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Definition: Orientation agnosia
Get PDFOrientation agnosia (OA) defines the difficulty of correctlyreproducing, describing and recognizing the spatial orientation(typically the correct cardinal axis) of visually presentedobjects. The orientation difficulty is independent of the originalorientation of the object (vertical or horizontal), and hasbeen reported for drawings of real objects (like a house or akangaroo), and for meaningless stimuli (such as the ReyComplex Figure). The term orientation agnosia is used only forsubstantial (and ideally repeatable) misorientations, of whichdramatic rotations of 90 or 180 have often been reported.Object orientation can be assessed in several ways: examplesinclude copying an image directly, drawing a picturefrom memory, verbally describing the object's orientation, orchoosing the stimulus orientation from among alternatives.Thus, while the phenomenon has been described as ‘rotateddrawing’, it also appears when assessed using methods otherthan drawing.Orientation agnosia is a selective disorder that dissociatesfrom constructional apraxia and visual object agnosia. Thus,despite substantial orientation errors, patients are able toaccurately reproduce and name visually presented objects,suggesting that the processing of shape information is moreintact.The label “Orientation agnosia” applies only when theorientation errors cannot be attributed to aphasia, sensorymotorimpairments, intelligence deficits or any other disordersthat could prevent task completion
Supporting social connection for people living with dementia: lessons from the findings of the TRIO study
Get PDFPurposeThe purpose of this paper is to share the learning concerning how services and the paid carers working in them can support people living with dementia (PLWD) and their unpaid carers to overcome social isolation. This learning comes from the key findings from a Social Return on Investment (SROI) evaluation of a Shared Lives (SL) Day support service, known as TRIO.Design/methodology/approachSROI is a form of cost-benefit analysis that captures and monetises stakeholder outcomes. The SROI evaluation included a rapid evidence review, an interview study and a questionnaire study. The learning shared is drawn from the interview and questionnaire data that explored the reported outcomes relating to social connection, which included data related to participating in meaningful activities, confidence and independence.FindingsPLWD who accessed the SL Day support service experienced better social connection, a sense of control over their activities (including their social activities) and community presence. A key foundation of these outcomes was the meaningful relationship that developed between the PLWD, their unpaid carer and the paid carer.Research limitations/implicationsThis evaluation was a pilot study with a small, albeit representative sample size.Practical implicationsThe learning suggests feasible and effective ways for paid carers to support the social connection of PLWD and their unpaid carers with their wider community.Originality/valueThere has been little exploration of how community-based short breaks (like SL Day support) can enhance social connection. The authors drew on a social relational model lens to illustrate how this service type had supported successful outcomes of community and social inclusion for PLWD
We need to talk about values: a proposed framework for the articulation of normative reasoning in health technology assessment
Get PDFIt is acknowledged that health technology assessment (HTA) is an inherently value-based activity that makes use of normative reasoning alongside empirical evidence. But the language used to conceptualise and articulate HTA’s normative aspects is demonstrably unnuanced, imprecise and inconsistently employed, undermining transparency and preventing proper scrutiny of the rationales on which decisions are based. This paper – developed through a cross-disciplinary collaboration of 24 researchers with expertise in healthcare priority-setting – seeks to address this problem by offering a clear definition of key terms and distinguishing between the types of normative commitment invoked during HTA, thus providing a novel conceptual framework for the articulation of reasoning. Through application to a hypothetical case, it is illustrated how this framework can operate as a practical tool through which HTA practitioners and policymakers can enhance the transparency and coherence of their decision-making, while enabling others to hold them more easily to account. The framework is offered as a starting point for further discussion amongst those with a desire to enhance the legitimacy and fairness of HTA by facilitating practical public reasoning, in which decisions are made on behalf of the public, in public view, through a chain of reasoning that withstands ethical scrutiny
Bacillus indicus and Bacillus subtilis as alternative health and colouration promoters to synthetic astaxanthin in cyprinid aquaculture species.
Get PDFOne of the largest challenges for the sustainable development of global aquaculture is the threat of infectious diseases. Preventative strategies that reduce antibiotic use are required to ensure fish health, minimise infectious diseases and subsequent pharmaceutical interventions. Recent strategies involve health-promoting feed supplements, such as astaxanthin and probiotic bacteria. Astaxanthin, a widely used carotenoid, offers colouration and antioxidant properties that can improve fish growth and fish survival when challenged with a pathogen. Probiotics can provide fish with a range of health benefits ranging from enhanced feed digestion, synthesis of vitamins, boost of innate immune response and active defence against potential pathogens. In this study, we tested if novel probiotic blends (Bacillus subtilis and/or Bacillus indicus) can be used as alternative health and/or colouration supplements to astaxanthin in two cyprinid species, mirror carp (Cyprinus carpio) and Red Comet goldfish (Carassius auratus auratus). Using experimental feed trials and 16S rRNA microbial profiling, the impact of the probiotic on fish growth and microbial community within the distal gastrointestinal tract was assessed. In addition, in mirror carp, blood samples were tested for immunology and haematological parameters, while in goldfish colouration of the skin was analysed. Mirror carp fed astaxanthin showed significantly increased growth whereas B. substilis /B.indicus supplementation had non-significant effects on growth performance. Our results provide the first insights into how the supplementation of astaxanthin changes the microbial composition in cyprinid species. In mirror carp, astaxanthin and the probiotic blend induce a significant shift in gut microbial communities. Mirror carp fed B. substilis/ B.indicus showed several indices of potential microbial and health benefits such as increased diversity, an abundance of potentially beneficial bacteria and enhancement of the phagocytic activity and creatinine blood levels. However, no effect on colouration, growth or the microbial community was found in goldfish, highlighting substantial species-specific differences in response to probiotics, in two closely related cyprinid species. Further research into the efficacy and site of colonization of supplemented bacteria in fish gastrointestinal tracts, and the mechanisms underlying the observed shifts in the host microbiota, is required to fully understand species-specific responses to probiotic supplementation. <br/
Estimating the abundance of benthic invertebrates from trap-catch data
Get PDFTrap fisheries targeting invertebrates are economically important but many of the target species lack stock assessments. One reason for this is the difficulty of estimating density. One important means by which density can be estimated uses the catch rates of baited traps that are spaced at different distances. With declining spacing, the sphere of attraction will increasingly overlap, leading to reductions in catches, allowing for the estimation of the density that is catchable by traps on the seabed. Here we review the analytical methods adopted across a range of studies and find that no consensus on robust methods exists. We propose an analytical method that assumes the trapping area is circular and that the chance of catching an individual declines linearly with distance from the trap. We apply this method to estimate the density and the trapping radius of crabs and gastropods from real and simulated datasets. The method estimated a trapping radius of between 4 and 86 metres, and densities that are up to 2.5 times less and 13 times greater than estimates provided in the original sources, illustrating the sensitivity to methodology. In conclusion, we provide and test a standardized method to estimate the density of benthic invertebrates
A multiple baseline approach for marine heatwaves
Get PDFMarine heatwaves and other extreme temperature events can drive biological responses, including mass mortality. However, their effects depend on how they are experienced by biological systems (including human societies). We applied two different baselines (fixed and shifting) to a time series of North Sea water temperature to explore how slowly vs. quickly adapting systems would experience extreme temperatures. We tested if the properties of marine heatwaves and the association with atmospheric heatwaves were robust to a change in baseline. A fixed baseline produced an increase in the frequency and duration of marine heatwaves, which would be experienced as the new normal by slowly adapting systems; 7 of the 10 most severe heatwaves occurred between 1990 and 2018. The shifting baseline removed the trend in the frequency but not duration of heatwaves; the 1990s appeared as a period of change in the frequency of strong and severe heatwaves as compared to the 1980s. There were also common patterns among baselines: marine heatwaves were more frequent in late summer when temperatures peak; temperature variability was characterized by low frequency, large amplitude fluctuations (i.e., as red noise), known to drive extinction events. In addition, marine heatwaves occurred during or just after atmospheric heatwaves. Our work highlights the importance of identifying properties of marine heatwaves that are robust or contingent on a change in baseline
Coastal residents' affective engagement with the natural and constructed environment
Get PDF1. Coastal communities and their landscapes are subject to constant change, and today face new challenges as a result of climate change and the sustainable energy transition. To ensure the resilience of coastal communities to ongoing changes in the natural and constructed environment, it is imperative that planners and other decisionmakers understand the importance of local places to residents.2. We used an interdisciplinary, mixed-methods approach to study relationships between coastal residents and places in south Co. Wicklow, Ireland, introducing the concept of ‘affective engagement’. Grounded in new materialist theory (notably actor–network theory), this term connects the meaning derived by residents from their relationships with coastal places (‘affect’) to the extent of their material interactions (‘engagement’). ‘Affect’ was determined from thematic analysis of interviews and open questionnaire responses, as well as place attachment scales included in the questionnaire. Measures describing the strength of the relationship between residents and coastal places were used as a proxy for ‘engagement’.3. To understand how experienced meaning and material interaction interlink, principal component analysis (PCA) was used to join and visually explore the different measures of ‘affect’ and ‘engagement’. Potentially mediating sociodemographic variables were investigated using a permutational multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA).4. The majority of self-selected study participants displayed strong place attachment to their most frequently visited places. We found that affective engagement does not vary with age, gender or type of place. Participants favoured natural and constructed places in equal measure. This implies that constructed places can be of high value due to their different functions for different individuals, and that landscape transformations may impact on coastal residents if they cause a change in functionality.5. We found two domains comprising affective engagement that are not measurable by quantitative or qualitative data alone. The first of these domains is driven by attachments to places, and the other by meanings relating to either personal or social fulfilment afforded by a place.6. Our findings may help planners better understand the meanings behind local support for (or resistance against) landscape transformations, and how residents' affective engagement might be impacted by proposed interventions
Cattle production strategies to deliver protein with less land and lower environmental impact
Get PDFGlobal land resources are over-exploited and natural habitats are declining, often driven by expanding livestock production. In Ireland, pastureland for grazing cattle and sheep account for circa 60% of terrestrial land use. The agriculture, forestry and other land use sector (AFOLU) is responsible for 44% of national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A new Grassland Animal response Model (GLAM) was developed to relate livestock-cohort grass and feed requirements to farm-grassland system areas, enhancing environmental assessment of prospective AFOLU configurations. Although land conversion targets are often well-defined, they tend to lack a clear definition of where land sparing can occur. Through analyses of 10 scenarios of milk and beef production and management strategies, we found that displacing beef cows with dairy cows can increase national protein output while sparing up to 0.75 million ha (18%) of grassland (albeit with a minor increase in overseas land requirement for additional concentrate feed). Reducing slaughter age, increasing exports of male dairy calves and increasing grassland use efficiency on beef farms each achieved between 0.19 and 0.32 million ha of land sparing. Sexed semen to achieve more favourable male-female birth ratios had a minor impact. GHG emissions, ammonia emissions and nutrient leaching were only reduced substantially when overall cattle numbers declined, confirming the need for cattle reductions to achieve environmental objectives. Nonetheless, application of GLAM shows potential for improved grass and cattle management to spare good quality land suitable for productive forestry and wetland restoration. This change is urgently needed to generate scalable carbon dioxide removals from the land sector in Ireland, and globally