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Utilising dynamic motor control index to identify age-related differences in neuromuscular control
No full textPurpose: Considering the relationship between aging and neuromuscular control decline, early detection of age-related changes can ensure that timely interventions are implemented to attenuate or restore neuromuscular deficits. The dynamic motor control index (DMCI), a measure based on variance accounted for (VAF) by one muscle synergy (MS), is a metric used to assess age-related changes in neuromuscular control. The aim of the study was to investigate the use of one-synergy VAF, and consecutively DMCI, in assessing age-related changes in neuromuscular control over a range of exercises with varying difficulty.
Methods: Thirty-one subjects walked on a flat and inclined treadmill, as well as performed forward and lateral stepping up tasks. Motion and muscular activity were recorded, and muscle synergy analysis was conducted using one-synergy VAF, DMCI, and number of synergies.
Results: Difference between older and younger group was observed for one-synergy VAF, DMCI for forward stepping up task (one-synergy VAF difference of 2.45 (0.22, 4.68) and DMCI of 9.21 (0.81, 17.61), p = 0.033), but not for lateral stepping up or walking.
Conclusion: The use of VAF based metrics and specifically DMCI, rather than number of MS, in combination with stepping forward exercise can provide a low-cost and easy to implement approach for assessing neuromuscular control in clinical settings
Looking (at) women in the BBC Pericles
No full textThis chapter examines the BBC Shakespeare TV Series "Pericles" (1984) and explores how it offers fresh and striking insights into the play’s female figures. Throughout, I analyse the representation of women’s roles, the construction of gender and sexuality, the hierarchy of objectification and the ideological power of the gaze on the small screen. Taking women’s looking as a key focus, I argue for the significance of the film’s portrayal of the female gaze which acts variously as a vehicle and an expression of agency, desire, dependence, and authority
Group identification, joint attention, and preferences: a cluster of minimal pre-conditions for joint actions
No full textAn important thesis discussed in the literature on shared agency is that group identification motivates pre-school children to act together. This paper aims at further illuminating this thesis by clarifying what triggers the process of group identification in young children. It is argued that joint attention, among other functions in supporting joint actions, can reveal to the co-attenders that they share some preferences. Since sharing preferences has been established by the literature to be a reliable motivation of group identification and since joint attention has an early emergence in development, one can consider joint attention to be a putative trigger of group identification in pre-school children. If this is on the right track, group identification, joint attention, and preferences identify a cluster of minimal pre-conditions for joint actions
Traditional and contemporary eco-cosmologies within Western and Christian traditions: Green shoots for integral and integrative sustainability transformation
No full textThis article traces persistent and important counter-narratives within Western and Christian traditions, which correlate more closely with many indigenous worldviews from across the globe than with dominant narratives from across these traditions. It posits that a paradigmatic transformation is required toward an integral and integrative eco-cosmology, one that embraces cosmic interconnection and complexity. This may emerge from green shoots emanating from a diverse range of traditions, including, importantly, from within the dominant Western tradition
The limits of proprietary estoppel: Thorner v Major
No full textConsiders the House of Lords decision in Thorner v Major, reported as Thorner v Curtis, on whether a farmer who had worked without pay on his cousin's farm because of vague assurances that he would inherit the farm, had a claim in proprietary estoppel when the cousin died intestate. Discusses how the reasoning in the instant case differed from the earlier House of Lords decision in Cobbe v Yeoman's Row Management Ltd, the importance of certainty of representation and of the subject matter of the representation and the relationship between proprietary estoppel and constructive trusts
Accessibility features of developmental platforms: Towards developing accessible mobile applications with cross-platform, research challenges and opportunities
No full textMobile application development is a process of designing and developing smartphone-based applications for several platforms i.e., Android, iOS, etc. Mobile application development platforms can be categorised as native and cross-platform, each offering resources, frameworks, and tools to developers so they can develop smartphone-based applications using them. Native platforms concentrate on specific applications designed expressly for a particular platform i.e., Android or iOS. Crossplatform allows developers to develop applications with a single codebase that can work across multiple platforms. Examples include Xamarin and Unity. In this study, we have compared the accessibility features offered by Xamarin and Unity with those offered by native platforms. We analyzed the accessibility features offered by the iOS and Android platforms to determined whether and to what extent Xamarin and Unity offer the same accessibility capabilities. This analysis shows that numerous functionalities are shared by native iOS and Android APIs, however, some of them are not included in Xamarin and Unity. They also do not provide the implementation of fundamental APIs. This will require additional work by developers to write platformspecific code in native APIs to access the unavailable APIs. We have provided a comparative analysis of these platforms. Important accessibility aspects are highlighted that may prove useful for researchers and developers who are working to create accessible apps
Cohabitation, civil partnership and the Constitution
No full textThis paper examines the issues surrounding the law reforms proposed in Ireland in relation to the introduction of civil partnership, as well as a legislative regime to provide certain rights for cohabiting couples. It examines key law reform documents, including the Report on the Family by the Oireachtas (Parliamentary) All-Party Committee on the Constitution, the Irish Law Reform Commission's Report on the Rights and Duties of Cohabitants and the Report of the Working Group on Domestic Partnership. It analyses the impact of the Irish Constitution, Bunreacht na Heireann 1937, on possible law reform, in respect of the rights of both opposite sex and same sex couples. It also offers some observations on the general approach to law reform in this area in Ireland
Teaching about magnetic materials - A pedagogical dilemma
No full textAlthough magnetic materials had been studied for over 2000 years, it was not until the development of quantum mechanics in the early years of the 20th century that any satisfactory explanation of their properties could be provided. This paper outlines some of the difficulties that this fact presents for teachers attempting to explain permanent magnetism to learners at different levels who do not have a background in quantum physics. The authors suggest how a consistent and physically correct approach may be achieved
An easement by estoppel?
No full textDiscusses the Court of Appeal judgment in Joyce v Epsom and Ewell BC on whether the successor in title to a homeowner who, as a condition of him withdrawing his objection to the construction of supermarket, had been allowed a right of way over a driveway to a service road behind his property, could establish the existence of an easement by way of proprietary estoppel. Considers the relevance of the local authority's awareness that it had induced the owner into believing he enjoyed a right of access. Assesses whether the authority's denial of the claimant's entitlement was unconscionable
The global face of energy poverty
No full textFor the first time in decades, the price pressures and economic upheaval primarily caused by the global energy crisis – sparked by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and post-COVID pandemic supply chain stress – have led to a rise in the number of people without access to energy. The human consequences of energy poverty include a significant deterioration in physical health and mental well-being, along with premature death due to severe winter and summer conditions, unhealthy and/or restricted lifestyles, and social exclusion. There have been efforts to reduce energy poverty in both developing and developed countries over the past few decades. The need for electricity grid expansion has long been articulated in developing and developed contexts since the first half of the 20th century. More recently, global energy markets and their effects on energy availability and prices, as well as pressing environmental concerns, have induced a surge in research on energy deprivation, a condition that previously had little public recognition