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Hero and Bad Motherland:J. M. Coetzee's Computational Critique
No full textThis article discusses J. M. Coetzee’s computing experiences and its implications for his creative and critical writings from the 1960s onwards in a South African context. Against a backdrop in which the South African Apartheid regime was increasingly reliant upon and associated with computing, Coetzee would critique “computational thinking” in his work. Yet, he would also turn to the machine itself as a means by which to develop a platform of “aesthetic automatism” that was at once politically responsible and autonomous from computationalism. The article offers a “biometric” reading of Coetzee’s novel Life & Times of Michael K (1983) and demonstrates that Coetzee’s work offers an important prehistory of our contemporary Digital Humanities moment
The Influence of Oxytocin on Risk-Taking in the Balloon Analogue Risk Task Among Women with Bulimia Nervosa and Binge Eating Disorder
No full textPrevious theoretical models of bulimia nervosa (BN) and binge eating disorder (BED) have implicated cross-domain risk-taking behaviour as a significant maintenance factor in both disorders. The current study sought to test this hypothesis by administering the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) to 25 women with BN or BED and 27 healthy comparison women without history of an eating disorder. Furthermore, we tested the effect of a divided dose of 64IU oxytocin on risk-taking behaviour in the BART. Contrary to our hypothesis, women with BN or BED did not exhibit baseline differences in performance on the BART in the placebo condition (t = 1.42, df = 50, p = .161, d = 0.39). Oxytocin did not have a main effect on performance in the BART (F = 0.01, df = 1, p = .907, η2partial < .001); however, there was an interaction such that participants in the BN/BED participant group, compared to the healthy comparison group, demonstrated safer behaviour on the BART specifically in the oxytocin condition, but not in the placebo condition (F = 4.29, df = 1, p = .044, η2partial = .082). These findings cast doubt on the common assumption that individuals with BN and BED exhibit greater risk-taking behaviour in all domains and add to evidence that oxytocin plays a functional role in modulating behaviours which entail trade-offs between reward approach and risk in humans. We recommend that future dose-response studies further investigate the effect of oxytocin on reward approach behaviour in women with recurrent binge eating behaviour and the clinical significance of this effect
Diapedesis facilitates tissue immunity by inducing immune cell-intrinsic complement C3 expression
No full textIntracellularly generated, autocrine-functioning, complement C3 is integral to human Th1 and cytotoxic CD8+ T cell responses. Increased or decreased intracellular C3 result in autoimmunity and infections, respectively. The mechanisms regulating intracellular C3 expression are, however, undefined. By comparing transcriptomes of human immune cells from blood and tissues, we identified complement, including C3, as one of the most significantly enriched biological pathway in tissue-occupying cells. Utilizing a novel C3 reporter mouse, we confirmed that C3 expression is a defining feature of immune cells in tissues, occurs during trans-endothelial diapedesis and is dependent on integrin intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1 liganding lymphocyte function-associated antigen (LFA)-1. Consequently, immune cells from patients with leukocyte adhesion deficiency (LAD)-1 had reduced C3 and diminished effector activities, which could be rescued proportionally by normalization of intracellular C3. In synovia of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), C3 expression by T cells was associated with disease severity and acted as a biomarker distinguishing inflamed versus uninflamed RA. Our study defines integrins as novel and key controllers of intracellular complement, demonstrates that perturbations in the LFA-1-C3 axis contribute to primary human immunodeficiency and identifies intracellular C3 as a biomarker of severity in autoimmunity
Effectiveness of exercise rehabilitation interventions on depressive symptoms in older adults post hip fracture: a systematic review and meta-analysis
No full textAssociation Between Lifetime Affective Symptoms and Premature Mortality
No full textImportance Associations between affective symptoms and mortality have been evaluated, but studies have not examined timing or cumulative exposure to affective symptoms over the life course.Objectives To examine how lifetime accumulation and timing of affective symptoms are associated with mortality and identify potential explanatory factors.Design, Setting, and Participants Data were obtained from the MRC National Survey of Health and Development (1946 British birth cohort), a socially stratified, population-based sample originally consisting of 5362 singleton births in England, Wales, and Scotland during March 1946. The cohort has been followed up 24 times, most recently in 2014-2015. Eligible participants included those flagged for mortality with affective symptom data available at a minimum of 3 time points (n = 3001). Data analysis was conducted from July 2016 to January 2019.Exposures Affective symptoms were assessed at ages 13 to 15 years (teacher-rated questionnaire), 36 years (Present State Examination clinical semistructured interview), 43 years (Psychiatric Symptom Frequency questionnaire), and 53 years (General Health Questionnaire–28). Case-level affective symptoms were determined by those scoring in the top 16th percentile (ie, suggestive of a clinical diagnosis).Main Outcomes and Measures Mortality data were obtained from the UK National Health Service Central Register from age 53 to 68 years.Results Of 3001 study members (1509 [50.3%] female, 1492 [49.7%] male), 235 individuals (7.8%) died over a 15-year follow-up. After adjustment for sex, those who experienced case-level affective symptoms 1, 2, and 3 to 4 times had 76%, 87%, and 134% higher rates of premature mortality, respectively, compared with those who never experienced case-level symptoms. Case-level symptoms in adolescence only (ages 13-15 years) were associated with a 94% increased rate of mortality, which was unexplained after full adjustment for covariates (hazard ratio, 1.73; 95% CI, 1.10-2.72). Associations between participants with case-level symptoms multiple (2-4) times and mortality were predominately explained by adult health indicators and behaviors. For example, associations for those with case-level symptoms 3 to 4 times were most strongly attenuated by number of health conditions (32.1%), anxiolytic use (28.4%), lung function (24.6%), physical activity (23.9%), smoking (24.6%), antidepressant use (20.1%), diet (16.4%), pulse rate (12.7%), and adult social class (11.2%).Conclusions and Relevance Lifetime accumulation of affective symptoms may be associated with an increased rate of mortality, with explanatory pathways dependent on the duration and timing of symptoms. Future research into causal pathways and potential points of intervention should consider affective symptom history
