The debate on human automatism in mid-Victorian England

During the 1830s, Marshall Hall carried out innumerable experiments on a great variety of animals to establish the concept of a ‘reflex arc’. In France F.L.Goltz showed that decerebrate frogs were still capable of complex behaviours. Thomas Laycock in England and Ivan Sechenov in Russia sought to apply the reflex idea to the brain. This paper follows the debate in the periodical literature of mid-Victorian England and discusses the contributions of WB Carpenter, Herbert Spencer, TH Huxley, W Clifford and others. The previous outing of this issue in the post-Cartesian seventeenth century had been largely suppressed by ecclesiastical authority. In the nineteenth century ecclesiastical power had waned, at least in England, and the debate could take a more open form. As neurophysiology and behavioural science developed, with the widespread acceptance of Darwinian evolution, it became more and more difficult to deny that brain and mind were part of the natural world and subject to the usual laws of cause and effect. This, of course, had powerful implications for the human self-image and for jurisprudence. These implications are still with us and the work of neurophysiologists such as Benjamin Libet have only reinforced them. Should humans be regarded as ‘automata’ and, if so, what becomes of ‘free will’, ‘responsibility’, and the rule of law? The Victorian debate is still useful and relevant.

A survey of urban open space using colour infra-red aerial photographs

There has been a dramatic change in the U.K. government policy regarding the establishment of new towns. The emphasis is now on the redevelopment of existing cities rather than on building new ones. This has created an urgent need to carry out detailed surveys and inventories of many aspects of urban land use in metropolitan areas: this study concentrates on just one aspect - urban open space. In the first stage a comparison was made between 1:10,000 scale black and white and 1:10,000 scale colour infra-red aerial photographs, to compare the type and amount of open space information which could be obtained from these two sources. The advantages of using colour infra-red photography were clearly demonstrated in this comparison. The second stage was the use of colour infra-red photography as the sole source of data to survey and map the urban open space of a sample area in Merseyside Metropolitan County. This sample area comprised eleven 1/4km2 squares, on each of which a 20m x 20m grid cell was placed to record, directly from the photography, 625 sets of data. Each set of data recorded the type and amount of open space, its surface cover, maintenance status and management. The data recorded were fed into a computer and a suite of programs was developed to provide output in both computer map and statistical form, for each of the eleven -1/4km2 -sample areas. The third stage involved a comparison of open space data with socio-economic status. Merseyside County Planning Authority had previously conducted a socio-economic survey of the county, and this information was used to identify ' the socio-economic status of the population in the eleven ilkm2 areas of this project. This comparison revealed many interesting and useful relationships between the provision of urban open space and socio-economic status.

Design and validity of a miniaturized open-field aberrometer

PURPOSE: To validate a new miniaturised, open-field wavefront device which has been developed with the capacity to be attached to an ophthalmic surgical microscope or slit-lamp. SETTING: Solihull Hospital and Aston University, Birmingham, UK DESIGN: Comparative non-interventional study. METHODS: The dynamic range of the Aston Aberrometer was assessed using a calibrated model eye. The validity of the Aston Aberrometer was compared to a conventional desk mounted Shack-Hartmann aberrometer (Topcon KR1W) by measuring the refractive error and higher order aberrations of 75 dilated eyes with both instruments in random order. The Aston Aberrometer measurements were repeated five times to assess intra-session repeatability. Data was converted to vector form for analysis. RESULTS: The Aston Aberrometer had a large dynamic range of at least +21.0 D to -25.0 D. It gave similar measurements to a conventional aberrometer for mean spherical equivalent (mean difference ± 95% confidence interval: 0.02 ± 0.49D; correlation: r=0.995, p<0.001), astigmatic components (J0: 0.02 ± 0.15D; r=0.977, p<0.001; J45: 0.03 ± 0.28; r=0.666, p<0.001) and higher order aberrations RMS (0.02 ± 0.20D; r=0.620, p<0.001). Intraclass correlation coefficient assessments of intra-sessional repeatability for the Aston Aberrometer were excellent (spherical equivalent =1.000, p<0.001; astigmatic components J0 =0.998, p<0.001, J45=0.980, p<0.01; higher order aberrations RMS =0.961, p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The Aston Aberrometer gives valid and repeatable measures of refractive error and higher order aberrations over a large range. As it is able to measure continuously, it can provide direct feedback to surgeons during intraocular lens implantations and corneal surgery as to the optical status of the visual system.

Pharmaceutics:a new open-access journal for all those interested in designing medicines

We know the many hurdles that face us when we look to deliver a drug, starting from the basic characteristics of the drug (its solubility, stability, absorption and biodistribution), to overcoming the physiological barriers faced in reaching the target site, and to maintaining the concentration within the therapeutic window. In addition we must also remember the patient needs in this – is it a child that needs a liquid dosage form? Is it someone having to take multiple doses in a day? Do we need a rapid onset of action in a convenient format? Will people find it convenient to take the drug in the format we are presenting to them – or are there alternative options? [...]

Changing policies for the automotive industry in an 'old' industrial region:an open innovation model for the UK West Midlands?

Automobile manufacture in the UK West Midlands peaked during the 1950s and early 1960s but, with overseas competition, declined thereafter. Successive policies, such as government supported mergers to form the British Motor Corporation in the 1950s, green-field development away from the region in the 1960s, nationalisation of the (then) British Leyland in the 1970s, Japanese FDI in the 1980s and the Rover-centric Accelerate Project in the 1990s have failed to halt the decline. Since early 2000, regional policy has been the responsibility of the Regional Development Agency, Advantage West Midlands. The RDA has moved away from traditional support based on the needs of big companies or ‘champions’ and adopted an approach centred on a mix of small and large businesses and high level research, and – arguably – an ‘open innovation’ model. Here, we examine these new policies and their potential to create an innovative and competitive regional environment.

Retinal microvascular dysfunction occurs similarly in Alzheimer's disease and primary open angle glaucoma patients

Purpose: The exact nature of the relationship between Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) is still the subject of debate. One factor attributed to the aetiology of both conditions is vascular dysfunction. This study aimed to investigate the similarities and differences in retinal microvascular function between mild AD patients, early stage POAG patients and healthy controls Methods: Retinal vessel reactivity to flickering light was assessed in 10 AD, 19 POAG and 22 healthy age matched control patients by means of dynamic retinal vessel analysis (DVA, IMEDOS, GmbH, Jena, Germany) according to an established protocol. All patients additionally underwent BP measurements and blood analysis for glucose and lipid metabolism markers Results: AD and POAG patients demonstrated comparable alterations in retinal artery reactivity, in the form of an increased arterial reaction time (RT) to flicker light on the final flicker cycle (p=0.014), which was not replicated in the healthy age and cardiovascular risk matched controls (p>0.05). Furthermore, the sequential changes in RT on progressing from flicker one to flicker three were found to differ between healthy controls and the two disease groups (p=0.001) Conclusions: AD and POAG patients demonstrate comparable signs of vascular dysfunction in their retinal arteries at the early stages of their disease process. These comparable signs may reflect similarities in the pathophysiological processes that occur in the development of both conditions