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Are Incomes and Food Safety Risk Related in Retail Food Environments?
Get PDFWe investigate the relationship between the level of food safety risk in retail food establishments and average incomes in surrounding communities. Building on the environmental justice literature, we hypothesize that there is a relationship between community income levels and levels of food safety risk. Using data on the prevalence of Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) obtained from grocery store delis, we find that stores located in census tracts whose residents are in lower income quartiles have greater Lm prevalence. An indicator for American Indian and Alaskan Native residents also has a positive statistically significant relationship with food safety risk
Deleuzian Approaches to Social Dreaming and Related Psychosocial Methods
No full textThere has been a recent shift toward an acceptance of Deleuzian psychoanalytically informed philosophy in Psychosocial Studies, especially in research that uses social dreaming, that is, the sharing of dreams by people gathered together for the purpose of investigating a shared unconscious knowledge related to a research question or social topic. This chapter provides an in-depth account of how social dreaming illustrates Deleuzian thinking in action and how it is possible to understand social dreaming in Deleuzian terms in ways that provide a unique and exciting alternative to traditional psychosocial approaches not only to the social dreaming matrix but also, by implication, to other psychosocial methods. Major Deleuzian concepts, including the body without organs, the rhizome, intensities of affect, becoming, smooth and striated space, nomadic thought, deterritorialization, assemblages, and the Deleuzian “concept,” will each be defined and illustrated with examples from social dreaming. The Deleuzian frame is cross-referenced with more familiar psychosocial terms, such as Freudian free association, Winnicott’s “holding,” Bion’s “reverie,” containment and alpha and beta elements, and Bollas’ “unthought known,” among others, in a way that places Deleuzian thought in the center of a theoretical approach to social dreaming, rather than an oppositional or alternative approach. The chapter concludes by pointing to the relevance of Deleuzian thought in other methods that have been inspired or emerged from social dreaming, such as the photo-social matrix, the “dream drawing matrix,” social choreography, the various attempts to introduce art/art therapy into social dreaming, and the visual matrix
Moral distress and moral injury in the context of autism
Get PDFPurpose
Clinically, it is often observed that autistic people may have a heightened need for rules and may find rule violations very distressing. It is clinically plausible that autistic individuals may be prone to hyper-morality and greater reactivity and adverse experiences arising from moral threats and violations. Such adverse experiences may, in some instances, lead to moral distress (MD) or in more extreme cases moral injury. Thus, this study aims to examine how MD can operate in the context of autism.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors explore clinical hypotheses on how MD can intersect with different features of autism by drawing on clinical and research knowledge of autism spectrum disorder and how it contextualises experiences of morality.
Findings
Based on a review of the literature and theory, the authors hypothesise that autistic individuals may be more prone to MD where they have a lower threshold for MD. As a result of this lower threshold, they may have more frequent exposure to MD, experience more immediate and intense subjective reactions to moral transgressions, for more protracted periods. Also, they may find it more difficult to over-ride and neutralise moral outrage. As a result, they may be more susceptible to mental health sequelae and impaired social and occupational functioning. Practical recommendations are made for clinicians supporting people with autism with a propensity for MD or moral injury, to improve their quality of life.
Practical implications
Practical recommendations are made for clinicians supporting people with autism with a propensity for MD or moral injury, to improve their quality of life.
Originality/value
Understanding MD in an autistic context is important for detecting and treating the adverse impacts of MD on autistic individuals. Importantly, erroneous preconceptions about moral reasoning in autism need to be mitigated to fully understand the moral experiences and harness the many strengths of people with autism
Upper and Lower Body Strength Asymmetries and Shoulder Rotation Strength Ratio in Youth Tennis Players Using Isokinetic Testing
Get PDFBackground: This study examined upper and lower body (interlimb) strength asymmetries and shoulder rotation strength ratios in youth tennis players using isokinetic testing. Methods: Seventeen players (male = 10, age: 15.60 ± 1.65 years; female = 7, age: 15.57 ± 1.51 years) from the same tennis academy volunteered to participate in the study. Handgrip strength, internal and external rotators’ torque and the torque produced by the quadriceps and hamstring muscles were evaluated. Results: Significant upper limb asymmetries were indicated in strength between the dominant and non-dominant arms in several areas: handgrip strength (p = 0.01), internal and external rotators’ torque at 60°/s (p = 0.01) and 180°/s (p = 0.01) and the ratios of external and internal rotation (ER:IR ratios) (p = 0.01). Lower body torque assessment did not reveal any asymmetries. Conclusion: Our findings highlight that significant interlimb asymmetries are evident in youth tennis players’ upper body but not the lower body. These upper limb asymmetries develop early, making it essential for coaches and athletes to recognize them for injury prevention and performance enhancement. A focus should be placed on adding exercises that strengthen the external rotators of the dominant arm as well as the internal and external rotators of the non-dominant arm
Turn up, switch off, slow down: How a Leisure Mindset Amplifies the Subjective well-being Benefits of the Seaside
No full textOur relationship with the coast as a place for leisure is significant and coastal regions continue to be increasingly popular for visitors as the world opens up again to tourism (Eurostat, 2023). coasts have recently come into focus as a place of transformation and destinations requiring responsible management approaches because of environmental concerns including extreme weather and sea-level rise (Jarratt and Davies, 2020). However. natural aquatic environments are good for us and provide key well-being benefits (Georgiou, et al., 2021) and the prescription of nature is now considered as viable by even the more reticent GPs (Marx and More, 2022).
This presentation details research which extends the Leisure-Health receptor theory (Gammon and Jarratt, 2019) by understanding how a leisure state of mind might amplify subjective wellbeing benefits (SWB) of seaside spaces. It draws from two other theoretical constructs: affordance of the potential properties of environments perceived by individuals (Gibson, 1966), offering opportunities, not only to do, but to be; and savouring (Kurtz and Simmonds, 2015) – appreciating present moments and entering leisure spaces in the right frame of mind.
Data on 333 respondents, collected by survey questionnaire at six locations on the Lancashire, was used to construct a Seaside Wellbeing Index. Findings showed that although SWB benefits were experienced regardless of context, those at leisure demonstrated significantly higher SWI scores than those at work, indicating that a leisure state of mind is important for amplifying SWB in seaside environments. Additionally, overnight tourists were seen to have higher SWI scores, raising the question that the length of stay, slowing down and the time dimension of leisure are impactful on SWB. The presentation will argue that optimum conditions involve being at leisure, and slowing down, at blue spaces
Perception of dynamic pitch and prominence in speech
No full textThe perception of dynamic – constantly changing – pitch in speech has been extensively studied in psychoacoustics and linguistics. In psychoacoustic studies, listeners are usually presented with short stimuli such as vowels or syllables, and their ability to discriminate a pair of stimuli is assessed. On the other hand, linguistic studies concern intonation over an utterance. Intonation entails not only acoustic prominence realised by pitch, duration, and loudness, but also listeners’ knowledge about the relative prominence between syllables or between words in their language. This paper discusses a series of speech perception experiments using both psychoacoustic and linguistic tasks. Participants judged either relative pitch height or prominence between two pitch peaks or valleys in an utterance. Native English speakers in different age and dialectal groups were tested. The results showed that, first, listeners’ pitch height discrimination in the utterance context seems to be more accurate than previously reported. Second, there is a robust perceptual asymmetry between pitch peaks and valleys, the valleys posing significant challenges in perception. Third, listeners’ perception of pitch height and prominence is disassociated. The findings taken together suggest an intricate interaction between the physical properties of the stimuli and listeners’ top-down knowledge in the perception of speech intonation
Extraction and Untargeted Analysis of Metabolome from Undemineralised Cortical Bone Matrix
Get PDFLiquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) untargeted metabolomics has become the gold standard for the profiling of low-molecular-weight compounds. Recently, this discipline has raised great interest in forensic sciences, especially in the field of toxicology and for post-mortem interval estimation. The current study aims at evaluating three extraction protocols and two LC-MS/MS assays run in both positive and negative mode to identify the most suitable method to conduct post-mortem metabolomic profiling of bone tissue. A fragment of the anterior tibia of a 82 years-old male sampled from a Human Taphonomy Facility was powdered via freeze-milling. The powdered sub-samples were extracted in five replicates per protocol. Methods tested were (I) a biphasic chloroform-methanol-water protocol (II) a single phase methanol-water protocol and (III) a single phase methanol-acetonitrile-water protocol. LC-MS/MS analyses were carried out via High Performance Liquid Chromatography, either on hydrophilic interaction (HILIC) or on reversed-phase (C18) columns in both positive and negative ionisation modes, coupled with a Q-TOF mass spectrometer. Results suggest that the highest consistency between replicates and quality control samples was obtained with the single phase extractions (i.e., methanol-acetonitrile-water), whilst the ideal combination of instrumental set up HILIC chromatography in positive ionisation mode and of C18 chromatography in negative ionisation mode. For the purpose of forensic investigations, a combination of a single phase extraction and the two aforementioned chromatographic and mass spectrometry modes could represent an ideal set up for obtaining bone metabolomic profiles from taphonomically altered bones
What do people with intellectual disabilities, their family members and paid carers understand about psychotropic medication? A rapid review
Get PDFBackground
People with intellectual disabilities are more likely to be prescribed psychotropic medication than the general population and are frequently prescribed multiple medications. Understanding people with intellectual disabilities and carer perspectives is essential to improving the quality of psychotropic medication prescribing and usage.
Method
A rapid review explored people with intellectual disabilities' understanding of psychotropic medications, as well as family members and paid carers, and how this understanding can be improved.
Results
Twenty-one journal articles were included. Lack of understanding of medication was universal, with participants often unaware of adverse effects, alternatives, and rights around medication. There was also a lack of involvement in decision making for all participants. Some interventions aimed at people with intellectual disabilities or paid carers helped to improve knowledge.
Conclusion
Evaluating how best to improve psychotropic medication understanding for people with intellectual disabilities, family members and paid carers should be a focus for future research
Researchers’ perspectives of self-agency within a context of violence and harm in maternity care
Get PDFProblem: There is an increasing awareness of the prevalence of obstetric violence within maternity care and that some women and birthing people are at greater risk of experiencing harm.
Background: Supporting self-agency for women and birthing people in maternity care may be a way of addressing the disparities in vulnerability to violence and harm.
Aim: To explore researchers’ perspectives of self-agency for women from different backgrounds, what inhibits and prevents self-agency, and how self-agency can be enabled.
Methods: A qualitative research design was undertaken underpinned by a reproductive justice framework. Group interviews were held with researchers working with perinatal women/birthing people with histories and experiences of violence and abuse. Reflexive thematic analysis using Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory was undertaken.
Findings: 12 participants took part in two group interviews. Two themes were developed: ‘defining self-agency’ and ‘ecological influences on self-agency’.
Discussion: The findings identify how self-agency should not be perceived as an intrinsic attribute, but rather is underpinned by exogenous and endogenous influences. Whether and how self-agency is enacted is determined by interacting factors that operate on a micro, meso and macro level perspective. Self-agency is undermined by factors including immigration policies and sociocultural perspectives that can lead to under-resourced and judgemental care, other intersectional factors can also lead to some individuals being more vulnerable to violence and harm.
Conclusion: Implications from this work include strategies that emphasise woman-centred care, staff training and meaningful organisational change to optimise positive health and wellbeing
Diagnostic utility of Brain Injury Guidelines (BIG): systematic review and meta-analysis for prediction of neurosurgical intervention in traumatic brain injury
Get PDFBackground
The Brain Injury Guidelines (BIG) categorize the severity of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). The efficacy of BIG in predicting radiological deterioration and the necessity for neurosurgical intervention remains uncertain, as there is a lack of examination of pooled data from current literature despite validation in numerous single and multi-institutional studies. The aim of this study was to analyze existing studies to determine the diagnostic accuracy of BIG scoring criteria.
Methods
A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted in accordance with PRISMA guidelines (PROSPEROID CRD42021277542). Three databases were searched, and articles published from 2000 to October 2022 were included (last search date: 25 November 2022). Pooled sensitivity and specificity were calculated using random effects meta-analysis.
Results
Of the 1130 articles identified, 13 were included in the analysis (9032 patients – 1433 BIG1, 2136 BIG2 & 3189 BIG3). A total of 2274 patients were not classified under either group. Pooled sensitivity for predicting neurosurgical intervention was 1.00 (95%CI:1.00–1.00), and 0.98 for radiological deterioration (95% CI: 0.927–0.996). The specificity in predicting radiological deterioration was 0.18 (95% CI: 0.16–0.21) and 0.05 for neurosurgical intervention (95% CI 0.05–0.05).
Conclusions
The BIG score is highly sensitive at excluding TBI cases that do not require neurosurgical intervention; however, BIG-2 and BIG-3 might not be useful for ruling in TBI patients who require neurosurgical intervention