Panel I

“How? Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Still Tomorrow How?” Elements of Elegy in Faulkner\u27s As I Lay Dying, Absalom, Absalom!, and Requiem for a Nun / Nehama Baker, Tel-Aviv University Backwater Rising, Men Sinking Down: Reading Faulkner\u27s Old Man with the Delta Blues / Tim A. Ryan, Northern Illinois University On Plots and Monsters in The Unvanquished / Irene Visser, University of Groninge

Analysis of Log Hauling Vehicle Accidents in the State of Georgia, USA, 1988–2004

Mechanical failure rates associated with logging vehicle accidents in Georgia are dramatically lower today than they were in 1988–1991 before these trucks became subject to random roadside inspections. Mechanical failure dropped by half for logging tractor-trailers (from 10.9% to 4.8%) and by two-thirds for logging trucks (from 12.9% to 4.2%). Mechanical failure is now the seventh most cited contributing factor in logging tractor-trailer accidents instead of first as it was prior to 1991. Specific types of mechanical failures have also declined sharply. Three potential failure items that are visually checked during roadside inspections – brakes, slick tires, and lights – have seen the most dramatic declines. Brake failure has dropped by two-thirds and improper lights as a factor have almost disappeared. Driver impairment due to use of alcohol or drugs today occurs in less than 0.5 percent of accidents. Factors associated with logging vehicle accidents today in Georgia closely resemble those associated with all trucking accidents generally. Accidents per million tons of wood consumed, however, has increased steadily from 11 in 1991 to 19 per million tons in 2003

Paradoxical psychometric functions ("swan functions") are explained by dilution masking in four stimulus dimensions

The visual system dissects the retinal image into millions of local analyses along numerous visual dimensions. However, our perceptions of the world are not fragmentary, so further processes must be involved in stitching it all back together. Simply summing up the responses would not work because this would convey an increase in image contrast with an increase in the number of mechanisms stimulated. Here, we consider a generic model of signal combination and counter-suppression designed to address this problem. The model is derived and tested for simple stimulus pairings (e.g. A + B), but is readily extended over multiple analysers. The model can account for nonlinear contrast transduction, dilution masking, and signal combination at threshold and above. It also predicts nonmonotonic psychometric functions where sensitivity to signal A in the presence of pedestal B first declines with increasing signal strength (paradoxically dropping below 50% correct in two-interval forced choice), but then rises back up again, producing a contour that follows the wings and neck of a swan. We looked for and found these "swan" functions in four different stimulus dimensions (ocularity, space, orientation, and time), providing some support for our proposal

Appointment with Death

One of Agatha Christie’s most suspenseful plays, the story begins with a group of tourists visiting the ancient town of Petra in Jordan. Set during the 1940s, the world is suffering from the effects of the War, when suddenly danger, fear, and murder intrude upon their lives much more closely than any of them imagined. As they settle into a grand and luxurious hotel, mysterious things begin to occur, and strange characters seem to be lurking everywhere. When someone is murdered, it seems obvious that the culprit must be among the group of travelers. Could the murderer be among the locals who work in the hotel? This play became one of the most enduring and popular stories ever written by Christie, as it pulls the audiences into a world of intrigue, suspense, and danger in an exotic and unfamiliar land.https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/theatre_productions/1041/thumbnail.jp

Contrast and lustre:a model that accounts for eleven different forms of contrast discrimination in binocular vision

Our goal here is a more complete understanding of how information about luminance contrast is encoded and used by the binocular visual system. In two-interval forced-choice experiments we assessed observers' ability to discriminate changes in contrast that could be an increase or decrease of contrast in one or both eyes, or an increase in one eye coupled with a decrease in the other (termed IncDec). The base or pedestal contrasts were either in-phase or out-of-phase in the two eyes. The opposed changes in the IncDec condition did not cancel each other out, implying that along with binocular summation, information is also available from mechanisms that do not sum the two eyes' inputs. These might be monocular mechanisms. With a binocular pedestal, monocular increments of contrast were much easier to see than monocular decrements. These findings suggest that there are separate binocular (B) and monocular (L,R) channels, but only the largest of the three responses, max(L,B,R), is available to perception and decision. Results from contrast discrimination and contrast matching tasks were described very accurately by this model. Stimuli, data, and model responses can all be visualized in a common binocular contrast space, allowing a more direct comparison between models and data. Some results with out-of-phase pedestals were not accounted for by the max model of contrast coding, but were well explained by an extended model in which gratings of opposite polarity create the sensation of lustre. Observers can discriminate changes in lustre alongside changes in contrast

Binocular summation revisited: beyond √2

Our ability to detect faint images is better with two eyes than with one, but how great is this improvement? A meta-analysis of 65 studies published across more than five decades shows definitively that psychophysical binocular summation (the ratio of binocular to monocular contrast sensitivity) is significantly greater than the canonical value of √2. Several methodological factors were also found to affect summation estimates. Binocular summation was significantly affected by both the spatial and temporal frequency of the stimulus, and stimulus speed (the ratio of temporal to spatial frequency) systematically predicts summation levels, with slow speeds (high spatial and low temporal frequencies) producing the strongest summation. We furthermore show that empirical summation estimates are affected by the ratio of monocular sensitivities, which varies across individuals, and is abnormal in visual disorders such as amblyopia. A simple modeling framework is presented to interpret the results of summation experiments. In combination with the empirical results, this model suggests that there is no single value for binocular summation, but instead that summation ratios depend on methodological factors that influence the strength of a nonlinearity occurring early in the visual pathway, before binocular combination of signals. Best practice methodological guidelines are proposed for obtaining accurate estimates of neural summation in future studies, including those involving patient groups with impaired binocular vision

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

C.S. Lewis’ heroic tale of love, faith, courage, and giving; the life and death struggle for control of Narnia; and the grandeur of the triumph of good over evil has been faithfully captured for the stage by acclaimed playwright Joseph Robinette. Robinette is one of the most produced playwrights for family audiences in the world. He has dramatized the exciting story of three children who join the fight against the White Witch, with the Lion Aslan as their leader and protector. This production will delight audiences of all ages, true to the original Chronicles of Narnia books. Fans of Lewis’ work will find added insight into the author’s views of God, faith, and the promise of heaven to come.https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/theatre_productions/1039/thumbnail.jp

Intensive care in severe malaria: report from the task force on tropical diseases by the World Federation of Societies of Intensive and Critical Care Medicine

Severe malaria is common in tropical countries in Africa, Asia, Oceania and South and Central America. It may also occur in travelers returning from endemic areas. Plasmodium falciparum accounts for most cases, although P vivax is increasingly found to cause severe malaria in Asia. Cerebral malaria is common in children in Africa, manifests as coma and seizures, and has a high morbidity and mortality. In other regions, adults may also develop cerebral malaria but neurological sequelae in survivors are rare. Acute kidney injury, liver dysfunction, thrombocytopenia, disseminated intravascular coagulopathy (DIC) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) are also common in severe malaria. Metabolic abnormalities include hypoglycemia, hyponatremia and lactic acidosis. Bacterial infection may coexist in patients presenting with shock or ARDS and this along with a high parasite load has a high mortality. Intravenous artesunate has replaced quinine as the antimalarial agent of choice. Critical care management as per severe sepsis is also applicable to severe malaria. Aggressive fluid boluses may not be appropriate in children. Blood transfusions may be required and treatment of seizures and raised intracranial pressure is important in cerebral malaria in children. Mortality in severe disease ranges from 8 to 30% despite treatment