New Stephen Crane Letters in the Schoberlin Collection

This article recreates several letters written by American novelist Stephen Crane, unique to the Schoberlin Collection. By themselves the letters and inscriptions that are reproduced here do not form a coherent narrative; consequently, brief headnotes and footnotes supply the reader with sufficient detail to understand the context of each document

Fatty-Acid Preference Changes during Development in Drosophila melanogaster

Fatty-acids (FAs) are required in the diet of many animals throughout their life. However, the mechanisms involved in the perception of and preferences for dietary saturated and unsaturated FAs (SFAs and UFAs, respectively) remain poorly explored, especially in insects. Using the model species Drosophila melanogaster, we measured the responses of wild-type larvae and adults to pure SFAs (14, 16, and 18 carbons) and UFAs (C18 with 1, 2, or 3 double-bonds). Individual and group behavioral tests revealed different preferences in larvae and adults. Larvae preferred UFAs whereas SFAs tended to induce both a strong aversion and a persistent aggregation behavior. Adults generally preferred SFAs, and laid more eggs and had a longer life span when ingesting these substances as compared to UFAs. Our data suggest that insects can discriminate long-chain dietary FAs. The developmental change in preference shown by this species might reflect functional variation in use of FAs or stage-specific nutritional requirements, and may be fundamental for insect use of these major dietary components

Technology, ethics and religious language: early Anglophone Christian reactions to “cyberspace”

The very recent past has seen an upswing of scholarly interest not so much in the Internet and Web themselves but in the terms in which they have been discussed and understood. This article examines a remarkable effusion of writing in the 1990s that addressed the spiritual and ethical implications of “cyberspace”. Christian critics reacted in different ways to prophecies of technological revolution. Some saw ethical challenges in relation to economic and social exclusion and the nature of interpersonal relations. Others elaborated a semi-mystical evolutionary understanding of the Web as an ontologically concrete “space”. Others again revived older anxieties about the challenge apparently posed to human uniqueness and autonomy posed by computerisation more generally, which cyberspace threatened to magnify. However, this thinking did not occur in isolation from the sweep of Anglophone social thought. I suggest instead that the wider discourse about the ethics of the Internet and Web, both learned and popular, was infused at every level with religious imagery. As such, the article contributes to the ongoing debate on the extent to which the cultures of the UK and North America have been secularised: even if religious observance has declined, the English language still bears the marks of its Christian past

Earnings Forecasts And Institutional Demand For Common Stock

Given that institutional investors now control over 50% of the equity funds in the market, it is important to understand the factors that influence their investment choices. A factor widely believed to influence institutional investment is analysts forecasts of future earnings performance. This paper investigates the ownership vs. earnings relationship using a number of different model specifications. The findings indicate that contrary to the generally accepted wisdom, there is little empirical evidence indicating that institutional investors are influenced by analysts forecasts. Even within the sub-sample of those firms where the analysts are most in agreement, the relationship between the change in institutional ownership and analysts forecasts is insignificant. These results persisted across the six year time period investigated