The Author As The Novel Self: Shirley Lim’s Sister Swing

While authorial omniscience is denied the biographer, I argue that Lim as novelist takes this advantage in Sister Swing as a tool through which to explore the development of self-identity through characterizations of three sisters that in combination form the tripartite self as proposed by Freud. Autobiographical memories of familial, social and cultural life experiences are the source from which Lim draws and fleshes out, in her novel, portrayals of family members seeking freedom through different ways and means. As a self-analyst probing deep within the psyche, Lim employs linguistic stylizations to express contrastive and yet complementary points of view in a polyphonic unity of expression that echoes the id, ego and superego in Freud’s topographic model of personality. This psychoanalytic reading of the novel provides an opening through which to explore the deeper meanings within the novel and how the characters are interrelated beyond the level of sisterhood

Axion-like-particle decay in strong electromagnetic backgrounds

The decay of a massive pseudoscalar, scalar and U(1) boson into an electron-positron pair in the presence of strong electromagnetic backgrounds is calculated. Of particular interest is the constant-crossed-field limit, relevant for experiments that aim to measure high-energy axion-like-particle conversion into electron-positron pairs in a magnetic field. The total probability depends on the quantum nonlinearity parameter - a product of field and lightfront momentum invariants. Depending on the seed particle mass, different decay regimes are identified. In the below-threshold case, we find the probability depends on a non-perturbative tunnelling exponent depending on the quantum parameter and the particle mass. In the above-threshold case, we find that when the quantum parameter is varied linearly, the probability oscillates nonlinearly around the spontaneous decay probability. A strong-field limit is identified in which the threshold is found to disappear. In modelling the fall-off of a quasi-constant-crossed magnetic field, we calculate probabilities beyond the constant limit and investigate when the decay probability can be regarded as locally constant.Comment: 22 pages, 7 figure

Financial institutions in Kenya 1964-1971: a preliminary analysis

This is a working paper intended merely to provide background for the seminar discussion and to make available some of the basic data which I have collected. It consists mainly of twenty pages of balance sheets for the period 1964 - 1971 for various non-bank financial sectors. It also includes a brief history and description of the various private financial institutions. Since most people are aware of the basic functions of the large public institutions, only balance sheets have been provided for these sectors. Also, no figures on the commercial banks and the Post Office Savings Bank have been reproduced here, since this information is already available in various statical publications. It is hoped that the seminar discussion, taking this basic information as backgrounds will deal with the broad trends in the Kenyan financial system over the past decade and, in particular, with the events leading up to the recent foreign exchange crisis and the response of the system to that crisis. Since the seminar will be discussing a work in progress, any conclusions drawn will be tentative and impressionistic but, I hope, still useful

The effect of low volume sprint interval training in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Objectives: Exercise is an important part of disease management in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), but adherence to current exercise recommendations is poor. Novel low-volume sprint interval training (SIT) protocols with total training time commitments of ≤30 min per week have been shown to improve cardiometabolic risk and functional capacity in healthy sedentary participants, but the efficacy of such protocols in the management of NAFLD remains unknown. The aim of the present study was to examine whether a low-volume SIT protocol can be used to improve liver function, insulin resistance, body composition, physical fitness, cognitive function and general well-being in patients with NAFLD.Methods: In the present study, 7 men and 2 women with NAFLD (age: 45±8 y, BMI: 28.7±4.1 kg·m−2) completed a 6-week control period followed by 6 weeks of twice-weekly SIT sessions (5-10×6-s ‘all-out’ cycle sprints). Body composition, blood pressure, liver function, metabolic function, functional capacity, cognitive function and quality of life were assessed at baseline, following the control period, and following the SIT intervention.Results: Walking speed during the walk test (+12%), estimated V̇O2max (+8%), verbal fluency (+44%), and blood platelet count (+12%; all p<0.05) significantly increased during the control period. These measures remained significantly raised compared to baseline following the SIT intervention, but did not significantly change any further compared to the post-control time-point. Diastolic blood pressure decreased from 87±10 to 77±8 mm Hg from the end of the control period to the end of the SIT intervention (p<0.05).Conclusion: This study does not support the use of 6 weeks of a low volume SIT protocol involving twice-weekly sessions with 5-10×6-s ‘all-out’ cycle sprints as an intervention for NAFLD disease management

Shape-dependent Depinning of a Domain Wall by a Magnetic Field and a Spin-Polarized Current

The effect of sample shape on the depinning of the domain wall (DW) driven by an applied magnetic field or a spin-polarized current is studied theoretically. The shape effect resulting from the modulation of the sample width (geometric pinning) can essentially affect the DW depinning. We found a good agreement between the ratios of the critical values of the magnetic field and the spin-polarized current predicted by the theory and measured in the experiment.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure

A comparison between word analysis and prompting in oral reading.

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit