27 research outputs found
Deconstructing domestic violence policy
No full textThe primary objectives of this thesis are to, circularly, deconstruct contemporary domestic violence policy while developing and evaluating methods for deconstructing policy. Policy is theorised as a discursive practice, which allows a variety of policies to be compared and critiqued by how they position the people they affect. These are known as subject positions, or subjectivities, and throughout this thesis I attempt to critique policy by examining the (re)construction of subjectivity. In addition, because policy is not theorised as functioning through direct causal relations there is an opening for psychoanalytic subjectivities where the subject positioning occurs at the level of the unconscious. Consequently, I have
chosen to draw upon Parker's critical transformative psychoanalytic discourse analysis (CTPDA) as a psycho-discursive method where discourse analysis and psychoanalysis are combined in such as way that psychoanalysisis understood to be a culturally produced theory of self. Three separate analyses of two key,
contemporary domestic violence policies demonstrate the utility of CTPDA by developing it as a method alongside the topic under consideration the use of 'family' to name concern of policy is considered in Te Rito from Aotearoa/New
Zealand (A/NZ), who are world leaders in the domain of domestic violence, and 'consultation' where decisions have already been made and gender through the gender-neutral term 'domestic violence' are considered in Safety and Justice (S&J) from the UK, where much of this thesis was undertaken. In the final chapter, I argue that critique needs to be able to imagine its own policies and ways of realising them and highlight that psychoanalysis has the potential to offer an effective approach
Gabor dual windows using convex optimization
No full textPublication in the conference proceedings of SampTA, Bremen, Germany, 201
The Linear Time Frequency Analysis Toolbox
No full textThe Linear Time Frequency Analysis Toolbox is a Matlab/Octave toolbox for computational time-frequency analysis. It is intended both as an educational and computational tool. The toolbox provides the basic Gabor, Wilson and MDCT transform along with routines for constructing windows (lter prototypes) and routines for manipulating coe cients. It also provides a bunch of demo scripts devoted either to demonstrating the main functions of the toolbox, or to exemplify their use in specic signal processing applications. In this paper we describe the used algorithms, their mathematical background as well as some signal processing applications
Characterization of Growth Hormone Resistance in Experimental and Ulcerative Colitis
No full textGrowth hormone (GH) resistance may develop as a consequence of inflammation during conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease, encompassing ulcerative colitis (UC). However, the specific role of the GH-insulin growth factor (IGF)-1-axis and/or the functional consequences of GH resistance in this condition are unclear. In situ hybridization targeting the GH receptor (GHR) and relevant transcriptional analyses were performed in patients with UC and in IL-10 knock-out mice with piroxicam accelerated colitis (PAC). Using cultured primary epithelial cells, the effects of inflammation on the molecular mechanisms governing GH resistance was verified. Also, the therapeutic potential of GH on mucosal healing was tested in the PAC model. Inflammation induced intestinal GH resistance in UC and experimental colitis by down-regulating GHR expression and up-regulating suppressor of cytokine signalling (SOCS) proteins. These effects are driven by pro-inflammatory mediators (tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-6) as confirmed using primary epithelial cells. Treatment of experimental colitis with GH increased IGF-1 and body weight of the mice, but had no effects on colonic inflammation or mucosal healing. The high transcriptional similarity between UC and experimental colitis accentuates the formation of intestinal GH resistance during inflammation. Inflammation-induced GH resistance not only impairs general growth but induces a state of local resistance, which potentially impairs the actions of GH on mucosal healing during colitis when using long-acting GH therapy.</p
Alpha-1 antitrypsin and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor as serum biomarkers of disease severity in ulcerative colitis
No full textBACKGROUND: Initial assessment of patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) is challenging and relies on apparent clinical symptoms and measurements of surrogate markers (e.g., C-reactive protein [CRP] or similar acute phase proteins). As CRP only reliably identifies patients with severe disease, novel biomarkers are currently needed for identification of patients with mild or moderate disease activity. Using a commercially available platform, we aimed at identifying serum biomarkers that are able to grade the disease severity.METHODS: Serum samples from 65 patients with UC with varying disease activity (Mayo score) and from 40 healthy controls were analyzed by multiplex enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for 78 potential disease biomarkers. Using the statistical software SIMCA-P+ and GraphPad Prism, multivariate statistical analyses were conducted to identify a limited number of biomarkers to assess disease severity.RESULTS: Alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) differentiated between mild and moderate UC (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.79) with a sensitivity of 0.90 and a specificity of 0.70, thereby exceeding the predictive ability of CRP (AUC = 0.52). Combining alpha-1 antitrypsin and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor produced a predictive model with an AUC of 0.72 when differentiating mild and moderate UC, and an AUC of 0.96 when differentiating moderate and severe UC, the latter being as reliable as CRP.CONCLUSIONS: Alpha-1 antitrypsin is identified as a potential serum biomarker of mild-to-moderate disease activity in UC. With the ability to differentiate between mild, moderate, and severe stages of UC using a simple serum biomarker that is already commercially available, clinicians can initiate individualized treatment regimens at an earlier stage before endoscopic examinations are available.</p
'Containment' as an analytical framework for understanding patient delay: A qualitative study of cancer patients' symptom interpretation processes
No full textRecent decades have seen much variation in survival and mortality among European cancer patients, with rather small increases in survival, especially among patients in UK and Denmark. This poor outcome has been ascribed tentatively to patient delay since an estimated 20-25% of all cancer patients report having experienced cancer-related symptoms for more than three months before seeking care. In this article we analyse semi-structured interviews with 30 adult Danish cancer patients and their families. Special focus is given to symptom interpretation processes, and how these processes potentially delay care-seeking decisions. The paper adopts a contextual approach inspired mainly by the sociologist (Alonzo, 1979) and (Alonzo, 1984) concept of containment. Alonzo's theory is supplemented with recent anthropological and sociological literature on how people establish the relation between bodily sensations and symptoms and decide how to respond adequately to these. We present an analysis illustrating that bodily sensations and symptoms are potentially contained in a dynamic interplay of factors related to specific social situations, life biographies and life expectations and their accordance with culturally acceptable values and explanations. Finally, we discuss the implications of the analysis for future studies on patient delay.Denmark Patient delay Care seeking Symptom interpretation Sensations Cancer
Real life management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in general practice (GP) in Denmark
No full textCreating knowledge about adverse drug reactions: A critical analysis of the Danish reporting system from 1968 to 2005
No full textData on adverse drug reactions (ADRs) have been collected in Denmark since 1968 and the process is ongoing. This article explores knowledge created by the system, including how the collected data have been used to monitor the safety of licensed drugs. Nonaka's theory of knowledge creation was used to discriminate between tacit and explicit knowledge. A total of 56,802 ADR case reports were received from 1968 to 2005. The analysis shows a rather stable number of ADR cases from 1980, with about 2000 reports per year. The distribution of cases into serious and non-serious ADRs has been one to four throughout the period under study, but with large variations. Analysis of selected ADR cases shows that the system lacked the potential to capture available knowledge. Consequently the ADR reports have had limited value and significance in the process of creating scientific knowledge. Thus, the analysis questions the way available data can become explicit as a basis for regulatory decisions and whether all data can become knowledge, including who decides what knowledge is.Adverse drug reaction reporting systems Drug monitoring Product surveillance Post marketing Knowledge Denmark
The ERBlet transform, time-frequency masking and perceptual sparsity
No full textInternational audienc
Intestinal barrier integrity and inflammatory bowel disease:Stem cell-based approaches to regenerate the barrier
No full textDisruption of normal barrier function is a fundamental factor in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease, which includes increased epithelial cell death, modified mucus configuration, altered expression and distribution of tight junction-proteins, along with a decreased expression of antimicrobial peptides. Inflammatory bowel disease is associated with life-long morbidity for affected patients, and both the incidence and prevalence is increasing globally, resulting in substantial economic strain for society. Mucosal healing and re-establishment of barrier integrity is associated with clinical remission, as well as with an improved patient outcome. Hence, these factors are vital treatment goals, which conventionally are achieved by a range of medical treatments, although none are effective in all patients, resulting in several patients still requiring surgery at some point. Therefore, novel treatment strategies to accomplish mucosal healing and to re-establish normal barrier integrity in inflammatory bowel disease are warranted, and luminal stem cell-based approaches might have an intriguing potential. Transplantation of in vitro expanded intestinal epithelial stem cells derived either directly from mucosal biopsies or from directed differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells may constitute complementary treatment options for patients with mucosal damage, as intestinal epithelial stem cells are multipotent and may give rise to all epithelial cell types of the intestine. This review provides the reader with a comprehensive state-of-the-art overview of the intestinal barrier's role in healthy and diseased states, discussing the clinical application of stem cell-based approaches to accomplish mucosal healing in inflammatory bowel disease. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.</p
