Lucretius, Empedocles, and Cleanthes

Lucretius is so well known to be an Epicurean poet that it may seem pointless to investigate his philosophical influences. The situation should be straightforward, but many un-Epicurean influences have been noticed in De rerum natura, and there has been considerable argument over whether, or to what degree, these are philosophical or simply poetic influences. The fact that Lucretius uses the medium of verse for his philosophical exposition complicates the picture. He has a marked tendency to appropriate the language and imagery of his “opponents” and use them to argue against their world view. So we can say, for example, that he is an Ennian poet, because of his use of Ennius as a poetic source, while he disagrees fundamentally with Ennius’ Pythagoreanism, and that he is a Homeric poet despite, or because of, his mission to combat the Homeric world view of gods intervening in human affairs. He also makes little distinction between poetic and philosophical sources, and this makes the question of his philosophical influences even more complicated. Further, his most important poetic influence is Empedocles, and Empedocles is a philosopher poet; because of this aspects of the Empedoclean world view tend to be imported into DRN along with poetic influence.2 As well as this, Lucretius actively embraces parts of Empedocles’ vision, in particular the figure of Aphrodite as a governing principle of the universe. I argue that Stoic sources are also appropriated and “turned” by Lucretius, especially Cleanthes’ Hymn to Zeus. Cleanthes, as I see it, had already used Empedocles as a source for his hymn, replacing Aphrodite, the Empedoclean “feminine principal”, with the Stoic masculine controlling principle Zeus. Lucretius topples the usurper Zeus from his throne and puts Aphrodite/Venus back in her rightful place. In the first section I look at the ways in which Lucretius himself speaks of his poetic and philosophical sources

‘And bright was the flame of their friendship’ (Empedocles B130): humans, animals, justice, and friendship, in Lucretius and Empedocles

This paper argues that Lucretius exploits a significant doctrinal overlap between his two most important influences, Empedocles and Epicurus, in his account of the domestication of animals. Like Empedocles (although for different reasons), the Epicureans were vegetarians; like him, they regarded friendship as the basis for society. Empedocles argued that in the golden age there existed a naturally occurring state of friendship between humans and animals. Although Epicurus and his followers disagreed with this theory, there are Epicurean sources that strongly suggest that they themselves thought of the first societies as being founded on friendship pacts made between both humans and animals

Fenestrations In The Internal Elastic Lamina Of Human Cerebral Arteries And Their Probable Role As A Factor In The Etiology Of Saccular Aneurysms

The main purpose of this investigation was to characterize the spatial geometry of the fenestrations (windows) in the internal elastic lamina (IEL) from human cerebral arteries. The IEL was isolated from the arterial wall and prepared for examination by the scanning electron microscope. A new method identified a uniform shrinkage for the IEL of only 6.9 (+OR-) 0.21 SEM %. The photomicrographs of the external surface of the IEL revealed a continuous sheet penetrated by numerous round fenestrations with smooth borders. Four geometrical characteristics based upon the diameter and the number of fenestrations in the field of view for every photomicrograph, were calculated for each specimen: Diameter (the average diameter of the fenestrations); Density (the number of fenestrations per square millimeter); Percentage Area (percentage of the surface area comprised of fenestrations); and Ligament Efficiency (minimum width of a solid band of material divided by the centre-to-centre distance for two or a series of adjacent holes). The geometrical characteristics were computed for cylindrical segments of various diameters, associated with the tapering of the arterial tree. A replication of the fenestrations in a photomicrograph and a geometrical model (uniform array of holes with a constant diameter) with an equivalent ligament efficiency, were created in latex sheets for three cylindrical arterial segments with different arterial diameters. The physical behaviour and change in the spatial geometry of the fenestrations were assessed by uniaxially stretching the latex models.;A comparison of the geometrical characteristics for localized groups of fenestrations in the apical region with respect to the circumjacent region to bifurcations (branches in the arterial tree), revealed a significant increase in diameter (7.0 (+OR-) 0.34 SEM (mu)m versus 2.1 (+OR-) 0.13 SEM (mu)m), percentage area (15.0 (+OR-) 1.1 SEM % versus 1.8 (+OR-) 0.2 SEM %) and decrease in ligament efficiency (0.65 (+OR-) 0.08 SEM versus 0.86 (+OR-) 0.006 SEM). The uniaxial tensile characteristics (latex sheets) for replications of the regions of enlarged in relation to normal fenestrations, revealed an increase in elongation of 47 (+OR-) 0.06 SD %. It is proposed that regions of enlarged fenestrations represent a weakness in the IEL which may play a prominent role in the etiology of intracranial saccular aneurysms

The Weathering of Platinum from Nuggets and Platinum Immobilisation by Cupriavidus metallidurans

Two studies were conducted to investigate the biogeochemistry of platinum. In the first project, platinum nuggets were examined to evaluate mineral dissolution-precipitation processes occurring at the nugget-‘soil solution’ interface. The presence of dissolution ‘pits’, cavities, and striations as well as acicular, iron oxides coating the grain surface evidence that this interface is an important site of mechanical and chemical weathering. Element mapping revealed that structural and chemical signatures can be linked to morphological features on the grain surface. In the second study, the soil bacterium Cupriavidus metallidurans was reacted with aqueous platinum chloride and rapidly immobilised platinum. XANES/EXAFS analysis of these reaction systems demonstrated that platinum chloride bound to the bacteria and platinum binding shifted from chloride to carboxyl functional groups. TEM revealed that C. metallidurans was able to precipitate nm-scale colloidal platinum. Both of these studies highlight the importance of nanophase- and organo- platinum compounds in natural systems

Transforming teacher education - introducing ITE students to Epistemic Insight: a workshop

Epistemic insight is a curriculum and innovation research initiative transforming teacher programmes across England. Epistemic Insight (EI) means ' knowledge about knowledge' and in particular how knowledge is constructed within disciplines and how it interacts across them. This involves using techniques to examine disciplinary boundaries and encouraging students to think beyond their own subject. The epistemic insight initiative has a consortium of ITE providers who have worked with their students exploring real-world problems in an interdisciplinary way using epistemic insight tools and strategies. This enabled secondary ITE students of various specialisms to collaborate across disciplines enriching their learning and teaching practice. This workshop will present the work completed at St Mary’s University, The University of Leicester and Birmingham University. The lessons learnt and future directions will be studied. The workshop will give delegates an opportunity to explore resources used and discuss with consortium members how and why you may want to introduce you students to EI. Presenters: Adrian Warhurst, University of Leicester, Rob Campbell, St Mary’s University and Dr Agnieszka J. Gordon Canterbury Christ Church University (Consortium Lead

A self-study of teaching teachers using Epistemic Insight

Epistemic Insight (EI), defined as knowledge about knowledge (Billingsley et al, 2018) examines how distinctive forms of disciplinary knowledge can interact providing solutions to real world problems Utilising an interdisciplinary approach EI seeks to critically examine the current subject compartmentalization in the school curriculum, which leads to a siloed nature of school education within the UK and as a consequence a siloed education for preservice teachers (Billingsley et al, 2024). In introducing EI to preservice science teachers, we have identified the need to examine our practice as science teacher educators by refining views on the nature of science. Adopting EI within our teaching challenged us as teacher educators to re-examine the structure of our programmes. By adopting EI’s framework of examining questions with an interdisciplinary focus, we identified that our views on the foundations of scientific knowledge are not aligned despite the experience of the authors in science teacher education. This finding is illuminating given recent neoliberal shifts to standardise teacher education in England as implemented through the market review of ITT that is currently scrutinising curriculum providers curriculum materials (Mutton & Burn, 2024). Thus, in this paper, we seek to problematise the nature of teaching teachers about EI. Berry (2008) reminds us that efforts to address problems using self-study do not lead to simple solutions. Introducing a self-study model that draws on the idea of the tension between the actions and intent of teaching about EI, we examine our practice as teacher educators critically to explore the differences in understanding the nature of science. Our self-study is framed by analysing podcasts that discussed the dissemination of EI across distinct initial teacher education courses. Triangulating this with lesson studies enabled us to examine how our views of the nature science manifest in teaching practices and illuminate the tension between actions and intent. This paper, therefore, examines how we use our engagement with EI as a research -informed pedagogic framework to prompt pedagogic practice as science teacher educators. We argue adopting EI as a pedagogic framework not only supports preservice teachers to critically examine the compartmentalisation of Education, but further promotes deeper epistemically insightful understanding of how individual disciplines are distinctive. This in turn refines the practice of teachers and teacher educators alike

Maternal, obstetric, biochemical and ultrasonic associations of normal and abnormal human pregnancy

The work in this thesis describes a series of studies utilising diverse data sources which were analysed using a number of regression methods (logistic, linear, Cox, Poisson), to address the factors associated with normal and abnormal pregnancy outcome. A series of maternal characteristics were related to adverse pregnancy outcome. Teenage pregnancy was not associated with an increased risk of any adverse outcome among first births, but was strongly associated with adverse outcome among second births [8]. Parity also interacted with body mass index: maternal obesity was associated with an increased risk of preterm birth among nulliparous but not multiparous women. This was explained by higher rates of elective preterm deliveries among obese nullipara [31]. There was a linear relationship between maternal age and the duration of labour, and the risk of operative vaginal and caesarean delivery [37]. It was hypothesised that age-related deterioration in obstetric performance was due to prolonged hormonal stimulation prior to the first birth. This hypothesis was supported by the observation that later menarche was independently associated with a decreased risk of operative delivery [38]. A short inter-pregnancy interval was associated with an increased risk of spontaneous preterm birth, but not stillbirth or intra-uterine growth restriction [16]. The risk of unexplained stillbirth at term was increased among nulliparous women [5] and nulliparous women also had slightly longer pregnancies [7]. A U-shaped relationship between birth weight and caesarean risk was observed at term. There was an interaction between fetal sex and caesarean risk: small boys were at increased risk of emergency caesarean [3]. The same interaction was observed for antepartum stillbirth [4]. Previous pregnancy outcome was predictive of the outcome of subsequent pregnancies. Women who were delivered by caesarean section in their first pregnancy had an increased risk of unexplained stillbirth in their second [17]. This finding was confirmed in a separate cohort and associations were also observed between previous complicated livebirths and the subsequent risk of unexplained stillbirth [32]. Some specific situations were also studied (vaginal birth after caesarean section (VBAC) and twins). Among women attempting VBAC, the absolute risk of delivery-related perinatal death was comparable to primiparous women but was significantly higher than women delivered by elective caesarean section [11]. The risk of perinatal death associated with uterine rupture was increased in low throughput obstetric units and among women induced with prostaglandins [19]. Using simple maternal characteristics, approximately 50% of women attempting VBAC could be classified into having a high (>40%) or low (<10%) risk of emergency caesarean [24]. This was better discrimination than could be achieved using similar characteristics among nulliparous women being induced at term [21]. The risk of delivery related perinatal death was increased among second twins, although this was only evident among births at term [13]. The association was observed among sex discordant twins, but was not observed among twins delivered by elective caesarean section [23]. The association between birth order and the risk of death due to anoxia was confirmed in data from England and Wales [33]. Ultrasonic measurements of the fetus were related to eventual birth weight. The range of error associated with such estimates was quantified and abdominal circumference on its own was as predictive as models using abdominal circumference and femur length [1]. Estimating fetal weight using ultrasound was not found to be a better measure of human fetal blood volume than simply using gestational age [10]. A series of ultrasonic measurements in the first and second trimester were predictive of pregnancy outcome, including smaller than expected crown rump length and intra-uterine growth restriction, preterm birth and low birth weight [2]; a long cervix in mid gestation and caesarean section [36]; and, high resistance patterns of uterine artery Doppler flow velocimetry and stillbirth [30]. Biochemical measurements performed in early pregnancy were also predictive of later adverse outcome: low maternal levels of pregnancy-associated plasma protein A (PAPP-A) were associated with an increased of pre-eclampsia, preterm birth and growth restriction [9]; low PAPP-A prior to 13 weeks was associated with birth weight at term in healthy pregnancies [12] and with a dramatically increased risk of stillbirth due to placental dysfunction [22]. Low first trimester levels of placenta growth factor were associated with increased risks of pre-eclampsia and growth restriction, whereas there was no association between elevated levels of the soluble fms-like receptor and adverse outcome [35]. Measurements of biochemical variables in the second trimester were also predictive of outcome, with elevated maternal serum alphafetoprotein (AFP) being associated with an increased risk of stillbirth [34] and spontaneous preterm birth [29]. Women with the combination of low first trimester PAPP-A and high second trimester AFP were at particularly high risk of complications, reflecting the synergistic predictive ability of the two measures [27]. Given proposed similarities between stillbirth and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), this outcome was also studied. Elevated second trimester levels of AFP were also associated with an increased subsequent risk of SIDS [20]. Women with a pregnancy resulting ultimately in SIDS were found to be more likely to have had complications in past and future pregnancies [25]. The risk of SIDS declined with advancing gestational age at term following spontaneous, but not elective birth [15]. Obstetric characteristics were used to generate a predictive model for SIDS [26]. Pregnancy outcome was also predictive of other aspects of child health, specifically, respiratory morbidity following birth at term was associated with an increased risk of hospital admission for asthma [18]. Pregnancy complications were also related to long term maternal health. Elective caesarean delivery for breech presentation did not appear to have an independent effect on fertility [28]. However, pregnancy complications were associated with the mother’s subsequent experience of cardiovascular disease. Women experiencing growth restriction, preterm birth or pre-eclampsia were at increased risk of subsequent ischaemic heart disease (IHD) [6] and the risk of this was also related to the number of miscarriages experienced prior to the first birth [14]. The parents of women who had experienced pregnancy complications or recurrent miscarriage had an increased incidence of IHD [39 & 40, respectively]

The first confirmed superoutburst of the SU UMa type dwarf nova SDSS J083931.35+282824.0

We report unfiltered CCD photometry of the first confirmed superoutburst of the recently discovered dwarf nova, SDSS J083931.35+282824.0 in April 2010. From a quiescence magnitude of ~19.8 it rose to 14.0, an outburst amplitude of at least 5.8 magnitudes. Only the plateau phase of the outburst was observed during which superhumps with peak-to-peak amplitude of up to 0.28 magnitudes were present, confirming this to be an SU UMa type dwarf nova. The mean superhump period was Psh = 0.07836(2) during the first 3 days and this subsequently decreased to 0.07800(3) d. Analysis of the data revealed tentative evidence for an orbital period Porb = 0.07531(25) d. The fractional superhump period excess was epsilon = 0.039(6), which is consistent with other dwarf novae of similar orbital period.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in the Journal of the British Astronomical Associatio

Tribalism, Conflict and Shape-Shifting Identities in an Online Community

In this paper we progress a model that describes and explicates the systematic techniques of hostility and aggression that take the form of contemporary tribalism in technology- enabled communities. We argue that these practices are not mere artefacts of dysfunctional communication, but embody important rituals essential for maintaining and defining the boundaries between the contradictory social roles that are frequently found in online communities. Conflict therefore provides an alternative set of unifying principles and rationales for understanding social interaction within technologically enabled communities. We illustrate the importance of conflict through the analysis of dialogue from an Australian- based stock market forum concerning identity shape-shifting