Coming-Out Narratives in Audiovisual Culture

The rejection of coming out as a linear narrative must be accompanied by an alternative to the formulas of confession, disclosure, and identity adoption that have pervaded the current representations of coming out in the West. The appearance of coming out in film narratives provides important opportunities to observe how elements such as repetition, rehearsal, and, above all, contrasts are incorporated into the stories that are recounted. Conventional coming-out films have relied so heavily on the restrictive nature of the genre’s narrative structure that the potential for alternative, or queered, realities of coming out is erased. The continual reappearance and adaptations of coming out will enable a better understanding of the ways in which the act is presented as a moment that is never finished and that often evades a final, perfected, and polished performance. Four specific narratives from queer film—Beautiful Thing (1996), Summer Storm(2004), Brotherhood (2009), and North Sea Texas (2011)—will be presented to offer counter models for coming out. In Beautiful Thing, the visual narrative demonstrates the importance of the reiterative, adaptable, and unanticipated representation of the act in visual media. In Summer Storm, the audience witnesses how coming out occurs in a world of competitive sports and where the teenage athletes reveal secrets that everyone already knows. In Brotherhood, the act of coming out is transformed into a moment when identities are instantaneously accepted and rejected within a homophobic, neo-Nazi subculture. In North Sea Texas, the script of coming out is reimagined by two characters who ambiguously decline any opportunity to define their identities. Coming out in visual narratives must be understood through an elaboration of Janet Harbord’s belief that the audience gravitates toward particular visual narratives where a comfort zone is created. These films have authored reiterative and adaptable approaches to the act of coming out that both comfort and challenge the audience.

Modelling differential geomorphic effectiveness in neighbouring upland catchments: implications for sediment and flood risk management in a wetter world

In July 2007 an intense summer storm resulted in significant activation of the sediment system in the Thinhope Burn, UK. Catchment- and reach-scale morphodynamic modelling is used to investigate the geomorphic work undertaken by Thinhope Burn; comparing this with the more subdued responses shown by its neighbours. Total sediment efflux for Thinhope Burn over the 10 yr period 1998-2007 was 18, 801 m3 four times that of the larger Knar Burn catchment and fifty-four times that of the smaller Glendue Burn catchment. For a discharge of 60 m3s-1, equivalent to the July 2007 Thinhope flood, sediment efflux was 575 m3, 76 m3, and 67 m3 for Thinhope, Glendue and Knar Burns respectively. It is clear that Thinhope Burn undertook significantly more geomorphic work compared to its neighbours. Analysis of the population of shear stress for reach-scale simulations on Thinhope Burn highlighted that the final three simulations (flood peaks of 60, 90, 236 m3s-1) all produced very similar distributions, with no marked increase in the modal shear stress (∼250 Nm-2). This possibly suggests that flows >60 m3s-1 are not able to exert significantly greater energy on the channel boundary, indicating that flows in the region of 60 m3s-1 attain ‘peak’ geomorphic work. It is argued that factors such as strength resistance of the key sediment sources (e.g. paleoberms perched on terraces), structural resistance to flood waves imposed by valley form resistance, location sensitivity and transmission resistance, may all offer explanations for increased geomorphic effectiveness compared with its neighbours. With the expectation of greater rainfall totals in the winter and more extreme summer events in upland areas of the UK, it is clear that attention needs to focus upon the implications of this upon the morphological stability of these areas not least to aid future sustainable flood risk management.

The Influence of Wind Direction during Storms on Sea Temperature in the Coastal Water of Muping, China

Sea temperature structures are important for water stratification and marine ecosystems. In the coastal water of Muping, China, stationary measurements of sea temperature captured temporal temperature changes during two summer storm events. The north component of the wind during the two storms was opposite. The temperature responded differently to wind directions in the two storm events. A well-validated numerical ocean model was used to investigate the mechanism of sea temperature variation of the coast of Muping. The model revealed that the southerly and easterly wind was upwelling-favorable in the study area. They generated the shoreward transport of bottom cold water, which induced bottom water cooling, enhanced stratification, and weakened vertical mixing. On the other hand, the northerly and westerly wind was downwelling-favorable and enhanced turbulent mixing. The alongshore upwelling-favorable wind caused more cross-shore transport than cross-shore upwelling-favorable wind, which resulted in stronger bottom cooling. Similarly, alongshore downwelling-favorable wind generated lower temperature than cross-shore wind. A surface cold-water band was formed in the second storm. Although it was formed during upwelling-favorable wind, the temperature balance analysis indicated that vertical mixing and westward horizontal advection were the two dominant processes compared to upwelling.

Managing Stormwater by Accident: A Conceptual Study

Stormwater-driven road salt is a chronic and acute issue for streams in cold, urban environments. One promising approach for reducing the impact of road salt contamination in streams and adjacent aquifers is to allow “accidental wetlands” to flourish in urban areas. These wetlands form naturally as a byproduct of human activities. In this study, we quantified the ability of an accidental wetland in northwestern North Carolina, USA, to reduce the timing and peak concentration of road salt in a stream. Monitoring suggests that flow and transport processes through the wetland reduce peak concentrations and delay their arrival at the adjacent stream. We expand these findings with numerical simulations that model multiple meltwater and summer storm event scenarios. The model output demonstrates that small accidental wetland systems can reduce peak salinities by 94% and delay the arrival of saltwater pulses by 45 days. Our findings indicate that accidental wetlands improve stream water quality and they may also reduce peak temperatures during temperature surges in urban streams. Furthermore, because they find their own niche, accidental wetlands may be more effective than some intentionally constructed wetlands, and provide opportunities to explore managing stormwater by letting nature take its course.

Seasonal variability of near-surface zooplankton community structure in the southern Gulf of Mexico

The zooplankton taxonomic group composition was analyzed in a known spawning area for snooks of the family Centropomidae during March 2011-February 2012 near the González River's mouth, a tributary of the Grijalva-Usumacinta River system, discharging into the southern Gulf of Mexico. Zooplankton was collected near the surface using three distinct zooplankton nets (20, 64, and 120 μm). Sixteen zooplankton taxonomic groups were collected between the three nets. Copepoda (76.9%), Trematoda (6.7%), Bivalvia (4.6%), and Chaetognatha (Sagittoidea 4.3%) numerically dominated zooplankton community structure. The 120 and 64 μm nets collected the highest diversity of zooplankton (15 taxa). Zooplankton was more abundant during June-October (summer storm season). They associated with lower salinities (due to the increase in the discharge volume of the Grijalva-Usumacinta River system) and higher regional primary productivity than observed during the rest of the year (March-May, dry season, and November-February, winter storm season). The highest peak of zooplankton abundance was found in November during the beginning of winter storms. Nine taxonomic groups were observed frequently and abundantly during the summer storm season, while only five taxonomic groups were abundant during the dry season.

Differences in the Effects of Storms on Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC) in Boreal Lakes during an Early Summer Storm and an Autumn Storm

In boreal lakes, increased precipitation events have been linked to increased concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), however the effects of seasonal differences on DOC and how this may impact storm response remain unclear. We evaluated DOC concentration and a set of DOC quality metrics during an early summer storm and an autumn storm on a suite of six lakes in Acadia National Park in Maine, USA. to better understand differences in seasonal storm responses. Our results revealed differences in the response of DOC quality metrics to an early summer versus an autumn storm, with changes in DOC quality metrics varying by storm and lake features. During the early summer storm, we observed greater changes in various DOC quality metrics in deep lakes with longer residence times, whereas during the autumn storm, lakes with large watershed area to lake area ratios experienced the greatest changes. Land cover was highly correlated with changing DOC quality metrics in the early summer storm but did not play a significant role in the autumn storm response. Our research provides evidence of seasonal differences in the effects of storms on boreal lakes, which are ultimately mediated by a combination of lake and watershed characteristics as well as seasonal differences in climate such as solar radiation and antecedent weather conditions.

Hisparc cosmic ray detector’s response to heavy rain

<p>Cosmic ray particles have extreme energies, 10<sup>16</sup> eV/nucleon and up. Upon arrival at the higher atmosphere and collisions with the gas molecules there, the cosmic ray particles convert into an cascade of different secondary particles that finally arrive at soil level in the form of an extensive air shower (EAS): high-energy gamma’s, electrons and muons. In the HIgh School Project on Astrophysics Research with Cosmics (Hisparc, www.hisparc.nl) about 100 EAS detector stations are distributed over the Netherlands and several neighboring countries. These stations are mostly placed on the roof of secondary schools, where they have been built by pupils to attract them towards STEM studies.</p><p>Each station consists of two or four detectors with 0.5 m<sup>2</sup> plastic scintillator plates to record the passage of the EAS. At coincidence, the scintillator signals are individually recorded, accurately timed with GPS. All data are sent to and collected at the NIKHEF institute (www.nikhef.nl) and made available (open-access) for further analysis by pupils and scientists.</p><p>The sensitivity of the detectors is commonly adjusted such that each detector records a few hundred hits per second. The number of coincidences within 1.5 μs is then about 1 in 3 seconds, in part due to an actual EAS, in part due to random local radioactive processes.</p><p>During intense rainfall of a particular summer storm several two-detector systems recorded an increase in the coincidence frequency of up to a factor of 7. When comparing different stations we could follow the associated storm front moving northwards over NL. Within the coincidence interval of 1.5 μs the increased individual signals of both detectors were evenly distributed. Actual EAS signals tend to be synchronous to within 100 ns. We therefor attribute the increase to random signals. As possible source we suggest gamma radiation due to radon daughters in the atmosphere that are washed out by the rain and accumulate on the roof close to the detectors. The delay between rain and signal increase is noted and in accordance with the washing process time.</p>

13 Years of Storms: An Analysis of the Effects of Storms on Lake Physics on the Atlantic Fringe of Europe

While winter storms are generally common in western Europe, the rarer summer storms may result in more pronounced impacts on lake physics. Using long-term, high frequency datasets of weather and lake thermal structure from the west of Ireland (2005 to 2017), we quantified the effects of storms on the physical conditions in a monomictic, deep lake close to the Atlantic Ocean. We analysed a total of 227 storms during the stratified (May to September, n = 51) and non-stratified (November to March, n = 176) periods. In winter, as might be expected, changes were distributed over the entire water column, whereas in summer, when the lake was stratified, storms only impacted the smaller volume above the thermocline. During an average summer (May–September) storm, the lake number dropped by an order of magnitude, the thermocline deepened by an average of 2.8 m, water column stability decreased by an average of 60.4 j m−2 and the epilimnion temperature decreased by a factor of five compared to the average change in winter (0.5 °C vs. 0.1 °C). Projected increases in summer storm frequency will have important implications for lake physics and biological pathways.