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Therapy & HIV positive clients: exploring aspects that promote psychosocial adjustment using constructivist grounded theory
Get PDFBackground/Aim: With the advent of antiretroviral medication Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has moved to a chronic disease with life expectancy comparable to a noninfected individual. With antiretroviral medication (ART) individuals with HIV can expect to live longer yet are likely to encounter an increasing diverse array of medical, psychological, social and cultural challenges. Current research links a HIV diagnosis to a theme of adjustment as a positive diagnosis may be accompanied by stigma and has the power to influence and transform individual identities. A HIV positive diagnosis is often accompanied with vulnerability, helplessness and uncertainty with higher incidences of psychological distress such depression, generalised stress and anxiety. Existing literature has primarily focussed on the efficacy of CBT interventions in relation to HIV. Yet from a pluralistic perspective there is unlikely to be one appropriate ‘model’ as different people are helped by different processes at different times of their diagnosis trajectory.
Design/Method: This grounded theory study explored the experiences via semi structured interviews from a heterogenous group of eight participants aged between 23-47 who have completed a course of therapy in relation to a HIV diagnosis within the previous 2 years.
Results: The data analysis identified that a HIV diagnosis can invariably be accompanied by complex life adjustments as an individual adapts to new experiences of a physical, social, intimate or spiritual nature. Research findings identified two core-categories. The first core category ‘Process of growth in therapy’ embodied a process of interpersonal and intrapersonal growth, facilitated within the process of therapy emerging from subcategories ‘Processing the diagnosis overwhelm’ and ‘Understanding the relationship with the self & HIV’.A second core-category identified the process of ‘Therapy as a process of challenging exploration & psychosocial adjustment’ emerging from sub-categories in ‘Confronting Stigma’ and ‘Exploring, challenging beliefs about the self, world & others’.
Conclusion: This research is situated within existing literature and how it may provide suggestions for practitioners working with this diverse socio-economic client group. These results may facilitate the efficacy in delivering psychological interventions and help promote an individual’s capacity for psychosocial adjustment in overcoming the challenges in their social and domestic roles living with the stigma associated with HIV
Building social justice and student wellbeing through praxis-based pedagogies
Get PDFWith the ambition to create a learning environment which might improve student mental health and learning outcomes, the School of Architecture implemented a hands-on making workshop as part of the second year curriculum in 2016.To explore the positive effects on our students, we conducted a wellbeing survey, using the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS), and an online focus group, both at the end of the academic year 2019-20
Rapid quantification of SARS-CoV-2 neutralising antibodies using time- resolved fluorescence immunoassay
Get PDFThe quantification of neutralising antibodies (NAb) for SARS-CoV-2 has become an important tool for monitoring protective immunity following infection or immunisation. In this study, we evaluated using World Health Organisation standard immunoglobulin preparations, a novel point-of-care test that quantitates NAb by time-resolved fluorescent immunoassay. The assay provided robust data of binding antibody units (BAU) in 15 minutes that was well correlated to NAb values obtained by traditional in vitro neutralisation assay. It also correlated well to spike receptor binding domain binding antibodies over a broad range of plasma dilutions. The assay was extremely sensitive, able to detect positive samples after dilution 1:10000 and over a wide range of BAU. Assay specificity was estimated at 96% using Pre-COVID serum samples, when applying a cut-off value of 47 BAU/ml although readings up to 100 BAU/ml could be considered borderline. This point-of-care diagnostic test is useful for rapid population screening, includes the use of capillary blood samples, and provides results for SARS-CoV-2 NAb in 15 minutes that can inform immediate decisions regarding protective immunity levels and the need for continued COVID immunisations
Empirical assessment of trade potentials of Pakistan with SAARC countries using revealed comparative advantage
No full textTrade plays an important role to boost economic growth and strengthens relationship among trading partners. For the purpose of better performance, many Governments are more concerned regarding regional coordination through their policies. This paper focuses on exploring trade potentials of Pakistan with SAARC countries that are essentials ingredients for making strong diplomatic and economic relations through coordination. For this purpose data related to imports and exports of concerned countries for the year 2019 are utilized and Revealed Comparative advantage technique is applied to identify the commodities of comparative advantage and having potentials that need to be explored in order to increase nation’s overall level of satisfaction. The paper concluded that food and live animals, manufactured goods classified chiefly by material and miscellaneous manufactured articles are the commodities of comparative advantage for the prospects of trade potentials. The paper also suggested some policy recommendations with the conclusion of this paper
The political is personal: disturbing form, revisiting liberalism and resisting Trump's America in The Good Fight
No full textThis book chapter explores how The Good Fight’s combined approaches to narrative and style emphasize the effect of the contemporary political climate on the individual and its relationship to the increasing personalization of politics. Examining how the show tackles the blurring of boundaries between fact and fiction, the political chaos and lawlessness, and the racial and gender inequalities evident in American culture, the chapter considers how style and form are used to illuminate and critique the unsettling dynamics of America's Trump era
Lost in transition: student journeys and becoming—deliberations for a post-Covid era
Get PDFThis paper offers an empathetic perspective of the cultural dynamic of migrant students’ first experiences of university, told through the student voice. It focuses on the transition of students into higher education; not always considered as part of the formal curriculum, providing a deeper understanding of students’ transition via the cultural context of their higher education experience. While this research took place prior to the covid pandemic it is clear that the emergence from the covid era will make increasing use of virtual learning platforms and transition will not necessarily take place within university buildings. If belonging was a challenge for some students prior to the pandemic, how will institutions support transition for the new pedagogy? The cultural experiences of first, second and third-generation migrant students have been scantily written about in this context. The paper contributes to current understanding by providing insights gleaned through the narrative accounts of students. Development of agency, belonging and community is framed through an approach that empowers and offers a co-learner frame, achieved through the students’ voices, offering narratives of the cultural experience of university
The Barrie guide to tort 2022. Volume 1
Get PDFThis student manual covers the law of tort, which is concerned with obligations arising under civil law, other than by contractual agreement or the law of trusts. Unlike contractual obligations, most tortious obligations are negative - i.e. things you must NOT do unless you wish to be sued for a remedy
Global China
Get PDFChina’s influence in global capitalism has increasingly become prevalent, exceeding the limit of studies about China. The project entitled Global China has already blossomed in several areas, ranging from the global expansion of Alibaba (Shen 2021) to China–Africa relations (Lee 2017) to China’s regional ambitions, economic development, and critical technology (Chhabra, Doshi, Hass, and Kimball 2021). In fact, in the latter regard, China is no longer considered a rising power, but a truly global actor in the context of the economy and military. The implication of China as a global actor has manifested into transformations in East Asia (Pieke and Iwabuchi 2021) that are tightly interwoven with all aspects of life, modernities, and aesthetic formation, giving rise to the so-called Asia Century (Lee, Moon and Tu 2019). While China is pursuing its own agenda of globalization, it cannot escape the fact that global matters are first constructed locally, just as, in turn, local matters take the form of global constructions (Appadurai 1996). Post-reform China is endeavored to catch up with advanced Western economies through rapid cultural policy reform to mobilize a creative and cultural economy (O’Connor and Gu 2020; Keane 2007). As such, its convergence with the West and successful engagement with fashion as consumers and producers (Riello and McNeil 2010; Finnane 2007) mark its desire for a meaningful fashion identity and cultural heritage beyond the traditional Chinese image (Zhao 2013; Segre-Reinach 2011; Tsui 2009; Wu 2009; Clark 2008)
Machine learning applications for the topology prediction of transmembrane beta-barrel proteins
Get PDFThe research topic for this PhD thesis focuses on the topology prediction of beta-barrel transmembrane proteins. Transmembrane proteins adopt various conformations that are about the functions that they provide. The two most predominant classes are alpha-helix bundles and beta-barrel transmembrane proteins. Alpha-helix proteins are present in larger numbers than beta-barrel transmembrane proteins in structure databases. Therefore, there is a need to find computational tools that can predict and detect the structure of beta-barrel transmembrane proteins. Transmembrane proteins are used for active transport across the membrane or signal transduction. Knowing the importance of their roles, it becomes essential to understand the structures of the proteins. Transmembrane proteins are also a significant focus for new drug discovery. Transmembrane beta-barrel proteins play critical roles in the translocation machinery, pore formation, membrane anchoring, and ion exchange. In bioinformatics, many years of research have been spent on the topology prediction of transmembrane alpha-helices. The efforts to TMB (transmembrane beta-barrel) proteins topology prediction have been overshadowed, and the prediction accuracy could be improved with further research. Various methodologies have been developed in the past to predict TMB proteins topology. Methods developed in the literature that are available include turn identification, hydrophobicity profiles, rule-based prediction, HMM (Hidden Markov model), ANN (Artificial Neural Networks), radial basis function networks, or combinations of methods. The use of cascading classifier has never been fully explored. This research presents and evaluates approaches such as ANN (Artificial Neural Networks), KNN (K-Nearest Neighbors, SVM (Support Vector Machines), and a novel approach to TMB topology prediction with the use of a cascading classifier. Computer simulations have been implemented in MATLAB, and the results have been evaluated. Data were collected from various datasets and pre-processed for each machine learning technique. A deep neural network was built with an input layer, hidden layers, and an output. Optimisation of the cascading classifier was mainly obtained by optimising each machine learning algorithm used and by starting using the parameters that gave the best results for each machine learning algorithm. The cascading classifier results show that the proposed methodology predicts transmembrane beta-barrel proteins topologies with high accuracy for randomly selected proteins. Using the cascading classifier approach, the best overall accuracy is 76.3%, with a precision of 0.831 and recall or probability of detection of 0.799 for TMB topology prediction. The accuracy of 76.3% is achieved using a two-layers cascading classifier. By constructing and using various machine-learning frameworks, systems were developed to analyse the TMB topologies with significant robustness. We have presented several experimental findings that may be useful for future research. Using the cascading classifier, we used a novel approach for the topology prediction of TMB proteins
Creative ignorance
Get PDFMuch research in creativity proceeds from the hylomorphic model, that is the no-tion that the creator imposes a preconceived form on inert matter and a detailed plan is followed. In such a model, the unknowability of material engagement is erased to the extent that the creative process is often reduced to the genesis of the creative plan, the spark of insight as it were. This model is being increasingly ques-tioned and there is a steadily growing research literature demonstrating how en-gagement with an uncertain material and socially rich world shapes and forms cognitive processes and that rather than a linear and rational model, there is a deep knowing-through-doing at the heart of creative thinking. This chapter ex-tends this literature in two complementary ways. First, I shall discuss how material objects in the world serve to scaffold our understanding precisely by revealing our underlying ignorance, an ignorance that cannot be revealed apart from through engagement with the world. This engagement leads to knowing and understanding which reverses the traditional direction of knowledge. I will suggest that this un-knowing through doing marks both scientific and artistic creative thinking even if it is often erased in the former. Second, I will make the stronger claim that in the case of artistic creativity, the ignorance which the process of material engagement inspires in the artist is both generative and necessary and, further, constitutes the heart of the creative act