Why academics (and students) should take blogging / social media seriously – Duncan Green

Before I started teaching at LSE in January, I had the impression that the academics and researchers around the school were totally social media savvy – prolific tweeters like Charlie Beckett and top blogs like LSE Impact are high up on my follow list

Time to Bid Farewell to All-Male Panels?

Last week’s event for the Programme for African Leadership raised all sorts of questions and debates about ethics and guiding principles. But a separate issue of contention, which slipped out almost erroneously on the night (to the amusement of most), proves just as important

Evaluation of rapid reading hay moisture meters for field use

An instrument for use by farmers and agricultural research workers to quickly, accurately, and economically determine the moisture content of hay in the windrow would significantly improve the efficiency of forage crop production. However, no method or technique has been shown to be a successful tool for obtaining such determinations simply, precisely, and with easily portable equipment. An experiment was desig-nated to field test a commercially available conductance-type moisture meter and to identify needed revisions of the meter or a measuring technique that might improve its accuracy. An experimental conductance-type meter was also built and tested in an attempt to develop a more accurate method for hay moisture content measurements. Three electrical moisture meters, a hydraulic compression device, sample probe, hay sample chopper, and other related swithing gear were purchased or designed and constructed. The meters were tested on three different hay types, at various sample pressures, and at two geographical locations. The performance of the meters was compared to oven drying moisture determinations. Results of these series of tests revealed several factors which affect the accuracy of the meters as determined from simple linear regression equations relating meter readings to actual hay moisture content. 1. The use of a cylindrical holder eliminated error caused by the prod pins completely penetrating the windrowed hay and entering the soil surface. 2. Sample pressure affected meter readings. No specific pressure was best overall, but a constant pressure was mandatory for consistent results. 3. Fields, type of crop, or time of test also affected meter readings and calibration equations. 4. Chopping of hay samples improved the accuracy and consistency of meter readings. 5. No one single meter proved to be statistically better than the others tested

Familiarity breeds content: shaping the nostalgic drift in postbellum plantation life-writing

The chapter examines how New York (and Manhattan specifically) has been viewed in recent popular cultural artefacts as the epitome of America (and certainly in the post-9/11 era) as well as a heterotopic conceptional and cultural space. It identifies the paradoxical fantasy of New York through a range of media; film crossovers of comic books, literature, documentary film and popular music. As well as exploring other themes (the city as utopia/dystopia, globalisation and the decline of America), the notion of New York as a ‘theme park’ is a vital consideration here. Ultimately, the study of various media will illustrate the city as ‘subject’ and in particular how New York is conceived as an organic and elusive text

Factors affecting mortality in late stage Parkinson’s Disease

To determine the effect of dysphagia and hospital admissions on mortality in late stage Parkinson’s disease

Lupin stubbles : getting the best with weaner sheep

Sweet lupins are now grown on about a million hectares in Western Australia each year. If half of the State\u27s seven million weaners were grazed as recommended on half of the lupin stubbles, it could generate about $15 million from reduced supplementary feeding, greater wool production and other advantages. But correct management is important, particularly knowing when to take weaners out. Research by the Department over the last five years is now indicating how this should be done

Phomopsis-resistant lupin stubbles as feed for weaner sheep

The breeding of sweet, narrow-leafed lupins with increased resistance to Phomopsis leptostromiformis, the fungus that causes lupinosis in sheep, is a breakthrough for the summer nutrition of weaner sheep. The new resistant varieties, Gungurru for the medium (325 to 450 mm) rainfall areas and Yorrel for low rainfall areas (less than 325 mm), were released by the Department of Agriculture in 1988. This article discusses progress in a four-year project which is examining liveweight and wool production of weaners grazing Gungurru stubbles

Reducing in-stent restenosis therapeutic manipulation of miRNA in vascular remodeling and inflammation

Background: Drug-eluting stents reduce the incidence of in-stent restenosis, but they result in delayed arterial healing and are associated with a chronic inflammatory response and hypersensitivity reactions. Identifying novel interventions to enhance wound healing and reduce the inflammatory response may improve long-term clinical outcomes. Micro–ribonucleic acids (miRNAs) are noncoding small ribonucleic acids that play a prominent role in the initiation and resolution of inflammation after vascular injury.<p></p> Objectives: This study sought to identify miRNA regulation and function after implantation of bare-metal and drug-eluting stents.<p></p> Methods: Pig, mouse, and in vitro models were used to investigate the role of miRNA in in-stent restenosis.<p></p> Results: We documented a subset of inflammatory miRNAs activated after stenting in pigs, including the miR-21 stem loop miRNAs. Genetic ablation of the miR-21 stem loop attenuated neointimal formation in mice post-stenting. This occurred via enhanced levels of anti-inflammatory M2 macrophages coupled with an impaired sensitivity of smooth muscle cells to respond to vascular activation.<p></p> Conclusions: MiR-21 plays a prominent role in promoting vascular inflammation and remodeling after stent injury. MiRNA-mediated modulation of the inflammatory response post-stenting may have therapeutic potential to accelerate wound healing and enhance the clinical efficacy of stenting

Andrew Marvell and Privacy

As an elusive private figure who, by his own admission, was ‘inclined to keep [my] thoughts private’ and favoured ‘modest retirement’, Marvell experienced both extremes of private and public life in times when these structural concepts were developing into what have come to be known as the private and public spheres. Moreover, Marvell interacts with the concept of privacy in several ways: through a recurrent language of privacy throughout his work; the prosody and poetics of enclosure in his poetic composition; his choice to publish very little in a flourishing and popular print culture; and, crucially, his ability to conceal. Marvell’s mastery of ambiguity and ambivalence, the difficulty in ascertaining the chronology of many of his poems (which has tempted critics into categorizing his works too schematically), the limited biography, drawing us to the poems for evidence, and his ability to give little away: these factors combined make the paradigm of ‘privacy’ highly complex in his case. Marvell’s career overlaps the development of the private and presents the rising consciousness of the self from a literary perspective. This dissertation suggests that Marvell grew to favour privacy through his varied experiences and by becoming disconcerted with the agents of publishing and publicity. It also perhaps became an interest through which to frame his poetics as well as providing a life-model. I argue that current Marvellian critical orthodoxy, weighted heavily towards his political works, belies the private lyric poet, and, as his later public life appears to pose fewer questions regarding privacy, secrecy and anonymity, these issues which shroud the entirety of Marvell’s life and works are left behind. Following an overview of the development of the private in the seventeenth-century, I suggest three fronts by which Marvell interacts with privacy in different ways at different stages of his career: the dilemma of publishing in his early career; commentary on Cromwell’s switch from private to public life and Fairfax’s retirement; and later poetics of enclosure, assuming that some of his lyric verse was composed while engaged in public affairs at Westminster

Bleak Adventures and Nostalgia in Kenneth Johnson's 'V'.

This paper explores the television series 'V' as a late Cold War texts which mined decades of codes and conventions associated with the 'red scare'. It also considers the mode or production and spectatorship with regards to specific broadcast of the show in the UK