932 research outputs found
Sort by
Imaging human vision: an artistic perspective
Get PDFThe purpose of artistic practice has frequently been to translate human visual experience into pictures. By viewing these pictures we can retrospectively share something of the world the artist saw, and the way he or she saw it. Over the centuries artists have evolved highly refined methods for depicting what they see, and the works they produce can provoke strong emotional, aesthetic, and perceptual responses. Looking at a painting by Vincent van Gogh of a vase of sunflowers, for example, can be more thrilling and memorable than seeing a real vase of sunflowers, or even a photograph of the same scene. Why do we respond so strongly to artistic depictions of everyday scenes? The hypothesis considered here is that artists do not attempt to faithfully record reality. Rather, they select and manipulate visual information in ways that are tuned to our subjective experience. I will discuss some of the techniques artists have used to achieve this, and consider how they might be relevant to those designing new forms of imaging technologies in order to improve how they represent visual experience
An assessment of food safety information provision for UK chemotherapy patients to reduce the risk of foodborne infection
Get PDFObjectives: Given the increased risk of foodborne infection to cancer patients receiving
chemotherapy treatment, and the risk of listeriosis reportedly five-times greater to this
immunocompromised patient group, there is a need to ensure the implementation of domestic
food safety practices among chemotherapy patients and their family caregivers. However,
information regarding the adequacy of resources to inform and enable patients to implement
domestic food safety practices to reduce the risk of foodborne infection are limited.
Consequently, this study aimed to evaluate the provision of food safety information available
to UK chemotherapy patients.
Study Design: In-depth semi-structured interviews and content-analysis of online patient
information resources.
Methods: Interviews with patients and family caregivers (n=15) were conducted to explore
food-related experiences during chemotherapy treatment. Online food-related information
resources for chemotherapy patients (n=45) were obtained from 35 of 154 National Health
Service (NHS) chemotherapy providers in England, Scotland and Wales, the Department of
Health (DoH) and three of 184 identified UK cancer charities. Identified food-related
information resources were reviewed using a content-analysis approach to assess the inclusion
of food safety information for chemotherapy patients.
Results: In-depth interviews established that many patients indicated awareness of
immunosuppression during treatment. Although patients reported practicing caution to reduce
the risk of communicable diseases by avoiding crowded spaces/public transport, food safety
was reported to be of minimal concern during treatment and the risk of foodborne infection
was often underestimated. The review of online food-related patient information resources
established that many resources failed to highlight the increased risk of foodborne infection
and emphasize the importance of food safety for patients during chemotherapy treatment.
Considerable information gaps exist, particularly in relation to listeriosis prevention practices.
Cumulatively, information was inconsistent, insufficient and varied between resources. Conclusion: The study has identified the need for an effective, standardized food safety
resource specifically targeting chemotherapy patients and family caregivers. Such intervention
is essential to assist efforts in reducing the risks associated with foodborne infection among
chemotherapy patients
Randomised feasibility trial into the effects of low-frequency electrical muscle stimulation in advanced heart failure patients
Get PDFObjectives Low-frequency electrical muscle
stimulation (LF-EMS) may have the potential to reduce
breathlessness and increase exercise capacity in the
chronic heart failure population who struggle to adhere
to conventional exercise. The study’s aim was to
establish if a randomised controlled trial of LF-EMS was
feasible.
Design and setting Double blind (participants, outcome
assessors), randomised study in a secondary care
outpatient cardiac rehabilitation programme.
Participants Patients with severe heart failure (New
York Heart Association class III–IV) having left ventricular
ejection fraction <40% documented by echocardiography
were eligible.
Interventions Participants were randomised (remotely
by computer) to 8 weeks (5×60 mins per week) of
either LF-EMS intervention (4 Hz, continuous, n=30)
or sham placebo (skin level stimulation only, n=30) of
the quadriceps and hamstrings muscles. Participants
used the LF-EMS straps at home and were supervised
weekly
Outcome measures Recruitment, adherence and
tolerability to the intervention were measured during
the trial as well as physiological outcomes (primary
outcome: 6 min walk, secondary outcomes: quadriceps
strength, quality of life and physical activity).
Results Sixty of 171 eligible participants (35.08%)
were recruited to the trial. 12 (20%) of the 60 patients
(4 LF-EMS and 8 sham) withdrew. Forty-one patients
(68.3%), adhered to the protocol for at least 70% of
the sessions. The physiological measures indicated no
significant differences between groups in 6 min walk
distance(p=0.13) and quality of life (p=0.55) although
both outcomes improved more with LF-EMS.
Conclusion Patients with severe heart failure can
be recruited to and tolerate LF-EMS studies. A larger
randomised controlled trial (RCT) in the advanced heart
failure population is technically feasible, although
adherence to follow-up would be challenging. The
preliminary improvements in exercise capacity
and quality of life were minimal and this should be
considered if planning a larger trial.
Trial registration number ISRCTN1674904
Humanising migrant women’s work
Get PDFFemale migrants make an important contribution to the global tourism industry yet their employment experiences and histories are poorly understood. This paper draws on a phenomenological position to explore the life-world and ten-year employment trajectory of one highly skilled Polish immigrant to the UK as told through her own voice and artwork. It challenges prevailing de-personalised and gender-blind accounts of tourism migrant workers, and demonstrates the methodological potential of one-voice research to humanise the female migrant experience, document long-term employment trajectories and foreground complex working lives. The paper provides nuanced understanding of intersectional gendered and ethnic marginalisation in the labour market and explores the ways in which employment creates spaces for both oppression and self-determination for precarious workers
The Pseudomonas aeruginosa PSL Polysaccharide Is a Social but Noncheatable Trait in Biofilms
Get PDFExtracellular polysaccharides are compounds secreted by microorganisms into the surrounding environment, and they are important for surface attachment and maintaining structural integrity within biofilms. The social nature of many extracellular polysaccharides remains unclear, and it has been suggested that they could function as either cooperative public goods or as traits that provide a competitive advantage. Here, we empirically tested the cooperative nature of the PSL polysaccharide, which is crucial for the formation of biofilms in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. We show that (i) PSL is not metabolically costly to produce; (ii) PSL provides population-level benefits in biofilms, for both growth and antibiotic tolerance; (iii) the benefits of PSL production are social and are shared with other cells; (iv) the benefits of PSL production appear to be preferentially directed toward cells which produce PSL; (v) cells which do not produce PSL are unable to successfully exploit cells which produce PSL. Taken together, this suggests that PSL is a social but relatively nonexploitable trait and that growth within biofilms selects for PSL-producing strains, even when multiple strains are on a patch (low relatedness at the patch level).
IMPORTANCE: Many studies have shown that bacterial traits, such as siderophores and quorum sensing, are social in nature. This has led to an impression that secreted traits act as public goods, which are costly to produce but benefit both the producing cell and its surrounding neighbors. Theories and subsequent experiments have shown that such traits are exploitable by asocial cheats, but we show here that this does not always hold true. We demonstrate that the Pseudomonas aeruginosa exopolysaccharide PSL provides social benefits to populations but that it is nonexploitable, because most of the fitness benefits accrue to PSL-producing cells. Our work builds on an increasing body of work showing that secreted traits can have both private and public benefits to cells
Evaluation of a DSGE Model of Energy in the United Kingdom Using Stationary Data
Get PDFI examine the impact of energy price shock (oil prices shock and gas prices shock) on the economic activities in the United Kingdom using a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model with a New Keynesian Philips Curve. I decomposed the changes in output caused by all of the stationary structural shocks. I found that the fall in output during the financial crisis period is driven by domestic demand shock, energy prices shock and world demand shock. I found the energy prices shock’s contribution to fall in output is temporary. Such that, the UK can borrow against such a temporary fall. This estimated model can create additional input to the policymaker’s choice of models
Intrasexual competition as a potential influence on anabolic-androgenic steroid use initiation
Get PDFAn estimated 293,000 people living in the United Kingdom have used anabolic-androgenic steroids. However, there is currently no intervention to reduce usage available in practice or academic circulation throughout the United Kingdom. This study aimed to test a novel hypothesis that increased levels of intrasexual competition may play an important influential role in the use of anabolic-androgenic steroids. Significantly higher levels of intrasexual competition were evident in users compared to non-users but only in the novice group (0–2 years of experience). The research provides evidence for intrasexual competition potentially influencing anabolic-androgenic steroid use but only during the initial stages of usage
“I Am…”: Caitlyn Jenner, Jazz Jennings and the cultural politics of transgender celebrity
Get PDFIn the twenty-first century, the visibility of transgender celebrities appears greater than ever. Whilst scholarly work has analysed, and continues to analyse, representations of trans celebrities, this research has largely approached these figures as significant because they make transgender visible, rather than because of the more specific fact that they are celebrities. This article interrogates the role of discourses and tropes of celebrity itself in enabling particular incarnations of trans subjectivity to become intelligible within popular culture. Focusing upon the examples of Caitlyn Jenner and Jazz Jennings, two of the most widely circulated trans celebrities in the contemporary moment, I argue that the tropes of authenticity, self-reflexivity, self-revelation and manufacture central to celebrity culture, have functioned as core discursive frameworks through which Jenner and Jennings’ transgender identities have been rationalised within the popular media. In becoming legible as transgender through celebrity, I argue that Jenner and Jennings’ media narratives have worked to confer recognisability to a highly limited model of transgender life, fraught with exclusions around race and gender normativity
Technique selection ‘the coaches challenge’ influencing injury risk during the first contact hand of the round off skill in female gymnastics
Get PDFThe importance of technique selection on elbow injury risk has been identified for the key round off skill in female gymnastics, with a focus on the second contact limb. The aim of this study was to shift the focus to the first contact limb and investigate the biomechanical injury risk during parallel and T-shape round-off (RO) techniques. Seven international-level female gymnasts performed 10 trials of the RO to back-handspring with parallel and T-shape hand positions. Synchronized kinematic (3D motion analysis system; 247 Hz) and kinetic (two force plates; 1235 Hz) data were collected for each trial. The t-test with effect size statistics determined differences between the two techniques. No significant differences were found for vertical, anterior posterior and resultant ground reaction force, elbow joint kinematics and kinetics. Specifically, the results highlighted that change in technique in RO skills did not influence first contact limb elbow joint mechanics and therefore, injury risk. The findings of the present study suggest the injury potential of this skill is focused on the second limb during the parallel technique of this fundamental gymnastic skill
One session of remote ischemic preconditioning does not improve vascular function in acute normobaric and chronic hypobaric hypoxia
Get PDFApplication of repeated short duration bouts of ischemia to the limbs, termed remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC), is a novel technique that may have protective effects on vascular function during hypoxic exposures. In separate parallel-design studies, at sea-level (SL; n=16), and after 8-12 days at high-altitude (HA; n=12; White Mountain, 3800m), participants underwent either a sham protocol or one session of 4x5 minutes of dual-thigh cuff occlusion with 5-minutes recovery. Brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD; ultrasound), pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP; echocardiography), and internal carotid artery flow (ICA; ultrasound) were measured at SL in normoxia and isocapnic hypoxia [end-tidal PO (PETO ) maintained to 50mmHg], and during normal breathing at HA. The hypoxic ventilatory response (HVR) was measured at each location. All measures at SL and HA were obtained at baseline (BL), 1 hour, 24 hours, and 48 hours post-RIPC or sham. At SL, RIPC produced no changes in FMD, PASP, ICA flow, end-tidal gases or HVR in normoxia or hypoxia. At HA, although HVR increased 24 hours post RIPC compared to BL (2.05{plus minus}1.4 vs. 3.21{plus minus}1.2 L•min-1•%SaO2-1, p<0.01), there were no significant differences in FMD, PASP, ICA flow, resting end-tidal gases. Accordingly, a single session of RIPC is insufficient to evoke changes in peripheral, pulmonary, and cerebral vascular function in healthy adults. Although chemosensitivity may increase following RIPC at HA, this did not confer any vascular changes. The utility of a single RIPC session seems unremarkable during acute and chronic hypoxia