Presbyterian Imitation Practices in Zachary Boyd’s Nebuchadnezzars Fierie Furnace

The university administrator, preacher and poet Zachary Boyd (1585–1653) relied heavily on epithets and similes borrowed from Josuah Sylvester's poetry when composing his scriptural versifications Zion's Flowers(c. 1640?). The composition of Boyd's adaptation of Daniel 3, Nebuchadnezzars Fierie Furnace, provides an unusually lucid example of the reading and imitation practices of a mid-seventeenth-century Scottish Presbyterian in the years preceding civil war. This article begins by re-considering a manuscript transcription of Fierie Furnace held at the British Library previously described as an anonymous playtext from the early 1610s, then establishes the nature of Boyd's reliance on Sylvester by analyzing holograph manuscripts held at Glasgow University Library, a sermon Boyd wrote on the same theme, and the copy of Sylvester's Devine Weekes, and Workes that Boyd probably used.Arts and Humanities Research Counci

The effects of laryngeal mask airway passage simulation training on the acquisition of undergraduate clinical skills: a randomised controlled trial

Background\ud Effective use of the laryngeal mask airway (LMA) requires learning proper insertion technique in normal patients undergoing routine surgical procedures. However, there is a move towards simulation training for learning practical clinical skills, such as LMA placement. The evidence linking different amounts of mannequin simulation training to the undergraduate clinical skill of LMA placement in real patients is limited. The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness in vivo of two LMA placement simulation courses of different durations. \ud \ud Methods\ud Medical students (n = 126) enrolled in a randomised controlled trial. Seventy-eight of these students completed the trial. The control group (n = 38) received brief mannequin training while the intervention group (n = 40) received additional more intensive mannequin training as part of which they repeated LMA insertion until they were proficient. The anaesthetists supervising LMA placements in real patients rated the participants' performance on assessment forms. Participants completed a self-assessment questionnaire. \ud \ud Results\ud Additional mannequin training was not associated with improved performance (37% of intervention participants received an overall placement rating of > 3/5 on their first patient compared to 48% of the control group, $X^2$ = 0.81, p = 0.37). The agreement between the participants and their instructors in terms of LMA placement success rates was poor to fair. Participants reported that mannequins were poor at mimicking reality. \ud \ud Conclusions\ud The results suggest that the value of extended mannequin simulation training in the case of LMA placement is limited. Educators considering simulation for the training of practical skills should reflect on the extent to which the in vitro simulation mimics the skill required and the degree of difficulty of the procedure. \ud \u

Revising Computerized Therapy for Wider Appeal Among Adolescents: Youth Perspectives on a Revised Version of SPARX

Background: The way in which computerized therapy is presented may be important for its uptake. We aimed to explore adolescents’ views on the appeal of a tested computerized cognitive behavioral therapy (CCBT) for depression (SPARX), and a revised version (SPARX-R). The versions were similar but while SPARX is presented explicitly as a treatment for depression, SPARX-R is presented as providing skills that could be useful for young people for when they were depressed, down, angry or stressed. Methods: We held nine focus groups with a total of 79 adolescents (13–19 years old; 47 females; 34 New Zealand European; 22 Māori or Pacific; 60 reported having experienced feeling down or low for at least several days in a row). Groups viewed the opening sequences of SPARX and SPARX-R (in random order), then took part in a semi-structured discussion and completed a brief questionnaire. Responses were analyzed using a general inductive approach. Results: Participants considered both SPARX and SPARX-R useful and considered the stated purpose of the program to be important. Four themes contrasted the two approaches: the first, ‘naming depression is risky’, referred to perceptions that an explicit focus on depression could be off-putting, including for adolescents with depression. The second theme of ‘universality’ reflected preferences for a universal approach as young people might not recognize that they were depressed, and that all would benefit from the program. In contrast, ‘validation’ reflected the view of a significant minority that naming depression could be validating for some. Finally, the theme of ‘choice’ reflected a near-unanimously expressed preference for both options to be offered, allowing user choice. In questionnaire responses, 40 (68%) of participants preferred SPARX-R, 13 (18%) preferred SPARX, whilst 10 (14%) ‘didn’t mind’. Responses were similar among participants who reported that they had experienced at least a few days of low mood and those who had not. Conclusions: The way a CCBT program is presented may have implications for its appeal. The potential population impact of CCBT programs explicitly targeting depression and those targeting more universal feelings such as being stressed or depressed should be explored for varied user groups

Leisure, refuge and solidarity:messages in visitors’ books as microforms of travel writing

Visitors’ books not only trace developments in modern tourism, but they also reveal changes in the socio-cultural and language attitudes of travellers from all walks of life over prolonged periods of time. This article investigates messages in visitors’ books from Wales from the mid-nineteenth century up to the present and argues for their recognition as microforms of travel writing. Despite their brevity, entries in visitors’ books are a highly complex form of travel writing particularly in the inscribers’ self-fashioning of identity for future readers. The article examines how writerly choices are not only directly rooted in the discourse of travel, but also in socio-political circumstances in the individual travellers’ countries of origin and their travel destinations

Thomas Pennant, Downing, [Flintshire], to James Edward Smith

A discharge from his leg has relieved his discomfort [from anascara]. Comments and questions on wool-bearing animals with references to his "History of quadrupeds" and "Arctic zoology", including: musk-ox; argali; broad tailed sheep; bearded sheep; caramanick sheep; Angora goat; shawl goat of Tibet, heard that Lord Egremont sells them [George O'Brien Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont (1751-1837)]; camel; llama; and vicunna [vicugna]

Histoire naturelle des oiseaux par le comte de Buffon and les planches enluminées systematically disposed

[Thomas Pennant]Name des Autors bibliographisch ermittel

Thomas Pennant, Downing, [Flintshire], to James Edward Smith

Intends to use title "Aethiopial Africa" for third volume of ["Outlines of the Globe"]. Asks if Smith knows of any large trees in the Isles of Bourbon [now Réunion, east of Madagascar]. Would like Smith and [William] Hudson to visit him. Shall not publish anymore as he intends his manuscripts for posthumous publication

Thomas Pennant, Downing, [Flintshire], to James Edward Smith

Asks what Linneaus meant by the word 'Aethiopia' when applied to the habitat of plants. Asks which tree produces the "slender cane used for extending the troops of Indies". Currently working on the ninth folio volume of his "Outlines of the Globe" according to plan in his "Introduction to the Arctic Zoology"