An Ever Present Past:Youth and Persona in Paul McCartney’s Self-Titled Solo Albums

This article examines age in the work of Paul McCartney. It investigates how McCartney’s ongoing engagement with his own youth has shaped his musical output and accompanying visuals at key points throughout his career. It focuses specifically on the extended trilogy of self-titled McCartney albums, which culminates in two of his most recent releases, McCartney III (Capitol 2020) and McCartney III Imagined (Capitol 2021). Exploring Paul McCartney’s voice in his music and image in his music videos, this article considers the McCartney albums as a distinct statement on the role of age in popular music

Critical analysis of resource sharing and optimization in fog clustering

Fog computing aims to process data closer to its source to reduce latency and enhance application performance. However, the integration of an additional fog layer introduces complexities in resource management and service guarantees.This paper critically analyzes resource sharing and optimization in fog clustering, focusing on adaptive middleware designed to manage resources within and across fog clusters. We present a novel middleware architecture that facilitates efficient load balancing, task scheduling, and inter-cluster communication. The middleware’s performance is evaluated through simulations using OMNeT++, highlighting improvements in response time and resource utilization compared to traditional cloud processing

Reading the Romantic Ridiculous

Reading The Romantic Ridiculous aims to take Romantic Studies from the sublime to the ridiculous. Building on recent work which decentres the myth of the solitary genius, this duograph theorizes the ridiculous as an alternative affect to the sublime, privileging collective laughter above solitude and selfishness, reflecting on these ideals through the practice of joint authorship. Tracing the history of the ridiculous through Romantic and post-Romantic debates about sublimity from the rediscovery of Longinus and the aesthetic theories of Burke and Kant to contemporary queer and postcolonial theory interested in silliness, lowness, and vulnerability, The Romantic Ridiculous explores Romanticism's surprising commitments to ridiculousness in canonical material by writers such as S T Coleridge, Jane Austen, and Charles Lamb as well as lesser known material from joke books to children's literature. In theory and practice, this duograph also considers the legacies of Romanticism - and ridiculousness - today, analysing their influence on independent film, sitcoms, and young adult fiction, as well as their place in Higher Education now

The Effects of Astaxanthin on Cognitive Function and Neurodegeneration in Humans: A Critical Review

Oxidative stress is a key contributing factor in neurodegeneration, cognitive ageing, cognitive decline, and diminished cognitive longevity. Issues stemming from oxidative stress both in relation to cognition and other areas, such as inflammation, skin health, eye health, and general recovery, have been shown to benefit greatly from antioxidant use. Astaxanthin is a potent antioxidant, which has been outlined to be beneficial for cognitive function both in vitro and in vivo. Given the aforementioned promising effects, research into astaxanthin with a focus on cognitive function has recently been extended to human tissue and human populations. The present critical review explores the effects of astaxanthin on cognitive function and neurodegeneration within human populations and samples with the aim of deciphering the merit and credibility of the research findings and subsequently their potential as a basis for therapeutic use. Implications, limitations, and areas for future research development are also discussed. Key findings include the positive impacts of astaxanthin in relation to improving cognitive function, facilitating neuroprotection, and slowing neurodegeneration within given contexts

Holding and restraining children for clinical procedures: A scoping review of health professional reported and observed practice

Holding and restraining children during non-urgent clinical procedures continues to be surrounded by uncertainty and mired in controversy. This review aimed to locate, appraise and map the evidence related to health professionals reported and observed practice of holding and restraining children, from birth to 16 years, for clinical procedures. This scoping review, conducted in April 2022, was based on the Joanna Briggs Institute protocol. Screening and full text review resulted in the inclusion of 30 papers. In total, 14 different terms were used to refer to the act of holding or restraining a child for a procedure, in many papers the action of holding was not defined. Professionals report the main factors influencing their decisions to use restraint and/or holding were the age of a child, with younger children being restrained or held most frequently; a child’s behaviour; and concerns around a child’s safety. Professionals also report that they can perceive pressure from parent/carers to hold or restrain their child and describe how holding practices can be influenced by service and organisational pressures. Health professionals, mainly nurses, continue to report ethical and moral tensions linked to their involvement in the restraint or holding of a child against their will for a clinical procedure. Evidence indicates a need to move practice forward as the issues identified in paediatric practice are long-standing and historical

A protocol for the longitudinal investigation of cancer related fatigue in head and neck cancer with an emphasis on the role of physical activity

Background and aimCancer related fatigue significantly impairs the ability to undertake sustained physical activity across the domains of daily living, work and recreation. The purpose of this study is tomonitor cancer related fatigue and the factors affected or caused by it for 12 months in headand neck cancer patients following their diagnosis. Their perceptions of how fatigue mightaffect their activity levels in addition to identifying avenues to improve engagement withphysical activity will be also explored.MethodsA single centre longitudinal mixed-methods study will be conducted. Forty head and neckcancer patients will be recruited over 6 months following the confirmation of their treatmentplan, after which fatigue and physical activity will be assessed at four time points over 12months. Additionally, other factors which influence fatigue such as body composition, bloodcounts, systemic inflammation levels, haemoglobin concentration, thyroid function, sleepquality, cardiorespiratory fitness and upper and lower extremity strength will be measured tounderstand how the multifactorial problem of fatigue may evolve over time and influencephysical activity levels. Semi-structured interviews will be conducted after treatment completion and at end of twelve months which will analyse the participants fatigue experiences,understand how their perceived fatigue may have impacted physical activity and report thefactors which may improve engagement with physical activity during cancer. Quantitativedata will be analysed and reported using standard descriptive statistics and post-hoc pairwise comparisons. The changes in outcome measures across time will be analysed using the MIXED procedure in SPSS software. Statistical significance will be accepted at p<0.05.Qualitative data will be analysed using the Interpretative Phenomenological Approach usingthe NVivo software.DiscussionThe results from this study may help inform the planning and delivery of appropriately timedinterventions for the management of cancer related fatigue

The influence of external loads on post-match neuromuscular fatigue in international rugby union: a partial least squares correlational analysis

The aims were to determine the relationship(s) between match-play external load and post-match neuromuscular fatigue as latent constructs, the contribution of the specific measured variables to these latent constructs, and how these differ between forwards and backs in elite rugby union. Forty-one elite male rugby union players (22 forwards and 19 backs) from the same international rugby union team were tested, with data included from the 2020 and 2021 international seasons (11 matches; 146player appearances). Player’s match-play external loads were quantified using microtechnology (for locomotor activities) and video analysis (for collision actions). Neuromuscular fatigue was quantified using countermovement jump tests on force plates which were conducted ~ 24 to 48 hours pre- and post-match. Partial least squares correlation (PLSC) leave one variable out (LOVO) procedure established the relative variable contribution to both external load (X matrix) and neuromuscular fatigue (Y matrix)constructs. Linear mixed-effects models were then constructed to determine the variance explained by the latent scores applied to the variables representing these constructs. For external load, both locomotor and collision variables were identified for the forwards and the backs, although the identified variables differed between groups. For neuromuscular fatigue, jump height was identified as a high contributor for the forwards and the backs, with concentric impulse and reactive strength index high contributors only for the backs. The explained variance between the external load and neuromuscular fatigue latent constructs at the individual player level was 4.4% and 32.2% in the forwards and the backs models, respectively. This discrepancy may be explained by differences in match-play external loads and/or the specificity of the tests to measure indicators of fatigue. These may differ due to, for example, the activities undertaken in the different positional groups

How peer mentoring can transform Youth Justice Services? An exploration of Benefits and Challenges

Peer support interventions in Youth Justice involve young people being recruited and trained to undertake mentor roles and support children and young people through Youth Justice Services. This paper is based upon a qualitative research study using data obtained through interviews with peer mentors and peer mentees.A reflexive thematic analysis was carried out to explore the participants’ experiences and perceptions of mentoring or being mentored and to elicit suggestions for supporting participants more effectively. Peer mentors are likely to have lived experiences and which can make their interactions with mentees feel meaningful and empathetic and reduce power imbalances common within youth justice settings. This can be transformative for both groups, with evidence of trust (that may have been lacking previously) established through informal support within these relationships. Peer mentoring has personal and professional benefits for mentors, enabling them to develop their own pro-social development along with that of mentees. The mentors may be seen as 'experts' who can offer guidance and support to professionals who are working with children and young people too. However, there is evidence also of power imbalances continuing for mentors whereby professionals have an over reliance upon the positive relationship mentors hold with young people. Clarity of the role and responsibilities and professional buy-in is vital to the success of peer mentoring. This paper explores the benefits and tensions within peer mentoring and sets out some key principles to progress this transformative approach