Dreaming in whispering groves: an inquiry into the reader's response to the book as a published physical object with reference to the rise of the eighteenth century novel, modern critical theory and the processes and technologies of production, transmission and reception

Dreaming In Whispering Groves is an investigation into the production, transmission and reception of the book-as-object with specific reference to nine eighteenth century novels over four centuries: Robinson Crusoe; The Adventures Of The Count de Vinevil; Pamela; David Simple; Amelia; Betsy Thoughtless; Evelina; The Monk and The Italian. I examine the relationship between the reader, the book-as-text and the book-as-object, approaching my topic from the standpoint of a Reader Response and Rezeption-aesthetic critic. Adopting a multi-disciplinary approach, I draw upon Art, History, Literature, Philosophy, Social Science, Technology and Textual Scholarship, in order to create a context for, and trace the development of the social and physical derivation, distribution, adoption and cultivation of the physical object book. My centra-stance to reader-orientated theories is provided by Memetics. A relative newcomer to the critical scene which has evolved as a result of, and parallel to, the study of genetics. The purpose of this juxtaposition is that both Reader-orientated theories and Memetics are dependent upon the reading or interpretation of data - the words on the page or the material to be replicated (in the case of the meme). However, my perception is that both offer an explanation of the way in which 'culture' has evolved and will continue to evolve but perhaps most importantly for the purpose of this thesis they provide answers to questions with regard to the book-as-object. Original empirical research in the form of a web-based questionnaire and a traditional paper-based one, and class-based role-play forms the foundation of an investigation into readers' responses to the book as a physical object. The responses have provided substantial evidence to corroborate my original hypothesis (now thesis). The mode of presentation for this thesis (including the use of fonts based on samples of 18th and early 19th century type and printers ornaments that suggest the quirks of wood-cut and early metal type) is intended as an integral part of the way in which the argument is developed. The readers/examiner's response to this 'book/thesis-as-object' is being sought, and the reader is therefore asked to engage with the contents bearing this in mind

The use of non-radioactive iodine as a label in biological assays

A microassay for the determination of iodide and iodine-containing compounds based on the Sandell-Kolthoff reaction was developed by O’Kennedy et al., (1989). Non-radioactive iodine was then used to label antibodies for immunoassay. The sensitivity of this immunoassay has been shown to be comparable to that obtained in an ELISA when the enzyme used was horseradish peroxidase. This study was carried out to investigate the feasibility of labelling DNA probes with non-radioactive iodine. Nucleic acids have previously been labelled with 125Iodine and these iodination procedures were adopted. Labelling of nucleic acids was carried out both chemically using the oxidizer Iodo gen, and enzymatically via the incorporation of 5-iodo-2’-deoxycytidine 5 ’-triphosphate by random priming. 2% and 38% incorporation was observed for these methods, respectively. The degree of iodination achieved was determined using the iodide microassay. HPLC of digested nucleic acids was also carried out to measure the incorporation of iodine. The iodide microasssay was modified and then validated in the range 1- 10ng/ml potassium iodide. The catalytic effect of 5-iodocytidine, and related compounds, in the iodide microassay was also considered. The iodide assay was performed on nitrocellulose paper to investigate the feasibility of applying this assay in a dot blot format. The limit of quantification for iodide in this format was 1 .0pg/ml. To use cold-iodine as a direct label for DNA probes a more sensitive iodide microassay would be required. For this reason a number of chemiluminescent systems, which were quenched by iodide, were investigated. However, the lowest limit of quantification obtained for the microassays considered was 10ng/ml iodide. The use of iodine as an indirect label for DNA probes was also examined and polyclonal antibodies to 5-iodocytidine were produced

Evolutionary Responses of Marine Organisms to Urbanized Seascapes

Many of the world\u27s major cities are located in coastal zones, resulting in urban and industrial impacts on adjacent marine ecosystems. These pressures, which include pollutants, sewage, runoff and debris, temperature increases, hardened shorelines/structures, and light and acoustic pollution, have resulted in new evolutionary landscapes for coastal marine organisms. Marine environmental changes influenced by urbanization may create new selective regimes or may influence neutral evolution via impacts on gene flow or partitioning of genetic diversity across seascapes. While some urban selective pressures, such as hardened surfaces, are similar to those experienced by terrestrial species, others, such as oxidative stress, are specific to aquatic environments. Moreover, spatial and temporal scales of evolutionary responses may differ in the ocean due to the spatial extent of selective pressures and greater capacity for dispersal/gene flow. Here, we present a conceptual framework and synthesis of current research on evolutionary responses of marine organisms to urban pressures. We review urban impacts on genetic diversity and gene flow and examine evidence that marine species are adapting, or are predicted to adapt, to urbanization over rapid evolutionary time frames. Our findings indicate that in the majority of studies, urban stressors are correlated with reduced genetic diversity. Genetic structure is often increased in urbanized settings, but artificial structures can also act as stepping stones for some hard‐surface specialists, promoting range expansion. Most evidence for rapid adaptation to urban stressors comes from studies of heritable tolerance to pollutants in a relatively small number of species; however, the majority of marine ecotoxicology studies do not test directly for heritability. Finally, we highlight current gaps in our understanding of evolutionary processes in marine urban environments and present a framework for future research to address these gaps

An open-source, automated home-cage sipper device for monitoring liquid ingestive behavior in rodents

Measuring ingestive behavior of liquids in rodents is commonly used in studies of reward, metabolism, and circadian biology. Common approaches for measuring liquid intake in real time include computer-tethered lickometers or video-based systems. Additionally, liquids can be measured or weighed to determine the amount consumed without real-time sensing. Here, we built a photobeam-based sipper device that has the following advantages over traditional methods: (1) it is battery powered and fits in vivarium caging to allow home-cage measurements; (2) it quantifies the intake of two different liquids simultaneously for preference studies; (3) it is low cost and easily constructed, enabling high-throughput experiments; and (4) it is open source so that others can modify it to fit their experimental needs. We validated the performance of this device in three experiments. First, we calibrated our device using time-lapse video-based measurements of liquid intake and correlated sipper interactions with liquid intake. Second, we used the sipper device to measure preference for water versus chocolate milk, demonstrating its utility for two-bottle choice tasks. Third, we integrated the device with fiber photometry, establishing its utility for measuring neural activity in studies of ingestive behavior. This device requires no special equipment or caging, and is small, battery powered, and wireless, allowing it to be placed directly in rodent home cages. The total cost of fabrication is less than $100, and all design files and code are open source. Together, these factors greatly increase scalability and utility for a variety of behavioral neuroscience applications

Albumin Administration in Acute Ischemic Stroke: Safety Analysis of the ALIAS Part 2 Multicenter Trial

BACKGROUND: Albumin treatment of ischemic stroke was associated with cardiopulmonary adverse events in previous studies and a low incidence of intracranial hemorrhage. We sought to describe the neurological and cardiopulmonary adverse events in the ALIAS Part 2 Multicenter Trial. METHODS: Ischemic stroke patients, aged 18-83 and a baseline NIHSS ≥ 6, were randomized to treatment with ALB or saline control within 5 hours of stroke onset. Neurological adverse events included symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage, hemicraniectomy, neurological deterioration and neurological death. Cardiopulmonary adverse events included pulmonary edema/congestive heart failure, acute coronary syndromes, atrial fibrillation, pneumonia and pulmonary thromboembolism. RESULTS: Among 830 patients, neurological and cardiopulmonary adverse events were not differentially associated with poor outcome between ALB and saline control subjects. The rate of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage in the first 24h was low overall (2.9%, 24/830) but more common in the ALB treated subjects (RR = 2.4, CI95 1.01-5.8). The rate of pulmonary edema/CHF in the first 48h was 7.9% (59/830) and was more common among ALB treated subjects (RR = 10.7, CI95 4.3-26.6); this complication was expected and was satisfactorily managed with mandated diuretic administration and intravenous fluid guidelines. Troponin elevations in the first 48h were common, occurring without ECG change or cardiac symptoms in 52 subjects (12.5%). CONCLUSIONS: ALB therapy was associated with an increase in symptomatic ICH and pulmonary edema/congestive heart failure but this did not affect final outcomes. Troponin elevation occurs routinely in the first 48 hours after acute ischemic stroke. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClincalTrials.gov NCT00235495