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Using Human Biomonitoring Data to Support Risk Assessment of Cosmetic Ingredients—A Case Study of Benzophenone-3
Get PDFSafety assessment of UV filters for human health by the Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) is based on the estimation of internal dose following external (skin) application of cosmetic products, and comparison with a toxicological reference value after conversion to internal dose. Data from human biomonitoring (HBM) could be very useful in this regard, because it is based on the measurement of real-life internal exposure of the human population to a chemical. UV filters were included in the priority list of compounds to be addressed under the European Human Biomonitoring Initiative (HBM4EU), and risk assessment of benzophenone-3 (BP-3) was carried out based on HBM data. Using BP-3 as an example, this study investigated the benefits and limitations of the use of external versus internal exposure data to explore the usefulness of HBM to support the risk assessment of cosmetic ingredients. The results show that both approaches did indicate a risk to human health under certain levels of exposure. They also highlight the need for more robust exposure data on BP-3 and other cosmetic ingredients, and a standardized framework for incorporating HBM data in the risk assessment of cosmetic products.European Union; Grant(s): 73303
Understanding inequality: The experiences and perceptions of equality, diversity, and inclusion of those working or studying within sport and exercise psychology
Get PDFThis is a pre-publication version of the following article: [Morris, R., Pattinson, E. M., Lafferty, M., Brown, D., Emeka, L., Williams, J., Byrne, L., Shanmuganathan-Felton, V., & Kiemle-Gabbay, L. R. (2022). Understanding inequality: The experiences and perceptions of equality, diversity, and inclusion of those working or studying within sport and exercise psychology. Sport & Exercise Psychology Review, 17(1), 4-15].Discrimination and inequality are ever present in today’s society, with athletes facing racial abuse and LGBTQ+ individuals fearing for their safety at international events. Due to these additional stressors, the role of sport psychologists becomes increasingly important when supporting athletes from minority groups. An online questionnaire was developed to gain greater understanding of the equality, diversity, and inclusion (ED&I) knowledge, perceptions, and experiences of those working, studying or researching in the field of sport and exercise psychology. The findings of the current study highlight the ongoing experiences of sexism, racism, homo/transphobia, and ableism experienced by participants, as well as the need for more suitable, in-depth training around ED&I subjects and guidance on meaningful action to combat inequality and discrimination in the field. The involvement of individuals from minority groups in the development, delivery and evaluation of training and research is necessary to move towards true inclusion
A figurational analysis of employees’ experiences of organizational change within NGBs
Get PDFNational governing bodies of sport (NGBs) are intrinsically and dependably aligned to delivering the UK government’s sport policies of increasing participation in sport and winning medals. NGBs operate within an environment characterized by social processes shaped by dynamic interdependent relationships, a results-orientated approach, and intense scrutiny of performance. Change has become an integral part of the organizational life for employees. Yet, the existing literature has overemphasized the structural characteristics of organizations by being preoccupied with the treatment of organizations as rational and static objects.
This thesis aims to make an original contribution to the literature by employing a figurational analysis to understand the meanings constructed by employees as they responded to the government’s deliberate, overtly prescriptive, and task-orientated strategy of modernization. This study employed a mixed method ‘lite’ approach, comprising semi-structured interviews and an e-survey. Initially, semi-structured interviews were conducted with senior administrators from five National Sport Organizations (NSOs) and seven NGBs to establish context on the external processes influencing change within NGBs. Two case study NGBs were selected, and 25 semi-structured interviews and an e-survey (n=52) conducted to gather data on the experiences and realities of employees in responding to and managing internal changes.
The study draws attention to a constant, top-down process of change reinforced by the four-yearly cycle of funding administrated by Sport England and UK Sport. Employees increasingly focused upwardly to align their goal orientation to that of their funding partners, constraining the ability of employees to balance the needs of their other partners across their wider network. These processes have shaped the formation of extreme power imbalances, in favour of the government, Sport England, and UK Sport, through strategies to centralize power and to influence a strong functional and resource dependency by NGBs. The process of change created unintentional consequences as NGBs moved away from their traditional voluntary sport clubs (VSC) network, to concentrate on easy targets to ensure delivery of their contractual obligations. The process of habitus formation mediated the way in which employees made sense of internal changes, and in managing the hostilities that employees experienced from those board members and club officials deeply embedded within the traditional sporting ethos and philosophy of NGBs.
It concludes that the adoption of a figurational analysis to organizational change, with employees positioned at the centre of the investigation, has provided a more adequate understanding of the interweaving of social processes of change and human action. As the UK government continues to modernize NGBs, policy-makers, and particularly NGB senior managers, should consider readdressing the levels of interdependency and extreme power imbalances between NGBs, government, Sport England, and UK Sport, to enable the longer-term sustainability of NGBs, through more effectively balancing their role as member-led organizations and strategic deliverers of government sport policies
Health-related quality of life, direct medical and societal costs among children with moderate or severe haemophilia in Europe: multivariable models of the CHESS-PAEDs study
Get PDFBackground: Haemophilia bears substantial humanistic and economic burden on children and their caregivers. Characterising the differential impact of severe versus moderate paediatric haemophilia is important for clinical and health policy decisions. We analysed health-related quality of life (HRQoL), annual direct medical (excluding factor treatment costs), non-medical and societal costs among children and adolescents with moderate and severe haemophilia A or B without inhibitors from the European CHESS-PAEDs study. Information was reported by physicians and caregivers; patients aged ≥ 8 years self-reported their HRQoL. Descriptive statistics summarised demographic and clinical characteristics, costs, and HRQoL scores (EQ-5D-Y). Regression models estimated differences in HRQoL and costs for moderate versus severe haemophilia adjusting for age, body mass index z-score, country, number of comorbidities, and weight-adjusted annual clotting factor consumption.
Results: The analytic sample comprised 794 patients with a mean age of 10.5 years; most had haemophilia A (79%) and 58% had severe haemophilia. Mean predicted direct medical costs in moderate patients were two-thirds of the predicted costs for severe disease (€3065 vs. €2047; p < 0.001; N = 794), while societal costs were more than half of the predicted costs for children with severe haemophilia (€6950 vs. €3666; p < 0.001; N = 220). Mean predicted HRQoL scores were 0.74 and 0.69 for moderate and severe disease, respectively (p < 0.05; N = 185).
Conclusion: Children with haemophilia and their caregivers displayed a significant economic and humanistic burden. While severe patients showed the highest direct medical and societal costs, and worse HRQoL, the burden of moderate haemophilia on its own was substantial and far from negligible.Sanof
The effects of sex and handedness on masturbation laterality and other lateralised motor behaviours
Get PDFThis is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Laterality on 26/11/2021, available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/1357650X.2021.2006211Masturbation is a common human behaviour. Compared to other unimanual behaviours it has unique properties, including increased sexual and emotional arousal, and privacy. Self-reported hand preference for masturbation was examined in 104 left-handed and 103 right-handed women, and 100 left-handed and 99 right-handed men. Handedness (modified Edinburgh Handedness Inventory, EHI), footedness, eyedness, and cheek kissing preferences were also measured. Seventy nine percent used their dominant hand (always/usually) for masturbation, but left-handers (71.5%) were less consistently lateralised to use their dominant hand than right-handers (86.5%). Hand preference for masturbation correlated more strongly with handedness (EHI), than with footedness, eyedness, or cheek preference. There was no difference in masturbation frequency between left and right-handers, but men masturbated more frequently than women, and more women (75%) than men (33%) masturbated with sex aids. For kissing the preferred cheek of an emotionally close person from the viewer’s perspective, left-handers showed a left-cheek preference, and right-handers a weaker right-cheek preference. The results suggest that hemispheric asymmetries in emotion do not influence hand preference for masturbation but may promote a leftward shift in cheek kissing. In all, masturbation is lateralised in a similar way to other manual motor behaviours in left-handed and right-handed men and women
Who goes where in couples and pairs? Effects of sex and handedness on side preferences in human dyads
Get PDFThis is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Laterality on 21/06/2022, available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/1357650X.2022.2090573There is increasing evidence that inter-individual interaction among conspecifics can cause population-level lateralization. Male-female and mother-infant dyads of several non-human species show lateralised position preferences, but such preferences have rarely been examined in humans. We observed 430 male-female human pairs and found a significant bias for males to walk on the right side of the pair. A survey measured side preferences in 93 left-handed and 92 right-handed women, and 96 left-handed and 99 right-handed men. When walking, and when sitting on a bench, males showed a significant side preference determined by their handedness, with left-handed men preferring to be on their partner’s left side and right-handed men preferring to be on their partner’s right side. Women did not show significant side preferences. When men are with their partner they show a preference for the side that facilitates the use of their dominant hand. We discuss possible reasons for the side preference, including males preferring to occupy the optimal ‘fight ready’ side, and the influence of sex and handedness on the strength and direction of emotion lateralization
Book Review: Mateusz Fafinski, Roman Infrastructure in Early Medieval Britain: The Adaptations of the Past in Text and Stone (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2021). ISBN: 978-94- 6372-753-2.
Get PDFThis is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Northern History on 16/11/2021, available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/0078172X.2021.1968177Book Review
A novel model of nephrotic syndrome results from a point mutation in Lama5 and is modified by genetic background
Get PDFNephrotic syndrome is characterized by severe proteinuria, hypoalbuminaemia, edema and hyperlipidaemia. Genetic studies of nephrotic syndrome have led to the identification of proteins playing a crucial role in slit diaphragm signaling, regulation of actin cytoskeleton dynamics and cell-matrix interactions. The laminin α5 chain is essential for embryonic development and, in association with laminin β2 and laminin γ1, is a major component of the glomerular basement membrane, a critical component of the glomerular filtration barrier. Mutations in LAMA5 were recently identified in children with nephrotic syndrome. Here, we have identified a novel missense mutation (E884G) in the uncharacterized L4a domain of LAMA5 where homozygous mice develop nephrotic syndrome with severe proteinuria with histological and ultrastructural changes in the glomerulus mimicking the progression seen in most patients. The levels of LAMA5 are reduced in vivo and the assembly of the laminin 521 heterotrimer significantly reduced in vitro. Proteomic analysis of the glomerular extracellular fraction revealed changes in the matrix composition. Importantly, the genetic background of the mice had a significant effect on aspects of disease progression from proteinuria to changes in podocyte morphology. Thus, our novel model will provide insights into pathologic mechanisms of nephrotic syndrome and pathways that influence the response to a dysfunctional glomerular basement membrane that may be important in a range of kidney diseases
Fandom and The Beatles: The Act You've Known for All These Years
Get PDFMy aim in this chapter is to consider how Real Person Fiction (RPF) relates to celebrity fandom. You have to know about the Beatles to write about them. But do you also have to love them, in any dedicated sense, to pursue such literary activity? How might we discern a more nuanced picture? We tend to assume that fanfic is either a logical extension of celebrity fandom or its own category of communal activity. How might we understand fanfic in ways that do not necessarily alienate it from other fan practices, while still recognizing its specificity
An Immersive Haptic-enabled Training Simulation for Paramedics
Get PDF“© 2022 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.”This paper describes the integration of haptics support into a virtual reality training simulation aimed at skills retention for paramedics. We focus on a chest decompression, a life-saving invasive procedure used for trauma-associated cardiopulmonary resuscitation (and other causes) that every emergency physician needs to master. It is not regularly performed by a paramedic, however, and therefore skills maintenance is a challenge. In our simulation, a virtual Russell PneumoFix-8 device is used to carry out the procedure and it is controlled with the 3D Systems Touch grounded force feedback device. We describe how this device has been integrated into an immersive virtual environment so that it or any other tool can be used at any location in the scene. Quantitative data has been obtained from an evaluation exercise carried out with 21 paramedics. The majority of these participants reported a good feeling of presence, according to the Spatial Presence Experience Scale. They indicated strongly that the use of haptic-enabled simulators that include the kind of interaction techniques implemented in our simulator would be beneficial for training and skills retention. The realism of using the simulator at a 1 to 1 scale was also highly scored. A System Usability Scale was also calculated and the results show that the simulator is close to an acceptable standard for usability but more work is needed. We will address this in future work
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