Covid-19 and the quality of life of people with dementia and their carers—The TFD-C19 study

Introduction COVID-19 has placed unprecedented pressure on dementia health and social care systems worldwide. This has resulted in reduced services and support for people with dementia and their family carers. There are gaps in the evidence on the impact of the pandemic on Quality of Life (QoL). We carried out a study on the impact of the pandemic on the QoL of a group of people with dementia and their family carers who were part of a larger existing cohort study. Methods We quantitatively measured QoL, on two occasions during the two national lockdowns in 2020 and compared these data with those obtained when they entered the study (before the pandemic). Measures used included: DEMQOL-Proxy, Clinical Dementia Rating Scale and C-DEMQOL. To understand how QoL changed over time, a repeated measures ANOVA was run for each dependent variable with the following variables entered as co-variates: duration in study, baseline dementia severity, gender of the family carer, gender of the person with dementia, family carer relationship, dementia type, living status, age of the person with dementia, and age of the family carer. Results 248 participants took part in the study. QoL scores did not significantly decline between either time period for the person with dementia or their family carer. There was variation in subgroups; with co-resident status, carer relationship, gender of the person with dementia, age of the person with dementia, and baseline cognitive status influencing QoL outcomes in family carers. Discussion It is striking that people with dementia and their carers did not report a decline in QoL during the pandemic or in the months following restrictions suggesting the possibility of resilience. Variation in subgroups suggests that specific groups of family carers were more vulnerable to lower QoL; indicating the need for more tailored, nuanced support during this period. </jats:sec

Does the history of food energy units suggest a solution to "Calorie confusion"?

The Calorie (kcal) of present U.S. food labels is similar to the original French definition of 1825. The original published source (now available on the internet) defined the Calorie as the quantity of heat needed to raise the temperature of 1 kg of water from 0 to 1°C. The Calorie originated in studies concerning fuel efficiency for the steam engine and had entered dictionaries by 1840. It was the only energy unit in English dictionaries available to W.O. Atwater in 1887 for his popular articles on food and tables of food composition. Therefore, the Calorie became the preferred unit of potential energy in nutrition science and dietetics, but was displaced when the joule, g-calorie and kcal were introduced. This article will explain the context in which Nicolas Clément-Desormes defined the original Calorie and the depth of his collaboration with Sadi Carnot. It will review the history of other energy units and show how the original Calorie was usurped during the period of international standardization. As a result, no form of the Calorie is recognized as an SI unit. It is untenable to continue to use the same word for different thermal units (g-calorie and kg-calorie) and to use different words for the same unit (Calorie and kcal). The only valid use of the Calorie is in common speech and public nutrition education. To avoid ongoing confusion, scientists should complete the transition to the joule and cease using kcal in any context

The Role of Gender in the British Brass Band

This thesis examines the role that gender plays within the modern British brass band, which to date is strongly linked with heavily stereotyped imagery projecting masculinity. With declining numbers of brass bands across Great Britain and the wider societal push for gender equality, diversification is essential to the long term future of the art form. Through investigating how the British brass band perpetuates images of masculinity and/or excludes images of femininity (consciously or subconsciously) as well as the extent to which the stereotypical view of the British bass band as being a masculine pastime remains true in the modern day, I demonstrate that brass bands are being engaged with by women and in some cases in almost equal numbers to men, especially in the lower sections of the National Brass Band Championships’ five divisions. Using evidence collected through discussion with brass band players of all genders as well as observation of brass bands performing between 2013 and 2018 at the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain, I investigate the culture and environments in which brass bands exist. I examine the uniforms and dress codes which are routinely employed, the instrumentation that defines the brass band and a selection of music written for, or routinely performed by, brass bands and consider how they reflect (or do not reflect) gendered ideas. This thesis argues that the British brass band has aspects of its imagery, behaviours and culture which project and perpetuate images of masculinity, but the community itself does not discriminate based on gender

The legitimisation of knowledge: a work based learning perspective of APEL

Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL) is now an established but relatively underused process in higher education (HE). In our review article, we argue that this is because APEL not only challenges the traditional university monopoly of knowledge but also challenges other established processes and social constructions. Work-Based Learning (WBL) has used APEL to great advantage in allowing people to gain access to HE. Also, it has done much to challenge traditional discipline based assumptions associated with APEL practice through seeking to recognise the knowledge and abilities that come about through the three spheres of work, the academic and the personal. This article examines the perspectives of five tutors who regularly support the development of, and assess the APEL claims of WBL students. The perspectives of the tutors are presented as vignettes. These, together with three short case examples, are used to illustrate themes that are related to the APEL process: power and control within the infrastructure of universities; the power of the disciplines to skew the depth and significance of prior and experiential learning; the pressure from government for universities to foster employee learning; competing value positions of academics and of students; and the social influence of students and assessors' gender, race and class. We look at these five overlapping themes and how the field of WBL may have certain features that can help overcome these constructions in the APEL process. We also consider the struggles of WBL and its own emerging value positions