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Is assisted dying a treatment?
Get PDFThis paper focuses on the nature of the assisted dying (AD) decision including the object of the mental capacity test. Specifically, we inquire into whether AD is a treatment decision. In Part I, we analyse how the AD decision is characterised in all international AD statutes also analysing what government guidance says when the primary legislation is ambiguous. In Part II, we address the question normatively: firstly, from the perspective of clinical ethics and secondly from the perspective of legal rules (the doctrine of informed consent and the duties of governments in states with socialised healthcare laws). We found that the nature of AD is variably characterised across international laws with a significant number (10/32) framing AD as a healthcare or treatment decision. In laws where the characterisation is ambiguous (14/32) government guidance tends toward a treatment characterisation. We argue in Part II that AD should not be classified as a treatment for reasons of clinical intelligibility, legal coherence and unintended policy consequences. We conclude with some recommendations, notwithstanding complexities, on a better characterisation of the decision to inform future AD policy research
A systematic review of higher education-based interventions to support the mental health and wellbeing
Get PDFPerceptions of inclusive learning in academic and clinical environments:a survey of pre-registration healthcare students
Get PDFDifferential attainment among undergraduate/pre-registration healthcare students from diverse sociocultural backgrounds is evident. This research aims to explore healthcare students' feelings of inclusivity and sense of belonging from various demographic groups in order to explore aspects of the student experience that may help make sense of the differential attainment. A self-completed online survey was designed and distributed in seven health programmes in a research-intensive university in England. The results show that a lack of inclusivity and sense of belonging was experienced by healthcare students from underrepresented backgrounds, particularly students who are ethnic minorities, non-heterosexual, or with disabilities. Students reported a stronger sense of belonging comparing their learning at university to their learning on clinical placement. Their perceptions of inclusivity are different across healthcare programmes, with some programmes seeming to foster inclusivity better in some areas than others. This study provides unique insights into the inclusivity of learning for students in healthcare programmes and highlights the need to foster a greater sense of belonging for all students. Understanding the impact of these characteristics on students' learning and attainment contributes to the development and evaluation of strategies to support the development of curricula, teaching and assessment practices that are more inclusive
Differential GABA dynamics across brain functional networks in autism
Get PDFDifferences in the ϒ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) system contribute to an excitatory-inhibitory imbalance in autism, particularly affecting sensory processing. However, the brain's broader response to interventions targeting GABA pathways in individuals with autism remains poorly understood. This study tested the hypothesis that GABAergic control of information transfer across large-scale brain functional networks is altered in autism. We conducted a phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) analysis of resting-state EEG signals within and between these networks. Responses were compared after double-blind, randomized oral administration of either a placebo or 15/30 mg of arbaclofen, a GABAB receptor agonist. Twenty-four non-autistic (9 males; 19-53 years) and 15 autistic participants (9 males; 20-51 years) completed 93 study visits. Autistic participants exhibited significantly higher theta-beta PAC, especially within the limbic network. High-dose arbaclofen shifted PAC metrics in visual and somatomotor networks towards non-autistic levels, but had minimal effects on networks related to higher cognitive functions. Interestingly, altered PAC within and between networks in the limbic system of autistic participants was normalized by low-dose arbaclofen, yet reemerged after high-dose administration. These findings provide compelling evidence for altered GABAergic responsivity in autism, helping explain some of the challenges in prescribing medications for autistic individuals, such as paradoxical reactions and dose sensitivity.</p
An approach to personalised decision support based on gradual bipolar argumentation enhanced with user preferences
Get PDFThe social networks of people with alcohol dependence who frequently attend hospital: A systematic review and qualitative study to inform social network questionnaires and therapeutic approaches
No full textA dataset of infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectra for textile fibres of natural and man-made origin
No full textThis dataset contains attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectra of natural and man-made textile fibres assembled to support research in forensic, analytical, and environmental science. The dataset was developed under the hypothesis that textile fibres exhibit characteristic and reproducible infrared signatures that enable differentiation between fibre classes. By capturing a broad representation of commonly encountered textile materials, the dataset provides a reference framework for fibre identification, spectral comparison, and the development and evaluation of classification approaches. A total of 160 spectra were obtained from 137 verified textile samples sourced from industry reference collections and academic textile archives. Only pure (non-blended) fibres were included. Samples were provided as fibre tufts, yarns, or fabric swatches, and natural variation in manufacturing treatments was retained to reflect the diversity typically encountered in real-world materials. The dataset currently covers 26 fibre subtypes, spanning both natural and man-made categories. The data are organised into six components: raw instrument files, tabular matrices of raw transmission spectra, baseline-corrected spectra, averaged spectra grouped by fibre subtype, three alternative fully pre-processed feature matrices prepared using different spectral preprocessing pipelines, and a metadata file describing sample-level attributes. These datasets allow users to explore spectral variability within and between fibre categories, build custom reference libraries, benchmark spectral matching algorithms, examine discriminating spectral regions, and train or evaluate chemometric or machine-learning models using a consistent, well-structured foundation
Inexact zeroth-order nonsmooth and nonconvex stochastic composite optimization and applications
Get PDFIn this paper, we present an inexact zeroth-order method suitable for the solution of nonsmooth and nonconvex stochastic composite optimization problems, in which the objective is split into a real-valued Lipschitz continuous stochastic function and an extended-valued (deterministic) proper, closed, and convex one. The algorithm operates under inexact oracles providing noisy (and biased) stochastic evaluations of the underlying finite-valued part of the objective function. We show that the proposed method converges (non-asymptotically), under very mild assumptions, close to a stationary point of an appropriate surrogate problem which is related (in a precise mathematical sense) to the original one. This, in turn, provides a new notion of approximate stationarity suitable nonsmooth and nonconvex stochastic composite optimization, generalizing conditions used in the available literature. In light of the generic oracle properties under which the algorithm operates, we showcase the applicability of the approach in a wide range of problems including large classes of two-stage nonconvex stochastic optimization and nonconvex-nonconcave minimax stochastic optimization instances, without requiring convexity of the lower level problems, or even uniqueness of the associated lower level solution maps. We showcase how the developed theory can be applied in each of these cases under general assumptions, providing algorithmic methodologies that go beyond the current state-of-the-art appearing in each respective literature, enabling the solution of problems that are out of reach for currently available methodologies.</p
A public resource of 15 genomically characterized representative strains of <i>Shigella sonnei</i>
Get PDF Shigella sonnei is rapidly emerging as the dominant agent of shigellosis, an enteric disease responsible for a significant burden of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Whole-genome sequencing of S. sonnei isolated over the last three decades has revealed phylogenomic diversity within the population and the emergence of multiple lineages associated with distinct epidemiological patterns such as resistance to critical antimicrobials and/or transmission within different groups. However, most experimental work on S. sonnei biology and pathogenicity has focused on a single laboratory strain (53G), which is phylogenetically distant from currently circulating strains. Here, we introduce a set of phylogenetically diverse and epidemiologically relevant S. sonnei isolates made available through publicly accessible culture collections as a resource for laboratory science. We present their complete whole-genome sequences, including the pINV invasion plasmid (missing from a large proportion of public genome data due to loss during laboratory culture). Finally, the characterization and comparison of these complete genome sequences highlight evidence for ongoing adaptive evolution in S. sonnei, featuring the accumulation of insertion sequences, gene pseudogenization and structural variation. </p
A Meat-Summer Night's Dream:A Tangible Design Fiction Exploration of Eating Biohybrid Flying Robots
No full textWhat if future dining involved eating robots? We explore this question through a playful and poetic experiential dinner theater: a tangible design fiction staged as a 2052 Paris restaurant where diners consume a biohybrid flying robot in place of the banned delicacy of ortolan bunting. Moving beyond textual or visual speculation, our “dinner-in-the-drama” combined performance, ritual, and multisensory immersion to provoke reflection on sustainability, ethics, and cultural identity. Six participants from creative industries engaged as diners and role-players, responding with curiosity, discomfort, and philosophical debate. They imagined biohybrids as both plausible and unsettling—raising questions of sentience, symbolism, and technology adoption that exceed conventional sustainability framings of synthetic meat. Our contributions to HCI are threefold: (i) a speculative artifact that stages robots as food, (ii) empirical insights into how publics negotiate cultural and ethical boundaries in post-natural eating, and (iii) a methodological advance in embodied, multisensory design fiction