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M. R. James
No full textBook synopsis: The Victorian Ghost Story: An Edinburgh Companion invites readers to interrogate the multi-layered, multi-vocal conversations that occur within the Victorian ghost story. Its twenty-four chapters provide a historical overview of the development of the ghost story and explore it in light of the ‘new’ contexts of the period, including mechanisation, imperialism and changes to the economy. As a much-needed survey of critical work on the ghost story, it features detailed analysis of major Victorian writers such as Charles Dickens, Margaret Oliphant, Charlotte Riddell and Henry James, and it examines the places haunted by Victorian ghosts: haunted houses but also haunted museums, fells, pyramids and seascapes. By engaging with ecocriticism, race, colonialism, class and gender, this interdisciplinary Companion constitutes a significant scholarly contribution to the Victorian ghost story and how it relates to a broader Gothic tradition
Geochemistry of volcanic rocks from the Andaman Sea: Insights into the nature of back-arc crust
Get PDFThe forearc and back-arc region of the Andaman-Nicobar-Sumatra Subduction Zone are mainly submarine and poorly understood. To gain new insights sixty representative volcanic rocks were collected from the Andaman Sea region. Rock types range from basalt, basaltic andesite, andesite, dacite to rhyolite reflecting calc-alkaline, intermediate to acidic magma compositions. The rocks exhibit pronounced LREE enrichment with significant negative Nb, Ta and Ti anomalies and relative HREE depletion indicative of subduction zone related volcanism. The calc-alkaline rocks were generated by fractional crystallization along with crustal assimilation of older crustal rocks. A lower level of contamination is recorded in Barren Island samples, and mafic rocks from the Central Andaman Trough and Southern arc. Miocene zircon 238U/206Pb ages (10.8 ± 0.3 Ma, 19.8 ± 0.3 Ma and 19.5 ± 0.2 Ma) are recorded by West Sewell Ridge samples. Previous suggestions that hyperextended Malayan crust (Sundaland) existed below much of the Northern arc, Southern arc, Alcock and Sewell Rises and were later covered by volcanic crustal material is supported by the presence of inherited zircon cores and xenocrysts with ages spanning the Phanerozoic to Neoproterozoic (250, 320, 460–690, 800–1100, and 1400 Ma). These fit with the Malay-Sundaland as the main source of crustal contamination
How visual experience shapes body representation
Get PDFWe do not have a veridical representation of our body in our mind. For instance, tactile distances of equal measure along the medial-lateral axis of our limbs are generally perceived as larger than those running along the proximal-distal axis. This anisotropy in tactile distances reflects distortions in body-shape representation, such that the body parts are perceived as wider than they are. While the origin of such anisotropy remains unknown, it has been suggested that visual experience could partially play a role in its manifestation. To causally test the role of visual experience on body shape representation, we investigated tactile distance perception in sighted and early blind individuals comparing medial-lateral and proximal-distal tactile distances of stimuli presented on the ventral and dorsal part of the forearm, wrist, and hand. Overestimation of distances in the medial-lateral over proximal-distal body axes were found in both sighted and blind people, but the magnitude of the anisotropy was significantly reduced in the forearms of blind people. We conclude that vision does not drive the emergence of tactile distance anisotropies, but visual experience can however modulate its expression on some specific body parts
Facing antisemitism: The struggle for safety and solidarity
Get PDFAntisemitism is deeply embedded into our common culture; it exists as a reservoir of racist stereotypes and narratives about Jewish people, which are normalised and widespread. Antisemitic incidents have spiked over the last year, particularly in response to the events of October 7th 2023 and the ongoing violence in Gaza. Yet, discussions around antisemitism have become highly politicised in ways that have been detrimental to Jewish communities’ safety and wellbeing.
Particularly damaging is the fact that these politicised discussions have inhibited the possibility of forging anti-racist solidarities with other communities that have been subject to the rise in far-right violence, and to the mainstreaming of racist rhetoric and policies.
Facing antisemitism highlights that:
- Antisemitism is hardwired into UK society;
- Current methods of defining, measuring and reacting to it are deeply contested and politicised;
- The arguments that anti-Zionism always equates to antisemitism prevents meaningful and productive action to eradicate antisemitism in the UK;
- Like other forms of racism, antisemitism in the UK consists of hateful attitudes and individual incidents but also institutional and structural racism;
- The UK must move beyond framing and discussing antisemitism in ways that pit communities against one another, prohibit solidarity and encourage division;
- Combating antisemitism must be undertaken as part of wider anti-racist initiatives, including building alliances with other racialised minorities.
The Runnymede Trust urgently calls for a different approach to combating antisemitism, including from the government and wider anti-racist organisations
Investor sentiment and stock returns: wisdom of crowds or power of words? Evidence from Seeking Alpha and Wall Street Journal
Get PDFIn light of changes in the media landscape from traditional print towards social media, in this study we compare the ability of investor sentiment measures obtained from various media sources to predict short-term market returns. We show that investor sentiment extracted from the social media platform Seeking Alpha is better in predicting market returns than investor sentiment obtained from the Wall Street Journal, a traditional print medium. Seeking Alpha is more suitable for the extraction of investor sentiment due to the richer language and timeliness of online media
Does asynchronous market update matter? Re-examining the price discovery of stock index and futures in China
Get PDFUniquely addressing asynchronous informational update between index and futures, we find that reduction in data frequency depicts a dual effect of “noise reduction” and “speed reduction” on Hasbrouck’s (1995) information share (IS) and Gonzalo-Granger’s (1995) component share (CS) indicators. Furthermore, the “noise reduction” effect does not exist significantly on CS, thereby preventing Putniņš’s (2013) information leading share (ILS) indicator from eliminating noise under low-frequency data. Our novel leading time (LT) indicator suggests that the Shanghai-Shenzhen Stock Exchange 300 (CSI 300) and China Stock Exchange 500 (CSI 500) futures dominate price discovery. An asynchronous informational update overestimates the price discovery ability of futures
Why ethnic mobilization is sustained: the case of the Hungarian minority in Romania
Get PDFThe concept of sustained ethnic mobilization remains under-studied, with a majority of the focus being drawn to the initial factors initiating mobilization. Yet, there are instances globally where ethnic groups have engaged in mobilization, remaining active without fully completing the process of mobilization, or experiencing a decline in mobilization over time. The case of Hungarians in Romania serves as a key example of a minority group that mobilized during the immediate post-communist era while continuing to pursue its stated goals and objectives, maintaining broad support within the community. This article examines two theories of sustained ethnic mobilization, institutional and kin-state, to evaluate which is more effective in analysing the case of the Hungarian minority. Using these theories, the analysis focuses on domestic organizations and institutions, as well as the allowances provided by the Romanian governing system. Additionally, it examines the influence of the Hungarian government through two key forms of support: financial backing for cultural institutions and the provision of citizenship to Hungarians residing in Romania. The article comes to the conclusion that both approaches offer value in understanding why mobilization is sustained but in the case of the Hungarians, the role of institutions is paramount in allowing a group to retain mobilization, offering regional and conceptual implications
Evaluating evidence for the cortical localization for language: systematic reviews in the 1860s and 1870s
Get PDFThe specialization of cortical function for language was proposed by Paul Broca (1824-1880) in 1861 and further elaborated to include the principle of hemispheric lateralization in 1865. Broca and other French colleagues argued for and against these hypotheses, employing clinical and pathological observations of individuals with acquired language disorders as evidence. These ideas became a topic of widespread interest after the debates at the Paris Academy of Medicine in 1865 were reported internationally. During this period up to the end of the decade, hundreds of publications appeared on the localization and laterality of findings in aphasic individuals and case series. Several large-scale systematic reviews of historic (pre-1861) and contemporary (post-1861) clinical findings were published only a few years after the syndrome had been proposed. These aimed to determine the strength and quality of evidence regarding the specialization and lateralization of brain areas for language. However, their authors held distinct theoretical assumptions and ideological concerns and were motivated by varied research questions. These comprehensive efforts using systematic review methodology to assess the evidence for and against hypotheses about the organization of language in the brain are examined to expose the issues of live debate in early neuroscience
Kinome profiling reveals pathogenic variant specific protein signalling networks in MEN2 children with Medullary Thyroid Cancer
Get PDFMultiple Endocrine Neoplasia Type 2 (MEN2) is an autosomal dominant disease caused by pathogenic variants in the receptor tyrosine kinase RET, with strong genotype-phenotype correlations. The development and progression of these tumours are not always predictable even within families with the same RET pathogenic variants, demonstrating a need for better understanding of the underlying molecular mechanisms. Precision molecular medicine approaches are not widely used and the standard of care remains prophylactic thyroidectomy. This lack of approaches is exacerbated by the lack of novel therapeutic markers/targets. In this study we investigated the functional kinome of 24 familial MEN2 patients. We identified MEN2 subtype and RET pathogenic variant-specific alterations in signalling pathways including mTOR, PKA, NF-κB and focal adhesions, validating these findings in patient thyroid tissue. Overall, our study of MEN2 functional kinomes uncovers novel specific drivers of MEN2 disease and its pathogenic variant subtypes, identifying new potential therapeutic targets for MEN2
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