Some aspects of the nature and content of autobiography, with particular reference to the 20th Century autobiography of childhood

PART I Discussion of some critics' definitions and views of autobiography is followed by examination of the nature of its truth and selectivity. Attention is given to the roles of memory, motivation and intention and the part played by the unconscious. Part I concludes with some critical and authorial suggestions for sub-dividing the very large genre of autobiography to facilitate study, noting the difficulties this presents. There is also discussion of the ways in which the autobiographer's choice of form and style can enhance or limit self-revelation. PART II The special features of the autobiography of childhood as a sub-division of the genre are discussed, with further examination of the complexities of memory, motivation and intention in relation to the difficulties of interpreting and presenting the child protagonist. The significance and presentation of memories and researched material at all stages of childhood is examined in conjunction with the psychological needs of the autobiographer and the formal requirements of literature. The universal nature of the areas of childhood commonly recalled is noted, but the subjective individual use and presentation of the material is stressed. The work is illustrated throughout by extracts from appropriate texts. The autobiographical extracts are drawn from approximately forty-five texts by a variety of authors, some of established literary repute and others of a more popular nature. This indicates a departure from many other studies of autobiography, which tend to concentrate on material by renowned literary figures, and suggests an area for wider study of ths genre. Reference has also been made to a number of critical texts and relevant radio programmes

Determining Benthic Macroinvertebrate Abundance and Diversity in Two Arctic Lakes as Part of an Experimental Lake Warming

Global climate change threatens the integrity of freshwater ecosystems across the globe. At higher latitudes these ecosystems are experiencing the highest rates of temperature increase related to climate change. Freshwater invertebrate communities are important sources of food for fishes and bioindicators helping us understand the health of entire ecosystems. Our research is part of a larger experiment which aims to artificially warm an arctic lake by 2-4 ⁰C, to try and determine the impact of rising temperatures on lake food webs and ecosystem function. Our objectives were to calculate benthic macroinvertebrate densities in two arctic lakes, Fog1 and Fog3 (one control and one reference), compare between these lakes as a function of abiotic and biotic differences, and assess whether these macroinvertebrate densities have responded to increases in lake warming. Using standard protocols, we analyzed benthic samples from 2016-2019 taken using an Ekman dredge from lake depths between 0-4 meters. We classified each taxon into four main groups: Diptera, Mollusca, zooplankton, and other aquatic macroinvertebrates and calculated the densities of each group (number/m2). Densities varied greatly from year to year, ranging from 609 organisms/meter2 to 20,391 organisms/ meter2. We observed a very large increase in “other aquatic macroinvertebrates” group in Fog1 (warmed lake) in 2018, comprised mostly of Hydracarina (mites) and including some unique Trichopterans and Annelids. While the densities of benthic macroinvertebrates ranged greatly across lakes and years, we did not observe a definitive trend in response to experimental warming (some groups increased one year but decreased the next and vice versa). In future work, we will explore the metabolic preferences of those taxonomic groups that may have responded to warming, as well as potential top down (e.g., fish predation) pressures on benthic macroinvertebrates

Mechanistic studies on Zymogen-activator and adhesion proteins (ZAAPs) as thrombolytic drugs and bacterial virulence factors

Streptokinase (SK), expressed by Lancefield Group A, C and G β-haemolytic Streptococci and Staphylocoagulase (SCG), expressed by S. aureus, are bacterial virulence factors which belong to a family of proteins known as Zymogen-activator and adhesion proteins (ZAAPs). SK and SCG are responsible for the non-proteolytic activation of plasminogen and prothrombin, respectively. Understanding of SK activity is exclusively based on the Group C (GCS) S. equisimilis H46a SK, a ‘clot buster’ or thrombolytic used in the treatment of Myocardial Infarction (MI), which exhibits no fibrin specificity. SK is the most used thrombolytic worldwide. Here, detailed kinetic studies in purified assay systems explored the mechanistic variation between a recombinant H46a SK (rSK H46a) and a Group A Streptococcal SK (M1GAS), most typically isolated in invasive human infection. This work demonstrates a fibrin specific mechanism for M1GAS SK and proposes a kinetic model for M1GAS SK plasminogen activation, to compliment the “Trigger and Bullet” hypothesis for H46a SK by Bock and colleagues. This work has relevance to the use of SK variants, with enhanced fibrin specificity, for improvement of thrombolytic therapies. Cardiovascular diseases such as myocardial infaraction and ischaemic stroke are significant casues of mortality, particularly in the developing world. Access to Alteplase, an expensive recombinant tPA and the only licensed treatment for stroke, is limited and there is interest in the use of SK for this purpose. Furthermore, microbial resistance is an increasing health burden, as demonstrated by programs such as the Longitude prize. Exploring the mechanisms of bacterial virulence factors at the molecular level such as this could provide rationale for the development of much-needed new antimicrobial technologies.  Open Acces

The Ethical Conundrum of International Health Electives in Medical Education

This paper discusses the ethical challenges of global health education programs and, specifically, International Health Electives (IHEs). The growing popularity of IHEs in medical school has ballooned in recent years largely from students who genuinely want to serve in resource-poor areas of the global South, and also from those students who wish to use the field experience to build a superior CV. Medical schools have responded to the demand, but ethical considerations have not kept pace.  In fact, the practice of many of these programs has brought about complex ethical concerns of individual hubris of Northern medical students, and of structural dependency from resource-poor to resource-flush settings. In light of these two concerns, IHEs largely require restructuring.  This paper proposes that program changes need to focus on the very ethical issues that the current programs perpetuate.  While many IHEs do offer some pre-departure training on ethics, pre-departure training can be trivial if it focuses largely on the behaviour of individuals working in resource poor settings.  I propose that a complete reorientation of moral ethics pedagogy and a fresh introduction of social theory training are needed so that the IHE experience is aimed at overcoming current global health inequities at the structural level