Introduction : Bourdieu and the literary field

Pierre Bourdieu’s range as a thinker was extremely wide, and it would be misleading to present him primarily as a literary theorist. Trained as a philosopher, he became the leading French sociologist of his generation, and brought under the spotlight of his ‘critical sociology’ a whole series of institutional and discursive universes (education, art, linguistics, public administration, politics, philosophy, journalism, economics and others). Far from representing an intellectual dispersal, these manifold objects of enquiry allowed him to develop and refine a comprehensive theory of social process and power-relations based on distinctive concepts such as ‘field’, ‘habitus’, variously conceived notions of ‘capital’, and ‘illusio’ (all these concepts and others will be explicated and assessed in this issue). Yet Bourdieu’s analyses were scarcely ever received as neutral descriptions within the fields which he analysed. Bourdieu’s abiding agenda was to show how the discursive presuppositions and institutional logics at work in such fields carried but also masked certain social logics that a ‘critical sociology’ could disclose. Coupled with the inveterately combative drive seldom absent from Bourdieu’s objectifying analyses—and even setting aside the misprisions to which an external analyst is inevitably subject—this helps explain the resistance which his work recurrently provoked. In this respect, Bourdieu’s forays into the world of literary studies and his reception therein can be seen as part of a wider pattern

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Europe, 1999–2002

European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System shows large variations in methicillin-resistant S. aureus

Middle Neolithic pits and a burial at West Amesbury, Wiltshire

Excavations on the south-eastern slopes of King Barrow Ridge, 1.5 km east of Stonehenge, revealed five pits, a grave and other features of Middle Neolithic date. Analysis of the pit assemblages and the partial inhumation interred in the grave has provided insights into lifeways in this landscape in the late fourth millennium cal BC. Evidence suggests that the area was visited by a pastoralist, mobile community on a semi-regular basis for a significant period, in late autumn or winter. Selected remnants of craft-working and consumption were deposited in pits, before deliberate infilling. These depositions repeatedly memorialised activity on the hillside at a time of contemporary activity elsewhere on King Barrow Ridge and at the future site of Stonehenge. Middle Neolithic pits are present in significant numbers across King Barrow Ridge, and alongside pits in the Durrington area, form one of the densest concentrations of such activity in the region. Long distance mobility is suggested by the possible Irish origins of the inhumation, the first Middle Neolithic individual excavated in the environs of Stonehenge. Whilst of significance for understanding the Middle Neolithic in the WHS and the region, this research also hints at the roots of Late Neolithic monumentalisation of this landscape

The Buffer Gas Beam: An Intense, Cold, and Slow Source for Atoms and Molecules

Beams of atoms and molecules are stalwart tools for spectroscopy and studies of collisional processes. The supersonic expansion technique can create cold beams of many species of atoms and molecules. However, the resulting beam is typically moving at a speed of 300-600 m/s in the lab frame, and for a large class of species has insufficient flux (i.e. brightness) for important applications. In contrast, buffer gas beams can be a superior method in many cases, producing cold and relatively slow molecules in the lab frame with high brightness and great versatility. There are basic differences between supersonic and buffer gas cooled beams regarding particular technological advantages and constraints. At present, it is clear that not all of the possible variations on the buffer gas method have been studied. In this review, we will present a survey of the current state of the art in buffer gas beams, and explore some of the possible future directions that these new methods might take

Kematian Manusia Sebagai Inspirasi Dalam Seni Grafis

Kematian adalah suatu peristiwa yang paling hebat yang pasti akan terjadi atas diri manusia, melupakan mati atau tidak mengingat mati adalah suatu sikap yang tidak bertanggungjawab dari sudut pandang Islam. Semua manusia akan menemui kematian dalam hidupnya, ini adalah suatu kenyataan yang terjadi pada manusia. Maka persiapan menghadapi kematian menjadi penting dipertimbangkan untuk mendapatkan kebahagiaan dunia dan akhirat. Dalam kesenian, pesan-pesan agama, hubungan antara seni dan religi saling jalin menjalin sepanjang sejarah kehidupan manusia. Seni selalu hadir dalam setiap peradaban Islam, seperti, masjisd Nabawi di Madinah al Munawwarah yang sangat indah, atau penyampaian melalui lukisan “Arasbaque” dan karya seni lainnya. Konsep perwujudan dengan bentuk Tengkorak dan anatomi kerangka tulang manusia sebagai simbol yang dapat mewakili ide tentang kematian manusia, dipadu dengan objek pendukung lain dimaksudkan agar ilustrasi yang ingin dicapai dapat tersampaikan pesan dan makna ke dalam karya seni grafis. Dengan menggunakan teknik cetak saring atau serigrafi dalam visualisasinya dapat mendukung atau menghasilkan perwujudan karya yang maksimal sesuai dengan cita rasa, fantasi pengalaman estetis, dan kemampuan artistik yang diinginkan. Semua yang terjadi dari proses pembuatan karya seni Tugas Akhir ini merupakan respon atau tanggapan penulis terhadap seluruh permasalahan yang penulis alami dan amati atas realita yang terjadi di lingkungan sekitar. Penulis mencoba merefleksikan pengalaman pribadi penulis ke dalam karya-karya tugas akhir ini

A Multi-Element Detector System for Intelligent Imaging: I-ImaS

I-ImaS is a European project aiming to produce new, intelligent x-ray imaging systems using novel APS sensors to create optimal diagnostic images. Initial systems concentrate on mammography and encephalography. Later development will yield systems for other types of radiography such as industrial QA and homeland security. The I-ImaS system intelligence, due to APS technology and FPGAs, allows real-time analysis of data during image acquisition, giving the capability to build a truly adaptive imaging system with the potential to create images with maximum diagnostic information within given dose constraints. A companion paper deals with the DAQ system and preliminary characterization. This paper considers the laboratory x-ray characterization of the detector elements of the I-ImaS system. The characterization of the sensors when tiled to form a strip detector will be discussed, along with the appropriate correction techniques formulated to take into account the misalignments between individual sensors within the array. Preliminary results show that the detectors have sufficient performance to be used successfully in the initial mammographic and encephalographic I-ImaS systems under construction and this paper will further discuss the testing of these systems and the iterative processes used for intelligence upgrade in order to obtain the optimal algorithms and setting

Exploring UK medical school differences: the MedDifs study of selection, teaching, student and F1 perceptions, postgraduate outcomes and fitness to practise.

BACKGROUND: Medical schools differ, particularly in their teaching, but it is unclear whether such differences matter, although influential claims are often made. The Medical School Differences (MedDifs) study brings together a wide range of measures of UK medical schools, including postgraduate performance, fitness to practise issues, specialty choice, preparedness, satisfaction, teaching styles, entry criteria and institutional factors. METHOD: Aggregated data were collected for 50 measures across 29 UK medical schools. Data include institutional history (e.g. rate of production of hospital and GP specialists in the past), curricular influences (e.g. PBL schools, spend per student, staff-student ratio), selection measures (e.g. entry grades), teaching and assessment (e.g. traditional vs PBL, specialty teaching, self-regulated learning), student satisfaction, Foundation selection scores, Foundation satisfaction, postgraduate examination performance and fitness to practise (postgraduate progression, GMC sanctions). Six specialties (General Practice, Psychiatry, Anaesthetics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Internal Medicine, Surgery) were examined in more detail. RESULTS: Medical school differences are stable across time (median alpha = 0.835). The 50 measures were highly correlated, 395 (32.2%) of 1225 correlations being significant with p < 0.05, and 201 (16.4%) reached a Tukey-adjusted criterion of p < 0.0025. Problem-based learning (PBL) schools differ on many measures, including lower performance on postgraduate assessments. While these are in part explained by lower entry grades, a surprising finding is that schools such as PBL schools which reported greater student satisfaction with feedback also showed lower performance at postgraduate examinations. More medical school teaching of psychiatry, surgery and anaesthetics did not result in more specialist trainees. Schools that taught more general practice did have more graduates entering GP training, but those graduates performed less well in MRCGP examinations, the negative correlation resulting from numbers of GP trainees and exam outcomes being affected both by non-traditional teaching and by greater historical production of GPs. Postgraduate exam outcomes were also higher in schools with more self-regulated learning, but lower in larger medical schools. A path model for 29 measures found a complex causal nexus, most measures causing or being caused by other measures. Postgraduate exam performance was influenced by earlier attainment, at entry to Foundation and entry to medical school (the so-called academic backbone), and by self-regulated learning. Foundation measures of satisfaction, including preparedness, had no subsequent influence on outcomes. Fitness to practise issues were more frequent in schools producing more male graduates and more GPs. CONCLUSIONS: Medical schools differ in large numbers of ways that are causally interconnected. Differences between schools in postgraduate examination performance, training problems and GMC sanctions have important implications for the quality of patient care and patient safety

The Analysis of Teaching of Medical Schools (AToMS) survey: an analysis of 47,258 timetabled teaching events in 25 UK medical schools relating to timing, duration, teaching formats, teaching content, and problem-based learning.

BACKGROUND: What subjects UK medical schools teach, what ways they teach subjects, and how much they teach those subjects is unclear. Whether teaching differences matter is a separate, important question. This study provides a detailed picture of timetabled undergraduate teaching activity at 25 UK medical schools, particularly in relation to problem-based learning (PBL). METHOD: The Analysis of Teaching of Medical Schools (AToMS) survey used detailed timetables provided by 25 schools with standard 5-year courses. Timetabled teaching events were coded in terms of course year, duration, teaching format, and teaching content. Ten schools used PBL. Teaching times from timetables were validated against two other studies that had assessed GP teaching and lecture, seminar, and tutorial times. RESULTS: A total of 47,258 timetabled teaching events in the academic year 2014/2015 were analysed, including SSCs (student-selected components) and elective studies. A typical UK medical student receives 3960 timetabled hours of teaching during their 5-year course. There was a clear difference between the initial 2 years which mostly contained basic medical science content and the later 3 years which mostly consisted of clinical teaching, although some clinical teaching occurs in the first 2 years. Medical schools differed in duration, format, and content of teaching. Two main factors underlay most of the variation between schools, Traditional vs PBL teaching and Structured vs Unstructured teaching. A curriculum map comparing medical schools was constructed using those factors. PBL schools differed on a number of measures, having more PBL teaching time, fewer lectures, more GP teaching, less surgery, less formal teaching of basic science, and more sessions with unspecified content. DISCUSSION: UK medical schools differ in both format and content of teaching. PBL and non-PBL schools clearly differ, albeit with substantial variation within groups, and overlap in the middle. The important question of whether differences in teaching matter in terms of outcomes is analysed in a companion study (MedDifs) which examines how teaching differences relate to university infrastructure, entry requirements, student perceptions, and outcomes in Foundation Programme and postgraduate training