\u27Those Who Cling in Queer Corners To The Forgotten Tongues and Memories of an Elder Day\u27: J.R.R. Tolkien, Finns and Elves

Abstract Those Who Cling in Queer Corners To The Forgotten Tongues and Memories of an Elder Day\u27 J.R.R. Tolkien, Finns and Elves Dr. Andrew Higgins In this paper I will explore how several historic, literary and mythic associations of the Finnish people with elements of magic, the supernatural and the \u27other\u27 influenced J.R.R. Tolkien in imbuing the character and language of his own Elves with a similar quality of magic and \u27arresting strangeness\u27.I will explore several characterisations of the Finns, the People of Kalevala, Tolkien would have encountered in his early study of the Kalevala, several Old Norse and Anglo-Saxon texts as well as other characterisations drawn from more contemporary treatments of the supernatural elements of the Finns in Victorian and Edwardian sources.I will argue that the greatest influence of this connection can be see in two key elements of Tolkien\u27s mythology: first in Tolkien\u27s use of the Finnish language to create a phonetic sound-sense for his own invented language for the Elves of Qenya/Q(u)enya which would evoke a sense of \u27a forgotten tongue\u27. Secondly, in Tolkien\u27s early attempt to incorporate into his own mythology the character of the artisan Volundr, in his Anglo-Saxon characterization Weland, known to be both a son of a Finnish King and a \u27prince of Elves\u27 and who has survived to be one of the few known characters of the lost English mythology Tolkien was seeking to reimagine and repurpose. My paper will show how the literary constructions and mythic representations of the otherness and supernatural qualities of the Finns played its part in inspiring Tolkien to imbue his own Elves with a similar \u27queer\u27 and \u27strange\u27 quality in both their character, history and language who by the third age of Middle-earth did \u27cling in queer corners\u27 while remembering \u27the memories of an elder day\u27 until they were called back to Valinor

The role of supervisory neglect in childhood injury

This paper explores the theoretical understandings of supervisory neglect and how these understandings might assist in delivering practical responses using a public health approach to child protection.Injury is the leading cause of death in Australians 1–44 years of age (McClure, Stevenson, & McEvoy, 2004). Transport-related injury, drowning, and assault/homicide were the three leading causes of injury-related deaths in Australian children between 2004 and 2006 (AIHW, 2009). Children are particularly vulnerable to different types of injury depending on their stage of growth and development. This vulnerability is dependent on a combination of the child’s developmental stage, exposure to environmental risk factors and the presence of protective factors (Towner & Dowswell, 2002). Due to the diverse nature of injury in the population, prevention programs are mainly targeted at similar types of injury or circumstances in specific population groups. Examples of such targeted programs include preventing car crashes in newly licensed young drivers or educating beach goers to swim between the flags

Disease associated with equine coronavirus infection and high case fatality rate.

BackgroundEquine coronavirus (ECoV) is associated with clinical disease in adult horses. Outbreaks are associated with a low case fatality rate and a small number of animals with signs of encephalopathic disease are described.ObjectivesThe aim of this study is to describe the epidemiological and clinical features of two outbreaks of ECoV infection that were associated with an high case fatality rate.Animals14 miniature horses and 1 miniature donkey testing fecal positive for ECoV from two related disease outbreaks.MethodsRetrospective study describing the epidemiological findings, clinicopathological findings, and fecal viral load from affected horses.ResultsIn EcoV positive horses, 27% (4/15) of the animals died or were euthanized. Severe hyperammonemia (677 μmol/L, reference range ≤ 60 μmol/L) was identified in one animal with signs of encephalopathic disease that subsequently died. Fecal viral load (ECoV genome equivalents per gram of feces) was significantly higher in the nonsurvivors compared to animals that survived (P = .02).Conclusions and clinical importanceEquine coronavirus had a higher case fatality rate in this group of miniature horses than previously reported in other outbreaks of varying breeds. Hyperammonemia could contribute to signs of encephalopathic disease, and the fecal viral load might be of prognostic value in affected horses

Novel High-Speed Polarization Source for Decoy-State BB84 Quantum Key Distribution over Free Space and Satellite Links

To implement the BB84 decoy-state quantum key distribution (QKD) protocol over a lossy ground-satellite quantum uplink requires a source that has high repetition rate of short laser pulses, long term stability, and no phase correlations between pulses. We present a new type of telecom optical polarization and amplitude modulator, based on a balanced Mach-Zehnder interferometer configuration, coupled to a polarization-preserving sum-frequency generation (SFG) optical setup, generating 532 nm photons with modulated polarization and amplitude states. The weak coherent pulses produced by SFG meet the challenging requirements for long range QKD, featuring a high clock rate of 76 MHz, pico-second pulse width, phase randomization, and 98% polarization visibility for all states. Successful QKD has been demonstrated using this apparatus with full system stability up to 160 minutes and channel losses as high 57 dB [Phys. Rev. A, Vol. 84, p.062326]. We present the design and simulation of the hardware through the Mueller matrix and Stokes vector relations, together with an experimental implementation working in the telecom wavelength band. We show the utility of the complete system by performing high loss QKD simulations, and confirm that our modulator fulfills the expected performance.Comment: 21 pages, 8 figures and 2 table

Working Partnerships, Partnerships Working

Involvement in community partnerships at Virginia Commonwealth University has its roots in the institution\u27s history. The Medical College of Virginia, founded in1838, and the Richmond Professional Institute, founded in 1917, both sought to extend knowledge into the community to change peoples\u27 lives for the better. Today, the VCU campuses are even more entwined with the City of Richmond -- physically, and increasingly so as a partner in the economic and social challenges and opportunities facing the City

Experimental quantum key distribution with simulated ground-to-satellite photon losses and processing limitations

Quantum key distribution (QKD) has the potential to improve communications security by offering cryptographic keys whose security relies on the fundamental properties of quantum physics. The use of a trusted quantum receiver on an orbiting satellite is the most practical near-term solution to the challenge of achieving long-distance (global-scale) QKD, currently limited to a few hundred kilometers on the ground. This scenario presents unique challenges, such as high photon losses and restricted classical data transmission and processing power due to the limitations of a typical satellite platform. Here we demonstrate the feasibility of such a system by implementing a QKD protocol, with optical transmission and full post-processing, in the high-loss regime using minimized computing hardware at the receiver. Employing weak coherent pulses with decoy states, we demonstrate the production of secure key bits at up to 56.5 dB of photon loss. We further illustrate the feasibility of a satellite uplink by generating secure key while experimentally emulating the varying channel losses predicted for realistic low-Earth-orbit satellite passes at 600 km altitude. With a 76 MHz source and including finite-size analysis, we extract 3374 bits of secure key from the best pass. We also illustrate the potential benefit of combining multiple passes together: while one suboptimal "upper-quartile" pass produces no finite-sized key with our source, the combination of three such passes allows us to extract 165 bits of secure key. Alternatively, we find that by increasing the signal rate to 300 MHz it would be possible to extract 21570 bits of secure finite-sized key in just a single upper-quartile pass.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, 2 table

Monitoring Subsurface Drainage Flow at Remote Locations

Laboratory evaluations and field results are presented for a slotted weir used to measure discharge from subsurface drains. The head–discharge curve for the vertical slot is a simple power function with an exponent of 1.5. There was excellent agreement (r2 \u3e 0.99 and 1:1 slope) between predicted and observed discharge in laboratory testing of 12 test weirs representing five slot widths. The primary advantages of the vertical slot weir are its simplicity, ease of maintenance, and ability to measure small flow rates. Disadvantages include a tendency for the slot to close a small amount over time as a result of creep when using a PVC pipe and the possibility for material to become clogged in the slot. The use of a spacer in the slot eliminated the tendency for the slot to close