Mighty Poets:Hartley Coleridge and William Wordsworth

Hartley Coleridge has often been dismissed as little more than a minor poet driven to drink by his angst over a poetic inheritance passed down by his father, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and mentor, William Wordsworth. Poems like Wordsworth’s “To H.C. Six Years Old” were particularly influential in establishing a myth of Hartley as a faery creature who was ill-suited for adult life. Yet, Hartley challenged this myth in his own poetry and, as this essay argues, transformed it into a mode for critiquing not only his literary relationships with the first-generation Romantics, but also for assessing Wordsworth’s later poetry. Further, this essay suggests that Hartley’s poetic responses to Wordsworth indicate growing confidence in his literary talents, and articulate his claims to be considered as an important Lake Poet in his own right

Implementing corpus analysis and GIS to examine historical accounts of the English Lake District

This paper reports on interdisciplinary research into the automated geographical analysis of historical text corpora. It provides an introduction to this research, which is being completed by two interrelated projects: the European Research Council-funded Spatial Humanities project and the Leverhulme Trust-funded Geospatial Innovation in the Digital Humanities project. In addition to contextualising the work of these projects, the paper introduces a case study that applies collocation analysis, automated geo-parsing, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The focus of this study is a 1.5 million-word corpus of writing about the English Lake District. This corpus comprises 80 works written between the years 1622 and 1900. In investigating this corpus, we demonstrate how a hybrid geographical and corpus-based methodology can be used to study the application of specific aesthetic terminology in historical writing about the Lakeland region

Alts, Abbreviations, and AKAs:historical onomastic variation and automated named entity recognition

The accurate automated identification of named places is a major concern for scholars in the digital humanities, and especially for those engaged in research that depends upon the gazetteer-led recognition of specific aspects. The field of onomastics examines the linguistic roots and historical development of names, which have for the most part only standardised into single officially recognised forms since the late nineteenth century. Even slight spelling variations can introduce errors in geotagging techniques, and these differences in place-name spellings are thus vital considerations when seeking high rates of correct geospatial identification in historical texts. This article offers an overview of typical name-based variation that can cause issues in the accurate geotagging of any historical resource. The article argues that the careful study and documentation of these variations can assist in the development of more complete onymic records, which in turn may inform geotaggers through a cycle of variational recognition. It demonstrates how patterns in regional naming variation and development, across both specific and generic name elements, can be identified through the historical records of each known location. The article uses examples taken from a digitised corpus of writing about the English Lake District, a collection of 80 texts that date from between 1622 and 1900. Four of the more complex spelling-based problems encountered during the creation of a manual gazetteer for this corpus are examined. Specifically, the article demonstrates how and why such variation must be expected, particularly in the years preceding the standardisation of place-name spellings. It suggests how procedural developments may be undertaken to account for such georeferential issues in the Named Entity Recognition strategies employed by future projects. Similarly, the benefits of such multi-genre corpora to assist in completing onomastic records is also shown through examples of new name forms discovered for prominent sites in the Lake District. This focus is accompanied by a discussion of the influence of literary works on place-name standardisation – an aspect not typically accounted for in traditional onomastic study – to illustrate the extent to which authorial interests in regional toponymic histories can influence linguistic development

Combining Close and Distant Reading:A Multiscalar Analysis of the English Lake District's Historical Soundscape

This article joins calls for literary scholarship to move beyond the limitations of binary oppositions between ‘close’ and ‘distant’ reading and towards the development of approaches that exploit the macroanalytic potential of digital methods alongside the nuanced analysis that characterises literary scholarship. Drawing on a customised corpus of writing about the English Lake District, we model the application of a multiscalar approach known as geographical text analysis (GTA), which combines aspects of close reading and distant reading, and, in doing so, introduces a new method for literary research. Here, we focus on historical descriptions of the Lake District's soundscape to demonstrate both how perceptions of sound changed over the course of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and how multi-scalar methods can uniquely uncover such historical-literary shifts. Sound, we argue, offers a particularly useful focus since it allows us to draw fruitful parallels between our methods and those applied by the writers we study. In this way, this article advocates for digital humanities scholarship that advances our disciplines in conversation with appropriate historical modes

Changes in quality of life in people with Parkinson's disease left untreated at diagnosis

Peer reviewedPostprin

Mapping Digitally, Mapping Deep:Exploring Digital Literary Geographies

This 'Thinking Space' piece considers the relationship between distant and close approaches to reading literary geographies. Specifically, it outlines recent developments in digital literary mapping, and suggests how the incorporation of these technologies in literary studies can advance new insights in the field

Carotid disease at age 73 and cognitive change from age 70 to 76 years. A longitudinal cohort study

Cognitive decline and carotid artery atheroma are common at older ages. In community-dwelling subjects, we assessed cognition at ages 70, 73 and 76 and carotid Doppler ultrasound at age 73, to determine whether carotid stenosis was related to cognitive decline. We used latent growth curve models to examine associations between four carotid measures (internal carotid artery stenosis, velocity, pulsatility and resistivity indices) and four cognitive ability domains (memory, visuospatial function, crystallised intelligence, processing speed) adjusted for cognitive ability at age 11, current age, gender and vascular risk factors. Amongst 866 participants, carotid stenosis (median 12.96%) was not associated with cognitive abilities at age 70 or cognitive decline from age 70 to 76. Increased ICA pulsatility and resistivity indices were associated with slower processing speed (both P &lt; 0.001) and worse visuospatial function ( P = 0.036, 0.031, respectively) at age 70, and declining crystallised intelligence from ages 70 to 76 ( P = 0.008, 0.006, respectively). The findings suggest that vascular stiffening, rather than carotid luminal narrowing, adversely influences cognitive ageing and provides a potential target for ameliorating age-related cognitive decline. </jats:p

A school intervention for 13- to 15-year-olds to prevent dating and relationship violence: the Project Respect pilot cluster RCT

Background ‘Dating and relationship violence’ is intimate partner violence during adolescence. Among dating adolescents in England, 66–75% of girls and 32–50% of boys report victimisation. Multicomponent school-based interventions might reduce dating and relationship violence. We optimised and piloted Project Respect, a new intervention in secondary schools in England, and study methods, to assess the value of a Phase III randomised controlled trial. Objectives To optimise Project Respect and to then conduct a pilot randomised controlled trial in southern England, addressing whether or not progression to a Phase III trial is justified in terms of prespecified criteria. To assess which of two dating and relationship violence scales is optimal, to assess response rates and to consider any necessary refinements. Design Optimisation activities aimed at intervention development and a pilot randomised controlled trial. Setting Optimisation in four secondary schools across southern England, varying by region and local deprivation. A pilot cluster randomised controlled trial in six other such schools (four intervention schools and two control schools), varying by region, attainment and local deprivation. Participants School students in years 8–10 at baseline and staff. Interventions Schools were randomised to the intervention or control arm in a 2 : 1 ratio; intervention comprised staff training, mapping ‘hotspots’ in school for dating and relationship violence, modifying staff patrols, school policy review, informing parents and carers, an application supporting student help-seeking, and a classroom curriculum for students in years 9 and 10 (including student-led campaigns). Main outcome measures Prespecified criteria for progression to Phase III of the trial, concerning acceptability, feasibility, fidelity and response rates. Primary health outcomes were assessed using the Safe Dates and short Conflicts in Adolescent Dating Relationships Inventory measures collected and analysed by individuals who were masked to allocation. Feasibility of economic analysis was assessed. Data sources Baseline and follow-up student and staff surveys, interviews, observations and logbooks. Results The intervention was optimised and approved by the Study Steering Committee. The student response rates in intervention and control groups were 1057 (84.8%) and 369 (76.6%) at baseline, and 1177 (76.8%) and 352 (83.4%) at follow-up, respectively. Safe Dates and the short Conflicts in Adolescent Dating Relationships Inventory had high levels of completion and reliability. At follow-up, prevalence of past-year dating and relationship violence victimisation was around 35% (Safe Dates scale and short Conflicts in Adolescent Dating Relationships Inventory). Staff response rates were very low. Training occurred in all four schools, with suboptimal fidelity. The curriculum was delivered with optimal fidelity in three schools. Other components were delivered inconsistently. Dating and relationship violence was addressed in control schools via violence prevention and responses, but not systematically. Intervention acceptability among students and staff was mixed. An economic evaluation would be feasible. Limitations One school did not undertake baseline surveys. Staff survey response rates were low and completion of the logbook was patchy. Conclusions Our findings suggest that progression to a Phase III trial of this intervention is not indicated because of limited fidelity and acceptability. Future work High prevalence of dating and relationship violence highlights the ongoing need for effective intervention. Potential intervention refinements would include more external support for schools and enhanced curriculum materials. Any future randomised controlled trials could consider having a longer lead-in from randomisation to intervention commencement, using the short Conflicts in Adolescent Dating Relationships Inventory as the primary outcome and not relying on staff surveys. Trial registration Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN65324176. Funding This project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Public Health Research programme and will be published in full in Public Health Research; Vol. 8, No. 5. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information