Powerful Arms and Fertile Soil: English Identity and the Law of Arms in Early Modern England

This thesis argues that the status and authority of the English gentleman is derived from the uniquely English interpretation and administration of the Law of Arms by the officers of the College of Arms — the heralds. This research examines questions of honour, genealogy, and law, as they were understood by the heralds, and their role in creating an English identity during the early modern period. The work of Simon Schaffer and Steven Shapin demonstrated that the role of the English gentleman was crucial to the origins of early modern science, in the establishment of truth in “matters of fact.” If, following Schaffer and Shapin, gentlemen played a central role in the social construction of facts, I argue that the College of Arms played a central role in the construction of gentlemen. Through the process of Visitation — which involved historical, genealogical, and chorographical investigation — the heralds ascertained who was gentle, and who was not. While the English gentleman could determine what was legitimate knowledge, it was the heralds who possessed the experience and expertise to determine who was a member of that social class; and the empirical practices for which the English gentleman scientist has been lauded, of “taking no-one’s word for it” and “seeing for oneself” already existed in the process of Visitation undertaken by the heralds, particularly those knowledgeable in the study of antiquities. Relationships between blood, honour, gender, and climate meant that the bodily and cultural identity of the English gentleman was firmly embedded in the English land

A Task-Cycling Pedagogy Using Stimulated Reflection and Audio-Conferencing in Foreign Language Learning

Arts, Education & Law Group, School of Languages and LinguisticsNo Full Tex

Corpus-assisted creative writing: Introducing intermediate Italian learners to a corpus as a reference resource

In much of the literature on the exploitation of corpora for language learning, the learners are viewed as researchers, who formulate and test their own hypotheses about language use. Having identified difficulties encountered in corpus investigations by our intermediate-level students of Italian in a previous study, we have designed a semester-long apprenticeship which does not demand of them the high level of language proficiency, attention to detail in observation, and logical rigour that we consider necessary for rewarding work in the learner-as-researcher role. Instead, we introduce a corpus initially as an aid to the imagination in writing, and then to achieving accuracy through specific grammatical problem solving. We see this as the groundwork for subsequent development of the students ’ research skills with corpus data. This paper describes the approach we have adopted to the corpus apprenticeship and reports on an evaluation of its effectiveness through case studies of three students and their use of a corpus and bilingual dictionary as reference resources when writing. Drawing on insights from the case studies, we outline a working definition of corpus-consultation literacy for our learning context and identify some refinements to be made to our apprenticeship

Instrumental and expressive violence: Motive for women\u27s use of violence and their perception of their partner\u27s use of violence

In this study, we characterized the motivation for violence as instrumental, expressive, and self-defense. We learned that women perceive their own motivation for violence differently than they perceive their partner\u27s motivation for violence, a form of self-defense, fighting back, and protecting themselves from harm. In contrast, women reported that their partner\u27s motivation for violence was instrumental to get one\u27s way, assert dominance, gain power, or to intimidate one\u27s partner

Sympathetic nerve-derived ATP regulates renal medullary vasa recta diameter via pericyte cells: a role for regulating medullary blood flow?

Pericyte cells are now known to be a novel locus of blood flow control, being able to regulate capillary diameter via their unique morphology and expression of contractile proteins. We have previously shown that exogenous ATP causes constriction of vasa recta via renal pericytes, acting at a variety of membrane bound P2 receptors on descending vasa recta (DVR), and therefore may be able to regulate medullary blood flow (MBF). Regulation of MBF is essential for appropriate urine concentration and providing essential oxygen and nutrients to this region of high, and variable, metabolic demand. Various sources of endogenous ATP have been proposed, including from epithelial, endothelial, and red blood cells in response to stimuli such as mechanical stimulation, local acidosis, hypoxia, and exposure to various hormones. Extensive sympathetic innervation of the nephron has previously been shown, however the innervation reported has focused around the proximal and distal tubules, and ascending loop of Henle. We hypothesize that sympathetic nerves are an additional source of ATP acting at renal pericytes and therefore regulate MBF. Using a rat live kidney slice model in combination with video imaging and confocal microscopy techniques we firstly show sympathetic nerves in close proximity to vasa recta pericytes in both the outer and inner medulla. Secondly, we demonstrate pharmacological stimulation of sympathetic nerves in situ (by tyramine) evokes pericyte-mediated vasoconstriction of vasa recta capillaries; inhibited by the application of the P2 receptor antagonist suramin. Lastly, tyramine-evoked vasoconstriction of vasa recta by pericytes is significantly less than ATP-evoked vasoconstriction. Sympathetic innervation may provide an additional level of functional regulation in the renal medulla that is highly localized. It now needs to be determined under which physiological/pathophysiological circumstances that sympathetic innervation of renal pericytes is important

Commissioning of self-management support for people with long-term conditions: an exploration of commissioning aspirations and processes

Objectives: To explore how self-management support (SMS) is considered and conceptualised by Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) and whether this is reflected in strategic planning and commissioning. SMS is an essential element of long-term condition (LTC) management and CCGs are responsible for commissioning services that are coordinated, integrated and link into patient's everyday lives. This focus provides a good test and exemplar for how commissioners communicate with their local population to find out what they need.Design: A multisite, quasi-ethnographic exploration of 9 CCGs.Setting: National Health Service (NHS) CCGs in southern England, representing varied socioeconomic status, practice sizes and rural and urban areas.Data collection/analysis: Content analysis of CCG forward plans for mention of SMS. Semistructured interviews with commissioners (n=10) explored understanding of SMS and analysed thematically. The practice of commissioning explored through the observations of Service User Researchers (n=5) attending Governing Body meetings (n=10, 30?hours).Results: Observations illuminate the relative absence of SMS and gateways to active engagement with patient and public voices. Content analysis of plans point to tensions between local aspirations and those identified by NHS England for empowering patients by enhancing SMS services (‘person-centred’, whole systems). Interview data highlight disparities in the process of translating the forward plans into practice. Commissioners reference SMS as a priority yet details of local initiatives are notably absent with austerity (cost-containment) and nationally measured biomedical outcomes taking precedence.Conclusions: Commissioners conceptualise locally sensitive SMS as a means to improve health and reduce service use, but structural and financial constraints result in prioritisation of nationally driven outcome measures and payments relating to biomedical targets. Ultimately, there is little evidence of local needs driving SMS in CCGs. CCGs need to focus more on early strategic planning of lay involvement to provide an avenue for genuine engagement, so that support can be provided for communities and individuals in a way people will engage with.<br/

Keep Me Beautiful, Keep Me Bright, Keep Me Joyous

In my work, I create collections of small objects from a variety of materials and curate them into a larger composition in space. These objects are made from clay, wood, paint, sand, beads, cardboard, paper, yarn, tape, and other materials. I arrange these objects into a composition that is informed by painting, which manifests as the wall and floor serving as substrate, along with vinyl shapes delineating areas of the painting as a whole. In these arrangements I aim to break away from taught boundaries in regards to physical space and expectations of familiar materials

What type of soft contact lens works best for reverse piggyback?

Aim To determine which type of soft contact lens works best in a reverse piggyback lens system. Background A reverse piggyback lens system comprises of a soft contact lens worn over a rigid gas permeable lens. Several uses of this system include prevention of rigid gas permeable lens decentration during sporting activities and reduction of rigid gas permeable lens intolerance due to lid sensitivity. Methods Four different types of soft contact lenses; Senofilcon A, Omafilcon A, Etafilcon A and Delefilcon A, were assessed in a reverse piggyback system, in both eyes of twelve subjects (n=24). Over refraction, best corrected visual acuity and comfort were measured for each lens. Comfort was assessed using a visual analogue scale. A LogMAR scale was used to determine best corrected visual acuity. These measurements were also conducted for rigid gas permeable lens wear alone. The results for over refraction, best corrected visual acuity and comfort were statistically analysed and interpreted with respect to change from baseline measurements of rigid gas permeable lens wear alone. Results Data for over refraction and best corrected visual acuity for each of the four lenses was tested to check for normal distribution using a Shapiro Wilk test. The data for over refraction was normally distributed for each lens, with the exception of Etafilcon A. However, as the frequency histogram for this lens appeared relatively normal, it was decided to proceed with a one-way ANOVA test to analyse the data for over refraction. The f-ratio value was found to be 0.19 (P=0.91). The data for change in best corrected visual acuity was not normally distributed. As the frequency histograms for this data did not resemble that of a normal distribution, a one-way ANOVA test could not be carried out. Instead, a Kruskal-Wallis test was utilised for statistical analysis of change in best corrected visual acuity. The H statistic was found to be 1.53 (P=0.68). The results for over refraction and best corrected visual acuity were not statistically significant at the 5% significance level. A Friedman test was used to analyse the data for comfort. The X2r statistic was found to be 9.01 (P=0.03). The differences in comfort between the lenses were found to be statistically significant at the 5% significance level. Re-analysis of the data using a Friedman test according to other researchers’ just noticeable difference estimations gave an X2r statistic of 5.37 (P=0.15). The differences in comfort between the lenses were not clinically significant at the 5% significance level. Conclusion There were no clinically significant differences in over refraction, best corrected visual acuity or comfort between each lens type. Therefore, a type of soft contact lens that works best for reverse piggyback was not identified. Further research with a larger sample size could be carried out to determine whether there is a lens which works best for reverse piggyback. However, if a lens was identified that works best for reverse piggyback, it may not be suitable in all cases due to the large amounts of individual variation indicated by the results