1,251 research outputs found
SUBTLEX-CY: A new word frequency database for Welsh
No full textWe present SUBTLEX-CY, a new word frequency database created from a 32-million-word corpus of Welsh television subtitles. An experiment comprising a lexical decision task examined SUBTLEX-CY frequency estimates against words with inconsistent frequencies in a much smaller Welsh corpus that is often used by researchers, the Cronfa Electroneg o’r Gymraeg (CEG), and three other Welsh word frequency databases. Words were selected that were classified as low frequency (LF) in SUBTLEX-CY and high frequency (HF) in CEG and compared with words that were classified as medium frequency (MF) in both SUBTLEX-CY and CEG. Reaction time analyses showed that HF words in CEG were responded to more slowly compared to MF words, suggesting that SUBTLEX-CY corpus provides a more reliable estimate of Welsh word frequencies. The new Welsh word frequency database that also includes part-of-speech, contextual diversity, and other lexical information is freely available for research purposes on the Open Science Framework repository at https://osf.io/9gkqm/
Audiences' willingness to participate in Welsh-language media
No full textPhDContemporary media audiences expect to be able to interact with content, but in a minority language context, audience participation presents challenges related to audiences’ linguistic confidence. This thesis focuses on Wales, where media producers have suggested that audiences are often reluctant to interact with broadcast and online content in Welsh. To begin to understand this unwillingness, and how it might be overcome, the concept of willingness to participate (WTP) is coined as an extension of willingness to communicate (McCroskey & Baer 1985).
First, interviews with producers are analysed qualitatively to identify potential influences on audiences’ WTP. The analysis aims to assess the relative importance of various factors: audiences’ feelings of apprehension, self-perceived competence, language background and Welsh language ability, as well as the modality of participation (oral/written) and the level of demand placed on the audience.
Second, a questionnaire is designed and administered to 358 Welsh speakers, to examine audiences’ perceptions of different opportunities to participate in media content. A path model of WTP is proposed and tested using quantitative data from the survey. The results support the hypothesis that audiences’ apprehension and self-perceived competence predict WTP and that audience response varies according to the media context. While audiences’ Welsh language skills are important in explaining their WTP, other aspects of language background, such as Welsh language acquisition context, are found to be less important.
Third, the survey sample is grouped according to common patterns of WTP, to test whether the above effects are consistent across the population or whether different ‘types’ of audience exist. Using a combination of cluster analysis and thematic analysis of audience comments, four types of audience are proposed and described in detail. Finally, implications for sociolinguistic theory, language maintenance and media production practice are considered and recommendations made.Arts and Humanities Research Counci
Flow cytometer optimisation and standardisation for the study of extracellular vesicles as translational biomarkers
No full textBackground: The term ‘extracellular vesicles’ (EVs) encompasses a range of vesicles. These include apoptotic vesicles (1000-300nm), microvesicles (30-1000nm), exosomes (~30-120nm) and retrovirus like vesicles (90-100nm). EVs have been linked to promising diagnostic, and therapeutic potentials. Their characterisation is poorly understood due to the lack of resolution and standardisation in detection equipment currently used.
Aims & Methods: In this thesis, I have developed methods for flow cytometer (FCM) resolution quantification, improvement, and standardisation. This involved building, testing and validating FCM optical models for EV analysis standardisation, and optimising FCM settings and protocols to increase resolution and decreasing variation in results. I then tested the benefits of these optimisations on EV analysis, which involved comparing optimised to non-optimised EV analysis protocols utilising clinical samples. Finally, EVs potential as translational biomarkers in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) was investigated, employing the previously developed protocols in this thesis.
Results: FCM optimisations combined with a novel fluorescent assay resulted in a validated modelling technique, that allows diameter of EVs in plasma samples to be approximated using their scatter power, and separation of microvesicles, apoptotic vesicles, and residual platelets. Comparison of EV optimised to non-optimised protocols showed the FCM optimisation protocol to have increased EV absolute count reliability, and lower variation between results, when compared to a non-optimised FCM analysis protocol. Upon applying these methods to a biobank of clinical samples from individuals with NAFLD, novel insights were gained between the association of platelet-, endothelial-, and leukocyte-derived EVs in the progression of the disease. A clinically relevant finding being leukocyte EVs showing potential as a diagnostic marker of liver fibrosis severit
Dataset for: Monolithically-integrated cytometer for measuring particle diameter in the extracellular vesicle size range using multi-angle scattering
No full textData associated with paper accepted by Royal Society of Chemistry Lab on a chip journal:
Butement, J., Holloway, P., Welsh, J. A., Holloway, J., Englyst, N., Horak, P., ... Wilkinson, J. S. (2020). Monolithically-integrated cytometer for measuring particle diameter in the extracellular vesicle size range using multi-angle scattering. Lab on a Chip. DOI: 10.1039/C9LC01182J </span
Nation building : implementing devolution in the United Kingdom— the Welsh experience
No full textPaper presented to the IBIS conference, Renovation or revolution? new territorial politics in Ireland and the United Kingdom, University College Dublin, 3 April 2002.The Welsh experience of devolution can best be summarised by contrasting it with the Scottish. Where Scotland had an established array of civic institutions, the National Assembly of Wales found itself in the position of having to construct an institutional reality. The Assembly faced a number of constraints: its powers were limited to those previously held by the Secretary of State for Wales, and it was established as a corporate body. However, it soon became clear that the view of the Assembly as a continuation from previous administrations was unsustainable. This paper discusses the role of a number of key characters and agencies in redefining the nature of the National Assembly. In addition to the development of a strong central authority the author tracks the related emergence of a new civic culture in Wales. The paper concludes by examining the broader impact of the Welsh experience of devolution on territorial politics within the British Isles, and Welsh engagement with a network of European regions.Not applicableti,co,ab.kpw8/7/1
Microvesicles as biomarkers in diabetes, obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: current knowledge and future directions
No full textNAFLD is the most common chronic liver disease, frequently associated with diabetes. Both of these insulin resistant states have increased cardiovascular risk factors associated, and a prevalent cause of mortality in these diseases. Microvesicles are heterogonously sized, phospholipid rich spheres released by cells upon activation and apoptosis. Evidence is continuing to accumulate of microvesicles being not only markers of disease severity but as also having a functional role in the pathophysiology of disease progression.<br/
Extracellular Vesicle Flow Cytometry Analysis and Standardization
No full textThe term extracellular vesicles (EVs) describes membranous vesicles derived from cells, ranging in diameter from 30 to 1,000 nm with the majority thought to be in the region of 100–150 nm. Due to their small diameter and complex and variable composition, conventional techniques have struggled to accurately count and phenotype EVs. Currently, EV characterization using high-resolution flow cytometry is the most promising method when compared to other currently available techniques, due to it being a high-throughput, single particle, multi-parameter analysis technique capable of analyzing a large range of particle diameters. Whilst high resolution flow cytometry promises detection of the full EV diameter range, standardization of light scattering and fluorescence data between different flow cytometers remains an problem. In this mini review, we will discuss the advances in high-resolution flow cytometry development and future direction of EV scatter and fluorescence standardization. Standardization and therefore reproducibility between research groups and instrumentation is lacking, hindering the validation of EVs use as diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutics
sj-docx-1-qjp-10.1177_17470218231190315 – Supplemental material for SUBTLEX-CY: A new word frequency database for Welsh
No full textSupplemental material, sj-docx-1-qjp-10.1177_17470218231190315 for SUBTLEX-CY: A new word frequency database for Welsh by Walter JB van Heuven, Joshua S Payne and Manon W Jones in Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology</p
Police use traffic stops as a form of ‘catch and release’ to disproportionately target Black Americans
No full textIt is well known that Black Americans are targeted more often by police in traffic stops. But what happens after they are stopped? In new research, Joshua Chanin, Megan Welsh, and Dana Nurge reviewed nearly 260,000 traffic stop records from the San Diego Police Department, finding that Blacks were more likely than Whites to be subject to field interrogation interviews, but were no more likely to be arrested, and were less likely to receive a citation. This suggests that police traffic stops can be a form of racially biased ‘catch and release’, which are likely to do little to improve trust between Black communities and the police
Leukocyte extracellular vesicle concentration is inversely associated with liver fibrosis severity in NAFLD
No full textThe enhanced liver fibrosis (LFS) score and the nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) fibrosis score (NFS) are algorithmic-derived scores for diagnosing severe (F3/F4) liver fibrosis. In a pilot, substudy of the Wessex Evaluation of fatty Liver and Cardiovascular markers in NAFLD with OMacor thErapy (WELCOME) trial, we tested whether measurements of plasma platelet-, endothelial-, and leukocyte-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) counts are (a) associated with, and predict, F3/F4 fibrosis and (b) able to improve risk prediction of F3/F4 fibrosis in NAFLD, building upon LFS or NFS algorithms. Twenty-six individuals with NAFLD had liver fibrosis severity determined by Kleiner scoring after liver biopsy. Plasma samples stained with CD41a, CD42b, CD31, CD105, CD14, CD16, and CD284 antibodies were analyzed using flow cytometry to measure platelet-, endothelial-, and leukocyte-derived EVs counts. The independence of associations between EVs and F3/F4 fibrosis were tested using logistic regression. Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves were used to evaluate F3/F4 fibrosis prediction models. LFS was more strongly associated with F3/F4 fibrosis than NFS (χ2= 15.403, P < 0.0001, and χ2= 6.300, P = 0.012, respectively). The association between LFS and F3/F4 fibrosis was further improved by addition of CD14+ EVs (χ2=20.847,P = 0.016 vs. χ2=12.803,P = 0.015, respectively) or CD16+ EVs (χ2=22.205,P = 0.009 vs. χ2=17.559,P = 0.001, respectively), and the area under the ROC for LFS (AUC = 0.915, se = 0.055, P = 0.001) was increased by the addition of CD14+ or CD16+ EVs (AUC = 0.948, se = 0.042, and P < 0.001 and AUC = 0.967, se = 0.055, P < 0.001, respectively) as predictor variables. In this small preliminary study, CD14+ and CD16+ EV counts show potential to predict liver fibrosis severity with either marker improving the ability of the LFS to identify F3/F4 fibrosis in this small preliminary cohort study
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