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“It Started with a Kiss” EastEnders and Subversion from within: Domestic ‘Queer’ Star Persona and British Social Realism
Get PDFThis paper explores the performativity of the domestic queer star persona in soap opera, foregrounding the historical presence of Michael Cashman, the LGBTQ+ rights activist, who appeared as the first queer character in Eastenders, in 1986. Cashman’s later cameo roles in 2016 and 2022 are also explored, alongside evaluating the appearance of other openly gay actors taking on queer roles in EastEnders, demonstrating the potential for “subversion from within” to produce social realism and consciousness raising. EastEnders’ wider development of LGBTQ+ rights narratives is also explored, considering stories of coming out, hate crimes and same sex marriage. At the same time, the foundation of queer social realist film and the cultural setting of London is considered, while theorising changing models of public service as influencing TV soap opera form
Fruit and vegetable intake in minority ethnic groups in the UK: analysis from 'Understanding Society' and UK Biobank.
Get PDFOBJECTIVE: To examine differences in fruit and vegetable intake and food insecurity between Black African and Caribbean and South Asian (Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi) ethnic minority groups with a White (British) reference population in the UK. This study was part of the TANGERINE project (nuTritional heAlth aNd aGeing in oldER ethnIc miNoritiEs). DESIGN: Longitudinal analysis using multilevel logistic regression from Understanding Society, and a cross-sectional comparison with UK Biobank. SETTING: Understanding Society waves 2 (2010-2012), 5 (2013-2015), 7 (2015-2017), 9 (2017-2019) 11 (2019-2021), and 13 (2021-2023).UK Biobank baseline data (2006-2010). PARTICIPANTS: Understanding Society: adults aged 16 years and above (approximately 44,000 households).UK Biobank: participants aged 37-73 years (n=502,412). RESULTS: At wave 2, African, Caribbean, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi participants in Understanding Society had lower odds of daily vegetable intake than White British/Irish participants, with Pakistanis showing the lowest intake. These disparities persisted after adjusting for socioeconomic position (SEP) at individual and area level, particularly for Caribbean and Pakistani groups. Indians consistently had higher odds of vegetable intake. Ethnic differences in fruit intake were smaller and largely attenuated by SEP adjustment. Food insecurity was more prevalent in all ethnic minority groups (except Indians) and associated with lower vegetable and fruit intake, though SEP explains more of the ethnic difference. CONCLUSIONS: Ethnic differences in fruit and vegetable intake are at least partially explained by SEP, with persistent vegetable consumption disparities after adjustment. Culturally tailored interventions addressing affordability, accessibility, and SEP disparities are needed to improve dietary behaviours among minority ethnic groups
“A Combination of Everything”: A Mixed-Methods Approach to the Factors that Autistic People Consider Important in Suicidality
Get PDFBackground: Suicide is a leading cause of death for autistic people, but it is inadequately explained by theories derived in non-autistic populations. Autistic people’s perceptions of the factors underpinning suicidal experiences are vital for guiding conceptual understanding, risk assessment, and policy and clinical practice toward preventing suicide.
Methods: We recruited 1369 autistic participants for an online survey designed through consultation with autistic people. Participants were 326 cisgender men, 718 cisgender women, and 325 transgender or gender-divergent individuals, ranging from 16 to 89 years old. We asked them to rate the importance of 19 contributing factors to their suicidal thoughts and feelings and to enter their own explanations of additional factors if desired. Alongside thematically analyzing this qualitative data, we examined whether ratings of contributing factors differed by age and gender and whether ratings statistically predicted levels of lifetime suicidality.
Results: Loneliness, feelings of worthlessness/failure, hopelessness, and mental illness were the highest rated contributing factors to suicidal thoughts and feelings, particularly by autistic women and sex/gender minorities; ratings also differed by age. Qualitative responses indicated the complexity of suicidality, wherein autistic status influenced both the nature of the stressors (e.g., societal stigma) and cognitive-emotional states (e.g., feeling disconnected through feeling different to others) that participants identified. Greater perceived importance of bullying, difficulties accessing support, and past trauma characterized participants with experience of suicide plans or attempts.
Conclusion: While some of the experiences and mental states identified by participants resembled those identified in non-autistic groups, the psychological profile of autistic participants and their experiences of marginalization appeared to heavily contextualize expressions of hopelessness, burdensomeness, worthlessness, loneliness, and entrapment. Autistic people vary with regard to the factors perceived to underpin suicidality. However, associations between suicidality and the perceived importance of bullying, trauma, and inability to access support highlight the necessity of societal and systemic change to prevent suicide
Application of Systems-of-Systems Theory to Electromagnetic Warfare Intentional Electromagnetic Interference Risk Assessment
Get PDFBattlefields contain complex networks of electromagnetic (EM) systems, owned by adversary/allied military forces and civilians, communicating intentionally or unintentionally. Attacker’s strategies may include Intentional EM Interference (IEMI) to adversary target systems, although transmitted signals may additionally degrade/disrupt allied/civilian systems (called victims). To aid decision-making processes relating to IEMI attacks, Risk Assessment (RA) is performed to determine whether interference risks to allied/civilian systems are acceptable. Currently, there is no formalized Quantitative RA Method (QRAM) capable of calculating victim risk distributions, so a novel approach is proposed to address this knowledge gap, utilizing an Electromagnetic Warfare (EW) IEMI RA method modeling scenarios consisting of interacting EM systems within complex, dynamic, diverse, and uncertain environments, using Systems-of-Systems (SoS) theory. This paper aims to address this knowledge gap via critical analysis utilizing a case study which demonstrates the use of an Acknowledged SoS-based model as input to a QRAM capable of calculating victim risk distributions within EW IEMI RA-associated scenarios. Transmitter operators possess only uncertain/fuzzy knowledge of victim systems, so it is proposed that a Moot Acknowledged System-of-Fuzzy-Systems applies to EW IEMI RA scenarios. In summary, a novel SoS description feeding a novel QRAM (supported by a systematic literature review of RA mathematical modeling techniques)is proposed to address the knowledge gap
Correction to: Aging and word predictability during reading: Evidence from eye movements and fixation-related potentials (Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, (2025), 87, 1, (50-75), 10.3758/s13414-024-02981-9)
Get PDFThe scale accompanying the topographies in Figures 3B, 4B, 5B, and 6B showed an incorrect voltage range. This should range between +/- 4 volts and not +/- 1 volts as shown in the originally published article. The original article has been corrected
Some confusions around authoritarianism today
No full textThere are several sources of confusion in and around authoritarianism today. One is the tendency of authoritarian leadership to confabulate and lie, increasingly to the point where truth criteria cease to be of any relevance. A second is the counter-intuitive convergence between authoritarian and libertarian tendencies, which confuses political debate. And a third is the common conflation of authoritarianism with nationalism, which fails to recognise benign nationalism and adds to the polarisation on which authoritarian leaders thrive
Whose nation? The racialization of sporting heroes and the emergence of new cosmopolitan imaginaries
Get PDFThe global popularity of sporting spectacles makes them fertile terrain for representing the idea of the nation. Black and ethnic minority players with multiple nationalities are often questioned in Western political and media discourse about their belonging to the ‘nation’. However, these athletes increasingly embrace their multiple belongings, foregrounding cosmopolitan imaginaries that unsettle nationalistic discourses. Their message is amplified by the ability to communicate directly with vast ‘audiences’ of fans through social media. This article discusses the cultural and political implications of this phenomenon, stressing the need for new cosmopolitical lenses in sport and popular culture that transcend the historical constraints of nationhood
Towards the Real-World Analysis of Lumbar Spine Standing Posture in Individuals with Low Back Pain: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
Get PDFProlonged periods of standing are linked to low back pain (LBP). Evaluating lumbar spine biomechanics in real-world contexts can provide novel insights into these links. This study aimed to determine if standing behaviour can be quantified, in individuals with LBP, in real-world environments. A three-stage design was used, (i) Verification of a bespoke algorithm characterising lumbar standing behaviour, (ii) Day-long assessment of standing behaviours of individuals with posture-related low back discomfort, and (iii) Case study application to individuals with clinical LBP. Analysis of standing posture across time included variability, fidgeting, and amplitude probability distribution function analysis. The study demonstrated that accelerometers are a valid method for extracting standing posture from everyday activity data. There was a wide variety of postures throughout the day in people with posture-related low back discomfort and people with clinical LBP. Frequency profiles ranged from slightly flexed to slightly extended postures, with skewed bell-shaped distributions common. Postural variability ranged from 3.4° to 7.7°, and fidgeting from 1.0° to 3.0°. This work presents a validated accelerometer-based method to capture, identify, and quantify real-world lumbar standing postures. The distinct characteristics of people with low back discomfort or pain highlight the importance of individualised approaches
Product churn, tastes, and price indices
Get PDFPrice indices commonly used to measure inflation do not account for the entry and exit of products nor for systemic changes in consumer preferences over time. Recent developments in the theory of price indices show that these issues have significant impacts on the growth of prices that consumers experience. However, executing these developments requires access to household-level data. Analyzing the ready meal purchases of 30,000 UK households during 2013–2022, we evaluate the extent of the bias between standard price indices and those that accommodate product churn as well as changes in consumer tastes. Household data also permit the effects to be calculated across income groups. Our results show that price indices commonly used to measure inflation significantly overstate the extent of price increases due to: (i) “representative” prices used to measure the Consumer Prices Index do not adequately capture the prices of goods in household baskets, and (ii) the effect of the net entry of products and taste changes, the latter being particularly strong. Furthermore, differences in the shopping baskets across income groups suggest that inflation varies across the income distribution. We find that when product churn and taste changes are accounted for, ready meals prices rose over the period by around 3% in low-income households compared with a rise of 12% and 14% in middle- and higher-income households, respectively. These issues are important not only for measuring cost-of-living and how it varies across income groups but also in addressing policy issues more generally
