Federico García Lorca’s ‘impossible’ theatre staged

This study explores the relatively unknown area of Federico García Lorca’s theatre work which he himself termed ‘impossible’ and ‘unperformable’. With the director’s task of preproduction research in mind, the study examines biographical research as well as focusing discussion on Lorca’s experimentation – as playwright and director – with different artistic styles and techniques seen as ground-breaking in his own time which pre-empted much modern theatre practice. Analysis of primary sources provides a widespread overview of Lorca’s dramatic work: his better-known plays, ‘impossible’ plays, dramatic dialogues and fragments of incomplete pieces as well as interviews and speeches. Key sources include the theories and ideas of professional directors (most prominently Lluís Pasqual) and scholars of Spanish theatre (especially Maria M. Delgado and Gwynne Edwards) as well as biographers (particularly Leslie Stainton). Principally concerned with the challenges presented to modern theatre-makers and the possibilities and guides for directors tackling these plays, the study concludes with reflection on the production of An Impossible Dream of Life which was composed from Lorca’s The Dream of Life and extracts from his other works to make up the practice-based component of this research project

Continuo Playing on the Lute, Archlute and Theorbo By Nigel North

Tyler discusses and reviews North\u27s 1987 book

Online auctions in procurement : the cost/goodwill tradeoff

Thesis (M.Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2000.Includes bibliographical references (leaf 44).Industry is rapidly adopting online auctions. Many of these auctions are occurring in the procurement of component supplies. While there are tremendous expectations for this technology, there is little data or study looking at the implications of the technology. This thesis aims to provide some insight into this topic. Primarily using data collected in a study of auctions in the procurement of automotive components, this thesis looks at the costs and benefits of using online auctions in procurement. The thesis specifically addresses the cost vs. supplier goodwill tradeoff present in procurement auction. After quantifying these variables and answering associated questions, the thesis provides a framework for evaluating the use of online auctions in industry in general. The thesis concludes with a list of suggested further research into this important subject.Tyler J. Rameson.M.Eng

The Mystery of the Cosmic Diffuse Ultraviolet Background Radiation

The diffuse cosmic background radiation in the GALEX far ultraviolet (FUV, 1300 \AA\ - 1700 \AA) is deduced to originate only partially in the dust-scattered radiation of FUV-emitting stars: the source of a substantial fraction of the FUV background radiation remains a mystery. The radiation is remarkably uniform at both far northern and far southern Galactic latitudes, and it increases toward lower Galactic latitudes at all Galactic longitudes. We examine speculation that it might be due to interaction of the dark matter with the nuclei of the interstellar medium but we are unable to point to a plausible mechanism for an effective interaction. We also explore the possibility that we are seeing radiation from bright FUV-emitting stars scattering from a "second population" of interstellar grains---grains that are small compared with FUV wavelengths. Such grains are known to exist (Draine 2011) and they scatter with very high albedo, with an isotropic scattering pattern. However, comparison with the observed distribution (deduced from their $100\ \mu$m emission) of grains at high Galactic latitudes shows no correlation between the grains' location and the observed FUV emission. Our modeling of the FUV scattering by small grains also shows that there must be remarkably few such "smaller" grains at high Galactic latitudes, both North and South; this likely means simply that there is very little interstellar dust of any kind at the Galactic poles, in agreement with Perry & Johnston (1982). We also review our limited knowledge of the cosmic diffuse background at ultraviolet wavelengths shortward of Lyman $\alpha$---it could be that our "second component" of the diffuse far-ultraviolet background persists shortward of the Lyman limit, and is the cause of the re-ionization of the Universe (Kollmeier et al. 2014).Comment: 73 pages, 31 figures, ApJ accepte

A synthetic biochemistry platform for cell free production of monoterpenes from glucose.

Cell-free systems designed to perform complex chemical conversions of biomass to biofuels or commodity chemicals are emerging as promising alternatives to the metabolic engineering of living cells. Here we design a system comprises 27 enzymes for the conversion of glucose into monoterpenes that generates both NAD(P)H and ATP in a modified glucose breakdown module and utilizes both cofactors for building terpenes. Different monoterpenes are produced in our system by changing the terpene synthase enzyme. The system is stable for the production of limonene, pinene and sabinene, and can operate continuously for at least 5 days from a single addition of glucose. We obtain conversion yields >95% and titres >15 g l-1. The titres are an order of magnitude over cellular toxicity limits and thus difficult to achieve using cell-based systems. Overall, these results highlight the potential of synthetic biochemistry approaches for producing bio-based chemicals

For God, King, and Country: Nineteenth-Century Methodist Interpretations of the War of 1812

The War of 1812 almost ruined Episcopal Methodism in Upper Canada. During the War, the American itinerants were unable to travel in the land and, after the War, their detractors used their connection to America to undermine their influence in the loyal Province. This article offers two examples in order to highlight the ways in which the Methodists themselves used the war to prove their loyalty as well as their role in developing the land that would one day become Canada. The first example looks at how Methodists in the Reform party of the 1828 House of Assembly viewed their denomination's role during and in the years following the War. The second example looks at the publication of two popular books in 1880 that defended the contribution American Methodists had made to the British war effort. These examples moved the issue of Methodist loyalty into the sphere of politics and public policy and showed how the ongoing interpretation of the War of 1812 continued to affect these Methodists throughout the nineteenth century

Ripples in the Ice: Employing ogives to deduce glacier behavior

Arcuate glacier structures known as ogives are common to valley glaciers flowing below large icefalls and form annually. Long sequences comprising tens of ogives are often preserved on glacier surfaces. We explore their utility as unique sources of information about glacier behavior. Our investigation concentrates on two main objectives: (1) to assess any correlation between an ogive train and a climate time series, and (2) to evaluate what an ogive-derived velocity profile can reveal about the distribution of ice thickness beneath an ogive field. Using ArcGIS software, we analyze high-resolution satellite imagery of the Gates Glacier ogive sequence in southeastern Alaska to document ogive wavelengths, and to produce down-glacier surface velocity and strain profiles. A comparison of ogive wavelengths with the recent climate history from local weather stations suggests a complex relationship between annual temperature, meltwater inputs, basal sliding, and ogive formation. Finally, we employ surface velocity derived from ogive positions on a sequence of images, and a centerline slope profile (acquired from a digital elevation raster), to invert Glen’s flow law for an estimate of ice thickness. The calculated ice thickness is then translated to a centerline bed profile and ultimately used to construct a three dimensional view of the Gates Glacier valley geometry