Literary studies and the academy

In 1885 the University of Oxford invited applications for the newly created Merton Professorship of English Language and Literature. The holder of the chair was, according to the statutes, to ‘lecture and give instruction on the broad history and criticism of English Language and Literature, and on the works of approved English authors’. This was not in itself a particularly innovatory move, as the study of English vernacular literature had played some part in higher education in Britain for over a century. Oxford University had put English as a subject into its pass degree in 1873, had been participating since 1878 in extension teaching, of which literary study formed a significant part, and had since 1881 been setting special examinations in the subject for its non-graduating women students. What was new was the fact that this ancient university appeared to be on the verge of granting the solid academic legitimacy of an established chair to an institutionally marginal and often contentious intellectual pursuit, acknowledging the study of literary texts in English to be a fit subject not just for women and the educationally disadvantaged but also for university men

Geniculate arterial pseudoaneurysm formation following trauma and elective orthopaedic surgery to the knee: 2 case reports and a review of the literature

Arterial pseudoaneurysm formation of the genicular vessels following orthopaedic surgery to the knee is an extremely rare occurrence. Here we report the successful management of two cases as a complication of total knee arthroplasty and a tibial interlocking nail, utilising coil embolisation by interventional radiological techniques and negating the need for further surgery. To our knowledge this is one of the few reported cases of pseudoaneurysms of the descending genicular artery secondary to drain placement and only the second following tibial interlocking nail placement

Insulin and contraction increase nutritive blood flow in rat muscle in vivo determined by microdialysis of l-[14C]glucose

In the present study, a mathematical model using the microdialysis outflow: inflow (O/I) ratio of the novel analogue l-[14C]glucose has been developed which allows the calculation of the nutritive (and non-nutritive) flow in muscle as a proportion of total blood flow. Anaesthetized rats had microdialysis probes carrying l-[14C]glucose inserted through a calf muscle group (tibialis/plantaris/gastrocnemius). The nutritive fraction of total blood flow was determined under basal conditions and in response to contraction (electrical field stimulation), insulin (hyperinsulinaemic euglycaemic clamp with 10 mU min−1 kg−1 insulin) or saline control from limb blood flow and the microdialysis O/I ratio of l-[14C]glucose. Both contraction and insulin infusion decreased the O/I ratio of l-[14C]glucose and increased total limb blood flow. Calculations based on mathematical models using l-[14C]glucose O/I and limb blood flow revealed that during basal conditions, the nutritive fraction of total flow was 0.38 ± 0.06, indicating that basal flow was predominantly non-nutritive. Contraction and insulin increased the nutritive fraction to 0.82 ± 0.24 (P < 0.05) and 0.52 ± 0.12 (P < 0.05). Thus the increase in limb blood flow from insulin was fully accommodated by nutritive flow, while contraction increased nutritive flow at the expense of non-nutritive flow. This novel method using microdialysis and the O/I ratio of l-[14C]glucose allows the determination of the nutritive fraction of total flow in muscle as well as the proportion of total flow that may be redistributed in response to contraction and insulin

Discovery and Optimization of Selective Na_v1.8 Modulator Series That Demonstrate Efficacy in Preclinical Models of Pain

Voltage-gated sodium channels, in particular Na_v1.8, can be targeted for the treatment of neuropathic and inflammatory pain. Herein, we described the optimization of Na_v1.8 modulator series to deliver subtype selective, state, and use-dependent chemical matter that is efficacious in preclinical models of neuropathic and inflammatory pain