The life and works of James Miller, 1704-1744, with particular reference to the satiric content of his poetry and plays.

PhDJames Miller was born the son of a Dorset rector in 1704. He was himself ordained, but acquired no benefice until just before his early death, probably because of a scathing portrayal of the Bishop of London in one of his verse satires. At Oxford he wrote a vivacious comedy of humours, set in the University. Its production in 1730 began his dramatic career, at a time when the number of London theatres had just doubled, and new dramatic forms were being invented. In 1731 his poem Harlequin-Horace, a witty inversion of the Ars Poetica, attacked pantomime and opera, but also painted a lively portrait of the entire theatrical world, in the tradition of the Dunciad. After collaborating in a translation of Moliere's works Miller wrote two plays based on this author. Of all his dramatic works these were the most successful with his contemporaries, and were followed by a modernisation of Much Ado, and a ballad-opera adapted from an afterpiece by Jean-Baptiste Rousseau, and rendered highly topical. Miller made similar use of a recent French comedy showing a Red Indian's reactions to civilisation, a satiric "fable" by Walsh and Voltaire's Mahomet. A large quantity of original material was incorporated into most of these, and this is generally satirical in nature. The Indian is made to voice almost egalitarian sentiments. An afterpiece, "The Camp Visitants", satirised military inaction in the war, and was apparently banned. The manuscripts of the six plays produced after the Licensing Act bear the examiner's deletions, and illustrate the nature of the censorship at this time. Miller's greatest strength is probably his flexible, vigorously colloquial dialogue. His political satire is mostly contained in the poetry, which attacks Walpole's administration with increasing vehemence through the seventeen-thirties, until its fall. In 1740 two poems that used Pope in symbolic contrast to Walpole caused a sensation. In both poetry and plays Miller is also a social satirist, who lays unusually strong emphasis on false taste and the deterioration of culture

Under the influence: is the World Trade Organization a forum for industry influence over global alcohol policies? A qualitative analysis of discussions on alcohol health warning labelling, 2010-2019

Background Accelerating progress to implement effective alcohol policies is necessary to achieve multiple targets within the WHO’s Global Strategy to Reduce the Harmful Use of Alcohol and the Sustainable Development Goals. Yet, the alcohol industry’s role in shaping alcohol policy through international avenues, such as trade fora, is poorly understood. We investigate whether the World Trade Organization (WTO) is a forum for alcohol industry influence over alcohol policy. Methods We studied discussions on alcohol health-warning labelling policies at WTO’s Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade from 2010-2019 using written meeting minutes (n=83 documents). We identified instances where WTO members indicated that their statements represented industry. We further developed and applied a taxonomy of industry rhetoric to identify whether WTO member statements advanced arguments made by industry in domestic forums. Findings WTO members made 212 statements on ten alcohol labelling policy proposals. Statements featured many arguments used by industry to stall alcohol policy at the domestic level. They included de-scaling and re-framing the nature and causes of alcohol-related problems, promoting alternative policies such as information campaigns and industry partnerships. WTO members stated that their claims represented industry in 3.3% of statements, whereas 55.2% of statements featured industry arguments. Interpretation WTO discussions on alcohol health-warnings advance arguments used by the alcohol industry in domestic settings to undermine effective alcohol policy. WTO members appear to be influenced by alcohol industry interests, despite a minority of challenges explicitly referencing industry demands. Greater transparency about vested interests may be needed to overcome industry influenc

Industry influence over global alcohol policies via the World Trade Organization: a qualitative analysis of discussions on alcohol health warning labelling, 2010–19

Background: Accelerating progress to implement effective alcohol policies is necessary to achieve multiple targets within the WHO global strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol and the Sustainable Development Goals. However, the alcohol industry's role in shaping alcohol policy through international avenues, such as trade fora, is poorly understood. We investigate whether the World Trade Organization (WTO) is a forum for alcohol industry influence over alcohol policy. Methods: In this qualitative analysis, we studied discussions on alcohol health warning labelling policies that occurred at the WTO's Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee meetings. Using the WTO Documents Online archive, we searched the written minutes of all TBT Committee meetings available from Jan 1, 1995, to Dec 31, 2019, to identify minutes and referenced documents pertaining to discussions on health warning labelling policies. We specifically sought WTO member statements on health warning labelling policies. We identified instances in which WTO member representatives indicated that their statements represented industry. We further developed and applied a taxonomy of industry rhetoric to identify whether WTO member statements advanced arguments made by industry in domestic forums. Findings: Among 83 documents, comprising TBT Committee minutes, notifications to the WTO of the policy proposal, and written comments by WTO members, WTO members made 212 statements (between March 24, 2010, and Nov 15, 2019) on ten alcohol labelling policies proposed by Thailand, Kenya, the Dominican Republic, Israel, Turkey, Mexico, India, South Africa, Ireland, and South Korea. WTO members stated that their claims represented industry in seven (3·3%) of 212 statements, and 117 (55·2%) statements featured industry arguments. Member statements featured many arguments used by industry in domestic policy forums to stall alcohol policy. Arguments focused on descaling and reframing the nature and causes of alcohol-related problems, promoting alternative policies such as information campaigns, promoting industry partnerships, questioning the evidence, and emphasising manufacturing and wider economic costs and harms. Interpretation: WTO discussions at TBT Committee meetings on alcohol health warnings advanced arguments used by the alcohol industry in domestic settings to prevent potentially effective alcohol policies. WTO members appeared to be influenced by alcohol industry interests, although only a minority of challenges explicitly referenced industry demands. Increased transparency about vested interests might be needed to overcome industry influence. Funding: None

'Living the dream' - Indian postgraduate students and International Student Identity

A decline in the number of international students studying in the UK is an issue currently facing UK universities. Competition has steadily increased amongst higher education providers with a greater number of students choosing to study in Australia and the United States. Within this context it is increasingly important for practitioners within the sector to focus more closely on the international student experience. Focus of my research: This research project contributes to the existing literature on the international student experience and moreover international student identity. Higher Education is seen as a site of identity construction for the individual. This research project provides an opportunity to explore the international student experiences of Indian postgraduate students within a new academic culture, their development of support networks, and their search for local employment whilst studying abroad. Identity is understood to be socially constructed; that is, as one’s sense of self and beliefs about one’s own social group as well as others are constructed through interactions in the broader social context such as education and work. This research project has been influenced by more recent developments within psychology and other disciplines which resist the notion of identity as a developmental and linear process. By adopting a social constructionist lens, identity formation is not necessarily considered as a linear phenomenon, emphasising instead the fluid and dynamic nature of identity amongst international students. Identity construction can be located at the individual, relational, organisational levels and moreover the wider society. Essentially identity is seen as constructed and enacted in everyday talk by the student, in their social interactions between themselves and others. Methodology: The research followed seven Indian international students who have undertaken taught postgraduate study abroad for the first time in a UK university and invites them to share their on-going ‘identity-work’ over a 12 month period. The ‘snowball sampling’ criteria included gender; nationality, age, full-time Masters’ students from the same student cohort, with a variation in previous educational background and work experience. Students gave their own individual accounts of their ‘identity-work’ abroad through semi-structured interviews. Within the interviews ‘talk’ is not just approached as an outward manifestation of identity but a site in which identities are constructed and taken up and performed. Identity positions can often be located within ‘interview talk’, and seen as a temporarily occupied coherent identity. This is not to say that identities are ‘just talk’ but that talk is understood as a continuum of meaningful life practices. The methodology employed facilitates the generation of a model of international student identity where identity is seen to emerge in everyday practices. The model encompasses four dimensions: Individual, Relational, Organisational and Societal. Key findings: The study found that study abroad is a site for identity construction. The individual accounts of their lived experience as international students revealed that identity is seen to be temporary and change over time, and Identity emerged in everyday practices both on and off-campus. Identity is drawn from four dimensions, individual, relational, organisational and societal. Societal is significant to the findings and illustrates where identity emerges off-campus during study abroad. The four dimensions of identity change over time and in importance depending on what is going on for the individual. Despite experiencing challenges the participants demonstrated resilience, independence and resourcefulness. Implications/significance of the research: The identity work of international students is acknowledged here as a complex and on-going process. These findings offer a rich understanding of the internationalisation of higher education from an individual perspective. Although some of the problems that students experience are referred to by other researchers, few actually conceptualise them in terms of identity. By conceptualising the international student experience in terms of ‘identity work’ we are able to gain further understanding to ways in which individuals and their environments interact in the social construction of identity formation. This research helps universities, support services and individuals to learn much more about the international student experience so as to more effectively develop the provisions they offer

Proteomic study of proteolysis during ripening of cheddar cheese made from milk over a lactation cycle

Milk for cheese production in Ireland is predominantly produced by pasture-fed spring-calving herds. Consequently, there are marked seasonal changes in milk composition, which arise from the interactive lactational, dietary and environmental factors. In this study, Cheddar cheese was manufactured on a laboratory scale from milk taken from a spring calving herd, over a 9-month lactation cycle between early April and early December. Plasmin activity of 6-months-old Cheddar cheese samples generally decreased over ripening time. One-dimensional urea-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) of cheese samples taken after 6 months of ripening showed an extensive hydrolysis of caseins, with the fastest hydrolysis of αs1-caseins in cheeses made in August. A proteomic comparison between cheeses produced from milk taken in April, August and December showed a reduction in levels of β-casein and appearance of additional products, corresponding to low molecular weight hydrolysis products of the caseins. This study has demonstrated that a seasonal milk supply causes compositional differences in Cheddar cheese, and that proteomic tools are helpful in understanding the impact of those differences

K-Band Spectroscopy of (Pre-)Cataclysmic Variables: Are Some Donor Stars Really Carbon Poor?

We present a new sample of $K$-band spectral observations for CVs: non-magnetic and magnetic as well as present day and pre CVs. The purpose of this diverse sample is to address the recent claim that the secondary stars in dwarf novae are carbon deficient, having become so through a far more evolved evolution than the current paradigm predicts. Our new observations, along with previous literature results, span a wide range of orbital period and CV type. In general, dwarf novae in which the secondary star is seen show weak to no CO absorption while polar and pre-CV donor stars appear to have normal CO absorption for their spectral type. However, this is not universal. The presence of normal looking CO absorption in the dwarf nova SS Aur and the hibernating CV QS Vir and a complete lack of CO absorption in the long period polar V1309 Ori cloud the issue. A summary of the literature pointing to non-solar abundances including enhanced NV/CIV ratios is presented. It appears that some CVs have non-solar abundance material accreting onto the white dwarf suggesting an evolved secondary star while for others CO emission in the accretion disk may play a role. However, the exact mechanism or combination of factors causing the CO absorption anomaly in CVs is not yet clear.Comment: Accepted in A

Secondary messenger signalling influences Pseudomonas aeruginosa adaptation to sinus and lung environments

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a cause of chronic respiratory tract infections in people with cystic fibrosis (CF), non-CF bronchiectasis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Prolonged infection allows the accumulation of mutations and horizontal gene transfer, increasing the likelihood of adaptive phenotypic traits. Adaptation is proposed to arise first in bacterial populations colonizing upper airway environments. Here, we model this process using an experimental evolution approach. Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1, which is not airway adapted, was serially passaged, separately, in media chemically reflective of upper or lower airway environments. To explore whether the CF environment selects for unique traits, we separately passaged PAO1 in airway-mimicking media with or without CF-specific factors. Our findings demonstrated that all airway environments-sinus and lungs, under CF and non-CF conditions-selected for loss of twitching motility, increased resistance to multiple antibiotic classes, and a hyper-biofilm phenotype. These traits conferred increased airway colonization potential in an in vivo model. CF-like conditions exerted stronger selective pressures, leading to emergence of more pronounced phenotypes. Loss of twitching was associated with mutations in type IV pili genes. Type IV pili mediate surface attachment, twitching, and induction of cAMP signalling. We additionally identified multiple evolutionary routes to increased biofilm formation involving regulation of cyclic-di-GMP signalling. These included the loss of function mutations in bifA and dipA phosphodiesterase genes and activating mutations in the siaA phosphatase. These data highlight that airway environments select for traits associated with sessile lifestyles and suggest upper airway niches support emergence of phenotypes that promote establishment of lung infection.</p