The regressive power of labels of vulnerability affecting disabled asylum seekers in the UK

There has been some progress in the United Kingdom regarding official recognition of the existence and needs of disabled asylum seekers and refugees. However, references are commonly accompanied by euphemistic labels, particularly of ‘vulnerability’. This should be understood in the context of systematic reduction of services and support available to the wider population of asylum seekers and disabled people in the United Kingdom. I argue that these processes reinforce each other and that both undermine a rights-based approach. Focusing on recent asylum and immigration policies, I explore how labels of ‘vulnerability’ obscure systemic oppression and distract from the rights and achievements of disabled people. The regressive elements of vulnerability discourse are presented as if better than nothing. Such discourse risks reinforcing hegemonic acceptance of distinctions of human worth, with detrimental impact for migrants and citizens alike

Murals as a tool for action research

This final chapter considers murals as tools for research. It explores the design, rationale and impact of two research projects. One was focussed on the UK context, working with disabled people living in a wide variety of different circumstances (including asylum seekers, ex-service personnel, parents, people living in residential accommodation). The second was focused on the experiences of disabled people in Bolivia. In each place, people used imagery to convey their key messages. The images and ideas were brought together to create murals which were then installed in public spaces. Public opening events were organized, and more bespoke exhibitions of mural reproductions were taken to academic conferences, parliament and public events. The murals served as a tool for bringing people together, eliciting information, promoting research findings and enabling a power shift, such that those traditionally conceived of as research ‘subjects’ have greater control and ownership of the research output. The individual and collective impact of the murals is examined by considering the perceptions of those creating the artwork as well as those observing it. Murals sited in public locations facilitate the dissemination of the research findings in a far more accessible manner than is possible with a written report alone. This chapter calls for consideration of the epistemological value of such methods. In addition to any aesthetic qualities, it is argued that murals can be important mediums of communication and effective research tools, particularly where there are associated aspirations for social change

The Inferior Temporal Numeral Area distinguishes numerals from other character categories during passive viewing: A representational similarity analysis

A region in the posterior inferior temporal gyrus (pITG) is thought to be specialized for processing Arabic numerals, but fMRI studies that compared passive viewing of numerals to other character types (e.g., letters and novel characters) have not found evidence of numeral preference in the pITG. However, recent studies showed that the engagement of the pITG is modulated by attention and task contexts, suggesting that passive viewing paradigms may be ill-suited for examining numeral specialization in the pITG. It is possible, however, that even if the strengths of responses to different category types are similar, the distributed response patterns (i.e., neural representations) in a candidate numeral-preferring pITG region ( pITG-numerals ) may reveal categorical distinctions, even during passive viewing. Using representational similarity analyses with three datasets that share the same task paradigm and stimulus sets (total N = 88), we tested whether the neural representations of digits, letters, and novel characters in pITG-numerals were organized according to visual form and/or conceptual categories (e.g., familiar versus novel, numbers versus others). Small-scale frequentist and Bayesian meta-analyses of our dataset-specific findings revealed that the organization of neural representations in pITG-numerals is unlikely to be described by differences in abstract shape, but can be described by a categorical digits versus letters distinction, or even a digits versus others distinction (suggesting greater numeral sensitivity). Evidence of greater numeral sensitivity during passive viewing suggest that pITG-numerals is likely part of a neural pathway that has been developed for automatic processing of objects with potential numerical relevance. Given that numerals and letters do not differ categorically in terms of shape, categorical distinction in pITG-numerals during passive viewing must reflect ontogenetic differentiation of symbol set representations based on repeated usage of numbers and letters in differing task contexts

Is higher formula intake and limited dietary diversity in Australian children at 14 months of age associated with dietary quality at 24 months?

© 2017 Elsevier. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ This author accepted manuscript is made available following 24 month embargo from date of publication (Sept 2017) in accordance with the publisher’s archiving policyA varied and diverse diet in childhood supports optimum long-term preferences and growth. Previous analysis from 14-month-old Australian children in the NOURISH and South Australian Infants Dietary Intake (SAIDI) studies found higher formula intake was associated with lower dietary diversity. This analysis investigated whether formula intake and dietary diversity at 14 months of age is associated with dietary quality at 24 months. This is a secondary analysis of intake data from NOURISH and SAIDI cohorts. Scores for dietary diversity, fruit variety, vegetable variety and meat/alternative variety were combined using structural equation modelling to form the latent variable ‘Dietary quality’ (DQ) at age 24 months. A longitudinal model examined influence of formula (grams), cow's milk (grams) and dietary diversity at 14 months and covariates, on DQ. At age 24 months (n = 337) 27% of children obtained a maximum dietary diversity score (5/5). Variety scores were relatively low – with mean variety scores (and possible range) being four for fruit (0–30); five for vegetables (0–36); and three for meat/alternatives (0–8). Dietary diversity at 14 months (β = 0.19, p = 0.001), maternal age (β = 0.24, p < 0.001) and education (β = 0.22, p < 0.001) predicted DQ at 24 months while Child Food Neophobia Score was negatively associated with DQ (β = −0.30, p < 0.001). Formula intake was negatively associated with diversity at 14 months, but not DQ at 24. Diversity and variety were limited despite sociodemographic advantage of the sample. Diversity at 14 months, degree of neophobia and sociodemographic factors predicted DQ at 24 months. There is an ongoing need to emphasise the importance of repeated early exposure to healthy foods, such that children have the opportunity to learn to like a range of tastes and texture, thereby maximising dietary diversity and quality in infancy and early toddlerhood

Training highly qualified health research personnel: The Pain in Child Health consortium

Background and Objectives: Pain in Child Health (PICH) is a transdisciplinary, international research training consortium. PICH has been funded since 2002 as a Strategic Training Initiative in Health Research of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, with contributions from other funding partners and the founding participation of five Canadian universities. The goal of PICH has been to create a community of scholars in pediatric pain to improve child health outcomes. Methods: Quantitative analyses enumerated PICH faculty, trainees, training activities and scientific outputs. Interviews with PICH stakeholders were analyzed using qualitative methods capturing perceptions of the program’s strengths, limitations, and opportunities for development and sustainability. Results : PICH has supported 218 trainee members from 2002 through 2013, from 14 countries and more than 16 disciplines. The faculty at the end of 2013 comprised nine co-principal investigators, 14 Canadian coinvestigators, and 28 Canadian and international collaborators. Trainee members published 697 peer-reviewed journal articles on pediatric pain through 2013, among other research dissemination activities including conference presentations and webinars. Networks have been established between new and established researchers across Canada and in 13 other countries. Perceptions from stakeholders commended PICH for its positive impact on the development of pediatric pain researchers. Stakeholders emphasized skills and abilities gained through PICH, the perceived impact of PICH training on this research field, and considerations for future training in developing researchers in pediatric pain. Conclusions: PICH has been successfully developing highly qualified health research personnel within a Canadian and international community of pediatric pain scholarship

Replication and Meta-analysis of the Association between BDNF Val66Met Polymorphism and Cognitive Impairment in Patients Receiving Chemotherapy.

Cancer-related cognitive impairment (CRCI) adversely affects cancer patients. We had previously demonstrated that the BDNF Val66Met genetic polymorphism is associated with lower odds of subjective CRCI in the multitasking and verbal ability domains among breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. To further assess our previous findings, we evaluated the association of BDNF Val66Met polymorphism with subjective and objective CRCI in a temporally separate cohort of patients and pooled findings from both the original (n = 145) and current (n = 193) cohorts in a meta-analysis. Subjective CRCI was assessed using FACT-Cog. Objective CRCI was evaluated using computerized neuropsychological tests. Genotyping was carried out using Sanger sequencing. The association of BDNF Val66Met genotypes and CRCI was examined with logistic regression. A fixed-effect meta-analysis was conducted using the inverse variance method. In the meta-analysis (n = 338), significantly lower odds of CRCI were associated with Met allele carriers based on the global FACT-Cog score (OR = 0.52, 95% CI 0.29-0.94). Furthermore, Met allele carriers were at lower odds of developing impairment in the domains of memory (OR = 0.34, 95% CI: 0.17-0.70), multitasking (OR = 0.33, 95% CI: 0.18-0.59), and verbal ability (OR = 0.46, 95% CI: 0.24-0.88). Consistent with the previous study, lower odds of subjective CRCI among patients with the BDNF Met allele was observed after adjusting for potential confounders in the multitasking (OR = 0.30, 95% CI: 0.14-0.67) domain. In conclusion, carriers of the BDNF Met allele were protected against global subjective CRCI, particularly in the domains of memory, multitasking, and verbal ability. Our findings further contribute to the understanding of CRCI pathophysiology

Respiratory carriage of hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae by indigenous populations of Malaysia

Klebsiella pneumoniae is a Gram-negative Enterobacteriaceae that is classified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a Priority One ESKAPE pathogen. South and Southeast Asian countries are regions where both healthcare associated infections (HAI) and community acquired infections (CAI) due to extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing and carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae (CRKp) are of concern. As K. pneumoniae can also exist as a harmless commensal, the spread of resistance genotypes requires epidemiological vigilance. However there has been no significant study of carriage isolates from healthy individuals, particularly in Southeast Asia, and specially Malaysia. Here we describe the genomic analysis of respiratory isolates of K. pneumoniae obtained from Orang Ulu and Orang Asli communities in Malaysian Borneo and Peninsular Malaysia respectively. The majority of isolates were K. pneumoniae species complex (KpSC) 1 K. pneumoniae (n = 53, 89.8%). Four Klebsiella variicola subsp. variicola (KpSC3) and two Klebsiella quasipneumoniae subsp. similipneumoniae (KpSC4) were also found. It was discovered that 30.2% (n = 16) of the KpSC1 isolates were ST23, 11.3% (n = 6) were of ST65, 7.5% (n = 4) were ST13, and 13.2% (n = 7) were ST86. Only eight of the KpSC1 isolates encoded ESBL, but importantly not carbapenemase. Thirteen of the KpSC1 isolates carried yersiniabactin, colibactin and aerobactin, all of which harboured the rmpADC locus and are therefore characterised as hypervirulent. Co-carriage of multiple strains was minimal. In conclusion, most isolates were KpSC1, ST23, one of the most common sequence types and previously found in cases of K. pneumoniae infection. A proportion were hypervirulent (hvKp) however antibiotic resistance was low

What is the definition of acute episodic and chronic pain in critically ill neonates and infants? : a global, four-stage consensus and validation study

Objectives To define and validate types of pain in critically ill neonates and infants by researchers and clinicians working in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and high dependency unit (HDU). Design A qualitative descriptive mixed-methods design. Procedure/s Each stage of the study was built on and confirmed the previous stages. Stage 1 was an expert panel to develop definitions; stage 2 was a different expert panel made up of neonatal clinicians to propose clinical characteristics associated with the definitions from stage 1; stage 3 was a focus group of neonatal clinicians to provide clinical case scenarios associated with each definition and clinical characteristics; and stage 4 was a survey administered to neonatal clinicians internationally to test the validity of the definitions using the clinical case scenarios. Results In stage 1, the panel (n=10) developed consensus definitions for acute episodic pain and chronic pain in neonates and infants. In stage 2, a panel (n=8) established clinical characteristics that may be associated with each definition. In stage 3, a focus group (n=11) created clinical case scenarios of neonates and infants with acute episodic pain, chronic pain and no pain using the definitions and clinical characteristics. In stage 4, the survey (n=182) revealed that the definitions allowed an excellent level of discrimination between case scenarios that described neonates and infants with acute episodic pain and chronic pain (area under the receiver operating characteristic=0.87 and 0.89, respectively). Conclusions This four-stage study enabled the development of consensus-based and clinically valid definitions of acute episodic pain and chronic pain. There is a need to define and validate other pain types to inform a taxonomy of pain experienced by neonates and infants in the NICU and HDU