Decadent Conservatism: Politics and Aesthetics in The Senate

The relationship between late-Victorian Decadence and Aestheticism and politics has long been vexed. This article explores the hitherto under-explored confluence of conservatism and avant-garde literature in the period by introducing The Senate, a Tory-Decadent journal that ran from 1894-7. While Decadent authors occupied various political positions, this article argues that The Senate offers a crucial link between conservatism and Decadence The article presents the journal in its political and publishing context, outlining its editorial position on such issues as the Liberal Unionist-Conservative coalition governments, Britain's relationship with Europe and the threat of ‘State Socialism’, as well as its valorisation of Bollingbroke and eighteenth-century Toryism, and its relationship to, and difference from, key Decadent journals the Yellow Book and The Savoy. It then goes on to articulate its relationship to Decadence by focussing on the presence of Paul Verlaine in its pages and its vitriolic response to the press coverage of Oscar Wilde's trials. The article concludes by exploring the surprising wake of The Senate, briefly tracing the editors' influence in the development of Modernism and links with the journal BLAST.

Optical and near-infrared observations of SN 2011dh - The first 100 days

We present optical and near-infrared (NIR) photometry and spectroscopy of the Type IIb supernova (SN) 2011dh for the first 100 days. We complement our extensive dataset with Swift ultra-violet (UV) and Spitzer mid-infrared (MIR) data to build a UV to MIR bolometric lightcurve using both photometric and spectroscopic data. Hydrodynamical modelling of the SN based on this bolometric lightcurve have been presented in Bersten et al. (2012, ApJ, 757, 31). We find that the absorption minimum for the hydrogen lines is never seen below ~11 000 km s-1 but approaches this value as the lines get weaker. This suggests that the interface between the helium core and hydrogen rich envelope is located near this velocity in agreement with the Bersten et al. (2012) He4R270 ejecta model. Spectral modelling of the hydrogen lines using this ejecta model supports the conclusion and we find a hydrogen mass of 0.01-0.04 M⊙ to be consistent with the observed spectral evolution. We estimate that the photosphere reaches the helium core at 5-7 days whereas the helium lines appear between ~10 and ~15 days, close to the photosphere and then move outward in velocity until ~40 days. This suggests that increasing non-thermal excitation due to decreasing optical depth for the γ-rays is driving the early evolution of these lines. The Spitzer 4.5 μm band shows a significant flux excess, which we attribute to CO fundamental band emission or a thermal dust echo although further work using late time data is needed. Thedistance and in particular the extinction, where we use spectral modelling to put further constraints, is discussed in some detail as well as the sensitivity of the hydrodynamical modelling to errors in these quantities. We also provide and discuss pre- and post-explosion observations of the SN site which shows a reduction by ~75 percent in flux at the position of the yellow supergiant coincident with SN 2011dh. The B, V and r band decline rates of 0.0073, 0.0090 and 0.0053 mag day-1 respectively are consistent with the remaining flux being emitted by the SN. Hence we find that the star was indeed the progenitor of SN 2011dh as previously suggested by Maund et al. (2011, ApJ, 739, L37) and which is also consistent with the results from the hydrodynamical modelling. Figures 2, 3, Tables 3-10, and Appendices are available in electronic form at http://www.aanda.orgThe photometric tables are only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (ftp://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat?J/A+A/562/A17

Yellow earthworms:Distinctive pigmentation associated with arsenic- and copper-tolerance in Lumbricus rubellus

Lumbricus rubellus Hoffmeister, inhabiting soil at the 19th century Devon Great Consols mine at Tavistock, Devon, UK, show high tolerance to Cu- and As-toxicity and frequently have a striking yellow coloration. Specimens from this site (mature and immature) and from an uncontaminated site on Lancaster University campus (mature) were photographed, and the slide images digitized and analyzed. All L. rubellus showed reddish-purple pigmentation of the body wall that declined in intensity posteriorly. The metal- and metalloid-resistant earthworms, whether mature or immature, showed yellowing in the posterior half of the body. The source of the coloration was intense yellow pigmentation of the chloragogenous tissue surrounding the alimentary canal. The yellow pigmentation is masked by reddish-purple body wall pigmentation anteriorly. Total As concentrations in tissues were determined for the anterior, middle and posterior sections of resistant and non-resistant L. rubellus. Highest concentrations were in the middle sections of the mature and immature resistant L. rubellus (36.17 ± 19.77 and 27.77 ± 9.02 mg As kg^-1, respectively). Resistant immature L. rubellus lost condition over 28 d in soil treated with 750 mg As kg^-1, possibly due to a higher metabolism, whilst there was no loss in condition for resistant mature L. rubellus in the treated soil. As far as the authors are aware, this is the first report of yellow pigmentation of this kind in earthworms. The pigmentation may provide a useful indicator of exposure/resistance to soil contamination. © 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

'Her Britannic Majesty' (short story)

Short story

SN 2009ib: a Type II-P supernova with an unusually long plateau

We present optical and near-infrared photometry and spectroscopy of SN 2009ib, a Type II-P supernova in NGC 1559. This object has moderate brightness, similar to those of the intermediate-luminosity SNe 2008in and 2009N. Its plateau phase is unusually long, lasting for about 130 d after explosion. The spectra are similar to those of the subluminous SN 2002gd, with moderate expansion velocities. We estimate the Ni-56 mass produced as 0.046 +/- A 0.015 M-aS (TM). We determine the distance to SN 2009ib using both the expanding photosphere method (EPM) and the standard candle method. We also apply EPM to SN 1986L, a Type II-P SN that exploded in the same galaxy. Combining the results of different methods, we conclude the distance to NGC 1559 as D = 19.8 +/- A 3.0 Mpc. We examine archival, pre-explosion images of the field taken with the Hubble Space Telescope, and find a faint source at the position of the SN, which has a yellow colour [(V - I)(0) = 0.85 mag]. Assuming it is a single star, we estimate its initial mass as M-ZAMS = 20 M-aS (TM). We also examine the possibility, that instead of the yellow source the progenitor of SN 2009ib is a red supergiant star too faint to be detected. In this case, we estimate the upper limit for the initial zero-age main sequence (ZAMS) mass of the progenitor to be similar to 14-17 M-aS (TM). In addition, we infer the physical properties of the progenitor at the explosion via hydrodynamical modelling of the observables, and estimate the total energy as similar to 0.55 x 10(51) erg, the pre-explosion radius as similar to 400 R-aS (TM), and the ejected envelope mass as similar to 15 M-aS (TM), which implies that the mass of the progenitor before explosion was similar to 16.5-17 M-aS (TM).

Deep Lane

A review of Mark Doty's Deep Lane (2015)

Identification and molecular cloning of novel trypsin inhibitors from the dermal venom of the Oriental fire-bellied toad (Bombina orientalis) and the European yellow-bellied toad (Bombina variegata).

The structural diversity of polypeptides in amphibian skin secretion probably reflects different roles in dermal regulation or in defense against predators. Here we report the structures of two novel trypsin inhibitor analogs, BOTI and BVTI, from the dermal venom of the toads, Bombina orientalis and Bombina variegata. Cloning of their respective precursors was achieved from lyophilized venom cDNA libraries for the first time. Amino acid alignment revealed that both deduced peptides, consisting of 60 amino acid residues, including 10 cysteines and the reactive center motif, -CDKKC-, can be affirmed as structural homologs of the trypsin inhibitor from Bombina bombina skin.

Peptide IC-20, encoded by skin kininogen-1 of the European yellow-bellied toad, Bombina variegata, antagonizes bradykinin-induced arterial smooth muscle relaxation

The objectives were to determine if the skin secretion of the European yellow-bellied toad (Bombina variegata), in common with other related species, contains a bradykinin inhibitor peptide and to isolate and structurally characterize this peptide. Materials and Methods: Lyophilized skin secretion obtained from this toad was subjected to reverse phase HPLC fractionation with subsequent bioassay of fractions for antagonism of the bradykinin activity using an isolated rat tail artery smooth muscle preparation. Subsequently, the primary structure of the peptide was established by a combination of microsequencing, mass spectroscopy, and molecular cloning, following which a synthetic replicate was chemically synthesised for bioassay. Results: A single peptide of molecular mass 2300.92 Da was resolved in HPLC fractions of skin secretion and its primary structure determined as IYNAIWP-KH-NK-KPGLL-. Database interrogation with this sequence indicated that this peptide was encoded by skin kininogen-1 previously cloned from B. variegata. The blank cycles were occupied by cysteinyl (C) residues and the peptide was located toward the C-terminus of the skin kininogen, and flanked N-terminally by a classical -KR- propeptide convertase processing site. The peptide was named IC-20 in accordance (I = N-terminal isoleucine, C = C-terminal cysteine, 20 = number of residues). Like the natural peptide, its synthetic replicate displayed an antagonism of bradykinin-induced arterial smooth muscle relaxation. Conclusion: IC-20 represents a novel bradykinin antagonizing peptide from amphibian skin secretions and is the third such peptide found to be co-encoded with bradykinins within skin kininogens.

Development and validation of rapid disequilibrium enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays for the detection of Methyl Yellow and Rhodamine B dyes in foods

Sensitive and specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) were developed for the detection of two illegal synthetic dyes: Methyl Yellow (MY) and Rhodamine B (RB) in food. Polyclonal antibodies were raised against synthesised immunogens and employed in unique direct disequilibrium ELISAs. The time of the assays was only twenty minutes (five minutes for each incubation step with sample and enzyme conjugate and ten minutes with enzyme substrate). The IC50 for MY was in the range 1.4-4.2 ng mL(-1) and for RB 0.1-0.5 ng mL(-1). A simple sample preparation method was developed for the analysis of a range of sauces. In the case of spices a dispersive solid phase extraction was applied to purify the extracts. The testing of twenty samples took approximately one and a half hours (including sample preparation and analysis). Both assays were validated according to the Commission Decision 2002/657/EC criteria for use in sauces and spices. The detection capability for MY in sauces and spices was determined to be less than 15 ng g(-1) and 50 ng g(-1), respectively and for RB, 10 ng g(-1) for both types of food samples. The precision of the developed assays was determined in a repeatability study. The intra-and inter-assay coefficients of variation were less than 25% for both tests and matrix types. The simplicity and performance of both assays indicate that they will be very reliable screening methods for the detection of the illegal dyes MY and RB in a range of food products.