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Overlap not Gap: conceptualising natural language and its co-existence with non-human communication and cognition using Prototype Theory.
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The oxidation of uranium diboride in flowing air atmospheres
Get PDFThe air oxidation behaviour of UB2 synthesized via the carbo/borothermic reaction has been investigated using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), through heating ramp and isothermal studies. Heating ramps from room temperature up to 1173 K showed an on-set of rapid oxidation occurred at a temperature of 807 ± 6 K for samples in fragment form and 799 ± 5 K for finely powdered material. The ramp tests yielded UB2O6 as the ultimate oxidation product. A thermodynamic model for the U-B-O system was used to propose a reaction pathway for the oxidation process in excess oxidiser condition and to predict the amount of heat released. The predictions of the model agreed with the observed phenomena and with the values measured via DSC
Towards the standardization of physical activity programs for severe mental ill health: a survey of current practice across 54 Mental Health Trusts in England
Get PDFAimsWhile physical activity (PA) is recommended in the treatment of severe mental illness (SMI), there are no standardized processes for implementing PA in mental healthcare, and the extent to which PA programs have been implemented is unknown. Therefore, we sought to describe usual care in terms of the provision of PA in the National Health Service (NHS) Mental Health Trusts in England for people with SMI.MethodsWe invited all NHS Mental Health Trusts across England to participate in a bespoke survey.ResultsFifty-two mental health trusts (96.2%) responded, of which 47 (87%) offered some form of physical activity provision. The provision across these 47 trusts comprised 93 different types of PA programs. The programs that were identified showed vast differences in the types of physical activity offered, the settings in which they were provided, and the providers.ConclusionsAlthough existing mental healthcare services are demonstrating good practice in some areas, the findings of this survey underline the pressing need for more standardization of PA programs that are delivered to people with SMI, better allocation of resources, staff training, improved monitoring of the delivery of these programs, and better PA support for patients as they transition to community care
Effectiveness of virtual mindfulness-based interventions on perceived anxiety and depression of physicians during the COVID-19 pandemic: A pre-post experimental study
Get PDFBACKGROUND: The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) created unprecedented stress on physicians. Mindfulness is a type of meditation that focuses on being fully present, aware of senses, and emotions in the present moment without analyzing or judging them, and it may help reduce psychological distress in physicians. This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of virtual mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) on physicians' perceived anxiety and depression and different facets of mindfulness.METHODS: During the COVID-19 pandemic, an online survey was administered to physicians to assess depression, anxiety, and awareness using the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), 7-item General Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7), and Five-Facets Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), respectively. Physicians that received the virtual MBI sessions also completed post-questionnaires at a 3-week follow-up time point.RESULTS: A total of 125 physicians responded to the online survey, with 56 completing the MBI. The prevalence of moderate to severe anxiety and depression was 45.0 and 46.7%, respectively. Mindfulness scores were negatively associated with depression ( r = -0.38, P < 0.001) and anxiety ( r = -0.36, p < 0.001). Mindfulness scores for the 56 physicians who received virtual MBI sessions were significantly improved (mean difference ± SD, 17.7 ± 16.1, p = 0.001). Significant reductions were also evidenced in anxiety (4.4 ± 4.2) and depression (4.5 ± 5.1) scores ( p's < 0.001). There was also an improvement in mindfulness facets of observing (5.1 ± 4.7), describing (2.3 ± 4.3), acting with awareness (2.7 ± 5.3), non-judging of inner experience (3.6 ± 6.1), and non-reactivity to inner experience (3.9 ± 4.0) ( p's < 0.001). A facet of mindfulness, acting with awareness was most efficiently associated with improved anxiety ( B = -0.3, p = 0.02) and depression ( B = -0.4, p = 0.01). CONCLUSION: This study has demonstrated that virtual MBI improved physicians' psychological wellbeing and mindfulness during the crisis. Regular mindfulness practice may help physicians to tolerate and handle unpleasant circumstances, such as future epidemics or pandemics.</p
Dynamic multi-dimensional scaling of 30+ year evolution of Chinese urban systems: patterns and performance
Get PDFUnderstanding the co-evolution and organizational dynamics of urban properties (i.e., urban scaling) is the science base for pursuing synergies toward sustainable cities and society. The generalization of urban scaling theory yet requires more studies from various developmental regimes and across time. Here, we extend the universality proposition by exploring the evolution of longitudinal and transversal scaling of Chinese urban attributes between 1987 and 2018 using a global artificial impervious area (GAIA) remotely sensed dataset, harmonized night light data (NTL), and socioeconomic data, and revealed agreements and disagreements with theories. The superlinear relationship of urban area and population often considered as an indicator of wasting land resources (challenging the universality theory β = 2/3), is in fact the powerful impetus (capital raising) behind the concurrent superlinear expansion of socio-economic metabolisms (e.g., GDP, total wage) in a rapidly urbanizing country that has not yet reached equilibrium. Similarly, infrastructural variables associated with public services, such as hospitals and educational institutions, exhibited some deviations as well and were scaled linearly. However, the temporal narrowing of spatial deviations, such as the decline in urban land diseconomies of scale and the stabilization of economic output, clearly indicates the Chinese government's effort in charting urban systems toward balanced and sustainable development across the country. More importantly, the transversal sublinear scaling of areal-based socio-economic variables was inconsistent with the theoretical concept of increasing returns to scale, thus validating the view that a single measurement cannot unravel the intricate web of diverse urban attributes and urbanization. Our dynamic urban scaling analysis across space and through time in China provides new insights into the evolving nexus of urbanization, socioeconomic development, and national policies
The Secret Agent: Necropolitics, Democracy, and the Community without Qualification
Get PDFIn its juxtaposition of liberal government and terrorist violence, metropole and colony, Joseph Conrad’s The Secret Agent explores the imbrication of modes of biopolitical and necropolitical sovereignty. Taking as its starting point Achille Mbembe’s concept of necropolitics, which has not yet been widely discussed in relation to Conrad’s work, this essay argues that Conrad analyses a shift from biopolitical liberal democracy to necropolitical terror. Necropolitics, however, also forms the basis on which radically democratic communities of the biopolitically outcast, can form communities of resistance to sovereign power