The novelist's pair of tongs : an investigation into the literary significance of John A. Lee's novels : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of M.A. in English Literature at Massey University

With regard to Chapter 1: to find out how Children of the Poor, The Hunted and Civilian Into Soldier were originally received I have perused over 100 contemporary comments in newspapers, magazines and letters of overseas and New Zealand origin. I was aided in this search by Mr. Lee who made his files available to me at "Vital Books Ltd.," Auckland. The files were in no apparent order apart from a characteristic antithetical juxtapositioning of some comments; nor were the files complete; some documents were sealed. There were enough items of interest, nevertheless, to produce a firm outline of the history of the reception of the novels. Additional reviews were obtained from various libraries. To find out how subsequent critics have judged the novels I have studied approximately 25 comments by New Zealand scholars and writers in various publications from the forties to the sixties, and in letters. Post-contemporary comment has been arranged as far as it was possible in chronological order. There has been no intentional slanting in the selection and arrangement of comments. To describe the literary source of Lee's acknowledged power I subjected his first three published novels to a close reading. My observations on structure are confined mainly to Ch. IV. Style is detailed in Ch. V. It is not unusual for original feeling to disappear after analysis. Eliot noticed this happening, in Frontiers of Criticism, in which essay he refers to "the lemon squeezer school". Lee, however, presents the literary object in such a way that feeling tends to follow thought so that on thinking feeling returns. The alternation is endless and urgent. Current readership statements have been detailed in the appendix. In most instances book titles throughout the thesis have been abbreviated to initial letters thus: COP (Children of the Poor), TH (The Hunted), CIS (Civilian Into Soldier), LWPS (The Lee Way to Public Speaking). The photos of the frontispiece are from the N. Z. Listener 17 Nov. 1967. My thanks to Professor R. G. Frean who asked me to consider a thesis on John A. Lee, and who with Dr Broughton concluded that "such a study would have intrinsic merit." I am also pleased to acknowledge their advice and direction together with that of Mr O'Gorman. I thank also Miss Rodger who helped to find obscure references. Much appreciated, too, has been the goodwill and co-operation of all correspondents. [From Preface

Thermodynamic evaluation of transonic compressor rotors using the finite volume approach

Research at NASA Lewis Research Center gave the opportunity to incorporate new control volumes in the Denton 3-D finite-volume time marching code. For duct flows, the new control volumes require no transverse smoothing and this allows calculations with large transverse gradients in properties without significant numerical total pressure losses. Possibilities for improving the Denton code to obtain better distributions of properties through shocks were demonstrated. Much better total pressure distributions through shocks are obtained when the interpolated effective pressure, needed to stabilize the solution procedure, is used to calculate the total pressure. This simple change largely eliminates the undershoot in total pressure down-stream of a shock. Overshoots and undershoots in total pressure can then be further reduced by a factor of 10 by adopting the effective density method, rather than the effective pressure method. Use of a Mach number dependent interpolation scheme for pressure then removes the overshoot in static pressure downstream of a shock. The stability of interpolation schemes used for the calculation of effective density is analyzed and a Mach number dependent scheme is developed, combining the advantages of the correct perfect gas equation for subsonic flow with the stability of 2-point and 3-point interpolation schemes for supersonic flow

Low complexity method for large-scale self-consistent ab initio electronic-structure calculations without localization

A novel low complexity method to perform self-consistent electronic-structure calculations using the Kohn-Sham formalism of density functional theory is presented. Localization constraints are neither imposed nor required thereby allowing direct comparison with conventional cubically scaling algorithms. The method has, to date, the lowest complexity of any algorithm for an exact calculation. A simple one-dimensional model system is used to thoroughly test the numerical stability of the algorithm and results for a real physical system are also given

Direct and Heterodyne Detection of Microwaves in a Metallic Single Wall Carbon Nanotube

This letter reports measurements of microwave (up to 4.5 GHz) detection in metallic single-walled carbon nanotubes. The measured voltage responsivity was found to be 114 V/W at 77K. We also demonstrated heterodyne detection at 1 GHz. The detection mechanism can be explained based on standard microwave detector theory and the nonlinearity of the DC IV-curve. We discuss the possible causes of this nonlinearity. While the frequency response is limited by circuit parasitics in this measurement, we discuss evidence that indicates that the effect is much faster and that applications of carbon nanotubes as terahertz detectors are feasible

Systematic study of Optical Feshbach Resonances in an ideal gas

Using a narrow intercombination line in alkaline earth atoms to mitigate large inelastic losses, we explore the Optical Feshbach Resonance (OFR) effect in an ultracold gas of bosonic $^{88}$Sr. A systematic measurement of three resonances allows precise determinations of the OFR strength and scaling law, in agreement with coupled-channels theory. Resonant enhancement of the complex scattering length leads to thermalization mediated by elastic and inelastic collisions in an otherwise ideal gas. OFR could be used to control atomic interactions with high spatial and temporal resolution.Comment: Significant changes to text and figure presentation to improve clarity. Extended supplementary material. 4 pages, 4 figures; includes supplementary material 8 pages, 4 figures. Submitted to Physical Review Letter

Effects of a multi-component exercise program and calcium–vitamin-D3-fortified milk on bone mineral density in older men : a randomised controlled trial

Summary We examined the independent and combined effects of a multi-component exercise program and calcium&ndash;vitamin-D3-fortified milk on bone mineral density (BMD) in older men. Exercise resulted in a 1.8% net gain in femoral neck BMD, but additional calcium&ndash;vitamin D3 did not enhance the response in this group of older well-nourished men.Introduction This 12-month randomised controlled trial assessed whether calcium&ndash;vitamin-D3-fortified milk could enhance the effects of a multi-component exercise program on BMD in older men.Methods Men (n&thinsp; =&thinsp;180) aged 50&ndash;79 years were randomised into: (1) exercise + fortified milk; (2) exercise; (3) fortified milk; or (4) controls. Exercise consisted of high intensity progressive resistance training with weight-bearing impact exercise. Men assigned to fortified milk consumed 400 mL/day of low fat milk providing an additional 1,000 mg/day calcium and 800 IU/day vitamin D3. Femoral neck (FN), total hip, lumbar spine and trochanter BMD and body composition (DXA), muscle strength 25-hydroxyvitamin D and parathyroid hormone (PTH) were assessed.Results There were no exercise-by-fortified milk interactions at any skeletal site. Exercise resulted in a 1.8% net gain in FN BMD relative to no-exercise (p&thinsp;&lt;&thinsp;0.001); lean mass (0.6 kg, p&thinsp;&lt;&thinsp;0.05) and muscle strength (20&ndash;52%, p&thinsp;&lt;&thinsp;0.001) also increased in response to exercise. For lumbar spine BMD, there was a net 1.4&ndash;1.5% increase in all treatment groups relative to controls (all p&thinsp;&lt;&thinsp;0.01). There were no main effects of fortified milk at any skeletal site.Conclusion A multi-component community-based exercise program was effective for increasing FN BMD in older men, but additional calcium&ndash;vitamin D3 did not enhance the osteogenic response.<br /

Lessons from an online debate about measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) immunization

OBJECTIVE: To provide strategies for immunization advocates on how best to participate in online discussion forums about immunization. METHODS: Content and thematic analysis of an online discussion forum held following the national screening of a documentary about the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism scare. A subsample of branches containing more than 20 posts was analysed. Each distinct message (a "post") was coded for the author's manifest position on immunization, author type, topic, and evidence presented or sought. RESULTS: From 103 distinct branches there were 1193 posts sent over a 3½h period. We selected the 13 longest branches containing 466 posts from 166 individuals. One third of these individuals were explicitly critical of MMR immunization and one third sought information. The remainder were ambivalent but seeking no information (5%), supportive (14%), or unstated (15%). Among five author categories, only 4% identified themselves as health professionals. Topics included alleged adverse effects of immunization (35%); autism spectrum disorders treatment and causes (31%); vaccine ingredients (12%); a conspiracy (9%); immunization policies (8%); and measles, mumps or rubella (4%). Scientific concepts of evidence failed to compete with lay concepts and personal anecdotes prevailed. CONCLUSIONS: Health professionals and other advocates of immunization should engage in similar types of post-broadcast online discussion forums in a planned and strategic manner that accounts for the decision processes of lay people. This involves expanding and diversifying the support base of people contributing to the forum; setting the agenda; introducing messages known to influence behaviour; not overselling vaccination; and avoiding personal attacks

Thermodynamic evaluation of transonic compressor rotors using the finite volume approach

The finite volume explicit time marching method was refined and improved. Previously, extension had been made to the finite volume method to improve the accuracy of the calculation of total pressure in inviscid flow, extend the method to allow the calculation of laminar and turbulent boundary layers in internal flows, and improve the shock capturing properties of the method by introducing a Mach number dependent interpolation scheme for the pressure used in the calculating the density. The current work extends these developments by using the new pressure interpolation scheme in two dimensional viscous calculations, including a more complete description of the viscous stresses, introducing a criteria for the transverse upwind differencing which is a function of the ratio of transverse and streamwise mass fluxes, and allowing the calculation of internal flow where boundary layers are present on both walls of the duct. The manner in which the viscous stresses are evaluated in the nonorthogonal, nonuniform grid is detailed. The convergence is investigated and results for calculations of laminar flow in a converging duct are presented. Results for calculations of transonic flow in a converging-diverging nozzle are presented and the results are compared with Sajben's measurements and calculations by others