A socio-historical study of the treatment and reception of John Lydgate in Early Modern print culture

This project aims to explore the ways in which the works of late medieval poet John Lydgate are treated and received in their early printed forms. The study will chart the history and evolution of a selection of Lydgate texts through the late medieval and Reformation period, considering the texts and their reception in relation to the contemporary social, political and religious backdrop. The project will make special reference to the work of John Lydgate and evaluate his contemporary status as a high profile poet and his subsequent decline in popularity from the mid-sixteenth century. In order to provide a focus for the analysis of these texts, the punctuation practices employed by the various printers and editors will be studied in-depth in four of Lydgate’s texts; The Siege of Thebes, Troy Book, The Churl and the Bird and The Temple of Glas. This data will demonstrate the development of punctuation techniques in print from the late medieval to early modern period and determine how these techniques were applied to the chosen texts. The analysis of this data will further illustrate the changing requirements and expectations of the contemporary readership and the impact this had on the treatment and reception of Lydgate’s medieval texts. Despite his successful literary career during the fifteenth century, modern criticism has been harsh and Lydgate has long been considered a marginal figure in the canon of English literature. Scanlon and Simpson argue that this “was as much a matter of careful aesthetic discrimination as it was of historical reconstruction”; in other words, John Lydgate did not fit the literary and artistic ideals of the nineteenth century and was subsequently relegated to the margins of literary history (Scanlon & Simpson 2006: 2). More recently scholarship has aimed to take a fresh look at the life and work of John Lydgate and the influence he had on later writers and English literature as a whole. Attempting to sweep away the entrenched negative perceptions of his work as dull and didactic, scholars have begun to analyse Lydgate from a fifteenth-century perspective and to evaluate the role his work played in the lives and reading habits of late medieval England. As a definitively Catholic writer whose popularity spans the Reformation, it is Lydgate’s unique position which can provide insights into the contradictions and complexities of fifteenth century reading culture. His work is steeped in the medieval Catholic literary tradition, while also tackling contemporary political issues of kingship and national identity associated with the intellectual pursuits of the Renaissance. It is for this reason that Lydgate has been described as both a definitive embodiment of the middle ages (Pearsall 1970: 2) and as a “transition poet” (Renoir 1967: 31). Regardless of labelling, Lydgate was undoubtedly a central figure in fifteenth-century literary culture, and the treatment and reception of his texts can illustrate the ways in which sixteenth- and seventeenth-century editors, printers and publishers approached and dealt with late medieval texts while attempting to target a Renaissance audience amidst growing Protestant literature and propaganda. This project will determine how wider attitudinal changes and social shifts impacted the presentation of texts and the editing process, with particular reference to punctuation practices. Sixteenth-century England experienced significant social, religious and intellectual upheavals and this is clearly reflected in the reading habits and publishing trends of a rapidly expanding book industry. However, the central hypothesis of this dissertation argues that certain aspects of the editing process were less dramatic in their development. Punctuation practices in particular display a more gradual move towards modern conventions and represent the contradictions and complexities of a reading culture very much in transition

This Ain’t Your Papa’s Allocation Formula! Team-Based Approaches to Monograph Collections Budgets

In 2009, the University of Guelph (UG) Library’s Organizational Renewal Initiative created new strategic teams to replace its existing liaison-based service model. The five new teams were charged with the delivery of service clusters (traditional and emerging) in alignment with the University’s academic mission. The new Information Resources (IR) team of specialist librarians and professional staff are charged with deepening their skills and engagement within specified team objectives/accountabilities, collection development, management, and assessment. The team-based ethos of the new IR Team has reshaped how the institution allocates, budgets, and orients its work for monographic collections. Factors which have shaped UG’s unique approach to this core team activity include increased consortial licensing, evolving publishing trends, the growth of multi-institutional research teams and discipline clusters within the University, evolving research and teaching modalities, an increased focus on accountability, and the demise of formal university governance bodies. Monograph budgeting has shifted from departmental budget allocations to broader, cross-institutional allocations in response to resource format changes and shifting strategic priorities. A paradigm shift from allocation metrics towards post hoc adjustments based on curricular need and efficiency is described. Time-series linked examples of current UG Monograph budget structures illustrate this budgetary evolution, and external systems and tools to actively manage monographs budgeting and expenditure processes will be discussed. Strategies from a Selector’s point of view and that of the Team Head to adapt, change, guide, and modify budgeting practices also are analyzed. Two significant challenges to the team-based process (monitoring expenditures and improving stakeholder communications) are identified

A database for TMT interface control documents

The TMT Software System consists of software components that interact with one another through a software infrastructure called TMT Common Software (CSW). CSW consists of software services and library code that is used by developers to create the subsystems and components that participate in the software system. CSW also defines the types of components that can be constructed and their roles. The use of common component types and shared middleware services allows standardized software interfaces for the components. A software system called the TMT Interface Database System was constructed to support the documentation of the interfaces for components based on CSW. The programmer describes a subsystem and each of its components using JSON-style text files. A command interface file describes each command a component can receive and any commands a component sends. The event interface files describe status, alarms, and events a component publishes and status and events subscribed to by a component. A web application was created to provide a user interface for the required features. Files are ingested into the software system’s database. The user interface allows browsing subsystem interfaces, publishing versions of subsystem interfaces, and constructing and publishing interface control documents that consist of the intersection of two subsystem interfaces. All published subsystem interfaces and interface control documents are versioned for configuration control and follow the standard TMT change control processes. Subsystem interfaces and interface control documents can be visualized in the browser or exported as PDF files

The Campbells: lordship, literature and liminality

The Campbells have the potential to offer much to the theme of literature and borders, given that the kindred’s astonishing political success in the late medieval and early modern period depended heavily upon the ability to negotiate multiple frontiers: between Highlands and Lowlands; between Gaelic Scotland and Ireland, and, especially after the Reformation, with England and the matter of Britain. This paper will explore the literary dimension to Campbell expansionism, from the Book of the Dean of Lismore in the earlier sixteenth century, to poetry addressed to dukes of Argyll in the earlier eighteenth century. Particular attention will be paid to the literary proclivities of the household of the Campbells of Glenorchy on either side of what appears to be a major watershed in 1550; and to the agenda of the Campbell protégé John Carswell, first post-Reformation bishop of the Isles, and author of the first printed book in Gaelic in either Scotland or Ireland, Foirm na n-Urrnuidheadh (‘The Form of Prayers’), published at Edinburgh in 1567

A significant increase in kdr in Anopheles gambiae is associated with an intensive vector control intervention in Burundi highlands.

OBJECTIVES AND METHODS: In Burundi, the occurrence of the knock down resistance (kdr) mutation in Anopheles gambiae sensu lato (s.l.) was determined for six consecutive years within the framework of a vector control programme. Findings were also linked with the insecticide resistance status observed with bioassay in An. gambiae s.l. and An. funestus. RESULTS: The proportion of An. gambiae s.l. carrying the East Leu-Ser kdr mutation was 1% before the spraying intervention in 2002; by 2007 it was 86% in sprayed valleys and 67% in untreated valleys. Multivariate analysis showed that increased risk of carrying the kdr mutation is associated with spraying interventions, location and time. In bioassays conducted between 2005 and 2007 at five sites, An. funestus was susceptible to permethrin, deltamethrin and DDT. Anopheles gambiae s.l. remained susceptible or tolerant to deltamethrin and resistant to DDT and permethrin, but only when kdr allele carriers reached 90% of the population. CONCLUSIONS: The cross-resistance against DDT and permethrin in Karuzi suggests a possible kdr resistance mechanism. Nevertheless, the homozygous resistant genotype alone does not entirely explain the bioassay results, and other mechanisms conferring resistance cannot be ruled out. After exposure to all three insecticides, homozygote individuals for the kdr allele dominate among the surviving An. gambiae s.l. This confirms the potential selection pressure of pyrethroids on kdr mutation. However, the high occurrence of the kdr mutation, even at sites far from the sprayed areas, suggests a selection pressure other than that exerted by the vector control programme

Advantages and Limitations of Commercially Available Electrocuting Grids for Studying Mosquito Behaviour.

Mosquito feeding behaviour plays a major role in determining malaria transmission intensity and the impact of specific prevention measures. Human Landing Catch (HLC) is currently the only method that can directly and consistently measure the biting rates of anthropophagic mosquitoes, both indoors and outdoors. However, this method exposes the participant to mosquito-borne pathogens, therefore new exposure-free methods are needed to replace it. Commercially available electrocuting grids (EGs) were evaluated as an alternative to HLC using a Latin Square experimental design in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Both HLC and EGs were used to estimate the proportion of human exposure to mosquitoes occurring indoors (πi), as well as its two underlying parameters: the proportion of mosquitoes caught indoors (Pi) and the proportion of mosquitoes caught between the first and last hour when most people are indoors (Pfl). HLC and EGs methods accounted for 69% and 31% of the total number of female mosquitoes caught respectively and both methods caught more mosquitoes outdoors than indoors. Results from the gold standard HLC suggest that An. gambiae s.s. in Dar es Salaam is neither exophagic nor endophagic (Pi ≈ 0.5), whereas An. arabiensis is exophagic (Pi < < 0.5). Both species prefer to feed after 10 pm when most people are indoors (Pfl > >0.5). EGs yielded estimates of Pi for An. gambiae s.s., An. arabiensis and An. coustani, that were approximately equivalent to those with HLC but significantly underestimated Pfl for An. gambiae s.s. and An. coustani. The relative sampling sensitivity of EGs declined over the course of the night (p ≤ 0.001) for all mosquito taxa except An. arabiensis. Commercial EGs sample human-seeking mosquitoes with high sensitivity both indoors and outdoors and accurately measure the propensity of Anopheles malaria vectors to bite indoors rather than outdoors. However, further modifications are needed to stabilize sampling sensitivity over a full nocturnal cycle so that they can be used to survey patterns of human exposure to mosquitoes

Why trials lose participants: A multitrial investigation of participants perspectives using the theoretical domains framework

Objectives To use the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) to identify barriers and enablers to participant retention in trials requiring questionnaire return and/or attendance at follow-up clinics. Study design and setting We invited participants (n = 607) from five pragmatic effectiveness trials, who missed at least one follow-up time point (by not returning a questionnaire and/or not attending a clinic visit), to take part in semistructured telephone interviews. The TDF informed both data collection and analysis. To establish what barriers and enablers most likely influence the target behavior the domain relevance threshold was set at >75% of participants mentioning the domain. Results Sixteen participants (out of 25 showing interest) were interviewed. Overall, seven theoretical domains were identified as both barriers and enablers to the target behaviors of attending clinic appointments and returning postal questionnaires. Barriers frequently reported in relation to both target behaviours stemmed from participants’ knowledge, beliefs about their capabilities and the consequences of performing (or not performing) the behavior. Two domains were identified as salient for questionnaire return only: goals; and memory, attention and decision-making. Emotion was identified as relevant for clinic attendance only. Conclusion This is the first study informed by behavioural science to explore trial participants’ accounts of trial retention. Findings will serve as a guiding framework when designing trials to limit barriers and enhance enablers of retention within clinical trials

Use of Transformer-Based Models for Word-Level Transliteration of the Book of the Dean of Lismore

The Book of the Dean of Lismore (BDL) is a 16th-century Scottish Gaelic manuscript written in a non-standard orthography. In this work, we outline the problem of transliterating the text of the BDL into a standardised orthography, and perform exploratory experiments using Transformer-based models for this task. In particular, we focus on the task of word-level transliteration, and achieve a character-level BLEU score of 54.15 with our best model, a BART architecture pre-trained on the text of Scottish Gaelic Wikipedia and then fine-tuned on around 2,000 word-level parallel examples. Our initial experiments give promising results, but we highlight the shortcomings of our model, and discuss directions for future work