Eros and Thanatos in Ernest Hemingway's "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" and Angela Carter's "Master"

According to Hemingway all good prose has the dignity and draught of an iceberg. This is especially true of Hemingway's short stories. "Francis Macomber" counts among the best composed short stories in English. Interpretation sways between Hemingway's idealisation of the male code and its deconstruction. Is the White Hunter a British scourge of American values or is Margot the tragic victim of a newly founded male friendship? Is the open ending rather a hunting accident or the mean murder of an unloved spouse? Hemingway gives hitherto uninterpreted clues by mentioning strategies of big game hunting and ballistics. Carter's magic story "Master"; deals with the regression of a White Hunter who has become 'his own negative'. An Englishman dissolves into the Amazonian jungle and is killed by his own victim. The story can be read as a macabre crime of sexuality and murder or as a dystopian warning of the future of mankind if we go on exploiting and destroying our planet.

The continuation of the periodic table up to Z = 172.

The chemical elements up to Z = 172 are calculated with a relativistic Hartree-Fock-Slater program taking into account the effect of the extended nucleus. Predictions of the binding energies, the X-ray spectra and the number of electrons inside the nuclei are given for the inner electron shells. The predicted chemical behaviour will be discussed for a11 elements between Z = 104-120 and compared with previous known extrapolations. For the elements Z = 121-172 predictions of their chemistry and a proposal for the continuation of the Periodic Table are given. The eighth chemical period ends with Z = 164 located below Mercury. The ninth period starts with an alkaline and alkaline earth metal and ends immediately similarly to the second and third period with a noble gas at Z = 172. Mit einem relativistischen Hartree-Fock-Slater Rechenprogramm werden die chemischen Elemente bis zur Ordnungszahl 172 berechnet, wobei der Einfluß des ausgedehnten Kernes berücksichtigt wurde. Für die innersten Elektronenschalen werden Voraussagen über deren Bindungsenergie, das Röntgenspektrum und die Zahl der Elektronen im Kern gemacht. Die voraussichtliche Chemie der Elemente zwischen Z = 104 und 120 wird diskutiert und mit bereits vorhandenen Extrapolationen verglichen. Für die Elemente Z = 121-172 wird eine Voraussage über das chemische Verhalten gegeben, sowie ein Vorschlag für die Fortsetzung des Periodensystems gemacht. Die achte chemische Periode endet mit dem Element 164 im Periodensystem unter Quecksilber gelegen. Die neunte Periode beginnt mit einem Alkali- und Erdalkalimetall und endet sofort wieder wie in der zweiten und dritten Periode mit einem Edelgas bei Z = 172.

Femtosecond dynamics of molecules and clusters

The real-time dynamics of multiphoton ionization and fragmentation of molecules - Na_2 , Na_3 - and clusters - Na_n, Hg_n - has been studied in molecular beam experiments employing ion and electron spectroscopy together with femtosecond pump-probe techniques. Experiments with Na_2 and Na_3 reveal unexpected features of the dynamics of the absorption of several photons as seen in the one- and three dimensional vibrational wave packet motion in different potential surfaces and in high laser fields. Cluster size dependent studies of physical properties such as absorption resonances, lifetimes and decay channels have been performed using tunable femtosecond light pulses in resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI) of the cluster size under investigation. This method failed in ns-laser experiments due to the ultrafast decay of the studied cluster. For Na_n, cluster we find that for cluster sizes n \le 21 molecular excitations and properties prevail over collective excitations of plasmon-like resonances. In the case of Hg_n cluster prompt formation of singly and doubly charged cluster are observed up to n \approx 60. The transient multiphoton ionization spectra show a 'short' time wave packet dynamics, which is identical for singly and doubly charged mercury clusters while the 'long' time fragmentation dynamics is different.

Ferrocene-Based Pyridylphosphine Ligands – Coordination Chemistry of Group 10, 11 and 12 Metals

English: The present thesis describes the synthesis of 1,1’-ferrocendiyl-based pyridylphosphine ligands, the exploration of their fundamental coordination chemistry and preliminary experiments with selected complexes aimed at potential applications. One main aspect is the synthesis of the bidentate ferrocene-based pyridylphosphine ligands 1-(Pyrid-2-yl)-1’-diphenylphosphinoferrocene, 1-(Pyrid-3-yl)-1’-diphenylphosphinoferrocene and 1-[(Pyrid-2-yl)methyl]-1’-diphenylphosphinoferrocene. A specific feature of these ligands is the ball-bearing like flexibility of the ferrocenebased backbone. An additional flexibility element is the rotation around the C–C single bonds. Consequently, the donor atoms can realise a wide range of positions with respect to each other and are therefore able to adapt to the coordination requirements of different metal centres. The flexibility of the ligand also plays a role in another key aspect of this work, which concerns the coordination mode, i. e. bridging vs. chelating. In addition to the flexibility, also the position of the donor atoms to each other is important. This is largely affected by the position of the pyridyl nitrogen (pyrid-2-yl vs. pyrid-3-yl) and the methylen group in 1-[(Pyrid-2-yl)methyl]-1’-diphenylphosphinoferrocene. Another interesting point is the combination of a soft phosphorus donor atom with a harder nitrogen donor atom, according to the HSAB principle. This combination generates a unique binding profile, since the pi-acceptor character of the P site is able to stabilise a metal centre in a low oxidation state, while the nitrogen sigma-donor ability can make the metal more susceptible to oxidative addition reactions. A P,N-donor combination can afford hemilabile binding profiles, which would be ideal for catalysis. Beyond 1,2-substituted ferrocene derivatives, which are quite successful in catalytic applications, 1,1’-derivatives are rather underrepresented. While a low-yield synthetic pathway to 1-(Pyrid-2-yl)-1’-diphenylphosphinoferrocene was already described in the literature [I. R. Butler, Organometallics 1992, 11, 74.], it was possible to find a new, improved and simplified synthetic pathway. Both other ligands were unknown prior to this work. Satisfactory results in the synthesis of 1-(Pyrid-3-yl)-1’-diphenylphosphinoferrocene could be achieved by working in analogy to the new synthetic procedure for 1-(Pyrid-2-yl)-1’-diphenylphosphinoferrocene. The synthesis of 1-[(Pyrid-2-yl)methyl]-1’-diphenylphosphinoferrocene has been handled by the group of Prof. Petr Stepnicka from Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic. The synthesis of tridentate ligands with an analogous heterodentate arrangement, was investigated briefly as a sideline of this study. The major part of this thesis deals with the fundamental coordination chemistry towards transition metals of the groups 10, 11 and 12. Due to the well-established catalytic properties of analogous palladium complexes, the coordination chemistry towards palladium (group 10) is of particular interest. The metals zinc and cadmium (group 12) are also of substantial importance because they are redox-inert in their divalent state. This is relevant in view of electrochemical investigations concerning the utilisation of the ligands as molecular redox sensors. Also mercury and the monovalent metals silver and gold (group 11) are included because of their rich coordination chemistry. It is essential to answer questions concerning aspects of the ligands’ coordination mode bearing in mind the HSAB principle.

Ecosystem services and adaptation for agriculture and food security: analysis of two decades (1991–2011) of financing by the Global Environment Facility

Investing in global environmental and adaptation benefits in the context of agriculture and food security initiatives can play an important role in promoting sustainable intensification. This is a priority for the Global Environment Facility (GEF), created in 1992 with a mandate to serve as financial mechanism of several multilateral environmental agreements. To demonstrate the nature and extent of GEF financing, we conducted an assessment of the entire portfolio over a period of two decades (1991–2011) to identify projects with direct links to agriculture and food security. A cohort of 192 projects and programs were identified and used as a basis for analyzing trends in GEF financing. The projects and programs together accounted for a total GEF financing of US$1,086.8 million, and attracted an additional US$6,343.5 million from other sources. The value-added of GEF financing for ecosystem services and resilience in production systems was demonstrated through a diversity of interventions in the projects and programs that utilized US$810.6 million of the total financing. The interventions fall into the following four main categories in accordance with priorities of the GEF: sustainable land management (US$179.3 million), management of agrobiodiversity (US$113.4 million), sustainable fisheries and water resource management (US$379.8 million), and climate change adaptation (US$138.1 million). By aligning GEF priorities with global aspirations for sustainable intensification of production systems, the study shows that it is possible to help developing countries tackle food insecurity while generating global environmental benefits for a healthy and resilient planet.

The role of organic farming for food security: local nexus with a global view

A convergence of factors has made food security one of the most important global issues. It has been the core concept of the Milan Expo 2015, whose title, Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life, embodied the challenge to provide the world’s growing population with a sustainable, secure supply of safe, nutritious, and affordable high-quality food using less land with lower inputs. Meeting the food security agenda using current agricultural production techniques cannot be achieved without serious degradation to the environment, including soil degradation, loss of biodiversity and climate change. Organic farming is seen as a solution to the challenge of sustainable food production, as it provides more nutritious food, with less or no pesticide residues and lower use of inputs. A limit of organic farming is its restricted capability of producing food compared to conventional agriculture, thus being an inefficient approach to food production and to food security. The authors maintain, on the basis of a scientific literature review, that organic soils tend to retain the physical, chemical and biological properties over the long term, while maintaining stable levels of productivity and thereby ensuring long-term food production and safety. Furthermore, the productivity gap of organic crops may be worked out by further investment in research and in particular into diversification techniques. Moreover, strong scientific evidence indicates that organic agricultural systems deliver greater ecosystem services and social benefits.

Fat-Tree Routing for Transit

The Transit network provides high-speed, low-latency, fault-tolerant interconnect for high-performance, multiprocessor computers. The basic connection scheme for Transit uses bidelta style, multistage networks to support up to 256 processors. Scaling to larger machines by simply extending the bidelta network topology will result in a uniform degradation of network latency between all processors. By employing a fat-tree network structure in larger systems, the network provides locality and universality properties which can help minimize the impact of scaling on network latency. This report details the topology and construction issues associated with integrating Transit routing technology into fat-tree interconnect topologies.

CTRL-S The Planet - the Green IT Boardgame

INFO2009 learning resource coursework. This is a board game that allows you to have fun learning about the facts of Green IT

INFO2009 2012-13 Resource Group 11 CTRL-S The Planet - the Green IT Boardgame

INFO2009 learning resource coursework. This is a board game that allows you to have fun learning about the facts of Green IT

Advances and limitations in the attention to the problems of housing and urban land in Mexico. An approach from the legal-institutional frame

In this work we analyze the reforms carried out by the Mexican state in the nineties of the 20th century, in the items concerning the policies of housing and urban land, based on an exhaustive review of the main actions, programs and changes in the legal and institutional frame that applies for each of these fields. The nineties represent a "breaking point" in the way the State considers the satisfaction of the right to the housing and attends the offer of urbanized land for a tidy and sustainable urban development. In this period of time, the approach of direct intervention in developing and financing housing and creation of land reserves has changed into another one, ruled by the logic of the market. The balance to the first decade of the 21st century is ambiguous, as neither the housing policy has solved the housing shortage for low-income population, nor the land policy has eliminated the illegal urban growth.

Transport impact of in urban planning: the case of Transmilenio in Bogota

The growth and expansion of cities during the last century can’t be seen without taking into account the important role they have assumed in the transport infrastructure. In Bogota have passed trough streetcar, buses and automóviles was deciding for the city, because all this periods marked a drastic change in growth morphology. This article studies the planning of Mass Transit System –MTS– Transmilenio and its interaction with the urban structure, in light of the current city planning framework. It also specifies the behavior of land use in the construction of the system first phase. One of the most important findings of this study is that there is no articulation between land and transport use system, despite the decisions taken in the ordering model. Similarly, local and intermediate planning exhibits Peak articulation.The existing infrastructure of the MTS reiterates the tendency to concentrate the accessibility in one place: the center has the largest accessibility whereas periphery fails to overcome its limitations of accessibility. While the city continued with this trend the existence of a coordinated planning system for Bogota and the ability to meet expectations of planning model is questionable, however it is something that depends not only on MTS.

Development of chemical separation processes for the treatment and monitoring of metallic cations and oxoanions in polluted waters

The chemical contamination of natural waters is a global problem with a worldwide impact. Considering the relevance of this problem, this thesis is intended, on one hand, to develop different separation/preconcentration techniques based on membranes ability to permeate anions for the transport of toxic oxyanions of chromium(VI) and arsenic contained in aqueous matrices. In particular, we have investigated supported liquid membranes and polymer inclusion membranes, both of which contain the commercial quaternary ammonium salt Aliquat 336 as a carrier, as well as commercial anion exchange membranes. On the other hand, we have focused on the development of chemical sensors to facilitate the monitoring of several metals from different aqueous matrices. Thus, a selective optical sensor for Cr(VI) based on polymeric membranes containing Aliquat 336 as an ionophore has been designed. Additionally, mercury-based screen-printed electrodes have been evaluated for for cadmium, lead, copper and zinc detection.

Tracing pre-eruptive magma degassing using (Pb-210/Ra-226) disequilibria in the volcanic deposits of the 1980-1986 eruption of Mount St. Helens

Disequilibria between Pb-210 and Ra-226 can be used to trace magma degassing, because the intermediate nuclides, particularly Rn-222, are volatile. Products of the 1980-1986 eruptions of Mount St. Helens have been analysed for (Pb-210/Ra-226). Both excesses and deficits of Pb-210 are encountered suggesting rapid gas transfer. The time scale of diffuse, non-eruptive gas escape prior to 1980 as documented by Pb-210 deficits is on the order of a decade using the model developed by Gauthier and Condomines (Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 172 (1999) 111-126) for a non-renewed magma chamber and efficient Rn removal. The time required to build-up Pb-210 excess is much shorter (months) as can be observed from steady increases of (Pb-210/Ra-226) with time during 1980-1982. The formation of Pb-210 excess requires both rapid gas transport through the magma and periodic blocking of gas escape routes. Superposed on this time trend is the natural variability of (Pb-210/Ra-226) in a single eruption caused by tapping magma from various depths. The two time scales of gas transport, to create both Pb-210 deficits and Pb-210 excesses, cannot be reconciled in a single event. Rather Pb-210 deficits are associated with pre-eruptive diffuse degassing, while Pb-210 excesses document the more vigorous degassing associated with eruption and recharge of the system. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Water quality and ecology of the River Lee: mass balance and a review of temporal and spatial data

A regional overview of the water quality and ecology of the River Lee catchment is presented. Specifically, data describing the chemical, microbiological and macrobiological water quality and fisheries communities have been analysed, based on a division into river, sewage treatment works, fish-farm, lake and industrial samples. Nutrient enrichment and the highest concentrations of metals and micro-organics were found in the urbanised, lower reaches of the Lee and in the Lee Navigation. Average annual concentrations of metals were generally within environmental quality standards although, oil many occasions, concentrations of cadmium, copper, lead, mercury and zinc were in excess of the standards. Various organic substances (used as herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, chlorination by-products and industrial solvents) were widely detected in the Lee system. Concentrations of ten micro-organic substances were observed in excess of their environmental quality standards, though not in terms of annual averages. Sewage treatment works were the principal point source input of nutrients. metals and micro-organic determinands to the catchment. Diffuse nitrogen sources contributed approximately 60% and 27% of the in-stream load in the upper and lower Lee respectively, whereas approximately 60% and 20% of the in-stream phosphorus load was derived from diffuse sources in the upper and lower Lee. For metals, the most significant source was the urban runoff from North London. In reaches less affected by effluent discharges, diffuse runoff from urban and agricultural areas dominated trends. Flig-h microbiological content, observed in the River Lee particularly in urbanised reaches, was far in excess of the EC Bathing Water Directive standards. Water quality issues and degraded habitat in the lower reaches of the Lee have led to impoverished aquatic fauna but, within the mid-catchment reaches and upper agricultural tributaries, less nutrient enrichment and channel alteration has permitted more diverse aquatic fauna.

Tin and mercury

This chapter contains sections titled: Introduction Geogenic Occurrence Sources of Soil Contamination Chemical Behaviour in Soils Risks from Tin and Mercury in Soils References