David Foster Wallace's treatment of therapy after postmodernism

Despite the critical consensus that a major part of David Foster Wallace’s project was to challenge the paradigms of postmodernism, there is an assumption that, when it comes to therapy, Wallace did little more than tell the same postmodern jokes. By focusing on Wallace’s engagement with other writers who have also written about therapy, I situate Wallace’s work in the context of a much larger turn in contemporary literature toward novels with more in-depth therapist characters. My discussion of Wallace’s influences includes the usual postmodern suspects, whose parodic tradition Wallace apparently champions, but I am especially interested in the unacknowledged influence of Sylvia Plath, whose work’s more generous treatment of therapists is quite at odds with her contemporaries and is, therefore, a more vital source for Wallace’s own

A meta-analysis of studies of treatments for feline urine spraying

Feline urine spraying inside the home is a common problem behaviour that owners seek advice for from veterinarians. Individual trials relating to a variety of interventions produce variable results, and to date, no consensus on the value of different treatments has emerged. This study therefore aimed to meta-analyse, current data from appropriate published clinical trials that evaluate treatments for feline urine spraying. Inclusion and exclusion criteria for study selection were predefined and methodological quality was assessed by two independent reviewers. Ten studies in nine publications that either evaluated pharmacotherapy or pheromonatherapy (the use of a synthetic analogue of the F3 facial fraction in the cat) were suitable for analysis. There was a significant (P 0.001) association between the use of any intervention and the number of cats that ceased or reduced urine spraying by at least 90%. Analysis by intervention type indicated that fluoxetine, clomipramine and pheromonatherapy may each assist in managing urine spraying beyond a placebo based intervention. This is the first time meta-analytical techniques have been used and reported to evaluate the efficacy of interventions used in veterinary behavioural medicine, and it has established confidence in the value of both conventional treatments (pharmacotherapy) and a more recently developed treatment modality (pheromonatherapy) as an adjunct to the management of this problem. It is suggested that future research into treatment efficacy for this problem uses the benchmark standard of randomised, controlled trials lasting for at least 8 weeks, with the outcome criteria of cessation of feline urine spraying or reduction by at least 90%

When is an Orchestra not an Orchestra?

The orchestra is a medium in a constant state of evolution. From the classical period through to the modern symphony orchestra, the advent of new instruments such as the clarinet in the 1800s, through to extensions of instrumental families, the contrabass/Eb clarinet, bass oboe, bass trumpet, soprano trombone and cimbasso, Wagner tubas, saxophones, significant extensions of the percussion section, and additions of various keyboard instruments, all had an impact on concepts of orchestration and orchestral colour from Beethoven through to Stravinsky, Debussy and Ligeti. Further, from the mid the 20th Century, the standard orchestra was frequently reinvented to accommodate new forms and compositional techniques. In Gruppen (1955-57), Karlheinz Stockhausen divided an orchestra of 109 musicians into three ‘orchestras’ (requiring three conductors), to accommodate the temporal structure of its 174 formal units. Similarly in Mixtur (1964) the orchestra was divided into four spatially separated timbral groups, to articulate moment form. In 1976 Elliott Carter wrote a Symphony of Three Orchestras to map out a complex network of interlocking materials on different temporal levels, and more recently, Brian Ferneyhough’s Plötzlichkeit (2006), partitioned the orchestra into 111 sub-groups, changing every few bars, as a pre-compositional structure, to explore aspects of linear discontinuity. The cultural and social status of the orchestra, as a cultural icon, has also lead to new conceptual approaches, from a different perspective, aimed to undermine and subvert the conventional notion of the orchestra. Helmut Lachenmann challenged the politics of musical production and inherited notions of what is beautiful, reinventing the orchestral palette. Richard Barrett, in relation to his work No (2004), describes the orchestra as ‘one of the most conservative of cultural institutions’, and speaks of composing ‘against’ rather than ‘for’ the orchestra, thinking more in terms of ‘the meaningful participation of musically-engaged people in a large group.’ Perhaps some of the more unusual manifestations would be the Scratch Orchestra, formed in 1969 by the composer Cornelius Cardew, which contained no standard musical instruments at all, and defined as ‘a large number of enthusiasts pooling their resources and assembling for action.’ Further the Nublu Orchestra, influenced by Butch Morris’s techniques of conduction, has little or no notated material, but does use a conductor to control structured improvisations. The technique also gave rise to similar orchestras, such as the London Improvisers Orchestra. This paper will examine some of these developments and changes in orchestral design in the context of new compositional techniques, and how in some cases socio-political views have also lead to challenge the concept of writing for the orchestra

Rapid design of tool-wear condition monitoring systems for turning processes using novelty detection

Condition monitoring systems of manufacturing processes have been recognised in recent years as one of the key technologies that provide the competitive advantage in many manufacturing environments. It is capable of providing an essential means to reduce cost, increase productivity, improve quality and prevent damage to the machine or workpiece. Turning operations are considered one of the most common manufacturing processes in industry. It is used to manufacture different round objects such as shafts, spindles and pins. Despite recent development and intensive engineering research, the development of tool wear monitoring systems in turning is still ongoing challenge. In this paper, force signals are used for monitoring tool-wear in a feature fusion model. A novel approach for the design of condition monitoring systems for turning operations using novelty detection algorithm is presented. The results found prove that the developed system can be used for rapid design of condition monitoring systems for turning operations to predict tool-wear

2019: Beth Keyes

During Women’s History Month, the University of Dayton Women’s Center coordinates, as an experiential learning opportunity for students, an annual exhibit highlighting the contributions women have made at the University of Dayton. Theme for 2019: Trailblazers.https://ecommons.udayton.edu/women_of_ud/1023/thumbnail.jp

The Role of ELf5 in Mouse Trophoblast Stem Cells

Elf5 is a DNA transcription factor that has been identified as being involved in placentation of the early embryo. Elf5 is expressed in the extra embryonic ectoderm (ExE), a lineage that contributes to the placenta of the embryo. Pluripotent trophoblast stem (TS) cells can be derived from the ExE and can be cultured in vitro. Such cells can contribute to all the placental lineages when injected back into an embryo. Elf5 homozygous mutant embryos do not possess an ExE and trophoblast stem cells cannot be derived and the mutation is therefore embryonic lethal. When Elf5 is knocked out, the TS cells in the ExE are thought to differentiate into EPC/giant cells leading to the absence of the ExE. In previous experiments in this laboratory, potential Elf5 targets were identified by RNA interference in mouse trophoblast stem cells followed by global gene expression analysis using an Affymetrix array. In the present experiments these results have now been confirmed by siRNA induced knockdown of Elf5 in TS cells followed by quantitative real time PCR of potential target genes. Most of the target genes that were affected by Elf5 knockdown were changed in the same way by growth factor removal and therefore stem cell differentiation. This suggested that Elf5 usually acts to maintain the TS cells in a stem cell fate. As Elf5 is expressed in the ExE, whole mount In situ hybridisation was used to determine if the genes showed the correct spatial and temporal patterning to be in vivo relevant Elf5 targets. The targets that were down regulated upon Elf5 knockdown (and therefore positively regulated by Elf5) were expressed in the ExE as expected. Genes that were up-regulated upon Elf5 knockdown (and therefore usually repressed by Elf5) were expressed in the differentiated ectoplacental cone or giant cells. . Preliminary work was also carried out for the over-expression of Elf5 by a tamoxifen inducible Elf5. TS cells were stably transfected with a plasmid containing Elf5 fused to a tamoxifen inducible ERT2 receptor and a VP16 transcriptional activation domain to turn Elf5 into a potent activator, and were analysed for target gene expression. Preliminary data showed that Elf5 is involved in a complex transcriptional network of events as the genes did not behave as expected when Elf5 was turned into an activator. The effect of Elf5 knockdown on TS cells has been studied closely in terms of morphology, proliferation, changes in DNA content and apoptosis. The knockdown of Elf5 caused an increase in the number of differentiated cells (as shown by changes in morphology and DNA content). This further supported the knockdown and in situ data. There was no change in proliferation or apoptosis. These experiments which demonstrate which genes are regulated by Elf5 and the changes to TS cellular characteristics when Elf5 is knocked down, support the proposal that Elf5 acts as a trophoblast stem cell maintenance factor of the extraembryonic ectoderm of the mouse

The Key Versatility of Stories: Storytelling and \u27Sherlock Holmes\u27

When given the freedom to write my final essay on anything related to my course theme, Sherlock Holmes, I felt equally challenged and excited. I had found many of the topics interesting, but the one I found most interesting the Sherlock Holmes and forensic science unit. As I began my research, I realized that what was most engaging to me about the forensic science information as a communication major, was not the scientific evidence and analysis, but the stories that accompanied the real-life and fictional mysteries. This altered my course of research and forced me to ask how the role of stories plays a part in so many different disciplines and aspects of everyday life. Through insight gained in my research, I really believe that in addition to vital role of science and evidence, stories alter the way we gather, interpret, and use that information to make the world better

Wallace and I: cognition, consciousness, and dualism in David Foster Wallace’s fiction

Though David Foster Wallace is well known for declaring that “Fiction’s about what it is to be a fucking human being” (Conversations 26), what he actually meant by the term “human being” has been quite forgotten. It is a truism in Wallace studies that Wallace is a posthuman writer whose characters are devoid of any kind of inner interiority or soul. This is a misreading of Wallace’s work. My argument is that Wallace’s work and his characters—though they are much neglected in Wallace studies—are animated by the tension between materialism and essentialism, and this dualism is one of the major ways in which Wallace bridges postmodern fiction with something new. My project is itself part of this post-postmodern turn, a contribution to the emerging field of cognitive literary studies which has tried to move beyond postmodernism by bringing a renewed focus on the sciences of mind to literary criticism. As yet, this field has largely focused on fiction published before the twentieth century. I expand the purview of cognitive literary studies and give a rigorous and necessary account of Wallace’s humanism. In each chapter I discuss a particular concern that Wallace shares with his predecessors (authorship; selfhood; therapy; free will), and explore how Wallace’s dualism informs his departure from postmodernism. I begin by setting out the key scientific sources for Wallace, and the embodied model of mind that was foundational to his writing and his understanding, especially after Barthes’s “Death of the Author,” of the writing process. In chapter 2, I unravel the unexamined but hugely significant influence of René Descartes on Wallace’s ghost stories, showing that Wallace’s work is not as posthuman as it is supposed to be. In chapter 3, I discuss the dualist metaphors that Wallace consistently uses to describe an individual’s experience of sickness. Focusing on the interior lives of both therapist and patient in Wallace’s work, I show that Wallace’s therapy fictions are a critical response to postmodern anti-psychiatry. Finally, in chapter 4, I reconcile Wallace’s dualist account of material body and essential mind by setting his work against both the history of the philosophy of free will and postmodern paranoid fiction. If Wallace’s fiction is about what it is to be a human being, this thesis is about the human ‘I’ at the heart of Wallace’s work