40 research outputs found
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French operatic spectacle in the twentieth century
No full textThis is a 12 chapter multi-author book co-edited by myself and Caroline Potter of the University of Kingston. My authorship consists of a chapter and Preface and Acknowledgements (co-authored). My Chapter (5) is entitled 'French operatic spectacle in the twentieth-century' and runs from pp. 117–159
A picture of strength: life stories of four grandmothers
Get PDFThis creative nonfiction thesis explores how four grandmothers, those of the author and of the author\u27s husband, define strength. The thesis uses information gleaned through interviews with the four women to tell their life stories. The conclusion examines how these stories have been shaped by factors such as race, class, gender, age, and religious beliefs. The author finds that the women demonstrate strength both through life choices they have made and through the repetition of certain stones which define strength for each individual woman
An Enhanced Signal Processing Toolbox for Electrical Energy Monitoring
No full textA nonintrusive load monitor (NILM) aims to perform power system analysis with a minimally invasive sensor profile. A wealth of literature exists for load identification and energy disaggregation under ideal, healthy conditions. However, a significant value proposition of nonintrusive load monitoring comes from fault detection and diagnostics. Early detection of electromechanical faults aids safety, reduces energy waste, and saves money. However, load identification and energy disaggregation are complicated by faulty or time-varying load operation profiles. This thesis extends previous thesis work by the author that addresses this issue. A new, “multistream” feature extraction approach to nonintrusive power monitoring is presented. This approach enables targeted electrical data analysis on non-stationary electrical systems.E.E
Ecology, impacts and management of pest birds
Get PDFPests can impact significantly upon the economy, the environment and on human and animal health. However, for pest birds there are surprisingly few studies of these impacts and how to reduce them. The aim of this thesis is to advance our understanding of the ecology, impacts, and management of pest birds using case studies for each of the three main impacts.
In considering economic impacts I estimate pest bird abundance, describe a novel method for measuring bird damage, and evaluate the efficacy of lethal and non-lethal methods in vineyards and orchards. Using data across 185 property years, netting was found to be the most effective in reducing bird damage. Shooting was not as effective but was one-third of the cost and had 13% lower damage compared with nil-treatments. Scaring with electronic devices and visual deterrents had no effect on bird damage. Despite their widespread use, lethal methods had limited effectiveness for reducing pest abundance.
In considering environmental impacts introduced mallards on Lord Howe Island were used as a case study. Phenotypic characteristics suggest that mallards have supplanted the native Pacific black duck on Lord Howe Island. Management alternatives are evaluated and discussed.
In considering health-related impacts wild birds and avian influenza in Australia was used as a case study. Here, the ecology of Australia’s Anseriformes, and the epidemiology, modes of transmission, and the factors influencing the prevalence of avian influenza in Australia’s wild birds are investigated. Risk profiles to improve the efficiency and relevance of wild-bird surveillance are also provided.
The case studies presented demonstrate that an understanding of a pest’s ecology, efficient measures of impacts, and thorough evaluations of surveillance and management strategies are essential for effectively managing their economic, environmental and health-related impacts
"By what authority?" The literary function and impact of conflict stories in the Gospel of Matthew
Get PDFThe purpose of this thesis is to explore the significance of conflict stories in
the Gospel of Matthew from a literary critical perspective. The key research question
the thesis has attempted to answer is, how do conflict stories function in Matthew’s
narrative?
Because their interest is often limited to the Sitz im Leben behind the Matthean
text, previous studies attempting the similar pursuit view conflict stories as
transparent accounts of Matthew’s polemical program against the Jews or Judaism.
Thus they have neglected a vital purpose of the author, that is, besides his interest to
record or preserve what happened in history, the Gospel author is also interested to
arouse or affirm the readers’ faith in Jesus through his preservation and redaction of
his sources, which is an inseparable part of the author’s theological program. How
exactly then has his literary work achieved this purpose?
Assuming the literary unity of the Matthean text, this study has treated the
Matthean text as a mirror and explored literary nuances reflected by the textual
‘surface.’ Under such a premise, the narrative analysis of this thesis has highlighted
three foci:
1. The connection which each conflict makes with its narrative context;
2. How the Hebrew Scripture interacts with the author’s composition or
redaction of the stories; and
3. The literary impact these stories have on the implied reader.
This study selects a total of seventeen conflict stories in Matthew based on
three criteria, Matt 9.1-8, 9-13, 14-17; 12.1-8, 9-14, 22-37, 38-45; 13.53-58; 15.1-9;
16.1-4; 19.1-9; 21.14-17, 23-27; 22.15-22, 23-33, 34-40, 41-46:
1. The presence of an attitude of hostility or challenge in the setting of the
narrative (either explicit or implied);
2. The presence of a question of an accusation or a challenge; and
3. The question or the accusation is usually followed by a reply of Jesus.
In conclusion, the literary analysis of this study suggests two most important
functions of Matthean conflict stories:
1. Conflict stories function, either individually or in clusters, as kernels of the
Matthean plot to advance the narrative forward in order to reach its climax
in the passion narrative.
2. The Christological focus in conflict stories is consistently concerned not
only with the superiority of Jesus over the opponents, but more importantly
with the nexus between the divine status of Jesus and him being the
messianic figure
A century of women's employment in clerical occupations: 1850-1950, with particular reference to the role of the Society for Promoting the Employment of Women
No full textThe study set out to answer two main questions: (a) what was the role of the Society for Promoting the
Employment of Women (SPEW) - an organisation founded in 1859, still in existence today, but now
known as the Society for Promoting the Training of Women (SPTW), in the evolution of clerical work as a
suitable occupation for women; and (b) what continuities or discontinuities with nineteenth-century office
employment could be identified in the experiences of women employed as clerical workers during the first
half of the twentieth century?
To answer the first question the author examined the archives of SPEW which are lodged at Girton
College, Cambridge. The second question was addressed by contacting a small sample of women, the
majority born between 1903 and 1925, who were willing to be questioned about their experiences of office
work during the inter-war years.
The research used a mixture of historiographic (archival analysis) and sociological (empirical) enquiry. It
established that SPEW had played a pivotal role in opening up clerical employment to women; and
demonstrated that early twentieth-century women had not capitalised on the efforts of those first-wave
feminists even though office work was by then a major destination for women. Informants reported unequal
pay, segregated workplaces, strictly-regulated social mores, and a patriarchal structure where women were
concentrated in lower-level posts. These informants were content to view marriage and motherhood as their
main 'career' in life.
Chapters 1 and 2 describe the author's background, including how her interest in the research topic
developed, the rationale for the research, and the ways in which the study was carried out. Building on
previous research, the following two chapters establish the historical framework, the founding of SPEW, its
members' links with the Langham Place circle, and the practical activities in which the Society was
engaged. Chapter 5 describes the range of women's white-collar employment during the period under
review. Chapter 6 presents empirical data relating to the sample of 21 twentieth-century women, and finally
Chapter 7 reflects on the ways in which the research evolved, comparing the evidence from the two eras,
and suggests further possibilities for research
MOESM1 of Working well: a systematic scoping review of the Indigenous primary healthcare workforce development literature
No full textAdditional file 1. Table of study characteristics. A table including: author; year; publication type; country; setting; study type and quality; participants; aim; conditions; strategies; and, impacts
Molnupiravir versus placebo in unvaccinated and vaccinated patients with early SARS-CoV-2 infection in the UK (AGILE CST-2): a randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind, phase 2 trial
Get PDFBACKGROUND: The antiviral drug molnupiravir was licensed for treating at-risk patients with COVID-19 on the basis of data from unvaccinated adults. We aimed to evaluate the safety and virological efficacy of molnupiravir in vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals with COVID-19. METHODS: This randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind, phase 2 trial (AGILE CST-2) was done at five National Institute for Health and Care Research sites in the UK. Eligible participants were adult (aged ≥18 years) outpatients with PCR-confirmed, mild-to-moderate SARS-CoV-2 infection who were within 5 days of symptom onset. Using permuted blocks (block size 2 or 4) and stratifying by site, participants were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive either molnupiravir (orally; 800 mg twice daily for 5 days) plus standard of care or matching placebo plus standard of care. The primary outcome was the time from randomisation to SARS-CoV-2 PCR negativity on nasopharyngeal swabs and was analysed by use of a Bayesian Cox proportional hazards model for estimating the probability of a superior virological response (hazard ratio [HR]>1) for molnupiravir versus placebo. Our primary model used a two-point prior based on equal prior probabilities (50%) that the HR was 1·0 or 1·5. We defined a priori that if the probability of a HR of more than 1 was more than 80% molnupiravir would be recommended for further testing. The primary outcome was analysed in the intention-to-treat population and safety was analysed in the safety population, comprising participants who had received at least one dose of allocated treatment. This trial is registered in ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04746183, and the ISRCTN registry, ISRCTN27106947, and is ongoing. FINDINGS: Between Nov 18, 2020, and March 16, 2022, 1723 patients were assessed for eligibility, of whom 180 were randomly assigned to receive either molnupiravir (n=90) or placebo (n=90) and were included in the intention-to-treat analysis. 103 (57%) of 180 participants were female and 77 (43%) were male and 90 (50%) participants had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. SARS-CoV-2 infections with the delta (B.1.617.2; 72 [40%] of 180), alpha (B.1.1.7; 37 [21%]), omicron (B.1.1.529; 38 [21%]), and EU1 (B.1.177; 28 [16%]) variants were represented. All 180 participants received at least one dose of treatment and four participants discontinued the study (one in the molnupiravir group and three in the placebo group). Participants in the molnupiravir group had a faster median time from randomisation to negative PCR (8 days [95% CI 8–9]) than participants in the placebo group (11 days [10–11]; HR 1·30, 95% credible interval 0·92–1·71; log-rank p=0·074). The probability of molnupiravir being superior to placebo (HR>1) was 75·4%, which was less than our threshold of 80%. 73 (81%) of 90 participants in the molnupiravir group and 68 (76%) of 90 participants in the placebo group had at least one adverse event by day 29. One participant in the molnupiravir group and three participants in the placebo group had an adverse event of a Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events grade 3 or higher severity. No participants died (due to any cause) during the trial. INTERPRETATION: We found molnupiravir to be well tolerated and, although our predefined threshold was not reached, we observed some evidence that molnupiravir has antiviral activity in vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals infected with a broad range of SARS-CoV-2 variants, although this evidence is not conclusive. FUNDING: Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, the UK National Institute for Health and Care Research, the Medical Research Council, and the Wellcome Trust
