Making sense of self-injury: A pluralistic case-study

Aims: Self-injury is widely seen as a complex behaviour imbued with highly individual meanings. The objective of this paper was to show how research using a pluralistic qualitative approach could inform clinical practice, by outlining how intricate and at times divergent meanings could be attached to the behaviour in the areas of control, guilt and relatedness. Method: A set of three interviews conducted with a woman with a long history of self-injury were analysed using three different interpretative lenses: interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), narrative analysis, and a psychosocial approach. Findings: Combining different interpretations of the text brought out the participant’s multifaceted understanding of control, guilt and social connection in relation to her selfinjuring. The behaviour could be seen as a means of control and a sign that one was out of control; as inducing guilt but not responsibility; as a mode of communication steeped in disconnection. Conclusion: While adhering to a recognised therapeutic model of the behaviour might be of considerable value to the practitioner, there is much to be gained from a careful exploration of the multiple and at times contradictory meanings attached to self-injury by each individual client

Layering the wounded self: Using a pluralistic qualitative approach to explore meaning-making around self-injury

This paper shows how a study using a pluralistic qualitative design explored the meaning-making process taking place around repetitive self-injury. By combining three interpretative lenses (interpretative phenomenological analysis, narrative analysis and psychosocial analysis), the researchers were able to develop a rich, multi-layered understanding of one individual’s experience of the behaviour. However the project also raised significant methodological and epistemological issues. In the present review, we hope to illustrate the value of qualitative pluralism as a mixed methods approach enabling researchers and scientist-practitioners to engage more deeply with the subjective meanings attached to severe emotional and behavioural difficulties

Some propositions to find optimal conditions to simulate a flexible transport using an Agent-Based Model

This paper presents a method to assess the sensitivity of a flexible transport model based on agents and simulated using NetLogo. We simulate and we analyse a set of 124 transportation scenarios on several virtual networks and we assess their performance. Our main objective is to detect thresholds in the system scalability and efficiency. The research leads to three main results: (i) using Agent-Based Model, it is possible to significantly improve the global transport efficiency without any general objective function, (ii) there exists an optimal balance between the demand frequency and the number of simulated agents to simulate and perform a good flexible transport, (ii) to some extent, the network topological structure plays a non-negligible role in transport efficiency

"What's Inside of You Now is Just Bones and Skin": The Tension between Restorative Meaning-Making and Deliberate Detachment in Maternal Experiences of Stillbirth

This article explores the ways in which bereaved mothers framed experiences of continuing bonds with their stillborn child and aims to enrich an understanding of maternal sense-making. Four interviews were carried out with bereaved mothers and approached using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, so as to offer deeper insight into their individual experiences. Themes which arose from the analysis include: “Continuing bonds and the female body;” “Conflicted bonding with the shape-shifting baby;” and “Experiencing connection in the life beyond loss.” These findings point to a tension between restorative meaning-making and detachment in maternal sense-making following stillbirth and have implications for clinicians working with bereaved mothers

Molecular Hydrogen Emission Lines in Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer Observations of Mira B

We present new Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) observations of Mira A's wind-accreting companion star, Mira B. We find that the strongest lines in the FUSE spectrum are H2 lines fluoresced by H I Lyman-alpha. A previously analyzed Hubble Space Telescope (HST) spectrum also shows numerous Lyman-alpha fluoresced H2 lines. The HST lines are all Lyman band lines, while the FUSE H2 lines are mostly Werner band lines, many of them never before identified in an astrophysical spectrum. We combine the FUSE and HST data to refine estimates of the physical properties of the emitting H2 gas. We find that the emission can be reproduced by an H2 layer with a temperature and column density of T=3900 K and log N(H2)=17.1, respectively. Another similarity between the HST and FUSE data, besides the prevalence of H2 emission, is the surprising weakness of the continuum and high temperature emission lines, suggesting that accretion onto Mira B has weakened dramatically. The UV fluxes observed by HST on 1999 August 2 were previously reported to be over an order of magnitude lower than those observed by HST and the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) from 1979--1995. Analysis of the FUSE data reveals that Mira B was still in a similarly low state on 2001 November 22.Comment: 23 pages, 6 figures; AASTEX v5.0 plus EPSF extensions in mkfig.sty; accepted by Ap

A Better Me? An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of the Experiences of Female Cancer Survivors’ Heightened Preoccupation With ‘Healthy Eating’

The end of treatment is known to be a particularly challenging time for many cancer survivors as they transition to coping with their condition independently. They may engage in health behaviours, such as implementing drastic dietary changes to manage the side effects of treatment they have undergone, or as a way to assuage their anxiety. Understanding cancer survivors’ heightened preoccupation with healthy eating is therefore fundamental to our understanding of the psychological phenomenology of cancer. This study explored how people who have developed a heightened preoccupation with healthy eating after a cancer diagnosis make sense of this change. Eight participants were recruited through social media. They each engaged in a semistructured interview over Zoom concerning their changed relationship with food following cancer. Their accounts were then analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). The article focuses on five group experiential themes arising from the analysis, Open and Enlightened About Food, Becoming A Better Me?, Developing a New Passion for Nutrition and Becoming Consumed by Food. The themes that arose from the analysis speak to the experience of becoming a ‘better’ person from having lived through cancer and developed a new relationship with food. Instead of seeing illness as a loss, several of the participants reported a positive shift linked to having developed an interest in healthy eating, something which became central to their identity. However, others experienced their new engagement with healthy eating as a preoccupation that engulfed them. These findings are discussed in light of existing theory and research, and their clinical implications are outlined. Areas for future research are also suggested

Late-Type Red Supergiants: Too Cool for the Magellanic Clouds?

We have identified seven red supergiants (RSGs) in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and four RSGs in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), all of which have spectral types that are considerably later than the average type observed in their parent galaxy. Using moderate-resolution optical spectrophotometry and the MARCS stellar atmosphere models, we determine their physical properties and place them on the H-R diagram for comparison with the predictions of current stellar evolutionary tracks. The radial velocities of these stars suggest that they are likely all members of the Clouds rather than foreground dwarfs or halo giants. Their locations in the H-R diagram also show us that those stars are cooler than the current evolutionary tracks allow, appearing to the right of the Hayashi limit, a region in which stars are no longer in hydrodynamic equilibrium. These stars exhibit considerable variability in their V magnitudes, and three of these stars also show changes in their effective temperatures (and spectral types) on the time-scales of months. One of these stars, [M2002] SMC 055188, was caught in an M4.5 I state, as late as that seen in HV 11423 at its recent extreme: considerable later, and cooler, than any other supergiant in the SMC. In addition, we find evidence of variable extinction due to circumstellar dust and changes in the stars' luminosities, also consistent with our recent findings for HV 11423 - when these stars are hotter they are also dustier and more luminous. We suggest that these stars have unusual properties because they are in an unstable (and short-lived) evolutionary phase.Comment: 26 pages, 6 figures; submitted to the Astrophysical Journa

Discovery of a detached HI gas shell surrounding alpha Orionis

We report the detection of the HI line at 21 cm in the direction of alpha Ori with the Nancay Radiotelescope and with the Very Large Array. The observations confirm the previous detection of HI emission centered on alpha Ori, but additionally reveal for the first time a quasi-stationary detached shell of neutral atomic hydrogen ~4 arcmin. in diameter (0.24 pc at a distance of 200 pc). The detached shell appears elongated in a direction opposite to the star's space motion. A simple model shows that this detached atomic gas shell can result from the collision of the stellar wind from alpha Ori with the local interstellar medium (ISM). It implies that alpha Ori has been losing matter at a rate of ~ 1.2x10^-6 solar masses per year for the past 8x10^4 years. In addition, we report the detection of atomic hydrogen associated with the far-infrared arc located 6 arcmin. north-east of alpha Ori, that has been suggested to trace the bow shock resulting from the motion of the star through the ISM. We report also the detection by the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) of a far-UV counterpart to this arc.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Monthly Notices; version with full resolution figures available at http://aramis.obspm.fr/~lebertre/paper-alphaOri_MNRAS.pd

Quantification of Dendritic Cells and Osteoclasts in the Bone Marrow of Patients with Monoclonal Gammopathy

The purpose of this study was to find histological clues for reliable differentiation between monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) and myeloma when clinical parameters are controversial. Differential appearance of dendritic cells and osteoclasts, two cell types developing from the monocytic lineage upon distinct cytokine activation profile, might be a useful approach. Bone and bone-marrow biopsies performed in 105 patients were studied using histomorphometry after identification of osteoclasts (by histochemical identification of tartrate resistant acid phosphatase) and dendritic cells (by immunohistochemical detection of the S-100 protein). Patients were classified by the World Health Organization criteria but histopathological criteria were more adapted to identify MGUS (53 cases), myeloma (46), B-cell lymphoma (six) since six myeloma were not correctly classified. Histomorphometry was compared to 15 control cases. The number of marrow dendritic cell was significantly increased with B-cell lymphoma >MGUS >myeloma > controls. Dendritic cell were often mixed with lymphoma cells. Myeloma had increased bone resorption with a high osteoclast number and moderate increase in dendritic cells. B-cell lymphomas had a considerable increase in dendritic cell but presented mononucleated osteoclasts. These findings can help in the classification of MGUS in the early stages of the disease and could help to propose preventive treatments