The Weak Survival of French Rhetoric

In the 1960s, Roland Barthes sparked a renewed interest in a monumental, ancient, and largely forgotten institution: the literary-pedagogic-social “empire” of rhetoric, an empire that often commanded French letters, culture, and education until its baffling decline and alleged “death” in the final decades of the nineteenth century. This dissertation argues, however, that rhetoric did not actually die in France. Instead, through a process of “weak survival,” an enduring institution of rhetoric shaped postwar French thought. Through a pedagogic reading of the rhetorical longue durée, I approach a series of political-religious-social quarrels rather than an assemblage of rhetorical theories. These quarrels span from early victories of the Collège de Clermont against the University of Paris to the late nineteenth-century Republicans trying to purge the Jesuit legacy from French education. Educational reforms, the rise of the explication de texte, and triumph of Lansonian literary history ensured that intellectuals born in the early twentieth century would encounter the term “rhetoric” as a pejorative. But when we consider everything from classical languages to agonistic classroom cultures as part of a comprehensive institution of rhetoric, reports of its death would seem greatly exaggerated. After elaborating rhetoric’s weak survival over multi-century period, I shift to shorter timescales, and take up the rich interwar scene of Rhetoric and Terror as conceived of by Jean Paulhan and encountered by Jean-Paul Sartre. Finally, I end where I began: with Barthes’ passionate relationship to rhetoric, and his anxieties and declarations about its institutional fortunes. I argue that Barthes was more rhetorician than strict structuralist (or poststructuralist), and his intense, mercurial relationship to rhetoric both haunted and inspired him. This dissertation explores rhetoric’s creative potential within French literature and philosophy, as well as an education tyranny that marks the biographies of so many humanistic intellectuals traumatized by elite (and elitist) pedagogy

Philosophy in Pieces: The Aphorisms of Nietzsche's Human, All Too Human and Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations

This thesis considers the philosophical importance of the literary form of two aphoristic works of philosophy: Nietzsche’s Human, All Too Human and Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations. Though both these German-speaking philosophers are widely thought to be aphorists, there is little consensus about what exactly is aphoristic about their individual or shared literary forms. While their philosophies and forms of aphorisms are quite different in practice, this thesis argues that Nietzsche’s and Wittgenstein’s modes of aphoristic expression are essential to their philosophical projects in these works. This thesis also explores the particular challenges of interpreting aphorisms in a philosophical context. Though aphorisms have various literary qualities, their status as discrete pieces of philosophy is of greatest interest here. Nietzsche and Wittgenstein match their piecework form of writing to various philosophical goals they set themselves. Their success as highly stylized, aphoristic philosophers is particularly remarkable in light of conventional philosophical writing, which is generally conducted in a much less “fragmented” form. By examining the styles, forms, structures, rhetorics, and interpretations of these two works, this thesis investigates the necessity and practice of their intriguing and difficult modes of expression

An exploration of the existence and utility of a Quaker Literary Aesthetic in the poetry of Philip Gross and Sibyl Ruth

Quakers have had an ambivalent historical relationship with creativity, initially placing taboos around its creation and reception but they now actively make and enjoy literature. This thesis explores what might constitute a Liberal Quaker Literary Aesthetic (QLA), and tests a theoretical model through an analysis of the poetry of British Quaker poets Philip Gross and Sybil Ruth. The QLA, it is suggested, consists of seven key features: openness, ambiguity and seeking; dialogical engagement; ethical rather than moral writing; creative attention; Quaker sensibility; an apophatic approach to the Divine; silence as presence and force. I argue that this QLA, whilst partially displayed by other writers of faith or none, is fully demonstrated by these writers, as a development in this context of particular values and the silent, apophatic approach found amongst British Liberal Quakers, brought over into literary writing. I demonstrate that this QLA is a distinctive expression of Liberal Quakerism. I discuss its utility, also suggesting future avenues of research in comparison with other branches of Quakerism and other faith traditions and none

Effect of individual environmental heat stress variables on training and recovery in professional team sport

Context: Exercise in hot environments increases body temperature and thermoregulatory strain. However, little is known regarding the magnitude of effect that ambient temperature (Ta), relative humidity (RH), and solar radiation individually have on team-sport athletes. Purpose: To determine the effect of these individual heat-stress variables on team-sport training performance and recovery. Methods: Professional Australian Rules Football players (N = 45) undertook 8-wk preseason training producing a total of 579 outdoor field-based observations with Ta, RH, and solar radiation recorded at every training session. External load (distance covered, in m/min; percentage high-speed running [%HSR] >14.4 km/h) was collected via a global positioning system. Internal load (ratings of perceived exertion and heart rate) and recovery (subjective ratings of well-being and heart-rate variability [root mean square of the successive differences]) were monitored throughout the training period. Mixed-effects linear models analyzed relationships between variables using standardized regression coefficients. Results: Increased solar-radiation exposure was associated with reduced distance covered (−19.7 m/min, P 85% HRmax (3.9%, P a was associated with increased distance covered (19.7 m/min, P < .001) and %HSR (3.5%, P = .005). Conclusions: The authors show the importance of considering the individual factors contributing to thermal load in isolation for team-sport athletes and that solar radiation and RH reduce work capacity during team-sport training and have the potential to slow recovery between sessions.</p

The SH3 and cysteine-rich domain 3 (Stac3) gene is important to growth, fiber composition, and calcium release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum in postnatal skeletal muscle

The SH3 and cysteine-rich domain 3 (Stac3) gene is specifically expressed in the skeletal muscle. Stac3 knockout mice die perinatally. In this study, we determined the potential role of Stac3 in postnatal skeletal muscle growth, fiber composition, and contraction by generating conditional Stac3 knockout mice. We disrupted the Stac3 gene in 4-week-old male mice using the Flp-FRT and tamoxifen-inducible Cre-loxP systems. RT-qPCR and western blotting analyses of the limb muscles of target mice indicated that nearly all Stac3 mRNA and more than 70 % of STAC3 protein were deleted 4 weeks after tamoxifen injection. Postnatal Stac3 deletion inhibited body and limb muscle mass gains. Histological staining and gene expression analyses revealed that postnatal Stac3 deletion decreased the size of myofibers and increased the percentage of myofibers containing centralized nuclei, with no effect on the total myofiber number. Grip strength and grip time tests indicated that postnatal Stac3 deletion decreased limb muscle strength in mice. Muscle contractile tests revealed that postnatal Stac3 deletion reduced electrostimulation-induced but not the ryanodine receptor agonist caffeine-induced maximal force output in the limb muscles. Calcium imaging analysis of single flexor digitorum brevis myofibers indicated that postnatal Stac3 deletion reduced electrostimulation- but not caffeine-induced calcium release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum. This study demonstrates that STAC3 is important to myofiber hypertrophy, myofiber-type composition, contraction, and excitation-induced calcium release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum in the postnatal skeletal muscle.https://doi.org/10.1186/s13395-016-0088-

Agricultural Impacts of Climate Change in Indiana and Potential Adaptations

While all sectors of the economy can be impacted by climate variability and change, the agricultural sector is arguably the most tightly coupled to climate where changes in precipitation and temperature directly control plant growth and yield, as well as livestock production. This paper analyzes the direct and cascading effects of temperature, precipitation, and carbon dioxide (CO2) on agronomic and horticultural crops, and livestock production in Indiana through 2100. Due to increased frequency of drought and heat stress, models predict that the yield of contemporary corn and soybean varieties will decline by 8–21% relative to yield potential, without considering CO2 enhancement, which may offset soybean losses. These losses could be partially compensated by adaptation measures such as changes in cropping systems, planting date, crop genetics, soil health, and providing additional water through supplemental irrigation or drainage management. Changes in winter conditions will pose a threat to some perennial crops, including tree and fruit crops, while shifts in the USDA Hardiness Zone will expand the area suitable for some fruits. Heat stress poses a major challenge to livestock production, with decreased feed intake expected with temperatures exceeding 29 °C over 100 days per year by the end of the century. Overall, continued production of commodity crops, horticultural crops, and livestock in Indiana is expected to continue with adaptations in management practice, cultivar or species composition, or crop rotation

Indiana’s Agriculture in a Changing Climate: A Report from the Indiana Climate Change Impacts Assessment

Indiana has long been one of the nation’s leaders in agricultural productivity. Favorable temperatures and precipitation help Indiana farmers generate over $31 billion worth of sales per year, making the state 11th in total agricultural products sold. Changes to the state’s climate over the coming decades, including increasing temperatures, changes in precipitation amounts and patterns, and rising levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the air will result in several direct and indirect impacts to the state’s agricultural industry. This report from the Indiana Climate Change Impacts Assessment (IN CCIA) describes how projected changes in the state’s climate will affect the health of livestock and poultry, growing season conditions for crops, the types of crops that can be planted, soil health and water quality as well as weed, pest and disease pressure for agricultural production statewide

Estimation of pairwise sequence similarity of mammalian enhancers with word neighbourhood counts

Motivation: The identity of cells and tissues is to a large degree governed by transcriptional regulation. A major part is accomplished by the combinatorial binding of transcription factors at regulatory sequences, such as enhancers. Even though binding of transcription factors is sequence-specific, estimating the sequence similarity of two functionally similar enhancers is very difficult. However, a similarity measure for regulatory sequences is crucial to detect and understand functional similarities between two enhancers and will facilitate large-scale analyses like clustering, prediction and classification of genome-wide datasets

Social tipping points in animal societies

Animal social groups are complex systems that are likely to exhibit tipping points—which are defined as drastic shifts in the dynamics of systems that arise from small changes in environmental conditions—yet this concept has not been carefully applied to these systems. Here we summarize the concepts behind tipping points and describe instances in which they are likely to occur in animal societies. We also offer ways in which the study of social tipping points can open up new lines of inquiry in behavioral ecology and generate novel questions, methods, and approaches in animal behavior and other fields, including community and ecosystem ecology. While some behaviors of living systems are hard to predict, we argue that probing tipping points across animal societies and across tiers of biological organization—populations, communities, ecosystems—may help to reveal principles that transcend traditional disciplinary boundaries