The Center Of All Beauty: Radical Democracy, Materiality, And The Poetic Subject In Twentieth-Century American Poetry

In The Center of All Beauty, I trace a strain of poetics in twentieth-century American poetry from William Carlos Williams through Frank O’Hara, Alice Notley, and Amiri Baraka. This poetics is founded in a radically democratic conception of the poetic subject and in the use of poetry as a tool for developing critical knowledge about the material conditions within which the poetic subject is constituted. In Spring and All and The Embodiment of Knowledge, Williams articulates a poetics that denies the authority of any grounds upon which any poetic subject would be considered inadequate to poetic speech and outlines a way of using poetry to train the poetic subject into a critical resistance to authority. I demonstrate similarities between Williams’s poetics and the political pedagogy Jacques Rancière articulates in The Ignorant Schoolmaster in order to show how Williams’s poetics amounts to a way of holding poetry open for political speech according to Rancière’s definition of politics as a rupture in the distribution of the sensible. I outline how Frank O’Hara develops a poetics of everyday life and sociality that renders the social formation the poetic subject exists within visible for critique and poetic articulation. Following Rancière’s definition of dissensus as the means by which politics operates in an ongoing present, I argue O’Hara makes this poetics part of a process of dissensual collaboration among members of the oppositional queer social world he is a part of in 1950s New York. I turn to Alice Notley’s poetry in the 1970s to show how she develops an everyday life poetry of the maternal subject. Following Henri Lefebvre’s Critique of Everyday Life, I argue that Notley’s poetry initially functions by trying to disalienate the material of everyday life from the poetic field of meaning. She tries to enact this poetics by modeling it after Williams and O’Hara. However, the social relations she invokes for poetic collaboration are mystified rather than alienated in their definition under capitalist patriarchy. Her poetry develops a critical knowledge of this domestic situation, making visible the ways these relations are constructed from a system of demands for labor. Finally, I turn to Amiri Baraka, who, in making use of this poetics encounters the problem of how to declare the possibility of speaking without qualification as a Black poetic subject engaged in the struggle for African-American liberation without seeking the invisible qualification that such a declaration should begin in an attempt to transcend or disavow Blackness. Ultimately, Baraka sees that in order to fully articulate the ways a poetic subject is subject to systems of domination according to race and class, this poetics must treat the material of historical and political analysis as available to the poetic subject in the same way as the materials of everyday life. Baraka’s poetics shows us the necessity of not only disalienating the materials of everyday life from poetic meaning, but also of disalienating systems of historical and political analysis from the everyday life of the poetic subject

Influence of Muscle-Tendon Wrapping on Calculations of Joint Reaction Forces in the Equine Distal Forelimb

The equine distal forelimb is a common location of injuries related to mechanical overload. In this study, a two-dimensional model of the musculoskeletal system of the region was developed and applied to kinematic and kinetic data from walking and trotting horses. The forces in major tendons and joint reaction forces were calculated. The components of the joint reaction forces caused by wrapping of tendons around sesamoid bones were found to be of similar magnitude to the reaction forces between the long bones at each joint. This finding highlighted the importance of taking into account muscle-tendon wrapping when evaluating joint loading in the equine distal forelimb

Combining Sanford arylations on benzodiazepines with the nuisance effect

5-Phenyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-1,4-benzodiazepin-2-ones react under palladium- and visible light photoredox catalysis, in refluxing methanol, with aryldiazonium salts to afford the respective 5-(2- arylphenyl) analogues. With 2- or 4-fluorobenzenediazonium derivatives, both fluoroaryl- and methoxyaryl- products were obtained, the latter resulting from a SNAr on the fluorobenzenediazonium salt (“nuisance effect”). A computational DFT analysis of the palladium-catalysed and the palladium/ruthenium-photocalysed mechanism for the functionalization of benzodiazepines indicated that in the presence of the photocatalyst the reaction proceeds via a low-energy SET pathway avoiding the high-energy oxidative addition step in the palladium-only catalysed reaction pathway

VINE -- A numerical code for simulating astrophysical systems using particles I: Description of the physics and the numerical methods

We present a Fortran 95 code for simulating the evolution of astrophysical systems using particles to represent the underlying fluid flow. The code is designed to be versatile, flexible and extensible, with modular options that can be selected either at compile time or at run time. We include a number of general purpose modules describing a variety of physical processes commonly required in the astrophysical community. The code can be used as an N-body code to evolve a set of particles in two or three dimensions using either a Leapfrog or Runge-Kutta-Fehlberg integrator, with or without individual timesteps for each particle. Particles may interact gravitationally as $N$-body particles, and all or any subset may also interact hydrodynamically, using the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamic (SPH) method. Massive point particles (`stars') which may accrete nearby SPH or $N$-body particles may also be included. The default free boundary conditions can be replaced by a module to include periodic boundaries. Cosmological expansion may also be included. An interface with special purpose `GRAPE' hardware may also be selected. If available, forces obtained from the GRAPE coprocessors may be transparently substituted for those obtained from the default tree based calculation. The code may be run without modification on single processors or in parallel using OpenMP compiler directives on large scale, shared memory parallel machines. In comparison to the Gadget-2 code of Springel 2005, the gravitational force calculation is $\approx 3.5 - 4.8$ times faster with VINE when run on 8 Itanium~2 processors in an SGI Altix, while producing nearly identical outcomes in our test problems. We present simulations of several test problems, including a merger simulation of two elliptical galaxies with 800000 particles.Comment: Update to revised and newly resubmitted paper version. Code updated to version 1.0.

The experience of providing young people attending general practice with an online risk assessment tool to assess their own sexual health risk

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Targeted chlamydia screening has been advocated to reduce chlamydia associated reproductive sequelae. General practitioners are well positioned to play a major role in chlamydia control. The primary aim of this pilot study was to measure the effect of offering an online sexual health assessment tool, <it>Youth Check Your Risk</it>, on chlamydia testing rates among young people attending general practices. The secondary aim was to test the acceptability of the tool among general practitioners and young people.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>General practitioners at three practices in Melbourne, Australia, referred patients aged 16 to 24 years to <it>Youth Check Your Risk </it><url>http://www.checkyourrisk.org.au</url> for use post-consultation between March to October 2007. The proportion of young people tested for chlamydia before and during the implementation of the tool was compared. Acceptability was assessed through a structured interviewer-administered questionnaire with general practitioners, and anonymous online data provided by <it>Youth Check Your Risk </it>users.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The intervention did not result in any significant increases in the proportion of 16 to 24 year old males (2.7% to 3.0%) or females (6.3% to 6.4%) tested for chlamydia. A small increase in the proportion of 16 to 19 year old females tested was seen (4.1% to 7.2%). Of the 2997 patients seen during the intervention phase, 871 (29.1%) were referred to <it>Youth Check Your Risk </it>and 120 used it (13.8%). Major reasons for low referral rates reported by practitioners included lack of time, discomfort with raising the issue of testing, and difficulty in remembering to refer patients.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Offering an online sexual risk assessment tool in general practice did not significantly increase the proportion of young people tested for chlamydia, with GPs identifying a number of barriers to referring young people to <it>Youth Check Your Risk</it>. Future interventions aimed at increasing chlamydia screening in general practice with the aid of an online risk assessment tool need to identify and overcome barriers to testing.</p

Incentive payments to general practitioners aimed at increasing opportunistic testing of young women for chlamydia: a pilot cluster randomised controlled trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Financial incentives have been used for many years internationally to improve quality of care in general practice. The aim of this pilot study was to determine if offering general practitioners (GP) a small incentive payment per test would increase chlamydia testing in women aged 16 to 24 years, attending general practice.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>General practice clinics (n = 12) across Victoria, Australia, were cluster randomized to receive either a $AUD5 payment per chlamydia test or no payment for testing 16 to 24 year old women for chlamydia. Data were collected on the number of chlamydia tests and patient consultations undertaken by each GP over two time periods: 12 month pre-trial and 6 month trial period. The impact of the intervention was assessed using a mixed effects logistic regression model, accommodating for clustering at GP level.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Testing increased from 6.2% (95% CI: 4.2, 8.4) to 8.8% (95% CI: 4.8, 13.0) (p = 0.1) in the control group and from 11.5% (95% CI: 4.6, 18.5) to 13.4% (95% CI: 9.5, 17.5) (p = 0.4) in the intervention group. Overall, the intervention did not result in a significant increase in chlamydia testing in general practice. The odds ratio for an increase in testing in the intervention group compared to the control group was 0.9 (95% CI: 0.6, 1.2). Major barriers to increased chlamydia testing reported by GPs included a lack of time, difficulty in remembering to offer testing and a lack of patient awareness around testing.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>A small financial incentive alone did not increase chlamydia testing among young women attending general practice. It is possible small incentive payments in conjunction with reminder and feedback systems may be effective, as may higher financial incentive payments. Further research is required to determine if financial incentives can increase testing in Australian general practice, the type and level of financial scheme required and whether incentives needs to be part of a multi-faceted package.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>Australian New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry ACTRN12608000499381.</p

Perceptions About Work/Life Balance Among DU Community Members with Young Children

Background: In the past fifty years, families in the USA have changed in configuration, size and dynamics. The percentage of families that do not conform to the traditional family unit (married mother and father with children) has increased as there are more single-parent families, LGBTQ families and interracial families. The proportion of unmarried or divorced families has also increased, as it has the number of married and unmarried couples that opt to not have children and, additionally, more couples are opting for adoption and foster parenting (Pew Research Center 2010). Furthermore, the percentage of households where all the adults work has increased, which impacts the amount and quality of time available for family activities and household chores (Bianchi, Robinson and Milkie 2006). These and other trends have led to the identification of “work-family balance” as an important challenge of our times, one that families have been facing for decades and that institutions are only starting to pay attention to (Hochschild 2013). Although there are many aspects of family life that are challenging to balance with workplace demands, childcare has been specifically identified as one that needs attention (Desilver 2014). Methods: Study goal: To describe the perceptions that some DU community members with children have about work-family balance with attention to challenges, difficulties and institutional responses. Study design: Descriptive, cross-sectional, qualitative study. Population and sample: We recruited 63 University of Denver students (13), staff (14) and faculty (36) who are responsible of parenting at least one child under 10 years of age. We used purposive sampling. which consists in actively finding individuals who meet the criteria. Data collection: Semi structured interviews (January 23-February 8, 2017), in person, audio recorded and transcribed within one week. Participants’ autonomy, confidentiality and anonymity were protected throughout the process. Data analysis: Thematic analysis, which consists in the systematic identification of themes in the interview transcripts, followed by their conceptual organization and hierarchization. Research team: sixty-six undergraduate students taking Cultural Anthropology (ANTH 2010) in winter 2017, four graduate teaching assistants and one course instructor. Findings: Student participants portrayed work/life balance as set of interconnected situations and relations that go from the deeply personal to the interpersonal, communal and institutional. Aiming at capturing such complexity, we organized our findings in four themes: work/life balance, family dynamics, personal challenges and support. Participants told us about their struggles when negotiating work and life responsibilities which often lead to feelings of guilt, which are mediated by their colleagues’ reactions, schedule flexibility, their job situation and the presence or absence of maternity leave. Family dynamics reflected a tension between a narrative of independence and one of dependence in raising children, highlighting the importance of social networks, both of which are also affected by immigration status and intra-household negotiations particularly, Perceptions about work/life balance among DU community members with young children Cultural Anthropology (ANTH 2010) winter 2017 4 with their partners. Personal challenges relate primarily with time management and establishing clear boundaries between work and family, which related to managing emails, organization and scheduling of activities, maintaining a financial balance, and solving transportation needs, all of which were mediated the ability parents have of controlling a flexible work schedule, an ability greatly diminished among students. Support parents need related to child care goes from the one that happens in interpersonal interactions with neighbors, friends, relatives and colleagues, to the institutionalized forms of support, where participants expressed their frustration for the insufficiency of accessible options in Denver, the lack of options at DU, and the inaccessibility of DU’s Fisher Early Learning Center. Conclusions and recommendations: Participant’s ability to control their schedules together with their financial and social capital seem to shape important differences in the ability that parents have for balancing work and life. Students, single parents and recent immigrants seem to have a combination of elements that add to the challenges. At the interpersonal level, simple acts of kindness, sympathy and empathy in the everyday interactions seem to make an important difference to parents. The perception that many of the student participants expressed about the academy not being comfortable with children, families or parents could be addressed by making it normal to talk about all these aspects of life. At the institutional level, efforts could be made at reaching out to parents, especially students and single parents, to offer them guidance and support that is already in place at DU, such as counselling and wellbeing resources, as well as orientation related to institutional policies. Policies related to maternity and paternity leave should be refined to ensure that they do not negatively affect those they are supposed to support. Convenient, affordable and sustainable on-campus child care options should be seriously considered given that they would enhance the possibilities for parents to participate in activities at DU. Events should be organized where members of the DU community have the opportunity to share not as students, staff or faculty, but as members of families

The OpenMolcas Web: A Community-Driven Approach to Advancing Computational Chemistry

The developments of the open-source OpenMolcas chemistry software environment since spring 2020 are described, with a focus on novel functionalities accessible in the stable branch of the package or via interfaces with other packages. These developments span a wide range of topics in computational chemistry and are presented in thematic sections: electronic structure theory, electronic spectroscopy simulations, analytic gradients and molecular structure optimizations, ab initio molecular dynamics, and other new features. This report offers an overview of the chemical phenomena and processes OpenMolcas can address, while showing that OpenMolcas is an attractive platform for state-of-the-art atomistic computer simulations