Uncles ex Machina: Familial Epiphany in Euripides' Electra

At the close of Euripides’ Electra, the Dioscuri suddenly appear ‘on high’ to their distraught niece and nephew, who have just killed their mother, the divine twins’ mortal sister. This is in fact the second longest extant deus ex machina (after the final scene in Hippolytus), and the only scene in which a tragedian attempts to resolve directly the aftermath of the matricide. In this article, I argue that Castor's and Polydeuces’ sudden apparition to Orestes and Electra constitutes a specialised point of intersection between the mortal and immortal realms in Greek tragedy: familial epiphany, an appearance by a god who has an especially intimate relationship with those on stage. Euripides’ focus on the familial divine as a category accentuates various contradictions inherent to both ancient Greek theology and dramaturgy. The Dioscuri are a living paradox, ambiguously traversing the space between dead heroes and gods, managing at the same time to occupy both. They oscillate uniquely between the mortal and immortal worlds, as different sources assign different fathers to each brother, and others speak of each one possessing divinity on alternate days. As I propose, the epiphany of these ambiguous brothers crystallises the problem of the gods’ physical presence in drama. Tragedy is the arena in which gods burst suddenly into the mortal realm, decisively and irrevocably altering human action. The physical divine thus tends to be both marginal and directorial, tasked with reining in the plot or directing its future course. The appearance of the familial divine, on the other hand, can in fact obscure the resolution and future direction of a play, undermining the authority of the tragic gods. In the specific case of Electra, I contend that the involvement of the Dioscuri, who are Electra's and Orestes’ maternal uncles, produces a sense of claustrophobia at the close of the play, which simultaneously denies the resolution that is expected from a deus ex machina while also revealing the pessimistic nature of what is typically considered a reassuringly ‘domestic’ and character driven drama

Pollinator attractiveness of five weeds

The number of pollinators in agro-ecosystems world wide has declined alarminglyin recent decades due to poora gricultural practices such as the intensive use of pesticides and monocultures.Postprint (published version

Concentrated Ground Plane Booster Antenna Technology for Multiband Operation in Handset Devices

The current demand in the handset antenna field requires multiband antennas due to the existence of multiple communication standards and the emergence of new ones. At the same time, antennas with reduced dimensions are strongly required in order to be easily integrated. In this sense, the paper proposes a compact radiating system that uses two non-resonant elements to properly excite the ground plane to solve the abovementioned shortcomings by minimizing the required Printed Circuit Board (PCB) area while ensuring a multiband performance. These non-resonant elements are called here ground plane boosters since they excite an efficient mode of the ground plane. The proposed radiating system comprises two ground plane boosters of small dimensions of 5 mm x 5 mm x 5 mm. One is in charge of the low frequency region (0.824-0.960 GHz) and the other is in charge of the high frequency region (1.710-2.170 GHz). With the aim of achieving a compact configuration, the two boosters are placed close to each other in a corner of the ground plane of a handset device (concentrated architecture). Several experiments related to the coupling between boosters have been carried out in two different platforms (barphone and smartphone), and the best position and the required matching network are presented. The novel proposal achieves multiband performance at GSM850/900/1800/1900 and UMTS

Career Counseling Latinas: Enhancing Career Services for Latinas on Campus

Latinas on campus have a very distinct need when it comes to career decision-making processes. The present study examines the ways in which Latinas make career decisions and attempts to enhance their career self-efficacy through peer group career counseling. The existing literature about Latinas and careers was discussed and their values, cultural beliefs, and traditions were analyzed. Results of a psychoeducational intervention using non-directive counseling were included. The limitations and implications for further studies were discussed

Mujeres piqueteras en Salta : experiencias y rebeldías

Fil: Andujar, Andrea. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Filosofía y Letras. Instituto Interdisciplinario de Estudios de Género; ArgentinaEntre los años 1997 y 2001, la provincia de Salta fue escenario de intensos conflictos\nsociales, originados en las consecuencias de la implementación del modelo neoliberal.\nParticularmente, Tartagal y General Mosconi, dos ciudades lindantes ubicadas en el\nnorte salteño, fueron los territorios en los que estas confrontaciones alcanzaron su\npunto más álgido dando lugar, asimismo, a la emergencia del movimiento piquetero\nlocal. Tanto en la construcción de este último como en los cortes de ruta, devenidos en\nherramientas preponderantes de estas protestas, la presencia activa de las mujeres fue\nmasiva. Ellas, con experiencias de participación política previa dispar y con disímil\npertenencia de clase, no sólo jaquearon su posicionamiento en la esfera de la\ndomesticidad. También retaron las normativas demarcatorias de la ocupación de los\nespacios públicos, impugnando con su práctica tanto las fronteras de lo político como la\ncirculación del poder. Este trabajo se propone explorar la trayectoria de las mujeres que\nprotagonizaron estas experiencias de lucha, acudiendo fundamentalmente al análisis\nde las memorias que han construido sobre sus propias acciones

Commissioning and Evaluation of an Electronic Portal Imaging Device-Based In-Vivo Dosimetry Software.

This study reports on our experience with the in-vivo dose verification software, EPIgray® (DOSIsoft, Cachan, France). After the initial commissioning process, clinical experiments on phantom treatments were evaluated to assess the level of accuracy of the electronic portal imaging device (EPID) based in-vivo dose verification. EPIgray was commissioned based on the company's instructions. This involved ion chamber measurements and portal imaging of solid water blocks of various thicknesses between 5 and 35 cm. Field sizes varied between 2 x 2 cm2 and 20 x 20 cm2. The determined conversion factors were adjusted through an additional iterative process using treatment planning system calculations. Subsequently, evaluation was performed using treatment plans of single and opposed beams, as well as intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) plans, based on recommendations from the task group report TG-119 to test for dose reconstruction accuracy. All tests were performed using blocks of solid water slabs as a phantom. For single square fields, the dose at isocenter was reconstructed within 3% accuracy in EPIgray compared to the treatment planning system dose. Similarly, the relative deviation of the total dose was accurately reconstructed within 3% for all IMRT plans with points placed inside a high-dose region near the isocenter. Predictions became less accurate than < 5% when the evaluation point was outside the treatment target. Dose at points 5 cm or more away from the isocenter or within an avoidance structure was reconstructed less reliably. EPIgray formalism accuracy is adequate for an efficient error detection system with verifications performed in high-dose volumes. It provides immediate intra-fractional feedback on the delivery of treatment plans without affecting the treatment beam. Besides the EPID, no additional hardware is required. The software evaluates local point dose measurements to verify treatment plan delivery and patient positioning within 5% accuracy, depending on the placement of evaluation points

Preschool ministries and churches that house them : a study to develop best practices to promote healthy collaborative relationships

https://place.asburyseminary.edu/ecommonsatsdissertations/2438/thumbnail.jp

Towards MRI microarrays

Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanometre scale particles have been utilised as contrast agents to image staked target binding oligonucleotide arrays using MRI to correlate the signal intensity and relaxation times in different NMR fluids