Shelley’s idea of nature a study of the interrelationship of subject and object in the major poems

The thesis offers an interpretation of Shelley's poetry which focuses on his treatment of external nature. Its main argument is that a subject-object dialectic lies at the basis of his thought and style. Manifesting itself as a tension and oscillation between dualist and monist tendencies, this dialectic underlies the opposing strains of thought associated with his sceptical idealism; it informs the relationship between various contraries with which he is recurrently concerned, such as reason and feeling, necessity and freedom, language and thought; and it accounts for some major characteristics of his style--for example, its self-reflexiveness, indeterminacy, and restless forward momentum. Nature is found to play a complex dual function in this dialectical process: first, as the circumference to the circle of which mind is the centre, it provides the material of thought and poetry; secondly, through its cyclic processes, it serves as an emblem of the mind's dynamic relationship with that material. In finding the characteristic thought-pattern of his poetry to be constituted of a creative-destructive interplay of contraries, the thesis contends that Shelley is a significant exponent of Romantic irony. Such a reading of his work mediates between an earlier tradition of interpreting him as a Platonising poet of nature and the more recent emphasis that has been given to his philosophical scepticism and political radicalism. Throughout, attention is given to the interacting influences of his direct experience of nature (as recorded mainly in his letters) and the representations of nature he encounters in his reading. The following poems, chosen for their importance in Shelley's canon and as clear illustrations of his treatment of nature, are discussed chronologically in successive chapters: Queen Mab, Master, the 1816 odes, Prometheus Unbound, Adonais, and The Triumph of Life

Discussion of the base line survey for the evaluation of the foot and mouth disease control programme in Narok and Kajiado Districts

This paper gives the salient information contained in the fuller base line survey by the same author. It presents data on education, employment, cattle holdings, household budgets, environmental perception, agricultural activities, veterinary practices and local problems. It concludes by highlighting the major problems that confront planners in the development of pastoral areas

The economics of beef/dairy supply in the traditional farm sector: policy and methodological investigations

This study aims (a) to investigate policy alternatives for the beef and dairy industries through the construction of a multi-period linear programming model and (b) to evaluate a quantified model of this kind. The paper outlines and discusses the methodology of the study. Nandi District was chosen for its suitability of agricultural mix. The sample design is described and the type of data collected is detailed – this covers dairying, beef and maize principally. Since the data is still being collected no results can be presented yet. The policy implications are indicated briefly

Escaping kinetic traps using non-reciprocal interactions

Kinetic traps are a notorious problem in equilibrium statistical mechanics, where temperature quenches ultimately fail to bring the system to low energy configurations. Using multifarious self-assembly as a model system, we introduce a mechanism to escape kinetic traps by utilizing non-reciprocal interactions between components. Introducing non-equilibrium effects offered by broken action-reaction symmetry in the system, we can push the trajectory of the system out of arrested dynamics. The dynamics of the model is studied using tools from the physics of interfaces and defects. Our proposal can find applications in self-assembly, glassy systems and systems with arrested dynamics

From a microscopic solution to a continuum description of active particles with a recoil interaction in one dimension

We consider a model system of persistent random walkers that can jam, pass through each other or jump apart (recoil) on contact. In a continuum limit, where particle motion between stochastic changes in direction becomes deterministic, we find that the stationary inter-particle distribution functions are governed by an inhomogeneous fourth-order differential equation. Our main focus is on determining the boundary conditions that these distribution functions should satisfy. We find that these do not arise naturally from physical considerations, but need to be carefully matched to functional forms that arise from the analysis of an underlying discrete process. The inter-particle distribution functions, or their first derivatives, are generically found to be discontinuous at the boundaries.Comment: 16 pages; 5 figures; published in PR

Jamming of multiple persistent random walkers in arbitrary spatial dimension

We consider the persistent exclusion process in which a set of persistent random walkers interact via hard-core exclusion on a hypercubic lattice in $d$ dimensions. We work within the ballistic regime whereby particles continue to hop in the same direction over many lattice sites before reorienting. In the case of two particles, we find the mean first-passage time to a jammed state where the particles occupy adjacent sites and face each other. This is achieved within an approximation that amounts to embedding the one-dimensional system in a higher-dimensional reservoir. Numerical results demonstrate the validity of this approximation, even for small lattices. The results admit a straightforward generalisation to dilute systems comprising more than two particles. A self-consistency condition on the validity of these results suggest that clusters may form at arbitrarily low densities in the ballistic regime, in contrast to what has been found in the diffusive limit.Comment: Version to appear in JSTAT (18 pages; 10 figures

Metso-ohjelman luonnontieteelliset valintaperusteet

Etelä-Suomen metsien monimuotoisuuden toimintaohjelman vuosille 2008–2016 tavoitteena on pysäyttää metsäisten luontotyyppien ja metsälajien taantuminen ja vakiinnuttaa luonnon monimuotoisuuden suotuisa kehitys vuoteen 2016 mennessä. METSO-ohjelmassa turvataan monimuotoisuudelle merkittäviä elinympäristöjä maanomistajille vapaaehtoisin suojelukeinoin. Luonnontieteelliset valintaperusteet ovat apuna monimuotoisuuden kannalta merkittävien elinympäristöjen ja niiden ominaispiirteiden tunnistamisessa. Ne tukevat elinympäristöjen arviointia ja valintaa METSO-ohjelman kohteiksi. Raportissa esitellään työryhmän viimeistelemät METSO-ohjelmassa käytettävät luonnontieteelliset valintaperusteet sekä niitä täydentävät valintaperusteet. Lisäksi raportissa tarkastellaan eri elinympäristöjen alueellista esiintymistä