10 research outputs found
Home - between screens
No full textThis paper offers a representation of the author’s complex and gendered experiences of ‘home’ during the Covid 19 pandemic (March 2020 - Sept 2021), experienced from the autoethnographic perspective of an arts practitioner. The theme is explored in the experimental spaces and intersections ‘between screens’ (home/work, virtual/actual, digital/textile, professional/domestic, academic/creative). The enquiry is pursued through an interdisciplinary practice, which generates both theory through practice and a theorised practice, to enact and illuminate the entanglement of the professional/domestic, embodied by this artist/mother/lecturer/Ph.D. candidate whilst performing her/my role(s) and homeworking within the domestic environment. Viewing Chantal Akerman’s 1975 film, Jeanne Deilman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles in early lockdown was instrumental in thinking through this professional/domestic ‘work(wo)manship’ (my neologisms). When witnessed through Microsoft TEAMS and Zoom technologies, domestic gestures can become lasting artefacts of daily house/home life, whilst also operating as a method of arts production. My intention within this paper is to develop a practice-based discourse on the professional/domestic phenomenon of working from home, situated between Jeanne Dielman and Bracha L. Ettinger (a psychoanalyst, visual analyst, and artist/painter), as a method to reflect upon the (in)visibility of occupations in the home. Professional/domestic life is explored through my D.I.Y. matrixial making methods to address how work(woman)ship can be ‘pieced’ or ‘stitched’ together, and where the (im)materiality of the screen is (re)positioned between textile theory and digital assemblage, intertwined with bricolage, assemblage, (Deleuze & Guattari) matrixial theory, (Ettinger) and art activism (Deepwell et al.) as a context for making work(wo)manship visible
A splice of life (home, laptop, wi-fi)
No full textMetramorphosis is a process of change on borderlines and thresholds between being and absence,
memory and oblivion, 1 and non-I, a process of transgression and fading away. The metramorphic
consciousness has no centre, cannot hold a fixed gaze -or, if it has a centre, it constantly slides to the
borders, to the margins.1
This paper examines Bracha Lichtenberg Ettinger’s matrixial theory in relation to her concept of
Metramorphosis as “a process of change on borderlines and thresholds” 2 when experienced from the
perspective of living at home during the pandemic. It attempts to do this by addressing the
circumstances of the artist/author of this paper, as a way to (re)produce encounters, firstly lived
through the screen, then later developed upon through a palimpsestic process whereby layers and
layers of ‘artworking’ are applied through interdisciplinary virtual, digital and analogue methods, as a
response to working through the pandemic
Breaking into the establishment
No full textIn the 1960s Frederick Wiseman began a series of documentaries exploring institutions – schools, hospitals, government departments and even the Juvenile Court. For him, the institution was the star and a gauge for the health of our society. Nowadays, the establishment is still fertile terrain for documentarians but the people inside prisons, psychiatric care facilities and domestic violence organisations tend to hold the media at arm’s length. Bureaucracy and ‘duty of care’ also make institutions very difficult to penetrate. \ud
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In Breaking into the Establishment, we explore the balance of ethical and legal responsibilities against practical considerations filmmakers face negotiating access to subjects and their stories.\ud
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Breaking into the Establishment – a panel on how filmmakers got access to various institutions to make ground-breaking documentaries
Systematic review: The impact of inflammatory bowel disease-related fatigue on health-related quality of life
No full textBACKGROUND: Fatigue is frequently reported in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and impacts on health-related quality of life (HRQoL). HRQoL has not been systematically reviewed in IBD fatigue., AIM: To investigate what impact IBD fatigue has on HRQoL in adults with IBD., METHODS: Systematic searches (CINAHL, EMBASE, PsychINFO, Medline) were conducted on 25 September 2018, restricted to 'human', 'adult', 'primary research' and 'English language'. Search terms encompassed concepts of 'fatigue', 'IBD' and 'HRQoL'. A 5-year time limit (2013-2018) was set to include the most relevant publications. Publications were screened, data extracted and quality appraised by two authors. A narrative synthesis was conducted., RESULTS: Eleven studies were included, presenting data from 2823 participants. Fatigue experiences were significantly related to three HRQoL areas: symptom acceptance, psychosocial well-being and physical activity. Patients reporting high fatigue levels had low symptom acceptance. Psychosocial factors were strongly associated with both fatigue and HRQoL. Higher social support levels were associated with higher HRQoL. Physical activity was impaired by higher fatigue levels, lowering HRQoL, but it was also used as a means of reducing fatigue and improving HRQoL. Quality appraisal revealed methodological shortcomings in a number of studies. Notably, use of multiple measures, comparison without statistical adjustment and fatigue and HRQoL assessment using the same tool were some of the methodological shortcomings., CONCLUSION: Psychosocial factors, symptom management and acceptance and physical activity levels have significant impact on HRQoL. Results support application of psychosocial or exercise interventions for fatigue management. Further exploration of HRQoL factors in IBD fatigue is required, using validated fatigue and HRQoL measures., PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42018110005. Copyright © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.https://dx.doi.org/10.1136/flgastro-2019-10135
Delphi consensus survey: the opinions of patients living with refractory ulcerative proctitis and the health care professionals who care for them
No full textRefractory ulcerative proctitis presents a huge clinical challenge not only for the patients living with this chronic, progressive condition but also for the professionals who care for them. Currently, there is limited research and evidence-based guidance, resulting in many patients living with the symptomatic burden of disease and reduced quality of life. The aim of this study was to establish a consensus on the thoughts and opinions related to refractory proctitis disease burden and best practice for management. A three-round Delphi consensus survey was conducted among patients living with refractory proctitis and the healthcare experts with knowledge on this disease from the UK. A brainstorming stage involving a focus group where the participants came up with an initial list of statements was completed. Following this, there were three rounds of Delphi surveys in which the participants were asked to rank the importance of the statements and provide any additional comments or clarifications. Calculation of mean scores, analysis of comments and revisions were performed to produce a final list of statements. In total, 14 statements were suggested by the focus group at the initial brainstorming stage. Following completion of three Delphi survey rounds, all 14 statements reached consensus following appropriate revision. We established consensus on the thoughts and opinions related to refractory proctitis from both the experts who manage this disease and the patients living with it. This represents the first step towards developing clinical research data and ultimately the evidence needed for best practice management guidance of this condition. [Abstract copyright: © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.
Identity Development And Survival Strategies In Selected Novels By Michael Anthony And Cyril Everard Palmer
No full textThe problem of this study was to trace the identity development of Afro-Caribbean adolescent males against their socio-economic and historical backgrounds and how they use mimicry, create hybrid practices, and adopt strategies of Anancy in order to subvert colonial authority and to survive in novels by two postcolonial Caribbean writers from Trinidad and Jamaica. The researcher employed a number of theories—economic, psychosocial, psychosexual, moral, cultural, and postcolonial—to assess the young Afro-Caribbean males' development. To analyze the above problem, this investigation identified three novels by Trinidadian author Michael Anthony: The Year in San Fernando (1965), Green Days by the River (1967), and King of the Masquerade (1973); and three by Jamaican author C. Everard Palmer: My Father, Sun-Sun Johnson (1974), The Cloud with the Silver Lining (1987), and its sequel Full Circle: The Rami Johnson Story (2003). Anthony and Palmer suggest that young Afro-Caribbean males' identities are affected economically, socially, sexually, and morally by colonial ideals. Additionally, poverty compounds the Afro-Caribbean adolescents' problems, and Anthony and Palmer reveal that a lack of social infrastructure, particularly physical and mental health care, affects poverty, leading to sickness and death. Afro-Caribbean males suffer because of lack of strong male role models and/or breadwinners in their homes, which forces them to take on adult responsibilities at an early age; hence, education is often aborted or delayed. Landownership marks one distinction between Anthony's and Palmer's novels; because Palmer's characters own lands, they experience upward social mobility through agriculture. Another difference is in the treatment of adolescent sexuality, where Anthony is more explicit, while Palmer shows unadulterated male/female relationships. Anthony and Palmer posit that the young men are entrenched into their Afro-Caribbean cultures despite colonial or colonial influenced societies; however, some upper-class characters reject Caribbean culture. The intricate plots also depict Afro-Caribbean males subverting colonial ideals through mimicry and hybridity but especially through Anancy-like trickery. At the end of the novels, Anthony's characters, Francis and Shellie, stay dependent in poor oppressive societies, remaining in James Marcia's Identity Foreclosure stage, while his character Alan, along with Palmer's Milton and Rami are identity achievers
The relationship between central nervous system morphometry changes and key symptoms in Crohn's disease
No full textAlterations in grey matter volume (GMV) and cortical thickness (CT) in Crohn's disease (CD) patients has been previously documented. However, the findings are inconsistent, and not a true representation of CD burden, as only CD patients in remission have been studied thus far. We investigate alterations in brain morphometry in patients with active CD and those in remission, and study relationships between brain structure and key symptoms of fatigue, abdominal pain, and extraintestinal manifestations (EIM). Magnetic Resonance Imaging brain scans were collected in 89 participants; 34 CD participants with active disease, 13 CD participants in remission and 42 healthy controls (HCs); Voxel based morphometry (VBM) assessed GMV and white matter volume (WMV), and surface-based analysis assessed cortical thickness (CT). We show a significant reduction in global cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) volume in CD participants compared with HCs, as well as, a reduction in regional GMV, WMV and CT in the left precentral gyrus (motor cortex), and an increase in GMV in the frontal brain regions in CD compared with HCs. Atrophy of the supplementary motor area (SMA) was associated with greater fatigue in CD. We also show alterations in brain structure in multiple regions in CD associated with abdominal pain and extraintestinal inflammations (EIMs). These brain structural alterations likely reflect neuroplasticity to a chronic systemic inflammatory response, abdominal pain, EIMs and fatigue. These findings will aid our understanding of the cross-linking between chronic inflammation, brain structural changes and key unexplained CD symptomatology like fatigue.Copyright © 2022, The Author(s).https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-022-00742-
Piston Cylinder Based Micro Liquid-Liquid Extraction with GC-qMS for Trace Analysis of Targeted Chlorinated Organic Compounds in Water
No full textA fast and reliable approach for the measurement of sub parts-per-billion levels of targeted chlorinated compounds like tetrachloroethane, hexachloroethane, hexachlorobutadiene, pentachlorobenzene, and hexachlorobenzene in various water matrices such as waste water is described. The method employed a novel piston-cylinder based micro liquid-liquid extraction technique with hexane as an extraction solvent. The device substantially accelerates extraction time by a factor of more than 100 times and reduces solvent consumption by a factor of 25 times when compared to the solvent extraction technique with wrist action mechanical agitation. A recently introduced 6% cyanopropyl phenyl 94% dimethyl polysiloxane capillary column offering a high degree of inertness was utilized for the separation of the analytes. A quadrupole mass spectrometer equipped with a triple axis detector was also employed to enhance the instrument detection limit.
With this technique, a complete separation for the analytes mentioned in water can be conducted in less than 10 min. Repeatability of retention times for all compounds were found to be less than 0.04% (n=10). The compounds cited can be analyzed over a range from 1 ng/mL to 10 µg/mL with a detection limit and correlation coefficient of at least 0.5 ng/mL and 0.999 respectively. A relative precision of less than 1.2 % RSD (n=20) at the 50 ng/mL level with analyte recovery of greater than 99% (n=3) over a range from 10 ng/mL to 10 µg/mL was obtained.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author
Is Emergency Medicine the Right Choice for Me?
No full textOne of the hardest decisions a medical student has to make is the choice of specialty. Many studies have explored what influences the choice of emergency medicine (EM) as a specialty. In this article, we elaborate on the most important incentives, including the diversity in patients’ presentations, having a defined and flexible schedule, the plasticity in choosing and changing a practice location, and the acuity of care and trauma experience. Additionally, we tackle some of the challenges that emergency physicians face. For instance, having to follow a different thought process than most other physicians, as well as the patients’ quality and expectations. We also address some of the concerns regarding the specialty, specifically burnout, stress, and the fear associated with maintaining a career in EM. Finally, we provide students interested in EM with some resources that can provide them with further guidance to decide whether EM is the right choice for them. © 2018 The Author
Approaching the uncultured endosymbiont of Riftia pachyptila by physiological proteomics
No full textAuthor Posting. © The Authors, 2006. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of AAAS for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Science 315 (2007): 247-250, doi:10.1126/science.1132913.The bacterial endosymbiont of the deep-sea tube worm Riftia pachyptila has
never been successfully cultivated outside its host. In the absence of cultivation data we
have taken a proteomic approach based on the metagenome sequence to study the
metabolism of this peculiar microorganism in detail. As one result, we found that three
major sulfide oxidation proteins constitute ~12% of the total cytosolic proteome,
highlighting the essential role of these enzymes for the symbiont’s energy metabolism.
Unexpectedly, the symbiont uses the reductive tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle in addition
to the previously identified Calvin cycle for CO2 fixation.This work was supported by
the DFG, grant Schw595/3-1. Other funding sources were: NSF (OCE 04-52333) and NASA Astrobiology Institute (NNA04CC04A) for SMS, MH: postdoctoral
scholarship from WHOI, HF: Academic Senate (RF811S and RE518S)
