324139 research outputs found
Sort by
Truck dogs: advancing a mobile geography of multispecies relations of care
No full textThis paper demonstrates how multi-species relations co-constitute mobile work in road haulage under supply chain capitalism. Bringing labour and animal geographies into dialogue, we extend the concepts of carescapes and caringscapes to theorise the truck cab, route, and logistical infrastructures as multispecies sites of care beyond the ‘static’ workplace. We use multiple methods to create multispecies narrative portraits, through which we reveal how caring labour - training and socialisation, embodied attunement, walking, and the management of hygiene, risk, and routine - enables truck dogs to travel and reshapes drivers’ sensory orientations, working rhythms, and well-being. We also show how organisational policies, regulatory regimes, and infrastructural constraints render some forms of care legible as security, cleanliness, compliance, and asset protection, while limiting or displacing others. At the same time, truck dogs offer companionship, routine, and vigilance that can ease isolation and insecurity without resolving the structural harms of mobile work. We argue that supply chain capitalism is sustained through a mobile carescape in which care is continually negotiated across schedules, routes, and institutional thresholds. By foregrounding these multispecies arrangements, the paper unsettles dominant accounts of where and how care is organised and advances a mobile geography of care attentive to the logistical conditions through which care is made possible, valued, and constrained
Porphyrin-based nanorings and helices
No full textChapter 1 discusses the background information and key publications relevant to the work described in Chapters 2-5. It first covers the synthesis of porphyrin-based molecular wires and nanorings, along with their properties. It then provides background information on aromaticity and gives examples of how aromaticity can be observed in large molecular systems. Finally, it discusses how chirality effects the properties of organic π-conjugated materials and how this can be investigated experimentally.Chapter 2 presents the synthesis of a butadiyne-linked 18-porphyrin nanoring (c-P18) and of two snowflake-shaped templates (T18A and T18B). I discuss the computational design of the snowflake-shaped templates, then outline the successful synthetic routes to both versions. The synthesis of various linear butadiyne-linked porphyrin wires is then summarised along with the use of these oligomers in the template-directed synthesis of the 18-porphyrin nanoring. Finally, the characterisation data for the various nanoring·template complexes is presented.Chapter 3 covers our in-depth study of the c-P18·T18A/B complexes, which includes; our computational analysis of the conformations each complex explores in solution, the binding of each template variant to the c-P18 nanoring, and our computational predictions and experimental evidence for globally aromaticity in c-P18.Chapter 4 presents the current progress of our collaboration with Natalie Miller and Dr Gordon Hedley at the University of Glasgow, which aims to explore exciton size and motion in the c P18·T18A/B complexes.Chapter 5 summarises the design, synthesis and purification of a chiral template which is capable of holding a butadiyne-linked porphyrin oligomer in a helical geometry. The binding between this chiral template and the oligomer is quantified and the chiroptical properties of the resulting helices are explored
Impact of AI in diagnostics and pathology
No full textThis report summarises a roundtable discussion convened to address the question: “How can we harness the diagnostic power of artificial intelligence (AI) in pathology while addressing the challenges of workforce disruption and the evolving role of human expertise?”. Participants broadly agreed that AI offers potential administrative efficiency gains, improved diagnostic accuracy and new capabilities such as large-scale risk prediction. However, they also had concerns regarding unrealistic expectations, inadequate existing digital infrastructure, regulatory uncertainty, variable trust among clinicians and patients, training, workload duplication, and impacts on workforce morale. Furthermore, it was strongly voiced by participants that AI should not be seen, or relied upon, as the solution to the current workforce crisis. Overall, participants concluded that AI should complement rather than replace human expertise, and that its integration into healthcare must be evidence-based, ethically grounded and supported by robust governance and appropriate resourcing
Porcine influenza mAbs to H3, H5, and H7 hemagglutinins recognize H3 egg adapted site and target the HA stem
No full textIntroduction: Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are critical tools for elucidating viral evolution, informing vaccine design, and developing antiviral therapeutics. Large-animal models, such as the pig, that closely mirror human immune responses are essential for understanding influenza immunity. Methods: Pigs were either infected or sequentially immunized with influenza viruses and monoclonal antibodies directed against H3, H5, and H7 influenza virus haemagglutinins were isolated. Antibody specificity, breadth, epitope targeting (head versus stem), neutralizing capacity, and Fc-mediated activity were assessed across influenza subtypes. Results: Pigs generated both strain-specific and broadly reactive mAbs targeting haemagglutinin head and stem epitopes. An H3-specific mAb (H3–57) selectively recognized the egg-adapted L194P mutation associated with reduced human vaccine effectiveness. H5 and H7 immunization induced neutralizing antibodies, including cross-group stem mAbs reactive with H1, H3, and H5 haemagglutinins. Fc-mediated activity correlated with antibody binding strength rather than epitope location. Conclusions: These findings demonstrate that pigs mount antibody responses closely resembling those observed in humans, including recognition of conserved stem epitopes and adaptive head mutations. Porcine mAbs represent powerful new tools for dissecting influenza immunity, guiding vaccine design, and enhancing pandemic preparedness using a physiologically relevant large-animal model
Roberta Button - Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the degree of Doctor of Clinical Psychology (DClinPsych)
No full textSystematic Review of the Literature Differential Reinforcement to treat self-injurious behaviour in autistic children: A systematic review of methodology and outcomesPurpose: Self-injurious behaviour (SIB) in autistic children and young people (CYP) is common and associated with harmful consequences. Differential reinforcement (DR) is a behavioural intervention which has been used to treat SIB. The aim of the current review was to report on (1) participant and intervention characteristics, (2) methodological issues, and (3) outcomes of DR interventions for SIB in autistic CYPs.Methods: A systematic literature review was conducted to identify studies reporting DR interventions for SIB in autistic CYPs. Seven databases were searched (PsychINFO, Embase, Medline, Web of Science, Scopus, CINAHL, Biosis Citation Index). Data regarding the participant, study design, intervention characteristics, and study outcomes was extracted. Study methodology was assessed using the SCED-scale and the presence of a functional assessment, stimulus preference assessment and follow-up data. A narrative synthesis was used to integrate the results.Results: Fourteen studies were identified, all of which used single-case experimental design methodology. There was variation with regards to study methodology with most studies rated as methodologically ‘adequate’. The discussion of outcomes was structured by the DR schedule used and whether the DR intervention was presented in isolation or alongside other treatments. Outcome data was mixed, with the most robust evidence being for differential reinforcement of alternative behaviour (DRA).Conclusions: There were some relative methodological strengths and limitations of studies investigating DR as an intervention for SIB. The variation in methodological quality makes it 6 difficult to make definitive conclusions regarding the efficacy of DR interventions as a whole, though DRA had the strongest evidence. Clinical implications of this are discussed.Service Improvement ProjectOutcomes and experiences of a parent-led CBT group for anxious autistic children in a Children and Young People’s Mental Health Service in EnglandObjectives: Autistic children and young people (CYP) are at a higher risk of developing anxiety. Research suggests that the mechanisms underlying anxiety in autistic CYP may be different from the dominant cognitive behavioural theories of anxiety (South & Rodgers, 2017). Nonetheless, many services continue to use therapies developed for neurotypical CYP. The aim of this project was to examine the efficacy and service-user experience of a parentled CBT group to treat anxiety in autistic CYP in a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) in England.Methods: An audit of routine outcome measures (ROMs) and post-intervention status was completed for children whose parents had attended the parent-led group (n = 33). Semistructured interviews were conducted with eight parents, and a thematic analysis was conducted to understand the service-user experience of the group. Stakeholders (experts-byexperience, clinicians, and researchers) were consulted at key stages throughout the project.Results: The completion rate of ROMs data was poor, but descriptive analysis of this and the post-intervention status data suggests that the majority of CYP attending the group did not experience a clinically significant change in anxiety. Results of the semi-structured interviews were grouped according to four themes and five subthemes, suggesting overwhelmingly that parents felt that the group was not the right fit for their autistic CYP (theme 1) and that their motivation for doing the group was for something other than gaining 7 from the intervention (theme 2), but that there were some components of the group (theme 3) and therapy non-specific factors (theme 4) that were helpful.Conclusions: The parent-led CBT group was found to not be effective and, in some cases, harmful to autistic CYP. This is consistent with the idea that mechanisms, and therefore treatment, for autistic anxiety may be different. Strengths and limitations are discussed, and service-specific recommendations are made.Theoretically-Driven Research Project Overprotective parenting and anxiety in children born with a cleft lip and/ or palate and their parents Objective: There is some evidence that children born with a cleft lip and/ or palate (CL/P) and their parents are at a slightly increased risk of developing anxiety. The intergenerational model of anxiety (IMA) suggests that overprotective parenting, and parental appraisals may contribute to this risk. This study compared levels of overprotective parenting, child anxiety, and parent anxiety, between children born with a CL/P and a control group. For the CL/P group, exploratory analyses were conducted to assess parent and child factors related to anxiety in the CL/P group.Methods: A cross-sectional design was used. Participants (n = 129) consisted of parents of 8 – 12-year-old children born with a CLP (n = 63) or without a CL/P (the ‘control group’; n = 66) recruited through the community. Participants completed an online survey containing measures of overprotective parenting, child anxiety, parent anxiety, and appraisals of their child’s CL/P (CL/P group only).Results: Participants in the CL/P group reported comparable overprotective parenting and parental anxiety, but higher levels of child anxiety than in the control group. Child anxiety in the CL/P group was related to parental anxiety, overprotection and certain parental appraisals, 8 as well as gender. Parent anxiety in the CL/P group was related to parental overprotection and parental appraisals regarding self-blame.Conclusions: These findings suggest that children with a CL/P are at an increased risk of anxiety, but that overprotective parenting is similar between children born with and without a CL/P. The clinical and research implications for the relationship between CL/P appraisals and child and parent anxiety are discussed
Bounds for the number of moves between pants decompositions, and between triangulations
No full textGiven two pants decompositions of a compact orientable surface S, we give an upper bound for their distance in the pants graph that depends logarithmically on their intersection number and polynomially on the Euler characteristic of S. As a consequence, we find an upper bound on the volume of the convex core of a maximal cusp (which is a hyperbolic structures on S ×R where given pants decompositions of the conformal boundary are pinched to annular cusps). As a further application, we give an upper bound for the Weil–Petersson distance between two points in the Teichm¨uller space of S in terms of their corresponding short pants decompositions. Similarly, given two one-vertex triangulations of S, we give an upper bound for the number of flips and twist maps needed to convert one triangulation into the other. The proofs rely on using pre-triangulations, train tracks, and an algorithm of Agol, Hass, and Thurston
The HySand hyperplasticity constitutive model for sand: theory
No full textAdvanced finite element analyses are increasingly being used in geotechnical design, and central to these analyses are reliable and accurate constitutive models to represent soil behaviour. These models need to address response across a wide range of conditions, including for instance cyclic loading for offshore applications. Existing advanced constitutive models for sand have limited capability for modelling cyclic loading, are often complex, and rarely respect the laws of thermodynamics. HySand_base, a new constitutive model for sand under cyclic loading, is presented. Its concise, rigorous, and simple formulation within the hyperplasticity framework is given. Each element of the formulation is explained through the progressive construction of the model, and the improvements brought by each additional feature are illustrated for drained monotonic, undrained monotonic, and undrained cyclic tests. HySand_base uses 14 material parameters. It is a density and pressure dependent multi-surface plasticity model, rooted in critical state theory, with yield surfaces based on the fusion of Matsuoka-Nakai type surfaces with consolidation surfaces. Non-associated plasticity is adopted, with volumetric plastic strains arising from two mechanisms: anisotropic dilation and consolidation
Bridging practices prior to brexucabtagene autoleucel for mantle cell lymphoma in the United Kingdom: An analysis of modality, response, toxicity and survival
Get PDFSummary: Bridging therapy (BT) prior to brexucabtagene autoleucel (brexu‐cel) in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is supported by limited evidence. Here, we report BT modality and outcome in 176 patients at 15 centres in the United Kingdom. BT was delivered to 90% (158/176), the majority receiving standard chemotherapy +/− radiotherapy (53%) (SD chemo +/− RT) or targeted therapy (TT) alone (23%). Clinicians favoured SD chemo +/− RT in those with Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status (ECOG PS) of 1, blastoid disease, bulk >5 cm and elevated lactate dehydrogenase. Overall response rate (ORR) was 46%. Higher ORR was observed with SD chemo +/− RT (58%), particularly R‐BAC (64%). Progressive disease despite BT was associated with a lower ORR to brexu‐cel (77% vs. 91%, p = 0.03) and a higher risk of ≥grade 3 ICANS (OR 3.43, 95% CI 1.44–8.10, p = 0.01). SD chemo +/− RT was associated with a higher incidence of ≥grade 3 neutropenia (Month 1), ≥grade 3 thrombocytopenia (Month 1, Month 3) and early non‐relapse mortality (<90 days, 13% vs. 0%) compared to TT alone. Neither BT modality nor response impacted progression‐free or overall survival post‐infusion. Review of haematopoietic reserve prior to the selection of BT regimen, rigorous management of delayed cytopenia post‐infusion and more effective and tolerable BT should be prioritised
