Oxford Research Articles

Closing the Circle: Nicholas Owen and Walter Owen of Oxford

In her essay Blessed Nicholas Owen: Jesuit Brother and maker of hiding holes—a summary of the material on the soon-to-be saint held in the possession of the office of the Vice-Postulation, Farm Street— Margaret Waugh first identified Walter Owen, an Oxford carpenter, as the father of Nicholas Owen. Michael Hodgetts, in his article The Owens of Oxford published in this journal in October 1999, laid out all the known facts about Walter Owen and his family but stressed there was no conclusive evidence to support this identification. Although Nicholas Owen’s relationship to the printer Henry Owen, a former apprentice of Joseph Barnes (founder of Oxford University Press), suggested some connection between Nicholas and the city of Oxford— the information that Henry Owen was ‘brother to that Oven [sic] who ripped out his own bowels in the Tower, being imprisoned for the Gunpowder Treason’ comes on the authority of both the government informer William Udall, and John Gee, writing in 1624—there was still nothing concrete to link Nicholas to Walter Owen.

Book Review: Hidden Gospels

Book Review: Hidden Gospels

Colonization, globalization and the plight of ‘weak’ languages

Daniel Nettle & Suzanne Romaine, Vanishing voices: the extinction of the world's languages. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. Pp. x+241.

The Oxford guide to ideas & issues of the Bible

The Oxford guide to ideas & issues of the Bible

Delayed discharges from Oxford city hospitals: who and why?

To determine the extent and characteristics of discharge delays of younger patients from acute hospital beds in Oxford, England. Three-month prospective analysis of patients deemed to have delayed discharge. The primary measure was the number of days from the patient being no longer in need of acute medical inpatient care to eventual discharge. Additional assessments included demographic data, primary diagnosis, Motricity Index, Short Orientation-Memory-Concentration Test (SOMC), Barthel Index and contextual data. The major acute hospitals serving the county of Oxfordshire (560,000 people). Fifty patients aged 18-70 years identified by referrals, delayed discharge lists and ward visits whose discharge from hospital had been delayed. The mean (standard deviation, SD) delay period was 36.1 (26.8) days. The mean prevalence and incidence of discharge delays for each three-day period was 19.7 (SD 1.7) and one (SD 1.7) respectively. Most (88%, n = 44) had a primary neurological diagnosis. Twenty-four (48%) patients had Motricity Index scores of less than 50% in one or more limbs and 16 (32%) in two or more limbs. Twenty-six (52%) patients had cognitive impairment (SOMC <18/28). Thirty-nine (78%) patients had a Barthel Index score of less than 15/20 and 24 (48%) of less than 10/20. The period of discharge delay did not correlate with SOMC, Motricity or Barthel Index scores. Only nine had appropriate accommodation available. Patients whose discharge is delayed were common; most had a neurological disability and cognitive impairment; and accommodation was unsuitable or absent for most. Reorganizing services to give patients access to specialized disability services might both improve the care of these patients and increase the efficiency of the health service.

Reviews: The Unknown City: Contesting Architecture and Social Space, the Oxford Handbook of International Business

Reviews: The Unknown City: Contesting Architecture and Social Space, the Oxford Handbook of International Business

Engineering Rock Mechanics: Part 2. Illustrative Worked Examples

3R26. Engineering Rock Mechanics: Part 2. Illustrative Worked Examples. - JP Harrison and JA Hudson (Huxley Sch of Env, Earth Sci, and Eng, Imperial Col of Sci, Tech, and Med, Univ of London, London, UK). Pergamon, Oxford UK. 2000. 506 pp. ISBN 0-08-043010-4. $128.50. Reviewed by ME Popescu (Dept of Civil and Architec Eng, Illinois Inst of Tech, 3201 S Dearborn St, Chicago IL 60616).This book reviewed here is a companion book to Engineering Rock Mechanics: An Introduction to the Principles by Hudson and Harrison (see previous Review, 3R25). This companion book contains worked examples of engineering rock mechanics in action as the subject applies to civil, mining, petroleum, and environmental engineering. This book can be used as a stand-alone textbook or as a complement to the introductory book. The book covers the necessary understanding and the key techniques supporting the rock engineering design of structural foundations, dams, rock slopes, tunnels, caverns, hydroelectric schemes, and mines. The authors adopted a question-and-worked-answer presentation—the question and answer sets have been collated into 20 chapters which match the subject matter of Engineering Rock Mechanics: An Introduction to the Principles: Chapters 1–13 on rock mechanics principles and Chapters 14–20 on applications in rock engineering. Part A entitled “Illustrative worked examples–Questions and answers” can be read as a narrative consisting of sequences of text, questions, and answers, while in Part B entitled “Questions only” the same questions can be tackled without the answers being visible.Each chapter of Part A has the same format: Section 1–Introductory aide-memoire to the chapter subject; Section 2–Questions with worked answers that illustrate the principles of the rock mechanics subject and the associated rock engineering design issues; and Section 3–Additional points, often reinforcing the most important aspect of the subject. Part B includes question sets that give examples of the procedures often encountered in practice. It emphasizes that a good designer needs not only knowledge for designing (technical knowledge), but also must have knowledge about designing (an appropriate process to follow). There are three appendices. Appendix A contains a 3D stress cube cut-out which can be copied and made into a model as an aide-memoire. Appendix B contains a hemispherical projection sheet which can be also copied and used. Appendix C contains RMR and Q rock mass classification tables. Exhaustive references, lists of units and symbols, and a subject index add very much to the value of the book. Engineering Rock Mechanics: An Introduction to the Principles and its companion volume, Engineering Rock Mechanics. Part 2. Illustrative Worked Examples, deftly and elegantly bring together timely and in-depth information on one of the most active fields of applied mechanics. The books are written by authors with long standing teaching, research, and consulting experience in rock mechanics engineering. These books are clearly written and the text, figures, and tables are produced to a high quality. These two books represent a significant contribution to the challenging field of rock mechanics and should be recommended as a reference for university libraries serving civil engineering, mining engineering, and geological engineering programs, as well as for research corporations, and engineering consulting firms.

A Companion to the Philosophers

A Companion to the Philosophers

Ted Tapper and David Palfreyman. Oxford and the Decline of the Collegiate Tradition. London: Woburn Press, 2000. 224 pp. Cloth $57.50, Paper $27.50.

Ted Tapper and David Palfreyman. Oxford and the Decline of the Collegiate Tradition. London: Woburn Press, 2000. 224 pp. Cloth $57.50, Paper $27.50.

Population and Economy : From Hunger to Modern Economic Growth, Edited by T. Bengtsson and O. Saito, Oxford University Press, 2000, ix+499p

Population and Economy : From Hunger to Modern Economic Growth, Edited by T. Bengtsson and O. Saito, Oxford University Press, 2000, ix+499p

Psychotherapy for Children and Adolescents: Directions for Research and Practice. Edited by A. E. Kazdin. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2000. pp. 304. £27·50 (hb).

Psychotherapy for Children and Adolescents: Directions for Research and Practice. Edited by A. E. Kazdin. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2000. pp. 304. £27·50 (hb).

Dale Jamieson (ed.), Singer and his Critics, Oxford, Blackwell, 1999, pp. v + 368.

Dale Jamieson (ed.), Singer and his Critics, Oxford, Blackwell, 1999, pp. v + 368.

Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy Abuse: A Practical Approach. Edited by M. Eminson and R. J. Postlethwaite. Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, 1999. pp. 321. £27.50 (pb).

Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy Abuse: A Practical Approach. Edited by M. Eminson and R. J. Postlethwaite. Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, 1999. pp. 321. £27.50 (pb).

‘So where's the full text?’ Electronic journal acquisition and use in the University of Oxford

L'introduction de journaux electroniques a l'Universite d'Oxford s'est heurtee des le debut au probleme d'accorder les demandes des utilisateurs avec les realites financieres. Les implications des acquisitions de titres electroniques sont considerables : l'etendue de l'Universite, le nombre de bibliotheques, la question du depot legal et les negociations de licences ont ete sources de complications. Une interface a ete mise en place des le debut pour permettre aux utilisateurs d'acceder aux titres disponibles electroniquement.

Oxford ballot called off

Oxford ballot called off

Derrida: Deconstruction from Phenomenology to Ethics. By Christina Howells. Oxford, Polity, 1998. 175 pp. Hb 45.00. Pb 12.95.

Derrida: Deconstruction from Phenomenology to Ethics. By Christina Howells. Oxford, Polity, 1998. 175 pp. Hb 45.00. Pb 12.95.

The Armenians, by A. Elizabeth Redgate

<i>The Armenians</i>, by A. Elizabeth Redgate

Concurrent Programming:The Java Programming Language

Stephen J. Hartley Oxford University Press, New York, 1998, 260 pp. ISBN 0-19-511315-2, $45.00 Concurrent Programming is a thorough treatment of Java multi-threaded programming for both a stand-alone and distributed environment. Designed mostly for students in concurrent or parallel programming classes, the text is also an excellent reference for the practicing professional developing multi-threaded programs or applets. Hartley first provides a complete explanation of the features of Java necessary to write concurrent programs, including topics such as exception handling, interfaces, and packages. He then gives the reader a solid background to write multi-threaded programs and also presents the problems introduced when writing concurrent programs—namely race conditions, mutual exclusion, and deadlock. Hartley also provides several software solutions that do not require the use of common process and thread mechanisms. Once the groundwork is laid for writing concurrent programs, Hartley then takes a different approach than most Java references. Rather than presenting how Java handles mutual exclusion with the synchronized keyword (although it is covered later), he first looks at semaphore-based solutions to classic concurrent problems such as bounded-buffer, readers-writers, and the dining philosophers. Hartley also uses the same approach to develop Java classes for monitors and message passing. This unique approach to introducing concurrency allows the readers to both understand how Java threads are synchronized and how the basic synchronization mechanism can be used to construct more abstract tools such as semaphores. If there is a shortcoming with the text it is with the lack of sufficient coverage of remote method invocation (RMI), although there is a section covering RMI. This is quite understandable as RMI is a fairly recent phenomenon with the Java community. Also, the classes that Hartley provides could easily implement RMI rather than sockets to handle communication. The strengths of the book include its ease in reading, several examples at the end of chapters, a package similar to Xtango that provides algorithm animation, and a supportive web site by the author (see www.mcs.drexel.edu/~shartley/ConcProgJava/index.html ) including compressed source code. As Java becomes more dominant on the server side of multi-tier applications, writing thread-safe concurrent applications becomes even more important. Concurrent Programming is a strong step towards teaching students and professionals such skills. Greg Gagne, Westminster College of Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, Utah

Distributed Computing: Fundamentals, Simulations and Advanced Topics

Stephen J. Hartley Oxford University Press, New York, 1998, 260 pp. ISBN 0-19-511315-2, $45.00 Concurrent Programming is a thorough treatment of Java multi-threaded programming for both a stand-alone and distributed environment. Designed mostly for students in concurrent or parallel programming classes, the text is also an excellent reference for the practicing professional developing multi-threaded programs or applets. Hartley first provides a complete explanation of the features of Java necessary to write concurrent programs, including topics such as exception handling, interfaces, and packages. He then gives the reader a solid background to write multi-threaded programs and also presents the problems introduced when writing concurrent programs—namely race conditions, mutual exclusion, and deadlock. Hartley also provides several software solutions that do not require the use of common process and thread mechanisms. Once the groundwork is laid for writing concurrent programs, Hartley then takes a different approach than most Java references. Rather than presenting how Java handles mutual exclusion with the synchronized keyword (although it is covered later), he first looks at semaphore-based solutions to classic concurrent problems such as bounded-buffer, readers-writers, and the dining philosophers. Hartley also uses the same approach to develop Java classes for monitors and message passing. This unique approach to introducing concurrency allows the readers to both understand how Java threads are synchronized and how the basic synchronization mechanism can be used to construct more abstract tools such as semaphores. If there is a shortcoming with the text it is with the lack of sufficient coverage of remote method invocation (RMI), although there is a section covering RMI. This is quite understandable as RMI is a fairly recent phenomenon with the Java community. Also, the classes that Hartley provides could easily implement RMI rather than sockets to handle communication. The strengths of the book include its ease in reading, several examples at the end of chapters, a package similar to Xtango that provides algorithm animation, and a supportive web site by the author (see www.mcs.drexel.edu/~shartley/ConcProgJava/index.html ) including compressed source code. As Java becomes more dominant on the server side of multi-tier applications, writing thread-safe concurrent applications becomes even more important. Concurrent Programming is a strong step towards teaching students and professionals such skills. Greg Gagne, Westminster College of Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, Utah

Jeff Manza and Clem Brooks, Social Cleavages and Political Change. Voter Alignments and U.S. Part\ Coalitions, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999, 342 + xi s.. £35.00.

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