Compacted doctrines: Empson and the meanings of words.

This chapter describes the account of word meaning advanced by William Empson in 'The Structure of Complex Words' (1951). Exposition is supported by detailed historical analysis of the word wit, chosen to illustrate the possibilities, as well as difficulties, of the framework Empson devised to investigate meaning ‘equations’ that his selected words are capable of entering into. Noting the apparent likeness between 'Complex Words' and Raymond Williams’s slightly later 'Keywords' (1976/1983), including use by both authors of the term ‘keyword’, the chapter examines important differences of approach between the two authors (differences revealed especially in a review Empson published of Williams’s 'Keywords', discussed in the chapter). In conclusion, it is suggested that despite differences between them some similar implications regarding meaning follow from the work of both authors. These include the idea that, rather than merely describing distinct word meanings, or even meanings attributed to words by individual speakers, historical analyses of meaning should focus on social practices that accompany language use, including practices which find their existence and articulation in institutions. In this more social view of meaning, it is suggested, meaning and social identity are kinds of effect, or produced relation, rather than stable elements outside language with which to begin an analysis

Thinking about Brazil and Bloomsday

Joyce’s novel Ulysses. All over the world there will be celebrations. A secular feast where people of almost all languages and certainly all literatures will be linked together to commemorate a day. But what does the day commemorate? Not the death of a god, nor the delivery of a people from an avenging angel, nor even the establishment of the rule of the just. I think it is generally agreed by Joyce scholars that this marks James Joyce’s first date with Nora Barnacle.Joyce’s novel Ulysses. All over the world there will be celebrations. A secular feast where people of almost all languages and certainly all literatures will be linked together to commemorate a day. But what does the day commemorate? Not the death of a god, nor the delivery of a people from an avenging angel, nor even the establishment of the rule of the just. I think it is generally agreed by Joyce scholars that this marks James Joyce’s first date with Nora Barnacle

Incorporating Non-Pharmacological Labor Coping Methods to Improve Nursing Care and Reduce Primary Cesarean Section Rates: A Quality Improvement Project

Abstract BACKGROUND: Cesarean sections (c-sections), while life-saving in some circumstances, carry a significantly higher risk of morbidity and mortality than vaginal birth for birthing patients and neonates alike. Despite this, rates of c-section have continued to rise in the US and around the world. As primary cesarean births are highly likely to lead to repeat cesarean births, concerted efforts are being made to reduce them both broadly and within the setting of this quality improvement (QI) project: a labor and delivery unit located within a Level II trauma center in New Hampshire. A literature review provided evidence supporting the use of non-pharmacological labor coping (NPLC) methods as a means of promoting c-section reduction among low-risk nulliparous, term, singleton, and vertex (NTSV) pregnancies and revealed a gap in this knowledge and practice among labor and delivery professionals. This project focused primarily on increasing the incorporation of NPLC techniques into nursing care. METHODS: The Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) framework was used to guide the quality improvement process and increase the utilization of NPLC methods on the unit. Pre and post-intervention surveys of labor and delivery nurses were conducted in order to measure the project’s efficacy and to generate feedback that would inform future PDSA cycles. The unit’s NTSV c-section rate was also calculated and compared with pre-intervention rates to generate preliminary observations about the effect of the initiative. INTERVENTION: In an attempt to remove the barrier of insufficient access to NPLC tools on the unit and to increase the use of non-pharmacological techniques, a “Labor Lending Library” of supplies to support NPLC alongside the information nurses need to facilitate their use was introduced. Details about the library and the tools it contains were distributed via the weekly email newsletter, via posters hung in key locations on the unit, and via a laminated set of infographics attached to the cart for educational reinforcement. Use of the cart was encouraged during the study period by the project lead with periodic informal presentations during change-of-shift huddles and an appearance at an Obstetric unit practice committee meeting. RESULTS: The Labor Lending Library project aimed for 75% of surveyed nurses to report that they had sufficient tools to support NPLC nursing care on the unit, with sufficiency being defined as a rating of 8.5 out of 10 or better. It ultimately yielded this rating from 94.44% of post-intervention survey respondents, representing a 35% increase in average rating of the sufficiency of available tools to support NPLC from pre to post-intervention. The project’s additional goal of increasing NPLC support by 25% overall was not entirely met, though reported use of all studied NPLC methods among nurses increased by 16.3% on average during the study period. The NTSV c-section rate on the unit was 24.48% during data collection, representing a 6.2% reduction in rate from the same time frame the previous year and 7.2% reduction from the overall rate of NTSV c-sections on the unit in 2022. CONCLUSIONS: Actively promoting use of and access to NPLC methods via the Labor Lending Library intervention increased the use of these methods within the setting where it was initiated. Consolidating resources and creating complementary nurse education also led to a significant increase in nurses reporting that they had sufficient tools to facilitate use of NPLC techniques with their laboring patients. Continued use of NPLC supported by the Labor Lending Library may, over time, see a long-term overall decrease in NTSV c-section rates. Keywords: labor and delivery, primary cesarean, NTSV cesarean, NTSV c-section reduction, primary c-section reduction, non-pharmacological labor coping methods, non-pharmacological pain management, labor and delivery nurses, labor and delivery nursing care, nursing educatio

X ray examinations and fractional test meals: an investigation into their usefulness in assisting in the diagnosis of functional and organic disease of the stomach and duodenum

1. Gastric Ulcer. X Ray is undoubtedly superior to test meals in usefulness. 2. Duodenal Ulcer. Usefulness of X Ray with test meal is about equal. X Ray, of course, gives more accurate information. 3. Carcinoma. Test meal is more useful in diagnosing an early case. 4. Gastritis. The X Ray does not give any help other than in assisting to exclude carcinoma or ulceration, whereas the test meal is very useful, besides aiding the Physician in the diagnosis, it also helps him to exclude carcinoma definitely. 5. Functional Disease. The test meal gives, on the whole, more help to the Practitioner than the X Ray. In cases of functional disease, the X Ray does give a certain amount of help, but it is chiefly in a negative sense, namely, in excluding organic disease, although it does, to a certain extent assist in the diagnosis of hypertonicity and atony. The test meal, on the other hand, is very useful in helping the Physician to diagnose the various conditions of the gastric secretion, besides hypertonicity and atony of the stomach.I shall finish by stating that if the Physician, or Surgeon, after a careful history and clinical examination has been done, is undecided as to the diagnosis, then a test meal should be performed. If there is still doubt, or if more accurate information is desired, then a radiological examination should be carried out without delay.Finally, both the results of X Ray examination and the fractional test meal, unless they agree with the history and clinical findings, should be accepted with great caution, or ignored, or else a further examination should be carried out

Cell-Based GaAs MMICs for Small Satellite Applications

Highly integrated, reliable microwave components are needed for small satellite applications. The GaAs integrated circuit industry has been developed largely due to military electronic requirements. In particular, the library cell approach by Pacific Monolithics holds promise for making simple and complex microwave systems available at a cost not prohibitive for small satellite \u27applications. This paper outlines the cell library approach, cells now in the library and some microwave systems built by integrating components from the cell library

10-100 Gbps Offload NIC for WAN, NLR, and Grid Computing

An extremely fast offload engine system has been developed that operates at 60 Gigabits per second (Gbps), and has scalability to 100 Gbps full-duplex (f-d). This system is based on unique coding and architecture derived from splintered UDP (User Datagram Protocol) offload technology, resulting in unique FPGA (field programmable gate array) intellectual property core and firmware. This innovation improves the networking speed of supercomputer clusters by providing an ultra-fast network protocol processing offload from a CPU (central processing unit) by inserting an offload engine into a host backplane and network connections. This runs on protocol firmware

Pulsed excitation dynamics of an optomechanical crystal resonator near its quantum ground-state of motion

Using pulsed optical excitation and read-out along with single phonon counting techniques, we measure the transient back-action, heating, and damping dynamics of a nanoscale silicon optomechanical crystal cavity mounted in a dilution refrigerator at a base temperature of 11mK. In addition to observing a slow (~740ns) turn-on time for the optical-absorption-induced hot phonon bath, we measure for the 5.6GHz `breathing' acoustic mode of the cavity an initial phonon occupancy as low as 0.021 +- 0.007 (mode temperature = 70mK) and an intrinsic mechanical decay rate of 328 +- 14 Hz (mechanical Q-factor = 1.7x10^7). These measurements demonstrate the feasibility of using short pulsed measurements for a variety of quantum optomechanical applications despite the presence of steady-state optical heating.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figure