Ends of Worlds: An Introduction by the Guest Editor

The phrase about the ‘ends of the world’ is familiar enough, not just to readers of the Bible, where it appears amid dire warnings about temptation in 1 Corinthians 10:11, but of course also from Pater’s quintessentially decadent description of the Mona Lisa, where the biblical quotation is taken splendidly out of context to evoke a modern sensibility, the very ‘symbol of the modern idea’,[i] as he writes, a sweeping together in the knowing countenance of a Renaissance portrait all human temptations, all spiritual and worldly aspirations, whole networks of global trade and cultural exchange extending back much farther than those mere thousand years, extending not just to various nations and continents, but also to the depths of the sea and the secrets of the grave. Pater evokes one fallen empire after another as he deftly, if improbably, refigures Mona Lisa as a pearl-diver, a silk-trader, a goddess, a mother, even a vampire. At the droop of that weary eyelid, he is reminded that ‘modern philosophy has conceived the idea of humanity as wrought upon by, and summing up in itself, all modes of thought and life.’[ii] So many ends of worlds in a sublimely weary eyelid! Decadence is ostensibly a theory of the end of a world, but it has a way of collecting worlds without end. Pater elsewhere challenges us to see the visible outlines of the face as ‘a design in a web, the actual threads of which pass out beyond it’,[iii] extending indefinitely, beyond imagination – and yet continuing to twitch and vibrate like delicate nerves, transmitting messages we can scarcely begin to read.     [i] Walter Pater, The Renaissance (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986), p. 80. [ii] Ibid. [iii] Ibid., p. 150

Ends of Worlds: Full Issue

Volupté 4.1 Ends of Worlds: Full Issu

An Idiosyncratic Homer, Iliad A 361-391 (P.Yale I 4)

A single sheet of papyrus with a 33-line column from the first book of the Iliad which was not fortunate in its scribe, because he often wrote an iota after the long vowels eta and omega, both mid-word as well as word-end. A second mishap occurred for the papyrus when the modern possessor, intent on enhancing the sheet's value, detached a seven-line patch with four to six letters per line from the left side of the papyrus and inserted this into empty space above and to the right, wreaking havoc with the Greek at A 366-372, Thetis' first visit to Achilles

An evaluation of the efficacy of the exercise on referral scheme in Northumberland, UK: association with physical activity and predictors of engagement. A naturalistic observation study

Objectives Exercise on referral schemes (ERS) are widely commissioned in the UK but there is little evidence of their association with physical activity levels. We sought to assess the Northumberland exercise on referral scheme in terms of increased levels of physical activity and identify predictors of engagement. Design A naturalistic observational study. Setting 9 local authority leisure sites in Northumberland. Participants 2233 patients referred from primary and secondary care between July 2009 and September 2010. Intervention A 24-week programme including motivational consultations and supervised exercise sessions for participants. Outcome measures Uptake, 12-week adherence, 24-week completion, changes in Godin Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire scores after 24-weeks and attendance levels at supervised exercise sessions during the scheme. Three binary logistic regressions were used to examine demographic and referral factors associated with initial uptake, 12-week adherence and 24-week completion. Results Uptake was 81% (n=1811), 12-week adherence was 53.5% (n=968) and 24-week completion was 42.9% (n=777). Participants who completed significantly increased their self-reported physical activity levels at 24-weeks t (638)=−11.55, p<0.001. Completers attended a mean of 22.87 (12.47 SD) of a target 48 supervised sessions. Increasing age, being female and leisure site were associated with uptake, increasing age, Index of Multiple Deprivation and leisure site were associated with 12-week adherence and Body Mass Index and leisure site were associated with 24-week completion. Each regression significantly increased the prediction accuracy of stage of exit (non-starters vs starters 81.5%, dropouts before 12 weeks vs 12-week adherers 66.9%, and dropouts between 13 and 24 weeks 82.2%). Conclusions Completers of the Northumberland ERS increased physical activity at 24 weeks, although the levels achieved were below the current UK guidelines of 150 min of moderate exercise per week. Leisure site was associated with uptake, adherence and completion

Painting the ideal home: using art to express visions of technologically supported independent living for older people in North East England

This paper describes the investigation of the development of future technological products to support older people in everyday living through the agency of a community art group. Recent research has identified a number of challenges facing designers seeking to use traditional participatory design approaches to gather technology requirements data from older people. Here, a project is described that sought to get a group of older people to think creatively about their needs and desires for technological support through the medium of paint. The artistic expression technique described in this article allowed the identification of issues that had also been found by previous research that used a range of different techniques. This indicates that the approach shows promise, as it allows information to be gathered in an environment that is comfortable and familiar using methods already known by the participants and which they find enjoyable. It provides a complement (or possible alternative) to standard protocols and has the potential benefit of extracting even richer information as the primary task for participants is enjoyable in its own right and is not associated with an interrogative process. Furthermore, it is argued that some of the key risks of traditional approaches are lessened or removed by the naturalistic setting of this approach

Medium-term seed storage of diverse genera of forage grasses, evidence-based genebank monitoring intervals, and regeneration standards

The frequency at which seed accessions are monitored for viability during storage in genebanks (reciprocal of the monitoring interval) must balance timely detection of loss in viability against monitoring cost (seed depletion and staff resource). Up to three decades of genebank seed germination test results of diverse grasses maintained in the International Livestock Research Institute’s medium-term store (circa 8°C with 5 % moisture content) were evaluated in an attempt to derive recommendations on seed accession monitoring intervals. Six different patterns of variation in germination test results during storage were found amongst seed lots by probit analysis within 29 genera: no trend (6 genera); contrasting trends (positive to negative) (3); common slope of loss in viability (11); common slope of increase in ability to germinate (6); common loss in viability (2); common increase in ability to germinate (1). Recommended monitoring intervals were calculated from the fitted survival curves for each of the 13 genera showing uniformity in loss in viability: the medium-term store expectation of 2-10 years’ maintenance of high viability was met in eight genera, whilst four provided greater survival periods. Furthermore, the 13 genera showing either no trend over period of storage or an increase in ability to germinate during storage also exceeded the expectations for survival periods in medium-term stores. Advice is provided on calculating monitoring intervals for different combinations of initial viability with a wide range of potential regeneration standards

Classical Hair in String Theory I: General Formulation

We discuss why classical hair is desirable for the description of black holes, and show that it arises generically in a wide class of field theories involving extra dimensions. We develop the canonical formalism for theories with the matter content that arises in string theory. General covariance and duality are used to determine the form of surface terms. We derive an effective theory (reduced Hamiltonian) for the hair in terms of horizon variables. % accessible to an observer at infinity. Solution of the constraints expresses these variables in terms of hair accessible to an observer at infinity. We exhibit some general properties of the resulting theory, including a formal identification of the temperature and entropy. The Cveti\v{c}-Youm dyon is described in some detail, as an important example.Comment: 29 p. Uses phyzzx. Two lines corrected in text, references adde

Effects of rain shelter or simulated rain during grain filling and maturation on subsequent wheat grain quality in the UK

The effects of simulated additional rain (ear wetting, 25 mm) or of rain shelter imposed at different periods after anthesis on grain quality at maturity and the dynamics of grain filling and desiccation were investigated in UK field-grown crops of wheat (Triticum aestivum L., cvar Tybalt) in 2011 and in 2012 when June–August rainfall was 255.0 and 214.6 mm, respectively, and above the decadal mean (157.4 mm). Grain filling and desiccation were quantified well by broken-stick regressions and Gompertz curves, respectively. Rain shelter for 56 (2011) or 70 d (2012) after anthesis, and to a lesser extent during late maturation only, resulted in more rapid desiccation and hence progress to harvest maturity whereas ear wetting had negligible effects, even when applied four times. Grain-filling duration was also affected as above in 2011, but with no significant effect in 2012. In both years, there were strong positive associations between final grain dry weight and duration of filling. The treatments affected all grain quality traits in 2011: nitrogen (N) and sulphur (S) concentrations, N:S ratio, sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) sedimentation volume, Hagberg Falling Number (HFN), and the incidence of blackpoint. Only N concentration and blackpoint were affected significantly by treatments in 2012. Rain shelter throughout grain filling reduced N concentration, whereas rain shelter reduced the incidence of blackpoint and ear wetting increased it. In 2011, rain shelter throughout reduced S concentration, increased N:S ratio and reduced SDS. Treatment effects on HFN were not consistent within or between years. Nevertheless, a comparison between the extreme treatment means in 2012 indicated damage from late rain combined with ear wetting resulted in a reduction of c. 0.7 s in HFN/mm August rainfall, whilst that between samples taken immediately after ear wetting at harvest maturity or 7 d later suggested recovery from damage to HFN upon re-drying in planta. Hence, the incidence of blackpoint was the only grain quality trait affected consistently by the diverse treatments. The remaining aspects of grain quality were comparatively resilient to rain incident upon developing and maturing ears of cvar Tybalt. No consistent temporal patterns of sensitivity to shelter or ear wetting were detected for any aspect of grain quality

Medium-term seed storage of 50 genera of forage legumes and evidence-based genebank monitoring intervals

Genebanks maintaining seeds for long-term genetic resources conservation monitor seed lots to detect early loss in viability. Monitoring is costly and depletes valuable seed. Three decades of genebank seed germination test results of diverse forage species from 50 legume genera in the International Livestock Research Institute’s medium-term store (circa 8° C with 5 % moisture content) were analysed to determine whether advice on seed monitoring intervals could be derived. Cumulative normal distributions were fitted by probit analysis for each seed lot and compared within each genus. Six patterns of within-genus variation were identified: no detectable trend in germination test results during storage (4 genera); detectable trends, but variable (positive to negative) amongst lots (5); consistent slope of loss in viability amongst lots (17); consistent slope of increase in ability to germinate amongst lots (21); common loss in viability amongst lots (2); common increase in ability to germinate amongst lots (1). Seed lot monitoring intervals for the medium-term store were derived for each of 19 genera with consistent loss in viability across seed lots: three genera provided comparatively rapid deterioration, five met the general expectations for a medium-term store (2-10 years’ maintenance of high viability), whilst 11 provided much better survival. Moreover, 26 further genera provided no evidence as yet of seed deterioration; of these, 22 improved in ability to germinate during storage indicating confounding of hardseededness with viability in germination tests