Marlowe, May 1593, and the 'Must-Have' Theory of Biography

The enduring ability of the name of Christopher Marlowe to generate speculation and controversy regardless of the exiguity of the materials at our disposal never ceases to astonish. The temptation to try to extrapolate Marlowe's artistic intentions not only from the text of his plays and poems, but from the little that is known about his dramatic career, continues to lead those who write about his life down blind alleys. This tendency to make use of what I like to describe as the ‘must-have’ theory of biography, according to which Marlowe must have thought this or must have known that, is widespread. A few years ago, I attempted to demonstrate how little we know for certain about Marlowe's life. Since the publication of Constructing Christopher Marlowe in 2000, however, several further attempts to explain what happened in the weeks leading up to Marlowe's death in Deptford on 30 May 1593 have been published. While M. J. Trow and Taliesin Trow suggest that he was simply the victim of an Elizabethan contract killing, David Riggs insists that Elizabeth I personally gave the order for Marlowe to be murdered.4 In the ‘Revised Edition’ of his conspiracy thesis, The Reckoning: The Murder of Christopher Marlowe, Charles Nicholl follows Professor Riggs in suspecting government complicity in Marlowe's death

Charge asymmetry in high-energy μ+μ−\mu^+\mu^- photoproduction in the electric field of a heavy atom

The charge asymmetry in the differential cross section of high-energy $\mu^+\mu^-$ photoproduction in the electric field of a heavy atom is obtained. This asymmetry arises due to the Coulomb corrections to the amplitude of the process (next-to-leading term with respect to the atomic field). The deviation of the nuclear electric field from the Coulomb field at small distances is crucially important for the charge asymmetry. Though the Coulomb corrections to the total cross section are negligibly small, the charge asymmetry is measurable for selected final states of $\mu^+$ and $\mu^-$. We further discuss the feasibility for experimental observation of this effect.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

Natural history contributions of the University of Glasgow Exploration Society to Scotland and the World

Expeditions with a natural history focus have been organised by University of Glasgow staff and students since the 1930s. The educational benefits of such expeditions to students have been reported by Harper et al. ( Journal of Biological Education 51, 3- 16; 2017). Here, we present a short history of these expeditions, concentrating on their scientific achievements. In addition to expedition reports, a large number of PhD theses, masters and honours project reports and scientific papers have been based on expedition work. Many biological specimens have been deposited in museums, including some new species. We provide case histories of four expedition locations, to demonstrate the variety of work done, and the value of returning many times to the same place: Scotland, Trinidad and Tobago, North Cyprus and Ecuador. A major problem for expeditions is funding. For many years, the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland ran a funding stream that was crucial to the viability of Scottish university expeditions, but this has sadly now closed. For Glasgow University expeditions, the Blodwen Lloyd Binns Bequest has provided a reliable source since 1994, and we hope that it will continue to do so

Transparent soil for imaging the rhizosphere

Understanding of soil processes is essential for addressing the global issues of food security, disease transmission and climate change. However, techniques for observing soil biology are lacking. We present a heterogeneous, porous, transparent substrate for in situ 3D imaging of living plants and root-associated microorganisms using particles of the transparent polymer, Nafion, and a solution with matching optical properties. Minerals and fluorescent dyes were adsorbed onto the Nafion particles for nutrient supply and imaging of pore size and geometry. Plant growth in transparent soil was similar to that in soil. We imaged colonization of lettuce roots by the human bacterial pathogen Escherichia coli O157:H7 showing micro-colony development. Micro-colonies may contribute to bacterial survival in soil. Transparent soil has applications in root biology, crop genetics and soil microbiology

Population dynamics of grape phylloxera in California vineyards

Field monitoring was conducted to investigate population growth of grape phylloxera, Daktulosphaira vitifoliae (Fitch), in commercial grapevines in California. Phylloxera populations started from very low densities each spring, they increased exponentially and peaked during mid-summer, and then declined from mid-to late-summer. A second population peak was observed in the fall. Populations increased and declined simultaneously across all age classes. Egg populations were highest, followed by 1st and 2nd and then 3rd and 4th instars; adult populations were the lowest. The distribution of age classes as a proportion of the total population indicated a higher intrinsic rate of increase in field vines in spring and early summer than was observed in the laboratory. Densities of phylloxera on tuberosities were highest during the summer and coincided with the population maximum. Densities of phylloxera on nodosities were highest in early spring and in the fall and coincided with periods of root flush. Evaluation of the relationship of soil temperatures to developing phylloxera suggested that decline of phylloxera populations in mid-and late-summer cannot be attributed to temperatures below a developmental threshold. Decreased root quality or quantity and mortality factors may explain this decline. Phylloxera overwintered as 1st or 2nd instars. Analysis of spatial distribution of phylloxera using Taylor's power law and Iwao's patchiness regression indicated that phylloxera populations are aggregated. The significance of this research with respect to phylloxera management is discussed

Long-term daily administration of aprepitant for the management of intractable nausea and vomiting in children with life-limiting conditions: a case series.

BACKGROUND: Nausea and vomiting is a common symptom in children through their end of life journey. Aprepitant, a NK-1 antagonist, has become a potent weapon in the fight against chemo-induced nausea and vomiting. However, its use in palliative care for refractory nausea and vomiting has been limited due to limited experience or evidence of continuous use. Emerging evidence suggests that continuous use is not only safe, but also effective in patients with nausea and vomiting refractory to multiple lines of anti-emetic therapy. METHODS: We conducted a single centre retrospective chart review of children receiving care from a specialist palliative care team who were given continuous daily aprepitant for nausea and vomiting and were unresponsive to at least 2 prior lines of anti-emetic therapy. Parental reports of the impact of nausea on mobility and feeding were used as proxy efficacy markers. Duration of effect and toxicity was also evaluated. RESULTS: 10 children (8 with cancer as a primary diagnosis and 2 with non-cancer diagnoses) received continuous aprepitant and all showed resolution of nausea and vomiting and an increased ability to mobilise and tolerate feeds. No adverse events noted. CONCLUSION: Our review suggests a role for aprepitant in management of refractory nausea and vomiting, demonstrating safety and efficacy. This case series is the first report of aprepitant use in this manner in the paediatric palliative care setting

Rehabilitating Sir Thomas Bertram

Recent readings of Mansfield Park as criticism of the landed elite fail to take into consideration the radical-conservative nature of Austen’s satire. Although Sir Thomas Bertram is clearly to blame for his family’s moral shortcomings, Austen’s treatment of him carefully balances his strengths and weaknesses. Recent misrepresentations of Mansfield Park’s colonial dimension have also contributed to misleading assessments of Austen’s intentions. Sir Thomas’s values are shared by Edmund and Fanny Price, and the ideology of benevolent paternalism upheld by Austen in Mansfield Park, in which landlords offer both material and spiritual guidance to their dependents, remains an essentially conservative one

Creative professional users musical relevance criteria

Although known item searching for music can be dealt with by searching metadata using existing text search techniques, human subjectivity and variability within the music itself make it very difficult to search for unknown items. This paper examines these problems within the context of text retrieval and music information retrieval. The focus is on ascertaining a relationship between music relevance criteria and those relating to relevance judgements in text retrieval. A data-rich collection of relevance judgements by creative professionals searching for unknown musical items to accompany moving images using real world queries is analysed. The participants in our observations are found to take a socio-cognitive approach and use a range of content and context based criteria. These criteria correlate strongly with those arising from previous text retrieval studies despite the many differences between music and text in their actual content