Responsible care in actor training: effective support for occupational health training in drama schools

How actors are adequately prepared for their lifetime of work can be a vexed issue. However what is emerging in the field is data that suggests more can be done to prepare those entering the acting profession and to support actors throughout their career development. This article argues that teaching staff, support staff and industry partners might usefully enter into conscious dialogue with each other about ensuring a healthier interplay between students’ developmental needs, course expectations and workplace culture. Otherwise, students can be caught in a dilemma between accessing personal and interpersonal support as well as being professional and industry-ready

Look Up in the Sky: Latent Content Analysis of the Real Life Superhero Community

The Real Life Superhero (RLSH) subculture is a growing global community of individuals who adopt the superhero motif and are motivated by prosocial goals. Although the community has been the focus of documentaries, news articles and numerous internet forums, little academic research has been conducted on the composition of this subculture. Through the use of an online survey, socio-demographic information about this community was collected. This data was compiled and analysed via qualitative means to develop not only an overarching review of the composition of the subculture but also how members perceived themselves and other members. Membership and identity within the community was strongly tied to the activities and focus of each member, predominantly community and crime prevention orientated. The study identified a high degree of heterogeneity within the community with subdivisions focused on the perceptions of legal boundaries, focus of activities and level of authenticity

Terbium luminescence in synthetic peptide loops from calcium-binding proteins with different energy donors.

Fourteen 14-mer peptides corresponding to a consensus sequence of metal-binding loops from proteins of the calmodulin family were synthesized. The effect of varying both the position in the binding loop, and the type of aromatic side chains as energy donors for enhancement of terbium luminescence, was studied. It was concluded that tryptophan in loop position 7 gave optimal luminescence enhancement, and that the additional inclusion of a tyrosine in the loop at positions 2 or 4 could further boost emission from the bound terbium. In all further cases energy transfer from aromatic residues at positions other than 7 was markedly less efficient. These results suggest that the peptides assume a configuration which allows a hexadentate ligand structure around the bound terbium ion. This is consistent with a Dexter-type electron exchange model of energy transfer

A Cloud-based Machine Learning Pipeline for the Efficient Extraction of Insights from Customer Reviews

The efficiency of natural language processing has improved dramatically with the advent of machine learning models, particularly neural network-based solutions. However, some tasks are still challenging, especially when considering specific domains. In this paper, we present a cloud-based system that can extract insights from customer reviews using machine learning methods integrated into a pipeline. For topic modeling, our composite model uses transformer-based neural networks designed for natural language processing, vector embedding-based keyword extraction, and clustering. The elements of our model have been integrated and further developed to meet better the requirements of efficient information extraction, topic modeling of the extracted information, and user needs. Furthermore, our system can achieve better results than this task's existing topic modeling and keyword extraction solutions. Our approach is validated and compared with other state-of-the-art methods using publicly available datasets for benchmarking

H2O masers and host environments of FU Orionis and EX Lupi type low-mass eruptive YSOs

Funding: H2020 European Research Council - 716155.The FU Orionis (FUor) and EX Lupi (EXor) type objects are rare pre-main sequence low-mass stars undergoing accretion outbursts. Maser emission is widespread and is a powerful probe of mass accretion and ejection on small scales in star forming region. However, very little is known about the overall prevalence of water masers towards FUors/Exors. We present results from our survey using the Effelsberg 100-m telescope to observe the largest sample of FUors and EXors, plus additional Gaia alerted sources (with the potential nature of being eruptive stars), a total of 51 targets, observing the 22.2 GHz H2O maser, while simultaneously covering the NH3 23 GHz.Peer reviewe

Glucocorticoid pharmacogenetics in pediatric idiopathic nephrotic syndrome

Idiopathic nephrotic syndrome represents the most common type of primary glomerular disease in children: glucocorticoids (GCs) are the first-line therapy, even if considerable interindividual differences in thepir efficacy and side effects have been reported. Immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory effects of these drugs are mainly due to the GC-mediated transcription regulation of pro- and anti-inflammatory genes. This mechanism of action is the result of a complex multistep pathway that involves the glucocorticoid receptor and several other proteins, encoded by polymorphic genes. Aim of this review is to highlight the current knowledge on genetic variants that could affect GC response, particularly focusing on children with idiopathic nephrotic syndrome

Profiling and assessing the risks of image- and performance-enhancing drugs use during the COVID-19 lockdown

© 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Background: Image and Performance-Enhancing Drugs (IPEDs) can enhance mental and physical capabilities and impact one’s overall health. Initially confined in sport environments, IPEDs use has become increasingly widespread in a high-performing society. The present study was aimed at profiling IPEDs use during the COVID-19 lockdown among an international sample of young adults. Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was carried out in eight countries (United Kingdom, Italy, Lithuania, Hungary, Portugal, Spain, Brazil, and Japan) between April and May 2020. The survey questionnaire included validated measurements such as Exercise Addiction Inventory (EAI), Appearance Anxiety Inventory (AAI), and Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) as well as questions about the type of IPEDs, purchasing methods and socio-demographic information. Results: A total of 736 IPEDs users were included in the survey. Their mean age was 33.05 years (±SD = 10.06), and 64.2% were female participants. Overall, 6.8% were found at risk of exercise addiction (EAI >24), 27.6% presented high levels of appearance anxiety, and 24.9% revealed low levels of emotional regulation’s self-compassion. Most participants (55.6%) purchased IPEDs through pharmacies/specialized shops, while 41.3% purchased IPEDs on the Internet. Online IPEDs buyers were mainly men who had higher scores on the Exercise Addiction Inventory. One or more IPEDs classifiable as “potentially risky” were used by 66.3% of the sample. Users of “potentially risky IPEDs” were younger and primarily men. They showed higher scores both on the Exercise Addiction Inventory and Appearance Anxiety Inventory. Conclusion: This study profiled users of IPEDs when the most restrictive COVID-19 lockdown policies were implemented in all the participating countries. More targeted post-COVID 19 prevention strategies should be implemented according to the emerged socio-demographic and psychopathological traits and cross-cultural differences emerged. Longitudinal studies will also be needed to determine the long-term effect of the COVID-19 lockdown on IPEDs consumption.Peer reviewe

Perceptions of the appropriate response to norm violation in 57 societies

An Author Correction to this article: DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-22955-x.Norm enforcement may be important for resolving conflicts and promoting cooperation. However, little is known about how preferred responses to norm violations vary across cultures and across domains. In a preregistered study of 57 countries (using convenience samples of 22,863 students and non-students), we measured perceptions of the appropriateness of various responses to a violation of a cooperative norm and to atypical social behaviors. Our findings highlight both cultural universals and cultural variation. We find a universal negative relation between appropriateness ratings of norm violations and appropriateness ratings of responses in the form of confrontation, social ostracism and gossip. Moreover, we find the country variation in the appropriateness of sanctions to be consistent across different norm violations but not across different sanctions. Specifically, in those countries where use of physical confrontation and social ostracism is rated as less appropriate, gossip is rated as more appropriate.Peer reviewe