Plato's five-fold classifications in relation to the metaphysics of the middle-Platonists

The Parmenides shows Plato's concern to relate the various branches of reality which he had earlier discerned; modifying the ontology of Republic VI, he sought to combine four worlds into one in the third of five positive hypotheses. The Sophist then attempts to show that reality is five; the five components are echoed in the "Psychogony" of the Timaeus, in which work Plato is confronted with a choice between one world and five. Two cryptic classifications from the Philebus suggest Plato’s continued interest in the number, and the Epinomis and Seventh Letter show that the Academy knew of this. Speusippus, depending heavily on the Parmenides, adopted a system of five separate "existences", each with their own first-principles. Xenocrates, though favouring tripartitions, preserved a framework in which the five-fold concept of the whole became understandable. Academic scepticism made it necessary for Posidonlus and Antiochus to look back to the works of Xenocrates for guidance, from whom they received an Old-Academic understanding of the Master and new interest in Speusippus. Through this latter Pythagoreans learned to interpret the Parmenides; through him also Theodorus learned to misinterpret the Timacus, The Philebus grew in importance, the final classification being authoritative for Arius, Plutarch, and Albinus. Seneca attributes five causes to Plato, Plutarch regards the number as of supreme philosophical importance, Albinus' writings echo this view. Theon, Maximus, and Numenius conform in different ways with a tradition that respects a five-fold metaphysic

The Differences in Antibiotic Decision-making Between Acute Surgical and Acute Medical Teams: An Ethnographic Study of Culture and Team Dynamics

Background Cultural and social determinants influence antibiotic decision-making in hospitals. We investigated and compared cultural determinants of antibiotic decision-making in acute medical and surgical specialties. Methods An ethnographic observational study of antibiotic decision-making in acute medical and surgical teams at a London teaching hospital was conducted (August 2015–May 2017). Data collection included 500 hours of direct observations, and face-to-face interviews with 23 key informants. A grounded theory approach, aided by Nvivo 11 software, analyzed the emerging themes. An iterative and recursive process of analysis ensured saturation of the themes. The multiple modes of enquiry enabled cross-validation and triangulation of the findings. Results In medicine, accepted norms of the decision-making process are characterized as collectivist (input from pharmacists, infectious disease, and medical microbiology teams), rationalized, and policy-informed, with emphasis on de-escalation of therapy. The gaps in antibiotic decision-making in acute medicine occur chiefly in the transition between the emergency department and inpatient teams, where ownership of the antibiotic prescription is lost. In surgery, team priorities are split between 3 settings: operating room, outpatient clinic, and ward. Senior surgeons are often absent from the ward, leaving junior staff to make complex medical decisions. This results in defensive antibiotic decision-making, leading to prolonged and inappropriate antibiotic use. Conclusions In medicine, the legacy of infection diagnosis made in the emergency department determines antibiotic decision-making. In surgery, antibiotic decision-making is perceived as a nonsurgical intervention that can be delegated to junior staff or other specialties. Different, bespoke approaches to optimize antibiotic prescribing are therefore needed to address these specific challenges

Effect of reheating on predictions following multiple-field inflation

We study the sensitivity of cosmological observables to the reheating phase following inflation driven by many scalar fields. We describe a method which allows semi-analytic treatment of the impact of perturbative reheating on cosmological perturbations using the sudden decay approximation. Focusing on $\mathcal{N}$-quadratic inflation, we show how the scalar spectral index and tensor-to-scalar ratio are affected by the rates at which the scalar fields decay into radiation. We find that for certain choices of decay rates, reheating following multiple-field inflation can have a significant impact on the prediction of cosmological observables.Comment: Published in PRD. 4 figures, 10 page

'I can still swing a spade': a qualitative exploratory study of gardening groups for people with dementia

This exploratory qualitative study aimed to evidence how community-based gardening groups can be used to support the psychological, physical and social health of those living with dementia. The views of people living with dementia in the community, care partners and group leaders were sought to better understand the benefits gained from gardening groups, as well as the features of gardening groups that are cited as enabling positive outcomes. Going beyond the existing single-group studies in this area, this research aimed to identify common themes across multiple gardening groups. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six group leaders, three people living with dementia and ten care partners from seven gardening groups, either in person or remotely. Thematic analysis of the interview transcripts highlighted broad enablers - 'the garden setting', 'features of activities' and 'organisational components' - that were cited as facilitating a range of positive wellbeing outcomes, creating an environment that provides 'physical and cognitive benefits', 'affirmation of identity', 'social connection' and 'benefits for care partners and others'. The wide-ranging benefits and enablers cited by participants within this research support the use of gardening groups as community-based interventions to reinforce positive psychological, physical and social outcomes for people with dementia. Themes also provide a clear framework for the design, implementation and evaluation of future gardening groups

Partial return yoke for MICE - General concept and performance

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Steroid metabolism in cnidarians : insights from Nematostella vectensis

Author Posting. © Elsevier B.V., 2009. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology 301 (2009): 27-36, doi:10.1016/j.mce.2008.09.037.Cnidarians occupy a key evolutionary position as a sister group to bilaterian animals. While cnidarians contain a diverse complement of steroids, sterols, and other lipid metabolites, relatively little is known of the endogenous steroid metabolism or function in cnidarian tissues. Incubations of cnidarian tissues with steroid substrates have indicated the presence of steroid metabolizing enzymes, particularly enzymes with 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (17β-HSD) activity. Through analysis of the genome of the starlet sea anemone, Nematostella vectensis, we identified a suite of genes in the short chain dehydrogenase/reductase (SDR) superfamily including homologs of genes that metabolize steroids in other animals. A more detailed analysis of Hsd17b4 revealed complex evolutionary relationships, apparent intron loss in several taxa, and predominantly adult expression in N. vectensis. Due to its ease of culture and available molecular tools N. vectensis is an excellent model for investigation of cnidarian steroid metabolism and gene function.We are grateful for financial support from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) for Assistant Scientist Endowed Support Funds (AMT), the WHOI Academic Programs Office and the Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries (AMR)

Partial return yoke for MICE - Engineering design

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Effects of petrogenic pollutants on North Atlantic and Arctic Calanus copepods: From molecular mechanisms to population impacts

Oil and gas industries in the Northern Atlantic Ocean have gradually moved closer to the Arctic areas, a process expected to be further facilitated by sea ice withdrawal caused by global warming. Copepods of the genus Calanus hold a key position in these cold-water food webs, providing an important energetic link between primary production and higher trophic levels. Due to their ecological importance, there is a concern about how accidental oil spills and produced water discharges may impact cold-water copepods. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge of the toxicity of petroleum on North Atlantic and Arctic Calanus copepods. We also review how recent development of high-quality transcriptomes from RNA-sequencing of copepods have identified genes regulating key biological processes, like molting, diapause and reproduction in Calanus copepods, to suggest linkages between exposure, molecular mechanisms and effects on higher levels of biological organization. We found that the available ecotoxicity threshold data for these copepods provide valuable information about their sensitivity to acute petrogenic exposures; however, there is still insufficient knowledge regarding underlying mechanisms of toxicity and the potential for long-term implications of relevance for copepod ecology and phenology. Copepod transcriptomics has expanded our understanding of how key biological processes are regulated in cold-water copepods. These advances can improve our understanding of how pollutants affect biological processes, and thus provide the basis for new knowledge frameworks spanning the effect continuum from molecular initiating events to adverse effects of regulatory relevance. Such efforts, guided by concepts such as adverse outcome pathways (AOPs), enable standardized and transparent characterization and evaluation of knowledge and identifies research gaps and priorities. This review suggests enhancing mechanistic understanding of exposure-effect relationships to better understand and link biomarker responses to adverse effects to improve risk assessments assessing ecological effects of pollutant mixtures, like crude oil, in Arctic areas.publishedVersio

Tomographic interferometry of a filtered high-current vacuum arc plasma

Tomography of a plasma enables the distribution of electron density to be visualized. We report on the design of two tomographic interferometer systems used to measureplasma electron density distributions in a high-current pulsed cathodic vacuum arc. The method is shown to be capable of microsecond time resolution. The spatial resolution of the quasioptical interferometer operating at 2 mm wavelength is 20 mm and the spatial resolution of the waveguide-based interferometer operating at 8 mm wavelength is 50 mm. In both cases the resolution achieved depends on the launching and receiving geometries. We developed criteria for assessing the tomogram for artifacts arising from limited sampling. First results of the spatial and temporal history of plasma in a high-current vacuum arc guided by a curved magnetic filter are presented and indicate poloidal field fluctuations reminiscent of magnetohydrodynamic instabilities in pinches. The applicability of the tomographic interferometry method to optimize plasma transport through the filter is also demonstrated.This work was in part supported by the Australian Research Council

Symptom burden in patients with chronic kidney disease not requiring renal replacement therapy

Background: Although evidence shows that patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD) experience a high symptom burden which impacts on quality of life (QoL), less is known about patients with earlier stages of chronic kidney disease (CKD). This study aimed to explore symptom burden and potential contributing factors in patients with CKD Stage 1-5 not requiring renal replacement therapy (RRT). Methods: Patients with CKD Stage 1-5 and not on RRT were asked to report their symptoms using the Leicester Uraemic Symptom Score (LUSS), a questionnaire which assesses the frequency and intrusiveness of 11 symptoms commonly reported by kidney patients. Results: Symptoms were assessed in 283 CKD Stage 1-5 patients: 54% male, mean age 60.5 standard error± 1.0, mean eGFR 38ml/min/1.73m2. Some 96% (95% confidence interval 93.2-98.0) of participants reported experiencing at least one symptom, the median reported being six. Excessive tiredness (81%;76.0-85.6), sleep disturbance (70%;64.3-75.3) and pain in bones/joints (69%;63.4-74.6) were reported most commonly. Overall, few significant associations were found between biochemical markers of disease severity and symptom burden. Men tended to report fewer symptoms than women and South Asian patients often described experiencing symptoms with a greater severity. Older patients found musculoskeletal symptoms more intrusive whereas younger patients found reduced concentration more intrusive. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that patients with CKD stages 1-5 experience a multitude of symptoms that could potentially impact QoL. Using multidimensional tools like the LUSS, more exploration and focus could provide a greater opportunity for patient focussed symptom control from the earliest stages of CKD.Peer-reviewedPublisher Versio