26 research outputs found
Scotland and Ulster connections in the seventeenth century : Sir Robert Adair of Kinhilt and the Scottish Parliament under the covenanters
No full textIt has long been recognized that a culture of mobility has existed in Scottish society. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the main destinations for Scottish migrants were Poland, Scandinavia, and Ulster, although there were many other destinations too
Evoking the Possibility of Presence:Textual and Ideological Effects of Linguistic Negation in Written Discourse
No full textThis thesis explores the textual and ideological effects of linguistic negation in written texts. It argues that when language users process negation, understanding its use in context is as much about the possibility of presence as it is about the actuality of absence. This gives rise to a variety of effects in texts from contributing to the construction of fictional characters to potentially influencing readers’/hearers’ view of the world they inhabit. This thesis brings together research on the theoretical aspects of how negation works to present a new approach to linguistic negation in written discourse. It also demonstrates how this approach can be applied in the analysis of the conceptual practice of negating. The approach presented is made up of three main elements; negation is presuppositional, is realised through a wide variety of linguistic forms beyond the morphosyntactic core forms (not, no, never, none, un-, in-, and so on) and includes semantic and pragmatically implied forms. These two elements combine to give rise to implied meaning in context. Having outlined this approach to negation, it is then applied in the analysis of literary and non-literary texts to explain the textual and ideological effects that arise from its use
Investigating the ‘empire of secrecy’ — three decades of reporting on the secret state
No full textThis thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University LondonIt has often been argued that journalism has been the most effective means of holding the intelligence services to account in western democracies. This thesis examines whether that proposition holds true in the United Kingdom and if so, whether such oversight has been consistent. Accountability by the news media is compared with the expanding range of UK official oversight mechanisms. The author utilises a body or work from over three decades of reporting on the intelligence services and further research on accountability to examine these questions. The author suggests this work is timely, given the controversy prompted by the former National Security Agency contractor, Edward Snowden, who leaked a substantial archive of secret intelligence documents. This thesis concludes that the news media were often effective, if not consistent, in bringing intelligence to account in the second half of the 20th century. Since the start of the 21st century monitoring the secret state has become more challenging as a result of a changing economic, global and national political environment. Government legislation and technology makes it increasingly difficult for journalists to obtain confidential sources and then undertake their Fourth Estate role. Finding new methodologies is an urgent task for journalists, as history reveals that if intelligence agencies operate without scrutiny from outside government, abuses take place. Never before has government and its intelligence services had such powers and techniques of invasive mass surveillance available, and thus the potential to control the population and particularly those who dissent
Current patch test results with the European baseline series and extensions to it from the 'European Surveillance System on Contact Allergy' network, 2007-2008
No full textBACKGROUND: The pattern of contact sensitization to the supposedly most important allergens assembled in the baseline series differs between countries, presumably at least partly because of exposure differences. Objectives. To describe the prevalence of contact sensitization to allergens tested in consecutive patients in the years 2007 and 2008, and to discuss possible differences. METHODS: Data from the 39 departments in 11 European countries comprising the European Surveillance System on Contact Allergy network (www.essca-dc.org) in this period have been pooled and analysed according to common standards. RESULTS: Patch test results with the European baseline series, and country-specific or department-specific additions to it, obtained in 25 181 patients, showed marked international variation. Metals and fragrances are still the most frequent allergens across Europe. Some allergens tested nationally may be useful future additions to the European baseline series, for example methylisothiazolinone, whereas a few long-term components of the European baseline series, namely primin and clioquinol, no longer warrant routine testing. CONCLUSIONS: The present analysis points to 'excess' prevalences of specific contact sensitization in some countries, although interpretation must be cautious if only few, and possibly specialized, centres are representing one country. A comparison as presented may help to target in-depth research into possible causes of 'excess' exposure, and/or consideration of methodological issues, including modifications to the baseline series
De-mystifying the Muslimah: Exploring Different Perceptions of Selected Young Muslim Women in Britain
No full textIn this research I argue that although Islam as a faith is inherently emancipatory, Muslim
women are doubly marginalised: by patriarchal interpretations of their faith within Muslim
communities and by pluralist society that often does not understand the faith-based values
and practices of Muslim women. The empowerment of Muslim women is crucial not just for
the women themselves but also for socio-political dynamics within the Muslim community
and its relationships in pluralist society. It is from this context, and acknowledging the paucity
of academic literature written by Muslim women, that I set out to give voice to them, so that
their opinions may be heard in discourses that they think are relevant to their lives. By
encouraging Muslim women to take voice and by facilitating mechanisms for these voices to
be heard, this research presents alternate narratives of Muslim women that challenge
dominant media imagery of the oppressed and subjugated Muslim woman. These narratives,
which are by and for Muslim women, portray instead the inherent diversity in the category
'Muslim woman' and thus add more facets to the category 'woman'.
I used an ethnographic methodology that involved participants as contributors in the creation
of new knowledge. Semi-structured interviews with 45 young university-educated Muslim
women and 7 group discussions were used as initial data-gathering tools. The penultimate
ethnographic stage involved Muslim women creating 3-minute long self-representational
digital stories (DSTs), which consist of an autobiographical narrative accompanied by still
pictures. This was a process of self-reflection for the women and an opportunity to take voice
and to be heard. The subsequent screening of these DSTs to audiences who were not
Muslim resulted in discussion and active debate about the reasons for prevalent
(mis)understandings of Muslim women and stereotypes were challenged. In its initiation of
more balanced representations of Muslim women this research empowers Muslim women,
and by contributing to dialogue and cohesion it also empowers pluralist society as a whole.
This research clarifies the overlapping priorities and identities of young British Muslim
women and initiates new discourses, as narrated by the women, on subjects including
religious interpretation and practice, feminism, media representation and social cohesion. In
the research findings I propose an evolving British-Muslim identity among Muslim youth (in
this case young women) which is distinct from that of their parents; a theological articulation
of a 'feminist' struggle for women's rights; and the need to engage with the media and others
to create positive representations of Muslim women. Experiences with DSTs indicate the
potential of personal narratives and interaction for the purposes of inter-community dialogue
Psychosocial interventions to reduce alcohol consumption in concurrent problem alcohol and illicit drug users
No full textBackground: Problem alcohol use is common among illicit drug users and is associated with adverse health outcomes. It is also an important factor in poor prognosis among drug users with hepatitis C virus (HCV) as it impacts on progression to hepatic cirrhosis or opiate overdose in opioid users.Objectives: To assess the effects of psychosocial interventions for problem alcohol use in illicit drug users (principally problem drug users of opiates and stimulants).Search methods: We searched the Cochrane Drugs and Alcohol Group trials register (November 2011), the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (The Cochrane Library, Issue 11, November 2011), PUBMED (1966 to 2011); EMBASE (1974 to 2011); CINAHL (1982 to 2011); PsycINFO (1872 to 2011) and reference list of articles. We also searched: 1) conference proceedings (online archives only) of the Society for the Study of Addiction (SSA), International Harm Reduction Association (IHRA), International Conference on Alcohol Harm Reduction (ICAHR), and American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence (AATOD); 2) online registers of clinical trials, Current Controlled Trials (CCT), Clinical Trials.org, Center Watch and International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP).Selection criteria: Randomised controlled trials comparing psychosocial interventions with another therapy (other psychosocial treatment, including non-pharmacological therapies or placebo) in adult (over the age of 18 years) illicit drug users with concurrent problem alcohol use.Data collection and analysis: Two review authors independently assessed risk of bias and extracted data from included trials.Main results: Four studies, 594 participants, were included. Half of the trials were rated as having high or unclear risk of bias. They considered six different psychosocial interventions grouped into four comparisons: (1) cognitive-behavioural coping skills training versus 12-step facilitation (N = 41), (2) brief intervention versus treatment as usual (N = 110), (3) hepatitis health promotion versus motivational interviewing (N = 256), and (4) brief motivational intervention versus assessment-only group (N = 187). Differences between studies precluded any pooling of data. Findings are described for each trial individually:comparison 1: no significant difference; comparison 2: higher rates of decreased alcohol use at three months (risk ratio (RR) 0.32; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.19 to 0.54) and nine months (RR 0.16; 95% CI 0.08 to 0.33) in the treatment as usual group; comparison 3 (group and individual format): no significant difference; comparison 4: more people reduced alcohol use (by seven or more days in the past 30 days at 6 months) in the brief motivational intervention compared to controls (RR 1.67; 95% CI 1.08 to 2.60).Authors' conclusions: Very little evidence exists that there is no difference in the effectiveness between different types of interventions and that brief interventions are not superior to assessment only or treatment as usual. No conclusion can be made because of the paucity of the data and the low quality of the retrieved studies.Cochrane Training Fellowship awarded to the lead author by Health Research Board of Ireland (Grant No. CTF-2010-9)19/11/1
Serotonin and the neural processing of facial emotions in adults with autism
No full textContext: People with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) have lifelong deficits in social behavior and differences in behavioral as well as neural responses to facial expressions of emotion. The biological basis to this is incompletely understood, but it may include differences in the role of neurotransmitters such as serotonin, which modulate facial emotion processing in health. While some individuals with ASD have significant differences in the serotonin system, to our knowledge, no one has investigated its role during facial emotion processing in adults with ASD and control subjects using acute tryptophan depletion (ATD) and functional magnetic resonance imaging.
Objective: To compare the effects of ATD on brain responses to primary facial expressions of emotion in men with ASD and healthy control subjects.
Design: Double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial of ATD and functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure brain activity during incidental processing of disgust, fearful, happy, and sad facial expressions.
Setting: Institute of Psychiatry, King\u27s College London, and South London and Maudsley National Health Service Foundation Trust, England.
Participants: Fourteen men of normal intelligence with autism and 14 control subjects who did not significantly differ in sex, age, or overall intelligence.
Main Outcome Measures: Blood oxygenation level-dependent response to facial expressions of emotion.
Results: Brain activation was differentially modulated by ATD depending on diagnostic group and emotion type within regions of the social brain network. For example, processing of disgust faces was associated with interactions in medial frontal and lingual gyri, whereas processing of happy faces was associated with interactions in middle frontal gyrus and putamen.
Conclusions: Modulation of the processing of facial expressions of emotion by serotonin significantly differs in people with ASD compared with control subjects. The differences vary with emotion type and occur in social brain regions that have been shown to be associated with group differences in serotonin synthesis/receptor or transporter density.
Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2012; 69(10): 1003-1013. Published online June 4, 2012. doi: 10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2012.51
The Old Library, Trinity College Dublin, 1712-2012 /
No full textIncludes bibliographical references and index.The Old Library : ut erat ut est ut esset / Peter Fox -- The text and decoration of the Book of Kells : fos 179v-180r / Bernard Meehan -- A fresh look at the pigments used on the Book of Kells / Susie Bioletti -- TCD MS 1282 (The Annals of Ulster) : a scholar's book and exemplar / Daniel Mc Carthy -- Some manuscript versions of the Brut Chronicle in Trinity College Library / John Scattergood -- Medieval and early modern Irish manuscripts in the Manuscripts and Archives Research Library / Caoimhe Ní Ghormáin -- The Fagel Missal / Kathryn M. Rudy -- The 1641 Depositions / Micheál Ó Siochrú -- John Ogilby's 1676 map of London (Fag. Portfolio XV, no. 16) / John Montague -- The egregious Matthew Tindal / Stephan Lalor -- Book-borrowing in Trinity College in the early eighteenth century / Elizabethanne Boran -- Trinity College Dublin in 1712 / Ellen O'Flaherty -- The one that got away, or almost : the Molyneux family library and Trinity College Dublin / Patrick Kelly --^The Incorporated Society / Kenneth Milne -- Claudius Gilbert and his books / Robert Armstrong -- Swift's books in Trinity College Library / Dirk Passmann -- Fagel's maps : the eighteenth-century world / J.R. Bartlett -- A drawing in the Fagel Collection / Edward McParland -- Details from Plates XVI and XXIII, Francesco Piranesi, Sciographia quatuor templorum veterum (2 parts, Rome, 1780-90) / Livia Hurley -- Some Irish stereotypes in the 'Golden Age' of caricature / Nicholas K. Robinson -- The Napoleonic Wars in caricature, 1799-1815 / Joseph Clarke -- Purgation and propaganda : Thomas Peall on the common diseases of the horse / P.J. Hartigan -- Cultivating childhood : the Pollard Collection of children's books / Lydia Ferguson -- Daniel O'Connell's top hat / Jacqueline Hill -- Hemphill's stereoscopic illustrations / Andrew Megaw -- The 1872 printed catalogue online / John G. Byrne -- Punch, or the London Charivari / Úna Faulkner --^The Southern Cross, 1875-1901 : an IrishArgentine voice / Helen Kelly -- The Davitt Papers / Carla King -- 'Brother Bookbinder' and the 'book beautiful' : arts and crafts books in the library / Nicola Gordon Bowe -- The Kelmscott Chaucer in Trinity College / Helen Beaney -- The Cuala Press Archive, 1902-86 / Karen E. Brown -- The music in the library / Eimear Saunders -- The sporting archive / Michael Halliday -- James Stephens : a life in letters / Felicity O'Mahony -- Propaganda, trauma and remembrance : Trinity College Library's collection of First World War memoirs / Heather Jones -- The Harry Clarke Studios / Fiana Griffin -- Frank Stephens' lantern slide collection / Clodagh Neligan -- Picture Post / William Francis Cooper -- Waiting for an archivist : the Samuel Beckett Collection / Jane Maxwell -- Tom Murphy : playwright adventurer / Nicholas Grene -- 'Would you look at that!' : a chronological list of library exhibitions / Shane Mawe --^Working in the Conservation Laboratory / Raymond Jordan -- An undergraduate visits the 'Observatory' / Kenneth Milne -- Experiences of a chemist / William J. Davis -- A place apart / Susan Parkes -- Expeditions to the Department of Early Printed Books / Charles Hepworth Holland -- The Trinity Secondhand Booksale / Ann Budd -- The foundation of the Conservation Laboratory / W.E. Vaughan -- 'Must do better' : enhancing the collections of early printed books and special collections / Charles Benson
