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Polish Hip Hop at Home and Abroad: Return Migration in the Work of Taco Hemingway
No full textTaco Hemingway is one of Poland’s most popular rappers, becoming the first Polish artist to be streamed a billion times on Spotify. Often described as a fresh voice in the Polish hip hop scene, Hemingway also offers a new perspective due to his status as a return migrant, having lived in the United Kingdom. As such, this article positions Hemingway’s output in the context of migration studies and, specifically, the impact migration has on sending countries. Through Hemingway’s music, the article examines the various stages of migration, from experiences abroad to return and circular migration, while also appraising Hemingway’s work within the context of social remittances—the impact that return migrants have on stayers. It also posits that Hemingway’s oeuvre represents the failure of the “Grand Narrative” of Polish migration, as well as the dissatisfaction that return migrants can feel upon return, choosing ultimately to go back to the country to which they emigrated
Chapter 25: Mountains
No full textThis chapter explores the ways cognition, language, and values are structured by mountain spaces. I take, as a starting point, global ideas and mythologies concerning the cosmological mountain: a cultural construct and mythographic device that has been deployed across various cultures to structure the relationship between earth and heaven, the physical and the metaphysical, the material and the metaphorical.
The chapter commences by exploring literary modernism’s appropriation of the primitive and the archetypal via the cosmological mountain in René Daumal’s 1952 Mount Analogue: a novel that thinks with mountains about the problems of language and the limits of representation. Via Daumal’s text, this essay asks fundamental questions about the valorisation of up-down dimensions encoded in language and the metaphors we employ, making the point that value assumptions made in one language and its associated literary corpora are not necessarily transferable to other cultural settings.
The chapter then attempts to globalize out thinking about mountains, their geographies, and associated literatures, by drawing on anthropological work focussed on Highland Asia and explorations of how religious literatures shape and are shaped by mountain geo(cosmo)graphies. Erik Mueggler’s work on the dongba scripts of Yunnan demonstrates the entangled nature of mountains, cosmologies, language and literacies, presenting us with an example of an unstable and performative ritual literature that is constantly remade in the process of guiding the souls of the dead to celestial mountains. Furthermore, the work of James C. Scott raises the possibility of the rejection of literacy by mountain peoples in Highland Asia, seeing orality and post-literacy as attempts to avoid the centralizing power of the state.
This chapter concludes by looking at how religious literatures and texts have physically transformed mountain spaces via the creation of devotional topomimetic and epigraphic landscapes and how the anthropological literature of sentient and agentic landscapes might help us think about mountains as co-authors of their own stories
The politics of health promotion: channelling our anger and our hope for the wellbeing of people, place and planet
Get PDFWith the Institute of Health Promotion and Education turning 60, it is timely to reflect on health promotion’s journey. While health promotion can celebrate many advances, much remains to be done. This paper considers the enormous challenges we face and how we might move forward by working not only within, but beyond, the five action areas of the Ottawa Charter: engaging creatively with the opportunities offered by the changing contexts in which we operate, for example in relation to integrated care systems and place-based partnerships; learning from our experience of COVID-19 to ensure joined-up whole system responses that nurture the transformative change necessary to ‘build back better’ for a sustainable and healthy future; and advocating a new economic vision and model that rejects economic growth as an end in itself and refutes the assumption that such growth will automatically result in improved population and planetary health. Health promotion is inherently political. Reflecting on the UK’s current situation – with spiralling child, food and fuel poverty, flatlined/reduced life expectancy, increased inequalities, and the ongoing failure of government to take on powerful vested interests through legislative, regulatory and fiscal measures – we face a crisis. However, a crisis represents not only danger, but also a potential turning point. This should motivate the health promotion workforce to harness and channel its righteous anger; and give space for active hope that we – as citizens, professionals and members of families and communities – can envision, advocate and fight to secure the wellbeing of people, places and the planet
Article peer review: Is collegiate cooperation under threat, why and what to do about it?
No full textExploring the antioxidant, anticancer and antimicrobial potential of Amaranthus viridis L. collected from Fayoum depression: Phytochemical, and biological aspects
No full textAmaranthus viridis (AV) is an invasive weed designated for natural antioxidants. In the current endeavor, A. viridis aerial parts and soil samples were collected from six districts of Fayoum depression (FD), Egypt and were subjected to chemical and biological examination. Where, the organic extracts of the aerial parts of the six distinctive samples (AV1-AV6), were subjected to LC-HRESI-MS-assisted chemical profiling. Multivariate analysis of MS data revealed good clustering of A. viridis collected from three sites (1, 2 and 6) and empowered the hypothesis of chemical composition analogy among extracts AV1, AV2 and AV6. On the other hand, extracts AV3, AV4 and AV5 were not resemblant to each other and were apart from AV1, AV2 and AV6. Similarly, multivariate analysis of physico-chemical properties of A. viridis-associated soil samples showed good clustering of the same three sites (1, 2 and 6). The total phenolics contents (TPC) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) were promising in all extracts, and they could be arranged in the order of AV6 ˃ AV2 ˃ AV5 ˃ AV3 ˃ AV4 ˃ AV1. Moreover, the uniqueness of AV2, AV3 and AV4 extracts lies in guttiferic acid and the high content of alkaloids that granted the privilege of cytotoxicity toward human liver cancer cell line (HepG2) and human metastatic breast cancer cell line (MDA-MB-231). Regarding the antimicrobial activity, AV1 and AV6 showed the highest antibacterial activity against S. aureus meanwhile AV2, AV3 and AV5 depicted the highest values in case of S. typhi and E. coli. Also, the study revealed that AV1, AV4, and AV6 reflects their prodigious minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values against E. coli, S. aureus, and S. typhi. In terms of antifungal activity, AV6 extract recorded as the most inhibition performance against A. flavus and A. niger, whereas AV2 and AV5 inhibited C. albicans the least. According to biofilm activity, AV4 and AV5 were superior, remarkably against E. coli and B. subtilis respectively. Interestingly, the AV6 extract performed exceptionally well as an antibiofilm agent against P. aeruginosa. The potency of some extracts rather than others may rely on possible relationships between soil physicochemical characteristics and chemical composition of A. viridis which contributed to the observed biological properties. Such factors should be taken into consideration in assessing quality control of medicinal plants
Residual Deficits of Knee and Hip Joint Coordination and Clinical Performance after Return to Sports in Athletes with Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction
Get PDFBackground: Biomechanical changes and neuromuscular adaptations have been suggested as risk factors of secondary injury in individuals after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLr). To achieve a better understanding of preventive mechanisms, movement quality is an important factor of consideration. Few studies have explored time-series analysis during landing alongside clinical performance in injured and non-injured individuals. The purpose of the study was to investigate the biomechanical risks of recurrent injury by comparing clinical and jump-landing performance assessments between athletes with ACLr and healthy controls.
Method: This study was observational study. Sixteen athletes with and without ACLr voluntarily participated in clinical and laboratory measurements. Single-leg hop distance, isokinetic tests, landing error score, and limb symmetry index (LSI) were included in clinical report. Lower limb movements were recorded to measure joint biomechanics during multi-directional landings in motion analysis laboratory. Hip-knee angle and angular velocity were explored using discrete time-point analysis, and a two-way mixed analysis of variance (2×4, group×jump-landing direction) was used for statistical analysis. Time series and hip-knee coordination analyses were performed using statistical parametric mapping and descriptive techniques.
Results: Significantly lower single-leg hop distance was noted in ACLr group (158.10 cm) compared to control group (178.38 cm). Although the hip and knee moments showed significant differences between four directions (p0.05). Statistical parametric mapping showed significant differences (p≤0.05) between groups for hip abduction and coordinate plot of hip and knee joints. Athletes with ACLr demonstrated a higher velocity of hip adduction. Time-series analysis revealed differences in coordination between groups for frontal hip and knee motion.
Conclusions: Athletes with ACLr landed with poor hip adduction control and stiffer knee on the involved side. Multi-directions landing should be considered over the entire time series, which may facilitate improved movement quality and return to sports in athletes with ACLr
Distraction by vocal anger in children and adolescents with hyperactivity
Get PDFChildren with inattention and hyperactivity often present difficulties in recognising anger from voices. Research has shown enhanced brain activity (N100) to vocal anger, possibly reflecting preattentive hyper-vigilance to vocal anger, in children with ADHD. In this study, we investigated the preattentive processing of vocal anger, by testing whether children with inattention and hyperactivity are distracted by task-irrelevant vocal anger stimuli. A total of 194 participants (50 adults, 51 adolescents, 93 children) participated in a cross-modal oddball paradigm wherein emotional (angry, happy) voices were oddballs and neutral voices were standard in a visual categorisation task. Questionnaire measures screened for inattention and hyperactivity. Reaction time measures demonstrated that overall, hyperactivity predicted slower performance via distraction by threat-related (angry) stimuli. The results suggest that vocal anger can capture attention in a pre-attentive (automatic) way in children with high levels of inattention and hyperactivity. Implications for theory and clinical practice are discussed
Association between chronic use of benzodiazepines and the severity of Obstructive Sleep Apnea syndrome and changes in sleep parameters
No full textIntroduction: Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS) is characterized by partial or complete obstruction of the upper airway, intermittently and recurrently. It results from collapses of the pharyngeal region, providing a substantial reduction in airflow, determining apnea or hypopnea. It is associated with several symptoms and comorbidities, such as excessive daytime sleepiness, cognitive impairment, depression, obesity, reduced quality of life, increased risk of occupational and traffic accidents, and risk of cardiovascular disease, among others. Affected patients complain of poor sleep quality, making them candidates for the use of hypnotic drugs, benzodiazepines. These drugs typically have ansiolitic and hypnotic effect but also behave as anticonvulsivants and muscle relaxants. Therefore, in patients presenting OSAS, the negative effect of benzodiazepines in the ventilatory control during sleep has been questioned. The goals of the present study is to associate the chronic use of benzodiazepines with the severity of OSAS and changes in sleep parameters in adult patients diagnosed by Polysomnography.
Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study, consisting of 525 patients over the age of 18 of a private clinic in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, between April and July of 2022. The patients underwent Polysomnography aiming the assessment of the presence and degree of apnea/hypopnea and responded to a questionnaire beforehand considering comorbities and chronic use of medications. Were excluded from this study in use of any other medications that affect the central nervous system, insufficient data of the Polyssomnography, patients diagnosed with any other sleep syndrome, neuromuscular syndromes, neurologic syndromes that have impact on the OSAS, cranial malformation or any genetic syndrome that has impact on respiratory sleep syndromes. The data obtained by both the test and questionare revealed a number of 33 chronic users of benzodiazepines. The association between these patients, the severity of the Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome and the changes in sleep parameters was calculated using the Chi-Square test.
Results: Chronic benzodiazepine use and the diagnose of OSAS was not associated (p = 0.078). As for the polysomnographic variables analyzed, there is a statistical association between the use of the medication and changes in sleep patterns, such as increase of REM latency (p=0,000) and N2 stage(p=0,003) and decrease of N1 (p=0,022), and REM (p=0,001) stages.
Conclusions: Benzodiazepine chronic use demonstrated no difference in the severity of OSAS but presented changes in the parameters of sleep
Education, Art and Activism in Post-War Britain: Nan Youngman and Pictures for Schools
No full textThis paper explores the British art patronage scheme Pictures for Schools, which sold affordable works of art to educational buyers at annual exhibitions between 1947 and 1969, focusing on the work of Pictures for Schools founder and organiser Nan Youngman (1906–1995) as an artist, educationalist and activist. It shows that, while social and cultural changes in post-war Britain around the development of the welfare state provided a receptive environment for Pictures for Schools, it was largely driven by Youngman’s personal convictions and experiences. This paper traces the ideological motivations behind Pictures for Schools to the interwar period, exploring Youngman’s involvement in two progressive organisations, the Artists’ International Association (AIA) and the Society for Education through Art (SEA), which enabled her to campaign for progressive art and education. In doing so, it positions Pictures for Schools as a socially engaged intervention into the post-war education system in England and society
Policing Domestic Abuse: The onus on first responders
Get PDFThe police first responder has a central role in the multi-agency response to domestic abuse in most jurisdictions and is uniquely placed to solicit information from the victim-survivor about the experiences and behaviours they have witnessed first-hand. The College of Policing advises that first response officers have a dual role when attending domestic callouts: to recognise signs of abuse and prevent offences from occurring, and identify criminal offences so that offenders can be brought to justice. The frontline encounter by police is a pivotal moment for myriad reasons. Sharing results and reflections from our experiences of evaluating a number of innovative approaches to the policing of domestic abuse in the UK context, we illustrate the onus placed on the police first responder. In the effort to improve the overall criminal justice response to domestic abuse, we argue that a greater appreciation of this onus is needed amongst all criminal justice and multi-agency practitioners. Furthermore, we argue that greater support for police first responders is needed to improve outcomes for all following this encounter