Dominance and radical submission in seventeenth-century drama: chastity, fairness, and silence in portrayals of Mar(r)iam(ne), Sophonisba, and Cleopatra

This thesis conducts an extensive reading of early modern English playwrights’ interpretation of ancient royalty. I survey a series of seventeenth-century plays concerning Mariamne I, the Carthaginian noblewoman Sophonisba, and Cleopatra VII. I argue that the English stage produced two models of ancient royalty. Mar(r)iam(ne) and Sophonisba personify one model, functioning as white, seemingly obedient figureheads. I document playwrights portraying their men as reducing them to their chastity and fairness, or lack thereof. Despite the inactivity of these objectified women, the qualities that these men obsess over catalyze masculine irrationality. The other model, which Cleopatra embodies, encompasses blackness and defiance. Though contemporary scholarship on these plays discusses the role of sexuality in these texts, scholars do not acknowledge the extent to which these ancient queens were sites of racial imagination, nor the extent to which these two models of ancient royalty were in conversation with another

Egyptian stasis and imperial quick-time: recursive xenophobia cloaked in mysticism

I will be examining temporality in British texts about Egypt across time. In order to achieve this, I analyze the play Antony and Cleopatra (1606) by William Shakespeare, and put it in conversation with Pharos, the Egyptian (1899) by Guy Newell Boothby. I will also be discussing Alexandria (2009) by Lindsey Davis, as a demonstration that the pattern in my findings is enduring. I will be dissecting the portrayal of Egyptian temporality, which I have found to be conveyed as a stasis, as contrasted by the quick-time of dominating imperial powers. These sources will allow me to compare depictions of generally urgent imperial time as contrasted by Egyptian stasis from the 17th, 19th, and 21st centuries; this cross section of time will allow me to explore temporality across three key centuries in the literary world. In both Antony and Cleopatra and Pharos, the Egyptian, I note that the fetishization of Egyptian identity and symbology via British writers is crucial in establishing Egypt as a stasis. Although fascinatingly similar, I have found a difference between these texts, involving the employment (and lack thereof) of temporal inconsistencies related to Egypt including gaps in time, fainting, entrancement, future-telling, and differences in memory recall. I will be cross-referencing an array of biographical sources of Cleopatra, museum history, and important literary texts starting with Life of Antony by Plutarch, from the first century AD. To supplement my argument, I will be referencing theories on Postcolonialism, temporality, imperialism, and museological exhibition

A Seventeenth-Century Air History in Conversation with Antony and Cleopatra

This article works to unpack the recurrences of air-related language utilized in Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra. Throughout this play, the notions of breath, wind, air, and vapor are consistently referenced, demonstrating the way in which atmospheric intangibility was a key point of exploration for contemporary scientists and philosophers. Through this analysis, it is clear that Shakespeare employs breath in three ways: the breath of (public) life, a lack of breath, and, most importantly, breath as a symbol of power and autonomy, which at times overlaps with the breath of life in ways that demonstrate contemporary conceptualizations of living beings. The relation of breath and power is shown to exist in other seventeenth-century texts, which often thought about breath and power in relation to God, spirits, and nature. Ultimately, Shakespeare treats air as transformative, wind as a whimsical means of transportation, and vapor as contagious. These ideas coincide with seventeenth-century understandings of these meteorological concepts found in complex scientific theories, natural philosophy ideas, and cultural constructions accepted by the general public

Using the Dipolar and Quadrupolar Moments to Improve Solar-Cycle Predictions Based on the Polar Magnetic Fields

The solar cycle and its associated magnetic activity are the main drivers behind changes in the interplanetary environment and Earth's upper atmosphere (commonly referred to as space weather and climate). In recent years there has been an effort to develop accurate solar cycle predictions, leading to nearly a hundred widely spread predictions for the amplitude of solar cycle 24. Here we show that cycle predictions can be made more accurate if performed separately for each hemisphere, taking advantage of information about both the dipolar and quadrupolar moments of the solar magnetic field during minimum

Social workers\u27 perceptions regarding at risk and delinquent foster care youth

This thesis explores the experiences of social workers within San Bernardino County\u27s Children and Family Services who are working with delinquent and high-risk youth within foster care. Social workers were asked to describe services that are available and the potential protective risk factors that may exist. It is imperative to understand this population and the services that exist in order to address this problem and better meet the needs of youth

Series experimentales en obtención de formas base para la confección de instrumentos óseos en la cuenca del paraná medio e inferior

En el sector argentino de las cuencas media e inferior del río Paraná, los sitios de cazadores-recolectores del Holoceno tardío cuentan con un numeroso y variado registro de instrumentos óseos. En esta oportunidad evaluamos tres técnicas de obtención de formas base registradas en el área de estudio: fractura, aserrado perimetral y ranurado en cruz. Para esto se desarrolló un programa experimental que incluye la utilización de lascas líticas y filos de valvas para las actividades de aserrado y ranurado, y percutores líticos sobre yunques de madera para las de percusión. En estas experiencias consideramos la energía invertida en cada actividad y las características de los elementos resultantes a fin de generar una base de datos actual para interpretar el registro arqueológico local. En la muestra arqueológica observamos que la fractura por impacto fue la principal técnica de obtención de formas base en los dos sectores de la cuenca del Paraná, seguido por el aserrado perimetral. Del programa experimental se deduce que esta última técnica permite el seccionamiento controlado del hueso; si bien implica mayor inversión de energía, facilita la obtención de preformas aprovechando prácticamente todo el cilindro diafisiario.Fil: Buc, Natacha. Secretaría de Cultura de la Nación. Dirección Nacional de Cultura y Museos. Instituto Nacional de Antropología y Pensamiento Latinoamericano; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Mucciolo, Leonardo. Secretaría de Cultura de la Nación. Dirección Nacional de Cultura y Museos. Instituto Nacional de Antropología y Pensamiento Latinoamericano; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Pérez Jimeno, Laura. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Humanidades y Artes; ArgentinaFil: Coll, Melina. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Humanidades y Artes; ArgentinaFil: Deluca, Santiago. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Humanidades y Artes; Argentin

The Minimum of Solar Cycle 23: As Deep as It Could Be?

In this work we introduce a new way of binning sunspot group data with the purpose of better understanding the impact of the solar cycle on sunspot properties and how this defined the characteristics of the extended minimum of cycle 23. Our approach assumes that the statistical properties of sunspots are completely determined by the strength of the underlying large-scale field and have no additional time dependencies. We use the amplitude of the cycle at any given moment (something we refer to as activity level) as a proxy for the strength of this deep-seated magnetic field. We find that the sunspot size distribution is composed of two populations: one population of groups and active regions and a second population of pores and ephemeral regions. When fits are performed at periods of different activity level, only the statistical properties of the former population, the active regions, is found to vary. Finally, we study the relative contribution of each component (small-scale versus large-scale) to solar magnetism. We find that when hemispheres are treated separately, almost every one of the past 12 solar minima reaches a point where the main contribution to magnetism comes from the small-scale component. However, due to asymmetries in cycle phase, this state is very rarely reached by both hemispheres at the same time. From this we infer that even though each hemisphere did reach the magnetic baseline, from a heliospheric point of view the minimum of cycle 23 was not as deep as it could have been

Adopting Cultivation to Remain Pastoralists: The Diversification of Maasai Livelihoods in Northern Tanzania

Over the past four decades, Maasai pastoralists in Tanzania have adopted agriculture, integrating it with their traditional pastoralism. This livelihood diversification has complex origins and profound implications for Maasai social organization, culture, and demography, and ultimately for their health and well being and for the local and regional environment. In this paper, we examine the process by which this engagement with, and increasing dependence upon, agriculture came about in Ngorongoro District, northern Tanzania. The process there was more complex and influenced by a wider variety of factors than has been reported by previous descriptions of Maasai livelihood diversification. It generally involved two stages: planting a garden first, and later expanding the garden to a farm. We found that some households adopted cultivation out of necessity, but far more did so by choice. Among the latter, some adopted cultivation to reduce risk, while for others it was a reflection of changing cultural and social norms. Motivations for adopting cultivation differed among people of different wealth categories. Diversification was part of wider cultural changes, and was also influenced by power differentials among Maasai age sets and by government policies

A wide field X-ray telescope for astronomical survey purposes: from theory to practice

X-ray mirrors are usually built in the Wolter I (paraboloid-hyperboloid) configuration. This design exhibits no spherical aberration on-axis but suffers from field curvature, coma and astigmatism, therefore the angular resolution degrades rapidly with increasing off-axis angles. Different mirror designs exist in which the primary and secondary mirror profiles are expanded as a power series in order to increase the angular resolution at large off-axis positions, at the expanses of the on-axis performances. Here we present the design and global trade off study of an X-ray mirror systems based on polynomial optics in view of the Wide Field X-ray Telescope (WFXT) mission. WFXT aims at performing an extended cosmological survey in the soft X-ray band with unprecedented flux sensitivity. To achieve these goals the angular resolution required for the mission is very demanding ~5 arcsec mean resolution across a 1-deg field of view. In addition an effective area of 5-9000 cm^2 at 1 keV is needed.Comment: Accepted for publication in the MNRAS (11pages, 3 table, 13 figures

Safety of Induced Sputum Collection in Children Hospitalized With Severe or Very Severe Pneumonia.

Background.: Induced sputum (IS) may provide diagnostic information about the etiology of pneumonia. The safety of this procedure across a heterogeneous population with severe pneumonia in low- and middle-income countries has not been described. Methods.: IS specimens were obtained as part a 7-country study of the etiology of severe and very severe pneumonia in hospitalized childrenbefore, during, and after the procedure to record oxygen requirement, oxygen saturation, respiratory rate, consciousness level, and other evidence of clinical deterioration. Criteria for IS contraindications were predefined and serious adverse events (SAEs) were reported to ethics committees and a central safety monitor. Results.: A total of 4653 IS procedures were done among 3802 children. Thirteen SAEs were reported in relation to collection of IS, or 0.34% of children with at least 1 IS specimen collected (95% confidence interval, 0.15%-0.53%). A drop in oxygen saturation that required supplemental oxygen was the most common SAE. One child died after feeding was reinitiated 2 hours after undergoing sputum induction; this death was categorized as possibly related to the procedure. Conclusions.: The overall frequency of SAEs was very low, and the nature of most SAEs was manageable, demonstrating a low-risk safety profile for IS collection even among severely ill children in low-income-country settings. Healthcare providers should monitor oxygen saturation and requirements during and after IS collection, and assess patients prior to reinitiating feeding after the IS procedure, to ensure patient safety