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Documentary filmmaking as an ethical practice: looking for life stories
Get PDFIn this context statement, Documentary Filmmaking as an Ethical Practice: Looking for Life Stories, I look back over two decades of my own media practice and draw concrete lessons from the experiences I had, as I faced ethical dilemmas while working.
Conventional documentary too often falls into extractive practices, focussing on a subject’s pain and using trauma as plot points in the storytelling. Early on in my career, I was exposed to documentary protocols that separate ‘us’ (as makers) from ‘them’ (those documented) and that conceived of those being documented as characters in formulaic storylines, thereby denying them visibility, complexity, and agency. Over the last 15 years, I have endeavoured to work differently and build projects that were participant focused and collaborative in nature. Despite my best efforts, I have learned that even when we actively resist extractive models, power dynamics can manifest in subtle ways that are not always easily identified.
This paper offers insights on ethical documentary practice and builds on the work of feminists such as bell hooks (1994), Audre Lorde (1984), Patricia Hill Collins (2000) and Ursula Le Guin (1988) who theorised power and representation. It also draws from the scholarship and projects of practitioners such as Thalhofer (2017) and Cizek (2019), seeking to challenge traditional models of documentary filmmaking
Taking stock; a review of the state of forensic psychology as revealed through an analysis of journal articles 2015-20
No full textA total of 3719 articles appearing in five key generalist forensic psychology journals (n = 1374) and six more specialist targeted forensically related journals (n = 2345) between 2015 and 2020 were subject to a bibliometric analysis to reveal trends in research topics, populations studied, jurisdiction, and research methods employed. Research on offenders dominated and over half of all the papers were located in North American jurisdictions. About a third of papers made explicit reference to diversity and two thirds of research designs employed quantitative methodologies. The discussion features comments on changing trends over time from forensic psychology’s initial narrow focus on witness testimony to its current broader remit, and the different coverage between targeted and generalist journals. The conclusion offers some reflections for future forensic psychology
Reassessing assessment: what can post stroke aphasia assessment learn from research on assessment in education?
Get PDFBackground
Assessment is an essential part of aphasia management. There are many tools available for aphasia assessment, but relatively scant attention has been paid to how speech pathologists carry out their assessment sessions, or how these sessions are experienced by people with aphasia and their families. The evidence that is available suggests that people with aphasia do not always understand the purposes of the assessments they undertake or receive much useful feedback on their performance. Connections between adult learning and aphasia therapy are being made more explicit, such as through the Life Participation Approach to Aphasia, but the potential for a relationship between adult learning and aphasia assessment has not yet been fully recognised.
Aims
This paper aims to stimulate thinking to improve current aphasia assessment practices. It uses an adult learning lens and explores theoretical approaches underpinning assessment in adult education contexts.
Main Contribution
In this commentary paper, we summarise the current, dominant practices around aphasia assessment and then briefly review evidence-based recommended practice for assessment in higher and professional education. We explore useful parallels between the two fields and discuss how we might reassess assessment in aphasia rehabilitation.
Conclusions
Aphasia assessments have greater potential to be therapeutic than we currently assume. Ideas from adult education are useful to challenge clinicians to reconsider aspects of their practice. Assessments can be a powerful motivator for learning and engagement in therapy. Through a greater focus on formative and sustainable assessment, and changed feedback practices, there are opportunities to capitalise more fully on the potential for learning during these sessions. Attention to the rich development of ideas about assessment in education is a useful way to challenge our assumptions and perhaps prepare our clients with aphasia for a more productive and sustainable learning journey to support their recovery
Ovarian cancer: identifying and managing familial and genetic risk
No full textThis guideline covers assessing the familial and genetic risk of having a pathogenic variant associated with ovarian cancer in adults.
In women, trans men and non-binary people with female reproductive organs (ovaries, fallopian tubes and/or a uterus), having a pathogenic variant increases the risk of developing ovarian cancer (familial ovarian cancer). As well as risk assessment, this guideline covers risk management and decision-making support for people born with female reproductive organs who have, or are at risk of having, a pathogenic variant associated with ovarian cancer.
Men, trans women and non-binary people born with male reproductive organs cannot develop ovarian cancer, but if they have a pathogenic variant associated with ovarian cancer, they can pass the variant on to their children, and may be at risk of developing other cancers. This guideline covers risk assessment, but it does not cover managing risk or decision-making support for people born with male reproductive organs.
NICE has also produced a guideline on the recognition and initial management of ovarian cancer
The association between countermovement rebound jump metrics and independent measures of athletic performance
Get PDFThis study investigates associations between countermovement rebound jump (CMRJ) perfor-mance metrics and various independent measures of athletic performance, including the isometric mid-thigh pull (IMTP), 20-m linear sprint, and 505 change-of-direction (COD) speed tests. Pearson correlations were used to analyse the relationship between the CMRJ measures with athletic per-formance, with significance was set at p ≤ 0.006. Results showed large significant positive rela-tionships between IMTP peak force and force at 300 milliseconds with the first jump height of the CMRJ (JH-1, r = 0.54 to 0.55, p ≤ 0.002). Additionally, inverse relationships were observed between reactive strength index modified (RSImod) and reactive strength index (RSI) with 20-m sprint total and split times (r = -0.55 to -0.66, p ≤ 0.001), and the 10-m and total sprint times were significantly correlated with JH-1 (r = -0.54, p = 0.003), indicating that greater vertical explosive power and re-active strength are associated with faster sprint performance. Finally, a significant inverse rela-tionship was identified between CMRJ metrics (two JH values and RSImod) and 505 COD times in both sides (r = -0.51 to -0.68, p ≤ 0.006). These findings suggest that CMRJ performance metrics are valuable indicators of lower-limb explosive force production, with a strong link to both linear sprint and COD performance. The finding underscores the importance of including CMRJ as-sessments in athletic performance evaluations due to their dual assessment capacity of slow and fast stretch-shortening cycle mechanics
An exploration of strategies to support non-specialist mathematics and statistics learners in higher education in Mauritius
Get PDFMathematics anxiety is a prevalent issue which prevents students from choosing under-graduate studies that contain high contents of mathematics and statistics, in higher educa-tion. Academics have been trying hard to find ways to support non-specialist mathematics students, through various means, to facilitate the teaching of mathematics and statistics.
This doctoral thesis presents the findings of a study conducted with undergraduate and postgraduate students, in a higher education institution, in Mauritius, namely at Mid-dlesex University Mauritius, an international campus of Middlesex University, UK. The study aimed to explore students’ perceptions of mathematics and statistics while taking into consideration their past experiences when learning those subjects. Data were also collected from three teachers who teach those disciplines in their respective programmes.
This study primarily utilises a methodological approach centred on gathering data through interviews with both students and academics, as well as conducting focus groups exclu-sively with students. The interview process, conducted face-to-face and through focus groups, adopts a Narrative Inquiry approach. Additionally, a limited amount of quanti-tative data was gathered through an online questionnaire administered to new university students. Thematic analysis was applied to scrutinise the qualitative data. Simultane-ously, an examination of the correlation between the perceived “value” of mathematics and factors such as “self-confidence”, “enjoyment”, and “motivation” was conducted, al-though measurement of these emotions was not within the scope of this research. In my capacity as an Insider-Researcher, my deep understanding of the research topic played a vital role in guiding the establishment of the investigation, with careful consideration given to the ethical considerations inherent to this role.
Findings from the data collected revealed that students are usually ill-prepared to start studying modules with high quantitative components. Many students have negative emo-tions towards mathematics and statistics, and this hinders their studies at university. Recommendations include the steps that a higher education institution such as Middlesex University Mauritius, should take to alleviate these negative emotions, at an early stage, and to provide adequate support to non-specialist mathematics students
An investigation of talent identification processes in the youth academies of professional soccer clubs for male foundation phase players (5-11 years old)
Get PDFTalent Identification (TID) is a large field within professional soccer, helping clubs find the best young ‘talent’ to support with future success for their club. Soccer clubs can sign players as young as 8 years old into their academy system, providing player development activities such as training and fixtures to help the player improve their overall game. However, TID processes within professional soccer academies hasn’t been assessed in detail, in particular within the youngest ages (5-11 years old). Our aim was to survey practitioners working within professional soccer academies that support with the identification of players between 5-11 years old, with 19 practitioners responding to the survey. Results highlighted that 1) players may be selected / not selected at a young age due to the month of the academic / cohort year they were born in (Relative Age Effect), 2) coaches will tend make decisions on what they see in training / fixtures, leaning on their experiences rather than using any testing procedures to provide any additional data to support their selection decisions, and 3) results from the survey indicate a lean towards a later recruitment age
Privacy and the city: how data shapes city identities
Get PDFThis article bridges comparative constitutional law with research inspired by city leadership and the opportunities that technology brings to the urban environment. It looks first to some of the causes of rapid urbanization and finds them in the pitfalls of antidiscrimination law in federations and quasi-federations such as the United States and the European Union. Short of achieving antidiscrimination based on nationality, the EU has experimented with data privacy as an identity clause that could bring social cohesion the same way purportedly freedom of speech has done in the US. In the City however, diversity replaces antidiscrimination, making cities attractive to migrants across various walks of life. The consequence for federalism is the obvious decline of top-down or vertical, state-based federalism and the rise of legal urbanism whereby cities establish loose networks of cooperation between themselves. These types of arrangements are not yet a threat to the State or the EU but might become such if cities are increasingly isolated from the political process (e.g., at the EU level) and lack legal means to assert themselves in court. City diversity and openness to different cultures in turn invites a connection to new technologies since unlike antidiscrimination that is usually strictly examined on a case-by-case level, diversity can be more readily computed. Finally, the article focuses on NYC and London initiatives to suggest a futuristic vision of city networks that instead of using social credit score like in China, deploy data trusts to populate their urban environments, shape city identities and exchange ideas for urban development.
An in-silico analysis of OGT gene association with diabetes mellitus
Get PDFO-GlcNAcylation is a nutrient-sensing post-translational modification process. This cycling process involves two primary proteins: the O-linked N-acetylglucosamine transferase (OGT) catalysing the addition, and the glycoside hydrolase OGA (O-GlcNAcase) catalysing the removal of the O-GlCNAc moiety on nucleocytoplasmic proteins. This process is necessary for various critical cellular functions. The O-linked N-acetylglucosamine transferase (OGT) gene produces the OGT protein. Several studies have shown the overexpression of this protein to have biological implications in metabolic diseases like cancer and diabetes mellitus (DM). This study retrieved 159 SNPs with clinical significance from the SNPs database. We probed the functional effects, stability profile, and evolutionary conservation of these to determine their fit for this research. We then identified 7 SNPs (G103R, N196K, Y228H, R250C, G341V, L367F, and C845S) with predicted deleterious effects across the four tools used (PhD-SNPs, SNPs&Go, PROVEAN, and PolyPhen2). Proceeding with this, we used ROBETTA, a homology modelling tool, to model the proteins with these point mutations and carried out a structural bioinformatics method– molecular docking– using the Glide model of the Schrodinger Maestro suite. We used a previously reported inhibitor of OGT, OSMI-1, as the ligand for these mutated protein models. As a result, very good binding affinities and interactions were observed between this ligand and the active site residues within 4Å of OGT. We conclude that these mutation points may be used for further downstream analysis as drug targets for treating diabetes mellitus
Nursing associate students in practice during the Covid-19 pandemic
No full textA study explored the lived experiences of student nursing associates during the Covid-19 pandemic by conducting semi-structured, in-depth interviews over Zoom. Participants reported negative experiences, as well as many positive outcomes of having worked during an international crisis. They recognised improved teamwork, enhanced learning and personal development as the main benefits of this challenging period. The study’s findings correspond with research in the UK and abroad among both students and qualified nurses. The results could be used to improve student nursing associates’ experiences in practice and to increase their resilience