Naresuan University Journal
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The Prefigurative Politics of Translation in Place-based Movements of Protest: Subtitling in the Egyptian Revolution
No full textThe idea of prefiguration is widely assumed to derive from anarchist discourse; it involves experimenting with currently available means in such a way that they come to mirror or actualise the political ideals that inform a movement, thus collapsing the traditional distinction between means and ends. Practically all the literature on prefiguration has so far focused on structural, organisational and interactional issues – specifically, how activist communities attempt to create in their own interactions and in the way they organize their work the kind of society they envision: non-hierarchical, non-representational, inclusive, respectful of diversity. This article explores the extent to which volunteer subtitling undertaken by disparate individuals for collectives connected with the Egyptian Revolution supports or undermines the prefigurative agendas of these collectives. In doing so, it tentatively extends the current definition of prefiguration to encompass textual, visual and aesthetic practices that prefigure activist principles and actualise them in the present, focusing in particular on the level of experimentation involved in such practices
Translation, validity and reliability of the British Sign Language (BSL) version of the EQ-5D-5L
No full textPurpose: To translate the health questionnaire EuroQol EQ-5D-5L into British Sign Language [BSL], to test its reliability with the signing Deaf population of BSL users in the UK and to validate its psychometric properties. Methods: The EQ-5D-5L BSL was developed following the international standard for translation required by EuroQol, with additional agreed features appropriate to a visual language. Data collection used an online platform to view the signed (BSL) version of the tests. The psychometric testing included content validity, assessed by interviewing a small sample of Deaf people. Reliability was tested by internal consistency of the items and test-retest, and convergent validity was assessed by determining how well EQ-5D-5L BSL correlates with CORE-10 BSL and CORE-6D BSL. Results: The psychometric properties of the EQ-5D-5L BSL are good, indicating that it can be used to measure health status in the Deaf signing population in the UK. Convergent validity between EQ-5D-5L BSL and CORE-10 BSL and CORE-6D BSL is consistent, demonstrating that the BSL version of EQ-5D-5L is a good measure of the health status of an individual. The test-retest reliability of EQ-5D-5L BSL, for each dimension of health, was shown to have Cohen's kappa values of 0.47 to 0.61; these were in the range of moderate to good, and were therefore acceptable. Conclusions: This is the first time EQ-5D-5L has been translated into a signed language for use with Deaf people and is a significant step forward towards conducting studies of health status and cost-effectiveness in this population
Evidence that implementation intentions can overcome the effects of smoking habits.
No full textOBJECTIVE: In this study, the aim was to (a) test for the first time whether implementation intentions formed outside the laboratory can overcome the effects of habits, and (b) see whether the operation of implementation intentions could be improved by asking people to form certain "when-then" plans as opposed to uncertain "if-then" plans. METHOD: The study employed a 2 × 2 fully factorial design with baseline and follow-up measures of smoking status and habits. Smokers (N = 168; circa 33 years of age; 79 women, 89 men) were randomly allocated to 1 of 2 intervention groups to form either if-then plans or when-then plans using supporting tools, or to 1 of 2 control conditions in which they were exposed to identical supporting tools but were not asked to form if-then plans or when-then plans. RESULTS: Certainty did not affect the operation of implementation intentions, but smokers who formed implementation intentions were significantly more likely to quit, χ2(1, N = 168) = 8.86, p < .01, and the effect was mediated by changes in smoking habits (95% CI [0.02, 0.14]). Similar effects were observed when cigarettes smoked per day, nicotine dependence, and craving served as the dependent variables. CONCLUSION: The findings demonstrate that people who have formed implementation intentions can overcome habits, such as smoking, outside the laboratory. The supporting tools described in the present research could be deployed at low cost with high public health reach to support behavior change
Improving photoelectrochemical performance of highly-ordered TiO<sub>2</sub> nanotube arrays with cosensitization of PbS and CdS quantum dots
No full textPbS and CdS quantum dots (QDs) were deposited on TiO2 nanotube arrays (TNTAs) by a sonication-assisted successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (S-SILAR) method. Effects of the composite configuration, QD deposition order, and number of S-SILAR cycles on the photoelectrical properties have been systematically investigated. Depositing the TNTAs with PbS QDs before or after CdS QDs results in TNTAs/PbS/CdS or TNTAs/CdS/PbS configurations. The deposition order has been demonstrated to strongly affect the photoelectrochemical performance, and the TNTAs/PbS/CdS configuration shows the superior performance due to the synergistic effect of the different types of QDs. Studies of the photoelectrical properties of the TNTAs sensitized by single QDs with various number of S-SILAR cycles suggest that PbS decoration can dramatically increase the photocurrent density, and CdS can stabilize the photoelectrochemical behavior. Combining both beneficial effects of these two kinds of QDs, the TNTAs sensitized by 5 cycles PbS and 5 cycles CdS (referred to as TNTAs/PbS(5)/CdS(5)) can achieve the photocurrent density of 0.87 mA cm−2 under a white light source irradiation of 5.9 mW cm−2, corresponding to a record normalized photocurrent of 147 mA W−1. And the photoconversion efficiency can reach 14.3%. Further time-dependent measurement shows that TNTAs/PbS(5)/CdS(5) possesses a stable photoresponse for more than 120 min
Inhibiting Drivers of Non-mutational Drug Tolerance Is a Salvage Strategy for Targeted Melanoma Therapy.
No full textOnce melanomas have progressed with acquired resistance to mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)-targeted therapy, mutational heterogeneity presents a major challenge. We therefore examined the therapy phase before acquired resistance had developed and discovered the melanoma survival oncogene MITF as a driver of an early non-mutational and reversible drug-tolerance state, which is induced by PAX3-mediated upregulation of MITF. A drug-repositioning screen identified the HIV1-protease inhibitor nelfinavir as potent suppressor of PAX3 and MITF expression. Nelfinavir profoundly sensitizes BRAF and NRAS mutant melanoma cells to MAPK-pathway inhibitors. Moreover, nelfinavir is effective in BRAF and NRAS mutant melanoma cells isolated from patients progressed on MAPK inhibitor (MAPKi) therapy and in BRAF/NRAS/PTEN mutant tumors. We demonstrate that inhibiting a driver of MAPKi-induced drug tolerance could improve current approaches of targeted melanoma therapy
Gadolinium-functionalised multi-walled carbon nanotubes as a T1 contrast agent for MRI cell labelling and tracking
No full textThe development of efficient contrast agents for cell labelling coupled with powerful medical imaging techniques is of great interest for monitoring cell trafficking with potential clinical applications such as organ repair and regenerative medicine. In this paper, functionalised multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) were engineered for cell labelling in T1-weighted MRI applications. These sophisticated constructs were covalently functionalised with the Gadolinium (Gd) chelating agent, diethylene triamine pentaacetic acid (DTPA), enabling tight attachment of Gd atoms onto the nanotube surface. The resulting Gd-labeled MWNTs were found to be stable over 2 weeks in water and mouse serum and high payload of Gd atoms could be loaded onto the nanotubes. The r1 relaxivity of the Gd-MWNTs was a 3-fold higher than of the clinically approved T1 contrast agent Magnevist at a magnetic field strength of 7T. The contrast efficiency, expressed as the r1 relaxivity, of the Gd-MWNTs in Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial cells (HUVEC) was investigated at 7T and was found to be around 6.6 mM-1.s-1. There was no reduction of the contrast efficiency after internalisation in HUVECs, which was imparted to the ability of carbon nanotubes to translocate the cell membrane
How age and gender predict illness course in a first-episode nonaffective psychosis cohort
No full textOBJECTIVE:Male gender and young age at onset of schizophrenia are traditionally associated with poor treatment outcome and often used to determine prognosis. However, many studies use nonincident samples and fail to adjust for symptom severity at onset. We hypothesized that age and gender would influence severity of presentation but would not predict outcome after adjustment for symptoms at presentation.METHOD:628 people with first-episode ICD-9 and DSM-IV nonaffective psychosis from 2 historical cohorts recruited from sequential presentations in Canada and the United Kingdom (1996-1998) were assessed prospectively at presentation and over 12-18 months using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS).RESULTS:Models of the age-at-onset distributions with 2 underlying modes at similar ages in women (ages 23 years and 47 years) and men (ages 22 years and 46 years) had relatively good fits compared to single-mode models (χ(2)1 better by 9.2 for females, 8.0 for males, both P < .05). At presentation, scores for negative symptoms were 1.84 points worse for males (95% CI, 1.05 to 2.58; P < .001) in a mixed effects model. Younger age also predicted higher negative scores at presentation (partial correlation r = -0.18, P < .01; P < .001 in the mixed effects model). Findings were similar for cognitive-disorganized symptoms. However, after controlling for baseline symptoms, age at onset and gender did not significantly predict subsequent symptom course in the mixed effects models.CONCLUSIONS:Gender and age at onset are independently associated with symptoms at presentation but not with medium-term course of schizophrenia. This finding reinforces the importance of early identification and prevention of severe negative symptoms at first episode, whatever an individual's age and gender.</p
