An Inchoate Universe: James's Probabilistic Underdeterminism

In this paper, I challenge the traditional narrative that William James’s arguments against determinism were primarily motivated by his personal struggles with depression. I argue that James presents an alternative argument against determinism that is motivated by his commitment to sound scientific practice. James argues that determinism illegitimately extrapolates from observations of past events to predictions about future events without acknowledging the distinct metaphysical difference between them. This occupation with futurity suggests that James’s true target is better understood as logical determinism rather than causal determinism. This has consequences for James’s proposed alternative, which I call his probabilistic underdeterminism, a conception of the universe that is built on chance, choice, and a local teleology. All of this forms part of a broader criticism of the scientific practices of his day based on their widespread failure to acknowledge the distorting effects of observation on that which is observed

Embodied Akrasia: James on Motivation and Weakness of Will

This paper presents an account of akrasia, drawn from the work of William James, that sees akrasia as neither a rational failing (as with most philosophical accounts) nor a moral failing (as with early Christian accounts), but rather a necessary by-product of our status as biological beings. By examining James’s related accounts of motivation and action, I argue that akratic actions occur when an agent attempts to act against her settled habits, but fails to do so. This makes akrasia a product of the agent’s practical failure to adequately structured her environment to bring about her desired action. Akratic action performs the vital function of revealing to the agent the exact point at which her cognitive effort was insufficient for bringing about her intended action. It also reveals that future improvement is within her control. As such, akratic action is the very foundation of James’s meliorism

Refiguring class: the precariat in contemporary writing about Britain

This thesis is about social class in post-2008 writing about Britain. Focusing on the work of several contemporary writers – including John Lanchester, Mohsin Hamid, and Ali Smith – the thesis seeks to examine the ways in which neoliberalism as an economic, cultural, social and political formation produces a new class subject: the precariat. The condition of precarity has received some attention in literary studies, but this thesis offers a theorisation of the constitutive form the character type of the precariat might take in seven main texts. The purpose of this, therefore, is to posit a revitalisation of class analyses in studies of contemporary literature. After providing a theoretical mapping of neoliberalism, class, and the precariat across several disciplines in the Introduction, Chapter One interrogates Lanchester’s Capital (2012), arguing that its formal qualities both reflect the cultural concept of the classless society and anticipate its fragmentation into the precariat. The novel’s conclusion with the financial crisis as a moment of rupture signals the necessity of the subsequent chapters, which serve as literary case studies of each character type. Chapter Two reads the protagonist of Paul Ewen’s Francis Plug: How To Be A Public Author (2014) as a millennial by tracing the text’s focus on burnout, mental health, and the false promise of meritocratic ideals to identify his exploitation. Chapter Three focuses on Hari Kunzru’s Transmission (2004) and Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West (2017) and locates the figure of the migrant-refugee as characterised by a perennial mobility. Chapter Four examines Jonathan Coe’s Number 11 (2015) and identifies its engagement with austerity as economic and cultural violence. Finally, Chapter Five offers a brief, concluding discussion that brings the threads of the thesis together by considering Anthony Cartwright’s The Cut (2017) and Ali Smith’s Spring (2019) in relation to current class temporalities. Positioning precarity as existing in a ‘hyper present’, the thesis concludes by arguing the precariat is characterised by the post-crash cultural moment. Modulating Marxist and neoMarxist discourses, these chapters offer as a starting point an account of the ways in which class formation affects the novel in the 2004-2019 period

Pregnancy after tubal occlusion A 5-year study

During the 5-year period 1976 - 19809430 patients underwenttubal occlusion at Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town. Of these patients 24, or 2,5/1 ODD, became pregnant after the procedure. An analysis of the pregnancy rate for each method of tubal occlusion is reported. Bilateral tubal occlusion by laparotomy'or falope rings has a low failure rate; cauterization has not

'I come from' 17 November 2020 - 17 March 2021

The 'I Come From' project worked with a diverse range of people from Nottingham and beyond in order to provide a platform for their stories through creative writing and performance poetry. Through poetry and story-telling we have creatively engaged three diverse groups in a series of workshops led by Trekkah Benjamin, Ty Healy, Plentiful Poet and Joe Andrews, with guest workshops from Joshua Judson and Jake Weaver. Using the form of poem 'Where I Come From' written by world-famous poet Elizabeth Brewster, three 5-week workshops, produced a series of anthologies empowering our participant’s voices and developing their confidence. The work was then illustrated by Raphael Achache and pressed in preparation for an online showcase event, which offered a performance opportunity. By recording and presenting these stories we can address misconceptions and views that create barriers in our society. As part of the legacy for this community project digital resources packs were created from the anthologies which aimed to open up a forum of discussion between our participant's stories and the wider audiences that engage with them. These resources was targeted at groups from the Refugee forum, Framework and Outburst where these personal stories may have a most impact

Measures of cardiac function in Theraphosidae spiders using in vivo magnetic resonance imaging

We report the first in vivo cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measurements of Theraphosidae spiders. MRI scanning is performed on six spiders under isoflurane‐induced anaesthesia. Retrospective self‐gating cine‐cardiac MRI (RG‐CINE‐MRI) is used to overcome the difficulties of prospective cardiac gating in this species. The resulting RG‐CINE‐MRI images are successfully analyzed to obtain functional cardiac parameters from live spiders at rest. Cardiac ejection fraction is found to increase with animal mass (Pearson correlation 0.849, P = 0.03) at a faster rate than myocardial tissue volume, whereas heart rate remains constant across animals. This suggests the spider heart undergoes additional biomechanical loading with age. The results of the present study demonstrate the potential for retrospective gating with respect to evaluating aspects of cardiac function in a wide range of previously inaccessible species

The Common Swift Louse Fly, Crataerina pallida: An Ideal Species for Studying Host-Parasite Interactions

Little is known of the life-history of many parasitic species. This hinders a full understanding of host-parasitic interactions. The common swift louse fly, Crataerina pallida Latreille (Diptera: Hippoboscidae), an obligate haematophagous parasite of the Common Swift, Apus apus Linnaeus 1758, is one such species. No detrimental effect of its parasitism upon the host has been found. This may be because too little is known about C. pallida ecology, and therefore detrimental effects are also unknown. This is a review of what is known about the life-history of this parasite, with the aim of promoting understanding of its ecology. New, previously unreported observations about C. pallida made from personal observations at a nesting swift colony are described. Unanswered questions are highlighted, which may aid understanding of this host-parasite system. C. pallida may prove a suitable model species for the study of other host-parasite relationships

Spider tracheaton

The problem of why spiders possess two types of respiratory structure, book-lungs and tracheae, was investigated. The tracheal systems of a number of species of spider were visualized using a vacuum-injection method. A new technique for dissolving the soft-tissues of spiders, whilst leaving the tracheae unharmed, is described. Photographs and line-drawings illustrate a variety of tracheal structures. The concentration of haemocyanin [Hc] in the blood of 26 species of spider was investigated. There was significant variation between the [Hc] of different species. Species with a highly-developed tracheal system typically had low [Hc]; however, some species with tracheae limited to the abdomen also had low [Hc]. No relationship was found between [Hc] and predation strategy. A non-invasive laser/fibre-optic technique was developed to measure the heart-rates of active unrestrained spiders. The heart-rates of 15 species of spider were measured before, during, and after activity. In contrast to the opinion of some workers, heart-pumping was maintained during locomotion. Heart-rates decreased at the onset of forced fast running and a rise occurred when running ceased. Spiders with prosomal tracheae had lower heart-rates than spiders with tracheae limited to the abdomen. Dysdera had an atypical heart-beat. A possible association between maximum heart-rate and predation strategy is proposed. The efficiency of tracheae in transporting gases around the body was investigated by measuring the metabolic rates of spiders with and without prosomal tracheae. Spiders with prosomal tracheae had lower resting metabolic rates, but similar maximum metabolic rates, compared with spiders with tracheae limited to the abdomen. The species with prosomal tracheae typically had faster recovery rates, after exercise, than species without prosomal tracheae. The role of tracheae in spiders is discussed.</p

The effect of modified and lightweight fishing gears on benthic macrofauna

Fishing with bottom-towed gears represents the largest anthropogenic impact to benthic habitats. In order to mitigate further degradation, fisheries manager are adopting an Ecosystems Approach to Fisheries Management, in which the impact of trawling on the seabed and associated biota is taken into consideration. The magnitude of benthic impact from a single pass of a fishing gear can be attributed, in part, to the correlation between gear penetration depth and benthic faunal depletion rates. As such, bottom-towed gears that penetrate less deeply into the sediment are thought to cause less benthic mortality. The use of lighter-weight bottom-towed fishing gears has therefore been suggested as a potential solution to reduce benthic impact from conventional fishing gears, whilst retaining an active fishery. Thus, gear modifications have been developed, and interest into lightweight conventional gears has been stimulated. Some modified fishing gears have been adopted into Danish fisheries. However, quantification of the effects that modified and light weight gears have on benthic macrofauna is rather limited. Therefore, in order to support whether gear modifications have the potential to reduce benthic habitat damage, an assessment of their impact to benthic macrofauna is necessary. Here we examine the effect of three lightweight or modified bottom-towed fishing gears on benthic macrofauna. The results are presented in three research papers, which form the basis of this thesis.Research Paper 1: In Danish inshore waters, blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) are fished from wild stocks using a lightweight mussel dredge. In this chapter, we quantified the instantaneous impact of mussel dredging directly in the dredge track, the area adjacent to the track, as well as the short-term recovery after 4 months. Density and species richness was significantly reduced in the dredge track, and density significantly differed in the adjacent area. After 4 months, density and species richness remained affected, but signs of recovery may be indicated. No effect of dredging was observed on biomass in the dredge track, the adjacent area or over time.Research Paper 2: In nearshore open coast, the Danish seine is used to catch mixed demersal fish species. The Danish seine is thought to impose very little physical impact to the seabed, as the footprint consist mainly (99%) of long ropes used to herd fish into the net, and only 1% from the ground gear and net. In this chapter, we quantified the effect of the two gear components of the Danish seine on benthic macrofauna. The impact on benthic fauna was examined after a single and multiple hauls of the Danish seine. We observed little effect of either the ropes or ground gear on benthic macrofaunal indicators. However, for an individual taxa, the tube-building horseshoe worm, Phoronis spp, density was reduced by ~90% after multiple hauls of the Danish seine ropes.Research Paper 3: On an offshore sandbank, the Dogger Bank, one of Denmark’s largest fisheries targets sandeel (Ammodytes sp.) using otter trawls. In an effort to reduce the benthic impact, a modified sandeel otter trawl (SOT) was developed and tested. In this Chapter, we compared the benthic impact of conventional SOT with the modified SOT. The conventional SOT resulted in a greater reduction of benthic faunal biomass, specifically of the large-bodied fauna, living at the sediment surface, and also reduced the overal footprint by 33%. From these results, it would appear that by switching to the modified gear, the benthic impact of the sandeel fishery could be reduced.Despite the relatively large losses in some components of the community, the modified gears generally exhibited small effects to seabed macrofauna and benefits to seabed habitats could be expected from replacing conventional gears with these lighter weight modified gears