Enhanced associations with actions of the artist influence gaze behaviour

The aesthetic experience of the perceiver of art has been suggested to relate to the art-making process of the artist. The artist’s gestures during the creation process have been stated to influence the perceiver’s art-viewing experience. However, limited studies explore the art-viewing experience in relation to the creative process of the artist. We introduced eye-tracking measures to further establish how congruent actions with the artist influence perceiver’s gaze behaviour. Experiments 1 and 2 showed that simultaneous congruent and incongruent actions do not influence gaze behaviour. However, brushstroke paintings were found to be more pleasing than pointillism paintings. In Experiment 3, participants were trained to associate painting actions with hand primes to enhance visuomotor and visuovisual associations with the artist’s actions. A greater amount of time was spent fixating brushstroke paintings when presented with a congruent prime compared with an incongruent prime, and fewer fixations were made to these styles of paintings when presented with an incongruent prime. The results suggest that explicit links that allow perceivers to resonate with the artist’s actions lead to greater exploration of preferred artwork styles

Meta‐analysis of oral antibiotics, in combination with preoperative intravenous antibiotics and mechanical bowel preparation the day before surgery, compared with intravenous antibiotics and mechanical bowel preparation alone to reduce surgical‐site infections in elective colorectal surgery

Background: Surgical‐site infection (SSI) is a potentially serious complication following colorectal surgery. The present systematic review and meta‐analysis aimed to investigate the effect of preoperative oral antibiotics and mechanical bowel preparation (MBP) on SSI rates. Methods: A systematic review of PubMed, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials was performed using appropriate keywords. Included were RCTs and observational studies reporting rates of SSI following elective colorectal surgery, in patients given preoperative oral antibiotic prophylaxis, in combination with intravenous (i.v.) antibiotic prophylaxis and MBP, compared with patients given only i.v. antibiotic prophylaxis with MBP. A meta‐analysis was undertaken. Results: Twenty‐two studies (57 207 patients) were included, of which 14 were RCTs and eight observational studies. Preoperative oral antibiotics, in combination with i.v. antibiotics and MBP, were associated with significantly lower rates of SSI than combined i.v. antibiotics and MBP in RCTs (odds ratio (OR) 0·45, 95 per cent c.i. 0·34 to 0·59; P < 0·001) and cohort studies (OR 0·47, 0·44 to 0·50; P < 0·001). There was a similarly significant effect on SSI with use of a combination of preoperative oral aminoglycoside and erythromycin (OR 0·40, 0·25 to 0·64; P < 0·001), or preoperative oral aminoglycoside and metronidazole (OR 0·51, 0·39 to 0·68; P < 0·001). Preoperative oral antibiotics were significantly associated with reduced postoperative rates of anastomotic leak, ileus, reoperation, readmission and mortality in the cohort studies. Conclusion: Oral antibiotic prophylaxis, in combination with MBP and i.v. antibiotics, is superior to MBP and i.v. antibiotic prophylaxis alone in reducing SSI in elective colorectal surgery

The parallel programming of landing position in saccadic eye movement sequences

Saccadic eye movements occur in sequences, gathering new information about the visual environment to support successful task completion. Here we examine the control of these saccadic sequences and specifically the extent to which the spatial aspects of the saccadic responses are programmed in parallel. We asked participants to saccade to a series of visual targets and, while they shifted their gaze around the display, we displaced select targets. We found that saccade landing position was deviated towards the previous location of the target suggesting that partial parallel programming of target location information was occurring. The saccade landing position was also affected by the new target location which demonstrates that the saccade landing position was also partially updated following the shift. This pattern was present even for targets that were the subject of the next fixation. Having a greater preview about the sequence path influenced saccade accuracy with saccades being less affected by relocations when there is less preview information. The results demonstrate that landing positions from a saccade sequence are programmed in parallel and combined with more immediate visual signals

Providing parents with support on fractions through use of a Podcast

Research has shown that positive effect parental engagement has with children’s academic achievement. The main aim of this study was to create a resource (Appendices 1 and 2) which would enable parents to help their children with mathematics. It is based on the teaching of fractions at KS3, a topic which literature has shown to be very problematic for both children and adults. The research questions considered in this project were to measure the effectiveness of a podcast for teaching fractions to parents and to explore if parents would use this resource to help their children. The podcast lasting approximately 8-10 minutes guides busy parents through a step to step guide of fraction equivalence whilst incorporating some activities so that parent can test their knowledge. The feedback received from parents was very positive with all parents agreeing that the use of podcasts was an enjoyable, interactive method of learning which would provide them with more confidence when helping their children with Mathematics

On an Additive Characterization of a Skew Hadamard (n, n−1/ 2 , n−3 4 )-Difference Set in an Abelian Group

We give a combinatorial proof of an additive characterization of a skew Hadamard (n, n−1 2 , n−3 4 )-difference set in an abelian group G. This research was motivated by the p = 4k + 3 case of Theorem 2.2 of Monico and Elia [4] concerning an additive characterization of quadratic residues in Z p. We then use the known classification of skew (n, n−1 2 , n−3 4 )-difference sets in Z n to give a result for integers n = 4k +3 that strengthens and provides an alternative proof of the p = 4k + 3 case of Theorem 2.2 of [4]

Cosmopolitanism and the Body

This chapter explores the ways in which the relationships between cosmopolitanism and embodiment have been understood in social theory and analysis

Helminths in the hygiene hypothesis:Sooner or later?

There is increasing recognition that exposures to infectious agents evoke fundamental effects on the development and behaviour of the immune system. Moreover, where infections (especially parasitic infections) have declined, immune responses appear to be increasingly prone to hyperactivity. For example, epidemiological studies of parasite-endemic areas indicate that prenatal or early-life experience of infections can imprint an individual's immunological reactivity. However, the ability of helminths to dampen pathology in established inflammatory diseases implies that they can have therapeutic effects even if the immune system has developed in a low-infection setting. With recent investigations of how parasites are able to modulate host immune pathology at the level of individual parasite molecules and host cell populations, we are now able to dissect the nature of the host–parasite interaction at both the initiation and recall phases of the immune response. Thus the question remains – is the influence of parasites on immunity one that acts primarily in early life, and at initiation of the immune response, or in adulthood and when recall responses occur? In short, parasite immunosuppression – sooner or later

The Fangs Behind the Mask: Everyday Life in Wartime Chechnya

The chapter examines the mundane details of how the war was experienced, felt and negotiated at an individual and interactional level by participants that were affected by it. It aims to illuminate not just the central instability and ontological insecurity of life in Chechnya during wartime, but also how this chaotic situation was experienced and negotiated at the everyday level of the personal politics of survival and coping. At one level, Babchenko and Politkovskaya's writing is an impassioned ethical attempt to try and reveal the metaphorical fangs behind the mask, to expose the wider hidden rationalities and mendacities of the war in Chechnya. Babchenko recounts bewildered conversations that regularly take place in the federal army where his comrades sarcastically discuss the latest performative political utterances and official strategic definitions of the situation. It concludes that the restoration of constitutional order and the counter-terrorist operation are nothing but meaningless words that are cited to justify the murder of thousands of people