Crown finance and governance under James I : projects and fiscal policy 1603-1625

This thesis is a fundamental reassessment of Jacobean crown finance and its importance in the early-modern English polity. The concurrent focuses are the Jacobean conceptualization of crown finance in terms of projects and the analysis of fiscal policy. Fiscal policy was dominated by attempts to balance the consumptive demands of the patronage culture with the fiscal needs of meeting the state's responsibilities of governance. The introduction describes the origins of projects and their relationship to the Jacobean patronage culture; it also discusses the importance of fiscal policy as a jumping-off point for a reassessment of the Jacobean polity. The structures of policymaking are examined in Chapter 1 with special emphasis on the process of counsel and the central role of James I in the responsibilities of governance. The conceptualization of crown finance in terms of entrepreneurial-like projects is fully explored in chapter 2 as is the importance of the doctrine of necessity in fiscal policy. Chapter 3 examines the nature of projects using a case-study of fishing fleet initiatives. The most significant challenge to the project basis of finance occurred in the parliament of 1621; the consequences of these events, long misunderstood as an attack on monopolies, are re-examined in Chapter 4. Origins of opposition to projects in popular culture, among James' ministers, and in parliament preface this chapter. The three chapters making up section II of the thesis seek to rehabilitate fiscal policy with a focus on policymaking and governance. Robert Cecil's project for fiscal refoundation would have established a precedent of public taxation to support the crown. Its collapse is subjected to a reinterpretation in Chapter 5 which challenges Revisionist orthodoxy on Jacobean parliamentary politics and political philosophy. Chapter 6 examines a number of attempts through conciliar policymaking (1611-1617) to meet ongoing financial challenges which ultimately influenced fiscal policy for the rest of James' reign. The concluding chapter recreates Lionel Cranfield's formulation and application of the abstract ideal of the public good in fiscal policy. Cranfield represents the sharpest Jacobean example of a minister seeking to balance the demands of serving the king and the state in their own rights; and the challenges of so doing. The conclusion places the thesis into a wider perspective of early- modern governance and our understanding of the Jacobean polity

Carotid-cavernous fistula as a mimicker of myasthenia gravis

BACKGROUND: A carotid-cavernous fistula (CCF) is an abnormal communication between the carotid arterial system and the cavernous sinus. Common symptoms of CCFs include proptosis and ophthalmoplegia, but fluctuating diplopia and presence of ptosis are not typical. CASE DESCRIPTION: We present an unusual case of CCF with fluctuating binocular diplopia and ptosis, mimicking myasthenia gravis. Electrodiagnostic testing, which included repetitive nerve stimulation and single-fiber electromyography, was normal. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain and orbits was initially normal, but later magnetic resonance angiography revealed enlargement of the left superior ophthalmic vein along with a left CCF. Patient underwent a successful left cavernous sinus embolization. CONCLUSION: Fluctuating ophthalmic symptoms are a typical presentation of myasthenia gravis; however, there may be an association of these symptoms with a CCF. Repetitive nerve stimulation and single-fiber electromyography played a key role in diagnosis of this case, as the normal result led to further investigations revealing a CCF

Michael Gove’s war on professional historical expertise : conservative curriculum reform, extreme Whig history and the place of imperial heroes in modern multicultural Britain

Six years of continuously baiting his opponents within the history profession eventually amounted to little where it mattered most. UK Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove, finally backtracked in 2013 on his plans to impose a curriculum for English schools based on a linear chronology of the achievements of British national heroes. His ‘history as celebration’ curriculum was designed to instil pride amongst students in a supposedly shared national past, but would merely have accentuated how many students in modern multicultural Britain fail to recognise themselves in what is taught in school history lessons. Now that the dust has settled on Gove’s tenure as Secretary of State, the time is right for retrospective analysis of how his plans for the history curriculum made it quite so far. How did he construct an ‘ideological’ conception of expertise which allowed him to go toe-to-toe for so long with the ‘professional’ expertise of academic historians and history teachers? What does the content of this ideological expertise tell us about the politics of race within Conservative Party curriculum reforms? This article answers these questions to characterise Gove as a ‘whig historian’ of a wilfully extreme nature in his attachment to imperial heroes as the best way to teach national history in modern multicultural Britain

Neuropsychological performance and dementia in depressed patients after 25 year follow-up: a controlled study

Background. Previous research has yielded conflicting evidence regarding the long-term cognitive outcome of depression. Some studies have found evidence for a higher incidence of subsequent cognitive impairment or dementia, while others have refuted this. Method. Depression, neuropsychological performance, functional ability and clinical variables were assessed in a sample of patients who had been hospitalized for depression 25 years previously. Results. Data were available on 71 depressed patients (10 of whom were deceased) and 50 surgical controls. No significant differences were found between depressed subjects and controls on any neuropsychological measure. Ten depressed patients but no controls were found to have dementia at follow-up (continuity corrected χ2=5.93, P <0.01). Presence of dementia was predicted by older age at baseline. Vascular dementia was the most common type. Conclusions. We conclude that this study did not find evidence that early onset depression is a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease, but that for a small subgroup there appears to be a link with vascular dementia. Several plausible explanations for this link, such as lifestyle factors, require further investigation