High or Low? Writing the Irish Reformation in the Early Nineteenth Century

The Irish Reformation is a contentious issue, not just between Catholic and Protestant, but also within the Protestant churches, as competing Presbyterian and Anglican claims are made over the history of the Irish reformation. This chapter looks at the way in which James Seaton Reid (1798–1851), laid claim to the Reformation for Irish Dissent in his History of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. It then examines the rival Anglican histories by two High Churchmen: Richard Mant (1775–1848), Bishop of Down and Connor; and Charles Elrington (1787–1850), the Regius Professor of Divinity in Trinity College, Dublin. It is clear that, in each case, theological and denominational conviction decisively shaped their history writing. Equally, however, significant advances were made by all three scholars in unearthing important new primary sources, and in identifying key points of controversy and debate which still represent a challenge to eccleciastical historians, of whatever denomination or none, today

Dependent or Independent: The Church of Ireland and Its Colonial Context, 1536-1649

The Church of Ireland, was in many ways a clone of the Church of England. The Irish reformation legislation which established the Church of Ireland was largely a copy of Henry VIII's acts establishing the Church of England. And many English politicians and clergy thought of the Church of Ireland as wholly dependent on the Church of England. But for those clergy who were born in Ireland, or who made their careers there, there was an alternative view which saw the Irish church as a separate, sister church to the Church of England. Here Archbishop James Ussher, the dominant protestant intellectual force in early-modern Ireland, provided an important sense of independent identity for the Church of Ireland. He traced its origins back to Patrick, and insisted that it was separate from the Church of England, as in 1634 when he refused to adopt the English Canons verbatim, but insisted on drafting separate Irish canons. The result is that the Church of Ireland was Janus-like, looking both to England and to Ireland, relying on the protection of the English monarch and state in times of difficulty, but proclaiming its sturdy independence in better times

Impacts of Fire and Vertebrate Herbivores on Plant Community Characteristics and Soil Processes in a Coastal Marsh of Eastern Louisiana, United States of America.

Both vertebrate herbivores and fire have long been known to have dramatic and important effects on wetlands. In the first part of this study, conducted in the Pearl River Basin coastal marshes of Louisiana, the interaction between the effects of mammalian herbivores, especially nutria and wild boar, and fire was examined in three marsh community types: those dominated by Sagittaria lancifolia, Panicum virgatum, or Spartina patens/Scirpus americanus. Overall, above-ground biomass was reduced by burning but increased by fencing. Richness only increased in plots that were both burned and fenced. In the three communities, only Scirpus americanus cover was enhanced by fencing. Fencing reduced Spartina patens cover in the Panicum and Sagittaria marshes. Cover of Panicum virgatum in the Panicum marsh and Sagittaria lancifolia and Vigna luteola in the Sagittaria marsh were all enhanced by burning. Therefore, burning shifts the communities from S. patens to S. lancifolia, V. luteola. In the second part of this study, exclosures were used in conjunction with feldspar and benchmark techniques to measure the effects of herbivore exclusion on vertical soil accretion, marsh elevation changes, and litter production. Overall, vertical soil accretion appears to be contributing sufficient material to offset the effects of subsidence in both the grazed and ungrazed plots. However, the examination of the root zone over time indicates that not only is this layer expanding and contracting, but it appears that it also is contributing to soil elevation change. The third part of this study was conducted in order to assess the impact of herbivores on plant biomass, cover, and species richness. Biomass was four times as great in exclosed plots for both Spartina patens and Scirpus americanus compared to the control plots. A detrended correspondence analysis revealed that exclusion of grazers resulted in overall shifts in community composition. Species richness increased in the grazed plots after fifteen months and decreased in the ungrazed plots, with a total difference in richness of two species. Overall, the results suggest that grazing in the system selectively alters species composition and increases species diversity

The Gedanken Ball-and-Stick Construction Problem: What is the Most Simple Structure that it is Possible to Construct?

A very simple question is posed: Employing a ball-and-stick modelling system, and given a supply of the component balls and rods, then, treating it as a gedanken experiment, what is the most simple structure that it is possible to construct

A Structuralist Proposal for the Foundations of the Natural Numbers

This paper introduces a novel object that has less structure than, and is ontologically prior to the natural numbers. As such it is a candidate model of the foundation that lies beneath the natural numbers. The implications for the construction of mathematical objects built upon that foundation are discussed

High dose atorvastatin associated with increased risk of significant hepatotoxicity in comparison to simvastatin in UK GPRD cohort

Background and Aims: Occasional risk of serious liver dysfunction and autoimmune hepatitis during atorvastatin therapy has been reported. We compared the risk of hepatotoxicity in atorvastatin relative to simvastatin treatment. Methods: The UK GPRD identified patients with a first prescription for simvastatin [164,407] or atorvastatin [76,411] between 1997 and 2006, but with no prior record of liver disease, alcohol-related diagnosis, or liver dysfunction. Incident liver dysfunction in the following six months was identified by biochemical value and compared between statin groups by Cox regression model adjusting for age, sex, year treatment started, dose, alcohol consumption, smoking, body mass index and comorbid conditions. Results: Moderate to severe hepatotoxicity [bilirubin >60μmol/L, AST or ALT >200U/L or alkaline phosphatase >1200U/L] developed in 71 patients on atorvastatin versus 101 on simvastatin. Adjusted hazard ratio [AHR] for all atorvastatin relative to simvastatin was 1.9 [95% confidence interval 1.4–2.6]. High dose was classified as 40–80mg daily and low dose 10–20mg daily. Hepatotoxicity occurred in 0.44% of 4075 patients on high dose atorvastatin [HDA], 0.07% of 72,336 on low dose atorvastatin [LDA], 0.09% of 44,675 on high dose simvastatin [HDS] and 0.05% of 119,732 on low dose simvastatin [LDS]. AHRs compared to LDS were 7.3 [4.2–12.7] for HDA, 1.4 [0.9–2.0] for LDA and 1.5 [1.0–2.2] for HDS. Conclusions: The risk of hepatotoxicity was increased in the first six months of atorvastatin compared to simvastatin treatment, with the greatest difference between high dose atorvastatin and low dose simvastatin. The numbers of events in the analyses were small