Vernacular literacy in late-medieval England: the example of East Anglian medical manuscripts

This thesis is an examination of vernacular literacy in late-medieval East Anglia, using the evidence supplied by English medical texts datable to between 1350-1500- It addresses not only the texts, but also the manuscripts in which they survive and the people who wrote, owned and read them. By this means I have been able to examine the literacy of a group of readers in a specific region. This thesis is divided into three main parts. The first describes the spproach taken, and critically assesses the field of historical literacy before examining the value to the study of modern theories of literacy. It includes an overview of late-medieval medical practice in order to place the manuscripts in their immediate context. The second section consists of a detailed examination of the primary material and presents a corpus of some thirty-seven manuscripts dating from the nid-fourteenth to the late-fifteenth centuries. Each manuscript is described in terms of its physical appearance and the types of texts it contains. Provenance information is supplied for owners and readers in the Middle Ages. The third section draws together these findings in the light of the literacy theories adopted, analysing the information in terms of the types of text included (both medical and non-medical), the types of book (whether basic or luxurious productions), and the types of owner (graduate physicians, rural practitioners or interested laypeople). My conclusion shows that the vernacular medical literature from late-medieval East Anglia provides a picture of literacy that is more complex than previously suggested. Several shifts in literacy practices for groups and individuals can be discerned from the evidence of this survey. The increase in production and use of vernacular texts cannot be simply described as a broadening of literacy and increased accessibility of texts. Rather than a growth of literacy per se, the vernacularisation of medicine in late-medieval East Anglia seems to have been both the cause and effect of shifts in literacy practices. The increased use of written texts in medicine during this period can be shown to be a process that involves participation in literacy events, broadening of background knowledge and the acquisition and development of practical skills in reading and writing

The reward value of infant facial cuteness tracks within-subject changes in women’s salivary testosterone

“Baby schema” refers to infant characteristics, such as facial cues, that positively influence cuteness perceptions and trigger caregiving and protective behaviors in adults. Current models of hormonal regulation of parenting behaviors address how hormones may modulate protective behaviors and nurturance, but not how hormones may modulate responses to infant cuteness. To explore this issue, we investigated possible relationships between the reward value of infant facial cuteness and within-woman changes in testosterone, estradiol, and progesterone levels. Multilevel modeling of these data showed that infant cuteness was more rewarding when women’s salivary testosterone levels were high. Moreover, this within-woman effect of testosterone was independent of the possible effects of estradiol and progesterone and was not simply a consequence of changes in women’s cuteness perceptions. These results suggest that testosterone may modulate differential responses to infant facial cuteness, potentially revealing a new route through which testosterone shapes selective allocation of parental resources

Women’s facial attractiveness is related to their body mass index, but not their salivary cortisol

Objectives: Although many theories of human facial attractiveness propose positive correlations between facial attractiveness and measures of actual health, evidence for such correlations is somewhat mixed. Here we sought to replicate a recent study reporting that women’s facial attractiveness is independently related to both their adiposity and cortisol. Methods: Ninety-six women provided saliva samples, which were analyzed for cortisol level, and their height and weight, which were used to calculate their body mass index (BMI). A digital face image of each woman was also taken under standardized photographic conditions and rated for attractiveness. Results: There was a significant negative correlation between women’s facial attractiveness and BMI. By contrast, salivary cortisol and facial attractiveness were not significantly correlated. Conclusions: Our results suggest that the types of health information reflected in women's faces include qualities that are indexed by BMI, but do not necessarily include qualities that are indexed by cortisol

Testing the utility of a data-driven approach for assessing BMI from face images

Several lines of evidence suggest that facial cues of adiposity may be important for human social interaction. However, tests for quantifiable cues of body mass index (BMI) in the face have examined only a small number of facial proportions and these proportions were found to have relatively low predictive power. Here we employed a data-driven approach in which statistical models were built using principal components (PCs) derived from objectively defined shape and color characteristics in face images. The predictive power of these models was then compared with models based on previously studied facial proportions (perimeter-to-area ratio, width-to-height ratio, and cheek-to-jaw width). Models based on 2D shape-only PCs, color-only PCs, and 2D shape and color PCs combined each performed significantly and substantially better than models based on one or more of the previously studied facial proportions. A non-linear PC model considering both 2D shape and color PCs was the best predictor of BMI. These results highlight the utility of a “bottom-up”, data-driven approach for assessing BMI from face images

Physiotherapists’ Perspectives on the use of Telehealth for Service Delivery to Children with Developmental Delays: A Qualitative Focus Group Study

Purpose: The purposes of the study are to (1) determine what barriers and facilitators physiotherapists perceive to using telehealth, (2) to determine willingness to use and (3) to determine perspectives on training in the use of telehealth. Method: This is a qualitative semi structured interview and focus group design. Participants were recruited from the first stage of the larger research process using purposive sampling. A semi structured guide was used to facilitate discussion of shared experiences and to allow themes to emerge from the discussion. Results: Thematic analysis was used to synthesise frequent and important themes. Ten participants took part in either a focus group (n=7) or interview (n=3). Nine main themes identified were split into barriers and facilitators. Facilitators were the right family, right child, adequate technology and space, and collaboration. Barriers were technology, time management, lack of physical touch, lack of organisational support, and work environment. Conclusion: Results suggest that physiotherapists working with children with developmental delay consider telehealth to be unsuitable to replace face-to-face therapy entirely but are willing to use it to provide follow up services to the right family and the right child. Physiotherapists in the study were positive about telehealth’s potential to improve services to children in rural areas. Physiotherapists said that specific physiotherapy training in telehealth was currently lacking

Whole family-based physical activity promotion intervention: the Families Reporting Every Step to Health pilot randomised controlled trial protocol

Introduction : Family-based physical activity (PA) interventions present a promising avenue to promote children’s activity, however, high-quality experimental research is lacking. This paper describes the protocol for the FRESH (Families Reporting Every Step to Health) pilot trial, a child-led family-based PA intervention delivered online.  Methods and analysis : FRESH is a three-armed, parallel-group, randomised controlled pilot trial using a 1:1:1 allocation ratio with follow-up assessments at 8- and 52-weeks post-baseline. Families will be eligible if a minimum of one child in school Years 3-6 (aged 7-11 years) and at least one adult responsible for that child are willing to participate. Family members can take part in the intervention irrespective of their participation in the accompanying evaluation and vice versa. Following baseline assessment, families will be randomly allocated to one of three arms: (1) FRESH, (2) pedometer-only, or (3) no-intervention control. All family members in the pedometer-only and FRESH arms receive pedometers and generic PA promotion information. FRESH families additionally receive access to the intervention website; allowing participants to select step challenges to ‘travel’ to target cities around the world, log steps, and track progress as they virtually globetrot. Control families will receive no treatment. All family members will be eligible to participate in the evaluation with two follow-ups (8 and 52 weeks). Physical (e.g., fitness, blood pressure), psychosocial (e.g., social support), and behavioural (e.g., objectively-measured family PA) measures will be collected each time point. At 8-week follow-up, a mixed-methods process evaluation will be conducted (questionnaires and family focus groups) assessing acceptability of the intervention and evaluation. FRESH families’ website engagement will also be explored.  Ethics and dissemination : This study received ethical approval from the Ethics Committee for the School of the Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Cambridge. Findings will be disseminated via peer-reviewed publications, conferences, and to participating families

Weathering the storm: developments in the acoustic sensing of wind and rain

An Acoustic Rain Gauge (ARG) analyses the underwater sound levels across a wide frequency range, classifies the observed spectrum according to likely source and then determines the local wind speed or rain rate as appropriate. Thispaper covers a trial on the Scotian Shelf off Canada, comparing the geophysical information derived from the acoustic signals with those obtained from other sources

Gross motor assessment tools for children 0-12 years of age using telehealth: a scoping review

Objective: The objective of this review was to understand the scope of evidence relating to the use of telehealth for gross motor assessment tools in children 0-12 years of age. Background: Telehealth has been widely used by physiotherapists since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, however, little is known about the validity and reliability of using gross motor assessment tools via telehealth. Gross motor assessment tools are used by physiotherapists to understand motor function, support diagnoses of motor disorders, and plan and evaluate interventions. Qualitative research identifies a lack of confidence by physiotherapists in undertaking physical assessment via telehealth. Method: A comprehensive search was undertaken of MEDLINE, Scopus, CINAHL, Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) and OTseeker in August 2022. Grey searching was also implemented. Two independent reviewers identified articles for inclusion and critically appraised the articles. Data was analysed using a narrative review. Results: 34 studies met the inclusion criteria

Novel methods for spatial prediction of soil functions within landscapes (SP0531)

Previous studies showed that soil patterns could be predicted in agriculturally managed landscapes by modelling and extrapolating from extensive existing but related integrated datasets. Based on these results we proposed to develop and apply predictive models of the relationships between environmental data and known soil patterns to predict capacity for key soil functions within diverse landscapes for which there is little detailed underpinning soil information available. Objectives were: To develop a high-level framework in which the non-specialist user-community could explore questions. To generate digital soil maps for three selected catchments at a target resolution of 1:50000 to provide the base information for soil function prediction. To use a modelling approach to predict the performance of key soil functions in catchments undergoing change but where only sparse or low resolution soil survey data are available. To use a modelling approach to assess the impact of different management scenarios and/or environmental conditions on the delivery of multiple soil functions within a catchment. To create a detailed outline of the requirements for ground-truthing to test the predicted model outputs at a catchment scale. To contribute to the development of a high-level framework for decision makers

The genome sequence and effector complement of the flax rust pathogen Melampsora lini

Rust fungi cause serious yield reductions on crops, including wheat, barley, soybean, coffee, and represent real threats to global food security. Of these fungi, the flax rust pathogen Melampsora lini has been developed most extensively over the past 80 years as a model to understand the molecular mechanisms that underpin pathogenesis. During infection, M. lini secretes virulence effectors to promote disease. The number of these effectors, their function and their degree of conservation across rust fungal species is unknown. To assess this, we sequenced and assembled de novo the genome of M. lini isolate CH5 into 21,130 scaffolds spanning 189 Mbp (scaffold N50 of 31 kbp). Global analysis of the DNA sequence revealed that repetitive elements, primarily retrotransposons, make up at least 45% of the genome. Using ab initio predictions, transcriptome data and homology searches, we identified 16,271 putative protein-coding genes. An analysis pipeline was then implemented to predict the effector complement of M. lini and compare it to that of the poplar rust, wheat stem rust and wheat stripe rust pathogens to identify conserved and species-specific effector candidates. Previous knowledge of four cloned M. lini avirulence effector proteins and two basidiomycete effectors was used to optimize parameters of the effector prediction pipeline. Markov clustering based on sequence similarity was performed to group effector candidates from all four rust pathogens. Clusters containing at least one member from M. lini were further analyzed and prioritized based on features including expression in isolated haustoria and infected leaf tissue and conservation across rust species. Herein, we describe 200 of 940 clusters that ranked highest on our priority list, representing 725 flax rust candidate effectors. Our findings on this important model rust species provide insight into how effectors of rust fungi are conserved across species and how they may act to promote infection on their hosts.This work was funded by a grant from the CSIRO Transformational Biology Capability Platform to Adnane Nemri. Claire Anderson was supported by an ARC Discovery Grant (DP120104044) awarded to David A. Jones and Peter N. Dodds