328 research outputs found
Anaesthetic neurotoxicity and neuroplasticity: an expert group report and statement based on the BJA Salzburg Seminar
Although previously considered entirely reversible, general anaesthesia is now being viewed as a potentially significant risk to cognitive performance at both extremes of age. A large body of preclinical as well as some retrospective clinical evidence suggest that exposure to general anaesthesia could be detrimental to cognitive development in young subjects, and might also contribute to accelerated cognitive decline in the elderly. A group of experts in anaesthetic neuropharmacology and neurotoxicity convened in Salzburg, Austria for the BJA Salzburg Seminar on Anaesthetic Neurotoxicity and Neuroplasticity. This focused workshop was sponsored by the British Journal of Anaesthesia to review and critically assess currently available evidence from animal and human studies, and to consider the direction of future research. It was concluded that mounting evidence from preclinical studies reveals general anaesthetics to be powerful modulators of neuronal development and function, which could contribute to detrimental behavioural outcomes. However, definitive clinical data remain elusive. Since general anaesthesia often cannot be avoided regardless of patient age, it is important to understand the complex mechanisms and effects involved in anaesthesia-induced neurotoxicity, and to develop strategies for avoiding or limiting potential brain injury through evidence-based approache
Colonization, disability, and the intranet: the ethnic cleansing of space?
The article analyzes teacherâs emplacement of the image of disability within schoolâs intranet sites in England. The image unearthed within such sites was problematic as it did not display a positive or realistic image of disability or disabled people. Within the article historical archaeology and colonialism are employed as theoretic framework to interpret this artifact of disability. The article also provides an ethnographic subscript to the creation of a space of possibilities and how this became striated by missionary teachers who colonized this brave new intranet world. Deciphering of the organization and representation of the disabled indigene, through this theoretical framework, unearthed a cartography inscribed by the scalpel of old world geometry
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Anesthetic action on the transmission delay between cortex and thalamus explains the beta-buzz observed under propofol anesthesia
In recent years, more and more surgeries under general anesthesia have been performed with the assistance of electroencephalogram (EEG) monitors. An increase in anesthetic concentration leads to characteristic changes in the power spectra of the EEG. Although tracking the anesthetic-induced changes in EEG rhythms can be employed to estimate the depth of anesthesia, their precise underlying mechanisms are still unknown. A prominent feature in the EEG of some patients is the emergence of a strong power peak in the ÎČâfrequency band, which moves to the αâfrequency band while increasing the anesthetic concentration. This feature is called the beta-buzz. In the present study, we use a thalamo-cortical neural population feedback model to reproduce observed characteristic features in frontal EEG power obtained experimentally during propofol general anesthesia, such as this beta-buzz. First, we find that the spectral power peak in the αâ and ÎŽâfrequency ranges depend on the decay rate constant of excitatory and inhibitory synapses, but the anesthetic action on synapses does not explain the beta-buzz. Moreover, considering the action of propofol on the transmission delay between cortex and thalamus, the model reveals that the beta-buzz may result from a prolongation of the transmission delay by increasing propofol concentration. A corresponding relationship between transmission delay and anesthetic blood concentration is derived. Finally, an analytical stability study demonstrates that increasing propofol concentration moves the systems resting state towards its stability threshold
Being a Self-Employed Older Woman: From Discrimination to Activism
This article presents an autobiographical account of an older womanâs lived experience of self-employment. Little is known about women who experience ongoing self-employment into their 50s and beyond. Shoshannaâs personal narrative describes her experiences and the challenges she has faced as she reflects upon her attempts to grow and sustain her business and the implications of ageism and gender inequality in laying a claim to entrepreneurship. The narrative proceeds to reflect on her activist work, as it is constructed through the creation of a social enterprise to support older people. Shoshannaâs narrative provides valuable insights into the intersection of age and gender in self-employment moving from discrimination to active support
Maroon Archaeology Beyond the Americas: A View From Kenya
Archaeological research on Maroonsâthat is, runaway slavesâhas been largely confined to the Americas. This essay advocates a more global approach. It specifically uses two runaway slave communities in 19th-century coastal Kenya to rethink prominent interpretive themes in the field, including âAfricanisms,â Maroonsâ connections to indigenous groups, and Maroon group cohesion and identity. This articleâs analysis demonstrates that the comparisons enabled by a more globalized perspective benefit the field. Instead of eliding historical and cultural context, these comparisons support the development of more localized and historically specific understandings of individual runaway slave communities both in Kenya and throughout the New World
People and Things on the Move: Domestic Material Culture, Poverty and Mobility in Victorian London
© 2016, The Author(s). The development of what Mayne and Lawrence (Urban History 26: 325â48, 1999) termed âethnographicâ approaches to studying nineteenth-century households and urban communities has gathered momentum in recent years. As such research agendas have taken hold and been applied to new contexts, so critiques, methodological developments, and new intellectual and theoretical currents, have provided opportunities to enhance and develop approaches. This article contributes to this on-going process. Drawing upon household archaeological research on Limehouse, a poor neighborhood in Victorian London, and inspired by the theoretical insights provided by the ânew mobilities paradigm,â it aims to place âmobilityâ as a central and enabling intellectual framework for understanding the relationships between people, place, and poverty. Poor communities in nineteenth-century cities were undeniably mobile and transient. Historians and archaeologists have often regarded this mobility as an obstacle to studying everyday life in such contexts. However, examining temporal routines and geographical movements across a variety of time frames and geographical scales, this article argues that mobility is actually key to understanding urban life and an important mechanism for interpreting the fragmented material and documentary traces left by poor households in the nineteenth-century metropolis.We are grateful to the UKâs Arts and Humanities Research Council who funded the research upon which this paper is based (Grant Reference AH/E002285/1): âLiving in Victorian London: Towards a Material History of Everyday Domestic Life in the Nineteenth-Century Metropolis
Entrepreneursâ achieved success: developing a multi-faceted measure
Firm performance is typically measured via objective financial indicators. However, researchers increasingly acknowledge that entrepreneurs do not measure their success solely in financial terms but that a range of often subjective indicators matter to them. This article contributes to the debate on entrepreneurial performance by studying how entrepreneurs assess their achieved success. âEntrepreneursâ achieved successâ was conceptualized as a multi-faceted construct that includes entrepreneursâ self-reported achievement of firm performance, workplace relationships, personal fulfilment, community impact, and personal financial rewards. It was measured via the Subjective Entrepreneurial SuccessâAchievement Scale (SES-AS). Over the course of three studies (Nâ=â390) the factorial structure of âentrepreneursâ achieved successâ was established and largely replicated in two cultures. Based on a nomological network, we documented relationships among âentrepreneursâ achieved successâ, quasi-objective indicators of firm performance, and entrepreneursâ financial satisfaction, creativity, and health. Based on our research, we propose a new conceptual framework to study performance in the context of entrepreneurship. This framework acknowledges both the success criteria that entrepreneurs wish to achieve and those that they actually achieve, and extends our understanding of firm performance
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