4,914 research outputs found
An Experiment in Visual Ethnography
This paper is an output from my attendance at an ESRC-funded ‘Live Sociology’ course at
Goldsmiths College, London in 2006. The material here is based on a photography exercise and
on discussions that took place during the workshop sessions.This paper discusses a one-day exercise in
visual ethnography using a digital camera
to take photographs of Deptford in South
East London. For me, this represented an
experiment in using photography in social
research.ESR
Multi-Professional Perspectives on Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology Across Europe: An e-Delphi Survey
The aims of this article are to describe the ongoing development of adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer services within the European Union (EU), and to develop consensus on key areas within the field. This survey used an e-Delphi design. An initial survey was distributed via email to professionals working in Europe. A snowball sampling technique was used to promote distribution. Consensus was sought over three rounds from October 2012 to April 2015. Consensus was defined as >80% agreement (“agree” or “strongly agree”). Sixty professionals participated in round 1, 106 in round 2, and 61 in round 3. Twenty-six countries were represented across all rounds. Consensus was achieved for: the need for national policy guidance, the importance of patient choice, the validity of the International Charter of Rights for Young People, and some aspects of multi-disciplinary working. There was 75% agreement on a single definition of the patient age range within AYA cancer care. European professionals with expertise in AYA cancer care reached consensus on key elements of care for this group. The optimal AYA age range remained an elusive topic on which to agree. The broad engagement and interest in AYA cancer across the EU through the European Network for Cancer in Children and Adolescents (ENCCA) network was also demonstrated
Potent single-domain antibodies that arrest respiratory syncytial virus fusion protein in its prefusion state
Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the main cause of lower respiratory tract infections in young children. The RSV fusion protein (F) is highly conserved and is the only viral membrane protein that is essential for infection. The prefusion conformation of RSV F is considered the most relevant target for antiviral strategies because it is the fusion-competent form of the protein and the primary target of neutralizing activity present in human serum. Here, we describe two llama-derived single-domain antibodies (VHHs) that have potent RSV-neutralizing activity and bind selectively to prefusion RSV F with picomolar affinity. Crystal structures of these VHHs in complex with prefusion F show that they recognize a conserved cavity formed by two F protomers. In addition, the VHHs prevent RSV replication and lung infiltration of inflammatory monocytes and T cells in RSV-challenged mice. These prefusion F-specific VHHs represent promising antiviral agents against RSV
Substance use and sight loss
A guide for substance use and sight loss professionals
Alcohol, other drugs and sight loss: a scoping study.
The research team and Thomas Pocklington Trust have produced a guide for professionals working in substance use and sight loss
Dynamics on expanding spaces: modeling the emergence of novelties
Novelties are part of our daily lives. We constantly adopt new technologies,
conceive new ideas, meet new people, experiment with new situations.
Occasionally, we as individuals, in a complicated cognitive and sometimes
fortuitous process, come up with something that is not only new to us, but to
our entire society so that what is a personal novelty can turn into an
innovation at a global level. Innovations occur throughout social, biological
and technological systems and, though we perceive them as a very natural
ingredient of our human experience, little is known about the processes
determining their emergence. Still the statistical occurrence of innovations
shows striking regularities that represent a starting point to get a deeper
insight in the whole phenomenology. This paper represents a small step in that
direction, focusing on reviewing the scientific attempts to effectively model
the emergence of the new and its regularities, with an emphasis on more recent
contributions: from the plain Simon's model tracing back to the 1950s, to the
newest model of Polya's urn with triggering of one novelty by another. What
seems to be key in the successful modelling schemes proposed so far is the idea
of looking at evolution as a path in a complex space, physical, conceptual,
biological, technological, whose structure and topology get continuously
reshaped and expanded by the occurrence of the new. Mathematically it is very
interesting to look at the consequences of the interplay between the "actual"
and the "possible" and this is the aim of this short review.Comment: 25 pages, 10 figure
Ethnicity and attitudes to deceased kidney donation: a survey in Barbados and comparison with Black Caribbean people in the United Kingdom
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Black minority ethnic groups in the UK have relatively low rates of deceased donation and report a higher prevalence of beliefs that are regarded as barriers to donation. However there is little data from migrants' countries of origin. This paper examines community attitudes to deceased kidney donation in Barbados and compares the findings with a survey conducted in a disadvantaged multi-ethnic area of south London.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Questionnaires were administered at four public health centres in Barbados and at three private general practices. Adjusted odds ratios were calculated to compare attitudinal responses with a prior survey of 328 Caribbean and 808 White respondents in south London.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Questionnaires were completed by 327 respondents in Barbados (93% response); 42% men and 58% women, with a mean age of 40.4 years (SD 12.6). The main religious groups were Anglican (29%) and Pentecostal (24%). Educational levels ranged from 18% not completing 5th form to 12% with university education. Attitudes to the notion of organ donation were favourable, with 73% willing to donate their kidneys after their death and only 5% definitely against this. Most preferred an opt-in system of donation. Responses to nine attitudinal questions identified 18% as having no concerns and 9% as having 4 or more concerns. The highest level of concern (43%) was for lack of confidence that medical teams would try as hard to save the life of a person who has agreed to donate organs. There was no significant association between age, gender, education or religion and attitudinal barriers, but greater knowledge of donation had some positive effect on attitudes. Comparison of attitudes to donation in south London and Barbados (adjusting for gender, age, level of education, employment status) indicated that a significantly higher proportion of the south London Caribbean respondents identified attitudinal barriers to donation.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Community attitudes in Barbados are favourable to deceased donation based on a system of informed consent. Comparison with south London data supports the hypothesis that the relatively high prevalence of negative attitudes to deceased donation among disadvantaged ethnic minorities in high income countries may reflect feelings of marginalisation and lack of belonging.</p
Ab initio study of magnetism at the TiO2/LaAlO3 interface
In this paper we study the possible relation between the electronic and
magnetic structure of the TiO2/LaAlO3 interface and the unexpected magnetism
found in undoped TiO2 films grown on LaAlO. We concentrate on the role
played by structural relaxation and interfacial oxygen vacancies.
LaAlO3 has a layered structure along the (001) direction with alternating LaO
and AlO2 planes, with nominal charges of +1 and -1, respectively. As a
consequence of that, an oxygen deficient TiO2 film with anatase structure will
grow preferently on the AlO2 surface layer. We have therefore performed
ab-initio calculations for superlattices with TiO2/AlO2 interfaces with
interfacial oxygen vacancies. Our main results are that vacancies lead to a
change in the valence state of neighbour Ti atoms but not necessarily to a
magnetic solution and that the appearance of magnetism depends also on
structural details, such as second neighbor positions. These results are
obtained using both the LSDA and LSDA+U approximations.Comment: Accepted for publication in Journal of Materials Scienc
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