Editorial In(ter)ference: Errata and Aporia in Lolita

Identifié pour la première fois en 1976, le problème de calendrier de Lolita—les dates contradictoires entre la confession manuscrite de Humbert et l'avant-propos de John Ray—reste l'énigme la plus coriace du roman. Parce que le problème est centré sur la notion d'erreur textuelle et sur la fiabilité des affirmations de Ray selon lesquelles ce dernier aurait corrigé “les solécismes évidents” du manuscrit d'Humbert, cet article prend comme point de départ la preuve de l'existence d'errata textuels dans Lolita : une liste de trente-et-un solécismes figure à la fin de l'article. Alors que les errata ne nous révèlent que peu de choses sur le problème de calendrier, il existe une preuve supplémentaire—tissée dans la structure du roman et qui émerge dans ses liens avec “'That in Aleppo Once…'”, la nouvelle écrite en 1943—qui conforte la thèse selon laquelle Humbert a fabriqué une bonne partie de sa confession, et surtout ses neuf derniers chapitres. Dès lors, l'avant-propos de Ray joue un rôle crucial dans la démarcation des limites du “vrai” dans le roman. Toujours cafouilleur et bouffon, Ray laisse des traces clairement identifiables dans le manuscrit de Humbert, ce qui sert à réfuter la thèse selon laquelle Ray n'est que l'invention d' Humbert, et fait émerger la nécessité d'une théorie alternative du “vrai” dans les derniers chapitres du roman. La théorie esquissée dans cet article pose les jalons d'une réconciliation des dates contradictoires du texte et avance l'innocence de la victime d'Humbert. Finalement, le roman est organisé pour dissimuler autant qu'il révèle, léguant ainsi aux lecteurs errata et apories, erreur et incertitude—les bases mêmes de l'esthétique de Nabokov.First identified in 1976, Lolita's calendar problem—the discrepant dates between Humbert's manuscript confession and John Ray's Foreword—remains the most stubborn enigma in the novel. Because the problem hinges on the notion of textual error, and on the reliability of Ray's claim that he has corrected the “obvious solecisms” in Humbert's manuscript, this paper begins by establishing the existence of Lolita's textual errata: a list of thirty-one solecisms appears at the end of the article. While the errata tell us little about the calendar problem, there is additional evidence—woven into the novel's structure and emerging in its connections to “'That in Aleppo Once…'”, Nabokov's 1943 short story—to support the conclusion that Humbert has fabricated much of his confession, and especially its last nine chapters. John Ray's Foreword, then, plays a crucial role in demarcating the boundaries of the “real” in the novel. Still a bumbler and buffoon, Ray does leave a detectable presence in Humbert's manuscript, a finding that serves to rebut the claim that Ray is Humbert's invention and which necessitates an alternate theory of the “real” in the novel's concluding chapters. The theory outlined in this paper begins to reconcile the text's discrepant dates and posits the innocence of Humbert's victim. Ultimately, the novel is engineered to conceal as much as it reveals, to leave readers with errata and aporia, error and uncertainty—fundamental conditions of Nabokov's aesthetic

Mediating and Moderating Effects on the Association between Vision Loss and Depression among an Older Population

The purpose of this study was to gain a more holistic view of the association between depression and visual functioning by examining possible mediating and moderating factors. Previous research has established a linkage between low life satisfaction and coping skills and depressive symptoms. Results of this study contribute to this literature by indicating that life satisfaction partially mediates the relationship between visual functioning and depression. Furthermore, a significant coping by visual functioning interaction was discovered, revealing that among this sample, visual impairment is associated with higher levels of depression among individuals with low coping skills; however, little effect was found for individuals with high coping skills. Results provide support for the importance of early screening of satisfaction with life and coping among older individuals experiencing age-related visual impairment

Reviews

500 Computing Tips for Teachers and Lecturers by Phil Race and Steve McDowell, London: Kogan Page, 1996. ISBN: 0–7494–1931–8. 135 pages, paperback. £15.99

Australian commonwealth statutory authorities : their contribution to an accountable public administration

The widespread use of the statutory authority has long been seen as a major characteristic of Australian public administration. A major theme in the literature on statutory authorities in countries such as Australia whose core institutions of government are based on the Westminster model is the problem of accountability which these bodies are alleged to cause. This thesis addresses that problem in the context of Australian Commonwealth government. The general aim of the thesis is to challenge the traditional view that the statutory authority is not a suitable administrative form upon which to build an accountable public administration. It begins by showing how the dominant conception of accountability associated with the Westminster 'syndrome' of ministerial control of administration and ministerial responsibility to parliament has shaped, and prejudiced, the understanding of accountability in Commonwealth statutory authorities. Next, it is argued that there is less difference between the accountability of Australian Commonwealth statutory authorities and that of ministerial departments than is often supposed. The thesis then questions the continuing application to statutory authorities of assumptions about accountability which have for some time been under serious challenge in Australian public administration. It is argued that, considered in the light of an understanding of accountability informed by contemporary developments in Australia and elsewhere, Commonwealth statutory authorities demonstrate a reasonably healthy degree of accountability and, perhaps more importantly, reveal the potential to play an important role in the development of a more accountable public administration. Central to the thesis is an attempt to develop an appropriate conceptual framework for understanding the public accountability of statutory authorities. To this end, the root idea of accountability is identified as the satisfaction of diverse expectations and concerns about the exercise of administrative discretion. It is then argued that three conceptions of, or perspectives on, accountability may be usefully distinguished. Alongside the traditional notion of 'parliamentary control', 'managerialist' and 'constituency relations' conceptions are introduced. The differences between the three may be summarized as follows: parliamentary control relies heavily on essentially bureaucratic relationships of close supervision or control of the administrative agency; the managerialist conception employs quasi-contractual relations, emphasizing strategic control and periodic evaluation; and the constituency relations conception rests on an essentially political set of relationships, emphasizing the responsiveness through various mechanisms of the agency to a range of interested constituencies. The three conceptions are presented as complementary rather than mutually exclusive ways of viewing accountability. All have a role to play in contemporary public administration, and indeed all three may be utilized in different mixes to engineer a desired level and form of public accountability for particular statutory authorities. Accountability regimes, it is suggested, ought to be tailored to the nature and mission of the individual administrative organization. It is also suggested, finally, that debate over the accountability of statutory authorities may be viewed as an aspect of a wider debate over the relative merits of competing models of democracy. Statutory authorities have a role to play in a system of government based on dispersal of power and widespread responsiveness. They allow administrative tasks to be located in a wide range of purpose-built administrative agencies with a wide range of purpose-related means of responding to the concerns and expectations of many relevant constituencies regarding the use of administrative discretion

Can virtual nature improve patient experiences and memories of dental treatment? A study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Background Dental anxiety and anxiety-related avoidance of dental care create significant problems for patients and the dental profession. Distraction interventions are used in daily medical practice to help patients cope with unpleasant procedures. There is evidence that exposure to natural scenery is beneficial for patients and that the use of virtual reality (VR) distraction is more effective than other distraction interventions, such as watching television. The main aim of this randomized controlled trial is to determine whether the use of VR during dental treatment can improve the overall dental experience and recollections of treatment for patients, breaking the negative cycle of memories of anxiety leading to further anxiety, and avoidance of future dental appointments. Additionally, the aim is to test whether VR benefits dental patients with all levels of dental anxiety or whether it could be especially beneficial for patients suffering from higher levels of dental anxiety. The third aim is to test whether the content of the VR distraction can make a difference for its effectiveness by comparing two types of virtual environments, a natural environment and an urban environment. Methods/design The effectiveness of VR distraction will be examined in patients 18 years or older who are scheduled to undergo dental treatment for fillings and/or extractions, with a maximum length of 30 minutes. Patients will be randomly allocated into one of three groups. The first group will be exposed to a VR of a natural environment. The second group will be exposed to a VR of an urban environment. A third group consists of patients who receive standard care (control group). Primary outcomes relate to patients’ memories of the dental treatment one week after treatment: (a) remembered pain, (b) intrusive thoughts and (c) vividness of memories. Other measures of interest are the dental experience, the treatment experience and the VR experience. Trial registration Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN4144280

Electrostatic Solar Sail: A Propellantless Propulsion Concept for an Interstellar Probe Mission

The propulsion of an electrostatic solar sail (E Sail) is obtained by extracting momentum from the solar wind through electrostatic repulsion of the positively charged solar wind ions (see Figure 1). The positively charged solar wind protons are deflected by the electric field created around the tethers.This electric field grows in diameter as the spacecraft moves away from the Sun, therefore the E Sail effective area grows. The growth of the E-Sail effective area allows the propulsive force to decrease as 1/r up to distances of 20 AU as it moves away from the Sun, unlike solar sail propulsion whose thrust decreases as 1/r 2 but only to distances of 5AU. This propulsive force is created without using propellant and, therefore, E-sail avoids both the mass and complexity of chemical rockets (that require large amounts of propellant, propellant storage tanks, plumbing, valves, and insulation)

Jet Noise Modeling for Suppressed and Unsuppressed Aircraft in Simulated Flight

This document describes the development of further extensions and improvements to the jet noise model developed by Modern Technologies Corporation (MTC) for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The noise component extraction and correlation approach, first used successfully by MTC in developing a noise prediction model for two-dimensional mixer ejector (2DME) nozzles under the High Speed Research (HSR) Program, has been applied to dual-stream nozzles, then extended and improved in earlier tasks under this contract. Under Task 6, the coannular jet noise model was formulated and calibrated with limited scale model data, mainly at high bypass ratio, including a limited-range prediction of the effects of mixing-enhancement nozzle-exit chevrons on jet noise. Under Task 9 this model was extended to a wider range of conditions, particularly those appropriate for a Supersonic Business Jet, with an improvement in simulated flight effects modeling and generalization of the suppressor model. In the present task further comparisons are made over a still wider range of conditions from more test facilities. The model is also further generalized to cover single-stream nozzles of otherwise similar configuration. So the evolution of this prediction/analysis/correlation approach has been in a sense backward, from the complex to the simple; but from this approach a very robust capability is emerging. Also from these studies, some observations emerge relative to theoretical considerations. The purpose of this task is to develop an analytical, semi-empirical jet noise prediction method applicable to takeoff, sideline and approach noise of subsonic and supersonic cruise aircraft over a wide size range. The product of this task is an even more consistent and robust model for the Footprint/Radius (FOOTPR) code than even the Task 9 model. The model is validated for a wider range of cases and statistically quantified for the various reference facilities. The possible role of facility effects will thus be documented. Although the comparisons that can be accomplished within the limited resources of this task are not comprehensive, they provide a broad enough sampling to enable NASA to make an informed decision on how much further effort should be expended on such comparisons. The improved finalized model is incorporated into the FOOTPR code. MTC has also supported the adaptation of this code for incorporation in NASA s Aircraft Noise Prediction Program (ANOPP)