Arts and creative activities for mental wellbeing during Covid-19 lockdown: report of a survey of university staff

Purpose There is evidence that the recent Covid-19 pandemic has led to an increase in stress in the UK workforce. Research also suggests that engaging in arts and creative activities may alleviate stress. The purpose was to explore how this might relate to staff at Canterbury Christ Church University, and specifically 1) to identify the overall extent of uptake and popularity of different arts activities; 2) to assess how this compares with pre-Covid levels of engagement and; 3) to identify how engagement with activities may serve to mitigate any adverse effects of the pandemic and beyond. Design The two-stage design comprised an online questionnaire, followed by in-depth interviews with a sub-sample of respondents. Findings 178 individuals responded to the questionnaire, and 12 individuals were interviewed. Receptive arts engagement featured more frequently than participatory arts. 46.6% respondents reported more engagement during lockdown than before. The most frequently reported benefits related to the ability to disengage from the negative concerns of lockdown. Interview data identified four themes: creativity for wellbeing; connecting and contributing; pandemic as opportunity; and reflecting the times. Originality Little previous research has been conducted on the impacts of the arts specifically on university staff during Covid, particularly research including non-academic staff

How the nursing associate role is viewed by different stakeholders: a qualitative research study

Background: The nursing associate role was created following a review by Health Education England in 2015 that examined nurse education and training so that capacity and improvements could be made to the provision of care in England. Objective: To explore different stakeholder perspectives of how the nursing associate role has been embedded within local healthcare practice. Design: The study was designed to explore and evaluate the role of the nursing associate in practice from the perspectives of those stakeholders who have experience of working with the nursing associate. Setting(s): Online semi-structured interviews. Participants: 9 stakeholder participants who had direct contact with the nursing associate or trainee nursing associate in the practice setting. Methods: A mixed-methods qualitative approach was used, which included a creative methodological approach in the form of photo-elicitation and semi-structured interviews to explore the lived experience of participants. Results: Analysis revealed 2 superordinate themes: (1) the contribution of the nursing associate; (2) real-work perspectives of the role. Conclusions: The findings demonstrated that the role was important to the provision of care, but that there were challenges related to communication, support and education provision throughout the organisations

Ancient gene drives: an evolutionary paradox

This is the final version. Available on open access from the Royal Society via the DOI in this recordSelfish genetic elements such as selfish chromosomes increase their transmission rate relative to the rest of the genome and can generate substantial cost to the organisms that carry them. Such segregation distorters are predicted to either reach fixation potentially causing population extinction, or more commonly, promote the evolution of genetic suppression to restore transmission to equality. Many populations show rapid spread of segregation distorters, followed by the rapid evolution of suppression. However, not all drivers display such flux, instead persisting at stable frequencies in natural populations for decades, perhaps hundreds of thousands of years, with no sign of suppression evolving or the driver spreading to fixation. This represents a major evolutionary paradox. How can drivers be maintained long-term at stable frequencies? And why has suppression not evolved as is the case in many other gene drive systems? Here we explore potential factors that may explain the persistence of drive systems, focusing on the ancient sex-ratio SR driver in the fly Drosophila pseudoobscura. We discuss potential solutions to the evolutionary mystery of why suppression does not appear to have evolved in this system, and address how long-term stable frequencies of gene-drive can be maintained. Finally, we speculate whether ancient drivers may be functionally and evolutionarily distinct to young drive systems.Natural Environment Research Council (NERC

The geochemistry of iodine and bromine in sediments of the Panama Basin

The areal and vertical distribution of iodine, bromine and organic carbon has been examined in a suite of sediment cores from the Panama Basin. Both halogens are approximately correlative with organic carbon in surface sediments. The concentrations of all three elements vary sympathetically but considerably with depth, especially in equatorial carbonate oozes where a distinct mid-depth (40-80 cm) concentration maximum is observed...

Does mating negatively affect female immune defences in insects?

This is the final version. Available from Brill Academic Publishers via the DOI in this record.Immunity is an important mechanism of protection against pathogens and parasites. One factor that can influence immunity is mating. During mating, male-derived materials are transferred to females, and the physical contact also involves the potential risk of sexually transmitted infections, and wounding. Thus, mating can challenge a female’s immune system. This review focuses on exploring how immunity and mating interact in female insects. Although mating has been shown to cause female immune responses in several species, the responses do not always match the observed resistance to pathogens/parasites. Mating up-regulates female immune responses while female resistance is reduced compared to virgin females in some species, and vice versa in other taxa. We discuss why mismatches occur and why post-mating female resistance differs among species, and suggest that measured immune responses may not correlate with female resistance. Also, the mating system will play a major role. Polyandrous mating systems can generate intense post-mating sexual conflict, which can impose high costs of mating on females. Reduced female post-mating resistance may be due to direct suppression of female immunity by males. Alternatively, polyandry may increase the risk of sexually transmitted infections. If this is the major factor driving female post-mating resistance, females of polyandrous species should have higher post-mating immunity. To date, there are insufficient numbers of studies to fully answer the question ‘does mating negatively affect female immune defences in insects?’ To elucidate the links between immunity and mating in females, we need more studies in more species with varied mating systems.European CommissionMarie Skłodowska-Curi

Electrocardiographic safety evaluation of dihydroartemisinin piperaquine in the treatment of uncomplicated falciparum malaria.

Dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DP) could become a leading fixed combination malaria treatment worldwide. Although there is accumulating evidence of efficacy and safety from clinical trials, data on cardiotoxicity are limited. In two randomized controlled trials in Thailand, 56 patients had ECGs performed before treatment, 4 hours after the first dose, and 4 hours after the last dose. The mean (95% CI) changes in QTc interval (Bazett's correction) were 2 (-6 to 9) ms and 14 (7 to 21) ms, respectively. These small changes on the third day of treatment are similar to those observed elsewhere in the convalescent phase following antimalarial treatment with drugs known to have no cardiac effects and are therefore likely to result from recovery from acute malaria and not the treatment given. At therapeutic doses, DP does not have clinically significant effects on the electrocardiogram

The quantized Hall conductance of a single atomic wire: A proposal based on synthetic dimensions

We propose a method by which the quantization of the Hall conductance can be directly measured in the transport of a one-dimensional atomic gas. Our approach builds on two main ingredients: (1) a constriction optical potential, which generates a mesoscopic channel connected to two reservoirs, and (2) a time-periodic modulation of the channel, specifically designed to generate motion along an additional synthetic dimension. This fictitious dimension is spanned by the harmonic-oscillator modes associated with the tightly-confined channel, and hence, the corresponding "lattice sites" are intimately related to the energy of the system. We analyze the quantum transport properties of this hybrid two-dimensional system, highlighting the appealing features offered by the synthetic dimension. In particular, we demonstrate how the energetic nature of the synthetic dimension, combined with the quasi-energy spectrum of the periodically-driven channel, allows for the direct and unambiguous observation of the quantized Hall effect in a two-reservoir geometry. Our work illustrates how topological properties of matter can be accessed in a minimal one-dimensional setup, with direct and practical experimental consequences.

cDNA cloning of MCT1, a monocarboxylate transporter from rat skeletal muscle

AbstractPCR was used to amplify the coding region of CHO MCT1 cDNA. This was then used to screen a rat skeletal muscle cDNA library which lead to the isolation of a full length cDNA encoding MCT1 from rat. The cDNA derived amino acid sequence shows 94% and 86% identity to CHO and human MCT1, respectively

Magnetic structure of EuFe2As2 determined by single crystal neutron diffraction

Among various parent compounds of iron pnictide superconductors, EuFe2As2 stands out due to the presence of both spin density wave of Fe and antiferromagnetic ordering (AFM) of the localized Eu2+ moment. Single crystal neutron diffraction studies have been carried out to determine the magnetic structure of this compound and to investigate the coupling of two magnetic sublattices. Long range AFM ordering of Fe and Eu spins was observed below 190 K and 19 K, respectively. The ordering of Fe2+ moments is associated with the wave vector k = (1,0,1) and it takes place at the same temperature as the tetragonal to orthorhombic structural phase transition, which indicates the strong coupling between structural and magnetic components. The ordering of Eu moment is associated with the wave vector k = (0,0,1). While both Fe and Eu spins are aligned along the long a axis as experimentally determined, our studies suggest a weak coupling between the Fe and Eu magnetism.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure