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'New' poetry of the Spanish golden age
No full textWhat lyric poetry is and why it matters are questions that acquire a distinct complexion in different socio-historical contexts. This chapter casts a critical eye over lyric’s ‘new’ cartography in Imperial Spain, exploring ‘path-following’ as a master metaphor that accommodates the socio-political imperatives, theoretical underpinnings and evolving poetic practise of the period. The chapter has two over-arching objectives: to apprehend the individuating paths of Renaissance ‘new’ Italianate lyric in their relationship to a shared, collective, imaginary and to broader cultural practices; to attend to lyric’s foregrounding of language in all its material dimensions (thereby interrogating the “unique temporality” which Culler identified in lyric’s ‘special’ texturing). Analysis of the diverse lyric ‘events’ of language that were produced in the belated context of Spanish Renaissance humanism, will demonstrate how their transformative, self-making, properties, so effectively articulated the trauma of individual being, while also speaking to the anxieties of communal histories
Exploring the meaning and experience of family for youth leaving care: a scoping review
No full textFamily is important to all, but is a complex issue for young people who are transitioning from out-of-home care. This scoping review explores the meaning and experience of family for care-experienced youth and identifies implications for research and practice to support their social wellbeing. It reports on findings from a review of 31 journal articles that address the concept of family for youth leaving care. The paper explores the range and nature of family relations studied and key themes emerging including how family is conceptualized and experienced by youth leaving care. There is duality in how family is constructed through family practices with chosen individuals but also defined primarily by biological connection. Young people are active in sustaining and managing complex family relations that require a broader, more diverse understanding of family that can support their family-forming efforts with a wider range of individuals before, during and after their transition from out-of-home care.<br/
Exploring the meaning and experience of family for youth leaving care: a scoping review
No full textFamily is important to all, but is a complex issue for young people who are transitioning from out-of-home care. This scoping review explores the meaning and experience of family for care-experienced youth and identifies implications for research and practice to support their social wellbeing. It reports on findings from a review of 31 journal articles that address the concept of family for youth leaving care. The paper explores the range and nature of family relations studied and key themes emerging including how family is conceptualized and experienced by youth leaving care. There is duality in how family is constructed through family practices with chosen individuals but also defined primarily by biological connection. Young people are active in sustaining and managing complex family relations that require a broader, more diverse understanding of family that can support their family-forming efforts with a wider range of individuals before, during and after their transition from out-of-home care.<br/
Our men in Scotland: the Gaelic Irish nobility and the Scottish Renaissance court, c.1400-c.1600
No full textDebate: Response to ‘Studying the regulatory space of public sector audit—the historical turn’ and the need for local government accounting history
No full textLocal governments play a vital role in managing and delivering services that directly impact the lives of citizens. In order to ensure that the allocation of public funds is delivering value for money and local governments are held to account for their decisions, the system requires good, audited accounting information. In the UK, however, local government audit is in crisis and is ‘hampering efforts to ensure that the billions of pounds per year spent by councils is properly accounted’ for (UK Parliament, Citation2023). As of 2025, the picture is no better. For example, the City of Birmingham, Europe’s largest local authority, remains technically bankrupt (Brackley, Citation2025) and, in 2024, the UK’s National Audit Office (NAO) was unable to obtain sufficient evidence from local governments to contribute to the UK’s Whole of Government Accounts for the financial year ending 31 March 2023 (HM Treasury, Citation2024). This resulted in a disclaimed audit opinion—an outcome the NAO described as unprecedented. Given that some form of UK local government audit has existed for centuries, with a more formalized system in place since the 1800s (Chandler, Citation2007; Dewar & Funnell, Citation2016; Midgley et al., Citation2024), these developments raise important historical and institutional questions. While Ferry et al. (Citation2025) note that researchers have long identified issues with UK local government audit and advocate for historical analysis to deepen our understanding of public sector institutions, we argue this historical lens should extend beyond audit. Local government financial management also includes accounting practices—for example financial reporting, budgeting, and management accounting—which shape governance and decision-making. The evolution of these practices over time has influenced today’s challenges in transparency, accountability, and financial sustainability. Therefore, we support the call in Public Money & Management by Ferry et al. (Citation2025) for a historical turn, but suggest expanding it to encompass the broader financial and management accounting practices of local governments. A more comprehensive historical perspective could yield deeper insights into the systemic issues facing local government management today
The civic culture in ageing societies
No full textThe chapter begins with a discussion of the position of older people in the culture wars more generally. It goes on to identify two key findings of the literature – that gender and generation gaps exist in political participation. Later, I use Brexit – the democratic referendum used to justify the removal of the UK from EU membership in 2016 – as a vignette to explore these issues further. I conclude that the future of liberal democracy rests on the capacity of democratic societies to convince younger cohorts to vote for progressive and socially liberal political parties. The challenge is in ensuring that progressive parties appear on the ballot paper at all
Immune cell subsets in young kidney transplant recipients: mechanistic and clinical perspectives
No full textKidney transplantation provides the best survival advantage for children, adolescents, and young adults with end-stage kidney disease, yet this group paradoxically experiences the poorest long-term graft survival. Immune-mediated rejection is the predominant cause, but the cellular mechanisms that underpin this age-related disparity remain incompletely defined. This review synthesises current evidence on the impact of immune ageing across adaptive and innate compartments, focusing on T cells, B cells, and natural killer (NK) cells. In younger recipients, a large naïve T- and B-cell pool, robust thymic output, and efficient germinal centre activity confer heightened alloimmune reactivity, driving increased risk of acute cellular and antibody-mediated rejection. In contrast, older recipients exhibit features of immunosenescence, including loss of CD28 expression, accumulation of terminally differentiated effector subsets, impaired germinal centre responses, and attenuated NK cytotoxicity, resulting in diminished capacity to mount de novo responses but greater vulnerability to infection. These immune trajectories have direct clinical implications: younger recipients may require intensified, mechanism-targeted immunosuppression, whereas older recipients may be more amenable to minimisation or tolerance protocols. We further highlight emerging evidence for premature immunosenescence in paediatric dialysis populations, the contribution of age-associated B cells and NK subsets, and the role of immunophenotype-guided therapeutic strategies. Current uniform immunosuppression protocols inadequately account for developmental and age-related immune heterogeneity. We argue for an age- and immune phenotype–informed approach to therapy, integrating longitudinal immune profiling, biomarker development, and systems immunology to improve risk stratification, promote tolerance, and ultimately extend allograft survival across all age groups.<br/
Oral health interventions and their effectiveness for dependent older adults: a systematic review of outcomes and outcome measures used in clinical research
No full textObjectivesTo identify oral health outcomes and outcome measures reported in studies examining oral health interventions among dependent older adults, as an initial step in the development of a core outcome set (COS).DataIntervention studies aimed at improving oral health of dependent older adults aged ≥60 years, residing in care homes, or at home, were included. The quality of included studies was evaluated using the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool (RoB 2) and Risk of Bias In non-randomized Studies of Interventions (ROBINS-I).SourcesMedline and Embase via Ovid, Cochrane CENTRAL, and Web of Science, up to August 2025Study selection and resultsEighty-four studies were included. Interventions were primarily classified into four categories: caregiver training and education (n = 21), oral healthcare interventions (n = 25), health professionals’ interventions (n = 31) and other interventions (n = 7). The reported outcomes and outcome measures varied considerably across studies and can be broadly grouped into six domains: oral hygiene, dentition status, periodontal status, oral mucosal status, overall oral health, and other outcomes. The most reported outcome was oral hygiene, with the Plaque Index being the most frequently used measure, followed by the Gingival Index. Other commonly reported outcome measures include Decayed, Missing, and Filled Teeth/Surfaces (DMFT/S), salivary levels of bacterial pathogens, and the Oral Health Assessment Tool (OHAT).ConclusionsThe outcomes and outcome measures reported across studies evaluating oral health interventions in dependent older adults were highly heterogenous. There is limited high-quality evidence in this area, highlighting the need for further research with robust study designs. The development and adoption of a COS would be valuable towards improving evidence-based dentistry and quality of care for this population.Clinical SignificanceFindings highlight the need for a COS to guide future research and ensure that outcomes are standardised and relevant to all stakeholders, and enable robust conclusions to inform clinical practice.<br/
The gut microbiome mediates the association between a flavonoid-rich diet and MASLD in a population-level analysis
No full textPurposeA growing body of evidence suggests diets rich in flavonoids may protect against metabolic-dysfunction associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) development and progression. As the gut microbiome is important in the biotransformation of flavonoids to their constituent bioactive metabolites, studies on the potential mediating role of the gut microbiome in the association between dietary flavonoid intakes and MASLD are warranted but lacking. Thus, this study aims to examine the associations between a diet rich in flavonoids and MASLD, and assess the potential mediating role of the gut microbiome.MethodsIn a cross-sectional analysis (n = 531), using the FlavoDiet score (FDS), we assessed the association between a flavonoid-rich diet and MASLD (ascertained by magnetic resonance imaging) using multivariable logistic and linear regression. Additionally, we used mediation analysis to identify and assess potential 16S-derived gut microbiome mediators.ResultsEach doubling of the FDS was associated with a 27% lower odds of MASLD (OR: 0.73 [95% CI 0.54–0.98], p = 0.04) after multivariable adjustment. 9.2% of this association was mediated by a greater abundance of the genus Eisenbergiella (indirect effect ß = − 0.006 [95% CI − 0.019, to − 0.000], p = 0.04).ConclusionThese findings suggest that a flavonoid-rich diet is associated with better liver health, and that the abundance of the Eisenbergiella taxa may in part explain the association between a flavonoid-rich diet and MASLD.<br/
Memory for repeated auditory textures
No full textEven though memory plays a pervasive role in perception, the nature of the memory traces left by past sounds is still largely mysterious. Here, we probed the memory for natural auditory textures. For such stochastic sounds, two types of representations have been put forward: a representation based on sets of temporally local features, or a representation based on time-averaged summary statistics. We synthesized naturalistic texture exemplars and used them in an implicit memory paradigm based on repetition, previously shown to induce rapid learning for artificial sounds such as white noise. Results were similar for artificial and natural sounds, exhibiting a general trend for a decrease in repetition detection performance with increasing exemplar duration, although with some variation depending on texture type. This trend could be captured by a summary statistics model, but also by a new model based on the random sampling of temporally local features. Moreover, repeated exposure to a same natural texture or artificial noise exemplar systematically induced a performance gain, which was comparable across all sound types and exemplar durations. Thus, natural texture exemplars were amenable to learning when repeated exposure was available. The findings are consistent with two interpretations: the existence of a special processing mode when acoustic repetition is involved, to which natural textures are not immune, or a convergence of the local features versus summary statistics descriptions if a continuum of time scales is considered for auditory representations.</p