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Legal parenthood, novel reproductive practices, and the disruption of reproductive biosex
Get PDFThere are reproductive technologies on the horizon that challenge the fundamentals of human reproduction – the need for sperm, eggs, and someone to gestate the pregnancy. We argue that such technologies collectively undermine our conception of reproductive biosex as we know it. In this article, we (re)examine the attribution and determination of legal parenthood in assisted reproduction in light of such developments. The literature on these emerging reproductive technologies and practices has focused on ethical questions around their permissibility, and regulatory questions regarding access to such technologies. Consequently, there has been limited consideration of how these technologies and practices will challenge the framework that determines legal parenthood in assisted reproduction. We argue that the current legal framework is premised on a number of cis-heteronormative assumptions about the idealised nuclear family and reproductive biosex. We illustrate three conceptual challenges to the law from the shifting nature of human reproduction: (1) the potential for reproductive biosexed roles to be deconstructed; (2) the potential for relatedness to be reimagined; and (3) the possibilities of disembodied reproduction. These challenges illustrate that we must revisit the foundations of the legal framework attributing legal parenthood in assisted reproduction: its purpose, its functions, and its basis
Integrated fuzzy-knapsack based demand response energy management system for smart grid buildings
Get PDFDemand response schemes play a vital role in managing the load demand. However, the demand response applicability is pre-descriptive where loads to be managed are pre-selected majorly based on the availability of renewable energy and lower tariff rates. However, in hospitality buildings such as hotels, user comfort cannot be compromised by the cost of energy. The arrival of guests is a unique parameter that drives the load consumption regardless of the availability of free energy or lower tariff rates. During higher guest arrivals, pre-descriptive loads meant to be scheduled during low renewable energy availability and higher tariff rates cannot be compromised over guest comfort. Similarly, pre-descriptive loads that are already not in operation at the time of low guest arrivals will result in wastage of green power at times of its availability. There is a need to develop an automated demand response that has the liberty to select any load for shifting to renewable energy based on the power they consume to utilize maximum resources without compromising guest comfort. In this research, a novel automated demand response scheme is developed that intelligently selects any load from the building in real time while mapping it with the available capacity of renewable power. A cascaded fuzzy integrated knapsack algorithm is designed for intelligent selection of loads participation in demand response. Based on the availability of solar PV power, grid rates, and load operations, fuzzy designates values to the random operational loads. In the second step, the designated values are given to the Knapsack algorithm to find the best optimal responsive loads to be operated at that time. In the proposed approach, random loads were selected for shifting to renewable power without any prior load selection, which enhances the operation and usability of solar PV power. It was found that 88%–100% of solar PV power was utilized under all simulated scenarios of operation
The Rise and Fall of the Sunbed in Britain: Tanning Culture from Fad to Fear
No full textThis open access book explores tanning culture: how the desire for tanned white skin led to the phenomenal growth in sunbed use and how the practice spread through Britain. By analysing the role of the media, medical experts, and socio-political changes, The Rise and Fall of the Sunbed exposes how sunbed providers, consumers and the 'sunbed tan' itself shifted from 'healthy' to 'harmful' in late twentieth-century depictions. Fabiola Creed examines print media, film, medical journals, trade directories, catalogues, and children's toys to map this transition.
The book begins in 1970s Liverpool when an affluent beauty businesswoman introduced sunbeds as a 'revolutionary' technology. In the early 1980s, the sunbed industry boomed with the mass advertising and fitness industry, epitomising Margaret Thatcher's entrepreneurial spirit. Advertised as an everyday luxury for wealthy consumers, sunbeds became the acme of self-improvement.
Yet, by the 1990s, sunbeds were a mundane technology associated with working-class people and 'excess' consumerism. Following the rise in Western countries' skin cancer rates, and subsequent ultraviolet research and health campaigns, the media stigmatised 'sunbed addicts'; these young white women and metrosexual men were condemned for being an 'immoral' drain on the National Health Service. Yet, tanning culture and its ever-evolving technologies remain popular to this day.
Ultimately, The Rise and Fall of the Sunbed demonstrates how popular culture can reciprocally shape public health. It also sheds new light on key political, economic, medical and socio-cultural changes within everyday life in Britain. The book will appeal to those interested in the history of business, mass media, advertising, popular culture, public health, policy, and medicine, science and technology.
The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY 4.0 license on bloomsburycollections.com
Challenges and opportunities in uncertainty quantification for healthcare and biological systems
Get PDFUncertainty quantification (UQ) is an essential aspect of computational modelling and statistical prediction. Multiple applications, including geophysics, climate science and aerospace engineering, incorporate UQ in the development and translation of new technologies. In contrast, the application of UQ to biological and healthcare models is understudied and suffers from several critical knowledge gaps. In an era of personalized medicine, patient-specific modelling, and digital twins, a lack of UQ understanding and appropriate implementation of UQ methodology limits the success of modelling and simulation in a clinical setting. The main contribution of our review article is to emphasize the importance and current deficiencies of UQ in the development of computational frameworks for healthcare and biological systems. As the introduction to the special issue on this topic, we provide an overview of UQ methodologies, their applications in non-biological and biological systems and the current gaps and opportunities for UQ development, as later highlighted by authors publishing in the special issue
Hollow transition metal chalcogenides derived from vanadium-based metal organic framework for hybrid supercapacitors with excellent energy-density and stability
Get PDFIn-situ synthesized hollow transition metal chalcogenides have gained significant attention on account of their excellent electrochemical properties. Here, Ni-doped V-MOF (V(Ni)-MOF) nanorod arrays as precursor are first grown on nickel foam (NF). Subsequently, the nanorod arrays are converted into V(NiCo)-OH hollow nanotube arrays with cross-linked nanosheets by Co2+ etching. Finally, V(NiCo)-OH/NF is converted into V(NiCo)-X/NF (X = O, S and Se) by annealing or ion exchange. Due to the unique morphology of hollow nanotube arrays with cross-linked nanosheets and synergistic effect of multi-metal components, the V(NiCo)-Se/NF achieves an outstanding specific capacity (1806.7 C g−1 at 1 A g−1), which is higher than that of V(NiCo)-O/NF (1208.3 C g−1) and V(NiCo)-S/NF (1558.4 C g−1). In addition, the capacity retention rate is 91.7 % (at 10 A g−1 after 10, 000 cycles). Utilizing V(NiCo)-Se/NF (positive) and activated carbon/NF (negative), the hybrid supercapacitor (HSC) achieves an impressive high energy density of 114.8 Wh kg−1 (at 679.5 W kg−1). Moreover, two HSCs in series can power the LED and stopwatch, and keep working for more than 60 min, displaying good practical application capabilities
Comparative mechanisms for O2 storage and metabolism in two Florida diving birds: the anhinga (Anhinga anhinga) and the double-crested cormorant (Nannopterum auritum)
Get PDFAir-breathing vertebrates face many physiological challenges while breath-hold diving. In particular, they must endure intermittent periods of declining oxygen (O ) stores, as well as the need to rapidly replenish depleted O at the surface prior to their next dive. While many species show adaptive increases in the O storage capacity of the blood or muscles, others increase the oxidative capacity of the muscles through changes in mitochondrial arrangement, abundance, or remodeling of key metabolic pathways. Here, we assess the diving phenotypes of two sympatric diving birds: the anhinga (Anhinga anhinga) and the double-crested cormorant (Nannopterum auritum). In each, we measured blood- and muscle-O storage capacity, as well as phenotypic characteristics such as muscle fiber composition, capillarity, and mitochondrial arrangement and abundance in the primary flight (pectoralis) and swimming (gastrocnemius) muscles. Finally, we compared the maximal activities of 10 key enzymes in the pectoralis, gastrocnemius, and left ventricle of the heart to assess tissue level oxidative capacity and fuel use. Our results indicate that both species utilize enhanced muscle-O stores over blood-O . This is most apparent in the large difference in available myoglobin in the gastrocnemius between the two species. Oxidative capacity varied significantly between the flight and swimming muscles and between the two species. However, both species showed lower oxidative capacity than expected compared to other diving birds. In particular, the anhinga exhibits a unique diving phenotype with a slightly higher reliance on glycolysis and lower aerobic ATP generation than double-crested cormorants
The importance of microbiology reference laboratories and adequate funding for infectious disease surveillance
Get PDFMicrobiology reference laboratories perform a crucial role within public health systems. This role was especially evident during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this Viewpoint, we emphasise the importance of microbiology reference laboratories and highlight the types of digital data and expertise they provide, which benefit national and international public health. We also highlight the value of surveillance initiatives among collaborative international partners, who work together to share, analyse, and interpret data, and then disseminate their findings in a timely manner. Microbiology reference laboratories have substantial impact at regional, national, and international levels, and sustained support for these laboratories is essential for public health in both pandemic and non-pandemic times
Natural history and long term follow-up of incidental thyroid nodules on computed tomography imaging
Get PDFObjectives:
incidental thyroid nodules (ITNs) are found in up to 25% of CT scans. Increased use of cross-sectional imaging has contributed to the increased incidence of thyroid cancer worldwide. ITNs pose a management dilemma since nodule malignancy rate is 5-15% but most cancers are indolent and prognosis in differentiated thyroid cancer is excellent. Study aims are to determine prevalence of ITNs ≥1 cm on CT scans, evaluate reporting practices, assess for emergence of clinically evident thyroid cancer during 13-year follow-up and assess interim nodule growth and clinical outcomes in nodules that were further investigated.
Methods:
direct image review of 1499 consecutive CT scans that included the thyroid, performed during January 2009 in a large NHS health board was performed. Clinical data up to January 2022 was analysed in 150 patients with at least one ITN > =1cm.
Results:
ITN prevalence was 11% with mean patient age 70 years and mean nodule diameter 17.5 mm. 30% of ITNs were mentioned in the CT report. During the follow-up period 11% proceeded to thyroid ultrasound, 5% fine needle aspiration and 2% diagnostic hemithyroidectomy with no thyroid malignancy found. 120 patients (80%) were deceased by the study endpoint, none from thyroid malignancy. No patients presented with clinically evident thyroid malignancy during follow-up.
Conclusions:
None of150 ITN cases developed clinically evident thyroid malignancy in a 13-year follow-up period with 80% of patients deceased by the study endpoint from non-thyroid causes.
Advances in knowledge:
This would suggest that ITNs detected on CT do not require further investigation unless malignant appearances or significant clinical concern for thyroid malignancy
Stretch Gaze Targets Out: Experimenting with Target Sizes for Gaze-Enabled Interfaces on Mobile Devices
Get PDFUsers hold their mobile phones at varying distances depending on their posture, the application being used, and the task’s nature. Without considering such variation when designing UI target sizes limits the applicability of gaze selection for everyday interaction with mobile devices. Towards this end, we conducted a user study (N = 24) to investigate the implications of different target sizes and viewing across different screen regions. While larger targets generally improve accuracy and decrease precision, accuracy is significantly higher in the horizontal than in the vertical direction. This subsequently led us to find that increasing the tracking area in the vertical direction only, while maintaining the same visual target size, significantly improves accuracy. This suggests that visually smaller targets with larger vertical tracking areas enhance accuracy. Based on our results, we present concrete design guidelines for developers to optimise target sizes on gaze-enabled mobile devices to improve accuracy across varying user-to-screen distances
“Everything is fear based”: mothers with experience of addiction, child removal and support services
Get PDFParental substance use can expose children to harm and risks to their wellbeing, and removal from parents’ care is sometimes necessary. This can result in feelings of grief and poor mental health in parents, and concerns about a lack of support to prevent child removal or to have their children returned. Previous research has mainly focused on children or foster and adoptive parents’ experiences rather than birth parents. This study, therefore, aimed to develop an understanding of the experience of child removal and contact with services from the perspectives of mothers with an addiction. Twelve mothers accessing Alcohol and Drug Recovery Services in Scotland and who had children removed from their care were interviewed about their lived experiences. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), four themes were identified – ‘safe/unsafe’, ‘changing identity’, ‘loss’, and ‘no way to win’ with important implications for service development. Services that can develop a sense of safety in their clients through continuity in workers, clarity and consistency about boundaries and communication with other services, and supporting mothers to feel respected and validated as a person and as a mother, regardless of whether their child/ren are removed, are more likely to engage their clients and achieve better outcomes
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