The Mystical Utterance and the Metaphorical Mode in the Writings of Marguerite d'Oingt and Marguerite Porete

The shared conceptual underpinnings of contemporary metaphor theory and Christian mystical expression form the basis of this study of the works of two very different fourteenth-century French mystics, Marguerite d’Oingt (c.1240-1310) and Marguerite Porete (d.1310). The former, a Carthusian prioress, wrote a series of vivid visionary narratives, the Pagina meditationum, the Speculum, and Li via de Seiti Biatrix, but, to date, has been the subject of little scholarly attention. The latter, meanwhile, is perhaps best known for her condemnation for relapsed heresy and her death at the stake in Paris, on account of her radical mystical text, the Mirouer des simples ames. These two women’s writings present very different examples of late medieval mystical expression. Nevertheless, the two are intimately connected in the sense that both oeuvres are driven by a desire to express their respective experiences of the mystical presence of God. What precisely is meant by ‘mystical experience’ constitutes this mode of expression’s fundamental paradox: by its very definition, the perfection of divine encounter lies beyond the scope of human communication. Metaphor’s capacity for (partial) revelation in circumstances where other modes of communication fail, however, suggests that when applied as a hermeneutic device, theoretical perspectives of metaphor provide a fresh interpretative framework with which to explore the more enigmatic aspects of mystical thought. Drawing on a number of modern theoretical approaches, including those of Paul Ricoeur, George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, and Gilles Fauconnier and Mark Turner, this investigation explores the extent to which metaphor’s conceptual and cognitive underpinnings engage with, and potentially unlock, the sensitivities of Marguerite d’Oingt’s and Marguerite Porete’s post-experiential accounts of mystical phenomena. To this end, metaphor may be seen to represent mysticism’s cognitive analogue, a means of effecting linguistic and cognitive transformation impossible to express through literal language alone

ZFC without power set II: Reflection strikes back

The theory ZFC implies the scheme that for every cardinal $\delta$ we can make $\delta$ many dependent choices over any definable relation without terminal nodes. Friedman, the first author, and Kanovei constructed a model of ZFC$^-$ (ZFC without power set) with largest cardinal $\omega$ in which this principle fails for $\omega$ many choices. In this article we study failures of dependent choice principles over ZFC$^-$ by considering the notion of big proper classes. A proper class is said to be big if it surjects onto every non-zero ordinal. We shall see that if one assumes the scheme of dependent choices of any arbitrary set length then every proper class is indeed big. However, by building on work of Zarach, we provide a general framework for separating dependent choice schemes of various lengths by producing models of ZFC$^-$ with proper classes that are not big. Using a similar idea, we then extend the earlier result by producing a model of ZFC$^-$ in which there are unboundedly many cardinals but the scheme of dependent choices of length $\omega$ still fails. Finally, the second author has proven that a model of ZFC$^-$ cannot have a non-trivial, cofinal, elementary self-embedding for which the von-Neumann hierarchy exists up to its critical point. We answer a related question posed by the second author by showing that the existence of such an embedding need not imply the existence of any non-trivial fragment of the von-Neumann hierarchy. In particular, that in such a situation $\mathcal{P}(\omega)$ can be a proper class.Comment: 25 pages. Revised following referee's recommendations. Strengthened theorems 3.6, 4.6 and 6.

Development of e-SIWES Portal: A Web based Platform for Student Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) Management

We developed the e-SIWES portal in order to enhance the manual task of carrying out SIWES activities such as registration, dissemination of information, filling of log book for students’ day-to-day activities and supervision/assessment by lecturers and industry based supervisors. The portal is web-based and allows all tasks to be carried out using the personal computer and the Internet. We digitized the SIWES logbook and assessment forms for filling by students and grading by the supervisors electronically. This will allow supervisors to be assigned immediately the students commence their industrial training and facilitate their monitoring in real-time. With the e-SIWES portal, important messages can be broadcast to all students at once and on a prompt and regular basis

An exploration of the relationship between insulin misuse and eating disorder psychopathology in adults with type 1 diabetes

Insulin misuse in type 1 diabetes is frequently reported in the literature and is associated with poor health outcomes. The reasons for this behaviour have been under-researched; however, weight control and disordered eating are frequent themes. Little research has explored this in type 1 diabetes specifically, and most have focused on the experiences of females and adolescents. The research aims of this project are: 1. To critically review, assess, and evaluate whether insulin misuse for the purposes of weight loss or control is reported by males with type 1 diabetes and to what degree; 2. To explore the relationships between insulin misuse and gender, eating disorder psychopathology, body shape satisfaction and diabetes related distress. A systematic review was carried out to investigate insulin misuse for weight purposes amongst males with type 1 diabetes, and the prevalence of this. The evidence suggested that males report misusing insulin for weight purposes when assessed using self-report measures, but do not report this during clinical interviews. Prevalence rates could not be established from the studies included in the review due to the heterogeneity of the measures used. An empirical study was carried out using a cross-sectional self-report design, and 219 completed datasets were included in the analysis (78% female). Insulin misuse was common, with women significantly more likely to misuse insulin than men. Those who had a current or historical diagnosis of an eating disorder were more likely to misuse insulin for weight loss or control than those with no history of an eating disorder. People who reported insulin misuse had significantly higher levels of disordered eating behaviours, more negative feelings about body shape and greater degrees of diabetes-related distress. Diabetes-related distress was the only predictor of insulin misuse. Theoretical and clinical implications are identified and recommendations for further research are discussed

Balancing Market Share Growth and Customer Profitability: Budget Allocation for Customer Acquisition and Retention

This study adds to the knowledge of budget allocation for customer acquisition and retention spending in an inertia segment.  The results indicate that when retention spending surpassed the optimal budget allocation, increased spending did not grow the expected value of customer equity.  Since the inertia segment is comprised of loyal customers, an examination of brand equity and its role in customer loyalty and its influence on customer equity are discussed

Positive Relationship Between VO2max And Leg Strength in Healthy Older Adults Who Regularly Exercise, But Not in Those Who Do Not Exercise

Individuals that are physically active have greater cardiorespiratory fitness and skeletal muscle strength than those that are physically inactive. Although VO2maxis commonly used to estimate cardiorespiratory fitness, in older adults, leg strength may also influence VO2max. The PURPOSE of this study is to examine the relationship between VO2max and leg strength in physically active vs. physically inactive older adults. METHODS: Twenty-four older adults (12 physically active (PA; 62.1±5.0 yrs), 12 physically inactive (PI; 63.9±5.1 yrs)) performed a two-stage treadmill test to estimate VO2max. Leg strength was assessed by 8-repitition maximum (8RM) tests of leg curl, leg press, calf raise, and leg extension. Correlations between VO2max and leg strength were assessed and reported significant if pRESULTS: PA participants had a higher leg press 8RM (p=0.02), leg curl 8RM (p=0.003), calf raise (0.004), leg extension (p=0.01), than PI participants. In the PA participants, there was a correlation between estimated VO2max and leg curl (R2=0.34; p=0.049), calf raise (R2=0.41; p=0.03), and leg extension (R2=0.40; p=0.03). In the PI participants, there was no correlation between estimated VO2max and all leg strength measure (p≥0.05). CONCLUSION: These data show that there is a positive relationship in PA older adults between the estimated VO2max and leg curl, leg extension and calf raise 8RM

Editors’ introduction: archives and archivists

Today, questions about online access to media history, digital research infrastructure, and cultural and political pedagogy have come to the fore. A host of related questions has acquired a new urgency: What is lost and gained in the shift from physical to digital archiving? What and how do archives preserve, and how do they curate public access? How do we search for digital material? Which tools are used to modify and limit our search options, and what does this tell us about digital networks and our relationships to them

Policing the pandemic in Scotland: Using administrative data to measure underlying inequalities

Objectives In March 2020, police were given temporary powers to enforce the new Coronavirus Health Protection Regulations. Our research asks: • How was non-compliance (as measured through police-issued fines) related to other underlying health and social inequalities? • What level of COVID-19 risk did those who failed to comply pose? Methods This project securely links, at an individual level, a dataset of all COVID fines issued by Police Scotland to a range of health and social administrative data. This data includes: information from healthcare settings on mental ill health, alcohol problems and drug addictions; geographic data on household type and occupancy; and government data on deprivation and deaths. The dataset has also been linked to a matched sample of controls (individuals who were not fined), and to COVID testing data, allowing us to examine the extent to which individuals who were fined posed a health risk to wider society. Results Our results show that those who were fined were more likely to be living with underlying health and social inequalities than the matched controls. However, these differences did reduce over the course of the pandemic, most likely reflecting a combination of changing policing practice and weakening public compliance with the restrictions. Although not without limitations, testing data suggests that those who were fined were not substantially more likely to test positive for COVID during the pandemic than matched controls who were not fined. This raises questions about the role of police enforcement during a pandemic. Conclusion This research is the first time police data has been linked to health and social care data in Scotland. Our findings demonstrate the considerable value of data linkage for understanding the challenges of policing public health whilst also allowing the empirical evaluation of policy decisions at scale