William Godwin and Catholicism

This essay traces Godwin‘s changing attitude to Catholicism by exploring a variety of texts generally considered marginal to his oeuvre and a hitherto unexamined selection of his unpublished manuscripts

History, Memory, and Moral Knowledge: William Godwin's Essay on Sepulchres (1809)

In 1809 the radical English philosopher, novelist, and historian William Godwin published Essay on Sepulchres—a proposal to mark the burial sites of the morally great with a simple wooden cross. This paper explores Godwin's essay in terms of his evolution as moral philosopher and historian. While Godwin is commonly renowned as a utilitarian rationalist given to optimistic assertions on human perfectibility, this essay demonstrates the extent to which his moral theory depended on emotion and intuition and how he came to posit an alternative mode of historical perception which queried the progressivist assumptions of 'Enlightenment' historiography

Teaching history is talking history

Like many teachers, my early practice was in equal parts reiteration and repudiation of the models to which I had been exposed as a student. As a consequence of my own shyness I took great efforts not to place students in uncomfortable positions, particularly with regard to speaking in class. In retrospect, I can appreciate that I did not encourage or provide adequate opportunities for discussion. As I designed and reflected on my own pedagogic initiatives, it became clear that discussion underpinned the learning taking place in all classroom activities. Brookfield and Preskill have thoroughly and perspicaciously enumerated the myriad learning benefits accruing from the use of ―discussion as a way of teaching‖; and I am now convinced that it is integral to the learning process. Thus, I attempt to create a classroom in which students are encouraged to talk and feel comfortable doing so

William Godwin and the puritan legacy

This essay’s analysis of Godwin’s engagement with his (and Britain’s) puritan and Dissenting legacy is significant in two respects. First, it offers a reading of two of Godwin’s lesser known, later writings and thus contributes to our appreciation of a thinker whose activity and influence in the nineteenth century is still poorly understood. Second, this topic offers a unique point of entry into the bewildering complex of religious, political and historiographical tensions comprising the intersection of Britain’s long eighteenth and long nineteenth centuries. This pivotal period saw the emergence of a radically reformed British polity, an important element of which addressed long-standing issues of religious profession and allegiance. In this context, it is surely helpful to engage the extensive historical reflections of one of English letters’ most productive and generically versatile practitioners

Being there and being then: Ideal presence and historical tourism

Should history be affecting? Should we engage with it emotionally? These concerns were central to eighteenth and nineteenth century historiography and remain relevant to historians, especially public historians. Eighteenth century historians like Godwin were highly exercised by the effect of history on the reader, particularly the moral effect. Relatedly, eighteenth and nineteenth historians speculated constantly on the extent to which the reader ought to be proximate to and engaged with their subject(s) and the extent to which they should be detached and maintain a distance from them. There is a tension here – some say a choice – between history as a primarily affective and aesthetic discipline and history as a cognitive, objective, scientific discipline. That history thus has a “curious doubleness” is a perennial observation, going back to Herodotus and Thucydides. But assuming the ongoing, central place of affect in History, I have to account for the general lack of affect on me of the historical place. This seems to put me at odds with most people though not, I suspect, all historians. In what follows I would like to reflect on a recent personal experience of historical tourism in Mexico. I am not an historian of Mexico: I have never formally studied Mexican history nor written about it. Yet I have been fascinated with it since being exposed to parts of William Prescott’s classic History of the Conquest of Mexico (1843) as a young boy. Nearly forty years later I managed to travel to Mexico and visit some of the places about which I had enjoyed such a profound literary-historical experience. In terms of Mexican history I was an amateur historian; above all, I was a tourist

Experimental hut evaluation of a novel long-lasting non-pyrethroid durable wall lining for control of pyrethroid-resistant Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles funestus in Tanzania.

BACKGROUND: A novel, insecticide-treated, durable wall lining (ITWL), which mimics indoor residual spraying (IRS), has been developed to provide prolonged vector control when fixed to the inner walls of houses. PermaNet® ITWL is a polypropylene material containing non-pyrethroids (abamectin and fenpyroximate) which migrate gradually to the surface. METHODS: An experimental hut trial was conducted in an area of pyrethroid-resistant Anopheles gambiae s.l. and Anopheles funestus s.s. to compare the efficacy of non-pyrethroid ITWL, long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLIN) (Interceptor®), pyrethroid ITWL (ZeroVector®), and non-pyrethroid ITWL + LLIN. RESULTS: The non-pyrethroid ITWL produced relatively low levels of mortality, between 40-50% for An. funestus and An. gambiae, across all treatments. Against An. funestus, the non-pyrethroid ITWL when used without LLIN produced 47% mortality but this level of mortality was not significantly different to that of the LLIN alone (29%, P = 0.306) or ITWL + LLIN (35%, P = 0.385). Mortality levels for An. gambiae were similar to An. funestus with non-pyrethroid ITWL, producing 43% mortality compared with 26% for the LLIN. Exiting rates from ITWL huts were similar to the control and highest when the LLIN was present. An attempt to restrict mosquito access by covering the eave gap with ITWL (one eave open vs four open) had no effect on numbers entering. The LLIN provided personal protection when added to the ITWL with only 30% blood-fed compared with 69 and 56% (P = 0.001) for ITWL alone. Cone bioassays on ITWL with 30 min exposure after the trial produced mortality of >90% using field An. gambiae. CONCLUSIONS: Despite high mortality in bioassays, the hut trial produced only limited mortality which was attributed to pyrethroid resistance against the pyrethroid ITWL and low efficacy in the non-pyrethroid ITWL. Hut ceilings were left uncovered and may have served as a potential untreated refuge. By analogy to IRS campaigns, which also do not routinely treat ceilings, high community coverage with ITWL may still reduce malaria transmission. Restriction of eave gaps by 75% proved an inadequate barrier to mosquito entry. The findings represent the first 2 months after installation and do not necessarily predict long-term efficacy

The Effectiveness of Non-pyrethroid Insecticide-treated Durable Wall Lining to Control Malaria in Rural Tanzania: Study Protocol for a Two-armed Cluster Randomized Trial.

Despite considerable reductions in malaria achieved by scaling-up long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) and indoor residual spraying (IRS), maintaining sustained community protection remains operationally challenging. Increasing insecticide resistance also threatens to jeopardize the future of both strategies. Non-pyrethroid insecticide-treated wall lining (ITWL) may represent an alternate or complementary control method and a potential tool to manage insecticide resistance. To date no study has demonstrated whether ITWL can reduce malaria transmission nor provide additional protection beyond the current best practice of universal coverage (UC) of LLINs and prompt case management. A two-arm cluster randomized controlled trial will be conducted in rural Tanzania to assess whether non-pyrethroid ITWL and UC of LLINs provide added protection against malaria infection in children, compared to UC of LLINs alone. Stratified randomization based on malaria prevalence will be used to select 22 village clusters per arm. All 44 clusters will receive LLINs and half will also have ITWL installed on interior house walls. Study children, aged 6 months to 11 years old, will be enrolled from each cluster and followed monthly to estimate cumulative incidence of malaria parasitaemia (primary endpoint), time to first malaria episode and prevalence of anaemia before and after intervention. Entomological inoculation rate will be estimated using indoor CDC light traps and outdoor tent traps followed by detection of Anopheles gambiae species, sporozoite infection, insecticide resistance and blood meal source. ITWL bioefficacy and durability will be monitored using WHO cone bioassays and household surveys, respectively. Social and cultural factors influencing community and household ITWL acceptability will be explored through focus-group discussions and in-depth interviews. Cost-effectiveness, compared between study arms, will be estimated per malaria case averted. This protocol describes the large-scale evaluation of a novel vector control product, designed to overcome some of the known limitations of existing methods. If ITWL is proven to be effective and durable under field conditions, it may warrant consideration for programmatic implementation, particularly in areas with long transmission seasons and where pyrethroid-resistant vectors predominate. Trial findings will provide crucial information for policy makers in Tanzania and other malaria-endemic countries to guide resource allocations for future control efforts

Assessment of course-based undergraduate research experiences: a meeting report

The Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences Network (CUREnet) was initiated in 2012 with funding from the National Science Foundation program for Research Coordination Networks in Undergraduate Biology Education. CUREnet aims to address topics, problems, and opportunities inherent to integrating research experiences into undergraduate courses. During CUREnet meetings and discussions, it became apparent that there is need for a clear definition of what constitutes a CURE and systematic exploration of what makes CUREs meaningful in terms of student learning. Thus, we assembled a small working group of people with expertise in CURE instruction and assessment to: 1) draft an operational definition of a CURE, with the aim of defining what makes a laboratory course or project a "research experience"; 2) summarize research on CUREs, as well as findings fromstudies of undergraduate research internships that would be useful for thinking about how students are influenced by participating in CUREs; and 3) identify areas of greatest need with respect to CURE assessment, and directions for future research on and evaluation of CUREs. This report summarizes the outcomes and recommendations of this meeting

Writing in Britain and Ireland, c. 400 to c. 800

No abstract available

High-Intensity Interval Training Interventions in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review

BackgroundWhilst there is increasing interest in the efficacy of high-intensity interval training in children and adolescents as a time-effective method of eliciting health benefits, there remains little consensus within the literature regarding the most effective means for delivering a high-intensity interval training intervention. Given the global health issues surrounding childhood obesity and associated health implications, the identification of effective intervention strategies is imperative.ObjectivesThe aim of this review was to examine high-intensity interval training as a means of influencing key health parameters and to elucidate the most effective high-intensity interval training protocol.MethodsStudies were included if they: (1) studied healthy children and/or adolescents (aged 5–18 years); (2) prescribed an intervention that was deemed high intensity; and (3) reported health-related outcome measures.ResultsA total of 2092 studies were initially retrieved from four databases. Studies that were deemed to meet the criteria were downloaded in their entirety and independently assessed for relevance by two authors using the pre-determined criteria. From this, 13 studies were deemed suitable. This review found that high-intensity interval training in children and adolescents is a time-effective method of improving cardiovascular disease biomarkers, but evidence regarding other health-related measures is more equivocal. Running-based sessions, at an intensity of >90% heart rate maximum/100–130% maximal aerobic velocity, two to three times a week and with a minimum intervention duration of 7 weeks, elicit the greatest improvements in participant health.ConclusionWhile high-intensity interval training improves cardiovascular disease biomarkers, and the evidence supports the effectiveness of running-based sessions, as outlined above, further recommendations as to optimal exercise duration and rest intervals remain ambiguous owing to the paucity of literature and the methodological limitations of studies presently available