The Problem of the Ordinary: Liberating the Fantastic and the Uncanny

Tzvetan Todorov’s theory of the The Fantastic systematizes fantastic literature, binding it within a moment of hesitation. Todorov argues that when a seemingly supernatural event, object, or being enters a narrative, readers must decide whether this is to be explained by natural laws or not. Only before this decision is reached does the text sustain the fantastic; otherwise it falls into the categories of the marvelous or the uncanny. Yet the fantastic and the uncanny inherently contain tensions that play out best on a spectrum of ordinariness rather than separated by the strict boundaries in which Todorov places them. These tensions between uncertainty and closure break and reform boundaries between internal self and external self, between the fantastic mind of the reader and authorial words. The thesis, by examining the narratives of Kleist, Hoffmann, Gotthelf, Hauptmann, Hawthorne, Tieck, Chamisso, Márquez, and Banville, challenges Todorov’s restrictive terms to explain the fantastic and the uncanny and require it to conform to a genre. The critical writings of Freud, Adorno, Cavell, Jackson, Royle, Todorov, Frye, Chaouli, Kermode, and Foucault are queried and analyzed. Narratological explanations concerning uncertainty, boundaries, textual and readerly perceptions, and distortions function to clarify how or why the fantastic or the uncanny should be assigned or to judge when either of the two terms transcends the ordinary without breaking from it or remains a mere projection of it

Rewriting Citizenship in Displacement: Displaced People’s Struggles for Rights

For displaced people , citizenship(or the lack of it) is a crucial issue . Displaced people are denied formal citizenship and rights but are now claiming them , subjectively seeing their de facto experience as live d citizenship. Protests, claim assertions and transnational alliances are ways in which their struggle for rights is manifested. Much of the existing literature tends to focus on a top- down understanding of displaced people as citizens/non- citizens and the formal processes available (or not available ) to them, ignoring the importance of informal processes as well as local agency and practice, which this article explores through case study examples. The article also examines displacement in the light of differing theoretical meanings of citizenship, and asks to what extent the forced migrant is a global or transnational citizen

English literacy as a barrier to healthcare information for deaf people who use Auslan

Background: This study sought to gain insight into how Deaf Australians who use Auslan as their primary language perceive their English literacy and if they feel that they can sufficiently access preventative and ongoing health care information, and to explore their views in regards to accessing information in Auslan. Method: A phenomenological, inductive study, with data collected through 72 semi-structured interviews with Deaf Auslan users identified through non-probabilistic, purposeful and network sampling. Data was thematically analysed for identification of issues related to healthcare information access through English. Results: Deaf people experience barriers in accessing healthcare information because of limited English literacy and a lack of information being available in Auslan, apart from when Auslan interpreters are present in health care appointments. Conclusion: Many Deaf people in Australia lack consistent access to preventative and ongoing health care information. It is important to be aware of the English literacy levels of patients. More funding is needed for the provision of interpreting services in other healthcare contexts and the translation of materials into Auslan.4 page(s

Evidence of traffic-related pollutant control in soil-based Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS)

SUDS are being increasingly employed to control highway runoff and have the potential to protect groundwater and surface water quality by minimising the risks of both point and diffuse sources of pollution. While these systems are effective at retaining polluted solids by filtration and sedimentation processes, less is known of the detail of pollutant behaviour within SUDS structures. This paper reports on investigations carried out as part of a co-ordinated programme of controlled studies and field measurements at soft-engineered SUDS undertaken in the UK, observing the accumulation and behaviour of traffic-related heavy metals, oil and PAHs. The field data presented were collected from two extended detention basins serving the M74 motorway in the south-west of Scotland. Additional data were supplied from an experimental lysimeter soil core leaching study. Results show that basin design influences pollutant accumulation and behaviour in the basins. Management and/or control strategies are discussed for reducing the impact of traffic-related pollutants on the aqueous environment

The Standing Wave Phenomenon in Radio Telescopes; Frequency Modulation of the WSRT Primary Beam

Inadequacies in the knowledge of the primary beam response of current interferometric arrays often form a limitation to the image fidelity. We hope to overcome these limitations by constructing a frequency-resolved, full-polarization empirical model for the primary beam of the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT). Holographic observations, sampling angular scales between about 5 arcmin and 11 degrees, were obtained of a bright compact source (3C147). These permitted measurement of voltage response patterns for seven of the fourteen telescopes in the array and allowed calculation of the mean cross-correlated power beam. Good sampling of the main-lobe, near-in, and far-side-lobes out to a radius of more than 5 degrees was obtained. A robust empirical beam model was detemined in all polarization products and at frequencies between 1322 and 1457 MHz with 1 MHz resolution. Substantial departures from axi-symmetry are apparent in the main-lobe as well as systematic differences between the polarization properties. Surprisingly, many beam properties are modulated at the 5 to 10% level with changing frequency. These include: (1) the main beam area, (2) the side-lobe to main-lobe power ratio, and (3) the effective telescope aperture. These semi-sinusoidsal modulations have a basic period of about 17 MHz, consistent with the natural 'standing wave' period of a 8.75 m focal distance. The deduced frequency modulations of the beam pattern were verified in an independent long duration observation using compact continuum sources at very large off-axis distances. Application of our frequency-resolved beam model should enable higher dynamic range and improved image fidelity for interferometric observations in complex fields. (abridged)Comment: 12 pages, 11 figures, Accepted for publication in A&A, figures compressed to low resolution; high-resolution version available at: http://www.astro.rug.nl/~popping/wsrtbeam.pd

Medium-term performance and maintenance of SUDS:a case-study of Hopwood Park Motorway Service Area, UK

One of the main barriers to implementing SUDS is concern about performance and maintenance costs since there are few well-documented case-studies. This paper summarizes studies conducted between 2000 and 2008 of the performance and maintenance of four SUDS management trains constructed in 1999 at the Hopwood Park Motorway Service Area, central England. Assessments were made of the wildlife value and sedimentation in the SUDS ponds, the hydraulic performance of the coach park management train, water quality in all management trains, and soil/sediment composition in the grass filter strip, interceptor and ponds. Maintenance procedures and costs were also reviewed. Results demonstrate the benefits of a management train approach over individual SUDS units for flow attenuation, water treatment, spillage containment and maintenance. Peak flows, pond sediment depth and contaminant concentrations in sediment and water decreased through the coach park management train. Of the 2007 annual landscape budget of £15,000 for the whole site, the maintenance costs for SUDS only accounted for £2,500 compared to £4,000 for conventional drainage structures. Furthermore, since sediment has been attenuated in the management trains, the cost of sediment removal after the recommended period of three years was only £554 and, if the design is not compromised, less frequent removal will be required in future

The Expanded Very Large Array

In almost 30 years of operation, the Very Large Array (VLA) has proved to be a remarkably flexible and productive radio telescope. However, the basic capabilities of the VLA have changed little since it was designed. A major expansion utilizing modern technology is currently underway to improve the capabilities of the VLA by at least an order of magnitude in both sensitivity and in frequency coverage. The primary elements of the Expanded Very Large Array (EVLA) project include new or upgraded receivers for continuous frequency coverage from 1 to 50 GHz, new local oscillator, intermediate frequency, and wide bandwidth data transmission systems to carry signals with 16 GHz total bandwidth from each antenna, and a new digital correlator with the capability to process this bandwidth with an unprecedented number of frequency channels for an imaging array. Also included are a new monitor and control system and new software that will provide telescope ease of use. Scheduled for completion in 2012, the EVLA will provide the world research community with a flexible, powerful, general-purpose telescope to address current and future astronomical issues.Comment: Added journal reference: published in Proceedings of the IEEE, Special Issue on Advances in Radio Astronomy, August 2009, vol. 97, No. 8, 1448-1462 Six figures, one tabl

Managing the mining cycle using GeoVisionary

Managing the mining cycle from exploration through to evaluation, planning, construction, operation and finally mine closure can involve many datasets in different formats. To be able to visualise all of these different datasets in one environment is important to locate mineral/ore deposits, moderate risks, increase mining efficiency, monitor the impact on the surrounding environment and communicate these factors to stakeholders. Typically, GIS – Geographical Information Systems have been used to manage the life cycle of a mine, however the three dimensional (3D) complexity is lost in these two dimensional (2D) systems. Virtalis alongside the British Geological Survey, have developed the GeoVisionary software which provides the means to aid the management of many aspects of the life cycle of a mine using a combination 2D, 3D and 4D data in the same virtual environment

Auxins and cytokinins : the role of subcellular organization on homeostasis

Plant hormones are master regulators of plant growth and development. Better knowledge of their spatial signaling and homeostasis (transport and metabolism) on the lowest structural levels (cellular and subcellular) is therefore crucial to a better understanding of developmental processes in plants. Recent progress in phytohormone analysis at the cellular and subcellular levels has greatly improved the effectiveness of isolation protocols and the sensitivity of analytical methods. This review is mainly focused on homeostasis of two plant hormone groups, auxins and cytokinins. It will summarize and discuss their tissue- and cell-type specific distributions at the cellular and subcellular levels