The Poetics of Place: New York and Identity in the Works of Paul Auster

This thesis examines the role of New York City in the construction of identity in the works of Paul Auster. It traces how Auster moves from a position of urban nihilism to one of qualified optimism for forms of social life and community in the contemporary metropolis. The work of cultural geographers offers a theoretical framework appropriate to Auster’s urban spatial imagination. Consequently, the chapters are organised in a continuity of spatial scales and examine the dialogue between urban theory and Auster’s fiction. Chapter 1 introduces cultural geography, and relates its key concerns to those in Auster’s work. Its commentators are organised into three perspectives: the ‘systemic’, the ‘local’, and the ‘global in the local’. Chapter 2 considers Auster’s poetry and early prose to demonstrate how a ‘systemic’ experience of the metropolis forces the writer to retreat to the isolation of his room. Chapters 3 and 4 examine the central themes of alienation and the failure of language on the streets of the metropolis in The New York Trilogy, and consider how, at this early point in his career, Auster understands the practices of writing and their relationship to the metropolis. Chapter 5 explores how Auster presents a ‘local’ experience of intimate social connections in ‘downtown’, and how these provide a fleeting stability for his characters. Chapter 6 journeys out of the metropolis to consider Auster’s representations of non-New York places, and the effects on identity of space and mobility. Chapter 7 examines spaces of the imagination through Auster’s representations of dystopic and utopian places, and the role of magic and illusion. Chapter 8 demonstrates how Auster presents a community able to ground a sense of identity in the collaborative practices of story telling and film making

A model and empirical test of evolving consumer perceived brand innovativeness and its two-way relationship with consumer perceived product innovativeness

This paper examines the evolution of consumer perceived brand innovativeness through its relationship with product innovativeness. A survey of 617 respondents measured consumer perceptions, brand attitude, and purchase intention, with data analysed using structural equation modelling. Results indicate that after exposure to a product innovation, consumers’ existing perception of brand innovativeness and perception of the technological newness of the innovation shape their perception of product innovativeness. This leads to an updating of perceptions of innovativeness at the brand level, which subsequently influence both brand attitude and purchase intention outcomes. It also mediates the impact of product innovativeness on these variables. This model of the evolution of brand innovativeness shows how it can be strengthened (or weakened) by product innovativeness. A key managerial implication is that investment and production of highly innovative products will result in a virtuous cycle of increasing future perceptions of product and brand innovativeness

ASamuelson_UrbanBumblebee_ColonyData

Colony totals data file with data collected from field. Lat = Latitude; Lon = Longitude; Col = Colony identifier; Site = site name; Crith_suc & Apic_suc = Crithidia bombi and Apicystis bombi positive samples; Crith_fail & Apic_fail = Crithidia bombi and Apicystis bombi negative samples; Syntretus, Crithidia, Apicystis = parasitised (binary); Countave = peak no. workers; Tot_cuck = number of B. vestalis invasions; Cu_bin = B. vestalis invasions (binary), Tot_male = toal males; Tot_gyne = total gynes; Tot_rep = total males + gynes; G/M_thorave = gyne/male mean thorax width (mm); G/M_wmass = gyne/male mean wet mass (g); G/M_dmass = gyne/male mean dry mass (g); Q_week = week queen left experiment due to death or colony moribundity; Q_died = queen died (binary); Col_death_week = week colony became moribund; Col_status = status for survival analysis; Rep_wk = Week colony produced reproductives or became moribund; Rep_status = produced reproductives (binary); Ave_temp = average temperature (C); Ave_hum = average humidity (%); Sum_prec = total rainfall during experiment (mm); LU750, LU500, LU250 & LU100 = 750m, 500m, 250m & 100m radius clustered land-use variables; Prop_... = Proportion land-use variables for each radius; ...PC1 = Principle component scores for each radius

Additional file 1: Figure S1. of Gut bacteria differentially affect egg production in the anautogenous mosquito Aedes aegypti and facultatively autogenous mosquito Aedes atropalpus (Diptera: Culicidae)

Axenic A. aegypti and A. atropalpus first instars rapidly ingested bacteria. Conventional first instars were hatched in open containers containing distilled water and sterilized diet (Non-sterile). Axenic first instars were hatched in fully sterile conditions and fed sterilized diet (Axenic). Other axenic larvae were fed sterilized diet plus the indicated bacterial isolate. For each treatment, DNA was isolated from a pooled sample of 10 larvae that was collected 6 h post-inoculation after repeated washing and surface sterilization per Coon et al. [21]. DNA was also isolated from cultures of each bacterial isolate. DNA samples were then used as templates with universal or genus-specific primers (see Methods and Table S2). The agarose gel shows ethidium bromide stained PCR products. Lane 1, molecular mass markers labeled in base pairs (bp); Lane 2, universal primers plus DNA from conventional larvae; Lane 3, universal primers plus DNA from axenic larvae; Lane 3-4, Chryseobacterium-specific primers plus template from Chryseobacterium (Control) or axenic first instars inoculated with Chryseobacterium (Larva). The same treatments are then shown for Sphingobacterium (Lanes 5-6), Microbacterium (Lanes 7-8), Leucobacter (Lanes 9-10), Paenibacillus (Lanes 11-12), Aquitalea (Lanes 13-14), and Comamonas (Lanes 15-16). This experiment was repeated four times with independently collected samples and each time yielded identical outcomes for both A. aegypti and A. atropalpus. Table S1. Bacterial isolates used in the study. Table S2. Primers designed and used during the study. (PDF 282 kb

ASamuelson_UrbanBumblebee_FatData.csv

Fat analysis data file with data collected from bee samples analysed in the lab, with sheets for males, gynes and workers. Week = week number; Date = date; Col = Colony identifier; Site = site name; Sitewk = Site and week; no = bee number; Thor1/2/3 = repeated thorax width measurements (mm); Thor_ave = mean thorax width (mm); Wet_wt_whole = wet mass whole bee (g); Dry_wt_whole = dry mass whole bee (g); Dry_wt_ab_BE = dry mass abdomen before ether (g); Dry_wt_ab_AE = dry mass abdomen after ether (g); Fat_wt_g = Fat mass (g); Fat_wt_mg = Fat mass (mg); Fat_mg.mm = fat mg/mm; Prop_fat = proportion fat conten

Appendix B. Identity, pollen loads, behavior, and bill lengths of birds observed to feed on nectar of Aloe vryheidensis and Greyia sutherlandii at the study site.

Identity, pollen loads, behavior, and bill lengths of birds observed to feed on nectar of Aloe vryheidensis and Greyia sutherlandii at the study site

Appendix C. Relative dimensions of Aloe vryheidensis flowers, a Buff-streaked Chats, and Amethyst Sunbirds.

Relative dimensions of Aloe vryheidensis flowers, a Buff-streaked Chats, and Amethyst Sunbirds

Appendix A. Nectar volume and concentration in flowers of Aloe vryheidensis, as measured in the field over two days at two times of the day .

Nectar volume and concentration in flowers of Aloe vryheidensis, as measured in the field over two days at two times of the day

Safety survey questions.pdf

An electronic cross-sectional semi-structured survey distributed across the UK via social media (twitter) between September and December 2016.<div><br></div><div>The electronic survey was created by the authors using the Bristol Online Survey platform which collects responses into a database and records IP addresses to prevent multiple responses from any one internet connection. The survey consisted of 18 questions, 11 of them closed, specifically designed for this study. The questions about safety issues were consciously open due to the broad range of potential safety issues identified both in the literature and during initial consultations with stakeholders. </div><div>Participants were routed in one of three different ways depending on whether they primarily identified as a service user, carer or professional. </div><div><br><div>Approval for the study was granted by the University of Leeds, School of Healthcare Research Ethics Committee (ref. HREC15-059). Information was provided about the survey and sources of support at the beginning of the survey and consent was implied by completion and submission of the survey.</div></div

The effect of climate on morphological traits.

<p>PC1 illustrates precipitation differences between cooler and warmer sites, PC2 explains the tropical-temperate climatic gradient. The non-linear relationship between morphology and climate was modelled by including a quadratic term.</p><p>K: number of parameters in the model.</p