Determining the relationship between rock colour and the type of physical weathering on desert pavements in arid landscapes, Ras Al Khaimah, UAE

Despite opposition to the theory that diurnal heat fluxes within desert rocks cause enough internal stress to form cracks on clasts leading to the break down of the desert material, this study provides further evidence that this is a credible process in physical weathering. The investigation set out to discover if the colour of a clast determines the likelihood that a clast will experience meridional cracking, as opposed to longitudinal, surface parallel and fabric related cracks near Ras-Al-Khaimah, in the United Arab Emirates. The results did not reveal a relationship that was significant in a Chi-squared Test. The results yielded significant evidence that no specific weathering process would occur on a clast due to its colour. However, the results indicated tensile stresses in the clasts’ interior, which contributes to rapid breakdown and to the formation of desert pavement. The majority of the cracks’ orientations lie closer to the east-west bearing than north-south. This information suggests a new theory for meridiornal cracking although local conditions, such as the geographic location of the Musandam Mountains could explain the results in this instance. Rose diagrams present the evidence found in these proximities. This method enables easy visual analysis for both comparison with McFadden et al’s (2005) data and other such sources and also for the different classes in this study

Stesichorus on Stage

While scholars generally agree that Stesichorus was important to the tragedians, studies of the relationship focus on the broad shaping of the plot or stylistic devices, and suggest little detailed engagement at a textual level. This chapter argues that we can go further, notwithstanding the fragmentary state of Stesichorus' poetry. It focuses on Stesichorus' Oresteia and Thebais, and argues that we find intertextuality in all three tragedians and across a range of plays

The effect of fructose and maltodextrin vs glucose and maltodextrin formulated sports beverages on mountain-bike race performance : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Sport and Exercise Science at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand

Background: Exogenous carbohydrate improves performance during prolonged high-intensity exercise. When ingested together, fructose and glucose polymers are oxidised at rates 1.5-1.7 higher than isocaloric glucose solutions. As fructose and glucose are transported across the intestine via different mechanisms, the capacity for exogenous-carbohydrate absorption is greater with composite carbohydrate mixtures. Therefore, since the effect of ingesting multi-transportable carbohydrate on field-based performance has to our knowledge not been investigated, we examined their effect on mountain bike race performance. Finishing time was expected to be substantially reduced when multi-transportable carbohydrates were ingested. Method: Ten; male (7) and female (3), mountain bikers aged 32.9 ± 8.7 years, weighing 68.8 ± 9.4 kg and training for at least 8 hours per week and racing regularly participated in a double-blind crossover study. Following a standardised training and diet regimen cyclists completed two Olympic-distance (target winning time of 2h 15m), cross-country mountain bike races during which they ingested either a 11.25% maltodextrin and fructose solution (MF) or an isocaloric, equi-volumetric, isosmotic control solution containing maltodextrin and glucose (MG). Performance times, ratings of perceived exertion, gastrointestinal discomfort and measurements of hydration status were recorded and compared. Data was analysed using appropriate mixed models in SAS. Results: Cyclists were 1.8% (2mins 31s) faster in MF compared to MG (90% confidence interval:±1.8%; 72% likelihood of a substantial benefit) The effect solution composition on the increase in time from the first the final lap (fatigue) was 9.7% (±2.8%) in MF and 10.7% (±2.8%) in MG; which corresponded to a 0.9% reduction (±3.5%; unclear) in the fatigue in MF. Abdominal cramps were reduced by 8.1% in MF relative to MG (±6.6%; likely benefit) and for every 1% change in abdominal cramp rating, lap time increased by 0.14% (±0.10%). There were no clear effects of MF on ratings of perceived exertion and hydration status compared with MG. Conclusion: Cross-country mountain bike race performance was substantially enhanced following ingestion of a maltodextrin and fructose solution. This outcome was related to reduced gastro-intestinal distress supporting the theory that solutions containing multiple-transportable carbohydrates increase the availability of carbohydrate for metabolism. Further investigation with a larger sample size is recommended to establish whether the performance effect is genuinely beneficial or trivial

Ecological and biogeographical observations on Cerambycidae (Coleoptera) from California, USA

New ecological and biogeographical observations are presented for the following 32 species of Cerambycidae from California: Atimia confusa dorsalis LeConte, Anelaphus albofasciatus (Linell), Aneflus prolixus prolixus LeConte, Anoplocurius incompletus Linsley, Brothylus conspersus LeConte, Callidiellum virescens Chemsak and Linsley, Calloides lorquini (Buquet), Clytus chemsaki Hovore and Giesbert, Enaphalodes hispicornis (Linnaeus), Methia brevis Fall, Neaneflus fuchsi (Wickham), Neoclytus balteatus LeConte, Plectromerus dentipes (Olivier), Phymatodes decussatus decussatus (LeConte), Phymatodes decussatus australis Chemsak, Purpuricenus dimidiatus LeConte, Rosalia funebris Motschulsky, Schizax senex LeConte, Smodicum pacificum Linsley, Stenaspis solitaria (Say), Tragidion gracilipes Linsley, Brachysomida californica (LeConte), Brachysomida vittigera Linsley and Chemsak, Centrodera osburni Knull, Encyclops californica Van Dyke, Judolia sexspilota (LeConte), Leptalia macilenta (Mannerheim), Leptura hovorei Linsley and Chemsak, Leptura pacifica (Linsley), Necydalis barbarae Rivers, Neobellamira delicata australis Linsley and Chemsak, Pachyta armata LeConte, Stenocorus alteni Giesbert and Hovore

The animal fable and Greek iambus: <i>ainoi</i> and half-<i>ainoi</i> in Archilochus

Archilochus’ poetry makes particuarly dense use of animal fable, and the fame of his fables were an important factor in the later identification of animal fable as a distinctive features of iambus. This chapter explores two aspects of animal fable in Archilochus. The first section investigates a technique I term ‘half-ainoi’, where rather than telling a fable in full, the poet alludes to it in a compressed manner, which requires the audience to recognise the story and unpack its meaning. Interpreting these half-ainoi requires the audience to engage intellectually with the conventions of animal fable, and consider the relevance of the traditional fable to the setting, since the animal stories are used to complicate and enrich the poem rather than to give simple moral analogues. The second part of the chapter explores the Fox and Eagle (frr. 172-81 W) and Fox and Ape (frr. 185-7) Epodes, and argues that we find a similar level of self-consciousness in the way the fable genre is used as a moralising device

Mapping posthuman discourse and the evolution of living information

The discourse that surrounds and constitutes the post-human emerged as a response to earlier claims of an essential or universal human or human nature. These discussions claim that the human is a discursive construct that emerges from various configurations of nature, embodiment, technology, and culture, configurations that have also been variously shaped by the forces of social history. And in the absence of an essential human figure, post-human discourses suggest that there are no restrictions or limitations on how the human can be reconfigured. This axiom has been extended in light of a plethora of technological reconfigurations and augmentations now potentially available to the human, and claims emerge from within this literature that these new technologies constitute a range of possibilities for future human biological evolution. This thesis questions the assumption contained within these discourses that technological incursions or reconfigurations of the biological human necessarily constitute human biological or human social evolution by discussing the role the evolution theories plays in our understanding of the human, the social, and technology. In this thesis I show that, in a reciprocal process, evolution theory draws metaphors from social institutions and ideologies, while social institutions and ideologies simultaneously draw on metaphors from evolution theory. Through this discussion, I propose a form of evolution literacy; a tool, I argue, is warranted in developing a sophisticated response to changes in both human shape and form. I argue that, as a whole, our understanding of evolution constitutes a metanarrative, a metaphor through which we understand the place of the human within the world; it follows that historical shifts in social paradigms will result in new definitions of evolution. I show that contemporary evolution theory reflects parts of the world as codified informatic systems of associated computational network logic through which the behaviour of participants is predefined according to an evolved or programmed structure. Working from within the discourse of contemporary evolution theory I develop a space through which a version of the post-human figure emerges. I promote this version of the post-human as an Artificial Intelligence computational programme or autonomous agent that, rather than seeking to replace, reduce or deny the human subject, is configured as an exosomatic supplement to and an extension of the biological human