Keeper : a novel and critical reflection on historical fiction as a genre

Previously held under moratorium from 11 February 2019 until 20 April 2022.This practice-led PhD thesis consists of two sections: a creative element and critical commentary. ‘Keeper’ is a historical crime fiction novel. Set in the slums of Regency London, the story is about the effects of trauma on the individual, and gentrification on the community. It looks at what family means for different people, and how the ties of blood and friendship are tested. Both third-person and first-person focalisation are employed, as the story is told from two different perspectives – one that of an injured soldier who is relatively new to the rookery, and the other an orphaned girl who has never seen the world beyond it. The third-person voice is connected to and often overwhelmed by the past, and this is reflected in the use of the past tense, which contrasts with the immediacy of first-person present tense. The narrative utilises the investigation of a murder to scrutinise the development of British society in the early nineteenth century, through a fictional examination of historical events and their social consequences. An author’s note provides insight into the research process. The critical commentary explores the origins and theoretical response to the historical novel. The commentary touches on the nineteenth century split between academic history and historical fiction, which promoted an artificial opposition between history and fiction, and discusses the lack of scholarly definitions of the genre. Issues surrounding the classifications that are available are examined, before a new definition is proposed. The practical challenges of the historical novel are explored through interviews with six authors of historical fiction. An analysis of these interview transcripts and Hilary Mantel’s Reith Lectures is used to argue that the writers’ approach to research, and engagement with sources, demonstrates a working methodology from which aspiring writers may learn.This practice-led PhD thesis consists of two sections: a creative element and critical commentary. ‘Keeper’ is a historical crime fiction novel. Set in the slums of Regency London, the story is about the effects of trauma on the individual, and gentrification on the community. It looks at what family means for different people, and how the ties of blood and friendship are tested. Both third-person and first-person focalisation are employed, as the story is told from two different perspectives – one that of an injured soldier who is relatively new to the rookery, and the other an orphaned girl who has never seen the world beyond it. The third-person voice is connected to and often overwhelmed by the past, and this is reflected in the use of the past tense, which contrasts with the immediacy of first-person present tense. The narrative utilises the investigation of a murder to scrutinise the development of British society in the early nineteenth century, through a fictional examination of historical events and their social consequences. An author’s note provides insight into the research process. The critical commentary explores the origins and theoretical response to the historical novel. The commentary touches on the nineteenth century split between academic history and historical fiction, which promoted an artificial opposition between history and fiction, and discusses the lack of scholarly definitions of the genre. Issues surrounding the classifications that are available are examined, before a new definition is proposed. The practical challenges of the historical novel are explored through interviews with six authors of historical fiction. An analysis of these interview transcripts and Hilary Mantel’s Reith Lectures is used to argue that the writers’ approach to research, and engagement with sources, demonstrates a working methodology from which aspiring writers may learn

Historical Arctic Logbooks Provide Insights into Past Diets and Climatic Responses of Cod

Gadus morhua (Atlantic cod) stocks in the Barents Sea are currently at levels not seen since the 1950s. Causes for the population increase last century, and understanding of whether such large numbers will be maintained in the future, are unclear. To explore this, we digitised and interrogated historical cod catch and diet datasets from the Barents Sea. Seventeen years of catch data and 12 years of prey data spanning 1930–1959 cover unexplored spatial and temporal ranges, and importantly capture the end of a previous warm period, when temperatures were similar to those currently being experienced. This study aimed to evaluate cod catch per unit effort and prey frequency in relation to spatial, temporal and environmental variables. There was substantial spatio-temporal heterogeneity in catches through the time series. The highest catches were generally in the 1930s and 1940s, although at some localities more cod were recorded late in the 1950s. Generalized Additive Models showed that environmental, spatial and temporal variables are all valuable descriptors of cod catches, with the highest occurring from 15–45°E longitude and 73–77°N latitude, at bottom temperatures between 2 and 4°C and at depths between 150 and 250 m. Cod diets were highly variable during the study period, with frequent changes in the relative frequencies of different prey species, particularly Mallotus villosus (capelin). Environmental variables were particularly good at describing the importance of capelin and Clupea harengus (herring) in the diet. These new analyses support existing knowledge about how the ecology of the region is controlled by climatic variability. When viewed in combination with more recent data, these historical relationships will be valuable in forecasting the future of Barents Sea fisheries, and in understanding how environments and ecosystems may respond

Family -- Dicistroviridae

This chapter focuses on Dicistroviridae family whose two member genera are Cripavirus and Aparavirus. The virions are roughly spherical with a particle diameter of approximately 30 nm and have no envelope. The virions exhibit icosahedral, pseudo T = 3 symmetry and are composed of 60 protomers, each composed of a single molecule of each of VP2, VP3, and VP1. A smaller protein VP4 is also present in the virions of some members and is located on the internal surface of the 5-fold axis below VP1. The virions are stable in acidic conditions and have sedimentation coefficients of between 153 and 167S. They contain a single molecule of infectious, linear, positive sense, single stranded RNA (ssRNA) of approximately 8500–10,000 nt in size with a GC content ranging from 35 to 45%. RNA constitutes about 30% of the virion weight and the proteins account for 70% of the virion weight. The approximately 200 kDa nonstructural polyprotein and 100 kDa structural polyprotein are encoded by ORF 1 and ORF 2, respectively. The virions contain three major structural (capsid) viral proteins, VP1, VP2, and VP3 and the size of these capsid proteins ranges from 24 to 40 kDa. The RNA genome is monopartite and dicistronic with two nonoverlapping ORFs that are separated and flanked by UTRs. All members of the family infect invertebrates and most members of the family are widely distributed in nature. Dicistrovirus infection is not usually associated with overt disease, although infection commonly leads to reduced life expectancy

An Analysis of the Interpretability of Neural Networks trained on Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Stroke Outcome Prediction

Applying deep learning models to MRI scans of acute stroke patients to extract features that are indicative of short-term outcome could assist a clinician’s treatment decisions. Deep learning models are usually accurate but are not easily interpretable. Here, we trained a convolutional neural network on ADC maps from hyperacute ischaemic stroke patients for prediction of short-term functional outcome and used an interpretability technique to highlight regions in the ADC maps that were most important in the prediction of a bad outcome. Although highly accurate, the model’s predictions were not based on aspects of the ADC maps related to stroke pathophysiology

Self Reported Incidence and Morbidity of Acute Respiratory Illness among Deployed U.S. Military in Iraq and Afghanistan

BACKGROUND: Historically, respiratory infections have had a significant impact on U.S. military missions. Deployed troops are particularly at high risk due to close living conditions, stressful work environments and increased exposure to pathogens. To date, there are limited data available on acute respiratory illness (ARI) among troops deployed in support of ongoing military operations, specifically Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). METHODS: Using self-report data from two sources collected from troops deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and the surrounding region, we analyzed incidence and risk factors for ARI. Military personnel on mid-deployment Rest & Recuperation (R&R) or during redeployment were eligible to participate in the voluntary self-report survey. RESULTS: Overall, 39.5% reported having at least one ARI. Of these, 18.5% sought medical care and 33.8% reported having decreased job performance. The rate of self-reported ARI was 15 episodes per 100 person-months among those taking the voluntary survey, and 24.7 episodes per 100 person-months among those taking the clinic health questionnaire. Negative binomial regression analysis found female sex, Navy branch of service and lack of flush toilets to be independently associated with increased rates of ARI. Deployment to OIF, increasing age and higher rank were also positively associated with ARI risk. CONCLUSIONS: The overall percentage of deployed military personnel reporting at least one acute respiratory illness decreased since earlier parts of OIF/OEF. However, the reported effect on job performance increased tremendously. The most important factors associated with increased respiratory infection are female sex, Navy branch of service, lack of improved latrine facilities, deployment to OIF, increasing age and higher rank

Ethnographic methods in academic libraries: A review

Research in academic libraries has recently seen an increase in the use of ethnographic-based methods to collect data. Primarily used to learn about library users and their interaction with spaces and resources, the methods are proving particularly useful to academic libraries. The data ethnographic methods retrieve is rich, context specific, and often difficult to collect via other methods. This review provides an overview of research demonstrating how ethnography can be applied to learn about a variety of issues in academic libraries, ranging from space use to a way of teaching new students about library resources and facilities

Improving the content, wording, structure and formatting of the NHS Injectable Medicines Guide (“Medusa”) with user testing

The NHS Injectable Medicines Guide (IMG) is used by nurses in >100 hospitals to guide the preparation & administration of IV medicines. Surveys suggest users find it too detailed & confusing. This may make it difficult to find relevant, unambiguous information & could lead to serious medication errors. We aimed to identify & resolve problems in two typical IMG guides via user testing

Prevalence of hepatitis B and C infection in persons living with HIV enrolled in care in Rwanda

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis B (HBV) and C (HCV) are important causes of morbidity and mortality in people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The burden of these co-infections in sub-Saharan Africa is still unclear. We estimated the prevalence of the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and hepatitis C antibody (HCVAb) among HIV-infected individuals in Rwanda and identified factors associated with infection. METHODS: Between January 2016 and June 2016, we performed systematic screening for HBsAg and HCVAb among HIV-positive individuals enrolled at public and private HIV facilities across Rwanda. Results were analyzed to determine marker prevalence and variability by demographic factors. RESULTS: Overall, among 117,258 individuals tested, the prevalence of HBsAg and HCVAb was 4.3% (95% confidence interval [CI] (4.2-4.4) and 4.6% (95% CI 4.5-4.7) respectively; 182 (0.2%) HIV+ individuals were co-infected with HBsAg and HCVAb. Prevalence was higher in males (HBsAg, 5.4% [5.1-5.6] vs. 3.7% [3.5-3.8]; HCVAb, 5.0% [4.8-5.2] vs. 4.4% [4.3-4.6]) and increased with age; HCVAb prevalence was significantly higher in people aged ≥65 years (17.8% [16.4-19.2]). Prevalence varied geographically. CONCLUSION: HBV and HCV co-infections are common among HIV-infected individuals in Rwanda. It is important that viral hepatitis prevention and treatment activities are scaled-up to control further transmission and reduce the burden in this population. Particular efforts should be made to conduct targeted screening of males and the older population. Further assessment is required to determine rates of HBV and HCV chronicity among HIV-infected individuals and identify effective strategies to link individuals to care and treatment