Gregory of Tours, Political Criticism and Lower-Class Violence

The aim of this paper is to add to the growing scholarship on Gregory of Tours' Histories by investigating a series of episodes of lower class violence that occurred in Book VII of that work. It is hoped that this study will demonstrate an additional layer to Gregory's work, and add to our understanding of his perception of authority in contemporary Merovingian society. It is also hoped that, in addition to investigation Gregory's agenda, some light will be cast on the lower classes of Merovingian Gaul and their potential for 'independent' acts of violence.O objetivo deste trabalho é contribuir com o crescente estudo sobre as Histórias de Gregório de Tours através de uma série de episódios de violência na classe baixa que ocorrem no Livro VII desta obra. Espera-se que o estudo demonstre uma camada adicional ao trabalho de Gregório, e contribua com nosso entendimento de sua percepção de autoridade na sociedade merovíngia de então. Espera-se também, em acréscimo a investigação da agenda política de Gregório, lançar luz sobre as classes baixas da Gália merovíngia e seu potencial para atos de violência 'independentes'

Axions and SN1987A

The effect of free-streaming axion emission on numerical models for the cooling of the newly born neutron star associated with SN1987A is considered. It is found that for an axion mass of greater than approximately 10 to the -3 eV, axion emission shortens the duration of the expected neutrino burst so significantly that it would be inconsistent with the neutrino observations made by the Kamiokande II and Irvine-Michigan-Brookhaven detectors. However, the possibility has not been investigated that axion trapping (which should occur for masses greater than or equal to 0.02 eV) sufficiently reduces axion emission so that axion masses greater than approximately 2 eV would be consistent with the neutrino observations

The Lives of Others: The Colonial Gaze in Albanian Film Coproductions

Due to Albania’s almost complete isolation from the rest of the world during the development of its film industry in the Cold War, Albanian cinema is understudied compared to other European national cinemas, but the country’s geopolitical importance has meant that nations hoping to secure their interests in Albania heavily invest in film coproductions. As a result of this foreign influence, these Albanian films may reflect the gaze of the foreign coproducers more than the self-perception of Albanians. Filmmakers from these nations use the Albanian setting and identity to discuss issues of identity in their own countries because of the country’s importance to their nations’ colonial interests. This paper critically examines this colonial influence in two films produced with Albanian cooperation: The Great Albanian Warrior Skanderbeg (USSR/Albania, 1953), a blatantly colonizing film that reinterprets medieval Albanian history as an idealized model for Soviet history and society, and Lamerica (Italy, 1994), which uses the recent collapse of communism to complicate Italian assumptions about their own identity\u27s stability. In both films, whether the officially coproduced Skanderbeg or the Italian production Lamerica, Albania is being used as a setting to say what the producers want to say about both it and their own country, without any input from the Albanians themselves

Projecting the Passion: The Invention of the \u27Judeo-Christian Tradition\u27 in the Roman/Biblical Genre of Postwar American Film

This paper traces the changes in the American view of the relationship between Jews and Christians from the First World War to the present as reflected in motion pictures from the earliest of the biblical epics to Mel Gibson\u27s The Passion of Christ. It demonstrates that the Judea-Christian tradition as it has developed since the Second World War is a political theme that functioned first as anti-fascist propaganda and then as anticommunist propaganda that portrayed Jews and Christians as good and free in contrast to Nazis and communists; and it shows what an effective medium the movies were in selling this idea

Axions and SN 1987A: Axion trapping

If an axion of mass between about 10(exp -3) eV and 1 eV exists, axion emission would have significantly affected the cooling of the nascent neutron star associated with SN 1987A. For an axion of mass less than about 10(exp -2) eV, axions produced deep inside the neutron star simply stream out; in a previous paper this case has been addressed. Remarkably, for an axion of mass greater than about 10(exp -2) eV axions would, like neutrinos, have a mean-free path that is smaller than the size of a neutron star, and thus would become 'trapped' and radiated from an axion sphere. In this paper the trapping regime is treated by using numerical models of the initial cooling of a hot neutron star that incorporate a leakage approximation scheme for axion-energy transport. The axion opacity is computed due to inverse nucleon-nucleon, axion bremsstrahlung, and numerical models are used to calculate the integrated axion luminosity, the temperature of the axion sphere, and the effect of axion emission on the neutrino bursts detected by the Kamiokande 2 (K2) and Irvine-Michigan-Brookhaven (IMB) water-Cherenkov detectors. The larger the axion mass, the stronger the trapping and the smaller the axion luminosity. The earlier estimate is confirmed and refined of the axion mass above which trapping is so strong that axion emission does not significantly affect the neutrino burst. Based upon the neutrino-burst duration--the most sensitive barometer of axion cooling--it is concluded that for an axion mass of greater than about 0.3 eV, axion emission would not have had a significant effect on the neutrino bursts detected by K2 and IMB. The present work, together with the previous work, strongly suggests that an axion with mass in the interval 10(exp -3) eV to 0.3 eV is excluded by SN 1987A

Chandra Observations of SNR 1987A

We report on the results of our monitoring program of the X-ray remnant of supernova 1987A with the {\it Chandra X-Ray Observatory}. We have performed two new observations during the {\it Chandra} Cycle 3 period, bringing the total to six monitoring observations over the past three years. These six observations provide a detailed time history of the birth of a new supernova remnant in X-rays. The high angular resolution images indicate that soft X-ray bright knots are associated with the optical spots, while hard X-ray features are better correlated with radio images. We interpret this in terms of a model in which fast shocks propagating through the circumstellar HII region produce the hard X-ray and radio emission, while the soft X-ray and optical emission arise in slower shocks entering into dense knots in the circumstellar inner ring. New observations begin to show changes in the morphology that may herald a new stage in the development of this incipient supernova remnant. The observed X-ray fluxes increase by nearly a factor of three over the last 30 months. The X-ray remnant is expanding at a velocity of $\sim$5000 km s$^{-1}$.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, 2 color figures, To appear in AdSpR (Proceedings 34th COSPAR Synposium E1.4 "High Energy Studies of Supernova Remnants and Neutron stars" For high resolution color figures contact [email protected]

Towards an organizational model of occupational health and safety management: a review of the literature

The enormous, tragic and largely unnoticed problem of workplace injuries and deaths continues to beset countries around the globe. Tripartite regulatory approaches to address the issues involved often place primary responsibility on employers’ management of health and safety (OHS) at the workplace. This paper seeks to ascertain how OHS management at the organizational level has been treated in the research literature. A review of thirteen leading management journals from 1994 to 2005 was conspicuous by the absence of interest in OHS management as the subject or field of study. An examination of six leading HRM journals over the same timeframe showed much the same. Naturally, the OHS literature was more fruitful. Five main categories were identified: prescriptive, error/disaster-based studies, culture and reliability studies, systematic OHS management studies and success/effectiveness studies. Each presents a different perspective on OHS management. However, there appears to be little in the way of understanding and explaining it at the organizational level from a perspective that views management not as a homogeneous grouping, but as a multilevel, multifunctional set of interests. The paper concludes by presenting the case for an in-depth, contextually embedded, multi-narrative examination of successful, exemplary OHS management as a basis for theory development

Macroalgae contribute to the diet of Patella vulgata from contrasting conditions of latitude and wave exposure in the UK

Analysis of gut contents and stable isotope composition of intertidal limpets (Patella vulgata) showed a major contribution of macroalgae to their diet, along with microalgae and invertebrates. Specimens were collected in areas with limited access to attached macroalgae, suggesting a major dietary component of drift algae. Gut contents of 480 animals from 2 moderately wave exposed and 2 sheltered rocky shores in each of 2 regions: western Scotland (55–56°N) and southwest England (50°N), were analysed in 2 years (n = 30 per site per year). The abundance of microalgae, macroalgae and invertebrates within the guts was quantified using categorical abundance scales. Gut content composition was compared among regions and wave exposure conditions, showing that the diet of P. vulgata changes with both wave exposure and latitude. Microalgae were most abundant in limpet gut contents in animals from southwest sites, whilst leathery/corticated macroalgae were more prevalent and abundant in limpets from sheltered and northern sites. P. vulgata appears to have a more flexible diet than previously appreciated and these keystone grazers consume not only microalgae, but also large quantities of macroalgae and small invertebrates. To date, limpet grazing studies have focussed on their role in controlling recruitment of macroalgae by feeding on microscopic propagules and germlings. Consumption of adult algae suggests P. vulgata may also directly control the biomass of attached macroalgae on the shore, whilst consumption of drift algae indicates the species may play important roles in coupling subtidal and intertidal production

Modelling the impacts of climate change on thermal habitat suitability for shallow-water marine fish at a global scale

Funding: EL received no specific funding for this work. C.J.F. received no specific funding for this work. M.T.B was supported by Natural Environment Research Council grant NE/J024082/1 (https://nerc.ukri.org).Understanding and predicting the response of marine communities to climate change at large spatial scales, and distilling this information for policymakers, are prerequisites for ecosystem-based management. Changes in thermal habitat suitability across species’ distributions are especially concerning because of their implications for abundance, affecting species’ conservation, trophic interactions and fisheries. However, most predictive studies of the effects of climate change have tended to be sub-global in scale and focused on shifts in species’ range edges or commercially exploited species. Here, we develop a widely applicable methodology based on climate response curves to predict global-scale changes in thermal habitat suitability. We apply the approach across the distributions of 2,293 shallow-water fish species under Representative Concentration Pathways 4.5 and 8.5 by 2050–2100. We find a clear pattern of predicted declines in thermal habitat suitability in the tropics versus general increases at higher latitudes. The Indo-Pacific, the Caribbean and western Africa emerge as the areas of most concern, where high species richness and the strongest declines in thermal habitat suitability coincide. This reflects a pattern of consistently narrow thermal ranges, with most species in these regions already exposed to temperatures above inferred thermal optima. In contrast, in temperate regions, such as northern Europe, where most species live below thermal optima and thermal ranges are wider, positive changes in thermal habitat suitability suggest that these areas are likely to emerge as the greatest beneficiaries of climate change, despite strong predicted temperature increases.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe