University of Kent Open Access Journals
Not a member yet
879 research outputs found
Sort by
Overuse Syndrome in Persons with Peromelia: A Scoping Review
Full text linkBackground: For persons with peromelia, also called congenital transverse deficiency of the upper limb, overuse syndromes (OS) especially in the shoulder, back and residual limb are a common yet debilitating problem that greatly affects quality of life and activities of daily living (ADL). Common types of OS are carpal tunnel syndrome, medial and lateral epicondylitis and rotator cuff injury. This condition is more widely recognised amongst elite athletes and within the sports medicine field. There is a scarcity of literature surrounding OS in relation to upper limb amputees, therefore this scoping review set out to explore the prevalence and severity of OS, risk factors and preventative measures for persons with peromelia. A secondary aim was to identify areas requiring further research.
Methods: This was a scoping review using the PRISMA extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines. This scoping review followed a systematic approach to map evidence on overuse syndromes in persons with peromelia to identify main concepts such as risk factors, preventative interventions and knowledge gaps. Sources were thematically analysed.
Results: The review yielded 10 peer reviewed publications and 10 sources of grey literature. Thematic analysis identified 3 major themes with 10 subtheme categories. These were: 1. Clinical presentation including the severity, variation and burden of overuse syndrome; 2. Risk factors for overuse include repetition and resistance, compensatory movements and prior pathology; and 3. Interventions to prevent overuse syndrome include reduction in mechanical stressors, routine assessment, posture correction and prosthesis use.
Conclusions: Around half of individuals with congenital or acquired upper limb loss are likely to experience some form of overuse syndrome. The condition's severity varies and can severely impact the ability to perform ADL. The results also show there is a higher chance of OS in individuals with a more proximal deformity. OS is more commonly seen in the shoulder and back, with lower incidence in the neck and hand. The most significant risk factors identified for OS are repetitive or resistive activities and compensatory movements. Systemic illness, age and BMI are more minor risk factors. Physiotherapists and Occupational Therapists were highlighted as having a significant role in education, assessment, exercise, and prosthetic training. The evidence suggests the use of prostheses can offer a protective benefit against overuse syndrome, though this assertion warrants further, detailed investigation due to inconclusive findings
Sound and Form: Listening to Affective Forms in the Soundscapes of Tanya Tagaq’s Split Tooth
Full text linkIn the past 20 years, formal study of the novel has been re-emerging as a method for understanding not only what a text says, and in what context it is said, but also how it says it. Meanwhile, sound studies in only now beginning to reassess its technological and cultural biases for "authentic" and recorded sound. Instead, we have an opportunity to bring text and sound together as commensurate ways of knowing that challenge how we think and live in the world. In this article, I read Tanya Tagaq's Split Tooth for its investment in the soundscapes of Nanuvut in northern Canada. Tagaq, as a throat singer, songwriter, and writer, writes with sound. Her multiform "novel" is model for listening-in-relation to the traces of sound that we cannot hear because of our own biases. Approaching reading as a form of listening, I argue that the unrepresented soundscape of Tagaq’s narrative refigures sound as affective form. By reading form – the modes by which a text represents the world and the human/nonhuman relations within it – not for what it can represent but for the ways in which it reveals the traces of what cannot be represented by human language, I view genre as an invitation to work through the layers of experience that are not readily available, the ways in which relationships that are not visible in the text are structured. In conversation with Tagaq's writing and music, I explore the performativity of sound, a possible counter to the nonperformativity of colonial speech acts that privilege reconciliation over meaningful relations and speech over careful listening
Drag Sentimentality, Intimate Publics, and the Unfinished Business of Queer Constitutionalism in Thailand
Full text linkThis commentary builds on Lauren Berlant’s affective notion of intimate publics to offer a reparative and melodramatic reading of Thai drag aesthetics in conjunction with the Constitutional Court Ruling No. 20/2564 on same-sex marriage and contemporary constitutionalism more broadly. It explores how drag sentimentality not only disrupts public discourse that perpetuates homophobic and transphobic assumptions but also creates an intimate public space that is both generative and healing for queer communities as they struggle for legal recognition as Thai citizens. This understanding of the intersection between the public and the private is particularly relevant during the contemporary period of democratization in Thailand, where constitutional issues are deeply intertwined with sex, gender, and sexuality
The potential refugee status of the Rohingya in Bangladesh under International Refugee Law
No full textFinding a solution to the Rohingya refugee crisis has been frequently brought to attention by the international community, humanitarian organisations and academic scholars. As they are affected by the world’s fastest growing humanitarian crisis, the Rohingya are one of the most marginalised and persecuted groups, marking one of the most significant events in contemporary world history. The framework within International Refugee Law could potentially offer protection for the Rohingya refugees, under the 1951 Geneva Convention, the main regulation to locate the assistance of refugees. The current refugee crisis will be assessed through a theoretical approach from postcolonialism to understand the complexity of the social and political roots of the persecution in Myanmar. The tensions that arise from the violence and suffering endured by the Rohingya has been relevant since the colonial period. Accordingly, this essay explores how the Rohingya refugee crisis illustrates the inadequate protection of laws under International Refugee Law, resulting in the construction of postcolonial statehood. At face value, the framework of international law should provide an appropriate solution, but the legal enforcement seems to have opposite effect. To pinpoint the source of the problem would intensify an incremental step closer to providing a long-lasting suitable solution to provide international support to the Rohingya
Determining the essential components of the history of presenting illness - a qualitative content analysis of core clinical texts
Full text linkBackground: Mnemonics are utilised in medical education settings, as well as clinical and hospital settings, to act as aides-memoire to enable students and healthcare practitioners to commit concepts to memory, or use in their working memory, whilst consulting patients. This study explores the use of mnemonics in history-taking, with particular interest in identifying the essential components of the initial part of the medical interview - the History of Presenting Illness (HPI), also known as the history of presenting complaint. A mnemonic currently in use for assisting medical students learning to take a HPI is “SOCRATES,” which was designed for, and is useful when, gathering information related to pain specifically. In the authors’ experience, this mnemonic is used as a default history-taking tool by inexperienced students first learning to conduct an HPI. The researcher aims are to identify the essential components of the HPI by performing summative content analysis of the core clinical textbooks of one United Kingdom (UK) medical school, then collating the most frequently represented domains into a new mnemonic to aid general history-taking.
Methods: a qualitative content analysis was undertaken. 23 presentations within the areas of clinical practice outlined in the General Medical Council’s (GMC’s) Medical Licensing Assessment (MLA) content map were randomly identified. Core clinical textbooks were then reviewed for content related to history-taking of these 23 presentations. Each line of text was transferred to an Excel spreadsheet, and content analysis undertaken to identify recurring themes. Text was reviewed for key words, or descriptive categories henceforth referred to as “domains” (e.g. “burning” pain would be categorized in the domain of “nature/character”). Statistical analysis was performed within Excel to rank each domain according to frequency of representation.
Results: A total of 170 units of data were analysed and extracted from the core clinical texts. It was found that the domains that occurred with the highest frequency were as follows, in decreasing order of representation: associated symptoms, site/location, functional aspects, character/nature, onset, timing, triggers, severity, exacerbating factors, ameliorating factors, and progression of symptom. Further analysis was undertaken to compare to the domains featured in the “SOCRATES” Mnemonic. SOCRATES was found to contain an extra (unwarranted) domain that wasn’t repressed across the dataset, namely “radiation”. SOCRATES was lacking three key domains that were represented in the data, namely: “triggers,” “functional implications,” and “progression.”
Conclusions: A new mnemonic that encompasses all essential components of the HPI as determined by the data collected for this study, such as “SSTOP TEACh As Fun,” might be better suited to general history-taking than SOCRATES. Future studies might explore the practical use of a new mnemonic in educational or clinical settings to determine whether it is easy to use and effective for general history-taking purposes
The need for an AI Bill of Rights through the case of the metaverse
No full textThe development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a pivotal point in the history of technological development. The efficiency of AI algorithms in completing tasks makes them valuable for businesses and institutions which seek solutions to reduce the cost and time of processes or enhance their monetisation systems and results. However, the power of these algorithms raises concerns regarding their exploitation or employment for nefarious purposes. Considering that AI is being employed as a primary tool in technological advancements such as the virtual reality/metaverse, governing the use of AI is arguably essential to prevent the exacerbation of existing AI-related issues and protect citizens. Thus, governments and institutions are currently drafting regulatory frameworks to govern their use while also balancing their priorities. More particularly, after BREXIT, the UK places innovation and growth at the forefront of their national strategies on AI. This could undermine the protection of human rights. Hence, this essay will support the need for an AI bill of Rights that facilitates safe innovation and place human rights at the forefront. It will illustrate the need by examining potential risks and concerns that arise from the use of AI in the metaverse. Initially, an assessment will be conducted on the National AI strategy, which illustrates the UK’s pro-innovation approach for AI regulation. Then, the focus will turn to the human-centred approaches other jurisdictions support, such as the US AI bill of rights. Subsequently, the need for a UK AI bill of rights will be exemplified through the potential effects of the use of AI in the metaverse. The essay will notably examine the effects of using AI in the metaverse for monitoring and manipulating users. Eventually, the need for an AI bill of rights will be evident through the examined effects on citizens
“We don’t need settler permission”: Recalling the Haudenosaunee Thought Project (#htp) through Digital Indigenous Autoethnography
No full text Abstrac
A Light to Do Shellwork By (Georgiana Valoyce-Sanchez)
No full textBook review by David J Carlson, California State University San Bernardin
Access Repository Dashboard
Do you manage University of Kent Open Access Journals? Access insider analytics, issue reports and manage access to outputs from your repository in the CORE Repository Dashboard!