The politics of weddings at Athens: an iconographic assessment

Despite recent scholarship that has suggested that most if not all Athenian vases were created primarily for the symposium, vases associated with weddings constitute a distinct range of Athenian products that were used at Athens in the period of the Peloponnesian War and its immediate aftermath (430-390 BCE). Just as the subject matter of sympotic vases suggested stories or other messages to the hetaireia among whom they were used, so the wedding vases may have conveyed messages to audiences at weddings. This paper is an assessment of these wedding vases with particular attention to function: how the images reflect the use of vases in wedding rituals (as containers and/or gifts); how the images themselves were understood and interpreted in the context of weddings; and the post-nuptial uses to which the vases were put. The first part is an iconographic overview of how the Athenian painters depicted weddings, with an emphasis on the display of pottery to onlookers and guests during the public parts of weddings, important events in the life of the polis. The second part focuses on a large group of late fifth century vases that depict personifications of civic virtues, normally in the retinue of Aphrodite (Pandemos). The images would reinforce social expectations, as they advertised the virtues that would create a happy marriage—Peitho, Harmonia (Harmony), and Eukleia (Good Repute)—and promise the benefits that might result from adherence to these values—Eudaimonia and Eutychia (Prosperity), Hygieia (Health), and Paidia (Play or Childrearing). Civic personifications could be interpreted on the private level—as personal virtues—and on the public level—as civic virtues— especially when they appeared on vases that functioned both in public and private, at weddings, which were public acknowledgments of private changes in the lives of individuals within the demos.

The politics of CAP reform: Trade negotiations, institutional settings and blame avoidance

In this article we argue that the conclusion of the GATT Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture and the subsequent role of the WTO has changed the international context of CAP policy-making. However, comparing the three latest CAP reforms, we demonstrate that pressures on the CAP arising from international trade negotiations cannot alone account for the way in which the EU responds in terms of CAP reform. The institutional setting within which the reform package was determined also played a crucial role. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the CoAM seems to be a more conducive setting than the European Council for undertaking substantial reform of the CAP. We suggest that the choice of institutional setting is influenced by the desire of farm ministers and of heads of state or government to avoid blame for unpopular decisions. When CAP reform is an integral part of a broader package, farm ministers pass the final decision to the European Council and when CAP reform is defined as a separate issue the European Council avoids involvement.

Microwave activation of the electro-oxidation of glucose in alkaline media

The oxidation of glucose is a complex process usually requiring catalytically active electrode surfaces or enzyme modified electrodes. In this study the effect of high intensity microwave radiation on the oxidation of glucose in alkaline solution at Au, Cu, and Ni electrodes is reported. Calibration experiments with the Fe(CN)(6)(3-/4-) redox system in aqueous 0.1 M NaOH indicate that strong thermal effects occur at both 50 and 500 mu m diameter electrodes with temperatures reaching 380 K. Extreme mass transport effects with mass transport coefficients of k(mt) > 0.01 m s(-1) (or k(mt) > 1.0 cm s(-1)) are observed at 50 mu m diameter electrodes in the presence of microwaves. The electrocatalytic oxidation of glucose at 500 mu m diameter Au, Cu, or Ni electrodes immersed in 0.1 M NaOH and in the presence of microwave radiation is shown to be dominated by kinetic control. The magnitude of glucose oxidation currents at Cu electrodes is shown to depend on the thickness of a pre-formed oxide layer. At 50 mu m diameter Au, Cu, or Ni electrodes microwave enhanced current densities are generally higher, but only at Au electrodes is a significantly increased rate for the electrocatalytic oxidation of glucose to gluconolactone observed. This rate enhancement appears to be independent of temperature but microwave intensity dependent, and therefore non-thermal in nature. Voltammetric currents observed at Ni electrodes in the presence of microwaves show the best correlation with glucose concentration and are therefore analytically most useful.

Microwave activation of the electro-oxidation of glucose in alkaline media

The oxidation of glucose is a complex process usually requiring catalytically active electrode surfaces or enzyme-modified electrodes. In this study the effect of high intensity microwave radiation on the oxidation of glucose in alkaline solution at Au, Cu, and Ni electrodes is reported. Calibration experiments with the Fe(CN)63–/4– redox system in aqueous 0.1 M NaOH indicate that strong thermal effects occur at both 50 and 500 µm diameter electrodes with temperatures reaching 380 K. Extreme mass transport effects with mass transport coefficients of kmt > 0.01 m s–1(or kmt > 1.0 cm s–1) are observed at 50 µm diameter electrodes in the presence of microwaves. The electrocatalytic oxidation of glucose at 500 µm diameter Au, Cu, or Ni electrodes immersed in 0.1 M NaOH and in the presence of microwave radiation is shown to be dominated by kinetic control. The magnitude of glucose oxidation currents at Cu electrodes is shown to depend on the thickness of a pre-formed oxide layer. At 50 µm diameter Au, Cu, or Ni electrodes microwave enhanced current densities are generally higher, but only at Au electrodes is a significantly increased rate for the electrocatalytic oxidation of glucose to gluconolactone observed. This rate enhancement appears to be independent of temperature but microwave intensity dependent, and therefore non-thermal in nature. Voltammetric currents observed at Ni electrodes in the presence of microwaves show the best correlation with glucose concentration and are therefore analytically most useful.

Assessment of the presence of Salmonella spp. in Egyptian dairy products using various detection media

Aims: To make a preliminary assessment of the incidence of Salmonella in Egyptian dairy products, and to investigate the effectiveness of various protocols for the detection of the pathogen in these products. Methods and Results: Samples of milk and related dairy products were randomly collected from local markets and examined for the presence of Salmonella. While most samples were free of the organism, isolates of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Typhimurium PT 8 could be recovered from 'matared' cream specimens. These isolates were susceptible to antibiotics usually used to challenge infections caused by Salmonella. A combination of buffered peptone water, Muller-Kauffman tetrathionate broth, and brilliant green phenol red agar gave the best results for the detection of the pathogen. Selenite-cystine broth and Hektoen enteric agar were ineffective as an enrichment and a plating medium, respectively, in the isolation of Salmonella. A modified identification strategy that reduces the burden of serological testing of presumptive isolates is proposed. Conclusions, Significance and Impact of the Study: 'Matared' cream could be a vehicle for transmitting Salmonella. Using the above combination of media, beside the suggested modified confirmatory procedure, should increase the effectiveness and ease of the detection of Salmonella in milk and dairy products.

Realism and politics in alienated space: Trevor Griffiths's plays of the 1970s in the television studio

The television studio play is often perceived as a somewhat compromised, problematic mode in which spatial and technological constraints inhibit the signifying and aesthetic capacity of dramatic texts. Leah Panos examines the function of the studio in the 1970s television dramas of socialist playwright Trevor Griffiths, and argues that the established verbal and visual conventions of the studio play, in its confined and ‘alienated’ space, connect with and reinforce various aspects of Griffiths's particular approach and agenda. As well as suggesting ways in which the idealist, theoretical focus of the intellectual New Left is reflexively replicated within the studio, Panos explores how the ‘intimate’ visual language of the television studio allows Griffiths to create a ‘humanized’ Marxist discourse through which he examines dialectically his dramatic characters' experiences, ideas, morality, and political objectives. Leah Panos recently completed her doctoral thesis, ‘Dramatizing New Left Contradictions: Television Texts of Ken Loach, Jim Allen, and Trevor Griffiths’, at the University of Reading and is now a Postdoctoral Researcher on the AHRC funded project, ‘Spaces of Television: Production, Site and Style’, which runs from July 2010 to March 2014.

Explaining the 'health check' of the Common Agricultural Policy: budgetary politics, globalisation and paradigm change revisited

Three potential explanations of past reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) can be identified in the literature: a budget constraint, pressure from General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade/World Trade Organization (GATT/WTO) negotiations or commitments and a paradigm shift emphasising agriculture’s provision of public goods. This discussion on the driving forces of CAP reform links to broader theoretical questions on the role of budgetary politics, globalisation of public policy and paradigm shift in explaining policy change. In this article, the Health Check reforms of 2007/2008 are assessed. They were probably more ambitious than first supposed, although it was a watered-down package agreed by ministers in November 2008. We conclude that the Health Check was not primarily driven by budget concerns or by the supposed switch from the state-assisted to the multifunctional policy paradigm. The European Commission’s wish to adopt an offensive negotiating stance in the closing phases of the Doha Round was a more likely explanatory factor. The shape and purpose of the CAP post-2013 is contested with divergent views among the Member States.