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From generosity to gratitude : exploring Islamic views on body donation, human dissection, and honoring the gift of life
No full textHuman dissection is an ancient pedagogical method that is still relevant in modern anatomy curricula. The body procurement process for dissection purposes has undergone significant evolution from the medieval era until now, whereby body donation has become the main source for human bodies in medical education. The appreciation ceremony for body donors is an excellent way to promote a body donation program, whereby both dissection and appreciation ceremonies are effective in inculcating professional behaviors and altruism among medical students. Despite the benefits of dissection and such ceremonies, conflicting ideas about the acceptability of these methods exist among Muslim scholars and students. Hence, this article provides a theological Islamic interpretation of human dissection, body donation, and appreciation ceremonies from four sources of Islamic law—the Qur'an, Hadith, Idjmaa, and Qiyas—to justify Muslims' involvement in the aforementioned. It is important to note that the fundamentals of Islam are submission to the will of the one and only God, Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala (SWT) and recognition of Prophet Muhamad (peace be upon him) as the last messenger of God. Therefore, the actions of a Muslim are strongly based on faith and virtue
Detection of a historic reservoir of bedaquiline/clofazimine resistance-associated variants in Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Get PDFBackground: Drug resistance in tuberculosis (TB) poses a major ongoing challenge to public health. The recent inclusion of bedaquiline into TB drug regimens has improved treatment outcomes, but this advance is threatened by the emergence of strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) resistant to bedaquiline. Clinical bedaquiline resistance is most frequently conferred by off-target resistance-associated variants (RAVs) in the mmpR5 gene (Rv0678), the regulator of an efflux pump, which can also confer cross-resistance to clofazimine, another TB drug. Methods: We compiled a dataset of 3682 Mtb genomes, including 180 carrying variants in mmpR5, and its immediate background (i.e. mmpR5 promoter and adjacent mmpL5 gene), that have been associated to borderline (henceforth intermediate) or confirmed resistance to bedaquiline. We characterised the occurrence of all nonsynonymous mutations in mmpR5 in this dataset and estimated, using time-resolved phylogenetic methods, the age of their emergence. Results: We identified eight cases where RAVs were present in the genomes of strains collected prior to the use of bedaquiline in TB treatment regimes. Phylogenetic reconstruction points to multiple emergence events and circulation of RAVs in mmpR5, some estimated to predate the introduction of bedaquiline. However, epistatic interactions can complicate bedaquiline drug-susceptibility prediction from genetic sequence data. Indeed, in one clade, Ile67fs (a RAV when considered in isolation) was estimated to have emerged prior to the antibiotic era, together with a resistance reverting mmpL5 mutation. Conclusions: The presence of a pre-existing reservoir of Mtb strains carrying bedaquiline RAVs prior to its clinical use augments the need for rapid drug susceptibility testing and individualised regimen selection to safeguard the use of bedaquiline in TB care and control
All Kronecker coefficients are reduced Kronecker coefficients
Get PDFWe settle the question of where exactly do the reduced Kronecker coefficients lie on the spectrum between the Littlewood-Richardson and Kronecker coefficients by showing that every Kronecker coefficient of the symmetric group is equal to a reduced Kronecker coefficient by an explicit construction. This implies the equivalence of a question by Stanley from 2000 and a question by Kirillov from 2004 about combinatorial interpretations of these two families of coefficients. Moreover, as a corollary, we deduce that deciding the positivity of reduced Kronecker coefficients is NP-hard, and computing them is #P-hard under parsimonious many-one reductions
Quantification of finger grasps during activities of daily life using convolutional neural networks : a pilot study
Get PDFQuantifying finger kinematics can improve the authors’ understanding of finger function and facilitate the design of efficient prosthetic devices while also identifying movement disorders and assessing the impact of rehabilitation interventions. Here, the authors present a study that quantifies grasps depicted in taxonomies during selected Activities of Daily Living (ADL). A single participant held a series of standard objects using specific grasps which were used to train Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) for each of the four fingers individually. The experiment also recorded hand manipulation of objects during ADL. Each set of ADL finger kinematic data was tested using the trained CNN, which identified and quantified the grasps required to accomplish each task. Certain grasps appeared more often depending on the finger studied, meaning that even though there are physiological interdependencies, fingers have a certain degree of autonomy in performing dexterity tasks. The identified and most frequent grasps agreed with the previously reported findings, but also highlighted that an individual might have specific dexterity needs which may vary with profession and age. The proposed method can be used to identify and quantify key grasps for finger/hand prostheses, to provide a more efficient solution that is practical in their day-to-day tasks
Exploring the Use of the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) in special education settings
No full textThe Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) is an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) system which is widely used to support children with developmental disabilities. In the present study, we surveyed individuals responsible for implementing PECS in special educational settings in the United Kingdom (N=283). We explored knowledge of and adherence to the intervention, with a view to identifying training and support needs. Specifically, we examined participants' knowledge, implementation accuracy, training experiences, access to resources, and attitudes towards PECS. We developed hierarchical logistic regression models to explore the association between training experience and both knowledge and use of PECS. We pre-registered our methods, predictions and the analysis plan on the Open Science Framework (OSF).We found considerable variation in practitioner knowledge and implementation of PECS. Formal training predicted greater knowledge and more accurate implementation when practitioner role and the degree of setting support were accounted for. While PECS was rated by a large majority to be effective and practical, many participants identified that time and the availability of resources were barriers to implementation. We also found that the purpose of PECS was not always fully understood by practitioners, and we identified some consistent gaps in knowledge and implementation. This study contributes new information regarding the real-world use of PECS in educational settings and offers new insights for supporting practitioners
Understanding and increasing policymakers' sensitivity to program impact
No full textPolicymakers routinely make high-stakes funding decisions. Assessing the value of a program is difficult and may be affected by bounded rationality. We conducted experiments involving U.S. policymakers and the general public, in which participants were given the opportunity to assess the value of various policy programs. Our findings demonstrate that decision aids enhance the responsiveness of respondents to the impact of the programs. We designed and tested two portable decision aids—one that compares programs side-by-side and another that aggregates multiple features of impact into a single metric. The two decision aids increase the elasticity of assessments of program value with respect to impact by 0.20 on a base of 0.33 among policymakers and by 0.21 on a base of 0.21 among the general public. We provide evidence that the cognitive difficulty of translating impact-relevant information into policy decisions helps explain our finding
Extracting electromagnetic signatures of spacetime fluctuations
Get PDFWe present a formalism to discern the effects of fluctuations of the spacetime metric on electromagnetic radiation. The formalism works via the measurement of electromagnetic field correlations, while allowing a clear assessment of the assumptions involved. As an application of the formalism, we present a model of spacetime fluctuations that appear as random fluctuations of the refractive index of the vacuum in single, and two co-located Michelson interferometers. We compare an interferometric signal predicted using this model to experimental data from the Holometer and aLIGO. We show that if the signal manifests at a frequency at which the interferometers are sensitive, the strength and scale of possible spacetime fluctuations can be constrained. The bounds, thus obtained, on the strength and scale of the spacetime fluctuations, are also shown to be more stringent than the bounds obtained previously using astronomical observation at optical frequencies. The formalism enables us to evaluate proposed experiments such as QUEST for constraining quantum spacetime fluctuations and to design new ones
Child behavior problems and parental psychological distress in Chinese families of children with autism : the putative moderating role of parental social support and cultural values
Get PDFThe wellbeing of parents of children with autism residing in mainland China remains understudied. We aimed to examine whether and how parental perceived social support, individualism, and collectivism acted together to moderate the relationships between child behavior problems and parental psychological distress in Chinese parents of children with autism. With convenience and snowball sampling, data on 268 primary caregiver parents of children with autism were collected from an online cross-sectional survey. Linear regression analysis indicated that child behavior problems were significantly associated with increased psychological distress in Chinese parents of children with autism. There was no evidence to support the stress-buffering model of social support in moderation analysis of the association between child behavior problems and parental psychological distress. Nonetheless, increased social support was associated with lower levels of parental psychological distress. Moderated moderation analyses did not support a role for individualism or collectivism as a moderator of the putative buffering role of social support. However, there was evidence that parental individualism was associated with increased parental psychological distress. Our findings highlight that child behavior problems are a robust correlate of parental psychological distress, and parental social support may act as a compensatory factor promoting less psychological distress rather than having a protective role. The role of social support and cultural values in the wellbeing of parents of children with autism in China requires additional exploration, including longitudinal research designs
The clique graphs of the hexagonal lattice – an explicit construction and a short proof of divergence
Get PDFWe present a new, explicit and very geometric construction for the iterated clique graphs of the hexagonal lattice Hex which makes apparent its clique divergence and sheds light on some previous observations, such as the boundedness of the degrees and clique sizes of
as n→∞
