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Zine and Heard?: mental health survivors, zines and epistemic justice
No full textSurvivors of the mental health system are marginalised in a myriad of ways in relation to knowledge production. This has increasingly been understood in terms of theories of epistemic injustice. Zines are often used to share marginalised peoples’ knowledge, and the medium of zines and the zine community may have various qualities that might benefit survivors. However, there is limited research about survivors’ use of zines, particular in relation to challenging
epistemic injustice.
This thesis draws on interviews, zine-making workshops and a zine sharing session with survivors, as well as my own experiences of making and sharing zines, to provide an account of how and why survivors might use zines to reflect on and articulate experience, and how and why survivors might share experiences and understandings via zines. I used a zine-centred, survivor- friendly approach which draws on (critical) participatory action research, autoethnography,
arts-based research and narrative research.
Themes discussed include: how the creative and crafty qualities of zines can help survivor reflection and articulation; survivors’ use of the flexibility of zine structure to help sensemaking; and readers’ responses to unusual structures and visual and sculptural elements in zines. I also discuss: how audience choice and context relates to social reflexivity, and what survivors felt able to articulate and share; the benefits that the culture of the zine community can afford survivors; and the way in which survivors engage in protective strategies and develop collective resources and agency via zines.
This thesis goes on to develop an understanding of how survivors’ use of zines might help address epistemic injustice. It also demonstrates how theories of epistemic injustice and other relevant social concepts, such as Archer’s (2000) account of agency, can aid our understanding of how and why survivors use zines
Real-Time Measurement of Catenary Steady Arm Orientation Angle Based on YOLO
No full textIn the catenary system, the steady arm is an important component used to support and guide the catenary wire, and its orientation angle is crucial to determine the height of the catenary wire. This paper mainly detects and calculates the orientation angle of the steady arm. Two methods are proposed. One is a two-step method that uses improved YOLOv5E-based YOLOv5 to detect the steady arm and plate targets, followed by calculation of the orientation using a line segment detector (LSD). Another method uses an end-to-end YOLOv8-pose model to directly locate terminals of the steady arm for angle measurement. We trained the model using a self-made steady arm dataset and compared the detection results of different versions of YOLO. The results show that the YOLOv5E combined LSD algorithm is the best, with an accuracy of almost 95% and a detection speed of 97 FPS. The findings determine that the method using YOLOv5E combined with LSD linear detection is more robust and more suitable for practical applications
Sustainable Infrastructure Development: The Critical Role of Contract Auditing in Government-Funded Construction
No full textGovernment-funded construction projects in Nigeria are frequently undermined by cost overruns, delivery delays, and substandard outcomes, which hinder effective infrastructure governance. This study evaluates the perceived impacts of the non-adoption of contract auditing on such failures, with a specific focus on project governance, transparency, and institutional accountability. Sustainable infrastructure here refers to long-term public value, institutional trust, and economic efficiency beyond environmental indicators. While governance challenges have been broadly discussed in literature, the empirical implications of auditing gaps in construction remain underexplored, particularly in the Nigerian context. Focusing on Abuja, the federal capital territory, this study uses a post-positivist survey approach involving 304 construction professionals. Perceptions were analysed using the Relative Importance Index (RII) to identify and rank governance-related inefficiencies. The study reveals that perceived consequences include unmitigated contract violations (RII = 0.79), financial exposure, unemployment, and diminished public trust (RII = 0.41). Findings underscore that contract auditing, though not a panacea, is regarded as a vital governance tool for mitigating project risks, enhancing accountability, and supporting sustainable infrastructure delivery. The paper concludes with policy recommendations for institutionalising auditing practices in Nigeria’s public procurement systems
Factors Contributing to Postoperative Pain in Orthopaedic Surgeries: A Systematic Review
No full textObjective: Orthopaedic surgeries are widely performed across the globe. It is pertinent to explore approaches that contribute to alleviating pain, restoring function, and improving the quality of life of patients with musculoskeletal disorders and injuries. The aim of the review was to develop a toolkit, contributing to preoperative assessment to aid clinicians in identifying patients at higher risk of experiencing post-operative (Pre-Op) pain. Methods: We adopted a systematic review; searched the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Heath Literature (CINAHL), EMBASE, PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, EBSCOhost and ProQuest Central databases for articles published between 2010 and 2024. We adopted a thematic data analysis of the extracted data. Results: Nine articles were reviewed. Socio-demographic factors, clinical factors and Psychological/behavioural factors were dominant factors contributing to post-orthopaedic surgical pain in patients. Conclusion: Drawing on the best available evidence, we developed a comprehensive toolkit aimed at improving the understanding and management of post-orthopaedic surgical pain. We recommend piloting this toolkit to evaluate its effectiveness in clinical settings. Central to successful pain alleviation is the integration of pre-surgical and post-surgical pain assessments, which enables more targeted and responsive interventions
Impact of Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists on Hip Arthroplasty Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
No full textObesity and diabetes are common among patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty (THA) and are associated with adverse outcomes. Glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) were originally developed for glycaemic control but have recently been approved for weight reduction. Given these dual metabolic effects, their perioperative use is of growing interest. Despite this, the impact of GLP-1 RAs on post-operative outcomes remains underexplored. This systematic review and meta-analysis aim to address this evidence gap.
A literature search was conducted in MEDLINE, PubMed, Embase, and CENTRAL from inception to 1st June 2025. Studies comparing outcomes between GLP-1 RA users and non-users in adults (≥18 years) undergoing primary THA were included. Primary outcomes included medical and surgical complications. Secondary outcomes included hospital-related measures such as 90-day readmissions and length of stay. Risk of bias was assessed using the Risk of Bias in Non-randomized Studies of Interventions (ROBINS-I) tool, and the certainty of evidence was evaluated using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations (GRADE) approach.
Six retrospective cohort studies, all conducted in the United States, met the inclusion criteria and included 11,869 GLP-1 RA users and 22,777 controls. GLP-1 RAs use was associated with a statistically significant reduction in 90-day readmission rates (odds ratio (OR) 0.81, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.69-0.94, p = 0.007; I2 = 39%) and short-term revision surgery (OR 0.70, 95% CI 0.52-0.94, p = 0.02; I2 = 18%). No significant differences were observed for other medical or surgical complications.
GLP-1 RAs were associated with reduced short-term revision rates and 90-day readmissions following THA. However, as only retrospective studies were identified, high-quality prospective studies are needed to confirm these findings
Towards liminal balance: Unpacking the UK's urban canal space
Get PDFThis paper critically examines the liminal geographies of the United Kingdom's 7,000‐mile canal and river network, embodying a thread of complex intersections and interactions between water and land. Drawing on a study involving stakeholder interviews, group discussion with canal users, and observational walks in Manchester and London, the paper explores the concepts of liminal flux, scalar intersections, and deliminalisation. We first outline how the UK's urban canals are characterised by liminal flux over time and space, reflecting their dynamic geographies. Revealing the presence of critical intersections between liminality and scale, we then focus on the ongoing and everyday spatial and territorial entanglements between different canal and towpath users. Finally, we consider the challenge of deliminalisation, and an associated shift from liminality and in‐betweenness towards greater spatial fixity via neoliberal intervention and development. Our findings highlight the importance of preserving the unique characteristics of urban canals as liminal spaces, arguing that they provide recreational opportunities and contribute to urban wellbeing by providing opportunities for ‘transitory dwelling places’. Maintaining a liminal balance within urban canal environments is therefore crucial and requires careful curation. In turn, this notion of curating liminal balance has implications for other potential waterfront developments that offer a similar positive potential for hydrocitizenship and its fluid ambiguities of in‐betweenness. Moreover, it demonstrates the importance of a ‘lighter touch’ of redevelopment and governance in some parts of the urban environment to help preserve, or even enhance, citizen wellbeing
Word length and frequency effects in natural Chinese reading: Evidence for character representations in lexical identification
Get PDFWord length and frequency are two of the “big three” factors that affect eye movements in natural reading (Clifton et al., 2016). Whilst these factors have been extensively investigated, all previous studies manipulating word length have been confounded with changes in visual complexity (longer words have more letters and are more visually complex). We controlled stroke complexity across one-character (short) and two-character (long) high- and low-frequency Chinese words (to avoid complexity confounds) and recorded readers’ eye movements during sentence reading. Both word length and frequency yielded strong main effects for fixation time measures. For saccadic targeting and skipping probability, word length effects, but not word frequency effects, occurred. Critically, the interaction was not significant regardless of stroke complexity, indicating that word length and frequency independently influence lexical identification and saccade target selection during Chinese reading. The results provide evidence for character level representations during Chinese word recognition in natural reading
Exploring SEP Transport in Widespread Events with Different Heliospheric Current Sheet Models
Get PDFUnderstanding solar energetic particle transport in wide-longitude events remains a significant question in heliophysics. By utilizing the increasing number of available observers at various heliographic distances and longitudes, such as Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter, we are able to further our understanding of these widespread events. This study presents 3D test particle modeling of three widespread events during the Parker era, each detected by at least four observers. The role of the heliospheric current sheet (HCS) in transporting particles to the wide longitudes observed in these events is evaluated. A newly updated and more sophisticated HCS model is used, incorporating three different configurations derived from the Wilcox Solar Observatory, Air Force Data Assimilative Photospheric Flux Transport, and Solar Dynamics Observatory/Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) data (via Predictive Science, PSI) for each event. The modeled proton flux profiles at each observer location are compared against energetic proton measurements for each HCS configuration. We find that inclusion of the HCS is essential to reproduce both the wide longitudinal spread of particles and the observed flux profiles in all three events. For events with longitudinal separations exceeding 100°, the most intense fluxes, both observed and modeled, are associated with observers located nearest to the HCS. This is observed for the 2023 March 13 event, where two observers were located closer in longitude and radial distance than other observers to the source region, yet observed no solar energetic particle signatures due to their lack of proximity to the HCS. Among the three configurations, the HMI-PSI-derived HCS consistently yields the best agreement between observed and modeled flux profiles
Lieux d’Imagination and Historical Fiction: The lure and blur of the real in Media Tourism.
Get PDFThis article employs autoethnography and the Lieux d’imagination framework to critique the experience of walking a Media Tourism trail based on a historical novel, expanding beyond the usual focus on purely fictional works. The historical fiction of The Gallows Pole blurs with complementary West Yorkshire landscapes, physical markers and heritage to produce a historically-informed Place of Imagination. This distinctive variant of Lieux d’imagination is characterised by a sense of rootedness and connection to the past, grounded in the belief that the narrative, or something similar, occurred. This belief shapes a meaningful imaginative experience, offering the lure of the real. A conceptual framework identifies elements of both historically-informed and fiction-based media that inform and distinguish corresponding tourist experiences
Structural Shift of Geopolitics in the Indo-Pacific
No full textThis book — the latest in our series East Asian Security — was inspired by the Japan–Taiwan Security Dialogue, held by the Taiwan Center for Security Studies, National Chengchi University, and Osaka-based Momoyama Gakuin University. For years, China's political-economic development continued on a trajectory that Western leaders hoped would mirror that of Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, and so many others before them: political liberalization followed economic development. Alas, China chose a different path: one driven by a revanchist mindset and a desire to dismantle the current unipolar order, removing the US from the position of global hegemon — starting with the Indo-Pacific region