Separating From Violent Male Partners: A Resistant Act in the Midst of Power Relations

This article draws on Foucauldian feminist theory to conceptualize separating from violent male partners by women as an act of resistance. Thus conceptualized, leaving takes on a new meaning as a strategy used by women to disrupt abusive power relations, but not necessarily to end their relationships. It is argued that attempts by women to transform their lives through separation needs to be located within a wider social context and that this context needs to analyzed from the vantage point of power. Such analysis points to post-separation identities and needs as significant sites of struggle between women and members of their social network. The exercise of power within these broader social contexts has important consequences for the effectiveness with which women can use separation to resist abusive male partners; hence, researchers and practitioners in the field need to pay much more attention to these relationships and the meanings given to abuse and leaving within these relationships

Factors affecting the release of melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) and melatonin in rainbow trout

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:DX79551 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Equine amyloid A in the peripartum and neonatal period

Scope and Method of Study:AA concentration was measured in serum from 38 brood mares and 7 control non-pregnant, non-lactating mares at parturition and also in colostrum and milk samples every 12 hours from 0 to 48 hours post partum. AA concentration was measured in neonatal foal serum from 19 of the broodmares every 12 hours from birth until 72 hours post partum. The foals were divided into those with evidence of infection or severe inflammatory disease and those that were normal.Findings and conclusions:Specificity of serum AA concentration as an indicator of sepsis in neonatal foals was found to be 60 per cent. AA was present in all colostrum and early milk samples. There was no effect of age, breed, farm of residence, or clinical abnormality on the AA concentration in colostrum or milk. Increased gestation length and induction of parturition were associated with decreased AA concentration in colostrum. Colostral AA concentration was positively correlated with serum AA concentration in normal foals. Inducing parturition did not affect (relative to spontaneous parturition) the temporal dynamics of serum AA concentrations in the normal foal in the first 72 h of life

Development of an at-risk assessment approach to dietary data quality in a food-based clinical trial

Accurate and valid dietary data is the basis to investigate diet-disease relationships. Potential data discrepancies may be introduced when collecting and analysing data, despite rigorous quality assurance protocols. The aim of this study was to identify at-risk areas of dietary data in a food-based clinical trial. Source data verification was performed on a 10% random sample (n=38) of paper-based baseline diet history interview records in a registered clinical trial. All items listed in the source data underwent 100% manual verification based on the food input data from FoodWorks nutrient analysis software. Food item discrepancies were explored using food categories and summarised based on meals. The differences in identified discrepancies for energy and macronutrient output generated from FoodWorks software between previously entered data and re-entered data were compared. An overall discrepancy rate of 4.88% was identified. It was found that dinner intake data were more prone to discrepancy incidences than breakfast, lunch and snacks. Furthermore, assessing intake based on reported quantity and frequency may be more effective to correct discrepancies for quality improvement. Therefore, the dinner meal appeared to be an at risk area of dietary data. The method implemented in this study offers a systematic approach to evaluating dietary data in a research setting

Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA): halo formation times and halo assembly bias on the cosmic web

We present evidence for halo assembly bias as a function of geometric environment (GE). By classifying Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) galaxy groups as residing in voids, sheets, filaments or knots using a tidal tensor method, we find that low-mass haloes that reside in knots are older than haloes of the same mass that reside in voids. This result provides direct support to theories that link strong halo tidal interactions with halo assembly times. The trend with GE is reversed at large halo mass, with haloes in knots being younger than haloes of the same mass in voids. We find a clear signal of halo downsizing – more massive haloes host galaxies that assembled their stars earlier. This overall trend holds independently of GE. We support our analysis with an in-depth exploration of the L-Galaxies semi-analytic model, used here to correlate several galaxy properties with three different definitions of halo formation time. We find a complex relationship between halo formation time and galaxy properties, with significant scatter. We confirm that stellar mass to halo mass ratio, specific star formation rate (SFR) and mass-weighed age are reasonable proxies of halo formation time, especially at low halo masses. Instantaneous SFR is a poor indicator at all halo masses. Using the same semi-analytic model, we create mock spectral observations using complex star formation and chemical enrichment histories, which approximately mimic GAMA’s typical signal-to-noise ratio and wavelength range. We use these mocks to assert how well potential proxies of halo formation time may be recovered from GAMA-like spectroscopic data

Absorption Coefficient (ABSCO) Tables for the Orbiting Carbon Observatories: Version 5.1

The accuracy of atmospheric trace gas retrievals depends directly on the accuracy of the molecular absorption model used within the retrieval algorithm. For remote sensing of well-mixed gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO₂), where the atmospheric variability is small compared to the background, the quality of the molecular absorption model is key. Recent updates to oxygen (O₂) absorption coefficients (ABSCO) for the 0.76 μm A-band and the water vapor (H₂O) continuum model within the 1.6 μm and 2.06 μm CO₂ bands used within the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO-2 and OCO-3) algorithm are described here. Updates in the O₂ A-band involve the inclusion of new laboratory measurements within multispectrum fits to improve relative consistency between O₂ line shapes and collision-induced absorption (CIA). The H₂O continuum model has been updated to MTCKD v3.2, which has benefited from information from a range of laboratory studies relative to the model utilized in the previous ABSCO version. Impacts of these spectroscopy updates have been evaluated against ground-based atmospheric spectra from the Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON) and within the framework of the OCO-2 algorithm, using OCO-2 soundings covering a range of atmospheric and surface conditions. The updated absorption coefficients (ABSCO version 5.1) are found to offer improved fitting residuals and reduced biases in retrieved surface pressure relative to the previous version (ABSCO v5.0) used within B8 and B9 of the OCO-2 retrieval algorithm and have been adopted for the OCO B10 Level 2 algorithm

Absorption Coefficient (ABSCO) Tables for the Orbiting Carbon Observatories: Version 5.1

The accuracy of atmospheric trace gas retrievals depends directly on the accuracy of the molecular absorption model used within the retrieval algorithm. For remote sensing of well-mixed gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO₂), where the atmospheric variability is small compared to the background, the quality of the molecular absorption model is key. Recent updates to oxygen (O₂) absorption coefficients (ABSCO) for the 0.76 μm A-band and the water vapor (H₂O) continuum model within the 1.6 μm and 2.06 μm CO₂ bands used within the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO-2 and OCO-3) algorithm are described here. Updates in the O₂ A-band involve the inclusion of new laboratory measurements within multispectrum fits to improve relative consistency between O₂ line shapes and collision-induced absorption (CIA). The H₂O continuum model has been updated to MTCKD v3.2, which has benefited from information from a range of laboratory studies relative to the model utilized in the previous ABSCO version. Impacts of these spectroscopy updates have been evaluated against ground-based atmospheric spectra from the Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON) and within the framework of the OCO-2 algorithm, using OCO-2 soundings covering a range of atmospheric and surface conditions. The updated absorption coefficients (ABSCO version 5.1) are found to offer improved fitting residuals and reduced biases in retrieved surface pressure relative to the previous version (ABSCO v5.0) used within B8 and B9 of the OCO-2 retrieval algorithm and have been adopted for the OCO B10 Level 2 algorithm

Role of a medical student neuro-society organized neurosurgical conference: the Glasgow neuro experience

Background: Entering neurosurgical training in the United Kingdom demands extensive prior commitment and achievement, despite little to no exposure to the specialty in medical school. Conferences run by student “neuro-societies” offer a means to bridge this gap. This paper describes one student-led neuro-society’s experience of curating a 1-day national neurosurgical conference supported by our neurosurgical department. Methods: A pre-and post-conference survey was distributed to attendees to ascertain baseline opinions and conference impact using a five-point Likert Scale, and free text questions explored medical students’ opinions of neurosurgery and neurosurgical training. The conference offered four lectures and three workshops; the latter provided practical skills and networking opportunities. There were also 11 posters displayed throughout the day. Results: 47 medical students participated in our study. Post-conference, participants were more likely to understand what a neurosurgical career involves and how to secure training. They also reported increased knowledge about neurosurgery research, electives, audits, and project opportunities. Respondents enjoyed the workshops provided and suggested the inclusion of more female speakers in future. Conclusion: Neurosurgical conferences organized by student neuro-societies successfully address the gap between a lack of neurosurgery exposure and a competitive training selection. These events give medical students an initial understanding of a neurosurgical career through lectures and practical workshops; attendees also gain insight into attaining relevant achievements and have an opportunity to present research. Student neuro-society-organized conferences have the potential to be adopted internationally and used as a tool to educate on a global level and greatly aid medical students who are aspiring neurosurgeons

Systematic, comprehensive, evidence-based approach to identify neuroprotective interventions for motor neuron disease: using systematic reviews to inform expert consensus

Objectives: Motor neuron disease (MND) is an incurable progressive neurodegenerative disease with limited treatment options. There is a pressing need for innovation in identifying therapies to take to clinical trial. Here, we detail a systematic and structured evidence-based approach to inform consensus decision making to select the first two drugs for evaluation in Motor Neuron Disease-Systematic Multi-arm Adaptive Randomised Trial (MND-SMART: NCT04302870), an adaptive platform trial. We aim to identify and prioritise candidate drugs which have the best available evidence for efficacy, acceptable safety profiles and are feasible for evaluation within the trial protocol. Methods: We conducted a two-stage systematic review to identify potential neuroprotective interventions. First, we reviewed clinical studies in MND, Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis, identifying drugs described in at least one MND publication or publications in two or more other diseases. We scored and ranked drugs using a metric evaluating safety, efficacy, study size and study quality. In stage two, we reviewed efficacy of drugs in MND animal models, multicellular eukaryotic models and human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) studies. An expert panel reviewed candidate drugs over two shortlisting rounds and a final selection round, considering the systematic review findings, late breaking evidence, mechanistic plausibility, safety, tolerability and feasibility of evaluation in MND-SMART. Results: From the clinical review, we identified 595 interventions. 66 drugs met our drug/disease logic. Of these, 22 drugs with supportive clinical and preclinical evidence were shortlisted at round 1. Seven drugs proceeded to round 2. The panel reached a consensus to evaluate memantine and trazodone as the first two arms of MND-SMART. Discussion: For future drug selection, we will incorporate automation tools, text-mining and machine learning techniques to the systematic reviews and consider data generated from other domains, including high-throughput phenotypic screening of human iPSCs