Romanticism and Blackwood's Magazine:'An Unprecedented Phenomenon'

Romanticism and Blackwood's Magazine is inspired by the ongoing critical fascination with Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, and the burgeoning recognition of its centrality to the Romantic age. Though the magazine itself was published continuously for well over a century and a half, this volume concentrates specifically on those years when William Blackwood was at the helm, beginning with his founding of the magazine in 1817 and closing with his death in 1834. These were the years when, as Samuel Taylor Coleridge put it in 1832, Blackwood's reigned as 'an unprecedented Phenomenon in the world of letters.' The magazine placed itself at the centre of the emerging mass media, commented decisively on all the major political and cultural issues that shaped the Romantic movement, and published some of the leading writers of the day, including Coleridge, Thomas De Quincey, John Galt, Felicia Hemans, James Hogg, Walter Scott, and Mary Shelley.

'This much-needed volume reminds us not only why Blackwood's was the most influential periodical publication of the time, but also how its writers, writings, and critical agendas continue to shape so many of the scholarly concerns of Romantic studies in the twenty-first century.' - Charles Mahoney, Associate Professor, University of Connecticut, USA

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Notes on Contributors
'A character so various, and yet so indisputably its own': A Passage to Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine; R.Morrison & D.S.Roberts
PART I: BLACKWOOD'S AND THE PERIODICAL PRESS
Beginning Blackwood's: The Right Mix of Dulce and Ùtile; P.Flynn
John Gibson Lockhart and Blackwood's: Shaping the Romantic Periodical Press; T.Richardson
From Gluttony to Justified Sinning: Confessional Writing in Blackwood's and the London Magazine; D.Higgins
Camaraderie and Conflict: De Quincey and Wilson on Enemy Lines; R.Morrison
Selling Blackwood's Magazine, 1817-1834; D.Finkelstein
PART II: BLACKWOOD'S CULTURE AND CRITICISM
Blackwood's 'Personalities'; T.Mole
Communal Reception, Mary Shelley, and the 'Blackwood's School' of Criticism; N.Mason
Blackwoodian Allusion and the Culture of Miscellaneity; D.Stewart
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine in the Scientific Culture of Early Nineteenth-Century Edinburgh; W.Christie
The Art and Science of Politics in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, c. 1817-1841; D.Kelly
Prosing Poetry: Blackwood's and Generic Transposition, 1820-1840; J.Camlot
PART III: BLACKWOOD'S FICTIONS
Blackwood's and the Boundaries of the Short Story; T.Killick
The Edinburgh of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine and James Hogg's Fiction; G.Hughes
'The Taste for Violence in Blackwood's Magazine'; M.Schoenfield
PART IV: BLACKWOOD'S AT HOME
John Wilson and Regency Authorship; R.Cronin
John Wilson and Sport; J.Strachan
William Maginn and the Blackwood's 'Preface' of 1826; D.E.Latané, Jr.
All Work and All Play: Felicia Hemans's Edinburgh Noctes; N.Sweet
PART V: BLACKWOOD'S ABROAD
Imagining India in Early Blackwood's; D.S.Roberts
Tales of the Colonies: Blackwood's, Provincialism, and British Interests Abroad; A.Jarrells
Selected Bibliography
Index

ROBERT MORRISON is Queen's National Scholar at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada. His book, The English Opium-Eater: A Biography of Thomas De Quincey was a finalist for the James Tait Black Prize. He has edited writings by Jane Austen, Leigh Hunt, Thomas De Quincey, and John Polidori.
DANIEL SANJIV ROBERTS is Reader in English at Queen's University Belfast, UK. His publications include a monograph, Revisionary Gleam: De Quincey, Coleridge, and the High Romantic Argument (2000), and major critical editions of Thomas De Quincey's Autobiographic Sketches and Robert Southey's The Curse of Kehama; the latter was cited as a Distinguished Scholarly Edition by the MLA. He is currently working on an edition of Charles Johnstone's novel The History of Arsaces, Prince of Betlis for the Early Irish Fiction series.

Seven new loci associated with age-related macular degeneration

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a common cause of blindness in older individuals. To accelerate the understanding of AMD biology and help design new therapies, we executed a collaborative genome-wide association study, including >17,100 advanced AMD cases and >60,000 controls of European and Asian ancestry. We identified 19 loci associated at P <5 × 10(-8). These loci show enrichment for genes involved in the regulation of complement activity, lipid metabolism, extracellular matrix remodeling and angiogenesis. Our results include seven loci with associations reaching P <5 × 10(-8) for the first time, near the genes COL8A1-FILIP1L, IER3-DDR1, SLC16A8, TGFBR1, RAD51B, ADAMTS9 and B3GALTL. A genetic risk score combining SNP genotypes from all loci showed similar ability to distinguish cases and controls in all samples examined. Our findings provide new directions for biological, genetic and therapeutic studies of AMD.

Examination of the physical and psychosocial determinants of health behaviour in 4-5-year-old children with congenital cardiac disease

To assess the general health and activity levels of 4- and 5-year-old children after intervention for congenital cardiac disease.

Postoperative pulmonary calcification in a child with truncus arteriosus

Pulmonary calcification is uncommon in children. It is rarely described following cardiac surgery. Here, the authors describe the case of an infant who developed extensive pulmonary calcification following the repair of truncus arteriosus.

Discovery of a Potent Boronic Acid Derived Inhibitor of the HCV RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase

A boronic acid moiety was found to be a critical pharmacophore for enhanced in vitro potency against wild type hepatitis C replicons and known clinical polymorphic and resistant HCV mutant replicons. The synthesis, optimization, and structure-activity relationships associated with inhibition of HCV replication in a sub-genomic replication system for a series of non-nucleoside boron-containing HCV RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase (NS5B) inhibitors are described. A summary of the discovery of GSK5852 (3), a molecule which entered clinical trials in subjects infected with HCV in 2011, is included.

Exercise training improves activity in adolescents with congenital heart disease

To ascertain if motivational techniques and a structured exercise programme can increase activity in adolescents afflicted with congenital heart disease (CHD).

Clinical and technical factors associated with skin intrinsic fluorescence in subjects with type 1 diabetes from the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial/Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications Study

The Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT)/Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications(EDIC) studies have established multiyear mean hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) as predictive of microvascular complications in persons with type 1 diabetes. However, multiyear mean HbA1c is not always available in the clinical setting. Skin advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are thought to partially reflect effects of hyperglycemia over time, and measurement of skin AGEs might be a surrogate for multiyear mean HbA1c. As certain AGEs fluoresce and skin fluorescence has been demonstrated to correlate with the concentration of skin AGEs, noninvasive measurement by skin intrinsic fluorescence(SIF) facilitates the exploration of the association of mean HbA1c and other clinical/technical factors with SIF using the detailed phenotypic database available in DCCT/EDIC.

The Association of Skin-Intrinsic Fluorescence With Type 1 Diabetes Complications in the DCCT/EDIC Study

OBJECTIVESTo determine whether skin-intrinsic fluorescence (SIF) is associated with long-term complications of type 1 diabetes (T1D) and, if so, whether it is independent of chronic glycemic exposure and previous intensive therapy.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSWe studied 1,185 (92%) of 1,289 active Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT)/Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications (EDIC) participants from 2010 to 2011. SIF was determined using a fluorescence spectrometer and related cross-sectionally to recently determined measures of retinopathy (stereo fundus photography), cardiac autonomic neuropathy (CAN; R-R interval), confirmed clinical neuropathy, nephropathy (albumin excretion rate [AER]), and coronary artery calcification (CAC).RESULTSOverall, moderately strong associations were seen with all complications, before adjustment for mean HbA1c over time, which rendered these associations nonsignificant with the exception of sustained AER >30 mg/24 h and CAC, which were largely unaffected by adjustment. However, when examined within the former DCCT treatment group, associations were generally weaker in the intensive group and nonsignificant after adjustment, while in the conventional group, associations remained significant for CAN, sustained AER >30 mg/24 h, and CAC even after mean HbA1c adjustment.CONCLUSIONSSIF is associated with T1D complications in DCCT\EDIC. Much of this association appears to be related to historical glycemic exposure, particularly in the previously intensively treated participants, in whom adjustment for HbA1c eliminates statistical significance.

USING ‘NUTRITIONAL NARRATIVE’ AND FOCUS GROUPS TO UNDERSTAND HOW NUTRITIONAL CARE CAN BETTER PRIORITISED FOR OLDER PEOPLE IN HOSPITAL SETTINGS

Introduction: Poor nutritional status among older people is well documented with 40% of older people reported as malnourished on hospital admission. Poor nutrition contributes to increased infection, poorer patient outcomes and death and longer hospital stays. In this study, we assessed the ‘nutrition narrative’ from older hospital patients together with nutrition knowledge among nursing and medical staff and students.
Methods: The study used a convenience sample of older people (30, mean age 82 years) in two large geographically separate city hospitals. Patients mentally alert and consenting, gave a recorded ‘nutrition narrative’ to get a sense of how they felt their nutritional needs were being met in hospital. Main themes were identified by grounded analysis framework. Focus groups were recruited from medical/nursing teachers and students to assess their working knowledge of nutrition and the nutritional needs of the older patient group.
Results: Analysis of the ‘nutrition narrative’ suggested several themes (i) staff should listen to patients' needs/wishes in discussion with themselves and family members (ii) staff should continue to encourage and progress a positive eating experience (iii) staff should monitor food eaten/or not eaten and increase regular monitoring of weight. The focus groups with medical and nursing students suggested a limited knowledge about nutritional care of older people and little understanding about roles or cross-talk about nutrition across the multidisciplinary groups.
Conclusions: The ‘nutrition narrative’ themes suggested that the nutritional experience of older people in hospital can and must be improved. Nursing and medical staff providing medical and nursing care need better basic knowledge of nutrition and nutritional assessment, an improved understanding of the roles of the various multidisciplinary staff and of hospital catering pathways. Care professionals need to prioritise patient nutrition much more highly and recognise nutritional care as integral to patient healing and recovery

The Role of Growth Trajectories in Classifying Fetal Growth Restriction

OBJECTIVE: To examine the validity of a growth trajectory method to discriminate between pathologically and constitutionally undergrown fetuses using repeated measures of estimated fetal weight.

METHODS: In a prospective, observational, multicenter study in Ireland, 1,116 women with a growth-restricted fetus diagnosed participated with the objective of evaluating ultrasound findings as predictors of pediatric morbidity and mortality. Fetal growth trajectories were based on estimated fetal weight.

RESULTS: Between 22 weeks of gestation and term, two fetal growth trajectories were identified: normal (96.7%) and pathologic (3.3%). Compared with the normal trajectory, the pathologic trajectory was associated with an increased risk for preeclampsia (odds ratio [OR] 8.1, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.6–23.4), increased umbilical artery resistance at 30 weeks of gestation (OR 12.6, 95% CI 4.6–34.1) or 34 weeks of gestation (OR 28.0, 95% CI 8.9–87.7), reduced middle cerebral artery resistance at 30 weeks of gestation (OR 0.33, 95% CI 0.12–0.96) or 34 weeks of gestation (OR 0.14, 95% CI 0.03–0.74), lower gestational age at delivery (mean 32.02 weeks of gestation compared with 38.02 weeks of gestation; P<.001), and higher perinatal complications (OR 21.5, 95% CI 10.5–44.2). In addition, 89.2% of newborns with pathologic fetal growth were admitted to neonatal intensive care units compared with 25.9% of those with normal growth.

CONCLUSIONS: Fetal growth trajectory analysis reliably differentiated fetuses with a pathologic growth pattern among a group of women with growth-restricted fetuses. With further development, this approach could provide clarity to how we define, identify, and ultimately manage pathologic fetal growth.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II