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"Jones, Gavin"
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Failure and the American Writer : a Literary History
\"If America worships success, then why has the nation's literature dwelled obsessively on failure? This book explores encounters with failure by nineteenth-century writers - ranging from Edgar Allan Poe and Herman Melville to Mark Twain and Sarah Orne Jewett - whose celebrated works more often struck readers as profoundly messy, flawed and even perverse. Reading textual inconsistency against the backdrop of a turbulent nineteenth century, Gavin Jones describes how the difficulties these writers faced in their faltering search for new styles, coherent characters and satisfactory endings uncovered experiences of blunder and inadequacy hidden in the culture at large. Through Jones's treatment, these American writers emerge as the great theorists of failure who discovered ways to translate their own social insecurities into complex portrayals of a modern self, founded in moral fallibility, precarious knowledge and negative feelings\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Pyrodiversity and biodiversity
Aim Pyrodiversity is the spatial or temporal variability in fire effects across a landscape. Multiple ecological hypotheses, when applied to the context of post‐fire systems, suggest that high pyrodiversity will lead to high biodiversity. This resultant “pyrodiversity–biodiversity” hypothesis has grown popular but has received mixed support by recent empirical research. In this paper, we sought to review the existing pyrodiversity literature, appraise support for the pyrodiversity–biodiversity hypothesis, examine potential mechanisms underlying the hypothesis and identify outstanding questions about pyrodiversity and future research needs. Location Global terrestrial ecosystems. Methods We performed a systematic literature review of research related to pyrodiversity and the pyrodiversity–biodiversity hypothesis. We also examined how two individual species with distinct relationships with fire (spotted owl Strix occidentalis and black‐backed woodpecker Picoides arcticus) respond to pyrodiversity as case studies to illustrate underlying mechanisms. Results We identified 41 tests of the pyrodiversity–biodiversity hypothesis reported from 33 studies; 18 (44%) presented evidence in support of the pyrodiversity–biodiversity hypothesis, while 23 (56%) did not. Our literature review suggested that support for the pyrodiversity–biodiversity hypothesis varies considerably with no consistent patterns across taxonomic groups and ecosystem types. Studies examining the pyrodiversity–biodiversity hypothesis often define pyrodiversity in different ways, examine effects at different scales and are conducted in ecosystems with different natural fire regimes, baseline levels of biodiversity, and evolutionary histories. We suggest these factors independently and jointly have led to widely varying support for the pyrodiversity–biodiversity hypothesis. Main Conclusions Clarifying the pyrodiversity–biodiversity hypothesis will be facilitated by stronger development of the different potential mechanisms underlying pyrodiversity–biodiversity relationships, which can be aided by examining how individual species respond to pyrodiversity. Future research would benefit from a closer examination of the role of scale (e.g. scale dependence) in pyrodiversity–biodiversity relationships, standardization of pyrodiversity metrics, broad‐scale mapping of pyrodiversity, and macroecological study of pyrodiversity–biodiversity relationships.
Journal Article
Australian megafires drove complex biodiversity outcomes
An ambitious analysis of data has revealed the effects of the 2019–20 Australian megafires on biodiversity. It turns out that the outcome is more nuanced than just the anticipated picture of a massive loss of species.
Assessing the effects of the 2019–20 Australian megafires.
Journal Article
Recent advances in the management of lung cancer
Historically, the prognosis for individuals diagnosed with lung cancer has been bleak. However, the past 10 years have seen important advances in treatment and diagnosis which have translated into the first improvements seen in lung cancer survival. This review highlights the major advances in treatments with curative intent, systemic targeted therapies, palliative care and early diagnosis in lung cancer. We discuss the pivotal research that underpins these new technologies/strategies and their current position in clinical practice.
Journal Article
The Cambridge companion to the American short story
\"This Companion offers students and scholars a comprehensive introduction to the development and the diversity of the American short story as a literary form from its origins in the eighteenth century to the present day. Rather than define what the short story is as a genre, or defend its importance in comparison with the novel, this Companion seeks to understand what the short story does -- how it moves through national space, how it is always related to other genres and media, and how its inherent mobility responds to the literary marketplace and resonates with key critical themes in contemporary literary studies. Essays offer authoritative introductions and reinterpretations of a literary form that has reemerged as a major force in the twenty-first century public sphere dominated by the internet\"-- Provided by publisher.
BOOK
Families in Southeast and South Asia
Southeast and South Asia are home to one-third of the world's population. Their great economic and cultural diversity makes generalization about family patterns and trends hazardous. We review literature on trends in fertility, marriage, divorce, and living arrangements in the past half century. The explanations for these trends focus on structural and ideological changes related to socioeconomic development; cultural factors including kinship system, religion, and ethnicity; and public policies. While the impact of rapid modernization and related ideational changes are evident, there are also changes-or a lack thereof-that cannot be explained by development and may be attributable to historical and cultural factors that have shaped family norms in the region. The following trends are evident: (
a
) fertility is declining and age at marriage is rising, although teenage and arranged marriages remain common in South Asia, (
b
) a majority of the elderly continue to live with or are supported by their children, and (
c
) divorce and out-of-wedlock childbearing remain relatively rare.
Journal Article
Fast and selective ring-opening polymerizations by alkoxides and thioureas
Ring-opening polymerization of lactones is a versatile approach to generate well-defined functional polyesters. Typical ring-opening catalysts are subject to a trade-off between rate and selectivity. Here we describe an effective catalytic system combining alkoxides with thioureas that catalyses rapid and selective ring-opening polymerizations. Deprotonation of thioureas by sodium, potassium or imidazolium alkoxides generates a hydrogen-bonded alcohol adduct of the thiourea anion (thioimidate). The ring-opening polymerization of
L
-lactide mediated by these alcohol-bonded thioimidates yields highly isotactic polylactide with fast kinetics and living polymerization behaviour, as evidenced by narrow molecular weight distributions (
M
w
/
M
n
< 1.1), chain extension experiments and minimal transesterifications. Computational studies indicate a bifunctional catalytic mechanism whereby the thioimidate activates the carbonyl of the monomer and the alcohol initiator/chain end to effect the selective ring-opening of lactones and carbonates. The high selectivity of the catalyst towards monomer propagation over transesterification is attributed to a selective activation of monomer over polymer chains.
By simply deprotonating a neutral hydrogen-bond donor thiourea it is possible to generate a class of highly efficient and tunable thioimidates that can simultaneously activate a pro-nucleophile and an electrophile. These bifunctional thioimidates exhibit fast kinetics and high selectivity for ring-opening polymerizations of cyclic lactones and carbonates.
Journal Article
Mega-disturbances cause rapid decline of mature conifer forest habitat in California
Mature forests provide important wildlife habitat and support critical ecosystem functions globally. Within the dry conifer forests of the western United States, past management and fire exclusion have contributed to forest conditions that are susceptible to increasingly severe wildfire and drought. We evaluated declines in conifer forest cover in the southern Sierra Nevada of California during a decade of record disturbance by using spatially comprehensive forest structure estimates, wildfire perimeter data, and the eDaRT forest disturbance tracking algorithm. Primarily due to the combination of wildfires, drought, and drought-associated beetle epidemics, 30% of the region’s conifer forest extent transitioned to nonforest vegetation during 2011–2020. In total, 50% of mature forest habitat and 85% of high density mature forests either transitioned to lower density forest or nonforest vegetation types. California spotted owl protected activity centers (PAC) experienced greater canopy cover decline (49% of 2011 cover) than non-PAC areas (42% decline). Areas with high initial canopy cover and without tall trees were most vulnerable to canopy cover declines, likely explaining the disproportionate declines of mature forest habitat and within PACs. Drought and beetle attack caused greater cumulative declines than areas where drought and wildfire mortality overlapped, and both types of natural disturbance far outpaced declines attributable to mechanical activities. Drought mortality that disproportionately affects large conifers is particularly problematic to mature forest specialist species reliant on large trees. However, patches of degraded forests within wildfire perimeters were larger with greater core area than those outside burned areas, and remnant forest habitats were more fragmented within burned perimeters than those affected by drought and beetle mortality alone. The percentage of mature forest that survived and potentially benefited from lower severity wildfire increased over time as the total extent of mature forest declined. These areas provide some opportunity for improved resilience to future disturbances, but strategic management interventions are likely also necessary to mitigate worsening mega-disturbances. Remaining dry mature forest habitat in California may be susceptible to complete loss in the coming decades without a rapid transition from a conservation paradigm that attempts to maintain static conditions to one that manages for sustainable disturbance dynamics.
Journal Article