Margot Fassler. Gothic Song: Victorine Sequences and Augustinian Reform in Twelfth-Century Paris.

Fassler mounts a persuasive case that this genre of "gothic song" deserves attention for what it can reveal about a religious community and their implementation of new sacred song within their liturgy to further their doctrines, self-images, and religious purposes. Her study is written with fervor, a fervor arising from the excitement of discovery, as well as-I would judge-from admiration at the skill and ingenuity with which the Victorines appear to have encoded their beliefs and values in communal song. Her controlling metaphor is that of a central place with a central creative personality who set forth the first principles of the new rhythmic rhymed sequence. This will seem attractive and highly plausible to many readers. Others will worry over the rationale for regarding most late sequences as Parisian in origin or over the attributions of intent to the Victorine community

Wave heating from proto-neutron star convection and the core-collapse supernova explosion mechanism

Our understanding of the core-collapse supernova explosion mechanism is incomplete. While the favoured scenario is delayed revival of the stalled shock by neutrino heating, it is difficult to reliably compute explosion outcomes and energies, which depend sensitively on the complex radiation hydrodynamics of the post-shock region. The dynamics of the (non-)explosion depend sensitively on how energy is transported from inside and near the proto-neutron star (PNS) to material just behind the supernova shock. Although most of the PNS energy is lost in the form of neutrinos, hydrodynamic and hydromagnetic waves can also carry energy from the PNS to the shock. We show that gravity waves excited by core PNS convection can couple with outgoing acoustic waves that present an appreciable source of energy and pressure in the post-shock region. Using one-dimensional simulations, we estimate the gravity wave energy flux excited by PNS convection and the fraction of this energy transmitted upwards to the post-shock region as acoustic waves. We find wave energy fluxes near 10⁵¹ergs⁻¹ are likely to persist for ∼1s post-bounce. The wave pressure on the shock may exceed 10 per cent of the thermal pressure, potentially contributing to shock revival and, subsequently, a successful and energetic explosion. We also discuss how future simulations can better capture the effects of waves, and more accurately quantify wave heating rates

A Question of Motivations: Determining Why Donor Countries Give Aid

Despite the fact that foreign aid has been around in its present form since World War II, foreign aid analysis, especially from the donor\u27s point of view, has been and continues to be highly contested. In 1992, the United Nations claimed that ODA [Official Development Assistance] allocation is \u27strange and arbitrary\u27 and ODA is determined not by the needs of developing countries, but by the fluctuating goodwill of the people and their parliaments in the rich countries. As a result, it is largely ad hoc and unpredictable (United Nations Development Programme, 45). This statement cannot, however, explain why Africa is consistently the world\u27s most aided region (Lancaster, 487). Something about African countries continually appeals to the donor countries, meaning that ODA allocation is not as strange and arbitrary as the UN claimed. This begs the question: What motivates donor countries to give aid to countries in Africa

A Slip of Paper in a Black Walnut Box: An Examination of the Suffrage Debate in Beverly, Massachusetts 1913-1915

It was not until 1920, 72 years after the birth of the suffrage movement, that Massachusetts women gained the right to vote. While other state suffrage associations succeeded in persuading their governments to pass laws securing the vote for women, Massachusetts reformers were met with an overwhelming amount of resistance. The forces behind much of this resistance were the white, middle-class women active in small cities and towns throughout the Commonwealth. Women in support, as well as in opposition, to suffrage in Massachusetts at the turn-of-the twentieth century were the same women swept up in the changing gender roles of the time. It was this confusing social, and in turn, political climate in Massachusetts that created some of the most dynamic and fascinating suffrage discourse in the nation. And there is no better place to find this rich dialogue than in the primary sources of the small cities and towns of Massachusetts. It is the small historical societies of towns like Beverly, MA that provide insight into the complexity of the local suffrage debate

Rethinking business models as value creating systems

The generic notion of a business model is well understood by investors and business managers and implies a number of anticipations; chiefly that it is a replicable process that produces revenues and profits. At its heart is some replicable process, artefact or proposition around which the everyday practices are formed. There are a number of reasons why this conception is weak in the Creative Industries. We have identified that the rationale for ‘business models’ in the Creative Industries include providing an attractor for non goal oriented creative activity, for stabilising emergent properties from creative activities and for maintaining the stability of these by anticipating revenues

Analyzing Enterprise Systems Delivery Modes for Small and Medium Enterprises

Prior studies have suggested that Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have unique characteristics that impact their ability to successfully implement enterprise systems. This paper analyzes three modes of delivery for enterprise systems: integrated ERP, Best of Breed (BoB), and Software as a Service (SaaS), and determines how well these delivery modes are aligned with the requirements of SMEs. An analysis of prior research on enterprise systems and SMEs suggests the integrated ERP approach may yield several additional benefits compared to the BoB and SaaS approaches for SMEs. The analysis framework presented can be used to guide the selection of appropriate enterprise systems delivery mechanisms for SMEs and ultimately help improve their effectiveness

Payment for Ecosystem Services: Rewarding the Landowner Who Conserves the Public Good

It has been said that money doesn’t grow on trees, but any forest landowner or manager will tell you that’s not exactly true— especially when observing a harvesting operation or managing dues from your hunting lease. While timber production and recreation are the most frequently monetized services provided by forests, what about the other goods and services they provide on a continuing basis? Are you or other forest landowners in your area being monetarily rewarded for soil stability, flood control, water filtration, air quality, and the other critical services—known as ecosystem services—provided by forests