Paratextuality in Manuscript and Print : Verbal and Visual Presentation of the Middle English Polychronicon

This study investigates the verbal and visual presentation of text across manuscript and print media through the concept of paratext. The term collectively refers to the various textual and visual elements which surround the main text in a book, and guide its use and reception. The aim of the study is to critically evaluate the paratext framework in the context of handwritten and printed English texts from the late medieval and early modern periods, and to further develop the theoretical and methodological applications of the paratext framework to this material. In addition to the theory of paratext, this dissertation contributes to the wider study of the materiality of text and our understanding of late medieval and early modern authorship. The approach taken in this study is philological and informed by textual scholarship; palaeographical and codicological methods are also used in the analyses. The material for the study comprises fifteen manuscript copies and three early printed editions of John Trevisa’s Middle English translation (1387) of Ranulph Higden’s Polychronicon. By comparing the paratextual matter across the different material manifestations of the work, the study explores how authors and book producers conceptualised paratextuality and attempted to guide the readers. The analyses focus on four major paratextual devices: prefatory and end matter, indices, marginal annotation, and elements of page layout, which includes text-organising devices as well as decoration and illustration. The study shows that pre-modern book producers had an understanding of paratextuality as a phenomenon related to but separate from textuality. Various paratextual elements demonstrate how scribes, printers and other producers of the new copies balanced between producing the abstract text of the work accurately and improving the usability or desirability of the physical copy. Possibly for this reason, the indices were found to be particularly prone to changes. The producers’ interpretations of the structure of the text, and the relationships between text and paratext, are visible in the visual and textual presentation.Väitöstutkimuksessa tarkastellaan paratekstikäsitteen avulla tekstin sanallisen ja visuaalisen esittämisen keinoja käsikirjoituksissa ja varhaisissa painetuissa kirjoissa. Parateksti viittaa kaikkiin kirjassa varsinaista tekstiä ympäröiviin tekstuaalisiin ja visuaalisiin elementteihin, jotka ohjaavat lukijan tulkintaa ja kirjan käyttöä. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on tarkastella kriittisesti paratekstiviitekehyksen soveltuvuutta käsikirjoitusten ja kirjapainon varhaisvaiheiden aikakaudella tuotettuun englanninkieliseen aineistoon sekä kehittää viitekehyksen teoreettisia ja metodologisia sovelluksia tässä aineistossa. Paratekstiteorian lisäksi tutkimus tarjoaa uutta tietoa materiaalisesta tekstistä sekä tekijyydestä myöhäiskeskiajalla ja varhaismodernilla ajalla. Tutkimuksen alana on filologia ja sen teoreettinen viitekehys ammentaa tekstuaalitieteistä. Aineiston analysoinnissa käytetään myös paleografisia ja kodikologisia menetelmiä. Tutkimuksessa käytetty aineisto koostuu John Trevisan latinasta keskienglanniksi kääntämän Polychronicon-maailmanhistorian (1387) käsikirjoituskopioista, yhteensä viisitoista käsikirjoitusta, ja kolmesta varhaisesta painetusta laitoksesta. Vertailemalla paratekstin piirteitä yhden teoksen eri materiaalisissa ilmentymissä tutkimus selvittää, miten teoksen tekijät ja kirjatuottajat käsittivät paratekstuaalisuuden ja hyödynsivät sitä lukijoita ohjatessaan. Analyysi keskittyy erityisesti neljään paratekstityyppiin: alku- ja loppusanat, hakemistot, reunahuomautukset sekä sivun asettelun piirteet, joihin sisältyvät tekstin jäsentäminen sekä koristelu ja kuvitus. Tutkimus osoittaa, että varhaisilla tekstintuottajilla oli käsitys paratekstuaalisuudesta tekstiin liittyvänä mutta siitä erillisenä ilmiönä. Eri paratekstielementit osoittavat, miten kopioitsijat, painajat ja muut kirjatuottajat pyrkivät toisaalta toisintamaan teoksen tekstin tarkasti, toisaalta parantamaan fyysisen kirjan käytettävyyttä tai houkuttelevuutta. Luultavasti tästä johtuu, että hakemistot olivat aineistossa erityisen alttiita muutoksille. Tuottajien omat tulkinnat tekstin rakenteesta sekä tekstin ja paratekstin suhteista tulevat esiin visuaalisissa ja tekstiä jäsentävissä elementeissä

Work ability meetings-a survey of Finnish occupational physicians

Background Work ability meetings (WAMs) are planned discussions between an employee, a manager and an occupational physician (OP) to support work ability and return to work (RTW). During the last decade, WAMs become a popular intervention in Finnish occupational healthcare, although research on their content is lacking. Aims To describe the practice of WAMs in Finland. Methods We sent an internet survey by e-mail to members of the Finnish Society of Occupational Health Physicians in August 2014. We asked them to describe the last WAM they had attended, the employee the meeting concerned, the reason why it was convened, the content of the meeting and the action plan developed. Results A total of 303 of 1304 OPs responded (24%) to the survey. The meetings were most often arranged for employees in manual or clerical work (71%). There were several overlapping reasons for convening a WAM, including a worker's reduced work ability (57%), functional ability (42%) or long-term sickness absence (38%). The meetings consisted of RTW planning, clarification of the situation and a dialogue between the three parties. In half of the cases, the action plans dealt with modifications of work tasks. A third of cases were forwarded to vocational rehabilitation, while permanent disability pension was considered in 6% of cases. Conclusions The focus of WAMs was on workplace adjustments to support workers to remain at work. The WAMs dealt mostly with early interventions for RTW: work modifications, adjustments and vocational rehabilitation.Peer reviewe

Managing functional disorders : opportunities and threats

Non peer reviewe

Distribution and habitat ecology of the threatened forest lichen Lobaria pulmonaria in Estonia

Lobaria pulmonaria is a widely used as an indicator species of undisturbed old-growth forests ecosystems, but the knowledge about its habitat ecology is still highly fragmented. To quantify the distribution, habitat preference and host tree specificity of Lobaria pulmonaria we utilised data from databases and field surveys in Estonia. The number of L. pulmonaria localities is the highest in the densely forested regions, concentrated mainly in small forest patches defined as ‘ecologically highly valuable’. The species grows mostly on deciduous trees, particularly on aspen (Populus tremula). L. pulmonaria is most common in oligo-mesotrophic boreal, eutrophic boreo-nemoral and in eutrophic paludifying forests, and prefers forests with an average age of trees more than 100 years. In addition, we found that younger stands could be suitable habitats for L. pulmonaria if the structure of the stand is comparable to mature stands. In spite of the many localities of L. pulmonaria in Estonia, the species is still threatened because (1) the rotation period of tree stands is short, (2) it is abundant in forest types which are rare or under strong economic pressure, (3) and it prefers host trees which have a restricted distribution in Estonia or are not favoured in forest management practice.

Qualitative research thrives in primary care with the support of research training and mentoring

Non peer reviewe

A one-year follow-up study of chronic pain in community-dwelling older adults with and without neuropathic pain

Background: Chronic, mostly musculoskeletal pain is common among older adults. Little is known about the prognosis of chronic pain and the neuropathic pain qualities in older adults. We studied a cohort of community-dwelling older adults, clinically assessed their pain states, classified their type of pain (nociceptive, neuropathic or combined) and followed them up for a year. Methods: At baseline, a geriatrician clinically examined all study patients and classified their type of pain in collaboration with a pain specialist. Pain, quality of life and mental health were measured by questionnaires (BPI, GDS-15, BAI and SF-36) and reassessed after 1 year. Results: Despite chronic pain, all patients from the baseline cohort continued to live independently at 1 year. A total of 92 of 106 (87%) patients returned the follow-up questionnaire. Nociceptive pain on its own was present in 48 patients, whereas 44 patients also had neuropathic pain. Most patients (96%) had several pain states at baseline, and 13 patients reported a new pain state at follow-up. On average, there were no significant changes in the pain intensity, pain interference, mood or quality of life in either group between baseline and follow-up. Changes in pain were observed at the individual level, and both intensity and interference of pain at the follow-up had a negative correlation with the baseline value. Conclusions: On average, chronic pain was persistent in our patients, but they were able to live independently despite their pain. At the individual level, both relief and exacerbation of pain were observed, supporting the notion that pain is not inevitable and unremitting among older adults.Peer reviewe

Rakukultuuriks sobilike fiibriliste želatiinmaatriksite valmistamise metoodika väljaarendamine

https://www.ester.ee/record=b5163642*es

Exercise intervention and health checks for middle-aged men with elevated cardiovascular risk : A randomized controlled trial

Peer reviewe