Paula Rego, Jane Eyre and the re-enchantment of Bluebeard

A discussion of narrative, fantasy and representation in Paula Rego's Jane Eyre sequence of lithographs

Synthesis and Diels-Alder Reactions of 1,2-Dimethylene- and 1,2,9,10-Tetramethylene-[2.2]paracyclophane: New Routes to Bridge-Anellated[2.2]Paracyclophanedienes

The title compounds 8 and 1 have been synthesized in three steps each from 1,2-dibromo[2.2]paracyclophan-1-ene (2) and 1,2,9,10-tetrabromo[2.2]paracyclophane-1,9-diene (4), respectively. Copper-mediated coupling of vinyl bromides 2 and 4 with methyl- and phenylmagnesium bromide gives substituted [2.2]paracyclophanes 3-CH3, 3-Ph, 5-CH3, and 5-Ph in good yields. The high reactivity of the [2.2]paracyclophane-1,2-dimethylene moieties in 8 and 1 in Diels-Alder reactions has been verified in cycloadditions with p-benzoquinone to give 10 and 13 and with naphthalene 1,4-endoxide to yield 12

A review of progressive collapse research and regulations

History has demonstrated that buildings designed to conventional design codes can lack the robustness necessary to withstand localised damage, partial or even complete collapse. This variable performance has led governmental organisations to seek ways of ensuring all buildings of significant size possess a minimum level of robustness. The research community has responded by advancing understanding of how structures behave when subjected to localised damage. Regulations and design recommendations have been developed to help ensure more consistent resilience in all framed buildings of significant size, and rigorous design approaches have been specified for buildings deemed potentially vulnerable to extreme loading events. This paper summarises some of the more important progressive collapse events, to identify key attributes that lead to vulnerability to collapse. Current procedures and guidelines for ensuring a minimum level of performance are reviewed and modelling methods for structures subjected to localised damage are described. These include increasingly sophisticated progressive collapse analysis procedures, including linear static and non-linear static analysis, as well as non-linear static pushover and linear dynamic methods. Finally, fully non-linear dynamic methods are considered. Building connections potentially represent the most vulnerable structural elements in steel-framed buildings; their failure can lead to progressive collapses. Steel connections also present difficulties with respect to frame modelling and this paper highlights benefits and drawbacks of some modelling procedures with respect to their treatment of connections

'Fuelled by dreams and powered by imagination': considering digital technologies through the lens of a theology of play

The boundaries between information and entertainment, work and leisure, and professional devices and toys are blurred. This has implications for understanding the ways in which we interact with digital devices. This article argues that these new cultural developments are not adequately addressed in existing theologies of technology and proposes that a theology of play provides an important additional critical perspective. Particular focus is placed upon Roman Catholic teachings, including the past decade's Papal messages to the World Communications Day.PostprintPeer reviewe

Corrugation of Roads

We present a one dimensional model for the development of corrugations in roads subjected to compressive forces from a flux of cars. The cars are modeled as damped harmonic oscillators translating with constant horizontal velocity across the surface, and the road surface is subject to diffusive relaxation. We derive dimensionless coupled equations of motion for the positions of the cars and the road surface H(x,t), which contain two phenomenological variables: an effective diffusion constant Delta(H) that characterizes the relaxation of the road surface, and a function alpha(H) that characterizes the plasticity or erodibility of the road bed. Linear stability analysis shows that corrugations grow if the speed of the cars exceeds a critical value, which decreases if the flux of cars is increased. Modifying the model to enforce the simple fact that the normal force exerted by the road can never be negative seems to lead to restabilized, quasi-steady road shapes, in which the corrugation amplitude and phase velocity remain fixed.Comment: 20 pages, 8 figures, typos correcte