Kampen om Eros : Om kön och kärlek i Pahlensviten

The Struggle for Eros: On Love and Gender in the Pahlen Series The present dissertation examines how gender, sexuality and motherhood are constructed in the novel series Fröknarna von Pahlen (The Misses von Pahlen, I VII, 1930 1935) by the Swedish author Agnes von Krusenstjerna. The aim of the study is to analyze how the Pahlen series relates to the discourses on gender and sexuality circulating in the 1930s, and how the series opens a dialogue with the feminist thinking of the time especially with the book Lifslinjer I (Love and Marriage, 1903) by the Swedish author Ellen Key. Fröknarna von Pahlen holds a central position in the research on Agnes von Krusenstjerna partly due to the literary debate that the novel series triggered. The debate was connected to the development taking place in the Swedish society in the beginning of the 1930s, in the so-called second phase of the Modern Breakthrough. Sweden was at that time characterized by struggle over the definitions of gender, sexuality and parenthood, and this struggle is also visible in the Pahlen series. The literary debate took place in 1934 1935 and it began after an article by the modernist writer Karin Boye was published in Social-Demokraten on 28 January 1934. In her polemic article, Boye saw the Pahlen series as a sign that the family institution is on the verge of a breakdown and with it the whole moral system that has come to existence through it . Boye went on to state that Krusenstjerna only sees and describes and that she explores neither new literary forms nor new values. Boye wrote the article before the last two parts of the novel series were published, so obviously she could not discuss the utopian vision characterizing those parts. This study, however, strives to demonstrate that Krusenstjerna not only sees and describes, but that she like many of her contemporary female colleagues appears to take the request of Friedrich Nietzsche to revaluate all values seriously. Like the works of her contemporaries, Krusenstjerna s Pahlen series is marked by a double vision on the one hand a critique of the prevailing social order, and on the other hand a dream of a new world and a new human being. In this research the vision of the Pahlen series is characterized as queer in order to emphasize that the series not only criticizes the prevailing gender order and its morals, but is also open for new ways of doing gender, parenthood, and family.

Fate of applied biosolids nitrogen in a cut and remove forage system on an alluvial clay loam soil

The fate of nitrogen (N) applied in biosolids was investigated in a forage production system on an alluvial clay loam soil in south-eastern Queensland, Australia. Biosolids were applied in October 2002 at rates of 6, 12, 36, and 54dryt/ha for aerobically digested biosolids (AE) and 8, 16, 48, and 72dryt/ha for anaerobically digested biosolids (AN). Rates were based on multiples of the Nitrogen Limited Biosolids Application rate (0.5, 1, 3, and 4.5NLBAR) for each type of biosolid. The experiment included an unfertilised control and a fertilised control that received multiple applications of synthetic fertiliser. Forage sorghum was planted 1 week after biosolids application and harvested 4 times between December 2002 and May 2003. Dry matter production was significantly greater from the biosolids-treated plots (21-27t/ha) than from the unfertilised (16t/ha) and fertilised (18t/ha) controls. The harvested plant material removed an extra 148-488kg N from the biosolids-treated plots. Partial N budgets were calculated for the 1NLBAR and 4.5NLBAR treatments for each biosolids type at the end of the crop season. Crop removal only accounted for 25-33% of the applied N in the 1NLBAR treatments and as low as 8-15% with 4.5NLBAR. Residual biosolids N was predominantly in the form of organic N (38-51% of applied biosolids N), although there was also a significant proportion (10-23%) as NO3-N, predominantly in the top 0.90m of the soil profile. From 12 to 29% of applied N was unaccounted for, and presumed to be lost as gaseous nitrogen and/or ammonia, as a consequence of volatilisation or denitrification, respectively. In-season mineralisation of organic N in biosolids was 43-59% of the applied organic N, which was much greater than the 15% (AN)-25% (AE) expected, based on current NLBAR calculation methods. Excessive biosolids application produced little additional biomass but led to high soil mineral N concentrations that were vulnerable to multiple loss pathways. Queensland Guidelines need to account for higher rates of mineralisation and losses via denitrification and volatilisation and should therefore encourage lower application rates to achieve optimal plant growth and minimise the potential for detrimental impacts on the environment.

Interfacial area measurement in a gas - liquid ejector for a sodium chloride - air system

Interfacial area measurement has been carried out experimentally by measuring the bubble size and holdup for air-sodium chloride solution system. The size of the bubble is predominantly established by the air hold up. High speed photography technique for bubble size measurement and gamma ray attenuation method for holdup measurements are followed. The measured values are compared with the theoretically predicted values. Interracial area as a function of the liquid flow rate and also its distance from the nozzle of the ejector has been reported in this paper. The results obtained for this non-reactive system are also compared with those of air-water system.

Steel–concrete–steel sandwich system in Arctic offshore structure: Materials, experiments, and design

The gravity based structure (GBS) with external Steel–Concrete–Steel (SCS) sandwich ice-resistant wall has been developed for the Arctic oil and gas drilling. This paper firstly reported the experimental studies on the mechanical properties of steel and concretes under Arctic low temperature. With the test data, design equations were developed to incorporate the influences of the low temperature on these mechanical properties. Two types of Arctic GBS structure with flower-conical SCS sandwich shell type and plate type of ice-resistant wall have been developed for the Arctic offshore structure. Besides the studies on the materials, two SCS sandwich prototype shells and plates were, respectively, prepared and tested under patch loading that simulated the localized ice-contact pressure. The structural behaviors of the SCS sandwich structure under patch loading were reported and discussions were made on the influences of different parameters on the structural behavior of the structure. Analytical models were developed to predict the punching shear resistances of the SCS sandwich structure through modifying the code provisions. The accuracies of the developed analytical models were checked through validations against 27 tests in the literature. Corresponding design procedures on resistances of SCS sandwich structure were recommended based on these discussions and validations.

Changes in the Activities of two membrane-bound enzymes during solar eclipse on February 16, 1980

ON Saturday February 16, 1980 total solar eclipse Occurred for a period of 2-3 min in a belt of 135 km during the eclipse from 14'17 to 17'00 hrs across peninsular India. The city of Bangalore, being just outside this belt, had witnessed 92% eclipse for about 2. 1/2 min at the peak period of 15.44 hr at which time a temperature drop of 2' C and a considerable dimness of the light were experienced. In view of the interest in our laboratory on biochemical adaptation under conditions of environmental stress, we designed an experiment to study the possible changes in enzyme activities during the solar eclipse on February 16, 1980.

3-D kinematical conservation laws (KCL): Evolution of a surface in R-3 - in particular propagation of a nonlinear wavefront

3-D KCL are equations of evolution of a propagating surface (or a wavefront) Omega(t), in 3-space dimensions and were first derived by Giles, Prasad and Ravindran in 1995 assuming the motion of the surface to be isotropic. Here we discuss various properties of these 3-D KCL.These are the most general equations in conservation form, governing the evolution of Omega(t) with singularities which we call kinks and which are curves across which the normal n to Omega(t) and amplitude won Omega(t) are discontinuous. From KCL we derive a system of six differential equations and show that the KCL system is equivalent to the ray equations of 2, The six independent equations and an energy transport equation (for small amplitude waves in a polytropic gas) involving an amplitude w (which is related to the normal velocity m of Omega(t)) form a completely determined system of seven equations. We have determined eigenvalues of the system by a very novel method and find that the system has two distinct nonzero eigenvalues and five zero eigenvalues and the dimension of the eigenspace associated with the multiple eigenvalue 0 is only 4. For an appropriately defined m, the two nonzero eigenvalues are real when m > 1 and pure imaginary when m < 1. Finally we give some examples of evolution of weakly nonlinear wavefronts.

Cognitive deficits and the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test performance among patients with multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, inflammatory disease of the central nervous system, characterized especially by myelin and axon damage. Cognitive impairment in MS is common but difficult to detect without a neuropsychological examination. Valid and reliable methods are needed in clinical practice and research to detect deficits, follow their natural evolution, and verify treatment effects. The Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT) is a measure of sustained and divided attention, working memory, and information processing speed, and it is widely used in MS patients neuropsychological evaluation. Additionally, the PASAT is the sole cognitive measure in an assessment tool primarly designed for MS clinical trials, the Multiple Sclerosis Functional Composite (MSFC). The aims of the present study were to determine a) the frequency, characteristics, and evolution of cognitive impairment among relapsing-remitting MS patients, and b) the validity and reliability of the PASAT in measuring cognitive performance in MS patients. The subjects were 45 relapsing-remitting MS patients from Seinäjoki Central Hospital, Department of Neurology and 48 healthy controls. Both groups underwent comprehensive neuropsychological assessments, including the PASAT, twice in a one-year follow-up, and additionally a sample of 10 patients and controls were evaluated with the PASAT in serial assessments five times in one month. The frequency of cognitive dysfunction among relapsing-remitting MS patients in the present study was 42%. Impairments were characterized especially by slowed information processing speed and memory deficits. During the one-year follow-up, the cognitive performance was relatively stable among MS patients on a group level. However, the practice effects in cognitive tests were less pronounced among MS patients than healthy controls. At an individual level the spectrum of MS patients cognitive deficits was wide in regards to their characteristics, severity, and evolution. The PASAT was moderately accurate in detecting MS-associated cognitive impairment, and 69% of patients were correctly classified as cognitively impaired or unimpaired when comprehensive neuropsychological assessment was used as a "gold standard". Self-reported nervousness and poor arithmetical skills seemed to explain misclassifications. MS-related fatigue was objectively demonstrated as fading performance towards the end of the test. Despite the observed practice effect, the reliability of the PASAT was excellent, and it was sensitive to the cognitive decline taking place during the follow-up in a subgroup of patients. The PASAT can be recommended for use in the neuropsychological assessment of MS patients. The test is fairly sensitive, but less specific; consequently, the reasons for low scores have to be carefully identified before interpreting them as clinically significant.

Processing of Stimulus Repetition and Change in the Somatosensory System: Recordings of Electrical and Magnetic Brain Responses

In the present work, effects of stimulus repetition and change in a continuous stimulus stream on the processing of somatosensory information in the human brain were studied. Human scalp-recorded somatosensory event-related potentials (ERPs) and magnetoencephalographic (MEG) responses rapidly diminished with stimulus repetition when mechanical or electric stimuli were applied to fingers. On the contrary, when the ERPs and multi-unit a ctivity (MUA) were directly recorded from the primary (SI) and secondary (SII) somatosensory cortices in a monkey, there was no marked decrement in the somatosensory responses as a function of stimulus repetition. These results suggest that this rate effect is not due to the response diminution in the SI and SII cortices. Obviously the responses to the first stimulus after a long "silent" period are nhanced due to unspecific initial orientation, originating in more broadly distributed and/or deeper neural structures, perhaps in the prefrontal cortices. With fast repetition rates not only the late unspecific but also some early specific somatosensory ERPs were diminished in amplitude. The fast decrease of the ERPs as a function of stimulus repetition is mainly due to the disappearance of the orientation effect and with faster repetition rates additively due to stimulus specific refractoriness. A sudden infrequent change in the continuous stimulus stream also enhanced somatosensory MEG responses to electric stimuli applied to different fingers. These responses were quite similar to those elicited by the deviant stimuli alone when the frequent standard stimuli were omitted. This enhancement was obviously due to the release from refractoriness because the neural structures generating the responses to the infrequent deviants had more time to recover from the refractoriness than the respective structures for the standards. Infrequent deviant mechanical stimuli among frequent standard stimuli also enhanced somatosensory ERPs and, in addition, they elicited a new negative wave which did not occur in the deviants-alone condition. This extra negativity could be recorded to deviations in the stimulation site and in the frequency of the vibratory stimuli. This response is probably a somatosensory analogue of the auditory mismatch negativity (MMN) which has been suggested to reflect a neural mismatch process between the sensory input and the sensory memory trace.

Evaluation of a remote drafting system for regulating sheep access to supplement

Remote drafting technology now available for sheep makes possible targeted supplementation of individuals within a grazing flock. This system was evaluated by using 68 Merino wethers grazing dry-season, native Mitchell grass pasture (predominantly Astrebla spp.) as a group and receiving access to lupin grain through a remote drafter 0, 1, 2, 4 or 7 days/week for 8 weeks. The sole paddock watering point was separately fenced and access was via a one-way flow gate. Sheep exited the watering point through a remote drafter operated by solar power and were drafted by radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, according to treatment, either back into the paddock or into a common supplement yard where lupins were provided ad libitum in a self-feeder. Sheep were drafted into the supplement yard on only their first time through the drafter during the prescribed 24-h period and exited the supplement yard via one-way flow gates in their own time. The remote drafter operated with a high accuracy, with only 2.1% incorrect drafts recorded during the experimental period out of a total of 7027 sheep passes through the remote drafter. The actual number of accesses to supplement for each treatment group, in order, were generally less than that intended, i.e. 0.02, 0.69, 1.98, 3.35 and 6.04 days/week. Deviations from the intended number of accesses to supplement were mainly due to sheep not coming through to water on their allocated day of treatment access, although some instances were due to incorrect drafts. There was a non-linear response in growth rate to increased frequency of access to lupins with the growth rate response plateauing at similar to 3 actual accesses per week, corresponding to a growth rate of 72.5 g/head. day. This experiment has demonstrated the application of the remote drafting supplementation system for the first time under grazing conditions and with the drafter operated completely from solar power. The experiment demonstrates a growth response to increasing frequency of access to supplement and provides a starting point with which to begin to develop feeding strategies to achieve sheep weight-change targets.

Rice responses to soil management in a rice-based cropping system in the semi-arid tropics of southern Lombok, Eastern Indonesia

This paper is the first of a series that investigates whether new cropping systems with permanent raised beds (PRBs) or Flat land could be successfully used to increase farmers' incomes from rainfed crops in Lombok in Eastern Indonesia. This paper discusses the rice phase of the cropping system. Low grain yields of dry-seeded rice (Oryza sativa) grown on Flat land on Vertisols in the rainfed region of southern Lombok, Eastern Indonesia, are probably mainly due to (a) erratic rainfall (870-1220 mm/yr), with water often limiting at sensitive growth stages, (b) consistently high temperatures (average maximum - 31 C), and (c) low solar radiation. Farmers are therefore poor, and labour is hard and costly, as all operations are manual. Two replicated field experiments were run at Wakan (annual rainfall = 868 mm) and Kawo (1215 mm) for 3 years (2001/2002 to 2003/2004) on Vertisols in southern Lombok. Dry-seeded rice was grown in 4 treatments with or without manual tillage on (a) PRBs, 1.2 m wide, 200 mm high, separated by furrows 300 mm wide, 200 mill deep, with no rice sown in the well-graded furrows, and (b) well-graded Flat land. Excess surface water was harvested from each treatment and used for irrigation after the vegetative stage of the rice. All operations were manual. There were no differences between treatments in grain yield of rice (mean grain yield = 681 g/m(2)) which could be partly explained by total number of tillers/hill and mean panicle length, but not number of productive tillers/hill, plant height or weight of 1000 grains. When the data from both treatments on PRBs and from both treatments on Flat land, each year at each site were analysed, there were also no differences in grain yield of rice (g/m(2)). When rainfall in the wet season up to harvest was over 1000 mm (Year 2; Wakan, Kawo), or plants were water-stressed during crop establishment (Year 1; Wakan) or during grain-fill (Year 3: Kawo), there were significant differences in grain yield (g/1.5 m(2)) between treatments; generally the grain yield (g/1.5 m(2)) on PRBs with or without tillage was less than that on Flat land with or without tillage. However, when the data from both treatments on PRBs and from both treatments on Flat land, each year at each site, were analysed, the greater grain yield of dry-seeded rice on Flat land (mean yield 1 092 g/1.5 m(2)) than that on PRBs (mean 815 g/1.5 m(2)) was mainly because there were 25% more plants on Flat land. Overall when the data in the 2 outer rows and the 2 inner rows on PRBs were each combined, there was a higher number of productive tillers in the combined outer rows (mean 20.7 tillers/hill) compared with that in the combined inner rows on each PRB (mean 18.2 tillers/hill). However, there were no differences in grain yield between combined rows (mean 142 g/m row). Hence with a gap of 500 mm (the distance between the outer rows of plants on adjacent raised beds), plants did not compensate in grain yield for missing plants in furrows. This suggests that rice (a) also sown in furrows, or (b) sown in 7 rows with narrower row-spacing, or (c) sown in 6 rows with slightly wider row-spacing, and narrower gap between outer rows on adjacent beds, may further increase grain yield (g/1.5 m(2)) in this system of PRBs. The growth and the grain yield (y in g/m(2)) of rainfed rice (with rainfall on-site the only source of water for irrigation) depended mainly on the rainfall (x in mm) in the wet season up to harvest (due either to site or year) with y = 1. 1x -308; r(2) = 0.54; p < 0.005. However, 280 mm (i.e. 32%) of the rainfall was not directly used to produce grain (i.e. when y = 0 g/m(2)). Manual tillage did not affect growth and grain yield of rice (g/m(2); g/1.5 m(2)), either on PRB or on Flat land.

Non-specific conducting polymer-based array capable of monitoring odour emissions from a biofiltration system in a piggery building

A commercial non-specific gas sensor array system was evaluated in terms of its capability to monitor the odour abatement performance of a biofiltration system developed for treating emissions from a commercial piggery building. The biofiltration system was a modular system comprising an inlet ducting system, humidifier and closed-bed biofilter. It also included a gravimetric moisture monitoring and water application system for precise control of moisture content of an organic woodchip medium. Principal component analysis (PCA) of the sensor array measurements indicated that the biofilter outlet air was significantly different to both inlet air of the system and post-humidifier air. Data pre-processing techniques including normalising and outlier handling were applied to improve the odour discrimination performance of the non-specific gas sensor array. To develop an odour quantification model using the sensor array responses of the non-specific sensor array, PCA regression, artificial neural network (ANN) and partial least squares (PLS) modelling techniques were applied. The correlation coefficient (r(2)) values of the PCA, ANN, and PLS models were 0.44, 0.62 and 0.79, respectively.

Inter-seasonal population dynamics and pest status of Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) biotype B in an Australian cropping system

Bemisia tabaci, biotype B, commonly known as the silverleaf whitefly (SLW) is an alien species that invaded Australia in the mid-90s. This paper reports on the invasion ecology of SLW and the factors that are likely to have contributed to the first outbreak of this major pest in an Australian cotton cropping system, population dynamics of SLW within whitefly-susceptible crop (cotton and cucurbit) and non-crop vegetation (sowthistle, Sonchus spp.) components of the cropping system were investigated over four consecutive growing seasons (September-June) 2001/02-2004/05 in the Emerald Irrigation Area (EIA) of Queensland, Australia. Based on fixed geo-referenced sampling sites, variation in spatial and temporal abundance of SLW within each system component was quantified to provide baseline data for the development of ecologically sustainable pest management strategies. Parasitism of large (3rd and 4th instars) SLW nymphs by native aphelinid wasps was quantified to determine the potential for natural control of SLW populations. Following the initial outbreak in 2001/02, SLW abundance declined and stabilised over the next three seasons. The population dynamics of SLW is characterised by inter-seasonal population cycling between the non-crop (weed) and cotton components of the EIA cropping system. Cotton was the largest sink for and source of SLW during the study period. Over-wintering populations dispersed from weed host plant sources to cotton in spring followed by a reverse dispersal in late summer and autumn to broad-leaved crops and weeds. A basic spatial source-sink analysis showed that SLW adult and nymph densities were higher in cotton fields that were closer to over-wintering weed sources throughout spring than in fields that were further away. Cucurbit fields were not significant sources of SLW and did not appear to contribute significantly to the regional population dynamics of the pest. Substantial parasitism of nymphal stages throughout the study period indicates that native parasitoid species and other natural enemies are important sources of SLW mortality in Australian cotton production systems. Weather conditions and use of broad-spectrum insecticides for pest control are implicated in the initial outbreak and on-going pest status of SLW in the region.

Cellular stages of root formation, root system quality and survival of Pinus elliottii var. elliottii x P. caribaea var. hondurensis cuttings in different temperature environments.

Time to first root in cuttings varies under different environmental conditions and understanding these differences is critical for optimizing propagation of commercial forestry species. Temperature environment (15, 25, 30 or 35 +/- A 2A degrees C) had no effect on the cellular stages in root formation of the Slash x Caribbean Pine hybrid over 16 weeks as determined by histology. Initially callus cells formed in the cortex, then tracheids developed and formed primordia leading to external roots. However, speed of development followed a growth curve with the fastest development occurring at 25A degrees C and slowest at 15A degrees C with rooting percentages at week 12 of 80 and 0% respectively. Cutting survival was good in the three cooler temperature regimes (> 80%) but reduced to 59% at 35A degrees C. Root formation appeared to be dependant on the initiation of tracheids because all un-rooted cuttings had callus tissue but no tracheids, irrespective of temperature treatment and clone.

Cellular stages of root formation, root system quality and survival of Pinuselliottii var. elliottii x P. caribaea var. hondurensis cuttings in different temperature environments.

Time to first root in cuttings varies under different environmental conditions and understanding these differences is critical for optimizing propagation of commercial forestry species. Temperature environment (15, 25, 30 or 352C) had no effect on the cellular stages in root formation of the Slash * Caribbean Pine hybrid over 16 weeks as determined by histology. Initially callus cells formed in the cortex, then tracheids developed and formed primordia leading to external roots. However, speed of development followed a growth curve with the fastest development occurring at 25C and slowest at 15C with rooting percentages at week 12 of 80 and 0% respectively. Cutting survival was good in the three cooler temperature regimes (>80%) but reduced to 59% at 35C. Root formation appeared to be dependant on the initiation of tracheids because all un-rooted cuttings had callus tissue but no tracheids, irrespective of temperature treatment and clone.