Famine and land in Ireland and India 1845-1880: James Caird and the political economy of hunger

The perception of Ireland and India as ‘zones of famine’ led many nineteenth-century observers to draw analogies between these two troublesome parts of the British empire. This article investigates this parallel through the career of James Caird (1816–92), and specifically his interventions in the latter stages of both the Great Irish Famine of 1845–50, and the Indian famines of 1876–9. Caird is best remembered as the joint author of the controversial dissenting minute in the Indian famine commission report of 1880; this article locates the roots of his stance in his previous engagements with Irish policy. Caird's interventions are used to track the trajectory of an evolving ‘Peelite’ position on famine relief, agricultural reconstruction, and land reform between the 1840s and 1880s. Despite some divergences, strong continuities exist between the two interventions – not least concern for the promotion of agricultural entrepreneurship, for actively assisting economic development in ‘backward’ economies, and an acknowledgement of state responsibility for preserving life as an end in itself. Above all in both cases it involved a critique of a laissez-faire dogmatism – whether manifest in the ‘Trevelyanism’ of 1846–50 or the Lytton–Temple system of 1876–9.

¿Barreras invisibles? Actitudes de los estudiantes universitarios ante sus compañeros con discapacidad

El presente trabajo analiza los conocimientos, opiniones y actitudes de los estudiantes universitarios sobre sus compañeros con discapacidad. La integración educativa y social de estos estudiantes es objeto de preocupación y estudio en todo el sistema educativo español, incluida la enseñanza superior en la que 21.942 universitarios con discapacidad se encontraban matriculados en el curso 2013-2014. El estudio se realiza en el marco de dos Proyectos de Innovación Educativa[1] de la Universidad de Málaga en los que se examinaron las actitudes del personal docente e investigador, el alumnado en general y el alumnado con discapacidad de esta institución. En este artículo se recogen las perspectivas de los estudiantes sin discapacidad, necesarias para medir el grado de aceptación dentro de las aulas universitarias. Se empleó una encuesta suministrada mediante correo electrónico a la totalidad de la población de estudiantes de la Universidad de Málaga (N= 32.464). El tamaño de la muestra fue de 620 estudiantes, por lo que trabajamos con un margen de error del 3,9% para la estimación de los porcentajes con un nivel de confianza del 95%. Los datos, analizados mediante análisis estadístico, visibilizan la importancia de un elevado grado de información y conocimiento así como de una experiencia directa con la discapacidad. Ambas circunstancias se traducen en actitudes más positivas y favorables. Tan solo el 20% de los alumnos manifestó haber recibido en alguna ocasión cualquier tipo de información sobre este asunto por parte de la Universidad; no obstante, la mayoría valora positivamente la presencia de alumnos con discapacidad en la Universidad, la posibilidad de contar ellos como compañeros de clase y el enriquecimiento que supone esta convivencia dentro del aula. Se discuten posibles acciones para mejorar las actitudes hacia los estudiantes con discapacidad. Además, se plantea incluir una perspectiva que promueva el empoderamiento de estos estudiantes. [1] PIE 10-135 y PIE 13-103.

Sedentary aging increases resting and exercise-induced intramuscular free radical formation

Mitochondrial free radical formation has been implicated as a potential mechanism underlying degenerative senescence, although human data are lacking. Therefore, the present study was designed to examine if resting and exercise-induced intramuscular free radical-mediated lipid peroxidation is indeed increased across the spectrum of sedentary aging. Biopsies were obtained from the vastus lateralis in six young (26 ± 6 yr) and six aged (71 ± 6 yr) sedentary males at rest and after maximal knee extensor exercise. Aged tissue exhibited greater (P < 0.05 vs. the young group) electron paramagnetic resonance signal intensity of the mitochondrial ubisemiquinone radical both at rest (+138 ± 62%) and during exercise (+143 ± 40%), and this was further complemented by a greater increase in a-phenyl-tert-butylnitrone adducts identified as a combination of lipid-derived alkoxyl-alkyl radicals (+295 ± 96% and +298 ± 120%). Lipid hydroperoxides were also elevated at rest (0.190 ± 0.169 vs. 0.148 ± 0.071 nmol/mg total protein) and during exercise (0.567 ± 0.259 vs. 0.320 ± 0.263 nmol/mg total protein) despite a more marked depletion of ascorbate and uptake of a/ß-carotene, retinol, and lycopene (P < 0.05 vs. the young group). The impact of senescence was especially apparent when oxidative stress biomarkers were expressed relative to the age-related decline in mitochondrial volume density and absolute power output at maximal exercise. In conclusion, these findings confirm that intramuscular free radical-mediated lipid peroxidation is elevated at rest and during acute exercise in aged humans.

James Anderson's Political Economy--His Influence on Smith and Malthus

James Anderson's powerful critique of Adam Smith's position on the corn export bounty was published in 1777. It focuse d on Smith's proposition that the bounty could not lead to increased corn production because it could not increase corn's real price. Smit h's response to the critique is traced in later editions of Wealth of Nations. While Anderson's critique of Smith influenced Thomas Malthu s's writings from 1803 onwards, his theory of differential rent did n ot influence Malthus at this stage. An examination of the evolution o f Malthus's ideas on rent between 1803 and 1815, however, indicates t hat Malthus knew and used Anderson's work on rent.

James Croll, metaphysical geologist

James Croll (1821–90) occupies a prominent position in the history of physical geology, and his pioneering work on the causes of long-term climate change has been widely discussed. During his life he benefited from the patronage of leading men of science; his participation in scientific debates was widely acknowledged, not least through his election as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1876. For all that, the intellectual contribution that Croll himself considered to be of most significance—his articles and two books on metaphysics—has attracted very little attention. In addressing this neglect, it is argued here that Croll's interest in metaphysics, grounded in his commitment to a Calvinist form of Christianity, was central to his life and thought. Examining together Croll's geophysical and metaphysical writings offers a different and fruitful way of understanding his scientific career and points to the wider significance of metaphysics in late-Victorian scientific culture.