“Bit[ing] the Law by the Nose”: Shakespeare’s Revisions of Fear and Punishment

This article focuses on the dialectics of fear and punishment in four plays by Shakespeare written in the wake of either the Main Plot (1603) or the Gunpowder Plot (1606): Measure for Measure, Macbeth, King Lear, and Antony and Cleopatra. It asks what Shakespeare’s dramaturgy does with fear and to fear, using a variety of critical approaches that yield different responses to this question. The Foucauldian emphasis on the mechanics of the exercise of power and the awesome display of chastised bodies tends to by-pass the examination of fear as a mood and experience of the punished trespasser, considering it instead as an instrument put to the service of the body politic. Hegel’s distinction between two types of fear, the fear of the penal code or moral law, and a deeper fear of oneself or “fate as punishment,” enables us to probe deeper into the experience of fear, the moral imagination, and the process leading from fear and punishment to a greater degree of self-consciousness. This paper argues, however, that the implications of Shakespeare’s dramatic treatment of fear are best understood when read in light of early modern theological literature and its attempts to finely rationalize the experience of fear. Shakespeare’s plays dramatize a contemporary typology of fear, undermining beliefs in a “native punishment” (Henry V) and “God’s law”, better to show how the (supposed) trespassers are in fact the reflectors of the executors’ fears.Cet article traite de la dialectique de la peur et du châtiment dans quatre pièces de Shakespeare écrites dans le contexte de la conspiration principale (1603) et de la conspiration des poudres (1606) : Mesure pour mesure, Macbeth, Le Roi Lear, Antoine et Cléopâtre. Il se demande ce que Shakespeare fait de et à la peur, en adoptant différentes approches critiques qui offrent, chacune, une autre réponse à cette question. L’accent sur la mécanique de l’exercice du pouvoir et le spectacle du corps supplicié mis au jour dans l’approche foucaldienne ne permet pas de véritablement aborder la peur comme une expérience ou une émotion vécue par le malfaiteur. Il y est avant tout l’instrument d’une consolidation du corps-politique. La distinction hégélienne entre la peur de la loi pénale et morale, et la peur plus profonde du destin ou de soi-même, permet une meilleure exploration de l’expérience même de la peur, de la conscience morale, et du processus menant de la peur et du châtiment vers un plus grand degré de conscience. Cet article suggère, cependant, que le traitement dramatique que Shakespeare réserve à la peur est mieux compris lorsque lu à la lumière de la pensée théologique de la peur et de ses tentatives pour la rationaliser le plus finement possible. Shakespeare met en scène cette typologie de la peur qui lui est contemporaine mais pour mieux questionner la foi aveugle dans une justice prétendument inspirée de la loi divine et montrer que l’angoisse du malfaiteur (supposé) devant le châtiment est en réalité le reflet des peurs de l’exécuteur de la loi

Urban green space: the incorporation of environmental values in a decision support system.

This paper provides an overview of work undertaken on measuring the environmental values of green spaces, coupled with spatial analysis tools for aiding decision relating to the planning of urban green spaces. The work involved a complex array of data collection and analysis packages, including a case study inventory, public participation, methodological design, visualisation, and the analysis of survey results. A central aspect of the research aimed at providing the decision maker with data that combined the visualisation of open public green space with environmental economics. As part of a methodology using contingent rating which aimed to establish the values placed on specific green space sites, three dimensional computer models were used to produce visualisations of particular environmental conditions. The study demonstrates that visualisation tools are appropriate to represent a range of attributes for inclusion within environmental economic surveys, and that the resulting datasets can be used within GIS-based decision support models to indicate levels of preference and patterns of use. The focus of this paper is on the integration of the visualisations of green spaces, a contingent rating survey and the compilation of an open space inventory, as part of a GIS-based decision support system. Results from the study and its potential implications for future study and practice are discussed

Compassion in the Bhutanese Gross National Happiness (GNH) infused classrooms

There is a growing interest in research on the role of compassion in the fields of positive psychology and social psychology. Compassion in the educational setting is focused on well-being and relationship-based approaches to support students to flourish academically, emotionally and socially. This paper is a review of compassion in the literature and provides a foreground of future research on compassion in the Bhutanese classroom. It also presents a discussion on compassion in relation to benefits for self and others, compassion fatigue and self-compassion. More importantly, this paper provides a deeper understanding of the role of compassion in education in building the teaching-learning process and foregrounds the need for further investigation into compassionate teaching and learning for a range of school-based curriculum subjects

Creating a supportive culture for online teaching: A case study of a faculty learning community

This case study describes the creation of a supportive culture for online teaching at a western university that was transitioning to a new learning management system. The case study highlighted the creation of a faculty learning community as one strategy to address the challenge of faculty working through a change process. The faculty learning community provided a space for the development of best practices in teaching, drawing from the pedagogical experiences of teachers from diverse disciplines. The learning community also provided a venue for expanding the technical knowledge level of faculty members with a range of comfort levels with varied technologies

Variabilidad hidrológica de mesoescala inducida por los vientos del noroeste sobre la plataforma continental del golfo de Vizcaya

On the French continental shelf of the Bay of Biscay the variability of the surface salinity distribution has been mainly investigated at the seasonal and inter-annual scales. Here, new mesoscale features such as lower-salinity lenses observed in model results are investigated by hydrological measurements acquired during 8 cruises (1997-2000). These lenses are 50-80 km wide and ~30 m thick and occur during westerly to northerly wind events that push offshore the less saline water of river plumes. These water masses detached from the coast are replaced with upwelled saltier water at the coast, so coastal upwelling is often observed at the same time along Landes and southern Brittany coasts. We show that in addition to the influence of seasonal and inter-annual variability of the wind and river outflows, short term meteorological variability may drive mesoscale structures on this continental shelf.La salinidad de la plataforma continental francesa del golfo de Vizcaya fue estudiada a escalas anuales e interanuales principalmente. A partir de medidas efectuadas durante ocho campañas marinas (1997- 2000) y del empleo de modelos matemáticos han podido estudiarse nuevas estructuras hidrológicas aisladas de menor salinidad en forma de lentejas. Estas lentejas han medido entre 50 y 80 km de diámetro y 30 m de espesor. Este fenómeno ha sido observado durante, o después, de fuertes vientos del cuadrante oeste o noroeste que favorecen el desplazamiento del agua desalada de las plumas fluviales hacia el mar abierto. Al separarse de la pluma, estas masas de agua son remplazadas por otra, mas salada, que resurge en la zona costera. De esta manera, puedan observarse simultáneamente afloramientos costeros en las regiónes francesas de Landes y del sur de Bretaña. Se muestra que, además de la variabilidad anual e interanual de los vientos y del caudal de los ríos, los fenómenos meteorológicos a corto plazo pueden condicionar las estructuras hidrológicas de la meso escala de la plataforma continental

The application of visual environmental economics in the study of public preference and urban greenspace.

Urban greenspace has consistently been argued to be of great importance to the wellbeing, health, and daily lives of residents and users. This paper reports results from a study which combined the visualisation of public greenspace with environmental economics, and which aimed to develop a method by which realistic computer models of sites could be used within preference studies. As part of a methodology which employed contingent rating to establish the values placed on specific greenspace sites, three-dimensional computer models were used to produce visualisations of particular environmental conditions. Of particular importance to the study was the influence of variables including lighting, season, time of day and weather on the perception of respondents. This study followed previous work that established a suitable approach to the modelling and testing of entirely moveable physical variables within the built environment. As such, the study has firmly established that computer-generated visualisations are appropriate for use within environmental economic surveys, and that there is potential for a holistic range of attributes to be included in such studies

Analysis of the Impact of CD200 on Neurodegenerative Diseases

Neuroinflammation, accompanied by neuronal loss and dysfunction, is a characteristic of neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD). It is well documented that inappropriate activation of glia is the primary cause of neuroinflammation (Masocha, 2009), but their role in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases is not known. However it is certainly the case that dying neurons act to stimulate glia since they release alarmins which activate pathogen recognition receptors (PRR) and therefore the possibility exists that activation of glia especially microglia, may be a consequence, rather than a cause, of neurodegenerative processes which characterize diseases like AD and PD. Understanding microglial function remains a major goal since it is widely believed that modulating glial function will provide a possible strategy for limiting the progression of neurodegenerative diseases. Consequently it is imperative to increase our understanding of the factors which control microglial function and the mechanisms by which expression of these factors are controlled

Measurement of proteinuria

In pregnancy, there is a focus on measurement of proteinuria as it has been regarded as critical to the diagnosis of pre-eclampsia, the most dangerous of the hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. However, it is increasingly recognised that proteinuria is not essential for the diagnosis of pre-eclampsia, which can be based on other end-organ complications (such as elevated liver enzymes). Although heavy proteinuria has been linked with an increased risk of stillbirth in a ‘signs and symptoms only’ model of maternal risk (i.e., miniPIERS), we lack the ability to identify a level of proteinuria above which maternal and/or perinatal risk is heightened. Therefore, at present, we rely on the detection of proteinuria that exceeds what is normally excreted by healthy pregnant women. Proteinuria detection methods are also a matter of keen debate, with all available methods having advantages and disadvantages.Publisher PD

Interaction between galectin-3 and cystinosin uncovers a pathogenic role of inflammation in kidney involvement of cystinosis.

Inflammation is involved in the pathogenesis of many disorders. However, the underlying mechanisms are often unknown. Here, we test whether cystinosin, the protein involved in cystinosis, is a critical regulator of galectin-3, a member of the β-galactosidase binding protein family, during inflammation. Cystinosis is a lysosomal storage disorder and, despite ubiquitous expression of cystinosin, the kidney is the primary organ impacted by the disease. Cystinosin was found to enhance lysosomal localization and degradation of galectin-3. In Ctns-/- mice, a mouse model of cystinosis, galectin-3 is overexpressed in the kidney. The absence of galectin-3 in cystinotic mice ameliorates pathologic renal function and structure and decreases macrophage/monocyte infiltration in the kidney of the Ctns-/-Gal3-/- mice compared to Ctns-/- mice. These data strongly suggest that galectin-3 mediates inflammation involved in kidney disease progression in cystinosis. Furthermore, galectin-3 was found to interact with the pro-inflammatory cytokine Monocyte Chemoattractant Protein-1, which stimulates the recruitment of monocytes/macrophages, and proved to be significantly increased in the serum of Ctns-/- mice and also patients with cystinosis. Thus, our findings highlight a new role for cystinosin and galectin-3 interaction in inflammation and provide an additional mechanistic explanation for the kidney disease of cystinosis. This may lead to the identification of new drug targets to delay cystinosis progression