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Disrupted Frontoparietal Dynamics in Neurofibromatosis Type 1: Reduced Sensitivity and Atypical Modulation During Working Memory
Get PDFNeurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is a rare, single‐gene neurodevelopmental disorder. Atypical brain activation patterns have been linked to working memory difficulties in individuals with NF1. This work investigates the alterations in frontoparietal effective connectivity in regions with atypical activation during working memory performance, with particular attention to self‐connections (intrinsic inhibitory influences each region exerts on itself). Forty‐three adolescents with NF1 and 26 age‐matched neurotypical controls completed functional magnetic resonance imaging scans during a verbal working memory task. Dynamic causal models (DCMs) were estimated for the bilateral frontoparietal network (dorsolateral and ventrolateral prefrontal cortices (dlPFC and vlPFC), superior and inferior parietal gyri (SPG and IPG)). The parametric empirical Bayes approach with Bayesian model reduction was used to test the hypothesis that NF1 diagnosis would be characterised by greater inhibitory intrinsic (self‐) connections. Leave‐one‐out cross‐validation (LOO‐CV) was performed to test the generalisability of group differences. NF1 participants demonstrated greater endogenous self‐connectivity of left dlPFC and IPG. The DCM that best explained the effects of working memory showed that the NF1 group has increased intrinsic connectivity of left vlPFC but weaker intrinsic connectivity of left dlPFC, left SPG and right IPG. The parameters of these connections showed a modest but positive predictive correlation coefficient of 0.34 (p = 0.002) with diagnosis status, suggesting a predictive value. Overall, increased endogenous self‐connectivity of left dlPFC and IPG in NF1 suggests reduced overall sensitivity of these regions to inputs. Working memory evoked different patterns of input processing in NF1 that cannot be characterised by increased inhibition alone. Instead, modulatory connectivity related to working memory showed less inhibitory self‐connectivity of left dlPFC, left SPG and right IPG and more inhibitory intrinsic connectivity of left vlPFC in NF1. This discrepancy between endogenous and modulatory connectivity suggests that overall NF1 participants are responsive to cognitive task‐related inputs but may show atypical adaptation to the task demands of working memory
An exploration of financial services digital encounters in developing countries
No full textPurpose (limit 100 words) Recent advances in technological transformation are gradually changing the way customers interact with financial services and conduct financial transactions. However, little is known about customers' experiences (CX) with AI-enabled chatbots (AECs) in developing countries, making it an under-researched context. Design/methodology/approach (limit 100 words) To enhance our understanding of customers' attitudes towards AI-enabled technologies, we adopted an exploratory, inductive research approach to gather data from customers and managers from multiple cases of financial institutions. We accumulated evidence by combining semi-structured interviews (SSIs), netnography, and archival documents. Findings (limit 100 words) Our findings reveal that factors such as perceived trust in AECs, perceived security in AECs, perception of AEC expertise, perceived interaction design, Cultural and societal dynamics, and perceived competence and authenticity impact consumers' interactions with AECs deployed by financial services. Originality/value (limit 100 words) Our research involves important new ramifications for several stakeholders in developing economies, including concerned research communities, financial service managers (such as those in e-banking), designers of financial products and services, marketers, technology developers, and regulators
A comparison of methods to predict ovulation day, menstrual cycle characteristics and variability in professional female soccer players
Get PDFThis study aimed to compare three methods of predicting ovulation day: (1) a positive urinary luteinising hormone test (LH), (2) a sustained rise in salivary progesterone above critical difference (SP), and (3) a countback regression equation (CB), to determine variability in the menstrual cycle (MC) lengths and reproductive hormone concentrations of professional female soccer players. Eight players provided daily morning saliva samples for three consecutive cycles. Samples were analysed for oestradiol and progesterone concentrations. Each MC was separated into the follicular (FP) and luteal (LP) phases relative to the day of ovulation, using the three different methods. MC length ranged from 24 to 32 days (28.3 ± 2.4 days); intra‐assay coefficient of variation (7.5%) exceeded inter‐assay coefficient of variation (4.6%). Ovulation estimated using SP (15.4 ± 3.0 days) occurred later than LH (13.3 ± 2.0 days) (P = 0.017). The CB method (14.1 ± 1.8 days) did not differ from SP (P = 0.102) or LH (P = 0.262). Oestradiol and progesterone levels varied significantly between sub‐phases (P < 0.001). Inter‐variability surpassed intra‐variability for both hormones. Differences in methods for predicting ovulation indicate the need for standardised protocols. Individual variation in MC length and hormone concentrations challenges the narrative for group‐level MC recommendations, emphasising the need for individualised hormone monitoring across multiple cycles
More than toxic masculinities: Engaging Masculinity Assemblages through creative research and pedagogies
No full textThis article contests a tendency in popular debates and some research about ‘toxic’ masculinities to flatten complexity by describing them in terms (‘misogyny’, ‘sexism’) that take-for-granted their meaning for and effects on young people. To counter such reifications, we consider data from creative participatory youth research and an interview with a sexuality educator to open up more nuanced understandings of masculinities and pedagogies. Our analysis develops through Laura U. Marks’s The Fold: From Your Body to the Cosmos (2024), which reworks the Deleuzian ‘Fold’, emphasizing the processual and relational onto-epistemology of experience as always in motion, generating posthuman agencies and pedagogical possibilities rather than fixed positions (i.e us/them; knowledge/ignorance). We extend this by un/enfolding with the concept of masculinity assemblages and advancing response-able pedagogy as a mode of careful, curious, and exigent engagement. We aim to contribute to reimagining pedagogical approaches that might attune to how (more-than) masculinities are on the move, and how they move us
Literacy and Girls at Risk of Exclusion
No full textFormal schooling and education are often viewed as integral to a meritocratic society, potentially offering all children the opportunity to learn, develop and succeed in later life. There are many pieces of legislation at country-level that are drawn from the internationally ratified United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which enshrine education as a right for all children. In England however, children in primary, secondary, and/or further education, can find themselves officially excluded from school for a multitude of reasons. Such exclusions are mandated by a head teacher and/or board of school governors in response to an alleged rule infringement on the part of the child being excluded, and are different from the general exclusions to education that are faced by learners unable to access education. For example, ‘suspensions’ are temporary exclusions from school for up to 45 days, and ‘permanent exclusions’, as the term suggests, prevent a child from ever attending that school again
Outpatients Clinics and the 1930 Mental Treatment Act: Patients and Practitioners, c.1888 – c.1940
No full textWork–Life Fragility, Dilemmas, and “Gambling” at the Intersection of Fertility Treatment and Employment
Get PDFInfertility is a working age population issue, meaning that many individuals undergoing fertility treatment are also in paid work—having to navigate conflicts between two often “greedy institutions,” which can both bring precarity. Traditional approaches to examining the work–life interface, focusing mainly on temporal issues, fail to account for the multifaceted nature of conflict at the intersect of fertility treatment and work, including its embodied and political nature and how individuals navigate work–life dilemmas. We suggest that Lefebre's rhythmanalysis offers potential for extending work–life theorizing and that it can be used, including as elaborated by Toyoki et al., as a conceptual toolkit to generate discourse and action on this less well understood topic. Drawing on biographical narrative interview data from workers in higher education employment, we highlight the myriad challenges individuals try to navigate and offer the concept of “work–life fragility” to better account for individual positioning. Work–life fragility concerns a situation in which (1) two unstable and precarious rhythms intersect, creating multifaceted arrhythmia; (2) there is an individualization of responsibility for addressing arrhythmia; and (3) individual strategies provide only “fragile synchronicities” due to fallible resources, which amplifies feelings of insecurity. Our paper concludes with implications for the design of policy and practice, going beyond time off work for fertility treatment appointments to address embodied risk and psychological tolls; to provide support for decision-making; and to modify systems to help mitigate long-term career impacts. This should better support affected workers, and start to shift responsibility for mitigating/resolving arrhythmia off the shoulders of individual staff alone
Development and comparison of low- and high-field quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance (qNMR) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) approaches to the analysis of bulk cocaine samples seized by law enforcement
Get PDFQuantitative analysis of seized or surrendered drug samples provides valuable insight for health-related services (e.g. treatment, harm reduction) and judicial services (e.g. intelligence gathering). Cocaine is frequently encountered in these samples. This study utilises low- (60 MHz) and high- (500 MHz) field 1H NMR spectroscopy to quantify cocaine hydrochloride or freebase present within a sample. Method validations were performed on cocaine hydrochloride (in D2O) and cocaine freebase (in CDCl3) showing good linearity (R2 = 0.9967–0.9995), precision (1.53–3.54% RSD) and accuracy (98.4–99.5%). LoD (0.289–0.724 mg/mL) and LoQ (0.875–2.193 mg/mL) were obtained with sample recoveries within acceptable ranges (87.3–111.0%). Quantification was performed using an internal standard (TMS or TSP, median values = 89.39% w/w (n = 93) and 90.10% w/w (n = 96) for low- and high-field NMR respectively) or against an externally collected reference standard (median values = 89.90% w/w (n = 93) and 88.43% w/w (n = 96) for low- and high-field NMR respectively). Sample quantification was similar to GC–MS (median value = 84.80% w/w (n = 92)). Comparable data showcases that acquisition of low-field NMR data can provide relevant and timely (∼6 min) quantification of samples containing cocaine
Making sense of sense-making: The challenge of navigating interactional competence in dementia care
Get PDFDifficulties with communication present a challenge not just for people living with dementia (PLWD) themselves but also for those who care for them. This challenge is amplified in acute care environments with unfamiliar surroundings and staff. Drawing on a wider study using video-recorded data to identify practices to manage or avoid distress for PLWD in the acute hospital, we use conversation analysis to explicate some of the reasons why challenges can arise and consider the implications of this. Previous work has shown that while PLWDs’ transactional ability with language may decline, more foundational skills can still persist, notably abilities to produce responsive talk, which follows the rules of turn-taking and displays an orientation to sequence organization. We show that these abilities can also extend to recognizing the lack of orientation to these features in the talk of others. Examples include PLWD drawing attention to missing or inadequate responses to questions from staff, seeking accounts for unaccounted-for actions, and identifying inappropriate referents. Our findings show that even when PLWD are not oriented to time or place and their talk is hard to interpret semantically, staff should not assume that interactional competence is entirely absent
Reflection Through The Other: An Exploration Of How Critical Reflection Groups Impact Upon The Professional Development And Professional Identity Of Early Years Practitioners
Get PDFThis thesis originates from my professional journey from Early Years practitioner to consultant, my work with practitioners, and my experience as a doctoral student. It explores how Early Years practitioners construct and renegotiate their professional identities through participation in reflective discussion groups. The research is situated within a Lacanian psychoanalytic framework, drawing on concepts such as the Mirror Stage, the Other, Discourse, Fantasy, Desire, Drive, and Lack to conceptualise identity as fragmented, relational, and always in process. A Participatory Action Research (PAR) design was used, with reflective workshops co-designed alongside practitioners to create collective spaces for dialogue, critical reflection, and inquiry.
Findings indicate that participation in reflective groups helped practitioners confront tensions between their imagined professional selves and the expectations of policy, institutions, and colleagues. Through peer interaction, participants became aware of how they are seen by others, reflected on ideals of the 'good practitioner', and considered notions of professional love, maternalism, and emotional labour. Titles and status shaped perceptions of competence and authority, while micro-resistances, small everyday acts of agency, allowed subtle challenges to dominant expectations. The group context offered validation, shared insight, and opportunities to rethink professional identities, highlighting gaps between ideals and reality while supporting new ways of being in the Early Years field.
This study contributes to understanding professional identity by applying Lacanian theory to reveal the unconscious and social dimensions of practitioners’ experiences. It suggests that reflective groups provide more than technical learning; they create spaces where practitioners share struggles, examine ideals, and begin to reconfigure their professional identities. The research offers both theoretical insights and practical implications for Early Years practice and professional development