Special Collections Libraries in Flux: A Dynamic Blend of Innovation and Creativity

Research and academic libraries continue to evolve through innovative and creative approaches to user engagement, technology and service delivery. Unique and distinctive collections in particular can provide us with new and exciting opportunities to engage with different audiences and enhance the overall user experience. Our poster aims to explore how our Special Collections & Archives have harnessed the potential of unique and distinctive collections through outreach, digitization, transformative space management and curriculum support, in line with our strategic plan. This approach has led to a significant increase in visitor numbers of up to 83% to our Special Collections & Archives

Special Collections Libraries in Flux: A Dynamic Blend of Innovation and Creativity

Research and academic libraries continue to evolve through innovative and creative approaches to user engagement, technology and service delivery. Unique and distinctive collections in particular can provide us with new and exciting opportunities to engage with different audiences and enhance the overall user experience. Our poster aims to explore how our Special Collections & Archives have harnessed the potential of unique and distinctive collections through outreach, digitization, transformative space management and curriculum support, in line with our strategic plan. This approach has led to a significant increase in visitor numbers of up to 83% to our Special Collections & Archives

Delivering genomic medicine in the United Kingdom National Health Service:a systematic review and narrative synthesis

PURPOSE: We sought to assess the readiness of the United Kingdom (UK) National Health Service to implement a Genomic Medicine Service. We conducted a systematic literature review to identify what is known about factors related to the implementation of genomic medicine in routine health care and to draw out the implications for the UK and other settings. METHODS: Relevant studies were identified in Web of Science and PubMed from their date of inception to April 2018. The review included primary research studies using quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods, and systematic reviews. A narrative synthesis was conducted. RESULTS: Fifty-five studies met our inclusion criteria. The majority of studies reviewed were conducted in the United States. We identified four domains: (1) systems, (2) training and workforce needs, (3) professional attitudes and values, and (4) the role of patients and the public. CONCLUSION: Mainstreaming genomic medicine into routine clinical practice requires actions at each level of the health-care system. Our synthesis emphasized the organizational, social, and cultural implications of reforming practice, highlighting that demonstration of clinical utility and cost-effectiveness, attending to the compatibility of genomic medicine with clinical principles, and involving and engaging patients are key to successful implementation

Development and Characterisation of a Whole Hybrid Sol-Gel Optofluidic Platform for Biosensing Applications

This work outlines, for the first time, the fabrication of a whole hybrid sol-gel optofluidic platform by integrating a microfluidic biosensor platform with optical waveguides employing a standard photolithography process. To demonstrate the suitability of this new hybrid sol-gel optofluidic platform, optical and bio-sensing proof-of-concepts are proposed. A photoreactive hybrid sol-gel material composed of a photopolymerisable organically modified silicon alkoxide and a transition metal complex was prepared and used as the fabrication material for the entire optofluidic platform, including the optical waveguides, the sensing areas, and the microfluidic device. The most suitable sol-gel materials chosen for the fabrication of the cladding and core of the waveguides showed a RIC of 3.5 × 10-3 and gave thicknesses between 5.5 and 7 μm. The material was optimised to simultaneously meet the photoreactive properties required for the photolithography fabrication process and the optical properties needed for the effective optical operability of the microstructured waveguides at 532 and 633 nm with an integrated microfluidic device. The optical proof-of-concept was performed using a fluorescent dye (Atto 633) and recording its optical responses while irradiated with a suitable optical excitation. The biosensing capability of the platform was assessed using a polyclonal primary IgG mouse antibody and a fluorescent labelled secondary IgG anti-mouse antibody. A limit of detection (LOD) of 50 ug/mL was achieved. A correlation between the concentration of the dye and the emission fluorescence was evidenced, thus clearly demonstrating the feasibility of the proposed hybrid sol-gel optofluidic platform concept. The successful integration and operability of optical and microfluidic components in the same optofluidic platform is a novel concept, particularly where the sol-gel fabrication material is concerned

Changes in Sexual Fantasy and Solitary Sexual Practice During Social Lockdown Among Young Adults in the UK

Introduction Pandemic-related social lockdown limited many sexual behaviors, but to date, no study has examined the perceived impact of social lockdown due to COVID-19 on sexual fantasy and solitary sexual behavior. Aims The present study sought to examine the perceived impact of social lockdown on sexual fantasy and solitary sexual behavior among UK young adults in various living situations. Methods A convenience sample of 565 adults aged 18–32 and living in the UK completed anonymous, web-based, study-specific questionnaires between May 14th to 18th, 2020, seven weeks after social lockdown was initiated. Mixed-method analyses were conducted. Main Outcome Measures The study presents qualitative and quantitative data. Criterion variables were measured dichotomously as increases (vs. no change) in sexual fantasy and increases (vs. no change) in pornography consumption. Predictor variables were living arrangement, relationship status, and post-lockdown changes in masturbation and pornography consumption. Results 34.3% engaged in more sexual fantasizing during lockdown; women were more likely than men to report this increase. Living context and relationship status were predictors of increased fantasizing. 30.44% reported an increase in at least one solitary sexual practice. This increase was associated with an increase in sexual fantasizing and also with increased pornography consumption. 19% of participants reported an increase in pornography use, with men being more likely than women to report this increase. Participants mostly attributed their increases to boredom, increased free time, and replacing partnered sex. Conclusion Shifts in sexual fantasizing and solitary sexual practices were predicted by living arrangements, relationship status, and gender. The present findings suggest that the assessment of sexual fantasy and solitary sexual activities may benefit patients presenting with pandemic-related stress. Although mostly exploratory, significant changes in sexual fantasy and solitary sexual practices were observed. A cross-sectional design, convenience sampling, and study-specific measures are limitations

Temporal Binding, Causation, and Agency: Developing a New Theoretical Framework

In temporal binding, the temporal interval between one event and another, occurring some time later, is subjectively compressed. We discuss two ways in which temporal binding has been conceptualized. In studies showing temporal binding between a voluntary action and its causal consequences, such binding is typically interpreted as providing a measure of an implicit or pre-reflective “sense of agency.” However, temporal binding has also been observed in contexts not involving voluntary action, but only the passive observation of a cause–effect sequence. In those contexts, it has been interpreted as a top-down effect on perception reflecting a belief in causality. These two views need not be in conflict with one another, if one thinks of them as concerning two separate mechanisms through which temporal binding can occur. In this paper, we explore an alternative possibility: that there is a unitary way of explaining temporal binding both within and outside the context of voluntary action as a top-down effect on perception reflecting a belief in causality. Any such explanation needs to account for ways in which agency, and factors connected with agency, has been shown to affect the strength of temporal binding. We show that principles of causal inference and causal selection already familiar from the literature on causal learning have the potential to explain why the strength of people's causal beliefs can be affected by the extent to which they are themselves actively involved in bringing about events, thus in turn affecting binding

The developmental profile of temporal binding: From childhood to adulthood.

Temporal binding refers to a phenomenon whereby the time interval between a cause and its effect is perceived as shorter than the same interval separating two unrelated events. We examined the developmental profile of this phenomenon by comparing the performance of groups of children (aged 6–7, 7–8, and 9–10 years) and adults on a novel interval estimation task. In Experiment 1, participants made judgements about the time interval between (a) their button press and a rocket launch, and (b) a non-causal predictive signal and rocket launch. In Experiment 2, an additional causal condition was included in which participants made judgements about the interval between an experimenter’s button press and the launch of a rocket. Temporal binding was demonstrated consistently and did not change in magnitude with age: estimates of delay were shorter in causal contexts for both adults and children. In addition, the magnitude of the binding effect was greater when participants themselves were the cause of an outcome compared with when they were mere spectators. This suggests that although causality underlies the binding effect, intentional action may modulate its magnitude. Again, this was true of both adults and children. Taken together, these results are the first to suggest that the binding effect is present and developmentally constant from childhood into adulthood

Human vision reconstructs time to satisfy causal constraints

The goal of perception is to infer the most plausible source of sensory stimulation. Unisensory perception of temporal order, however, appears to require no inference, since the order of events can be uniquely determined from the order in which sensory signals arrive. Here we demonstrate a novel perceptual illusion that casts doubt on this intuition: in three studies (N=607) the experienced event timings are determined by causality in real-time. Adult observers viewed a simple three-item sequence ACB, which is typically remembered as ABC (Bechlivanidis & Lagnado, 2016), in line with principles of causality. When asked to indicate the time at which events B and C occurred, points of subjective simultaneity shifted so that the assumed cause B appeared earlier and the assumed effect C later, despite full attention and repeated viewings. This first demonstration of causality reversing perceived temporal order cannot be explained by post-perceptual distortion, lapsed attention, or saccades

Acceptability and use of a patient-held communication tool for people living with dementia: a longitudinal qualitative study

Brendan McCormack - ORCID 0000-0001-8525-8905 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8525-8905Replaced AM with VoR on 2020-05-19Objectives: To assess the acceptability and use of a low-cost patient-held communication tool.Design: Longitudinal Qualitative interviews at three time points over 18 months and document content analysisSetting: Primary and community servicesParticipants: Twenty-eight dyads - People living with dementia in Northern Ireland and their informal carers.Interventions: a patient-held healthcare “passport” for people living with dementia.Primary and secondary outcomes: acceptability and use of the passport – barriers and facilitators to successful engagement.Results: There was a qualified appreciation of the healthcare passport and a much more nuanced, individualistic or personalised approach to its desirability and use. How people perceive it and what they actually do with it, are strongly determined by individual contexts, dementia stage and other health problems, social and family needs and capacities. We noted concerns about privacy and ambivalence about engaging with health professionals.Conclusion: Such tools may be of use but there is a need for demanding, thoughtful, and nuanced programme delivery for future implementation in dementia care. The incentivisation and commitment of General Practitioners is crucial. Altering the asymmetrical relationship between professionals and patients requires more extensive attention.This study was supported by a grant from the R&D Division of the Northern Ireland Public Health Agency & Atlantic Philanthropies COM/5017/14https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2019-036249pubpu

Changes in Sexual Desire and Behaviors among UK Young Adults During Social Lockdown Due to COVID-19

This study examined self-reported changes in young adults’ sexual desire and behaviors during the most significant social restrictions imposed to deal with COVID-19. Drawing on a survey of 565 British adults aged 18–32 collected at the peak of social lockdown restrictions, we document an overall decrease in sexual behaviors consistent with abiding by social restrictions. We found that the levels of sexual desire reported by women (but not men) decreased compared with reports of pre-lockdown levels. Participants in serious relationships reported more increases in sexual activity than people who were single or dating casually, and there were significant differences according to gender and sexual orientation. The perceived impact of subjective wellbeing of people with high sociosexuality scores was disproportionately associated with social lockdown but there was no effect for general health. Thus, the impact on sexuality and general wellbeing should be considered by policymakers when considering future social restrictions related to COVID-19 or other public health emergencies