Getting on top of things: form and meaning in the pseudo-Vergilian Aetna

This article offers a fresh view on the poetics of the pseudo-Vergilian poem Aetna, proposing a carefully planned and executed structure which is supported through a deliberate arrangement of key terms in the poem as well as a network of verbal cross-references

Sea-breeze dynamics and convection initiation: the influence of convective parameterization in weather and climate model biases

There are some long-established biases in atmospheric models that originate from the representation of tropical convection. Previously, it has been difficult to separate cause and effect because errors are often the result of a number of interacting biases. Recently, researchers have gained the ability to run multiyear global climate model simulations with grid spacings small enough to switch the convective parameterization off, which permits the convection to develop explicitly. There are clear improvements to the initiation of convective storms and the diurnal cycle of rainfall in the convection-permitting simulations, which enables a new process-study approach to model bias identification. In this study, multiyear global atmosphere-only climate simulations with and without convective parameterization are undertaken with the Met Office Unified Model and are analyzed over the Maritime Continent region, where convergence from sea-breeze circulations is key for convection initiation. The analysis shows that, although the simulation with parameterized convection is able to reproduce the key rain-forming sea-breeze circulation, the parameterization is not able to respond realistically to the circulation. A feedback of errors also occurs: the convective parameterization causes rain to fall in the early morning, which cools and wets the boundary layer, reducing the land–sea temperature contrast and weakening the sea breeze. This is, however, an effect of the convective bias, rather than a cause of it. Improvements to how and when convection schemes trigger convection will improve both the timing and location of tropical rainfall and representation of sea-breeze circulations.

West is east: the Irish Saracens in 'Of Arthour and of Merlin'

Among the more striking episodes in the Middle English poem Of Arthour and of Merlin is an invasion of England by, amongst others, an army of gigantic Irish pagans. Adapted from the French Estoire de Merlin, the English poem’s depiction of the Irish represents one of the more intriguing points of divergence between the two versions. Of Arthour and of Merlin paints the Irish in a highly negative light and repeatedly refers to them as ‘Saracens’. The French text, by contrast, depicts the Irish as gigantic, but it does not suggest that they are ignoble or pagan. Although, the term ‘Saracen’ was sometimes applied to non-Islamic enemies of England, such as the Vikings, this appears to be its only application to a historically Christian people dwelling west of England. This paper argues that the depiction of the Irish in the poem reflects a complex of ideas about Ireland in circulation in England in the period. In particular, the influential writings of Gerald of Wales lay great emphasis on supposed Irish heterodoxy and repeatedly link the Irish Occident with the Orient as the furthest extremities of the world, abounding in marvels but rendered barbaric by their isolation

Muriel Rukeyser: poetry and the body

The human body occupies a central place in Rukeyser’s poetry. Her characters’ physical experiences inspire their search for an artistic form and a holistic vision that reconciles the corporeal and conceptual aspects of their life. My thesis deals with Rukeyser’s reconciliation of disparate aspects of existence through the image of the human body and the practical experiences she underwent in her personal life and incorporated in her poetry. I discuss her poetry of the 1940s, where a tension is observed between the artist’s personal life and her art, which she attempts to resolve by adopting an artistic form that accommodates her quotidian experiences. I study, mainly through her poetry of the 1950s, Rukeyser’s poetic technique in the light of her organicist poetics and the combination of tendencies to coercion and suggestiveness distinguishing her style. I examine her portrayal of the suffering body in her poetry of the 1960s and 1970s. By means of their physical experiences, the ill, her despised and the imprisoned protagonists undergo a process of development whereby they perceive the different aspects of their identity and attempt to broaden perspectives on their situation by reconciling them. I argue that Rukeyser’s engagement with physical encounters and with the poem as an inclusive, organic body enables her to reconcile disparate elements in her poetry, such as her personal life and her art, her individual existence and the public world, as well as the distinct aspects of her characters’ identity. Her vatic outlook, which integrates distinct aspects of experience, is consistent with Merleau-Ponty’s idea of human perception as characterised by the two interdependent positions of immanence and transcendence. Rukeyser’s poetry depicts her physical engagement with quotidian events of her life as a factor of artistic inspiration. These situations constitute shared human experiences that enable her to imagine the links binding her to other people and the world at large. The poet’s personal experiences inspire her search for an artistic form that accommodates them. Her perception of the concrete aspect of her individual existence gains significance when it is linked to social and political issues. Both the private and public are thus seen as interconnected, and they affect the existence of each other while retaining their distinctness.

Mechanism of the antioxidant to pro-oxidant switch in the behavior of dehydroascorbate during LDL oxidation by copper(II) ions

Oxidised low density lipoprotein (LDL) may be involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. We have therefore investigated the mechanisms underlying the antioxidant/pro-oxidant behavior of dehydroascorbate, the oxidation product of ascorbic acid, toward LDL incubated With Cu2+ ions. By monitoring lipid peroxidation through the formation of conjugated dienes and lipid hydroperoxides, we show that the pro-oxidant activity of dehydroascorbate is critically dependent on the presence of lipid hydroperoxides, which accumulate during the early stages of oxidation. Using electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy, we show that dehydroascorbate amplifies the generation of alkoxyl radicals during the interaction of copper ions with the model alkyl hydroperoxide, tert-butylhydroperoxide. Under continuous-flow conditions, a prominent doublet signal was detected, which we attribute to both the erythroascorbate and ascorbate free radicals. On this basis, we propose that the pro-oxidant activity of dehydroascorbate toward LDL is due to its known spontaneous interconversion to erythroascorbate and ascorbate, which reduce Cu2+ to Cu+ and thereby promote the decomposition of lipid hydroperoxides. Various mechanisms, including copper chelation and Cu+ oxidation, are suggested to underlie the antioxidant behavior of dehydroascorbate in LDL that is essentially free of lipid hydroperoxides. (C) 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An uncollected poem and the 'Madrid Journal' by Bernard Spencer

Derwent May introduces Peter Robinson’s discovery of a lost Bernard Spencer poem and diary.

Direct observation by time-resolved infrared spectroscopy of the bright and the dark excited states of the [Ru(phen)2(dppz)]2+ light-switch compound in solution and when bound to DNA

The [Ru(phen)2(dppz)]2+ complex (1) is non-emissive in water but is highly luminescent in organic solvents or when bound to DNA, making it a useful probe for DNA binding. To date, a complete mechanistic explanation for this “light-switch” effect is still lacking. With this in mind we have undertaken an ultrafast time resolved infrared (TRIR) study of 1 and directly observe marker bands between 1280–1450 cm-1, which characterise both the emissive “bright” and the non-emissive “dark” excited states of the complex, in CD3CN and D2O respectively. These characteristic spectral features are present in the [Ru(dppz)3]2+ solvent light-switch complex but absent in [Ru(phen)3]2+, which is luminescent in both solvents. DFT calculations show that the vibrational modes responsible for these characteristic bands are predominantly localised on the dppz ligand. Moreover, they reveal that certain vibrational modes of the “dark” excited state couple with vibrational modes of two coordinating water molecules, and through these to the bulk solvent, thus providing a new insight into the mechanism of the light-switch effect. We also demonstrate that the marker bands for the “bright” state are observed for both L- and D enantiomers of 1 when bound to DNA and that photo-excitation of the complex induces perturbation of the guanine and cytosine carbonyl bands. This perturbation is shown to be stronger for the L enantiomer, demonstrating the different binding site properties of the two enantiomers and the ability of this technique to determine the identity and nature of the binding site of such intercalators.