticipatory rise closely spaced before a nova eruption. We present 19 timings of photometric minima from 1986 to 2011 February, where the orbital period is fast increasing with yr. From 2008 to 2011, T Pyx had a small change in this rate of increase, so that the orbital period at the time of eruption was 0.07622950 ± 0.00000008 days. This strong and steady increase of the orbital period can only come from mass transfer, for which we calculate a rate of (1.7-3.5) × 10-7 M ⊙ yr-1. We report 6116 magnitudes between 1890 and 2011, for an average B = 15.59 ± 0.01 from 1967 to 2011, which allows for an eruption in 2011 if the blue flux is nearly proportional to the accretion rate. The ultraviolet-optical-infrared spectral energy distribution is well fit by a power law with f νν1.0, although the narrow ultraviolet region has a tilt with a fit of f νν1/3. We prove that most of the T Pyx light is not coming from a disk, or any superposition of blackbodies, but rather is coming from some nonthermal source. We confirm the extinction measure from IUE with E(B-V) = 0.25 ± 0.02 mag. © 2013. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved
A pharmacist-managed virtual consult service for patients with rheumatologic conditions requiring specialty or infused medications
No full textDISCLAIMER: In an effort to expedite the publication of articles related to the COVID-19 pandemic, AJHP is posting these manuscripts online as soon as possible after acceptance. Accepted manuscripts have been peer-reviewed and copyedited, but are posted online before technical formatting and author proofing. These manuscripts are not the final version of record and will be replaced with the final article (formatted per AJHP style and proofed by the authors) at a later time. PURPOSE: To describe a pharmacist-managed virtual consult service practice model to improve medication safety in a population of rheumatology patients and evaluate its initial impact on guideline compliance. SUMMARY: Optimal pharmacologic care of patients with rheumatologic conditions often revolves around the use of specialty medications such as self-injectable biologics and infused therapies, including biologic response modifiers (BRMs), nearly all of which carry risks of serious adverse events due to their immune-suppressive properties. Possible adverse events include serious infections such as reactivation of tuberculosis (TB) and viral hepatitis B (HBV). This articles describes a pharmacist-managed virtual consult service introduced by a large university-affiliated health system in 2018 to integrate clinical, specialty pharmacy, and therapeutic infusion services for proactive medication and safety management for patients with rheumatologic conditions requiring specialty or infused medications. During a 4-month evaluation period, 157 referrals were sent to the consult service; of 137 consults included in the analysis, 42% were for self-injectable biologic medications, 28% were for intra-articular injections, 26% were for infusions, and 4% were for oral specialty medications. Forty-one percent of the pharmacy benefit consult orders required an intervention prior to submission of prior authorization requests. Most interventions (61%) were clinical in nature and involved the pharmacists ensuring that necessary laboratory work, clinical disease activity scoring, or radiographic imaging were completed prior to submission of the consult results for insurer approval. CONCLUSION: National rates of HBV screening and TB screening for patients prescribed BRMs continue to be suboptimal. The pharmacist-managed virtual consult service is a novel practice model to increase the screening rate to 100% to ensure the safety and appropriate monitoring of patients who are starting or continued on these complex medications
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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
The development of quantitative methods for residues in foods of animal origin with validation according to commission decision 2002/657/EC
No full textResidue methods were developed for the determination o f the coccidiostat robenidine in egg, the benzimidazoles (13) in liver (albendazole 2-amino albendazole sulphone, albendazole sulphoxide, albendazole sulphone, thiabendazole, oxfendazole or fenbendazole sulphoxide, hydroxy mebendazole, amino flubendazole, fenbendazole sulphone, oxibendazole, mebendazole, flubendazole and albendazole) and the triphenylmethane dyes (4) in salmon (malachite green, crystal violet, leucomalachite green and leucocrystal violet). The methods were validated according to the criteria defined in Commission Decision 2002/657/EC. Robenidine was extracted from egg with acetonitrile and the sample extracts analysed by liquid chromatography (LC) with ultraviolet (UV) spectrophotometric detection at 317 nm. The decision limit (CCa) and the detection capability (CCP) were 10 |xg.kg_I and 17 ng.kg'1 respectively.
The benzimidazoles were extracted from liver samples with ethyl acetate, sample extracts were defatted with hexane and cleaned up by automated solid-phase extraction (SPE) on Ci8 cartridges. Aliquots o f the extracts were analysed by LC with UV detection at 298 nm. The CCa values ranged between maximum residue limit (MRL) + 12% and MRL + 25% and the CCP ranged between MRL + 25% and MRL + 45%. The triphenylmethane dyes were extracted from salmon with acetonitrile and pH 3 buffer, extracts were cleaned up using cation-exchange SPE on sulphonic acid (SCX) cartridges and the sample extracts were analysed by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectroscopy (LC-MS/MS). CCa for malachite green, leucomalachite green, crystal violet and leucocrystal violet were 0.17, 0.15, 0.40 and 0.17 iig-kg'1 respectively and CCP were 0.30, 0.35, 0.80 and 0.32 ng.kg 1 respectively.
All research undertaken in this thesis was published in peer reviewed journals. This work has made a significant contribution to residues science as more novel methods have become available for surveillance of these drugs at national and international level. The methods developed in this research also provide a legal basis for prosecuting individuals who use these veterinary products without adhering to EU legislation. Ultimately the work enhances food safety as methods developed help to eliminate the hazards associated with drug residues entering the food chain
Outburst and post-outburst active phase of the black hole X-ray binary V4641 Sagittarii in 2002
No full textThe black hole X-ray binary V4641 Sgr experienced an outburst in 2002 May, which was detected at X-ray, optical, and radio wavelengths. The outburst lasted for only 6 days, but the object remained active for the next several months. Here, we report on the detailed properties of light curves during the outburst and the post-outburst active phase. We reveal that rapid optical variations of similar to 100 s became more prominent when a thermal flare weakened and the optical spectrum flattened in the I-c, R-c, and V-band regions. In conjunction with the flat spectrum in the radio ran-e, this strongly indicates that the origin of rapid variations is not thermal emission, but synchrotron emission.Just after the outburst, we detected repeated flares at optical and X-ray wavelengths. The optical and X-ray light curves exhibited a strong correlation with the X-rays lagging by about 7 min. The X-ray lag can be understood in terms of a hot region propagating into the inner region of the accretion flow. The short X-ray lag, however, requires modifications of this simple scenario to account for the short propagation time. We also detected high-amplitude rapid variations 50 days after the outburst, which we call optical flashes. During the most prominent optical flash, the object brightened by 1.2 mag only within 30 s. The released energy indicates that the emission source should be at the innermost region of the accretion flow
Survey of period variations of superhumps in SU UMa-type dwarf novae. VIII. The eighth year (2015-2016)
No full text© The Author 2016.Continuing the project described by Kato et al. (2009, PASJ, 61, S395), we collected times of superhump maxima for 128 SUUMa-type dwarf novae observed mainly during the 2015-2016 season and characterized these objects. The data have improved the distribution of orbital periods, the relation between the orbital period and the variation of superhumps, and the relation between period variations and the rebrightening type in WZSge-type objects. Coupled with new measurements of mass ratios using growing stages of superhumps, we now have a clearer and statistically greatly improved evolutionary path near the terminal stage of evolution of cataclysmic variables. Three objects (V452 Cas, KK Tel, and ASASSN-15cl) appear to have slowly growing superhumps, which is proposed to reflect the slow growth of the 3 : 1 resonance near the stability border. ASASSN-15sl, ASASSN-15ux, SDSSJ074859.55+312512.6, and CRTS J200331.3-284941 are newly identified eclipsing SUUMa-type (or WZ Sge-type) dwarf novae. ASASSN- 15cy has a short (0.050 d) superhump period and appears to belong to EI Psc-type objects with compact secondaries having an evolved core. ASASSN-15gn, ASASSN- 15hn, ASASSN-15kh, and ASASSN-16bu are candidate period bouncers with superhump periods longer than 0.06 d. We have newly obtained superhump periods for 79 objects and 13 orbital periods, including periods from early superhumps. In order that future observations will be more astrophysically beneficial and rewarding to observers, we propose guidelines on how to organize observations of various superoutbursts
Survey of period variations of superhumps in SU UMa-type dwarf novae. VIII. The eighth year (2015-2016)
No full text© The Author 2016.Continuing the project described by Kato et al. (2009, PASJ, 61, S395), we collected times of superhump maxima for 128 SUUMa-type dwarf novae observed mainly during the 2015-2016 season and characterized these objects. The data have improved the distribution of orbital periods, the relation between the orbital period and the variation of superhumps, and the relation between period variations and the rebrightening type in WZSge-type objects. Coupled with new measurements of mass ratios using growing stages of superhumps, we now have a clearer and statistically greatly improved evolutionary path near the terminal stage of evolution of cataclysmic variables. Three objects (V452 Cas, KK Tel, and ASASSN-15cl) appear to have slowly growing superhumps, which is proposed to reflect the slow growth of the 3 : 1 resonance near the stability border. ASASSN-15sl, ASASSN-15ux, SDSSJ074859.55+312512.6, and CRTS J200331.3-284941 are newly identified eclipsing SUUMa-type (or WZ Sge-type) dwarf novae. ASASSN- 15cy has a short (0.050 d) superhump period and appears to belong to EI Psc-type objects with compact secondaries having an evolved core. ASASSN-15gn, ASASSN- 15hn, ASASSN-15kh, and ASASSN-16bu are candidate period bouncers with superhump periods longer than 0.06 d. We have newly obtained superhump periods for 79 objects and 13 orbital periods, including periods from early superhumps. In order that future observations will be more astrophysically beneficial and rewarding to observers, we propose guidelines on how to organize observations of various superoutbursts
