Differentiation within the artisan sector in Saffron Walden in the eighteenth century

Saffron Walden has an excellent town archive. There are also other good primary sources. The argument of this thesis arose from these circumstances. The purpose of this study became an investigation of whether the artisan segment of society in a small English market town of the eighteenth century constituted a homogeneous group or whether marked differentiation occurred within that segment. The nature of the artisan segment of the town is examined from the perspectives of the economic, religious and social structures found there. Due consideration is also given to the way in which the town was governed and to the importance of its charitable organisations. The roles of literacy and the ability to be able to afford the security granted by fire insurance in the latter part of the century also turned out to be of critical importance. Life-course analysis for a number of artisans was also carried out permitting a prosopographical approach to be adopted where relevant. It is concluded that for an artisan in the eighteenth century in Saffron Walden a number of factors were vital in determining whether he would be successful. These included his initial family background and position within that family, the trade to which he was apprenticed, his likelihood of gaining patronage and thus access to the benefits that the town’s charitable institutions could provide, including a place at the Charity School, and his religious persuasion, particularly if he was a nonconformist or a Quaker. A man favoured in these ways might gain the appellation of ‘gentleman’. A less fortunate artisan might end his days as a pauper. Differentiation within the artisan segment in eighteenth century Saffron Walden indeed existed

“…and finally examining some implications”: (Mis)use of Evidence in Informative Speaking

In 1983, Bob Frank published his critique of evidence use in Persuasive Speaking at the 1981 NFA championship tournament. While many similar critiques have been done since then, this analysis attempts to update Frank’s critique in the light of modern informative speaking. The authors analyzed the 2011 NFA Informative Speaking final round speeches, examining the use of evidence. This article presents those findings and offers points of discussion for the forensic community

Age-related biomarkers can be modulated by diet in the rat

This study seeks to establish the normal serum concentrations of biochemical markers related to nutrition, inflammation and disease, and to investigate how the levels change with age and diet in the rat. To this end, we fed rats from weaning on three diets differing in their protein, carbohydrate and fatty acid content. The diets consisted of a control, nutritionally balanced diet, this same diet supplemented with 10% (wt/wt) beef tallow, and a diet that was high in fat and carbohydrate and low in protein. Blood samples from rats at two different ages, 3 months and 12 months, were then analysed. In control rats, with advancing age there was a general decrease in potassium, iron and serum albumin concentrations and in the activities of aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase, and an increase in total and HDL cholesterol. These changes were modulated by diet: many of the age-related changes (serum concentrations of potassium, iron and cholesterol, and liver enzyme activities) were not observed in animals eating the high fat diet. In contrast, the high carbohydrate, high fat, low protein diet-fed animals showed several additional changes (serum concentrations of sodium, urea, creatinine and TG, and activity of alkaline phosphatase) that can be related to kidney, liver and cardiovascular health

Localisation of laminin within Plasmodium berghei oocysts and the midgut epithelial cells of Anopheles stephensi

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Oocysts of the malaria parasite form and develop in close proximity to the mosquito midgut basal lamina and it has been proposed that components of this structure play a crucial role in the development and maturation of oocysts that produce infective sporozoites. It is further suggested that oocysts incorporate basal lamina proteins into their capsule and that this provides them with a means to evade recognition by the mosquito's immune system. The site of production of basal lamina proteins in insects is controversial and it is still unclear whether haemocytes or midgut epithelial cells are the main source of components of the mosquito midgut basal lamina. Of the multiple molecules that compose the basal lamina, laminin is known to interact with a number of <it>Plasmodium </it>proteins. In this study, the localisation of mosquito laminin within the capsule and cytoplasm of <it>Plasmodium berghei </it>oocysts and in the midgut epithelial cells of <it>Anopheles stephensi </it>was investigated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>An ultrastructural examination of midgut sections from infected and uninfected <it>An. stephensi </it>was performed. Post-embedded immunogold labelling demonstrated the presence of laminin within the mosquito basal lamina. Laminin was also detected on the outer surface of the oocyst capsule, incorporated within the capsule and associated with sporozoites forming within the oocysts. Laminin was also found within cells of the midgut epithelium, providing support for the hypothesis that these cells contribute towards the formation of the midgut basal lamina.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We suggest that ookinetes may become coated in laminin as they pass through the midgut epithelium. Thereafter, laminin secreted by midgut epithelial cells and/or haemocytes, binds to the outer surface of the oocyst capsule and that some passes through and is incorporated into the developing oocysts. The localisation of laminin on sporozoites was unexpected and the importance of this observation is less clear.</p

Widening participation and the role of social motivation in students' transitional experiences in higher education

i

What consultation resources are available to support delivery of integrated sexual and reproductive health services? A scoping review

Background: Contraceptive and sexual healthcare is increasingly delivered in an integrated setting in the UK and worldwide, requiring staff to be competent in differing styles of delivery, and to have a wide knowledge base. Objectives: We did a scoping review of the literature for evidence of the resources that exist for healthcare professionals to guide or structure the process of conducting an integrated sexual and reproductive health (SRH) consultation. Eligibility criteria: Articles were included in the review if (1) their primary focus was a consultation resource related to one or more aspects of an SRH consultation and (2) they provided details of the resource and/or its application including evaluation of use. Sources of evidence: Peer-reviewed articles published in English, published non-peer-reviewed guides, and web-based guidelines addressing the conduct of a contraception or sexual health consultation were included. Date range: 1998-December 2018. Searches were carried out in the databases AMED (Ovid), ASSIA (ProQuest), CINAHL Complete (EBSCO), Cochrane Library (Wiley), HMIC (NHS Evidence), Medline (EBSCO), PsycINFO (Proquest) and Scopus (Elsevier) on 10 February 2017, and incremental searching performed until December 2018. Results: A total of 12 peer-reviewed journal articles, two web-published guidelines from the Faculty of Sexual & Reproductive Healthcare and three published, non-peer-reviewed resources were included. Conclusion: Many resources exist to guide either the contraceptive or sexual health consultations, but there is a lack of a comprehensive consultation resource to guide the conduct of an integrated consultation

Diagnosis and management of postpartum hemorrhage and intrapartum asphyxia in a quality improvement initiative using nurse-mentoring and simulation in Bihar, India.

BackgroundIn the state of Bihar, India a multi-faceted quality improvement nurse-mentoring program was implemented to improve provider skills in normal and complicated deliveries. The objective of this analysis was to examine changes in diagnosis and management of postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) of the mother and intrapartum asphyxia of the infant in primary care facilities in Bihar, during the program.MethodsDuring the program, mentor pairs visited each facility for one week, covering four facilities over a four-week period and returned for subsequent week-long visits once every month for seven to nine consecutive months. Between- and within-facility comparisons were made using a quasi-experimental and a longitudinal design over time, respectively, to measure change due to the intervention. The proportions of PPH and intrapartum asphyxia among all births as well as the proportions of PPH and intrapartum asphyxia cases that were effectively managed were examined. Zero-inflated negative binomial models and marginal structural methodology were used to assess change in diagnosis and management of complications after accounting for clustering of deliveries within facilities as well as time varying confounding.ResultsThis analysis included 55,938 deliveries from 320 facilities. About 2% of all deliveries, were complicated with PPH and 3% with intrapartum asphyxia. Between-facility comparisons across phases demonstrated diagnosis was always higher in the final week of intervention (PPH: 2.5-5.4%, intrapartum asphyxia: 4.2-5.6%) relative to the first week (PPH: 1.2-2.1%, intrapartum asphyxia: 0.7-3.3%). Within-facility comparisons showed PPH diagnosis increased from week 1 through 5 (from 1.6% to 4.4%), after which it decreased through week 7 (3.1%). A similar trend was observed for intrapartum asphyxia. For both outcomes, the proportion of diagnosed cases where selected evidence-based practices were used for management either remained stable or increased over time.ConclusionsThe nurse-mentoring program appears to have built providers' capacity to identify PPH and intrapartum asphyxia cases but diagnosis levels are still not on par with levels observed in Southeast Asia and globally