Catholic literature and secularisation in France and England, 1880-1914

This book is the first comparative study of its kind to explore at length the French and English Catholic literary revivals of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It compares individual and societal secularisation in France and England and examines how French and English Catholic writers understood and contested secular mores, ideologies and praxis, in the individual, societal and religious domains. It also addresses the extent to which some Catholic writers succumbed to the seduction of secular instincts, even paradoxically in themes which are considered to be emblematic of Catholic literature. The breadth of this book will make it a useful guide for students wishing to become familiar with a wide range of such writings in France and England during this period. It will also appeal to researchers interested in Catholic literary and intellectual history in France and England, theologians, philosophers and students of the sociology of religion. CONTENTS: Preface and acknowledgements Introduction 1. Individual and societal secularisation in France and England 2. Recovering the porous individual 3. Thinking and believing 4. The fragments of secular society 5. Mending secular fragmentation 6. Ultimate societal values 7. Catholic religiosity and the hierarchical Church 8. Catholic religiosity and the charismatic Church Conclusion Bibliography Index

Zwei Wege zur 'Aufhellung der Finsternisse in der Welt'. Zum untergründigen Wechselverhältnis von Literatur & Malerei bei Thomas Bernhard & Francis Bacon:for subterranean exchange relationship between literature and painting in Thomas Bernhard & Francis Bacon

This chapter undertakes the first examination of the role the fine arts play in Thomas Bernhard’s prose works. Though not as prominent as the role of music, painting and the fine arts play a crucial role in Frost and Alte Meister; these two novels coincidentally also happen to be the first and last novels written by Bernhard. This chapter takes its cue from the positive role awarded to Francis Bacon in the novel Das Kalkwerk. Comparing and contrasting the relation and influence between the art of Bacon and the literature of Bernhard, I am able to demonstrate a number of surprising analogies. Following a brief biographical synopsis, I focus on four aesthetic operations that are crucial to both artists. Using the key terms of ‘middle way’, ‘variation’, ‘vibration’ and ‘mediation’, I am able to uncover surprising similarities between the novels and the paintings. These hidden connections are further confirmed by looking at the two artists’ shared major motifs, namely the slaughterhouse, the scream, the relation between animals and humans, and pain. This bleak outlook on the state of human civilisation that these two major artists of the end of the 20th century share, embodies both a warning and a prophesy for the 21st century.

Exploitation of fibre characteristics in temperature sensing and radio-over-fibre applications

The development of sensing devices is one of the instrumentation fields that has grown rapidly in the last decade. Corresponding to the swift advance in the development of microelectronic sensors, optical fibre sensors are widely investigated because of their advantageous properties over the electronics sensors such as their wavelength multiplexing capability and high sensitivity to temperature, pressure, strain, vibration and acoustic emission. Moreover, optical fibre sensors are more attractive than the electronics sensors as they can perform distributed sensing, in terms of covering a reasonably large area using a single piece of fibre. Apart from being a responsive element in the sensing field, optical fibre possesses good assets in generating, distributing, processing and transmitting signals in the future broadband information network. These assets include wide bandwidth, high capacity and low loss that grant mobility and flexibility for wireless access systems. Among these core technologies, the fibre optic signal processing and transmission of optical and radio frequency signals have been the subjects of study in this thesis. Based on the intrinsic properties of single-mode optical fibre, this thesis aims to exploit the fibre characteristics such as thermal sensitivity, birefringence, dispersion and nonlinearity, in the applications of temperature sensing and radio-over-fibre systems. By exploiting the fibre thermal sensitivity, a fully distributed temperature sensing system consisting of an apodised chirped fibre Bragg grating has been implemented. The proposed system has proven to be efficient in characterising grating and providing the information of temperature variation, location and width of the heat source applied in the area under test.To exploit the fibre birefringence, a fibre delay line filter using a single high-birefringence optical fibre structure has been presented. The proposed filter can be reconfigured and programmed by adjusting the input azimuth of launched light, as well as the strength and direction of the applied coupling, to meet the requirements of signal processing for different purposes in microwave photonic and optical filtering applications. To exploit the fibre dispersion and nonlinearity, experimental investigations have been carried out to study their joint effect in high power double-sideband and single-sideband modulated links with the presence of fibre loss. The experimental results have been theoretically verified based on the in-house implementation of the split-step Fourier method applied to the generalised nonlinear Schrödinger equation. Further simulation study on the inter-modulation distortion in two-tone signal transmission has also been presented so as to show the effect of nonlinearity of one channel on the other. In addition to the experimental work, numerical simulations have also been carried out in all the proposed systems, to ensure that all the aspects concerned are comprehensively investigated.

Sustainability practices and indicators in food retail logistics:findings from an exploratory study

The aim of this paper is to provide an overview and an analysis of recent developments and changes in the implementation of sustainability practices by food retailers. It also aims to explore whether the sustainability measurement criteria and indicators identified in the literature can be applied in practice. A literature review identified the current trends, developments and the proposed sustainability objectives, criteria and indicators. Via case study research, we collected empirical data from four retailers. This involved both qualitative and quantitative data drawn from questionnaires and in-depth interviews with logistics directors from four retailers' distribution centres. The empirical data collected from the interviews indicate similarities in some of the characteristics of distribution centres, as well as differences. However, it was difficult to make cross-company comparisons due to the absence of benchmarks or assessments of the relative importance of each sustainability criterion and indicator. This research focused only on two sustainability objectives. Further research on other sustainability objectives is therefore required. Lessons learnt from the four case studies can be taken into consideration when developing future sustainability performance rating scales. The paper provides an in-depth analysis of sustainability in the food chain, with emphasis on food retailing. Its value lies in presenting an attempt to test in practice how a number of sustainability objectives, criteria and indicators are applied in logistics-related processes, identifying the gaps and reporting the potential difficulties.

Strategy as practice:recursiveness, adaptation, and practices-in-use

In this article, a social theory framework is developed to explain the common themes of recursive and adaptive practice underpinning the existing strategic management literature. In practice, there is a coexistent tension between recursive and adaptive forms of strategic action that spans multiple levels from macro-institutional and competitive contexts to within-firm levels of analysis to individual cognition. This tension may be better understood by examining how management practices are used to put strategy into practice. Such practices span multiple levels of context and are adaptable to their circumstances of use, serving to highlight both general characteristics and localized idiosyncrasies of strategy as practice. The article develops the concept of management practices-in-use into a research agenda and nine broad research questions that may be used to investigate empirically strategy as practice.

Investigating the process of translation:humour translation norms, strategies and approaches in children's literature

Research in the present thesis is focused on the norms, strategies,and approaches which translators employ when translating humour in Children's Literature from English into Greek. It is based on process-oriented descriptive translation studies, since the focus is on investigating the process of translation. Viewing translation as a cognitive process and a problem soling activity, this thesis Think-aloud protocols (TAPs) in order to investigate translator's minds. As it is not possible to directly observe the human mind at work, an attempt is made to ask the translators themselves to reveal their mental processes in real time by verbalising their thoughts while carrying out a translation task involving humour. In this study, thirty participants at three different levels of expertise in translation competence, i.e. tn beginner, ten competent, and ten experts translators, were requested to translate two humourous extracts from the fictional diary novel The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 ¾ by Sue Townsend (1982) from English into Greek. As they translated, they were asked to verbalise their thoughts and reason them, whenever possible, so that their strategies and approaches could be detected, and that subsequently, the norms that govern these strategies and approaches could be revealed. The thesis consists of four parts: the introduction, the literature review, the study, and the conclusion, and is developed in eleven chapters. the introduction contextualises the study within translation studies (TS) and presents its rationale, research questions, aims, and significance. Chapters 1 to 7 present an extensive and inclusive literature review identifying the principles axioms that guide and inform the study. In these seven chapters the following areas are critically introduced: Children's literature (Chapter 1), Children's Literature Translation (Chapter 2), Norms in Children's Literature (Chapter 3), Strategies in Children's Literature (Chapter 4), Humour in Children's Literature Translation (Chapter 5), Development of Translation Competence (Chapter 6), and Translation Process Research (Chapter 7). In Chapters 8 - 11 the fieldwork is described in detail. the piolot and the man study are described with a reference to he environments and setting, the participants, the research -observer, the data and its analysis, and limitations of the study. The findings of the study are presented and analysed in Chapter 9. Three models are then suggested for systematising translators' norms, strategies, and approaches, thus, filling the existing gap in the field. Pedagogical norms (e.g. appropriateness/correctness, famililarity, simplicity, comprehensibility, and toning down), literary norms (e.g. sound of language and fluency). and source-text norms (e.g. equivalence) were revealed to b the most prominent general and specific norms governing the translators'  strategies and approaches in the process of translating humour in ChL. The data also revealed that monitoring and communication strategies (e.g. additions, omissions, and exoticism) were the prevalent strategies employed by translators. In Chapter 10 the main findings and outcomes of a potential secondary benefit (beneficial outcomes) are discussed on the basis of the research questions and aims of the study, and implications of the study are tackled in Chapter 11. In the conclusion, suggestions for future directions are given and final remarks noted.

Systematic review investigating the reporting of comorbidities and medication in randomized controlled trials of people with dementia

Objectives: dementia is a debilitating condition characterised by global loss of cognitive and intellectual functioning, which reduces social and occupational performance. This population frequently presents with medical co-morbidities such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. The CONSORT statement outlines recommended guidance on reporting of participant characteristics in clinical trials. It is, however, unclear how much these are adhered to in trials assessing people with dementia. This paper assesses the reporting of medical co-morbidities and prescribed medications for people with dementia within randomised controlled trial (RCT) reports. Design: a systematic review of the published literature from the databases AMED, CINAHL, MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Cochrane Clinical Trial Registry from 1 January 1997 to 9 January 2014 was undertaken in order to identify RCTs detailing baseline medical co-morbidities and prescribed medications . Eligible studies were appraised using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) RCT appraisal tool, and descriptive statistical analyses were calculated to determine point prevalence. Results: nine trials, including 1474 people with dementia, were identified presenting medical co-morbidity data. These indicated neurological disorders ( prevalence 91%), vascular disorders (prevalence 91%), cardiac disorders ( prevalence 74%) and ischaemic cerebrovascular disease ( prevalence 53%) were most frequently seen. Conclusions: published RCTs poorly report medical co-morbidities and medications for people with dementia. Future trials should include the report of these items to allow interpretation of whether the results are generalisable to frailer older populations.

A taxonomy of heterogeneity and dynamics in particle swarm optimisation

We propose a taxonomy for heterogeneity and dynamics of swarms in PSO, which separates the consideration of homogeneity and heterogeneity from the presence of adaptive and non-adaptive dynamics, both at the particle and swarm level. It thus supports research into the separate and combined contributions of each of these characteristics. An analysis of the literature shows that most recent work has focussed on only parts of the taxonomy. Our results agree with prior work that both heterogeneity and dynamics are useful. However while heterogeneity does typically improve PSO, this is often dominated by the improvement due to dynamics. Adaptive strategies used to generate heterogeneity may end up sacrificing the dynamics which provide the greatest performance increase. We evaluate exemplar strategies for each area of the taxonomy and conclude with recommendations.

The franchise dilemma:entrepreneurial characteristics, relational contracting, and opportunism in hybrid governance

Using franchise data, we identify that entrepreneurial characteristics of franchisees partially impact on their opportunistic tendencies. Further, relational contracting increases franchisee opportunism by strengthening the opportunism-enhancing impact of entrepreneurial characteristics. These findings point to a key dilemma franchisors need to be aware of: Entrepreneurially minded franchisees who might be better at exploiting market opportunities for their units may also behave more opportunistically, if given the chance through a more relational contracting regime. At the same time, if they perceive the contractual framework as being too rigid, they may be less able to leverage their capabilities, become dissatisfied, and exit the system.

Effect of spatial inhomogeneity of charge carrier mobility on current-voltage characteristics in organic field-effect transistors

A semi-quantitative model is put forward elucidating the role of spatial inhomogeneity of charge carrier mobility in organic field-effect transistors. The model, based on electrostatic arguments, allows estimating the effective thickness of the conducting channel and its changes in function of source-drain and gate voltages. Local mobility gradients in the direction perpendicular to the insulator/semiconductor interface translate into voltage dependences of the average carrier mobility in the channel, resulting in positive or negative deviations of current-voltage characteristics from their expected shapes. The proposed effect supplements those described in the literature, i.e., density-dependent mobility of charge carriers, short-channel effects, and contribution of contact resistance.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia:epidemiology, outcome, and laboratory characteristics in a tertiary referral center in the UK

Objective: To analyze the recent epidemiology of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteremia in a UK tertiary referral center. Methods: We collected epidemiological and laboratory data on all cases of MRSA bacteremia from September 1, 2005 to December 31, 2007. Results: There were 195 clinically significant episodes. Most were hospital-acquired. Only one episode occurred in patients without a history of hospital admission in the previous 12 months. An intravascular device was the most common focus of infection (37%), with no identifiable source found in 35% of episodes. Twenty-eight percent of patients died within 30 days of bacteremia. Mortality was significantly higher in the absence of an identifiable focus. Failure to include an antibiotic active against MRSA in the empirical treatment was only significantly associated with death in patients showing signs of hemodynamic instability (p < 0.001). No isolates had a minimum inhibitory concentration to vancomycin above 1.5. mg/l and no heteroresistance to glycopeptide antibiotics (heteroresistant vancomycin-intermediate Staphylococcus aureus; hVISA) was detected. All isolates were sensitive to daptomycin, tigecycline, and linezolid. Conclusions: Despite improvement in infection control measures, medical devices remain the most common source of infection. Inappropriate empirical antibiotic usage is associated with a poor outcome in patients with signs of severe sepsis. Susceptibility to glycopeptides and newer antibiotics remains good. © 2010 International Society for Infectious Diseases.

Investigating the role of parent and child characteristics in healthy eating intervention outcomes

While numerous studies have investigated the efficacy of interventions at increasing children's vegetable consumption, little research has examined the effect of individual characteristics on intervention outcomes. In previous research, interventions consisting of modelling and rewards have been shown to increase children's vegetable intake, but differences were identified in terms of how much children respond to such interventions. With this in mind, the current study investigated the role of parental feeding practices, child temperament, and child eating behaviours as predictors of intervention success. Parents (N = 90) of children aged 2-4 years were recruited from toddler groups across Leicestershire, UK. Parents completed measures of feeding practices, child eating behaviours and child temperament, before participating in one of four conditions of a home-based, parent led 14 day intervention aimed at increasing their child's consumption of a disliked vegetable. Correlations and logistic regressions were performed to investigate the role of these factors in predicting intervention success. Parental feeding practices were not significantly associated with intervention success. However, child sociability and food fussiness significantly predicted intervention success, producing a regression model which could predict intervention success in 61% of cases. These findings suggest that future interventions could benefit from being tailored according to child temperament. Furthermore, interventions for children high in food fussiness may be better targeted at reducing fussiness in addition to increasing vegetable consumption.

Prevalence and characteristics of spontaneous tinnitus in 11-year-old children

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of spontaneous tinnitus in 11-year-old children. DESIGN: A prospective UK population-based study. STUDY SAMPLE: A total of 7092 children from the Avon longitudinal study of parents and children (ALSPAC) who attended the hearing session at age 11 years and answered questions about tinnitus. RESULTS: We estimated the prevalence of any spontaneous tinnitus as 28.1% (95% CI 27.1, 29.2%), and the prevalence of 'clinically significant' tinnitus as 3.1% (95% CI 2.7, 3.5%). Children were less likely to have clinically significant tinnitus if the tinnitus was 'soft' rather than 'loud' and if continuous rather than intermittent. Clinical significance was more likely if the tinnitus occurred more than once a week. Neither pitch nor length of history were important determinants of clinical significance. Small increases in mean hearing threshold (of up to 2.3 dB HL) were associated with clinically significant tinnitus. CONCLUSIONS: Although the prevalence of any tinnitus in 11-year-old children appears high, the small proportion in which this was found to be clinically significant implies that this does not necessarily indicate a large unmet clinical demand. We would expect approximately one child per class of 30 to have clinically significant tinnitus which is, by definition, problematic.