'What say the citizens?' in Shakespeare's Richard III?

Shakespeare's residency in London coincided with a period in which the City underwent unprecedented demographic growth and commercial expansion. By the 1590s two thirds to three quarters of the adult males resident in the City were citizens, at the time a uniquely urban identity that denoted a person who possessed ‘the freedom' and was thereby entitled to the economic and political privileges of enfranchised inhabitants of a city or borough. These phenomena were transforming urban popular culture, yet their impact is largely unregistered in studies of Shakespeare and popular culture. The article seeks to direct attention to the presence and significance of the citizen, citizen languages and the culture of citizenship in Richard III, the play in which the word ‘citi- zen' appears more often than in any other Shakespearean drama yet is rarely the focus of critical enquiry. The relative critical neglect of the citizens and of ‘citizen language' more generally in Richard III stems from the widespread perception that its freemen are ultimately complicit in Richard's tyranny. The paper challenges such views and focuses attention on Richard's sustained effort to play the citizen to secure the crown

Fate of silver nanoparticles in constructed wetlands : a microcosm study

Nano-enabled materials are produced at growing volumes which increases the likelihood of nanoparticles being released into the environment. Constructed wetlands (CWs) are likely to receive wastewater containing nanoparticles leaching from products during usage. Therefore, we investigate the retention of silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) in microcosms simulating CWs treating domestic wastewater. The effects of aeration and organic matter content on the Ag-NP removal efficiencies are studied in particular. CWs remove most of the Ag (80-90%) and the largest fraction of Ag is found in/on the biofilm. Detailed electron microscopy analyses suggest that Ag-NPs are transformed into Ag2S in all microcosm experiments. The good correlation between total suspended solids (TSS) and the Ag concentration measured in the effluent indicates that Ag-NPs are bound to the solids in the effluent. Aeration of the microcosms does not affect the release of Ag-NPs from the systems but increasing organic matter leads to increased amounts of Ag passing the CWs, correlating with the increased release of TSS from the CWs. These results suggest that Ag-NPs are retained with the (suspended) solids in CWs and that the removal efficiency of TSS is an important factor determining the discharge of Ag-NPs from CWs

Theophrast: Metaphysik

Theophrastus' treatise "Metaphysics" contains a compact and critical reconstruction of unsolved systematic problems of classical Greek philosophy. It is primarily about fundamental problems of ontology and natural philosophy, such as the question of the interdependence of principles and perceptible phenomena or the plausibility of teleology as a methodical principle of the explanation of nature. The aim of the critical Greek-German edition (with introduction and commentary) is to make visible the systematic significance of Theophrastus' critique of metaphysics

Rehabilitation Approach for quick and sustainable regain in cocoa production in declining full sun plantations

In Malaysia an intensively managed high input full sun cocoa plantation can reach high yields of 1.5 to 2 t dry beans per ha. Following a high production period of 10 years the yields often decrease markedly. Focusing on leading depleted cacao plantations sustainably back to full production a research project was initiated in June 2011 using a diversification approach with agroforestry systems. The experimental site is located on a large commercial farm in the humid tropical lowlands of peninsular Malaysia, in the region of Kuala Lipis. In a field trial with a strip-split-plot design, three different production systems, mainly characterised by diversification levels (mono culture to high diversity agroforestry) and accordingly different external input levels (high to low), are compared under two tree age conditions: newly planted and old rehabilitated cocoa trees, after the removal of the original canopy back to the leader structure. The existing twenty-two-year-old plantation with the original canopy and a high input level serves as control treatment. When cacao yields decline after the initial high production period trees are often replanted. This results in a non-productive phase lasting several years before the young trees start to develop pods and even longer before yields reach a remunerative level. Rehabilitating old low producing trees on the other hand, as practised in the present experiment, is expected to re-establish higher yields more quickly than re-planting. The first full harvest in the trial started in September 2012, 15 months after the rehabilitation pruning. Between September 2012 and March 2013 (main harvest) an average of 462 kg dry beans per ha were harvested in the control treatment. The yields of the common practice treatment already amounted to 24.9 % of the control. This is a very promising result, especially in view of the development of young trees which will take at least another year before the first pod development. Yields in the agroforestry systems increased less quickly as tree development under shade and with lower fertiliser input is inherently slower

Successful rehabilitation approach for sustainable regain in cocoa production systems in South-East Asia

In Malaysia an intensively managed high input full sun cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) plantation can reach high yields of 1.5 to 2 t dry beans per ha. Following a high production period of 10 years the yields often decrease markedly. Focusing on leading depleted cacao plantations sustainably back to full production a research project was initiated in June 2011 using a diversification approach with agroforestry systems. The experimental site is located on a large commercial farm in the humid tropical lowlands of peninsular Malaysia, in the region of Kuala Lipis. In a field trial with a strip-split-plot design, three different production systems are compared under two tree age conditions: newly planted and old rehabilitated cacao trees, after the removal of the original canopy back to the leader structure. The examined production systems are: i) high external inputs in a mono crop full sun system representing the common practice of large cacao plantations in South-East Asia (COM); ii) medium level of external inputs in an agroforestry system of low diversity focusing on leguminous and timber trees (AF LD); iii) low external inputs in an agroforestry system of high diversity and high density shade trees including annual crops and fruit trees (AF HD). The existing twenty-two-year-old plantation with the original canopy and a high input level serves as control treatment (REF). When cocoa yields decline after the initial high production period trees are often replanted. This results in a non-productive phase lasting several years before the young trees start to develop pods and even longer before yields reach a remunerative level. Rehabilitating old low producing trees on the other hand, as practiced in the present experiment, is expected to re-establish higher yields more quickly than re-planting. The first full harvest in the trial started in September 2012, 15 months after the rehabilitation pruning. Between October 2012 and June 2013 (main harvest) an average of 471.2 kg dry beans per ha were harvested in the control treatment. The yields of the common practice treatments already amounted to 41.6 % of the control. This is a very promising result, especially in view of the development of young trees which will take at least another year before the first pod development. Yields in the agroforestry systems increased less quickly as tree development under shade and with lower fertilizer input is inherently slower

Separation of Microplastic Particles from Sewage Sludge Extracts Using Magnetic Seeded Filtration

Microplastic particles (MP) are efficiently retained in wastewater treatment plants and enriched in sewage sludge. For monitoring MP contents in wastewater systems, sewage sludge is thus well suited, but also requires an isolation of MP from the sludge matrix, as other sewage sludge components may interfere with the MP identification and quantification. Although organic matter in sludge samples can be removed through acid and enzymatic digestion procedures, cellulose -mainly from toilet paper -remains in the digests, due to its high chemical resistivity and similar density to MP. We apply the separation concept of magnetic seeded filtration to isolate MP through selective hetero-agglomeration with magnetic seed particles. MP and cellulose differ in their hydrophobic properties and we investigate to what extent these differences can be exploited to selectively form MP-magnetite hetero-agglomerates in the presence of cellulose. These hetero-agglomerates are subsequently separated using a magnet. Five MP types (Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polypropylene (PP), low density polyethylene (LDPE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polystyrene (PS)) and cellulose particles were mixed in different combinations with both hydrophilic and hydrophobic (silanized) magnetite particles. PET, PP, LDPE and PS only poorly agglomerated with pristine (hydrophilic) magnetite, but efficiently formed hetero-agglomerates with hydrophobic magnetite and were successfully removed from suspensions (80-100%). PVC agglomerated more efficiently with pristine than with hydrophobic magnetite and cellulose only agglomerated to a limited extent with either hydrophilic or hydrophobic magnetite, resulting in a high process selectivity. Results from experiments conducted at different ionic strengths and with hydrophilic and hydrophobic magnetite suggests that the agglomeration process was dominated by hydrophobic interactions. Enzymatic and oxidative treatment of the MP only marginally affected the separation efficiencies and (treated) MP spiked to sewage sludge extracts were successfully recovered using magnetic seeded filtration

In situ ESEM observation of melting silver and Inconel on an Al2O3 powder bed

A hot stage in an environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM) was used for in situ infiltration experiments. Pressureless infiltration of a porous Ti-activated Al2O3 preform has been investigated at temperatures up to 1530°C under two atmospheres (He and H2O(g)). A brief description of the operating and the experimental set-up is given. Silver and Inconel (Ni superalloy) infiltration experiments demonstrate the in situ potential of the ESEM at temperatures up to 1500°

Is radiographic progression of late-onset rheumatoid arthritis different from young-onset rheumatoid arthritis? Results from the Swiss prospective observational cohort

Objective. RA can be categorized into late-onset RA (LORA, >60-65 years) and young-onset RA (YORA, 30-55 years), depending on the patient's age at disease onset. Since the average age of the population is continuously increasing, LORA will most probably gain in importance in the future. Despite this growing importance, LORA has not been the focus of much interest in the past. The aim of this study was to analyse radiographic damage progression of early disease in LORA compared with YORA patients. Methods. We included all patients from the Swiss RA registry, Swiss Clinical Quality Management in RA, with recent-onset arthritis, either RA (disease duration ≤1 year) or undifferentiated arthritis, as diagnosed by the data-entering physician. Patients were followed for 5 years. The cut-off between YORA and LORA was operationally set at 60 years of age. The primary outcome of this study was disease progression and activity, which was assessed based on the 28-joint DAS (DAS28) and the progression of joint erosions using a validated scoring system (Ratingen score). Results. A total of 592 patients with early disease were analysed. The age at disease onset had a Gaussian distribution, with a single peak at 54 years of age; 366 patients were categorized as YORA and 226 as LORA at disease onset. DAS28 scores were significantly higher among LORA as compared with YORA patients (4.8 vs 4.5, P = 0.049). Corticosteroids were used in 68% of LORA patients as a first-line treatment, compared with 25.4% in YORA patients (χ2 test: 54.58; P < 0.0001). In contrast, DMARDs were used in 100% of the YORA patients as first-line treatment, compared with 91.2% of the LORA patients. During follow-up, new glucocorticoids, synthetic DMARDs or biologic DMARDs were initiated in 32.8%, 61.1% and 14.1% of all YORA patients and 17.5%, 54.6% and 6.6% of LORA patients, respectively (χ2 test: 7.08, 22.53, 54.4; all P < 0.01). The DAS28 scores decreased in both groups during the observed time period, and the initial differences in disease activity vanished after 6 months and during the subsequent follow-up. The Ratingen score was higher in LORA than in YORA patients at inclusion (12.7 vs 5.6, P < 0.0001). The rate of radiographic progression at 5 years was similar when comparing LORA and YORA (3.3 vs 2.6, respectively, P = 0.64). The Ratingen scores at onset and during follow-up over 5 years did not clearly separate LORA and YORA into two groups, but rather, increased linearly when comparing the patients in groups per decade from 20 to 92 years of age. Conclusion. Our results did not show LORA as a separate subgroup of RA with a different prognosis with regard to radiographic progressio

Conception and Construction of a 3 DOF Optical Precision Sensor Integrated in Micro-Robots

This diploma project’s goal was to develop a low-cost 3 DOF position sensor of small dimension that permits to find the position and orientation of the actuated object and thus, enable a closed loop control in 3 DOF. The range in X and Y should be at least 30x30mm2 and in Theta-z 360°. An absolute code was implemented in the target in order to always track the absolute position