Construction, conformity and control : the taming of the Daily Herald 1921-30

The period from 1921 to 1930 saw the Daily Herald come under the direct control of the organised Labour movement - jointly owned by the Labour Party and the Trades Union Congress. It seperates an earlier incarnation of independent left radicalism from a subsequent identity as a commercial daily tied to an official political line. It is a period of commercial and competitive failure - the 500,000 circulation constantly evoked as a target was only attained in times of exceptional political or industrial excitement. Reliant on movement subsidies for capital finance it was unable to match the new features and inducements - notably insurance schemes - that competitors provided in a period of rapid expansion and intense circulation battles. Editorially it was torn between the radicalism of its staff, the journalistic instinct to avoid predictability and the desire of Labour's moderate leaders for an automatically reliable supporter in the national press. As leadership pressures mounted it increasingly became the voice of the centre lecturing followers, with debate restricted - but independent instincts were never totally curbed. Failure to attract the desired mass readership cannot be wholly attributed to poverty. Initially developed as the voice of a committed, informed radical political elite it continued to reflect their interests - and would always choose to educate rather than entertain. In the absence of a mass counterculture this left it seeking a popular readership with a serious approach. Realisation that a different approach was needed to win such a readership combined with recognition that this would need capital investment beyond the means of the movement to force the partnership formed with Odhams Press in 1929, ending exclusive movement control

The place that words come from... : an ethnography of Quaker worship practices and their social enactment

This thesis addresses the worship practices of contemporary Quakers and their social enactment. It presents an ethnography that attempts to evoke participation in Meeting for Worship at a local site (St Andrews Quaker Meeting) and also adopts a strategic perspective towards Quaker practices as a dispersed community of practice. It deploys two major theoretical frameworks: a revised theory of secularisation developed by Taylor (2007) and Martin (2005); and Cultural Theory developed from Douglas (1996,1998). A short history of Quakers is set out. A context for contemporary Quakers, the ‘spiritual landscape’ (Taylor, 2007), is characterised. Quaker reflexive literature is reviewed. Following the ethnography of a Meeting for Worship, four key domains of practice are further discussed – the body, silence, speech and gatheredness. The Meeting for Worship for Business is described using ethnographic material. Sources of power, decision-making criteria, the construction of the Quaker narrative, and the emergence of renewal initiatives are reviewed. Four central elements of Quaker practice – the Worship ritual, the Testimonies, Business Meetings, and Cosmologies – are plotted within the grid-group model and Cultural Theory. The thesis has twenty-two Figures and five Appendices which contain a Dramatis Personae, a Fieldwork Diary and background information on Quaker practice. The challenge for contemporary Quakers is portrayed as the attempt to create and maintain unity in diversity and this is explicated by analysing Quaker practices in the light of the pressures of secularisation and cross-pressures within the spiritual landscape, in particular the dialectical tension theorised by Taylor (2007) between ‘transcendence’ and ‘immanence’

Prevalence and correlates of compliance with 24-h movement guidelines among children from urban and rural Kenya—The Kenya-LINX project

BackgroundLike many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Kenya has experienced rapid urbanization in recent years. Despite the distinct socioeconomic and environmental differences, few studies have examined the adherence to movement guidelines in urban and rural areas. This cross-sectional study aimed at examining compliance to the 24-hour movement guidelines and their correlates among children from urban and rural Kenya.MethodChildren (n = 539) aged 11.1 ± 0.8 years (52% female) were recruited from 8 urban and 8 rural private and public schools in Kenya. Physical activity (PA) and sleep duration were estimated using 24-h raw data from wrist-worn accelerometers. Screen time (ST) and potential correlates were self- reported. Multi-level logistic regression was applied to identify correlates of adherence to combined and individual movement guidelines.ResultsCompliance with the combined movement guidelines was low overall (7%), and higher among rural (10%) than urban (5%) children. Seventy-six percent of rural children met the individual PA guidelines compared to 60% urban children while more rural children also met sleep guidelines (27% vs 14%). The odds of meeting the combined movement guidelines reduced with age (OR = 0.55, 95% CI = 0.35–0.87, p = 0.01), was greater among those who could swim (OR = 3.27, 95% CI = 1.09–9.83, p = 0.04), and among those who did not engage in ST before school (OR = 4.40, 95% CI = 1.81–10.68, p<0.01). The odds of meeting PA guidelines increased with the number of weekly physical education sessions provided at school (OR = 2.1, 95% CI = 1.36–3.21, p<0.01) and was greater among children who spent their lunch break walking (OR = 2.52, 95% CI = 1.15–5.55, p = 0.02) or running relative to those who spent it sitting (OR = 2.33, 95% CI = 1.27–4.27, p = 0.01).ConclusionsPrevalence of meeting movement guidelines among Kenyan children is low and of greatest concern in urban areas. Several correlates were identified, particularly influential were features of the school day, School is thus a significant setting to promote a healthy balance between sleep, sedentary time, and PA

A Welcome Proposal to Amend the GMO Legislation of the EU

Is the European Union (EU) regulatory framework for genetically modified organisms (GMOs) adequate for emerging techniques, such as genome editing? This has been discussed extensively for more than 10 years. A recent proposal from The Netherlands offers a way to break the deadlock. Here, we discuss how the proposal would affect examples from public plant researchauthorsversionPeer reviewe

The Dead Butler revisited: grammatical accuracy and clarity in the English Primary Curriculum 2013–2014

This paper is an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the grammatical description and advice contained in the new National Curriculum documentation from 2013, focusing on key stages 1 and 2. It builds on previous analyses of deficiencies in the systems of grammar and the materials in earlier incarnations of the National Curriculum. It suggests that there have been advances in the accuracy with which grammar terms are used and illustrated, although there is still no coherent overall view of what grammar is, nor a fully consistent approach to describing language. In addition, the lack of any pedagogic guidance save the most basic suggests that knowledge about language may continue to be taught in a way which is incompatible with real understanding and more in line with prescriptivist approaches

Opposing effects of final population density and stress on Escherichia coli mutation rate

Evolution depends on mutations. For an individual genotype, the rate at which mutations arise is known to increase with various stressors (stress-induced mutagenesis-SIM) and decrease at high final population density (density-associated mutation-rate plasticity-DAMP). We hypothesised that these two forms of mutation-rate plasticity would have opposing effects across a nutrient gradient. Here we test this hypothesis, culturing Escherichia coli in increasingly rich media. We distinguish an increase in mutation rate with added nutrients through SIM (dependent on error-prone polymerases Pol IV and Pol V) and an opposing effect of DAMP (dependent on MutT, which removes oxidised G nucleotides). The combination of DAMP and SIM results in a mutation rate minimum at intermediate nutrient levels (which can support 7 × 10  cells ml ). These findings demonstrate a strikingly close and nuanced relationship of ecological factors-stress and population density-with mutation, the fuel of all evolution

BHPR research: qualitative1. Complex reasoning determines patients' perception of outcome following foot surgery in rheumatoid arhtritis

Background: Foot surgery is common in patients with RA but research into surgical outcomes is limited and conceptually flawed as current outcome measures lack face validity: to date no one has asked patients what is important to them. This study aimed to determine which factors are important to patients when evaluating the success of foot surgery in RA Methods: Semi structured interviews of RA patients who had undergone foot surgery were conducted and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis of interviews was conducted to explore issues that were important to patients. Results: 11 RA patients (9 ♂, mean age 59, dis dur = 22yrs, mean of 3 yrs post op) with mixed experiences of foot surgery were interviewed. Patients interpreted outcome in respect to a multitude of factors, frequently positive change in one aspect contrasted with negative opinions about another. Overall, four major themes emerged. Function: Functional ability & participation in valued activities were very important to patients. Walking ability was a key concern but patients interpreted levels of activity in light of other aspects of their disease, reflecting on change in functional ability more than overall level. Positive feelings of improved mobility were often moderated by negative self perception ("I mean, I still walk like a waddling duck”). Appearance: Appearance was important to almost all patients but perhaps the most complex theme of all. Physical appearance, foot shape, and footwear were closely interlinked, yet patients saw these as distinct separate concepts. Patients need to legitimize these feelings was clear and they frequently entered into a defensive repertoire ("it's not cosmetic surgery; it's something that's more important than that, you know?”). Clinician opinion: Surgeons' post operative evaluation of the procedure was very influential. The impact of this appraisal continued to affect patients' lasting impression irrespective of how the outcome compared to their initial goals ("when he'd done it ... he said that hasn't worked as good as he'd wanted to ... but the pain has gone”). Pain: Whilst pain was important to almost all patients, it appeared to be less important than the other themes. Pain was predominately raised when it influenced other themes, such as function; many still felt the need to legitimize their foot pain in order for health professionals to take it seriously ("in the end I went to my GP because it had happened a few times and I went to an orthopaedic surgeon who was quite dismissive of it, it was like what are you complaining about”). Conclusions: Patients interpret the outcome of foot surgery using a multitude of interrelated factors, particularly functional ability, appearance and surgeons' appraisal of the procedure. While pain was often noted, this appeared less important than other factors in the overall outcome of the surgery. Future research into foot surgery should incorporate the complexity of how patients determine their outcome Disclosure statement: All authors have declared no conflicts of interes