Beyond Byron, legitimising Lamb : The cultural context of Caroline Lamb's life and works.

This interdisciplinary thesis is concerned with the works by and cultural perception of Lady Caroline Lamb (1785-1828). Focusing upon her three published novels, Glenarvon (1816), Graham Hamilton (1822) and Ada Reis (1823), I will argue that, when considering the texts in the social and political context of Lamb's life, the novels can be read as a critique of the moral bankruptcy and political ineffectiveness of her milieu of the Whig aristocracy, in which she includes herself and her notorious affair with Lord Byron. Though Lamb's fictional portraits of Byron, particularly in Glenarvon, have been read as an expression of her spleen, they are more than that: it is a continuation of her sophisticated critique of contemporary Whig morality and politics.A close reading of the texts will discuss Lamb's choice of the novel as a vehicle for her critique as one that is informed by the orientation of her writing towards the intended readership of her own milieu. This thesis will offer a new perspective upon how much Lamb was prepared to willingly submit her own experiences and that of her immediate family to the scrutiny of public gaze as a means to ensure the efficacy of her communicative intent, and how the construction of the novels reveals an hitherto unsuspected sophistication in the assessment of her readership and of the most effective vehicle by which to reach them. This thesis will also undertake a reassessment of Lamb's cultural legacy as an hysterical woman, fatally obsessed with Byron, and how this perception of her has diminished her reputation as a writer, undermined her critique of the aristocracy, and which has been exacerbated by biographical and fictional representations. Thus this thesis considers Lamb as a writer of significant interest that goes beyond the inhibiting presence of Byron by taking into account the wider cultural and political moment of production to offer a more productive reading her work

Big Read: Collaborations Between a University and a Community

University and community partners write about their collaborations around the reading of Ernest Gaines’ A Lesson Before Dying. When an urban university received a National Endowment of the Arts Big Read Grant, they immediately began making connections to existing key initiatives within the university and in the surrounding community. As the partners collaborated within and among the university and community programs and events created for the Big Read they made multiple discoveries regarding the importance of planning together, analyzing the intended audience for each program and event, including multiple ways to access the text, and considering the ways that readers can personalize the issues, synthesize what they have learned and apply it in discussion or action

The politics of bestial imagery in satire, 1789-1820

This thesis examines the widespread use of bestial imagery in satirical verse, prose and prints published between 1789 – 1820, through a study of Shelley, Spence, Gillray, Gifford, Robinson, Catherine Ann Dorset, Thelwall, Eaton, and Wolcot. The thesis asks why these writers and printers used animal metaphors so frequently, but moreover, what impact the use of this imagery had on the political landscape of satire in the period. Recent criticism has focussed on the historical and political contexts of Romantic-era satire, and this thesis follows that criticism with an historicist methodology, combining literary, historical and political approaches. Furthermore, the thesis analyses verse, prose and pictorial satires as contributing to the same political discourse and as doing so in closely related cultural arenas. This thesis claims originality on the basis that not only the use of animal imagery has a significant impact on how both contemporary and modern readers interpret its political meanings and contexts, but also that this is an argument that has not yet been posited by other critics. In addition, this thesis argues that through bestial metaphors, satirical writers and artists create a community wherein imagery is exchanged, developed and manipulated, and that this practice of cultural exchange significantly shapes those satires’ historical contexts. Each of the thesis’ five chapters focuses on a major satiric animal metaphor, whereby close readings of satires are offered alongside wider political and historical contexts. Consequently, this thesis provides a map of the most common satiric animal metaphors and their concomitant politics, and in doing so creates a new critical framework in which the growing interest in Romantic- period satire can be further developed.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

18th-Century Blues: Exploring the Melancholy Mind

'Before Depression' is a three-year research project by the English departments of the Universities of Northumbria and Sunderland and funded by the Leverhulme Trust. This exhibition brings together a range of artists who treated 'the blues' in their work. They include the influential Albrecht Durer, William Hogarth, Joshua Reynolds, George Romney, Joseph Wright, Thomas Rowlandson, William Blake, Maria Cosway, Thomas Jones, Jacob van Ruisdael, Caspar David Friedrich, Charles Le Brun, Johann Caspar Lavater, John Constable, John Martin and local artist Luke Clennell. Some were themselves depressive, some were interested in medical matters connected with the condition, some painted melancholy scenes, some even made fun of 'depression' for satirical purposes, and some painted friends and well-known figures who we know suffered from periodic low spirits. 18th-Century Blues offers a sometimes lively, sometimes sombre but, we hope, always thought-provoking insight into how people dealt with a common human experience two hundred years ago. Works are kindly loaned by The National Gallery, London; Tate; The National Portrait Gallery; The British Museum, London; The Wellcome Library, London; The Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester; Derby Museums and Art Gallery; The Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne (Tyne and Wear Museums); The Hatton Gallery, Newcastle University and Petworth House, The Egremont Collection (acquired in lieu of tax by HM Treasury in 1957 and subsequently transferred to The National Trust)

Exile Vol. XXXI No. 1

Drawing by Chris Bradley 1 How Goes the Wombat, Prithee by Jennie Benford 3 Holy Shit (for Mary) by Stephanie Athey 4-5 ..... blues by Britton R. Creelman 6 Photograph (anonymous) 7 Prose by Leigh Walton 9-12 San Jacinto by Petersen S. Thomas 13 Rebuttal by Betsy Oster 15 Running Alone by Ann Townsend McMullen 16 Windows in Florence by Michael Parr 17 Rangers by Caroline Palmer 19 Salamapo by Mary Deborah Clark 20-21 Funeral by J. K. Rand 22 Deeds Give No Title by Douglas Jones 23 Be Careful, There\u27s a Straight Bar Next Door by Karen J. Hall 25 The Rivers of Saigon by Alex Dickson 26 2 Sketches by Alfred Sturla Bodvarsson 27 Upon the Occasion of Reading 236 sonnets at One Sitting by Jeff Masten 28 I just believe in Me by Rob Jackson 29 Close by Stephanie Athey 31 Teller by Katherine Fox Reynolds 32 Woman in Greece by Michael Parr 33 Part of the Job by Joan DeWitt 35-44 Contributor Notes 46 Editorial decision is shared equally among the seven member editorial board. -title page Polymorphous: Cover Lithograph by Aimee Creelman - title pag

Predictors of locating women six to eight years after contact: internet resources at recruitment may help to improve response rates in longitudinal research

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The ability to locate those sampled has important implications for response rates and thus the success of survey research. The purpose of this study was to examine predictors of locating women requiring tracing using publicly available methods (primarily Internet searches), and to determine the additional benefit of vital statistics linkages.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Random samples of women aged 65–89 years residing in two regions of Ontario, Canada were selected from a list of those who completed a questionnaire between 1995 and 1997 (n = 1,500). A random sample of 507 of these women had been searched on the Internet as part of a feasibility pilot in 2001. All 1,500 women sampled were mailed a newsletter and information letter prior to recruitment by telephone in 2003 and 2004. Those with returned mail or incorrect telephone number(s) required tracing. Predictors of locating women were examined using logistic regression.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Tracing was required for 372 (25%) of the women sampled, and of these, 181 (49%) were located. Predictors of locating women were: younger age, residing in less densely populated areas, having had a web-search completed in 2001, and listed name identified on the Internet prior to recruitment in 2003. Although vital statistics linkages to death records subsequently identified 41 subjects, these data were incomplete.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Prospective studies may benefit from using Internet resources at recruitment to determine the listed names for telephone numbers thereby facilitating follow-up tracing and improving response rates. Although vital statistics linkages may help to identify deceased individuals, these may be best suited for post hoc response rate adjustment.</p

Genetic determinants of survival in progressive supranuclear palsy: a genome-wide association study.

BACKGROUND: The genetic basis of variation in the progression of primary tauopathies has not been determined. We aimed to identify genetic determinants of survival in progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). METHODS: In stage one of this two stage genome-wide association study (GWAS), we included individuals with PSP, diagnosed according to pathological and clinical criteria, from two separate cohorts: the 2011 PSP GWAS cohort, from brain banks based at the Mayo Clinic (Jacksonville, FL, USA) and in Munich (Germany), and the University College London PSP cohort, from brain banks and the PROSPECT study, a UK-wide longitudinal study of patients with atypical parkinsonian syndromes. Individuals were included if they had clinical data available on sex, age at motor symptom onset, disease duration (from motor symptom onset to death or to the date of censoring, Dec 1, 2019, if individuals were alive), and PSP phenotype (with reference to the 2017 Movement Disorder Society criteria). Genotype data were used to do a survival GWAS using a Cox proportional hazards model. In stage two, data from additional individuals from the Mayo Clinic brain bank, which were obtained after the 2011 PSP GWAS, were used for a pooled analysis. We assessed the expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) profile of variants that passed genome-wide significance in our GWAS using the Functional Mapping and Annotation of GWAS platform, and did colocalisation analyses using the eQTLGen and PsychENCODE datasets. FINDINGS: Data were collected and analysed between Aug 1, 2016, and Feb 1, 2020. Data were available for 1001 individuals of white European ancestry with PSP in stage one. We found a genome-wide significant association with survival at chromosome 12 (lead single nucleotide polymorphism rs2242367, p=7·5 × 10-10, hazard ratio 1·42 [95% CI 1·22-1·67]). rs2242367 was associated with survival in the individuals added in stage two (n=238; p=0·049, 1·22 [1·00-1·48]) and in the pooled analysis of both stages (n=1239; p=1·3 × 10-10, 1·37 [1·25-1·51]). An eQTL database screen revealed that rs2242367 is associated with increased expression of LRRK2 and two long intergenic non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), LINC02555 and AC079630.4, in whole blood. Although we did not detect a colocalisation signal for LRRK2, analysis of the PSP survival signal and eQTLs for LINC02555 in the eQTLGen blood dataset revealed a posterior probability of hypothesis 4 of 0·77, suggesting colocalisation due to a single shared causal variant. INTERPRETATION: Genetic variation at the LRRK2 locus was associated with survival in PSP. The mechanism of this association might be through a lncRNA-regulated effect on LRRK2 expression because LINC02555 has previously been shown to regulate LRRK2 expression. LRRK2 has been associated with sporadic and familial forms of Parkinson's disease, and our finding suggests a genetic overlap with PSP. Further functional studies will be important to assess the potential of LRRK2 modulation as a disease-modifying therapy for PSP and related tauopathies. FUNDING: PSP Association, CBD Solutions, Medical Research Council (UK)

Riluzole treatment, survival and diagnostic criteria in Parkinson plus disorders: The NNIPPS Study

Parkinson plus diseases, comprising mainly progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and multiple system atrophy (MSA) are rare neurodegenerative conditions. We designed a double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial of riluzole as a potential disease-modifying agent in Parkinson plus disorders (NNIPPS: Neuroprotection and Natural History in Parkinson Plus Syndromes). We analysed the accuracy of our clinical diagnostic criteria, and studied prognostic factors for survival. Patients with an akinetic-rigid syndrome diagnosed as having PSP or MSA according to modified consensus diagnostic criteria were considered for inclusion. The psychometric validity (convergent and predictive) of the NNIPPS diagnostic criteria were tested prospectively by clinical and pathological assessments. The study was powered to detect a 40% decrease in relative risk of death within PSP or MSA strata. Patients were randomized to riluzole or matched placebo daily and followed up to 36 months. The primary endpoint was survival. Secondary efficacy outcomes were rates of disease progression assessed by functional measures. A total of 767 patients were randomized and 760 qualified for the Intent to Treat (ITT) analysis, stratified at entry as PSP (362 patients) or MSA (398 patients). Median follow-up was 1095 days (range 249–1095). During the study, 342 patients died and 112 brains were examined for pathology. NNIPPS diagnostic criteria showed for both PSP and MSA excellent convergent validity with the investigators’ assessment of diagnostic probability (point-biserial correlation: MSA rpb = 0.93, P < 0.0001; PSP, rpb = 0.95, P < 0.0001), and excellent predictive validity against histopathology [sensitivity and specificity (95% CI) for PSP 0.95 (0.88–0.98) and 0.84 (0.77–0.87); and for MSA 0.96 (0.88–0.99) and 0.91 (0.86–0.93)]. There was no evidence of a drug effect on survival in the PSP or MSA strata (3 year Kaplan–Meier estimates PSP-riluzole: 0.51, PSP-placebo: 0.50; MSA-riluzole: 0.53, MSA-placebo: 0.58; P = 0.66 and P = 0.48 by the log-rank test, respectively), or in the population as a whole (P = 0.42, by the stratified-log-rank test). Likewise, rate of progression was similar in both treatment groups. There were no unexpected adverse effects of riluzole, and no significant safety concerns. Riluzole did not have a significant effect on survival or rate of functional deterioration in PSP or MSA, although the study reached over 80% power to detect the hypothesized drug effect within strata. The NNIPPS diagnostic criteria were consistent and valid. They can be used to distinguish between PSP and MSA with high accuracy, and should facilitate research into these conditions relatively early in their evolution