Seen But Seldom Heard: Creative Participatory Methods in a Study of Youth and Risk

This paper presents a discussion of the methodologies used in a small scale ‘popular education’ project involving young people in creative activities. The goal of the project is to explore their experiences and feelings about risk and safety and their ‘connectedness’ to their local community. A number of different methods are discussed as ways of empowering marginalised young people, including the use of visual methods, and new media in the form of blogs and Twitter Scripts, within an overarching participatory methodology. Arts-based and multimedia activities are powerful tools to enable young people to collectively question the nature of their historical and social situation and have the potential to raise sensitive issues, therefore, encouraging wider debate, producing new understandings, and facilitating social change. Building on insights gained in earlier research, which suggested that young people felt that they were not listened to or had enough influence in their neighbourhoods, this paper discusses the use of multimedia and creative means to develop a more accessible and effective arena in which young people can learn new skills to enable them to tell their story. In keeping with Bourdieu’s General Theoretical Framework, consideration is given to the ways in which such participatory and arts-based approaches can demonstrate value for the social and cultural capital of young people. Keywords: youth, risk, empowerment, co-production, creative media, Bourdie

A mathematical model of three-dimensional flow in a scraped-surface heat exchanger

We present a simple mathematical model of fluid flow in a Scraped-Surface Heat Exchanger (SSHE). Specifically we consider steady isothermal flow of a Newtonian fluid around a periodic array of pivoted scraper blades in a channel with one stationary and one moving wall, when there is an applied pressure gradient in a direction perpendicular to the wall motion. The flow is fully three-dimensional, but decomposes naturally into a two-dimensional transverse flow driven by the boundary motion and a longitudinal pressure-driven flow

Core-Shell Nanofibres for Heart Valve Leaflet Tissue Engineering

The aortic heart valve regulates blood flow as it exits the heart and enters the body; when this valve malfunctions it creates serious health problems. While current valve replacement options are satisfactory, the ultimate goal is to create a living valve replacement that can self repair, regenerate and remodel as the patient grows. An approach is via tissue engineering, which uses principles from engineering and cell biology to create functional tissue substitutes for in vivo replacement. This study aims at fabricating nanofibrillar scaffolds by coaxial electrospinning for the treatment of valvular disease. Many electrospun biopolymers promote cell adhesion, but lack the necessary signals that encourage cell proliferation and migration. The objectives of this work are to create a bioactive scaffold by encapsulating therapeutic proteins within a polymer shell and to analyze the protein release kinetics. By incorporating growth factors into the nanofibres, controlled release within the scaffold may be achieved and biochemical cues for tissue regeneration can be signaled. Samples were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and laser scanning confocal microscopy. Core-shell nanofibres composed of poly(caprolactone) (PCL) and encapsulated bovine serum albumin (BSA) were successfully prepared and had an average diameter of diameter of 1069 ± 388 nm. Electrospun PCL-BSA scaffold containing 62.7 ± 5.7 pg of BSA were able to release 35.33 ± 2.23 % of the theoretical loaded protein over 10 days. Furthermore, a method for isolating and purifying type I collagen from rat tails was developed and solid collagen fibres were prepared with an average diameter of 256 ± 48 nm. Core-shell nanofibres composed of type I collagen and encapsulated BSA with average inner and outer fibre diameters of 87 ± 33 nm and 204 ±73 nm, respectively

Carbon isotope ratioss of coccolith-associated polysaccharides of Emiliania huxleyi as a function of growth rate and CO2 concentration

The calcite plates, or coccoliths, of haptophyte algae including Emiliania huxleyi are formed in intracellular vesicles in association with water–soluble acidic polysaccharides. These coccolith–associated polysaccharides (CAPs) are involved in regulating coccolith formation and have been recovered from sediment samples dating back to ∼180 Ma. Paired measurements of the carbon isotopic compositions of CAPs and coccolith calcite have been proposed as a novel paleo–pCO2 barometer, but additional proxy validation and development are still required. Here we present culture results quantifying carbon isotopic offsets between CAPs and other cellular components: bulk organic biomass, alkenones, and calcite. E. huxleyi was grown in nitrate–limited chemostat experiments at growth rates (µ) of 0.20–0.62/d and carbon dioxide concentrations of 10.7–17.6 µmol/kg. We find that CAPs are isotopically enriched by 4.5–10.1‰ relative to bulk organic carbon, exhibiting smaller isotopic offsets at faster growth rates and lower CO2 concentrations. This variability suggests that CAPs record a complementary signature of past growth conditions with different sensitivity than alkenones or coccolith calcite. By measuring the isotopic compositions of all three molecules and minerals of self-consistent origin, the ratio µ/[CO2(aq)] may be reconstructed with fewer assumptions than current approaches

Cardiovascular disease and air pollution in Scotland: no association or insufficient data and study design?

<p><b>Background:</b> Coronary heart disease and stroke are leading causes of mortality and ill health in Scotland, and clear associations have been found in previous studies between air pollution and cardiovascular disease. This study aimed to use routinely available data to examine whether there is any evidence of an association between short-term exposure to particulate matter (measured as PM10, particles less than 10 micrograms per cubic metre) and hospital admissions due to cardiovascular disease, in the two largest cities in Scotland during the years 2000 to 2006.</p> <p><b>Methods:</b> The study utilised an ecological time series design, and the analysis was based on overdispersed Poisson log-linear models.</p> <p><b>Results:</b> No consistent associations were found between PM10 concentrations and cardiovascular hospital admissions in either of the cities studied, as all of the estimated relative risks were close to one, and all but one of the associated 95% confidence intervals contained the null risk of one.</p> <p><b>Conclusions:</b> This study suggests that in small cities, where air quality is relatively good, then either PM10 concentrations have no effect on cardiovascular ill health, or that the routinely available data and the corresponding study design are not sufficient to detect an association.</p&gt

Performance Poetry as as Method to Understand Disability

The Seen but Seldom Heard project was a performative social science (PSS) project which used performance poetry to illuminate the experiences of young people with physical impairments. Two performance poets, a group of young people with physical impairments, and academics from social science and media/communication backgrounds worked together to explore various aspects of the lived experience of disability exploring issues associated with identity, stereotypes, stigma and representation. In this article, we will present an overview of the project and consider how PSS offers a method to engage seldom heard voices, and illustrate this through two poems which shed light on the lived experience of disability. The article will consider the impact of these poems as PSS, and how this method allows the audience to develop a deeper understanding of the "lived" experience of disability and to reflect upon their own understandings of disability and discrimination

Factors contributing to the time taken to consult with symptoms of lung cancer: a cross-sectional study

<b>Objectives</b>: To determine what factors are associated with the time people take to consult with symptoms of lung cancer, with a focus on those from rural and socially deprived areas. <b>Methods</b>: A cross-sectional quantitative interview survey was performed of 360 patients with newly diagnosed primary lung cancer in three Scottish hospitals (two in Glasgow, one in NE Scotland). Supplementary data were obtained from medical case notes. The main outcome measures were the number of days from (1) the date participant defined first symptom until date of presentation to a medical practitioner; and (2) the date of earliest symptom from a symptom checklist (derived from clinical guidelines) until date of presentation to a medical practitioner. <b>Results</b>: 179 participants (50%) had symptoms for more than 14 weeks before presenting to a medical practitioner (median 99 days; interquartile range 31–381). 270 participants (75%) had unrecognised symptoms of lung cancer. There were no significant differences in time taken to consult with symptoms of lung cancer between rural and/or deprived participants compared with urban and/or affluent participants. Factors independently associated with increased time before consulting about symptoms were living alone, a history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and longer pack years of smoking. Haemoptysis, new onset of shortness of breath, cough and loss of appetite were significantly associated with earlier consulting, as were a history of chest infection and renal failure. <b>Conclusion</b>: For many people with lung cancer, regardless of location and socioeconomic status, the time between symptom onset and consultation was long enough to plausibly affect prognosis. Long-term smokers, those with COPD and/or those living alone are at particular risk of taking longer to consult with symptoms of lung cancer and practitioners should be alert to this

Using Taguchi method to optimize welding pool of dissimilar laser welded components

In the present work CO2 continuous laser welding process was successfully applied and optimized for joining a dissimilar AISI 316 stainless steel and AISI 1009 low carbon steel plates. Laser power, welding speed, and defocusing distance combinations were carefully selected with the objective of producing welded joint with complete penetration, minimum fusion zone size and acceptable welding profile. Fusion zone area and shape of dissimilar austenitic stainless steel with ferritic low carbon steel were evaluated as a function of the selected laser welding parameters. Taguchi approach was used as statistical design of experiment (DOE) technique for optimizing the selected welding parameters in terms of minimizing the fusion zone. Mathematical models were developed to describe the influence of the selected parameters on the fusion zone area and shape, to predict its value within the limits of the variables being studied. The result indicates that the developed models can predict the responses satisfactorily

A Weighted Estimate for the Square Function on the Unit Ball in \C^n

We show that the Lusin area integral or the square function on the unit ball of \C^n, regarded as an operator in weighted space $L^2(w)$ has a linear bound in terms of the invariant $A_2$ characteristic of the weight. We show a dimension-free estimate for the ``area-integral'' associated to the weighted $L^2(w)$ norm of the square function. We prove the equivalence of the classical and the invariant $A_2$ classes.Comment: 11 pages, to appear in Arkiv for Matemati

Simple Wriggling is Hard unless You Are a Fat Hippo

We prove that it is NP-hard to decide whether two points in a polygonal domain with holes can be connected by a wire. This implies that finding any approximation to the shortest path for a long snake amidst polygonal obstacles is NP-hard. On the positive side, we show that snake's problem is "length-tractable": if the snake is "fat", i.e., its length/width ratio is small, the shortest path can be computed in polynomial time.Comment: A shorter version is to be presented at FUN 201