The Ring and the book : texts, and the texture of experience : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English at Massey University

The following discussion of The Ring and the Book suggests that the primary concern of the poem is with language. Chapter One of the discussion attempts to lay a broad base for the relation of language to the poem. It takes the form of a prelude intro­ducing the later chapters and suggests that the overriding concern with language includes the poem, itself, as a linguistic construct. A dis­tinction is drawn between the language of ordinary discourse, which is the immediate subject of the poem, and the language of artistic dis­course, which is the medium of the poem, but which in turn becomes the subject of consideration. The interpenetration of subject and medium, it is suggested, res­ults from Browning's recognition that language is a temporal and ongoing process, and that, therefore, a prior, static truth cannot be conclus ively expressed in language. Rather, art may embrace the processional nature of ordinary discourse within the context of artistic discourse, in order to provide a structure of "the experience of experience". Chapter Two suggests that Browning's method of foregrounding the relationship between language and experience is one of a disruptive juxtaposition of texts. Such a method demonstrates how the style of representation conditions, and supplants, experience: how the medium supplants the subject. Book I, it is argued, becomes an implicit and explicit education in how to read The Ring and the Book, functioning as a paradigm for the later monologues. The discussion of Book I is central to this study; the method of the poem, and the concerns that method foregrounds, are established in Book I (a section of the poem that is rarely discussed in any detail). Primarily, the disruptive texts of Book I dramatise the author fragmen­ting the "whole" story into stylistically conflicting representations; the fragmentation disrupts the conclusiveness implicit in any represen­tation. The "story", or narrative, becomes displaced, and the poem becomes, rather, a cumulative ongoing texture of linguistic representations. Chapter Three considers the problem of climax in a disruptive play of texts. In Book X and Book XI, the language of ordinary discourse in the poem reaches what I would term a plateau of linguistic intensities: the Pope and Guido become the disruptively juxtaposed poles between which the other characters inhabit the world through language. Chapter Three provides a link between the discussion of Book I and the discussion of Book XII which concludes this study. Chapter Four argues that the plateau of linguistic intensities reached in Book X and Book XI is maintained in Book XII. Browning, firstly, includes in his poem the truth of the negative intensity of language: that it is the temporal medium by which experience dis­sipates, even as that experience unfolds in language. The completing intensity of language in the poem, however, is the presence of the implied author in Book XII. The language of artistic discourse counters the limitations and fallibilities of the language of ordinary discourse, not by escaping, or being conclusively above, those limitations, but by embodying them in a true way. The artistic discourse therefore becomes a processional embodiment of truth, from which a conclusive truth may not be separated

How Portugal’s leaders exploited the bail out to pass measures they already supported

During the Eurozone crisis, states receiving a bailout were required to implement spending cuts and other reforms in return for financial assistance. But to what extent did the governments of these states use the opportunity to advance their own policy agendas? Drawing on interviews with Portuguese politicians, Catherine Moury and Adam Standring argue that both the crisis and the bailout strengthened the hands of Portuguese government ministers in relation to other domestic actors. And when ministers favoured policies which were in line with those backed by international actors, they were able to use the situation to push for policies they already supported

Sustainable Technology for Person-Centered Accessible Integrated Multimodal Information Systems

This paper reports on a mobility management technology project conducted by the GeoGraphics Laboratory at Bridgewater State University in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, in the Northeastern United States (U.S.). This study is a part of a much larger mobility management technology deployment by the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority (CCRTA) that deployed integrated intermodal intelligent transportation system (ITS) to support the mobility of a metropolitan region that has a high proportion of elderly residents and persons with disabilities and is a significant tourist destination for national and international travelers. This paper reports on a research project that is developing smartphone applications to provide travelers using transit with navigational tools and real-time spatial information to optimize their travel experience. The smart phone applications are written using the Android 2.2, Windows 7.5, and Apple iOS 4 operating systems. The applications provide the traveler with schedules for every CCRTA regional and shuttle route, estimated time of arrival (ETA), and bus tracking maps (Google and Bing Maps) that locate the transit vehicle and the consumer on the same map as well as text based vehicle tracking. There is an on-line tutorial on how to use the smartphone application. It also provides features that will provide emergency communication with care givers on the consumer’s travel status. The research has developed these transit navigation tools on the three most popular operating systems for smart phones using a widely available cellular carrier. An associated regional capital infrastructure project is bringing state-of-the-art broadband capability and the potential for 4G wireless infrastructure to the most rural “last mile” areas of the Cape Cod Region. These improvements to wireless communications can provide significant benefits to the safety and security of travelers with disabilities

Surface anatomy of major anatomical landmarks of the neck in an adult population:a CT evaluation of vertebral level

Introduction: To compare the projectional surface anatomy of healthy individuals in an adult population with those with a thyroid mass, using computed tomography (CT).Methods: Sixteen slice CT images of 101 individuals were analyzed using a 32-bit Radiant DICOM viewer to establish the relationships among major anatomical landmarks in the neck and their vertebral levels. The structures investigated included: hard palate (HP), hyoid bone (HB) including body and lesser horns, soft palate (SP), thyroid gland (TG) (both superior and inferior poles), thyroid gland anteroposterior (APD) and superoinferior (SID) diameters, thyroid isthmus (TI) superoinferior dimension, epiglottis, vertebral arteries (right and left), and both right and left parotid glands (superior and inferior extents).Results: The vertebral levels noted most frequently were: body of hyoid bone (C4, 42.71%); lesser horns of hyoid bone (C3, 36.46%); thyroid gland superior pole (C6, 31.25%); and thyroid gland inferior pole (T2, 30.2%). TG-ID, TG-APD, and TG-SID were not significantly different between males and females in the healthy group; however, there was a significant gender difference in thyroid gland inferior diameter in the pathology group (males 2.16(±1.16) vs. females 3.37(±1.30), p=0.01, paired sample t-test).Conclusion: Further studies are needed to determine whether neck pathology in those with a thyroid mass affects the dimensions of the thyroid gland. Moreover, the surface anatomy of the neck should be revisited using modern imaging techniques to address inconsistencies in anatomy and clinical reference texts.</p

The evolution of EU action in drug supply reduction: from intergovernmental cooperation to transnational networks

This paper describes the evolution of illicit drug supply reduction policy as part of the European Union’s (EU) policy agenda in order to better understand how the EU adapts to domestic constraints. It serves as an introduction to a larger research project on the Europeanization of Drug Policies and is the result of an analysis of EU action in this policy area. The analysis of the policy documents produced by the EU, particularly successive Drug Strategies and Action Plans, and the evolving roles of EU agencies in this field provide a clearer picture of how the EU attempts to impact domestic drugs policy. In short, these attempts move from facilitating informal networks of law enforcement officers, which often resulted in Member-states resisting cooperation efforts, to creating Europe-wide networks of researchers producing information and intelligence, with which to better inform policy debates

The evolution of EU action in drug supply reduction: from intergovernmental cooperation to transnational networks

This paper describes the evolution of illicit drug supply reduction policy as part of the European Union’s (EU) policy agenda in order to better understand how the EU adapts to domestic constraints. It serves as an introduction to a larger research project on the Europeanization of Drug Policies and is the result of an analysis of EU action in this policy area. The analysis of the policy documents produced by the EU, particularly successive Drug Strategies and Action Plans, and the evolving roles of EU agencies in this field provide a clearer picture of how the EU attempts to impact domestic drugs policy. In short, these attempts move from facilitating informal networks of law enforcement officers, which often resulted in Member-states resisting cooperation efforts, to creating Europe-wide networks of researchers producing information and intelligence, with which to better inform policy debates

Harold Ellis: a surgeon's contribution to anatomy education

It is safe to say that the majority of Korean anatomists possess either ‘Gray’s Anatomy ’ [1] or ‘Clinical Anatomy: Applied Anatomy for Students and Junior Doctors ’ [2]. However, it is likely that their knowledge of Professor Ellis, wh

Revisiting thoracic surface anatomy in an adult population:a Ct evaluation of vertebral level

Introduction: To compare key thoracic anatomical surface landmarks between healthy and patient adult populations using Computed Tomography (CT).Materials and Methods: Sixteen slice CT images of 250 age and gender matched healthy individuals and 99 patients with lung parenchymal disease were analyzed to determine the relationship of 17 thoracic structures and their vertebral levels using a 32-bit Radiant DICOM viewer. The structures studied were: aortic hiatus, azygos vein, brachiocephalic artery, gastroesophageal junction, left and right common carotid arteries, left and right subclavian arteries, pulmonary trunk bifurcation, superior vena cava junction with the right atrium, carina, cardiac apex, manubriosternal junction, xiphisternal joint, inferior vena cava (IVC) crossing the diaphragm, aortic arch and junction of brachiocephalic veins.Results: The surface anatomy of all structures varied among individuals with no significant effect of age. Binary logistic regression analysis showed a significant association between individual health status and vertebral level for: brachiocephalic artery (p=0.049), gastroesophageal junction (p=0.020), right common carotid (p=0.009) and subclavian arteries (p=0.009), pulmonary trunk bifurcation (p=0.049), carina (p=0.004), and IVC crossing the diaphragm (p=0.025).Conclusion: These observations differ from those reported in a healthy white Caucasian population and from the vertebral levels of the IVC, esophagus and aorta crossing the diaphragm in an Iranian population. The differences observed in the current study provide insight into the effect of lung pathology on specific thoracic structures and their vertebral levels. Further studies are needed to determine whether these are general changes or pathology-specific.</p