Contested identities: the dissonant heritage of European town walls and walled towns

This is the author's post-print version of an article accepted for publication in International Journal of Heritage Studies. © 2008 Informa plc. The definitive publisher-authenticated version (Vol.12 (3), May 2006, pp.234-254) is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13527250600604498Town walls have always played a critical role in shaping the identities and images of the communities they embrace. Today, the surviving fabric of urban defences is a feature of heritage holding great potential as a cultural resource but in management terms one that poses substantial challenges, both practical and philosophical. Town walls can be conceptualised as a 'dissonant' form of heritage whose value is contested between different interest groups and whose meanings are not static but can be rewritten. Evidence is gathered from walled towns across Europe, including member towns of the WTFC (Walled Towns Friendship Circle) and inscribed UNESCO World Heritage Sites, to explore the cyclical biographies of town walls in their transformation from civic monuments, through phases of neglect, decay and destruction to their current status as cherished cultural resources. To explore this area of interface between archaeology and tourism studies, the varying attitudes of populations and heritage agencies to walled heritage are reviewed through examination of policies of conservation, preservation, presentation and restoration. Areas of commonality and contrast are thus identified

A scoping review of burden of disease studies estimating disability-adjusted life years due to Taenia solium

Background Taenia solium is the most significant global foodborne parasite and the leading cause of preventable human epilepsy in low and middle-income countries in the form of neurocysticercosis. Objectives This scoping review aimed to examine the methodology of peer-reviewed studies that estimate the burden of T. solium using disability-adjusted life years. Eligibility criteria Studies must have calculated disability-adjusted life years relating to T. solium. Charting methods The review process was managed by a single reviewer using Rayyan. Published data relating to disease models, data sources, disability-adjusted life years, sensitivity, uncertainty, missing data, and key limitations were collected. Results 15 studies were included for review, with seven global and eight national or sub-national estimates. Studies primarily employed attributional disease models that relied on measuring the occurrence of epilepsy before applying an attributable fraction to estimate the occurrence of neurocysticercosis-associated epilepsy. This method relies heavily on the extrapolation of observational studies across populations and time periods; however, it is currently required due to the difficulties in diagnosing neurocysticercosis. Studies discussed that a lack of data was a key limitation and their results likely underestimate the true burden of T. solium. Methods to calculate disability-adjusted life years varied across studies with differences in approaches to time discounting, age weighting, years of life lost, and years of life lived with disability. Such differences limit the ability to compare estimates between studies. Conclusions This review illustrates the complexities associated with T. solium burden of disease studies and highlights the potential need for a burden of disease reporting framework. The burden of T. solium is likely underestimated due to the challenges in diagnosing neurocysticercosis and a lack of available data. Advancement in diagnostics, further observational studies, and new approaches to parameterising disease models are required if estimates are to improve

Understanding person acquisition using an interactive activation and competition network

Face perception is one of the most developed visual skills that humans display, and recent work has attempted to examine the mechanisms involved in face perception through noting how neural networks achieve the same performance. The purpose of the present paper is to extend this approach to look not just at human face recognition, but also at human face acquisition. Experiment 1 presents empirical data to describe the acquisition over time of appropriate representations for newly encountered faces. These results are compared with those of Simulation 1, in which a modified IAC network capable of modelling the acquisition process is generated. Experiment 2 and Simulation 2 explore the mechanisms of learning further, and it is demonstrated that the acquisition of a set of associated new facts is easier than the acquisition of individual facts in isolation of one another. This is explained in terms of the advantage gained from additional inputs and mutual reinforcement of developing links within an interactive neural network system. <br/

Derivation of the human embryonic stem cell line RCe009-A (RC-5)

The human embryonic stem cell line RCe009-A (RC-5) was derived from a frozen and thawed Day 2 embryo voluntarily donated as unsuitable and surplus to requirement for fertility treatment following informed consent under licence from the UK Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority. RCe009-A carries the common DF508 mutation on the cystic fibrosis trans-membrane regulator gene associated with the disease cystic fibrosis. The cell line shows normal pluripotency marker expression and differentiation to the three germ layers in vitro. It has a normal 46XX female karyotype and microsatellite PCR identity, HLA and blood group typing data are available

Derivation of the human embryonic stem cell line RCe014-A (RC-10)

AbstractThe human embryonic stem cell line RCe012-A (RC-8) was derived from a frozen and thawed day 5 embryo cultivated to the blastocyst stage. The embryo was voluntarily donated as unsuitable and surplus to fertility requirements following ethics committee approved informed consent under licence from the UK Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority. The cell line shows normal pluripotency marker expression and differentiation to the three germ layers in vitro. It has a normal 46XX female karyotype and microsatellite PCR identity, HLA and blood group typing data is available

Derivation of the human embryonic stem cell line RCe010-A (RC-6)

AbstractThe human embryonic stem cell line RCe010-A (RC-6) was derived from a frozen and thawed blastocyst voluntarily donated as unsuitable and surplus to fertility requirements following ethics committee approved informed consent under licence from the UK Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority. The cell line shows normal pluripotency marker expression and differentiation to the three germ layers in vitro. It has a normal 46XY male karyotype and microsatellite PCR identity, HLA and blood group typing data are available

Derivation of the human embryonic stem cell line RCe011-A (RC-7)

The human embryonic stem cell line RCe011-A (RC-7) was derived from a failed to fertilise oocyte voluntarily donated as unsuitable and surplus to fertility requirements following ethics committee approved informed consent under licence from the UK Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority. The cell line shows normal pluripotency marker expression and differentiation to the three germ layers in vitro. It has a normal 46XY male karyotype and microsatellite PCR identity, HLA and blood group typing data are available

Measuring students’ information skills through concept mapping

This paper seeks to develop a methodology that will discover, specify and measure students’ abilities and skills in creating concept maps. Because competencies are the key factor in higher education, the paper analyses the role of concept maps as a tool to diagnose and improve information analysis, synthesis, organisation and representation skills and competencies. We propose a methodology that enables these skills to be evaluated by observing, analysing and measuring the stages involved in creating a concept map: identification of the main and secondary subjects; subject codification by concepts; grading of concepts; and representation of the concepts and their relationships with labels. A case study using action-research methodology tests the usefulness of the methodology on a group of university students of Library and Information Science. The method proposed provides information on the strengths and weaknesses of the students’ skills analysed, thus enabling their training to be improved by means of specific actions

Cohort profile:the 'Biomarkers of heterogeneity in type 1 diabetes' study-a national prospective cohort study of clinical and metabolic phenotyping of individuals with long-standing type 1 diabetes in the Netherlands

PURPOSE: The 'Biomarkers of heterogeneity in type 1 diabetes' study cohort was set up to identify genetic, physiological and psychosocial factors explaining the observed heterogeneity in disease progression and the development of complications in people with long-standing type 1 diabetes (T1D). PARTICIPANTS: Data and samples were collected in two subsets. A prospective cohort of 611 participants aged ≥16 years with ≥5 years T1D duration from four Dutch Diabetes clinics between 2016 and 2021 (median age 32 years; median diabetes duration 12 years; 59% female; mean glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) 61 mmol/mol (7.7%); 61% on insulin pump; 23% on continuous glucose monitoring (CGM)). Physical assessments were performed, blood and urine samples were collected, and participants completed questionnaires. A subgroup of participants underwent mixed-meal tolerance tests (MMTTs) at baseline (n=169) and at 1-year follow-up (n=104). Genetic data and linkage to medical and administrative records were also available. A second cross-sectional cohort included participants with ≥35 years of T1D duration (currently n=160; median age 64 years; median diabetes duration 45 years; 45% female; mean HbA1c 58 mmol/mol (7.4%); 51% on insulin pump; 83% on CGM), recruited from five centres and measurements, samples and 5-year retrospective data were collected. FINDINGS TO DATE: Stimulated residual C-peptide was detectable in an additional 10% of individuals compared with fasting residual C-peptide secretion. MMTT measurements at 90 min and 120 min showed good concordance with the MMTT total area under the curve. An overall decrease of C-peptide at 1-year follow-up was observed. Fasting residual C-peptide secretion is associated with a decreased risk of impaired awareness of hypoglycaemia. FUTURE PLANS:Research groups are invited to consider the use of these data and the sample collection. Future work will include additional hormones, beta-cell-directed autoimmunity, specific immune markers, microRNAs, metabolomics and gene expression data, combined with glucometrics, anthropometric and clinical data, and additional markers of residual beta-cell function. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT04977635.</p