134 research outputs found
On the Possession of Truth in Fiction: A.S. Byatt's Confrontation with the Role of the Author
No full textWhen Possession’s protagonist, a post-structuralist/deconstructionist scholar named Roland Michell, finds and takes drafts of a letter written by Victorian poet Randolph Henry Ash, A.S. Byatt re-opens the longstanding debate concerning the ownership of truth and an author’s role in textual interpretation, ultimately asking: Who owns the meaning of a text? And even more so, why? The act of theft from the private world of an author (and the journey it spurs) allows Possession to coincide with pre-formalist notions about the author—that the author and their life is central to the meaning of their work—despite a dominant knowledge of formalism, new criticism, structuralism, poststructuralism, and deconstruction in the contemporary timeline. However, Possession’s three-and-a-half-page postscript chapter unravels a novel-length endorsement of pre-formalist notions, affording the novel a neutral existence that does not condemn nor encourage reliance on the biography of the author. As a result, this essay finds that the novel acts as a means for readers to identify two fundamental ideas about authorship and to witness a regressive transition from a post- to pre-formalist literary approach. In fact, by depicting the common occurrence of exchange to curate an author’s belongings (despite their passing), Possession even suggests that the reconfiguration of the author is a response to capitalist commodification. And so, by utilizing the theories of Roland Barthes and Michel Foucault, this essay argues how Possession shows the role of capitalism and consumerism in the contemporary approach to literature
Interactions between wavemaking and the boundary layer and wake of a ship model
No full textA detailed experimental study has been conducted in a towing tank on a 3.048-meter-long mathematical model, known as the Wigley hull, to study the effects of viscosity on the wavemaking resistance of the ship form. The measurements included total resistance, viscous resistance, pressure distribution, and boundary-layer measurements of the model at zero trim and sinkage. The three-dimensional boundary-layer measurements extend from midship to a distance of 0.1 model lengths downstream of the stern and include the pressure distribution on the body, and three components of the mean velocity measured by means of a five-hole pitot tube. These measurements were carried out for four Froude numbers of 0.266, 0.313, 0.350 and 0.400. A numerical method, using the small-crossflow approximation of the boundary-layer equations, has been employed to calculate the boundary-layer characteristics along the streamlines on the hull which were obtained by using Guilloton's methode A comparison between calculation and experimental results has been made. The wave-resistance coefficients of the ship form have been calculated by the Michell integral, using the Michell thin-ship centerplane distribution, a hull surface distribution and a slender-body centerplane distribution. These calculations have been carried out for two different cases, 1) wave resistance calculation without the effect of the boundary layer and wake, and 2) calculations including these effects. These calculations have been carried out only to first order and have been compared with the residuary resistance and the wave-profile resistance
Testing Universal Gravitation in the Laboratory, or the Significance of Research on the mean Density of the Earth and Big G, 1798-1898: Changing Pursuits and long-term methodological-experimental Continuity
No full textThis paper seeks to provide a historically well-informed analysis of an important post-Newtonian area of research in experimental physics between 1798 and 1898, namely the determination of the mean density of the earth and, by the end of the nineteenth century, the gravitational constant. Traditionally, research on these matters is seen as a case of ‘puzzle solving.’ In this paper, I show that such focus does not do justice to the evidential significance of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century experimental research on the mean density of the earth and the gravitational constant. As Newton’s theory of universal gravitation was mainly based on astronomical observation, it remained to be shown that Newton’s law of universal gravitation did not break down at terrestrial distances. In this context, Cavendish’ experiment and related nineteenth-century experiments played a decisive role, for they provided converging and increasingly stronger evidence for the universality of Newton’s theory of gravitation. More precisely, I shall argue that, as the accuracy and precision of the experimental apparatuses and the procedures to eliminate external disturbances involved increasingly improved, the empirical support for the universality of Newton’s theory of gravitation improved correspondingly
provided that the source of such material is fully acknowledged. State Based Key Hop Protocol
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State Based Key Hop Protocol: A Lightweight Security Protocol For Wireless Networks
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Maintaining a common arbitrary unit in social measurement
No full textIn educational assessment, it is common to equate test forms in order to draw comparisons between different populations of students. The process of test equating presents a number of challenges, many of which relate inherently to the problem of maintaining a common unit and origin.
In order to develop a general theoretical approach to maintaining a common unit and origin in the measurement of quantitative attributes, the role of the unit is carefully examined. Classical physics is explicitly adopted as the guiding paradigm during the investigations throughout the dissertation. Accordingly, the central objective is to develop a theoretical foundation for maintaining a common unit and origin which meets two criteria: (i) it must be congruent with the definition of measurement in physics captured in the classical theory of measurement (Michell, 1999); and (ii) it must meet a key requirement of measurement in the physical sciences identified by Rasch (1960/1980). Rasch identified the relevant requirement, that of invariant comparison, based on analysis of Newton's second law and showed that the Principle of Invariant Comparison is formally embodied in his measuring function for dichotomous data (Rasch, 1960/1980). This model provides the basis for the development and exposition of general concepts and principles in the dissertation.
In order to achieve the central objective, the unit is made formally explicit and specified in relation to the experimental frame of reference. Rasch (1977) defined a Specified Frame of Reference (SFR) in terms of a collection of objects, a collection of agents, and outcomes of the interaction between these. Drawing on a fundamental distinction introduced by Andrich (2003), the unit of a SFR is referred to as a natural unit and is distinguished from an arbitrary unit, the magnitude of which is theoretically independent of any particular SFR and instrument contained within. From this distinction, a definition of discrimination arises naturally; a definition that is also congruent with classical physics. The distinction and related definitions provide the basis for derivation of a general form of Rasch's measuring function for dichotomous data, referred to as the Extended Frame of Reference Model (EFRM). It is shown that the EFRM provides a rational basis for maintaining a common unit and origin in assessment contexts involving two or more Specified Frames of Reference.
Simulation and empirical studies are employed to illustrate application of the EFRM. These studies also serve to illustrate that quantitative hypotheses entailed by the EFRM are open to empirical tests by providing a context for the use of graphical methods and statistical tests of fit. Empirical investigations are used to illustrate consequences of differences between natural units in the context of applied educational assessment. The studies also provide a context in which to characterise the model, and the structure of data that it entails. Although the simulation studies demonstrate the basic efficacy of the model, they also indicate scope for improvement in terms of the precision of estimates. To explore possible approaches to refining the estimation process, Maximum Likelihood (ML) equations are derived and examined. Firstly, Joint Maximum Likelihood (JML) equations are presented. Following this, Conditional Maximum Likelihood (CML) equations are derived. It is shown that while the CML equations permit separation of the person and item parameters, item locations are expressed in terms of natural, rather than arbitrary, units. A particular approach is proposed, emphasising links to the classical theory and the Principle of Invariant Comparison. In considering the proposed approach, a distinguishing feature of the definition of discrimination is highlighted: specifically, the nature of its definition represents the importance of relationships between quantitative attributes, and the specific structure of these relationships, to the measurement of any particular attribute. Although it is not possible to fully study this feature given the scope of the work, it is a key to the implications of the general theoretical framework embodied in the EFRM. Accordingly, these implications are touched on before concluding the dissertation
Advances in ITP - therapy and quality of life - a patient survey.
No full textCurrent guidelines recommend glucocorticoids and splenectomy as standard 1(st) and 2(nd) line treatments for chronic immune thrombocytopenia (ITP). We sought to find out how German ITP-patients are treated with respect to these guidelines. Members of a patient support association ≥18 years with a self-reported history of chronic ITP>12 months were surveyed with a web-based questionnaire. 122 questionnaires were evaluated. 70% of patients had chronic ITP for more than 5 years and 20% an average platelet count of ≤30·10(9)/L. 41% of the patients reported haematomas or petechiae more than once or twice and up to 12 times or more per year and 17% oropharyngeal and nasal bleeds. 11% had been admitted to hospital during the last 12 months. 88% had received or currently receive glucocorticoids, 27% were splenectomised. IVIG had been given to 55%, rituximab to 22%, anti-D to 12%, ciclosporin to 7%, while complementary and alternative medical treatments had been used by 36%. 50 women responded to questions concerning pregnancy. 14 (28%) had been advised not to become pregnant. 23 reported pregnancies and 10 (44%) required treatment for their ITP during pregnancy. Glucocorticoids are the most common therapy for chronic ITP but complementary and alternative treatments already come second and less than ⅓ of patients are splenectomised. This and the frequent use of complementary medicines suggests patients' dissatisfaction with conventional approaches. Many patients receive off-label therapies. There is a major need for adequate counselling and care for pregnant ITP-patients
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