The Role of Pornography in the “Rough Sex” Defence in Canada

Drawing upon the authors’ earlier research studying the consent defence when it is used to suggest that the complainant agreed to “rough sex” involving violence, this paper develops an extended analysis of the complex role of pornography in these decisions. This paper focuses on a subset of “rough sex” cases, where pornography played a role in “scripting” the accused’s behaviour. Thematically, these cases included: those where the accused had a substantial history of consumption of violent pornography; cases in which the accused forced the complainant to view pornography as part of the assault; cases where the accused recorded the attack, engaging in the making of pornography themselves; and finally those cases where the airing of the “rough sex” defence in the courtroom, including cross-examination based on the re-playing of the recordings made by the accused, creates a “theatre of pornography.” The authors underline concerns about the growing role of pornography in sexual violence against women, and propose both legal and non-legal strategies in response

Automatic approach-avoidance tendency toward physical activity, sedentary, and neutral stimuli as a function of age, explicit affective attitude, and intention to be active

Using computerized reaction-time tasks assessing automatic attitudes, studies have shown that healthy young adults have faster reaction times when approaching physical activity stimuli than when avoiding them. The opposite has been observed for sedentary stimuli. However, it is unclear whether these results hold across the lifespan and when error rates and a possible generic approach-avoidance tendency are accounted for. Here, reaction times and errors in online approach-avoidance tasks of 130 participants aged 21 to 77 years were analyzed using mixed-effects models. Automatic approach-avoidance tendencies were tested using physical activity, sedentary, and neutral stimuli. Explicit attitudes toward physical activity and intention to be physically active were self-reported. Results accounting for age, sex, gender, level of physical activity, body mass index, and chronic health condition confirmed a main tendency to approach physical activity stimuli (i.e., faster reaction to approach vs. avoid; p = .001) and to avoid sedentary stimuli (i.e., faster reaction to avoid vs. approach; p < .001). Results based on neutral stimuli revealed a generic approach tendency in early adulthood (i.e., faster approach before age 53 and fewer errors before age 36) and a generic avoidance tendency in older adults (i.e., more errors after age 60). When accounting for these generic tendencies, results showed a greater tendency (i.e., fewer errors) to avoid than approach sedentary stimuli after aged 50, but not before (p = .026). Exploratory analyses showed that irrespective of age, participants were faster at approaching physical activity (p = .028) and avoiding sedentary stimuli (p = .041) when they considered physical activity as pleasant and enjoyable (explicit attitude). However, results showed no evidence of an association between approach-avoidance tendencies and the intention to be physically active. Taken together, these results suggest that both age and explicit attitudes can affect the general tendency to approach physical activity stimuli and to avoid sedentary stimuli

Strongly Correlated Quantum Fluids: Ultracold Quantum Gases, Quantum Chromodynamic Plasmas, and Holographic Duality

Strongly correlated quantum fluids are phases of matter that are intrinsically quantum mechanical, and that do not have a simple description in terms of weakly interacting quasi-particles. Two systems that have recently attracted a great deal of interest are the quark-gluon plasma, a plasma of strongly interacting quarks and gluons produced in relativistic heavy ion collisions, and ultracold atomic Fermi gases, very dilute clouds of atomic gases confined in optical or magnetic traps. These systems differ by more than 20 orders of magnitude in temperature, but they were shown to exhibit very similar hydrodynamic flow. In particular, both fluids exhibit a robustly low shear viscosity to entropy density ratio which is characteristic of quantum fluids described by holographic duality, a mapping from strongly correlated quantum field theories to weakly curved higher dimensional classical gravity. This review explores the connection between these fields, and it also serves as an introduction to the Focus Issue of New Journal of Physics on Strongly Correlated Quantum Fluids: from Ultracold Quantum Gases to QCD Plasmas. The presentation is made accessible to the general physics reader and includes discussions of the latest research developments in all three areas.Comment: 138 pages, 25 figures, review associated with New Journal of Physics special issue "Focus on Strongly Correlated Quantum Fluids: from Ultracold Quantum Gases to QCD Plasmas" (http://iopscience.iop.org/1367-2630/focus/Focus%20on%20Strongly%20Correlated%20Quantum%20Fluids%20-%20from%20Ultracold%20Quantum%20Gases%20to%20QCD%20Plasmas

Implementation of increased physical therapy intensity for improving walking after stroke: Walk 'n Watch protocol for a multi-site stepped-wedge cluster randomized controlled trial

Clinical practice guidelines support structured, progressive protocols for improving walking after stroke. Yet, practice is slow to change, evidenced by the little amount of walking activity in stroke rehabilitation units. Our recent study (n=75) found that a structured, progressive protocol integrated with typical daily physical therapy improved walking and quality of life measures over usual care. Research therapists progressed the intensity of exercise by using heart rate and step counters worn by the participants with stroke during therapy. To have the greatest impact, our next step is to undertake an implementation trial to change practice across stroke units where we enable the entire unit to use the protocol as part of standard of care. What is the effect of introducing structured, progressive exercise (termed the Walk 'n Watch protocol) to standard of care on the primary outcome of walking in adult participants with stroke over the hospital inpatient rehabilitation period? Secondary outcomes will be evaluated and include quality of life.Methods and sample size estimates: This national, multisite clinical trial will randomize 12 sites using a stepped-wedge design where each site will be randomized to deliver Usual Care initially for 4, 8, 12 or 16-months (three sites for each duration). Then, each site will switch to the Walk 'n Watch phase for the remaining duration of a total 20-month enrolment period. Each participant will be exposed to only one of Usual Care or Walk 'n Watch. The trial will enrol a total of 195 participants with stroke to achieve a power of 80% with a Type I error rate of 5%, allowing for 20% dropout. Participants will be medically stable adults post-stroke and able to take 5 steps with a maximum physical assistance from one therapist. The Walk 'n Watch protocol focuses on completing a minimum of 30-minutes of weight-bearing, walking-related activities (at the physical therapists' discretion) that progressively increases in intensity informed by activity trackers measuring heart rate and step number.Study outcome(s): The primary outcome will be the change in walking endurance, measured by the Six-Minute Walk Test, from Baseline (T1) to 4-weeks (T2). This change will be compared across Usual Care and Walk 'n Watch phases using a linear mixed-effects model. Additional physical, cognitive, and quality of life outcomes will be measured at T1, T2, and 12-months post-stroke (T3) by a blinded assessor. The implementation stepped-wedge cluster-randomized trial enables the protocol to be tested under real-world conditions, involving all clinicians on the unit. It will result in all sites and all clinicians on the unit to gain expertise in protocol delivery. Hence, a deliberate outcome of the trial is facilitating changes in best practice to improve outcomes for participants with stroke in the trial, and for the many participants with stroke admitted after the trial ends

Interplay between HIV-1 infection and host microRNAs

Using microRNA array analyses of in vitro HIV-1-infected CD4+ cells, we find that several host microRNAs are significantly up- or downregulated around the time HIV-1 infection peaks in vitro. While microRNA-223 levels were significantly enriched in HIV-1-infected CD4+CD8− PBMCs, microRNA-29a/b, microRNA-155 and microRNA-21 levels were significantly reduced. Based on the potential for microRNA binding sites in a conserved sequence of the Nef-3′-LTR, several host microRNAs potentially could affect HIV-1 gene expression. Among those microRNAs, the microRNA-29 family has seed complementarity in the HIV-1 3′-UTR, but the potential suppressive effect of microRNA-29 on HIV-1 is severely blocked by the secondary structure of the target region. Our data support a possible regulatory circuit at the peak of HIV-1 replication which involves downregulation of microRNA-29, expression of Nef, the apoptosis of host CD4 cells and upregulation of microRNA-223

The Relationship between Sitting and the Use of Symmetry As a Cue to Figure-Ground Assignment in 6.5-Month-Old Infants.

Two experiments examined the relationship between emerging sitting ability and sensitivity to symmetry as a cue to figure-ground (FG) assignment in 6.5-month-old infants (N = 80). In each experiment, infants who could sit unassisted (as indicated by parental report in Experiment 1 and by an in-lab assessment in Experiment 2) exhibited sensitivity to symmetry as a cue to FG assignment, whereas non-sitting infants did not. Experiment 2 further revealed that sensitivity to this cue is not related to general cognitive abilities as indexed using a non-related visual habituation task. Results demonstrate an important relationship between motor development and visual perception and further suggest that the achievement of important motor milestones such as stable sitting may be related to qualitative changes in sensitivity to monocular depth assignment cues such as symmetry

The Relationship between Sitting and the Use of Symmetry As a Cue to Figure-Ground Assignment in 6.5-Month-Old Infants

Two experiments examined the relationship between emerging sitting ability and sensitivity to symmetry as a cue to figure-ground (FG) assignment in 6.5-month-old infants ( N = 80). In each experiment, infants who could sit unassisted (as indicated by parental report in Experiment 1 and by an in-lab assessment in Experiment 2) exhibited sensitivity to symmetry as a cue to FG assignment, whereas non-sitting infants did not. Experiment 2 further revealed that sensitivity to this cue is not related to general cognitive abilities as indexed using a non-related visual habituation task. Results demonstrate an important relationship between motor development and visual perception and further suggest that the achievement of important motor milestones such as stable sitting may be related to qualitative changes in sensitivity to monocular depth assignment cues such as symmetry

Identification and Description of Balance, Mobility, and Gait Assessments Conducted via Telerehabilitation for Individuals With Neurological Conditions: Protocol for a Scoping Review

BackgroundThe COVID-19 global pandemic pushed many rehabilitation practitioners to pivot their in-person practice to adopt telerehabilitation as their main method of delivery. In addition to documenting information on interventions used with clients, it is best practice for therapists to use reliable and validated outcome measures to inform their interventions. ObjectiveThrough this scoping review, we aim to identify (1) which outcomes are being used remotely to assess balance, mobility, and gait in patients with neurological conditions, and (2) what psychometric data (validity, reliability, etc.) for remotely administered outcomes are available. MethodsThree main concepts will be included in our search: (1) neurological conditions; (2) administration by telerehabilitation; and (3) outcome measures for balance, mobility, and gait. Studies reporting remote assessment of neurological conditions published since 1990 will be included. The database search will be completed in MEDLINE (Ovid), CINAHL, PubMed, PsycINFO, EMBASE, and Cochrane. Gray literature including dissertations, conference papers, and protocol papers will also be sourced. Two reviewers will independently screen each title and abstract using pre-established inclusion and exclusion criteria. Manuscripts that appear to meet the criteria will be subject to further review, and full-text extraction using a pre-piloted extraction sheet if all criteria are met. The data will be categorized by assessment types describing impairments (such as balance, strength, and mobility) or activity limitations or participation restriction (such as functional mobility, ambulatory functions, and activities of daily living). ResultsThis scoping review will document outcome measures currently used in the remote assessment of neurological conditions. To date, 235 titles and abstracts were screened. We are in the process of finalizing the full text screening for the inclusion of articles. We expect the full screening to be completed in November 2021 and data analysis in January 2022. Our results are expected to be published in early 2022. ConclusionsThe optimal use of telerehabilitation as a mode to deliver rehabilitation intervention should be coupled with the completion of validated outcome measures. Therefore, it is crucial to further our knowledge on remote outcome measures and therapeutic assessments. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)PRR1-10.2196/2718