Narrative Form and the British Television Studio 1955–1963

This article examines how the material design of the television studio influenced the resulting fictional mise en scene of different narrative formats broadcast on UK television. Through this spatial analysis the article considers how a bias was formed within the industry between high end single plays and popular series. Using archival production documents that detail the design and resourcing of studio space, it explores the different working studio practices that existed for the single play and series from 1955-63. Drawing on studio floor-plans, internal memos and institutional records of policy discussions that detail the creation, modification and resourcing of studio production facilities, including production control rooms, lighting systems, and camerawork, this article compares the different production practices for the popular BBC police series, Dixon of Dock Green (BBC 1955- 1976) and the anthology series of single plays Armchair Theatre (ABC 1956-74). Although each text was produced for the rival channels of BBC1 and ITV, my intention is not to provide a direct institutional comparison of the production practices of the BBC and ABC but rather to demonstrate how the design and technological resources of a studio can impact upon the aesthetics of different televisual narrative formats. Hence my primary aim is to examine the relationship between the physical attributes of studios and resultant styles of the cheaper, popular series and the more prestigious single play, offering an original approach to considering television space

How College Graduates Decide to Remain in a Rural Community Post-Graduation

Rural Brain Drain is a critical issue facing hundreds of non-metropolitan communities across the country. Existing research that addresses the outmigration of college graduates from rural areas primarily focuses on the reasons the graduates leave, and not on what influences the decision making of those who stay. This study adds to existing retention research by; establishing an initial understanding of the influential experiences rural college students have that contribute to their decision to stay in the rural community post-graduation, and providing an emergent theory for practice to help coalitions better assess and strategize efforts to create improved pathways to rural talent retention. This research is important as it lays the groundwork that fills a noticeable gap in research around brain drain, and builds a basis for rural communities to combat workforce challenges, population decline, and outmigration of their college graduates.. With data-informed practices, rural communities and their partners can collectively pursue actions that help retain educated individuals, build more resilient economies, and foster critical growth. To conduct this research, a Constructivist Grounded Theory approach was used. Nine graduates from a rural college whom remained in that rural community were interviewed twice each, providing the data on experiences that became the basis for analysis and conclusions. Through this process, five critical influence categories were identified: community based influences, accessibility based influences, mentorship based influences, engagement based influence and opportunity-based influences. These categories of student experience each played a role in their decision-making process that resulted in them staying in the rural community after graduation. Using these thematic categories, I provide recommendations for future research, and an initial emergent theory, the CAMEO Rural Talent Retention Model, which can provide rural communities with a scaffolding to curtail rural brain drain and foster rural growth. The results of this study contribute to the existing breadth of research on rural retention, and establish an asset-based approach that focuses on examples of success in retention, that further research can be modeled after, and that other communities can adapt to their own efforts in retaining college graduates from rural institutions

The Poststructuralist Social Theory of Michel Foucault Power-Relations and Subjectivities

This thesis argues for the utility of interpreting Michel Foucault as a social theorist. The first part of this thesis accomplishes an intellectual history of Foucault\u27s thought in reference to structuralism and poststructuralism in 20th century France. In these sections, I discuss what critical and methodological tools Foucault uses in his research and their similarity to social analysis. I compare and contrast Michel Foucault with Jurgen Habermas to demonstrate the intertextuality of their work, specifically in their theories of social technologies and power interests. The second part of this thesis expands a viable poststructuralist social theory, based on two of Foucault\u27s concepts: power-relations and subjectivities. In his conception of power, Foucault presents systems analysis as compatible with discursivities and resistances. Lastly, Foucault provides a new way to analyze the subject and ethics in the domain of social theory

The meaning of charity in Locke's political thought

Copyright © 2009 by SAGE Publications. This is the authors final version, after peer-review. 12 month embargo by the publisher. Article will be released April 2010.The recent ‘religious turn’ within Locke scholarship has stressed the need to understand his theological commitments when approaching his political thought. One area of interpretation that has been completely transformed by this heightened sensitivity to the religious roots of Locke’s thought is his account of property ownership which, it is claimed, contains a ‘right to charity’—a subsistence entitlement that trumps established ownership rights. However, this increasingly accepted interpretive claim has been made without significant attention to the way in which charity is deployed throughout Locke’s writing. The aim of this article is to try and get to grips with Locke’s various usages of the term and determine whether the concept he deploys is a consistent one. After discussion of the uncertain role charity plays in his account of property, we examine how it is defined in the Essay Concerning Human Understanding, and then turn to the crucial position it occupies in his theological corpus. Though Locke’s understanding of charity seems fraught with ambiguities, the reason for these ambiguities relate to his configuration of charity as a disposition rather than a mere act, a configuration linked inextricably to his account of toleration

Potential of Muller glia-derived extracellular vesicles for retinal neuroprotection

Müller glia cells retain progenitor-like characteristics in the adult human eye and can partially restore visual function upon intravitreal transplantation into animal models of glaucoma. Based on observations that this effect does not depend on cell replacement of the degenerated retina, efficacy is thought to depend upon the cell transfer of neuroprotective agents to retinal ganglion cells (RGC). In an attempt to identify candidate molecules, this work first characterised the ability of Müller glia to synthesise and secrete a range of neurotrophic growth factors. Since certain pro-inflammatory cytokines are known to be upregulated in the glaucomatous eye, this study also investigated the modulatory effects of exogenous cytokines on the expression of neurotrophin genes and proteins. Recently it has been demonstrated that cells can communicate through the release of nano-sized membrane-bound organelles called extracellular vesicles (EV). These contain bioactive molecules that induce functional changes when internalised by recipient cells. Small and large sub-populations of EV (sEV and lEV) were purified from Müller glia cultures and their contents were characterised, revealing the enrichment of characteristic proteins and several RNA species. Of particular interest are the findings of small non-coding microRNAs (miRNA) present in the sEV, that directly regulate gene expression through silencing of mRNA. Sequencing of miRNAs recovered from small EV subsets indicated preferential enrichment with transcripts that target genes involved in cell growth and survival, including PTEN, the master inhibitor of the AKT/mTOR pathway. On this basis, a putative mechanism for the neural pro-survival effects induced by neurotrophic factors previously ascribed to Müller glia was suggested. Labelling of EV with a lipophilic dye confirmed the direct internalisation of these vesicles into primary RGC in culture. Since vesicle uptake has been shown to be cell type specific, it seems likely that Müller glia derived EV express membrane molecules that facilitate this internalisation, making them appealing for use as vehicles for the delivery of neuroprotective molecules to retinal neurons. Finally, Müller EV function was tested in vivo using a NMDA-model of RGC depletion. Adult rats receiving intravitreal delivery of 3x109 small EV showed significantly improvement in RGC function when compared to vehicle control, as determined by the negative scotopic threshold response (nSTR) of the dark-adapted electroretinogram (ERG). Taken together, the data presented in this thesis suggests that EV represent a significant part of the neuroprotective Müller cell signalling activity, likely in addition to the release of neurotrophic growth factors. EV enriched in neuroprotective molecules may represent a more stable, and less immunogenic alternative to whole cell transplantation, particularly given their minute size and low toxicity profiles. This work provides new insight into the neuroprotective secretome of Müller glia, adding further support to previous studies demonstrating their potential utility in a cell-based glaucoma therapy

Deciphering boulder mobility and erosion from cosmogenic nuclide exposure dating

Large boulders are prominent features in many geomorphic systems and are frequently targeted for cosmogenic exposure dating. Presently, there are little data or theory predicting exposure age, erosion rate, and mobilization frequency of boulders in environments such as channels, talus slopes, or moraines. Here we explore the potential for cosmogenic isotope analysis to constrain the transport and erosion history of boulders. Through a series of numerical experiments, we model the statistical evolution of nuclide concentrations around the surface of boulders. Stable boulders have distinctive radial distributions of surface concentration in comparison to those that are periodically mobile, and this can be used to establish boulder stability. Mean nuclide accumulation rates around the surface of an eroding boulder increase when the radius is smaller than approximately 1.5 e-folding lengths (~1.2 m) of neutron flux intensity, whereupon nuclide accumulation on the underside of the boulder becomes non-negligible (~10%). Model results for cases of no cosmogenic inheritance and uniform erosion indicate the normalized standard deviation of nuclide surface concentration systematically decreases with increasing number of boulder mobilization events. This may be used to constrain the minimum number of times a boulder has moved for up to approximately four events, or distinguish between rarely and frequently mobilized boulders. Using non-dimensional scaling relations between surface concentration statistics, boulder size, and time, we propose methods to estimate the minimum age, frequency of movement, and erosion rate of mobile boulders with application to a range of geomorphic problems

Effects of herbicide treatment on the invasive yellow floating heart and water quality in an Oklahoma reservoir

Effective treatment options are needed to manage and control aquatic invasive plants. Yellow floating heart (Nymphoides peltata, YFH) is an aquatic, floating leaf plant that is native to Eurasia and the Mediterranean. It successfully invaded the United States in 1882 and it was first detected in Lake Carl Blackwell (LCB), OK in 2014. It reached a peak coverage of more than 50 acres in 2019. A new reduced risk herbicide called Procellacor™ (florpyrauxifen-benzyl) was used to treat YFH in LCB in July of 2019. The major objectives of this research were to: 1) monitor the effectiveness of the herbicide treatment on YFH in an infested cove of LCB using in-situ sample plots, and 2) determine if the treatment affected water quality immediately and then for six weeks following treatment using in-situ water quality monitoring and laboratory biological oxygen demand (BOD) bioassays. It was hypothesized that Procellacor™ would cause a die off of YFH, which in turn would increase BOD and reduce dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations in the cove. Secondary objectives included an assessment of YFH pre-treatment plant coverage distributions in relation to water depth to determine where YFH can potentially spread throughout LCB. A summarization of treatment efforts on YFH in LCB over the past three years was also developed to aid in the future management of YFH in invaded reservoirs. The coverage of YFH was reduced to 0% within four weeks after treatment. The effects of treatment on BOD and DO were generally short lived and not significant. Biological oxygen demand increased at some of the sample plots as plant decay occurred while DO concentrations increased in areas that had low concentrations before treatment, as water cycling increased. Turbidity also increased at all sites by the end of the sampling period. The results of this research suggest that Procellacor™ can effectively control YFH in a relatively large reservoir and that the post-treatment impacts to water quality are relatively minimal and short lived