Menz f'Narnia : (lil hinn mil) l-ansjeta tal-influwenza letterarja fil-qari mill-gdid tad-dramm 'socjali-simboliku' ta' Francis Ebejer

In the relatively short history of Maltese literature and its critique, literary influence was hardly ever understood as an opportunity for critics to explore the relationship, at times unconscious and elusive, between Maltese texts and works written overseas. This study renews the sporadic tradition employed by local critics like Ġuzè Diacono who drew closer Il-Fidwa tal-Bdiewa by Ninu Cremona, a poetic play of high historical value in the Maltese theatre context, with I Promessi Sposi by Alessandro Manzoni. Diacono’s study can serve as an analytical model of how to recognise the literary influence by a foreign literary work on a Maltese work. This study attempts to modify Diacono’s metaphor of “debt,” with which he describes the phenomenon of literary influence, to the more positive metaphor of “inheritance,” as this evokes a sense of continuity, safeguarding and renewal; it promulgates the idea that the literary wealth is not meant to be lost in the dust-covered books forgotten on shelves but has a dynamic nature as it is inherited from one literary work to another. Writers will remain intrinsically connected, like links in a chain, with what was written before them. Harold Bloom is quite extremist in interpreting the notion of literary influence. He argues that anyone who came after Shakespeare was influenced by him. Is this a misfortune or a blessing? Literary influence, as it has no spatial or temporal limits and is not restricted to one artistic form, is more of an advantage than a form of inevitable curse. It is, above all, a source of inspiration. An artwork can inspire the creation of another artwork. The main basic assumption is that when Ebejer wrote Menz he had already been exposed to the popular narrative The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. Menz was performed at the Manoel Theatre, more than a decade after the publication of the work of Lewis. As Ebejer lived and studied in England and was a teacher of English, he was surely au courant of the recent publications within English literature. Hence, it is highly plausible that the Maltese playwright, has read the fictitious narrative set in Narnia. This study is based on the fundamental similarities between these two literary works – a correspondence that in my opinion is a clear manifestation of the literary influence that stimulated Ebejer to produce an original piece of literature. It will show how for Ebejer, the narrative of Lewis served only as an inspirational starting point.peer-reviewe

Evidence for BCS Diquark Condensation in the 3+1d Lattice NJL Model

We present results of numerical simulations of the 3+1d Nambu - Jona-Lasinio model with a non-zero baryon chemical potential mu, with particular emphasis on the superfluid diquark condensate and associated susceptibilities. The results, when extrapolated to the zero diquark source limit, are consistent with the existence of a non-zero BCS condensate at high baryon density. The nature of the infinite volume and zero temperature limits are discussed.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure

Assessing the Effectiveness of Phone Call Proactive Naloxone Co-Prescribing Enrollment

Opioid use is increasing at never-before-seen rates. As a result, it is imperative that medical facilities educate and provide resources for those who may be at risk of an opioid overdose. With our study, we aimed to see the demographics of our population here at Rowan Medicine and identify associations of those participating in our naloxone co-prescription program. Majority of enrollees in our program were aged 50 or older and identified as Caucasian. A large proportion also reported being unable to work. Given this information, improvements in our naloxone coprescription program may include spreading more awareness of the benefits of naloxone to minority populations, as well as to the younger population at risk of an opioid overdose

What Motivates Patients to Enroll in a Naloxone Co-Prescribing Program?

Patients were contacted via phone call to establish knowledge of and prescription status regarding naloxone. They were then invited to enroll in a research study consisting of two online surveys. The patients who had been prescribed naloxone by the time the study had started ranked being persuaded by a medical professional as being the most important reason for accepting the naloxone prescription. Insufficient data collected during the six-week time frame to draw statistically significant conclusions about what motivates patients to receive naloxone co-prescriptions. Correlations seen in this study are interesting and warrant further investigation

Measurement of the muon anomaly to high and even higher precision

Our recent series of measurements at Brookhaven National Laboratory determined the muon anomalous magnetic moment \amu to a precision of 0.5 ppm. The final result--representing the average of five running periods using both positive and negative muons--is \amu ^\pm = 11 659 208(6) \times 10^{-10}. It lies 2.7 standard deviations above the standard model expectation, which is based on updates given at this Workshop. Importantly, only the $e^{+}e^{-}$ annihilation and new KLOE radiative return data are used for the hadronic vacuum polarization input. Because the systematic limit has not been reached in the experiment, a new effort has been proposed and approved with the highest scientific priority at Brookhaven. The goal is an experimental uncertainty of 0.2 ppm, a 2.5-fold reduction in the overall experimental uncertainty. To do so will require a suite of upgrades and several qualitative changes in the philosophy of how the measurement is carried out. I discuss the old and new experiments with a particular emphasis on the technical matters that require change for the future.Comment: 10 pages, Proceedings of the 8th International Workshop on Tau-Lepton Physic

Feminine Romanticism: a rereading of Dun Karm

In my paper I attempt to break down a barrier that restricted the interpretation of the most prominent Romantic poet in the Maltese literary context. My rereading of some of Dun Karm’s poems goes against the conventional perception that always construed the national poet as the paradigm of the local Romantic era and, as a consequence, as the anathema of a feminist approach vis-à-vis the female characters he depicts in his poetry. Often, critics classify authors into rigid categories that hardly leave any possibility for reinterpretation; however, Thompson, in “Errors and Labors: Feminism and Early Shakespearean Comedy” inquires how even Shakespeare, considered by some as a chauvinist playwright, can also be assessed in this new light. The freeing from the liberal ideology that ironically fosters prejudices towards poets like Dun Karm could pave the way for considering the innovative idea that a male poet’s expression may also be “feminine.” Mellor in Gender and Romanticism, introduces the concept of “feminine Romanticism” and suggests that this does not pertain exclusively to female writers; she explains how poets like Keats expressed feminine feelings in his verses. As Shakespeare and Keats are being reread, I propose the same for Dun Karm.peer-reviewe

Why do we need the new BNL muon g-2 experiment now?

New final results from the CMD-2 and SND e+e- annihilation experiments, together with radiative return measurements from BaBar, lead to recent improvements in the standard model prediction for the muon anomaly. The uncertainty at 0.48 ppm--a largely data-driven result--is now slightly below the experimental uncertainty of 0.54 ppm. The difference, a_mu(expt)- a_mu(SM) = (27.6 +/- 8.4) x 10^-10, represents a 3.3 standard deviation effect. At this level, it is one of the most compelling indicators of physics beyond the standard model and, at the very least, a major constraint for speculative new theories such as SUSY or extra dimensions. Others at this Workshop detailed further planned standard model theory improvements to a_mu. Here I outline how BNL E969 will achieve a factor of 2 or more reduction in the experimental uncertainty. The new experiment is based on a proven technique and track record. I argue that this work must be started now to have maximal impact on the interpretation of the new physics anticipated to be unearthed at the LHC.Comment: Invited Talk, Tau-06 Workshop, 10 pages, 5 figure

Core design for a small HTGR

Originally presented as the first author's thesis (Ph. D.), M.I.T. Dept. of Nuclear Engineering, 1976Includes bibliographical references (leaves 452-458

Chiral Limit of Strongly Coupled Lattice Gauge Theories

We construct a new and efficient cluster algorithm for updating strongly coupled U(N) lattice gauge theories with staggered fermions in the chiral limit. The algorithm uses the constrained monomer-dimer representation of the theory and should also be of interest to researchers working on other models with similar constraints. Using the new algorithm we address questions related to the chiral limit of strongly coupled U(N) gauge theories beyond the mean field approximation. We show that the infinite volume chiral condensate is non-zero in three and four dimensions. However, on a square lattice of size $L$ we find $\sum_x \sim L^{2-\eta}$ for large $L$ where $\eta = 0.420(3)/N + 0.078(4)/N^2$. These results differ from an earlier conclusion obtained using a different algorithm. Here we argue that the earlier calculations were misleading due to uncontrolled autocorrelation times encountered by the previous algorithm.Comment: 36 Pages, 9 figures, aps revtex forma

TeV Astrophysics Constraints on Planck Scale Lorentz Violation

We analyze observational constraints from TeV astrophysics on Lorentz violating nonlinear dispersion for photons and electrons without assuming any a priori equality between the photon and electron parameters. The constraints arise from thresholds for vacuum Cerenkov radiation, photon decay and photo-production of electron-positron pairs. We show that the parameter plane for cubic momentum terms in the dispersion relations is constrained to an order unity region in Planck units. We find that the threshold configuration can occur with an asymmetric distribution of momentum for pair creation, and with a hard photon for vacuum Cerenkov radiation.Comment: 4 pages, RevTeX4, 1 figure. Some references and a footnote added, improved discussion on the photon annihilation and GZK cutoff. Minor changes of wording. Main results unchanged. Version to appear as a Rapid Communication in PR