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A preliminary investigation into the use of cannabis suppositories and online mindful compassion for improving sexual function among women following gynaecological cancer treatment
Get PDFBackground and Objectives: The impact of gynaecological cancer and its treatments on sexual intimacy can be profound on female sexuality. However, very few registered clinical trials have addressed sexual intimacy among this cohort. Materials and Methods: This preliminary randomised control trial (RCT) and content analysis assessed the effectiveness of a brief online mindful compassion group intervention adjunct with cannabis suppositories. Eighty-three participants aged between 18 and 50+ years who were at least six months post-cancer treatment were randomly allocated to one of four groups, depending on whether they were already using cannabis suppositories. These included a cannabis-only group (CO), a mindful-compassion group (MC), a combined mindful-compassion and cannabis suppositories group (COCM) and a care-as-usual group (CAU). Measurements of sexual function, sexual self-efficacy, mindful compassion, well-being and quality of life were taken at weeks 0, 4 and 12. Results: Sexual function, including arousal, lubrication and orgasms, improved for both the MC p = 0.002 and COCM p ≤ 0.001 groups; in addition, sexual pain was reduced in the COCM p = 0.008 and CO p ≤ 0.001 groups compared to the CAU and MC groups, where p ≥ 0.05. Feedback suggested that cannabis mediated the effects of mindful compassion and supported well-being, sexual self-efficacy, and quality of life. Participants also voiced a preference for cannabis suppositories when using dilators as part of their treatment and the use of sex toys instead of dilators, suggesting that dilators had negatively impacted their sexuality. Conclusions: These preliminary and exploratory outcomes look promising and provide a foundation for future research to develop varied healthcare options to improve mental health service delivery and quality of life for this cohort
Mutuality vs freedom: competing moral panics in the UK debate over the wearing of masks during the pandemic
No full textThe emergence of Covid-19 led to different kinds of social restrictions being imposed in different parts of the world at different times. In the UK, the lockdown of March 2020 was not initially accompanied by demands for the public (as opposed to health care professionals) to wear masks, but following pressure from some expert groups such as the British Medical Association (Patterson, 2020) masks were mandated in shops and supermarkets on 24 July 2020 (GOV.UK, 2020) . The rules were relaxed in July 2021, but reinstated on 30 Nov 2021 in response to the emerging omicron variant (Reuters, 2021). As part of the lifting of ‘Plan B’ restrictions, the general mask mandate was removed on 27 January 2022, with a final (somewhat reluctant) removal of the mask mandate on London Transport on 24 February 2022 (Transport for London, 2022).
Throughout these changes of policy, a debate developed in which mask-wearing became, in part at least, linked to issues of moral and social responsibility. It has been argued that the face mask “is at once such a shared cultural symbol and yet so physically intimate [which] allows its wearer to channel, materialise and signal co-operation, fear, anger or dissent.” (Barratt, 2020). In this chapter, this debate will be analysed as an illustration of the possibility of competing moral panics, in which the language choices made in public discourse (largely in samples of newspaper articles) shape the issue of the moral risk of (not) wearing a mask during the pandemic
Vitamin B6 pathway maintains glioblastoma cell survival in 3D spheroid cultures
Get PDFGlioblastoma (GBM) is a deadly brain cancer. The prognosis of GBM patients has marginally improved over the last three decades. The response of GBMs to initial treatment is inevitably followed by relapse. Thus, there is an urgent need to identify and develop new therapeutics to target this cancer and improve both patient outcomes and long-term survival. Metabolic reprogramming is considered one of the hallmarks of cancers. However, cell-based studies fail to accurately recapitulate the in vivo tumour microenvironment that influences metabolic signalling and rewiring. Against this backdrop, we conducted global, untargeted metabolomics analysis of the G7 and R24 GBM 2D monolayers and 3D spheroid cultures under identical cell culture conditions. Our studies revealed that the levels of multiple metabolites associated with the vitamin B6 pathway were significantly altered in 3D spheroids compared to the 2D monolayer cultures. Importantly, we show that pharmacological intervention with hydralazine, a small molecule that reduces vitamin B6 levels, resulted in the cell death of 3D GBM spheroid cultures. Thus, our study shows that inhibition of the vitamin B6 pathway is a novel therapeutic strategy for the development of targeted therapies in GBMs
Residential load demand side management optimization under time of use tariffs and emergency demand response program / An integrated price- and incentive-based demand response program for smart residential buildings: A robust multi-objective model
No full textResidential buildings account for a significant portion of energy consumption compared to other sectors. This fact highlights the significance of optimizing consumption patterns within these buildings. Load demand side management (DSM) is a solution that assists consumers and producers in managing energy consumption through incentive- and price-based approaches. In this study, a new mathematical model is developed to manage load DSM in smart residential buildings. While most previous studies considered single objective function, ignored uncertainties, and applied only one of the price- or incentive-based programs to load management in smart residential buildings; in this paper, a multi-objective mixed-integer linear programming model is developed that applies both price- and incentive-based programs and considers uncertainties. Objectives are cost reduction, peak load minimization, user comfort improvement, and load factor maximization. This model can manage optimal schedules for household appliances and load exchange within buildings. The proposed methodology and findings contribute to research on the residential load demand side management based upon the simultaneous use of price- and incentive-based programs
Book review : Facts, values and the policy world by Phil Ryan
Get PDFThe distinction between facts and values is a methodological conundrum which faces all social scientists, not least critical social policy analysts. It concerns the need for evidence and rational argument to support a critical perspective on a social issue. So, an author submitting an article to CSP is expected to embrace explicitly some element of the ‘values’ associated with the journal. This entails focus on particular social injustices and oppressions and the role of policy in furthering and/or challenging these
Scalable transdiagnostic early assessment of mental health (STREAM): a study protocol
Get PDFIntroduction:
Early childhood development forms the foundations for functioning later in life. Thus, accurate monitoring of developmental trajectories is critical. However, such monitoring often relies on time-intensive assessments which necessitate administration by skilled professionals. This difficulty is exacerbated in low-resource settings where such professionals are predominantly concentrated in urban and often private clinics, making them inaccessible to many. This geographic and economic inaccessibility contributes to a significant ‘detection gap’ where many children who might benefit from support remain undetected. The Scalable Transdiagnostic Early Assessment of Mental Health (STREAM) project aims to bridge this gap by developing an open-source, scalable, tablet-based platform administered by non-specialist workers to assess motor, social and cognitive developmental status. The goal is to deploy STREAM through public health initiatives, maximising opportunities for effective early interventions.
Methods and analysis:
The STREAM project will enrol and assess 4000 children aged 0–6 years from Malawi (n=2000) and India (n=2000). It integrates three established developmental assessment tools measuring motor, social and cognitive functioning using gamified tasks, observation checklists, parent-report and audio-video recordings. Domain scores for motor, social and cognitive functioning will be developed and assessed for their validity and reliability. These domain scores will then be used to construct age-adjusted developmental reference curves.
Ethics and dissemination:
Ethical approval has been obtained from local review boards at each site (India: Sangath Institutional Review Board; All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) Ethics Committee; Indian Council of Medical Research—Health Ministry Screening Committee; Malawi: College of Medicine Research and Ethics Committee; Malawi Ministry of Health—Blantyre District Health Office). The study adheres to Good Clinical Practice standards and the ethical guidelines of the 6th (2008) Declaration of Helsinki. Findings from STREAM will be disseminated to participating families, healthcare professionals, policymakers, educators and researchers, at local, national and international levels through meetings, academic journals and conferences
Proceedings of Data Analytics and Management: ICDAM 2023, Volume 2
No full textThis book includes original unpublished contributions presented at the International Conference on Data Analytics and Management (ICDAM 2023), held at London Metropolitan University, London, UK, during June 2023. The book covers the topics in data analytics, data management, big data, computational intelligence, and communication networks. The book presents innovative work by leading academics, researchers, and experts from industry which is useful for young researchers and students. The book is divided into four volumes
Plotting against our nation: COVID-19, nationalisms, and conspiracy theories in five European countries
Get PDFThis paper analyses the relationships between nationalism and conspiracy theories during the COVID-19 pandemic. We focus on the two main issues: 1) the intensity and character of belief in the COVID-19 conspiracy theories across five European societies: Germany, England, Ireland, Serbia, and Sweden; and 2) how is the commitment to specific nationalist ideologies linked with the belief in conspiracy theories. The data indicates that those who described themselves as highly religious and politically right-wing are more prone to believe in the strong versions of conspiracy theories. Furthermore, primordialism and the nation-centric view of the world are positively correlated with the propensity towards stronger versions of conspiracy theories. The paper zooms in on the significant differences across the five countries: the Serbian respondents stand out in terms of their strong beliefs in conspiracy theories while the Irish and Serbian respondents who are prone to strong version of conspiratorial thinking also subscribe more to the primordialist understanding of nationhood
Examining the role of social media influencers in service failure and recovery strategies: an empirical investigation of millennials’ views
Get PDFPurpose:
Prior research has advanced several explanations for social media influencers’ (SMIs’) success in the burgeoning computer-mediated marketing environments but leaves one key topic unexplored: the moderating role of SMIs in service failure and recovery strategies.
Design/Methodology/approach:
Drawing on a social constructivist perspective and an inductive approach, 59 in-depth interviews were conducted with millennials from three European countries (Italy, France and the United Kingdom). Building on social influence theory and commitment-trust theory, this study conceptualises four distinct pathways unifying SMIs’ efforts in the service failure recovery process.
Findings:
The emergent model illustrates how source credibility and message content moderate service failure severity and speed of recovery. The insights gained from our model contribute to research on the pivotal uniqueness of SMIs in service failure recovery processes and offer practical explanations of variations in the implementation of influencer marketing. This study examines a perspective of SMIs that considers the cycle of their influence on customers through service failure and recovery.
Originality/Value:
The study suggests that negative reactions towards service failure and recovery are reduced if customers have a relationship with influencers prior to the service failure and recovery compared with the reactions of customers who do not have a relationship with the influencer
The ideational approach
No full textRecent events highlight how populism threatens and challenges liberal democracy; however, scholarship on populism’s consequences and how these can be mitigated is still lacking. In this Introduction, we extend the ideational approach to understanding populism’s consequences and their mitigation. We first summarize the ideational approach to populism, comparing it to other prominent approaches. We then formulate an ideational theory of populism’s consequences, emphasizing the endogenous nature of populist ideas in how actors view the world and formulate their preferences. We specify our ideational argument with respect to populism’s impact on three levels: national political institutions, individual beliefs, and international relations and foreign policy. At all three levels, we argue that populism has a distinct impact that hinges on the intensity of populist beliefs of actors, particularly when these are in power. We juxtapose this impact with the influence of other factors such as the host ideology of popu