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Handbooks
No full textA wide variety of seventeenth-century prose publications—often bearing the title words ‘enchiridion’, ‘manual’, or ‘vade mecum’—identified themselves as books-for-the-hand. This chapter argues that ‘handbooks’ (to use what was an exclusively antiquarian term during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries) constituted a distinctive print genre during the early modern period, notwithstanding the diversity of their themes and functions. The association of hands with books took various forms. The most common connotation was with compactness and portability. Manuals had a second set of associations, however, with the skilled or dexterous hand—with crafts, manual trades, professions, and recreations. This chapter emphasizes the innovations of design, format, and distribution made so often in this kind of publication and investigates how the prose they contain was determined by material form. Printed manuals provided the medium for a new genre of prose even more completely modern, perhaps, than that of the emerging novel
The bioengineering of β-galactosidase enzymes from the Bifidobacterium bifidum NCIMB 41171 strain to increase GOS production yield and evaluation of novel targets for the discovery of next generation prebiotics
No full textThe human gut microbiome is an extensively researched topic due to its
potential role in not only influencing the immediate integrity of the intestinal tract, but
also having a systemic effect on various metabolic functions throughout the organism.
Prebiotics, indigestible substances that are metabolised by gut microbiota to affect
bacterial populations and metabolite production, remain of keen interest both in
preventative medicine, and as therapeutic factors in a variety of disease states.
The first section of the project focused on three GH2 β-galactosidases derived
from the Bifidobacterium bifidum NCIMB 41171 strain. Collectively, the enzymes are
responsible for galactooligosaccharide (GOS) synthesis, which can provide prebiotic
effects to the host and, consequently, lower cholesterol levels and modulate the gut
microflora. In an effort to engineer a functional chimeric enzyme with increased yield,
novel GOS synthesis profile, and/or potential for patentability, detailed structure function studies were initiated. Bioinformatics tools, alongside previous literature, have
been utilised to characterise β-galactosidase I (BbgI) and β-galactosidase IV (BbgIV) and
evaluate their potential for bioengineering using truncation design. The enzymes were
assessed for their hydrolytic and transgalactosydic activity to establish their function
and potential effect in the chimera design. The β-galactosidase III (BbgIII) 33-930
truncation, previously used to produce the commercially available prebiotic BIMUNO®,
has been re-evaluated in order to design an optimal catalytic core for the chimera.
Finally, BbgIII-BbgI/IV chimera variants were designed and their transgalactosydic
activity and GOS profile assessed against the BbgIII 33-930 enzyme. This led to the
development of a functional chimeric enzyme with retained activity, as well as a GOS
profile with increased prevalence of allolactose, and increased prevalence of β1→3
linked oligomers, which have been previously shown to induce a greater bifidogenic
effect than β1→4 and β1→6 linked sugars.
The second section of the project focused on the derivation of potential novel
prebiotics, using alternative bacterial species and their ability to produce secondary
metabolites that may confer a prebiotic effect with specific health benefits. Human Milk
Oligosaccharides were identified as an adequate target due to their structural
similarities to GOS, significantly larger structural diversity, as well as previously
identified beneficial effect on the growth of Short-Chain Fatty Acid (SCFA)-producing
bacteria. Six novel GH29B α-L-fucosidases derived from such producers have been
examined against a previously studied Bifidobacterium bifidum homolog. Bioinformatic
tools, alongside previous literature, have been utilised to characterise their tertiary
structure and active site features, with the enzymes then evaluated for their ability to
synthesize specific HMO products. This led to the identification of a novel enzyme
target, the Akkermansia muciniphila α-L-fucosidase (AmAfcB), with further
bioengineering strategies for the increase in product yield suggested. Finally, a statistical
analysis of glycosyl hydrolase family sequences from prevalent SCFA and lactate-producing bacteria has been conducted in an attempt to observe trends in substrate
specificity. This allowed for the identification of target carbohydrates which are likely to
induce a more tailored effect through the selective stimulation of growth of butyrate
and propionate producers in the human gastrointestinal tract.
This work has therefore contributed to the development of novel enzymatic
systems for prebiotic synthesis on an industrial scale, as well as future development of
prebiotics towards a more specific beneficial effect
“Get your water out of my lounge” Emotions and home: bridging the gap between the flood authorities and flood communities’ constructions of flooding
No full textFlooding and the impacts of flooding are a diverse messy spaghetti of physical, human and social
impacts, with the geographies of flooding which frame it equally as complex and wide-ranging
(Thorne, 2014). This thesis aims to unpack some of this complexity and to provide a more nuanced
understanding of how flooding is constructed through the lens of the flood communities that
experience flooding and the flood authorities that manage flooding in England.
My research explores the various ways of experiencing flooding, from the experiential impacts of
having someone’s home inundated with water, with the resultant home unmaking and having to learn
to live with the prospect of future flooding, through to the more physical and in-the-moment
construction of flooding by the flood authorities.
Within this research we learn that for flood communities, flooding is constructed through the
emotions of living at risk of flooding and the ongoing processes of homemaking, unmaking and
remaking which create a seemingly never-ending spiral of human impacts. This troubles disaster risk
management approaches that seek to manage risk through the lens of ‘pre’ and ‘post’ events.
I demonstrate that the more physical construction of flooding and the physically orientated
approaches to managing flooding by the flood authorities provides no space and little understanding
of the experiential and emotional construction of flooding by flood communities. This creates
dissonance between what flood communities require in terms of support and what is provided.
The thesis concludes by providing policy recommendations aimed at providing flood communities
with support to ensure that they can live good quality lives whilst living at risk of flooding
‘I’ve finally got my expression’: the anchoring role of identity in changing from an organisation-based career to a protean career path
Get PDFThis qualitative study expIores the role of identity in changing from a traditional, organisation-based career to a protean career path. Biographical narrative interviews were conducted with 12 prime-aged U.K. participants. These were analysed using narrative and thematic analysis. Analysis highlights the anchoring role of identity in transitioning to a career driven by values, and demonstrating adaptability in an unpredictable work environment. Findings are used to propose a definition of identity relevant to protean career changers, and to suggest that clear identity should be considered the core characteristic necessary for thriving in transitions to protean career paths. Career practitioners are advised to prioritise identity exploration with clients seeking to transition from an organisation-based career to pursue a self-directed, values-driven career path
The UK Pay Transparency Regulations: apparent transparency without accountability?
Get PDFThe UK enacted its first legal measure to address gender pay inequity, the Equal Pay Act 1970, more than 50 years ago. Yet, in 2021, the gender pay gap (GPG) still stood at 15.4%. Departing from the remedial and individual approach that characterises equal pay legislation, the 2017 Gender Pay Gap Information Regulations (the Regulations) require private and voluntary sector organisations with 250+ employees to annually publish pay data broken down by gender. The long-term aspiration of the Regulations is to contribute to closing the GPG within a generation. It is also hoped that they will encourage the public disclosure of pay data and changes in workplace policies to reduce organisational GPGs (immediate aims) and improve employers’ accountability (underlying aim). This paper considers whether the Regulations have what it takes to meet those immediate and underlying aims. Our assessment framework is built on the premise that for public disclosure to be useful and for employers to tackle the causes of the GPG, the information reported must be of sufficient quality, meaningful and relevant. The paper draws on both doctrinal analysis and empirical data reported by FTSE 100 Index companies to assess the Regulations and determine whether they hold the potential to meet those aims
Impact pathways: unravelling the hybrid food supply chain – identifying the relationships and processes to drive change
Get PDFPurpose – This paper explores the nature and operations of the supply chain that serves disadvantaged groups. With the increasing reliance on supplementary food provision through food aid, we seek to emphasise efficiency and sustainability in these supply chains.
Design/methodology/approach – Semi-structured interview data from 32 senior managers and experts from both commercial and food aid supply chains were abductively analysed to develop a relationship- based map of the food chains that serve disadvantaged groups.
Findings – Disadvantaged groups are served by a hybrid food supply chain. It is an interconnected supply chain bringing together the commercial and the food aid supply chains. This chain is unsurprisingly plagued with various challenges, the most critical of which are limited expertise and resources, operational inefficiencies, prohibitive logistics costs and a severe lack of collaboration.
Originality/value – Our study identifies the currently limited role of logistics companies in surplus food redistribution and highlights future pathways. Additionally, we present useful actionable propositions for managers, practitioners and policy makers
Cross-investments by multinationals: a new perspective
Get PDFCross-flows of FDI occur when firms invest in each other’s home countries, affecting the terms of competition in each market. They are explained by internalisation theory but have never been comprehensively investigated. This paper models cross investment in a duopoly with differentiated products. The firms decide whether to enter each market and whether to serve it through trade or local production. The model combines firm, country, and industry-level factors. It places cross investment in the wider context of cross sourcing, including cross trading and asymmetric sourcing. It reveals different forms of cross investment, rather than being limited to cross multi-domestic. Overall, cross investment is favoured by highly differentiated products, low comparative advantage, large markets, high trade costs and low costs of FDI
Cleansing investor’s conscience: the effects of incidental guilt on socially responsible investment decisions
Get PDFThis paper explores the effects of incidental guilt on Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) decisions of retail investors. Do investors who feel guilty invest more in SRIs to clear their conscience? Are guilty investors willing to sacrifice returns to restore their moral selves? Using survey data from an online quasi-experiment among a sample of U.S. retail investors, we find that individuals who experience incidental guilt are willing to invest more in SRI funds than those in a neutral state. We show that this effect, albeit moderate in magnitude, cannot be explained solely by differences in retail investors’ moral reasoning, attitudes towards social responsibility, risk tolerance and demographic factors. When presented with a trade-off between sustainability, risk and return characteristics of the funds, guilty investors are more willing to sacrifice returns for greater sustainability than non-guilty participants. Our research provides new evidence of the effect that incidental guilt has on the sustainable investing decisions of retail investors
Out of the blue? Epilepsy, sensation and Wilkie Collins's poor Miss Finch
No full textIn Wilkie Collins’s 1872 novel Poor Miss Finch, epilepsy is represented as an event which brings modifying effects through the kind of writing developed in Collins’s earlier, more ‘canonical’ sensation fictions. Drawing on ideas explored in the medical literature of his day, especially the works of Edward Sieveking, Charles Radcliffe, and Russell Reynolds, Collins portrays epileptic disorder as a shock which establishes a new plot trajectory and allows for an examination of the apparent intersections between biology, identity, and different models of (biological) determinism. The argyria experienced by Oscar Dubourg in response to chemical treatment for epileptic seizures and the theft of his identity by his identical twin brother Nugent both literalise a perceived loss of character believed to be an effect of epilepsy. But in Oscar the neurological condition also allows for modifications in the development of new, heroic, and sympathetic depths of character. The theories of neurological compensation developed by John Hughlings Jackson inspired Poor Miss Finch to demonstrate how the calamitous and the sensational (embodied here in epileptic seizures) play a fundamental role in real life and that our constitutions have evolved to respond creatively and dynamically to such events