4,301 research outputs found
Redemption in the work of Francis Stuart
No full textThe idea of redemption is central to an understanding of the work
of Francis Stuart. Through an examination of its development and
expression, it is possible to demonstrate the integrity of his work and
its distinctive qualities. Such a demonstration is necessary because
Stuart's writing has been subjected to comparatively little scholarly
inquiry, although reviews of his work, especially that produced since
1949, suggest that it is impressive and important.
First, a general background to Stuart's work, a discussion of the
special problems associated with reading it, and a summary of his corpus
is provided. This indicates that the idea of redemption is important to
his earliest writing. The state of redemption is shown to be a
necessary apotheosis for Stuart's outcast heroes; it involves spiritual
suffering through which may be found a sense of reintegration and a
higher reality. This is expressed through interrelated themes such as
those of gambler, artist and ordinary man; mystic and criminal; sacred
and profane love; and spirituality and the mundane. The nature of the
redemptive experience is further elaborated by distinctive, complex
motifs, especially the hare, the ark and the woman-Christ. Their
recurrence provides an important element in the unity of Stuart's work.
Because Stuart's idea of the outcast raises important biographical
questions, an examination of the relationship between Stuart's life and
his work is made. Finally, the way in which the idea of redemption
exists in the language structures of Stuart's novels is examined, with
especial reference to his most recent work, The High Consistory. The
thesis shows that the development of the these of redemption
demonstrates the integrity of Stuart's work
The construction of Karen Karnak: The multi-author-function
No full textThis thesis is situated within the comparatively recent developments of Web 2.0 and the emergence of interactive WikiMedia, and explores the mode of authorship within a Read/Write culture compared to that of a Read/Only tradition. The hypothesis of this study is that the role of the audience has become merged with the author, and as such, represents new functions and attributes, distinct from a more conventional concept of authorship, in which the roles of audience and author are more separate. Read/Write and participatory culture, as defined by this study, is focused on collaboration, and includes the influences of D.I.Y. culture, Open-Source practices and the production of text by multiple authors. Multi-authorship presents a re-thinking of several concepts which support the notion of the individual author, since the focus of multi-authorship is not on attribution and ownership of a finished text, but on the continued malleability of a text. Modes of multi-authorship, demonstrated in the use of the pseudonyms Alan Smithee and Karen Eliot, represent declarative authors whose names signify multiple origins, whilst concurrently indicating a distinct body of work. The function of these names form an important context to this study, since primary research involves the construction of an experimental mode of multi-authorship utilising WikiMedia technology and the interaction of thirty nine participants, who are invited to create a body of work under the collective pseudonym Karen Karnak. The data generated by this experiment is analysed using aspects of Michel Foucault's author-function to identify and determine power structures inherent in the WikiMedia context. The interplay of power structures, including concepts such as identity, ownership and the body of work, affect the resulting mode of authorship and contribute to the construction of Karen Karnak, suggesting further areas of research into the emerging multi-author
Personal Papers (MS 80-0002)
No full textLetter from D. Stuart Godwin, Jr. to I. H. Kempner discussing Godwin's opinion that Kempner should handle the duke files through Mildred Robertson and explaining that while Robertson is capable of making a schedule, the last one is too difficult to read
Reading in the mobile era
No full textMobile technology can advance literacy and learning in underserved communities around the world.
Summary
Millions of people do not read for one reason: they do not have access to text. But today mobile phones and cellular networks are transforming a scarce resource into an abundant one.
Drawing on the analysis of over 4,000 surveys collected in seven developing countries and corresponding qualitative interviews, this report paints the most detailed picture to date of who reads books and stories on mobile devices and why.
The findings illuminate, for the first time, the habits, beliefs and profiles of mobile readers. This information points to strategies to expand mobile reading and, by extension, the educational, social and economic benefits associated with increased reading.
Mobile technology can advance literacy and learning in underserved communities around the world. This report shows how
Beauty for the Present: Mill, Arnold, Ruskin and Aesthetic Education
No full textThe present thesis examines the idea of aesthetic education of three eminent Victorians: John Stuart Mill, Matthew Arnold and John Ruskin. By focusing on the essence of what they meant with ‘the cultivation of the beautiful’ and, more importantly, the way their ideas of beauty informed their criticism of society, my study aims to contribute to our understanding of the idea of aesthetic education in the Victorian context and, further, to participate in a recent debate about the nature of beauty and aesthetic education.
Chapter One focuses on John Stuart Mill’s concept of ‘feeling’ in a series of essays. I will demonstrate how Mill’s idea of ‘aesthetic education’ was an ‘education of feelings,’ and moreover, how this idea was integrated into his literary criticism, his later critique of democratisation, his description of an ideal liberal society and even his own style of writing. Chapter Two contains a comparative study of Matthew Arnold and Friedrich Schiller. Through a rereading of Arnold, I will argue that his idea of aesthetic education is essentially Schillerian and that their resemblance consists primarily in their stress on the importance of aesthetic unity for modern life, which was becoming increasingly fragmentary and multitudinous. Chapter Three examines John Ruskin’s idea of aesthetic education and concentrates particularly on the cultivation of perception. Perception, as I shall show, was pivotal in Ruskin’s idea of aesthetic education. Just as what happened in Mill and Arnold, the emphasis on the education of seeing continued from his early writings well into his art and social criticisms. It not only differentiated him from his fellow art critics; the conviction that people should perceive with a pure heart also enabled him to link observation of artistic details with moral criticism of contemporary society and, thereby, to turn the cultivation of the beautiful into a moral-aesthetic experience
Neurocysticercal antigens stimulate chemokine secretion from human monocytes via an NF-kappaB-dependent pathway.
No full textNeurocysticercosis, infection with larval Taenia solium, is a common, serious neuroparasitic infection. Larval degeneration results in inflammatory cell influx and granuloma formation which leads to clinical symptomatology. The role of chemokines in such cell influx is unknown. We demonstrate that monocyte stimulation by T. solium larval antigen (TsAg) results in a differential profile of CXCL8/IL-8 (146.5+/-8.5ng/ml after 24h), CCL2/MCP-1 (267+/-4 ng/ml after 48 h) and CCL3/MIP-1alpha (1.72+/-0.43 ng/ml after 8 h) secretion. There was coordinate mRNA accumulation reaching maximum at 1h for CCL3 and 2 h for CXCL8 and CCL2. TsAg induced maximal nuclear binding of p65, p50 and c-rel subunits of the transcriptional regulator NF-kappaB by 2 h. IkappaBalpha but not IkappaBbeta was degraded within 10 min before resynthesis by 2 h. Pre-treatment with the broad-spectrum NF-kappaB inhibitor pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate caused complete abrogation of TsAg-induced CCL2 secretion (p=0.005) and 91% reduction of CXCL8 secretion (p=0.0003). TsAg was unable to induce CXCL8 promoter activity in Toll-like receptor (TLR)-2 or TLR-4/MD-2 transfected HeLa cells in the absence of lectins or other adaptor molecules. In summary, our data demonstrate that TsAg induces chemokine secretion via specific pathways dependent on NF-kappaB but not TLR-4/TLR-2, and indicate a potential mechanism whereby larval degeneration results in brain inflammation
VX penetration following percutaneous poisoning: a dermal microdialysis study in the guinea pig
No full textVX, a potent organophosphorus compound, acts primarily by irreversibly inhibiting acetylcholinesterase resulting in an accumulation of acetylcholine, which produces the characteristic signs of nerve agent poisoning. VX is a low-volatility agent, and therefore the most likely route of absorption into the body is via the skin. This study demonstrates for the first time that it is possible to follow the time course of percutaneous VX penetration using the technique of dermal microdialysis and that VX is absorbed through the skin of the anesthetized guinea pig in a concentration-dependent manner. A linear microdialysis probe (5-kDa cut-off) was implanted in the dermis of the back of the guinea pig and perfused (5 mu L/min) with physiological Ringer's solution. VX (296 or 592 mu g/kg) was applied (33 mu L/kg) over the site of the microdialysis probe and dialysate samples collected for up to 6 h. The VX dialysate concentration was measured by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS). Quantitation was performed over the range 0.1 to 100 ng/mL and the calibration was linear. VX was detected within 15 min, reaching a peak at 30 min following both VX doses. After this time the VX concentration decreased. There was a clear dose-dependent recovery of VX in the dialysate and the total amount recovered was statistically significant between the two doses. This study has clearly shown that microdialysis can be used to follow the time course of the percutaneous absorption of VX in the anesthetized guinea pig and will be used in future studies to develop improved medical countermeasures
Primary school teachers' knowledge of phonemic awareness and its importance as a factor in learning to read
No full textThe purpose of this research was to gain an understanding of the knowledge that teachers in New Zealand primary school classrooms have in regard to phonemic awareness, their understanding of its importance as a factor in learning to read, and the methods they use to assess and teach it. International assessments continue to highlight an unacceptably large gap in reading achievement between good and poor readers in New Zealand primary schools (Mullis, Martin, Foy, & Drucker, 2012; Tunmer, Chapman, Greaney, Prochnow, & Arrow, 2013a). Up to 20% of children in New Zealand primary school classrooms are struggling to learn to read (Education and Science Committee, 2001, 2008; Education Review Office, 2005). Research shows that explicit instruction in phonemic awareness will help children struggling with reading to learn to read (Ehri et al., 2001; Hatcher, Hulme, & Snowling, 2004; Nicholson, 2003; Pressley, 2006; Ryder, Tunmer, & Greaney, 2008; Strattman & Hodson, 2005; Torgesen et al., 2001). Teachers’ knowledge of phonemic awareness becomes important in the context of providing this explicit instruction.
An online survey was used to assess 68 in-service teachers’ knowledge of phonemic awareness. Four semi-structured interviews were also conducted which allowed the survey findings to be investigated further in four local contexts to add depth to the researcher’s understanding. Results revealed that participants struggled to define phonemic awareness, and did not understand the differences between phonemic awareness, phonological awareness, and phonics. Participants found some tasks more difficult than others, in particular phoneme counting and phoneme identity. There were also discrepancies between the participants’ perceived knowledge and their actual knowledge. Participants tended to overestimate their actual knowledge, perceiving themselves as more knowledgeable with regard to phonemic awareness than they actually were. Phonemic awareness did not appear to be regularly assessed nor explicitly taught in most of the participants’ classrooms. The findings suggest that the teachers who participated in this study did not typically have the knowledge of phonemic awareness needed to be able to provide the explicit instruction in phonemic awareness children struggling to learn to read need in order to become successful readers
RRS Discovery Cruise 351, 10-28 May 2010. The Extended Ellett Line 2010.
No full textThe Extended Ellett Line is a full-depth hydrographic section between Iceland, 60°N 20°W, Rockall and Scotland. The original Ellett Line across the Rockall Trough was first occupied in 1975 when measurements were attempted four times a year. In 1996 the line was extended to Iceland and occupied approximately annually. The data form a 35 year time-series of the oceanic conditions west of the British Isles.The section monitors the characteristics of the warm water inflow into the Nordic Seas and thence to the Arctic, and observes part of the returning cold water outflow with measurements of the Iceland-Scotland Overflow and the overflow of the Wyville-Thomson Ridge into the Rockall Trough.The 2010 occupation, RRS Discovery Cruise 351, was completed successfully with 48 CTD stations worked between the Iceland and Scotland shelf edges. Additionally, Line G, part of the SAMS observation network of the Scottish continental shelf was completed. Samples were taken for inorganic nutrients, iron and trace metals, bioluminescence and microscope analysis. Incubation experiments were performed to investigate the role of microzooplankton grazing and the speciation of iron, and to investigate the presence of dinoflagellate bioluminescence.In addition to the planned programme, sampling took place to investigate the extent of the fall out from the ash plume emitted by the Iceland volcano, Ejyafjallajokull, and its impact on the biogeochemistry and productivity of the upper ocean.A trial tow of SeaSoar and a short survey of the upper ocean over the Anton Dohrn seamount were successfully completed
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