Progress and the Lack of Progress in Addressing Infant Health and Infant Health Inequalities in Ireland during the 20th Century

There is a growing literature which documents the importance of early life environment for outcomes across the life cycle. Research, including studies based on Irish data, demonstrates that those who experience better childhood conditions go on to be wealthier and healthier adults. Therefore, inequalities at birth and in childhood shape inequality in wellbeing in later life, and the historical evolution of the mortality and morbidity of children born in Ireland is important for understanding the current status of the Irish population. In this paper, I describe these patterns by reviewing the existing literature on infant health in Ireland over the course of the 20th century. Up to the 1950s, infant mortality in Ireland (both North and South) was substantially higher than in other developed countries, with a large penalty for those born in urban areas. The subsequent reduction in this penalty, and the sustained decline in infant death rates, occurred later than would be expected from the experience in other contexts. Using records from the Rotunda Lying-in Hospital in Dublin, I discuss sources of disparities in stillbirth in the early 1900s. Despite impressive improvements in death rates since that time, a comparison with those born at the end of the century reveals that Irish children continue to be born unequal. Evidence from studies which track people across the life course, for example research on the returns to birthweight, suggests that the economic cost of this early life inequality is substantial.

Presence and possible cause of periodicities in 20th-century extreme coastal surge: Belfast Harbour, Northern Ireland.

Identifying 20th-century periodic coastal surge variation is strategic for the 21st-century coastal surge estimates, as surge periodicities may amplify/reduce future MSL enhanced surge forecasts. Extreme coastal surge data from Belfast Harbour (UK) tide gauges are available for 1901–2010 and provide the potential for decadal-plus periodic coastal surge analysis. Annual extreme surge-elevation distributions (sampled every 10-min) are analysed using PCA and cluster analysis to decompose variation within- and between-years to assess similarity of years in terms of Surge Climate Types, and to establish significance of any transitions in Type occurrence over time using non-parametric Markov analysis. Annual extreme surge variation is shown to be periodically organised across the 20th century. Extreme surge magnitude and distribution show a number of significant cyclonic induced multi-annual (2, 3, 5 & 6 years) cycles, as well as dominant multi-decadal (15–25 years) cycles of variation superimposed on an 80 year fluctuation in atmospheric–oceanic variation across the North Atlantic (relative to NAO/AMO interaction). The top 30 extreme surge events show some relationship with NAO per se, given that 80% are associated with westerly dominant atmospheric flows (+ NAO), but there are 20% of the events associated with blocking air massess (− NAO). Although 20% of the top 30 ranked positive surges occurred within the last twenty years, there is no unequivocal evidence of recent acceleration in extreme surge magnitude related to other than the scale of natural periodic variation.

From Kandinsky to Java (The Use of 20th Century Abstract Art in Learning Programming)

At the University of Worcester we are continually striving to find new approaches to the learning and teaching of programming, to improve the quality of learning and the student experience. Over the past three years we have used the contexts of robotics, computer games, and most recently a study of Abstract Art to this end. This paper discusses our motivation for using Abstract Art as a context, details our principles and methodology, and reports on an evaluation of the student experience. Our basic tenet is that one can view the works of artists such as Kandinsky, Klee and Malevich as Object-Oriented (OO) constructions. Discussion of these works can therefore be used to introduce OO principles, to explore the meaning of classes, methods and attributes and finally to synthesize new works of art through Java code. This research has been conducted during delivery of an “Advanced OOP (Java)” programming module at final-year Undergraduate level, and during a Masters’ OO-Programming (Java) module. This allows a comparative evaluation of novice and experienced programmers’ learning. In this paper, we identify several instructional factors which emerge from our approach, and reflect upon the associated pedagogy. A Catalogue of ArtApplets is provided at the associated web-site.

The Branches of Large Electricity Companies in Portugal: From Trade to the Transfer and Adaptation of Technology (20th Century)

In the last decade of the 19th and first decades of the 20th century there was a movement of capital and engineers from the central and northern Europe to the countries of southern Europe and other continents. Large companies sought to obtain concessions and establish branches in Portugal, favouring the circulation of technical knowledge and transfer of technology for Portuguese industry. Among the various examples of the representatives of foreign companies in Portugal we find Jayme da Costa Ltd. established in 1916 in Lisbon, which was a branch of the Swedish company ASEA, as well as STAAL, ATLAS DIESEL (Sweden), Landis & GYR (Switzerland), Electro Helios, etc.. Another example is EFACEC a company founded in 1948 in Porto, that was a partnership between the Portuguese company CUF – Companhia União Fabril, and ACEC – Ateliers de Constructions Électriques de Charleroi and a small entreprise Electro-Moderna Ldª. This enterprise started the industrial production of electric motors and transformers, and later on acquired a substantial share of the national production of electrical equipment. Using Estatística das Instalações Elétricas em Portugal (Statistics on Electrical Installations in Portugal) from 1928 until 1950 we can identify the foreign enterprises acting in the Portuguese market: Siemens, B.B.C, ASEA, Oerlikon, etc. We can also establish a relationship between the development of the electric network and the growth of production and consumption of electricity in the principal urban centres. Finally we see how foreign firms were a stimulus to the creation of national enterprises, especially those of small scale, in Portugal.

Tintín: El reporter del segle XX

Treball de recerca realitzat per un alumne d'ensenyament secundari i guardonat amb un Premi CIRIT per fomentar l'esperit científic del Jovent l'any 2009. L’objectiu d’aquest treball és veure de quina manera les historietes de Tintín reflecteixen l’època en què van ser elaborades i establir una relació entre la història i el còmic. La metodologia que s’ha emprat ha estat centrada principalment en dues tasques paral•leles i complementàries. D’una banda, l’estudi de la història del segle XX a partir de l’obra d’Eric Hobsbawm del mateix nom i d’altres fonts bibliogràfiques per tal d’adquirir una idea general sobre l’anterior segle. D’altra banda, l’anàlisi d’uns determinats aspectes dels còmics de Tintín. Aquests són: l’època en què va ser elaborat, una síntesi de l’argument, el recorregut geogràfic que fa Tintín, els conflictes i esdeveniments històrics - paral•lels a la realitat del moment- que hi apareixen, les problemàtiques contemporànies, i un comentari entorn de la documentació i les fonts d’inspiració usades per Hergé. Aquesta anàlisi es va dur a terme a partir d’una selecció de sis còmics del mateix període. En conclusió, veiem que realment existeix una relació entre els esdeveniments dels còmics i l’època en què van ser elaborats. Això ens permet també apropar-nos-hi i conèixer l’autor, Hergé, de qui podem dir que es basa en la realitat que l’envolta i en els esdeveniments del seu moment per elaborar els còmics.

Fifteen years of molecular lymphangiogenesis - an interview with Kari Alitalo by Tatiana Petrova.

Kari Alitalo is one of the leaders in the field of lymphangiogenesis. Research from his laboratory has contributed to the transformation of a largely descriptive field into a dynamic discipline, which now holds promise for the treatment of cancer, inflammation and vascular dysfunction. The interview intends to provide historical insights into these changes and hopefully inspiration to the young generation of vascular biologists.

Maladie de Behçet: d'Hippocrate aux antagonistes du TNF-alpha

Behçet's disease is a systemic vasculitis affecting small and large vessels (arteries, veins, veinules), characterized by recurrent oral ulcerations, genital ulcerations, inflammation of the eye and skin lesions. It can also involve articulations, central nervous system and gastro-intestinal tract. The etiology of this disease is still unknown, but the most largely discussed hypothesis is that of an important inflammatory response triggered by an infectious agent in a genetically susceptible host. The diagnostic is a based on clinical elements, because no specific diagnostic test exists. The treatment of Behçet's disease is depending on the clinical involvement and has been enlarged in recent years by TNF-alpha-blockers which constitute undoubtedly an important progress in the management of this complex disease.

'Hearts and bones': the ups and downs of 'plasticity' in stem cell biology.

More than a decade ago, 'plasticity' suddenly became a 'fashionable' topic with overemphasized implications for regenerative medicine. The concept of 'plasticity' is supported by old transplantation work, at least for embryonic cells, and metaplasia is a classic example of plasticity observed in patients. Nevertheless, the publication of a series of papers showing rare conversion of a given cell type into another unrelated cell raised the possibility of using any unaffected tissue to create at will new cells to replace a different failing tissue or organ. This resulted in disingenuous interpretations and a reason not to fund anymore research on embryonic stem cells (ESc). Moreover, many papers on plasticity were difficult to reproduce and thus questioned; raising issues about plasticity as a technical artefact or a consequence of rare spontaneous cells fusion. More recently, reprogramming adult differentiated cells to a pluripotent state (iPS) became possible, and later, one type of differentiated cell could be directly reprogrammed into another (e.g. fibroblasts into neurons) without reverting to pluripotency. Although the latter results from different and more robust experimental protocols, these phenomena also exemplify 'plasticity'. In this review, we want to place 'plasticity' in a historical perspective still taking into account ethical and political implications.

Desolació i pèrdua d'identitat : anàlisi de Pluja Negra i Flors d'Estiu

La bomba atòmica "representa la perfección del hombre por su parte 'malvada'. Ya no podemos ser más malvados, inteligentes y defensivos" (Sloterdijk, P.; 2003. p. 218 ). Aquesta és la reflexió de Peter Sloterdijk sobre la humanitat que ha provocat aquesta barbàrie, sent conscient que aquesta no pot ser més maligna ni provocar més dolor, després de destruir conscientment una ciutat sencera junt amb els seus habitants innocents. Però com es van sentir els hibakusha, supervivents de l'atac nuclear, i a què van quedar reduïts els ciutadans d'Hiroshima i de Nagasaki, havent patit aquesta maldat en la pròpia pell? Després d'aquesta tragèdia, molts d'aquells que van sobreviure van decidir explicar la seva experiència, donant lloc al conegut com genbaku bungaku o literatura de les bombes atòmiques. En aquest estudi hem escollit dues de les obres més importants del gènere per tal d'analitzar com aquesta vivència va afectar a les seves víctimes. En primer lloc, hem analitzat Flors d'Estiu, de Tamiki Hara, primer relat en ser publicat que, en poc més de vint pàgines, descriu l'infern viscut pel propi autor i com aquesta visió de l'apocalipsi i el sofriment absolut el va marca per sempre més. En segon lloc, hem analitzat Pluja Negra, escrita per Mabusi Ibuse, autor que, tot i no haver sigut testimoni directe de la tragèdia, va aconseguir copsar el sentiment dels hibakusha, escribint una de les millors novel·les del gènere. Per tal d'estudiar les obres hem seguit un camí del general al particular. Analitzant el context històric, ens hem pogut fer una idea de què va significar la postguerra, des de la política sota la guia nord-americana a la reconstrucció econòmica i també una societat que, perdent-ho gairebé tot, va haver de tornar a començar. Després, hem volgut endinsar-nos en la literatura del període, analitzant, junt amb el propi genbaku bungaku, dos dels gèneres més importants, el burai ha o escola decadent, i el nikutai bunaku o literatura de la carn. Finalment, hem analitzat les pròpies obres, veient com els textos es veuen impregnats de tristesa i confusió. Després de veure com tota la seva vida s'esmicolava en qüestió de segons, els protagonistes d'aquests dos textos queden totalment desolats, veient com ho han perdut tot, des de la seva identitat fins la seva esperança en la pròpia humanitat.

Una proposta d'itinerari cultural a l'entorn de l'art

Reflexió sobre les possibilitats que tenen els espais d’art contemporani de les comarques gironines de constituir-se en punts de referència importants com a dinamitzadors de turisme cultural