Colour, seeing, and seeing colour in medieval literature

This thesis re-approaches medieval literature in terms of its investment in visuality in general and chromatic perception in particular. The introduction raises the philosophical problem off-colour: its status as an object for science, role in perception, and relationship to language and meaning as expressed within inter-subjective evaluation. Two modes of discourse for colour studies of medieval literature are proposed: the phenomenological (from the philosophical tradition of such as Maurice Merleau-Ponty) seeking localised networks and patterns of inter-subjective, embodied, perceptual meanings and values; and linguistic (informed by the philosophical psychology and language philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein), focusing on the lexicalisation of colour experience and creation of semantic distinctions corresponding with changing colour concepts, which in turn shape individual perceptions (both first-hand experience and that of reading). Part One introduces key medieval ideas and theories pertaining to visual perception in general, and chromatic perception in particular. The authority for, and influence on medieval writers of Plato's Timaeus, Aristotle's De Anima and Parva Naturalia, and relevant biblical material is considered. Subsequent chapters explore Patristic and Neo-Platonist developments in extramissive thought, locating within this tradition the roots of a synthesis of natural philosophy with Christian theology that is found in later medieval thought and its dealings with perception and colour. A key movement in the theology of light in relation to colour is connected to the wider philosophical movement from largely "extramissive" to largely "intromissive" models of perception. This shift in theory and its significance for colour perception is explained in terms of the impact of Aristotle's material colour theory as found in De anima and the De sensti et sensato section of his Parva Naturalia from the late twelfth century onwards. The part concludes with a detailed study of the nineteenth chapter of Bartholomaeus Anglicus's thirteenth-century encyclopedia, De Proprietatibus Rerum, which provides access to an important range of ideas and sources relevant for accessing the medieval mind in its intellectualized perception of colour. Lastly, such philosophical and theological sources and ideas as are found in Part One are compared with relevant examples from literary texts, ranging from the Middle English poem, The Parliament of the Three Ages, to Christine de Pisan's Le Livre de la Cite des Dames. Part Two treats colour perception in relation to a particular medieval phenomenon: the rise of medieval heraldry and the armorial function of the herald. It considers the spiritual and secular ideologies of chivalry and their relationship to armorial displays as found portrayed and construed in various genres of chivalric literature. Texts under discussion include books of chivalry and arms from the early thirteenth to fourteenth centuries, such as those principally indebted to New Testament armorial allegory and motif (from writers such as Ramon Llull to Geoffrey de Charny), to later fourteenth-century treatises employing Aristotle’s De sensu et sensato to establish a secular hierarchy of chivalric colours. The study culminates with Part Three, offering responses to and discussions of particular medieval fictions in terms of their phenomenological, linguistic and intertextual treatment of colour perception. Medieval texts addressed include, amongst others, Le Roman de la Rose by Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun, and four Middle English metrical romances: Sir Gowther, Sir Amadace, Sir Launfal and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

“A question of trust” and “a leap of faith”-study participants' perspectives on consent, privacy, and trust in smart home research:Qualitative study

BACKGROUND: Ubiquitous, smart technology has the potential to assist humans in numerous ways, including with health and social care. COVID-19 has notably hastened the move to remotely delivering many health services. A variety of stakeholders are involved in the process of developing technology. Where stakeholders are research participants, this poses practical and ethical challenges, particularly if the research is conducted in people’s homes. Researchers must observe prima facie ethical obligations linked to participants’ interests in having their autonomy and privacy respected. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to explore the ethical considerations around consent, privacy, anonymization, and data sharing with participants involved in SPHERE (Sensor Platform for Healthcare in a Residential Environment), a project for developing smart technology for monitoring health behaviors at home. Participants’ unique insights from being part of this unusual experiment offer valuable perspectives on how to properly approach informed consent for similar smart home research in the future. METHODS: Semistructured qualitative interviews were conducted with 7 households (16 individual participants) recruited from SPHERE. Purposive sampling was used to invite participants from a range of household types and ages. Interviews were conducted in participants’ homes or on-site at the University of Bristol. Interviews were digitally recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using an inductive thematic approach. RESULTS: Four themes were identified—motivation for participating; transparency, understanding, and consent; privacy, anonymity, and data use; and trust in research. Motivations to participate in SPHERE stemmed from an altruistic desire to support research directed toward the public good. Participants were satisfied with the consent process despite reporting some difficulties—recalling and understanding the information received, the timing and amount of information provision, and sometimes finding the information to be abstract. Participants were satisfied that privacy was assured and judged that the goals of the research compensated for threats to privacy. Participants trusted SPHERE. The factors that were relevant to developing and maintaining this trust were the trustworthiness of the research team, the provision of necessary information, participants’ control over their participation, and positive prior experiences of research involvement. CONCLUSIONS: This study offers valuable insights into the perspectives of participants in smart home research on important ethical considerations around consent and privacy. The findings may have practical implications for future research regarding the types of information researchers should convey, the extent to which anonymity can be assured, and the long-term duty of care owed to the participants who place trust in researchers not only on the basis of this information but also because of their institutional affiliation. This study highlights important ethical implications. Although autonomy matters, trust appears to matter the most. Therefore, researchers should be alert to the need to foster and maintain trust, particularly as failing to do so might have deleterious effects on future research

Current-induced dynamical tilting of chiral domain walls in curved microwires

We report on the investigation of current-induced domain wall motion of Néel domain walls in perpendicularly magnetized microwires with curved geometries in the flow regime. The investigation was performed by time-resolved scanning transmission x-ray microscopy. In particular, we studied the dynamical tilting of the Néel domain walls, observing that an asymmetric behavior in the domain wall tilt appears upon an inversion of the polarity of the current pulse driving the motion, an effect not predicted by state-of-the-art theories and micromagnetic modeling

Time-resolved visualization of the magnetization canting induced by field-like spin-orbit torques

We report on the use of time-resolved scanning transmission x-ray microscopy imaging for the visualization of the dynamical canting of the magnetization induced by field-like spin–orbit torques in a perpendicularly magnetized microwire. In particular, we show how the contributions to the dynamical canting of the magnetization arising from the field-like spin–orbit torque can be separated from the heating-induced effects on the magnetization of the microwire. This method will allow for the imaging of the dynamical effects of spin–orbit torques in device-like structures and buried layers. Part of this work was performed at the Surface Interface Microscopy (SIM - X11MA) beamline of the Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut, Villigen PSI, Switzerland. The research leading to these results received funding from the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (No. FP7/2007-2013) under Grant Agreement No. 290605 (PSI-FELLOW/COFUND), the Swiss National Science Foundation under Grant Agreement No. 172517, and the EMPIR Programme (Grant No. 17FUN08TOPS) co-financed by the participating states, and from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme. ML acknowledges funding received from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Marie-Sklodowska Curie Grant Agreement No. 701647

Parental Translation into Practice of Healthy Eating and Active Play Messages and the Impact on Childhood Obesity: A Mixed Methods Study

Childhood obesity is a significant health issue worldwide. Modifiable risk factors in early childhood relate to child healthy eating and active play, and are influenced by parents. The aim of the study was two-fold. Firstly, to determine the weight status of children aged between birth and 3.5 years in a rural and remote area of Australia. Secondly, to explore the relationship between child weight status and translation of advice on healthy eating and active play provided to parents by local, nurse-led, Maternal Child Health (MCH) services. Measured anthropometric data (n = 438) were provided by MCH services. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with two MCH nurses and 15 parents. Prevalence of overweight/obesity was calculated. Local childhood overweight/obesity prevalence was lower than the national average at age 3.5 years (11.38%; 20%). Parents identified the MCH service as a key source of healthy eating and active play advice and reported mostly following recommendations but struggling with screen time and fussy eating recommendations. We observed a relaxation in parent attitudes towards healthy child behaviours which coincided with a trend towards obesity from 12 months (p < 0.001). MCH services provide useful and effective advice to parents but ongoing support is required to prevent obesity later in childhood