529 research outputs found
Dancing with the Dragon: Orality and (body) language(s) in a live performance of Beowulf
This paper theorizes on the function of language and embodiment in northern European storytelling through a self-reflex analysis of the authorâs experience performing Beowulf in its original dialect, as a solo, while dancing. Beowulf is Min Nama involved memorizing approximately 80 minutes of the medieval Beowulf epic in its original West Anglo-Saxon dialect (lines 2200â2766, Beowulfâs encounter with the dragon). Grappling with bardic verse for recitation in experimental live performance uncovered new facets in ancient performance texts. Working with the Beowulf poem for stage revealed the mnemonic quality of alliteration, the pervasive use of rhythmic patterns to signal shifts in ideas (a strategy similar to West African dance), and perhaps âdeep rhythmsâ present in medieval northern Europe. As impetus for choreography, the verse contains rhythmic information, corresponding to musical/dance concepts such as pick-ups, counterpoint, and syncopation. Beowulf is Min Nama also required a theory of dialect for Old English, which the author based on modern Swedish, medieval Frisian, and modern Frisian â especially the voices of Frisian poets TsjĂȘbbe Hettinga and Albertina Soepboer. The project thus provides an entrĂ©e into the nexus between ancient and modern storytelling, and concludes that contemporary Frisian poetry represents a direct inheritor to ancient solo performance forms
Binary Neutron Stars with Arbitrary Spins in Numerical Relativity
We present a code to construct initial data for binary neutron star systems
in which the stars are rotating. Our code, based on a formalism developed by
Tichy, allows for arbitrary rotation axes of the neutron stars and is able to
achieve rotation rates near rotational breakup. We compute the neutron star
angular momentum through quasi-local angular momentum integrals. When
constructing irrotational binary neutron stars, we find a very small residual
dimensionless spin of . Evolutions of rotating neutron
star binaries show that the magnitude of the stars' angular momentum is
conserved, and that the spin- and orbit-precession of the stars is well
described by post-Newtonian approximation. We demonstrate that orbital
eccentricity of the binary neutron stars can be controlled to . The
neutron stars show quasi-normal mode oscillations at an amplitude which
increases with the rotation rate of the stars.Comment: 20 pages, 22 figure
Inhibition of a Langerhans Cell-Mediated Immune Response by Treatment Modalities Useful in Psoriasis
Neither the pathogenesis of psoriasis nor the mechanism whereby seemingly diverse therapies alter the disease is understood. In this study, several antipsoriatic agents were tested for their effects on the skin cell lymphocyte reaction (SLR), an immunologic assay in which HLA-DR antigens on Langerhans cells (LC) stimulate proliferation of allogeneic lymphocytes. Every agent tested (cortisol, methotrexate, hyperthermia, anthralin) inhibited the SLR at therapeutic dose levels. By contrast, a variety of antibiotics, an anti-inflammatory agent, and lithium carbonate and propranolol, two drugs known to be ineffective in psoriasis, failed to inhibit the SLR. Finally, we have shown that hyperthermia and anthralin treatments are toxic for LC whereas they have little or no effect on keratinocyte viability. These results suggest that antipsoriatic agents may act in psoriasis by alteration or killing of LC
Blood Lipids, Infection, and Inflammatory Markers in the Tsimane of Bolivia
ObjectivesâLittle is known about blood cholesterol (blood-C) levels under conditions of infection and limited diet. This study examines blood-C and markers of infection and inflammation in the Tsimane of the Bolivian Amazon, indigenous forager farmers living in conditions that model preindustrial European populations by their short life expectancy, high load of infections and inflammation, and limited diets.
MethodsâWe use multivariate models to determine the relationships between lipid levels and markers of infection and inflammation. Adult Tsimane (N = 418, age 20â84) were characterized for blood lipids, cells, and inflammatory markers in relation to individual loads of parasites and village region.
ResultsâMost of the Tsimane (60%) carried at least one parasite species, averaging 1.3 species per person. Serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), total cholesterol (total-C), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) were below the U.S. norms and varied inversely with markers of infection and inflammation: C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), immunoglobulin (Ig) E and eosinophil count. Although no relationship of parasite load to blood-C was found, there was an association between anemia and parasite prevalence.
ConclusionsâWe conclude that the highly infected environment of the Tsimane is related to low levels of blood total-C, HDL-C, and LDL-C. This may suggest a potential reason why arterial disease is largely absent in the Tsimane
Measuring antimatter gravity with muonium
The gravitational acceleration of antimatter, gÌ, has never been directly measured and could bear importantly on our understanding of gravity, the possible existence of a fifth force, and the nature and early history of the universe. Only two avenues for such a measurement appear to be feasible: antihydrogen and muonium. The muonium measurement requires a novel, monoenergetic, low-velocity, horizontal muonium beam directed at an atom interferometer. The precision three-grating interferometer can be produced in silicon nitride or ultrananocrystalline diamond using state-of-the-art nanofabrication. The required precision alignment and calibration at the picometer level also appear to be feasible. With 100 nm grating pitch, a 10% measurement of gÌ can be made using some months of surface-muon beam time, and a 1% or better measurement with a correspondingly larger exposure. This could constitute the first gravitational measurement of leptonic matter, of 2nd-generation matter and, possibly, the first measurement of the gravitational acceleration of antimatter
Evidence for He I 10830 \AA~ absorption during the transit of a warm Neptune around the M-dwarf GJ 3470 with the Habitable-zone Planet Finder
Understanding the dynamics and kinematics of out-flowing atmospheres of hot
and warm exoplanets is crucial to understanding the origins and evolutionary
history of the exoplanets near the evaporation desert. Recently, ground based
measurements of the meta-stable Helium atom's resonant absorption at 10830
\AA~has become a powerful probe of the base environment which is driving the
outflow of exoplanet atmospheres. We report evidence for the He I 10830 \AA~in
absorption (equivalent width \AA) in the exosphere of
a warm Neptune orbiting the M-dwarf GJ 3470, during three transits using the
Habitable Zone Planet Finder (HPF) near infrared spectrograph. This marks the
first reported evidence for He I 10830 \AA\, atmospheric absorption for a
planet orbiting an M-dwarf. Our detected absorption is broad and its
blueshifted wing extends to -36 km/sec, the largest reported in the literature
to date. We modelled the state of Helium atoms in the exosphere of GJ3470b
based on assumptions on the UV and X-ray flux of GJ 3470, and found our
measurement of flux-weighted column density of meta-stable state Helium
, derived from our transit
observations, to be consistent with model, within its uncertainties. The
methodology developed here will be useful to study and constrain the
atmospheric outflow models of other exoplanets like GJ 3470b which are near the
edge of the evaporation desert.Comment: Accepted in Ap
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