Aspects of surrealism in the work of Jean Cocteau

The work of Jean Cocteau reveals connections, similarities and differences between him and the writers of the surrealist movement. In order to appreciate the links it is also necessary to examine the principles of Surrealism to determine the extent to which they have similar origins to some of Cocteau's own ideas.This line of inquiry leads to an examination of the part played by the work of Freud and Jung in inspiring both Surrealism and Cocteau. To a certain degree one is lead to question the association between Freud and Surrealism which has often been taken for granted and to look for the origins of surrealistic thought in more specifically French sources to which Freud also had access. Whilst it is difficult to bring about a rapprochement between Cocteau and Freud, there is a much smaller problem in comparing the work of Jung and that of Cocteau. There are striking similarities which indicate not only a divergence of thought between Cocteau and the surrealists but which also tempt one to extrapolate a direct link between Cocteau and Jung for which there is virtually no direct evidence. What is achieved in comparing the two is a greater understanding of the creative method of Cocteau, of the forces which drove him, and of his basic position as a child of the 20th century, yet as a poet of all ages. One begins also to have a clearer vision of the reasons which underlie his all important interest in mythology as a source of pure emotion and distilled poetic essence. For personal rather than artistic reasons a close rapport between Cocteau and the surrealist group is unthinkable as well as generally known, so that there is an enhanced interest not only in a direct comparison but also in comparing Cocteau with artists and poets who worked close to official movement but were not, at least for very long, part of it. Garcia Lorca is a Spanish writer in this position whose ideas and background so closely,resemble Cocteau's that it is almost surprising to find that he was at least tolerated if not completely accepted by the Surrealists; his friends Dalí and and Bunuel even joined the group formally. On the other hand Cocteau's proclaimed admiration for Garcia Lorca indicated at least some feeling in not being able to participate directly in the Surrealist experience. Comparing Cocteau with Lorca necessitates an examination of the creeds and ideals of them both, highlighting aspects of poetic power and creativity in the process.It is hoped to place in the context of 20th century thought the work of both Cocteau and the Surrealists. A continuity between the second half of the nineteenth century and the twentieth century should also be established and the manner in which the First World War acts as a watershed made clear. From the study Cocteau emerges as a more consistent and deeper thinker than he is often considered. The parallels found in the work which he presented in a variety of different artistic fields coupled with the overpowering sense of mission which begins to appear, dispel for ever the myths of the careless and carefree casual adolescent dilettante and reveal instead a conscious artist, a thinking poet, a careful craftsman and a profoundly proud human figure wrought with deep seated anxieties often masqued with flippancy. Undeniably however, consciously or unconsciously, whether or not the Surrealist liked the idea, there was an affinity between them and Cocteau which was sometimes a very close link and at others flared up into an open hostility which at least indicated that they were working in the same areas.Since it was the fashion at the time to accept the view of Freud as a scientist and a medical practitioner in the field of psychiatry, a view which he himself insisted upon, it has been felt justifiable to accept it, although nowadays he is partially discredited. The concept of the subconscious is also not considered favourably although it seemed real to Freud, Jung, the Surrealists and to Cocteau. Consequently it is desirable to work within the parameters of their imagination rather than to take the stance of modern behaviourist psychiatrists whose ideas are irrelevant to the literary uses made of the work of Freud and Jung

Slippage and Migration in Taylor-Couette Flow of a Model for Dilute Wormlike Micellar Solutions

Submitted to J. Non-Newt Fluid Mechanics, June 2005In this paper we explore a model, most appropriate for dilute or semi-dilute worm-like micellar solutions, in an axisymmetric circular Taylor-Couette geometry. This study is a natural continuation of earlier work on rectilinear shear flows. The model, based on a bead-spring microstructure with nonaffine motion, reproduces the pronounced plateau in the stress strain-rate flow curve as observed in laboratory measurements of steady shearing flows. We also carry out a linear stability analysis of the computed steady state solutions. The results show shear-banding in the form of sharp changes in velocity gradients, spatial variations in number density, and in alignment or stretching of the micelles. The velocity profiles obtained in numerical solutions show strong qualitative agreement with those of laboratory experiments.NSF Collaborative Research Projec

Selective medium for culture of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae

The fastidious porcine respiratory pathogen Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae has proven difficult to culture since it was first isolated in 1965. A reliable solid medium has been particularly challenging. Moreover, clinical and pathological samples often contain the fast-growing M. hyorhinis which contaminates and overgrows M. hyopneumoniae in primary culture. The aim of this study was to optimise the culture medium for recovery of M. hyopneumoniae and to devise a medium for selection of M. hyopneumoniae from clinical samples also containing M. hyorhinis. The solid medium devised by Niels Friis was improved by use of Purified agar and incorporation of DEAE-dextran. Addition of glucose or neutralization of acidity in liquid medium with NaOH did not improve the final yield of viable organisms or alter the timing of peak viability. Analysis of the relative susceptibility of M. hyopneumoniae and M. hyorhinis strains to four antimicrobials showed that M. hyopneumoniae is less susceptible than M. hyorhinis to kanamycin. This was consistent in all UK and Danish strains tested. A concentration of 2 μg/ml of kanamycin selectively inhibited the growth of all M. hyorhinis tested, while M. hyopneumoniae was able to grow. This forms the basis of an effective selective culture medium for M. hyopneumoniae.(Résumé d'auteur

Working atmosphere in the secondary mathematics classroom: When things do not work according to the lesson plan

In this paper we focus on a collaborative research and development project in which a team consisting of secondary mathematics teachers (newly qualified and experienced), researchers in mathematics education (faculty and doctoral students) and mathematics teacher educators work together on how to achieve balance between creating opportunities for high quality mathematical thinking and attending to classroom management and behaviour issues. To this aim we deploy Haydn’s 10-point scale on the working atmosphere in the classroom. This construct was not devised specifically for the mathematics classroom and our study explores its potentialities for it: we ask whether a scale (Haydn-M) with mathematics specificity can provide meaningful insight into the working atmosphere in the secondary mathematics classroom. In this paper we provide examples suggested by newly qualified teachers in our team of such a mathematically specific use of the scale

Treponema spp. spirochetes and keratinopathogenic fungi isolated from keratomas in donkeys

Keratoma is an aberrant keratin mass thought to originate from epidermal horn-producing cells interposed between the stratum medium of the hoof wall and the underlying third phalanx. The cause is unknown, although the presence of keratomas is frequently associated with chronic irritation, focal infection, or trauma. A total of 167 donkeys with keratomas were presented in this study. The diagnosis of a keratoma was based on clinical signs, radiography, and histopathologic examination. Surgical excision was attempted on all donkeys with lameness unless euthanasia was advised. Histopathologic examination, including Giemsa, periodic acid Schiff, and Young's silver special histochemical stains, was performed and showed the presence of fungal hyphae and spirochete bacteria within the degenerate keratin. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for treponeme bacteria was performed on 10 keratoma lesions and 9 healthy pieces of hoof (controls). All healthy donkey tissues were negative for the 3 recognized digital dermatitis (DD) treponeme phylogroups, whereas 3 of 10 (30%) donkey keratoma samples were positive for one of the DD treponeme phylogroups. Routine fungal culture and PCR for fungi were performed on 8 keratoma lesions and 8 healthy pieces of hoof (controls). Keratinopathogenic fungi were detected in 1 of 8 (12.5%) keratomas, while only non-keratinopathogenic, environmental fungi were detected in 8 control healthy hoof samples. This is the first time the DD treponemes phylogroup and keratinopathogenic fungi have been detected in keratomas. Further studies are required to assess the significance of this finding

Upscaling CH4 Fluxes Using High-Resolution Imagery in Arctic Tundra Ecosystems

© 2017 by the author. Arctic tundra ecosystems are a major source of methane (CH 4 ), the variability of which is affected by local environmental and climatic factors, such as water table depth, microtopography, and the spatial heterogeneity of the vegetation communities present. There is a disconnect between the measurement scales for CH 4 fluxes, which can be measured with chambers at one-meter resolution and eddy covariance towers at 100-1000 m, whereas model estimates are typically made at the ~100 km scale. Therefore, it is critical to upscale site level measurements to the larger scale for model comparison. As vegetation has a critical role in explaining the variability of CH 4 fluxes across the tundra landscape, we tested whether remotely-sensed maps of vegetation could be used to upscale fluxes to larger scales. The objectives of this study are to compare four different methods for mapping and two methods for upscaling plot-level CH 4 emissions to the measurements from EC towers. We show that linear discriminant analysis (LDA) provides the most accurate representation of the tundra vegetation within the EC tower footprints (classification accuracies of between 65% and 88%). The upscaled CH 4 emissions using the areal fraction of the vegetation communities showed a positive correlation (between 0.57 and 0.81) with EC tower measurements, irrespective of the mapping method. The area-weighted footprint model outperformed the simple area-weighted method, achieving a correlation of 0.88 when using the vegetation map produced with the LDA classifier. These results suggest that the high spatial heterogeneity of the tundra vegetation has a strong impact on the flux, and variation indicates the potential impact of environmental or climatic parameters on the fluxes. Nonetheless, assimilating remotely-sensed vegetation maps of tundra in a footprint model was successful in upscaling fluxes across scales

Impact of person-centred care training and person-centred activities on quality of life, agitation, and antipsychotic use in people with dementia living in nursing homes: a cluster-randomised controlled trial

Background Agitation is a common, challenging symptom affecting large numbers of people with dementia and impacting on quality of life (QoL). There is an urgent need for evidence-based, cost-effective psychosocial interventions to improve these outcomes, particularly in the absence of safe, effective pharmacological therapies. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of a person-centred care and psychosocial intervention incorporating an antipsychotic review, WHELD, on QoL, agitation, and antipsychotic use in people with dementia living in nursing homes, and to determine its cost. Methods and findings This was a randomised controlled cluster trial conducted between 1 January 2013 and 30 September 2015 that compared the WHELD intervention with treatment as usual (TAU) in people with dementia living in 69 UK nursing homes, using an intention to treat analysis. All nursing homes allocated to the intervention received staff training in person-centred care and social interaction and education regarding antipsychotic medications (antipsychotic review), followed by ongoing delivery through a care staff champion model. The primary outcome measure was QoL (DEMQOL-Proxy). Secondary outcomes were agitation (Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory [CMAI]), neuropsychiatric symptoms (Neuropsychiatric Inventory–Nursing Home Version [NPI-NH]), antipsychotic use, global deterioration (Clinical Dementia Rating), mood (Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia), unmet needs (Camberwell Assessment of Need for the Elderly), mortality, quality of interactions (Quality of Interactions Scale [QUIS]), pain (Abbey Pain Scale), and cost. Costs were calculated using cost function figures compared with usual costs. In all, 847 people were randomised to WHELD or TAU, of whom 553 completed the 9-month randomised controlled trial. The intervention conferred a statistically significant improvement in QoL (DEMQOL-Proxy Z score 2.82, p = 0.0042; mean difference 2.54, SEM 0.88; 95% CI 0.81, 4.28; Cohen’s D effect size 0.24). There were also statistically significant benefits in agitation (CMAI Z score 2.68, p = 0.0076; mean difference 4.27, SEM 1.59; 95% CI −7.39, −1.15; Cohen’s D 0.23) and overall neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPI-NH Z score 3.52, p < 0.001; mean difference 4.55, SEM 1.28; 95% CI −7.07,−2.02; Cohen’s D 0.30). Benefits were greatest in people with moderately severe dementia. There was a statistically significant benefit in positive care interactions as measured by QUIS (19.7% increase, SEM 8.94; 95% CI 2.12, 37.16, p = 0.03; Cohen’s D 0.55). There were no statistically significant differences between WHELD and TAU for the other outcomes. A sensitivity analysis using a pre-specified imputation model confirmed statistically significant benefits in DEMQOL-Proxy, CMAI, and NPI-NH outcomes with the WHELD intervention. Antipsychotic drug use was at a low stable level in both treatment groups, and the intervention did not reduce use. The WHELD intervention reduced cost compared to TAU, and the benefits achieved were therefore associated with a cost saving. The main limitation was that antipsychotic review was based on augmenting processes within care homes to trigger medical review and did not in this study involve proactive primary care education. An additional limitation was the inherent challenge of assessing QoL in this patient group. Conclusions These findings suggest that the WHELD intervention confers benefits in terms of QoL, agitation, and neuropsychiatric symptoms, albeit with relatively small effect sizes, as well as cost saving in a model that can readily be implemented in nursing homes. Future work should consider how to facilitate sustainability of the intervention in this setting

Probing shear-banding transitions of the VCM model for entangled wormlike micellar solutions using large amplitude oscillatory shear (LAOS) deformations

We explore the use of large amplitude oscillatory shear (LAOS) deformation to probe the dynamics of shear-banding in soft entangled materials, primarily wormlike micellar solutions which are prone to breakage and disentanglement under strong deformations. The state of stress in these complex fluids is described by a class of viscoelastic constitutive models which capture the key linear and nonlinear rheological features of wormlike micellar solutions, including the breakage and reforming of an entangled network. At a frequency-dependent critical strain, the imposed deformation field localizes to form a shear band, with a phase response that depends on the frequency and amplitude of the forcing. The different material responses are compactly represented in the form of Lissajous (phase plane) orbits and a corresponding strain-rate and frequency-dependent Pipkin diagram. Comparisons between the full network model predictions and those of a simpler, limiting case are presented.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (NSF DMS-0807395)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (NSF DMS-0807330

Impact of the iWHELD digital person-centered care program on quality of life, agitation and psychotropic medications in people with dementia living in nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic: A randomized controlled trial

Introduction: iWHELD is a digital person-centered care program for people with dementia in nursing homes adapted for remote delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A 16-week two-arm cluster-randomized controlled trial in 149 UK nursing homes compared iWHELD with treatment as usual (TAU). Primary outcome was the overall quality of life with secondary outcomes of agitation and psychotropic use. Results: iWHELD conferred benefit to quality of life on the primary (F = 4.3, p = 0.04) and secondary measures of quality of life (F = 6.45, p = 0.01) and reduced psychotropic medication use (χ2 = 4.08, p = 0.04) with no worsening of agitation. Benefit was seen in participants who contracted COVID-19, those with agitation at baseline, and those taking psychotropic medications. Discussion: iWHELD confers benefits to quality of life and key measures of well-being, can be delivered during the challenging conditions of a pandemic, and should be considered for use alongside any emerging pharmacological treatment for neuropsychiatric symptoms. Highlights: iWHELD is the only remote, digital delivery nursing home training programme for dementia care iWHELD improved quality of life in people with dementia and reduced antipsychotic use without worsening of agitation Residents who contracted Covid-19 during the study also experienced benefits from iWHELD iWHELD offers a valuable, pandemic-safe tool for improving dementia care