The hunt for submarines in classical art: mappings between scientific invention and artistic interpretation

This is a report to the AHRC's ICT in Arts and Humanities Research Programme. This report stems from a project which aimed to produce a series of mappings between advanced imaging information and communications technologies (ICT) and needs within visual arts research. A secondary aim was to demonstrate the feasibility of a structured approach to establishing such mappings. The project was carried out over 2006, from January to December, by the visual arts centre of the Arts and Humanities Data Service (AHDS Visual Arts).1 It was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) as one of the Strategy Projects run under the aegis of its ICT in Arts and Humanities Research programme. The programme, which runs from October 2003 until September 2008, aims ‘to develop, promote and monitor the AHRC’s ICT strategy, and to build capacity nation-wide in the use of ICT for arts and humanities research’.2 As part of this, the Strategy Projects were intended to contribute to the programme in two ways: knowledge-gathering projects would inform the programme’s Fundamental Strategic Review of ICT, conducted for the AHRC in the second half of 2006, focusing ‘on critical strategic issues such as e-science and peer-review of digital resources’. Resource-development projects would ‘build tools and resources of broad relevance across the range of the AHRC’s academic subject disciplines’.3 This project fell into the knowledge-gathering strand. The project ran under the leadership of Dr Mike Pringle, Director, AHDS Visual Arts, and the day-to-day management of Polly Christie, Projects Manager, AHDS Visual Arts. The research was carried out by Dr Rupert Shepherd

Increasing frailty is associated with higher prevalence and reduced recognition of delirium in older hospitalised inpatients: results of a multi-centre study

Purpose: Delirium is a neuropsychiatric disorder delineated by an acute change in cognition, attention, and consciousness. It is common, particularly in older adults, but poorly recognised. Frailty is the accumulation of deficits conferring an increased risk of adverse outcomes. We set out to determine how severity of frailty, as measured using the CFS, affected delirium rates, and recognition in hospitalised older people in the United Kingdom. Methods: Adults over 65 years were included in an observational multi-centre audit across UK hospitals, two prospective rounds, and one retrospective note review. Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS), delirium status, and 30-day outcomes were recorded. Results: The overall prevalence of delirium was 16.3% (483). Patients with delirium were more frail than patients without delirium (median CFS 6 vs 4). The risk of delirium was greater with increasing frailty [OR 2.9 (1.8–4.6) in CFS 4 vs 1–3; OR 12.4 (6.2–24.5) in CFS 8 vs 1–3]. Higher CFS was associated with reduced recognition of delirium (OR of 0.7 (0.3–1.9) in CFS 4 compared to 0.2 (0.1–0.7) in CFS 8). These risks were both independent of age and dementia. Conclusion: We have demonstrated an incremental increase in risk of delirium with increasing frailty. This has important clinical implications, suggesting that frailty may provide a more nuanced measure of vulnerability to delirium and poor outcomes. However, the most frail patients are least likely to have their delirium diagnosed and there is a significant lack of research into the underlying pathophysiology of both of these common geriatric syndromes

Micro credit and the transforming of uncertainty since 1976: international lessons for South Africa.

• Summary: The formal banking system plays a pivotal role in the delivery of financial services, particularly credit. However, the delivery of credit to poor households in South Africa by the formal banking system is hampered by the existence of irreducible uncertainty. The article analyses a sample of successful practices in different countries to determine the genotype structure in these cases that support specific social technology and the minimalist solidarity group lending method, to transform financial uncertainty that cannot be solved by the market mechanism and even brokerage institutions like banks. Based on the findings, this article recommends that existing social technology can be developed in an environment created and conditioned by a proposed system of constituents or principles, to give the poor access to low-cost credit in South Africa

Two distinctly HLA-associated contiguous linear epitopes uniquely expressed within the islet antigen 2 molecule are major autoantibody epitopes of the diabetes-specific tyrosine phosphatase-like protein autoantigens

The related tyrosine phosphatase-like proteins islet Ag (IA)-2 and IA-2β� are autoantigens of type 1 diabetes in humans. Autoantibodies are predominantly against IA-2, and IA-2-specific epitopes are major autoantibody targets. We used the close homology of IA-2 and IA-2β� to design chimeras and mutants to identify humoral IA-2-specific epitopes. Two major IA-2 epitopes that are absent from the related autoantigens IA-2β� and IA-2Δ� 13 splice variant ICA512.bdc were found contiguous to each other within IA-2 juxtamembrane amino acids 611–620 (epitope JM1) and 621–630 (epitope JM2). JM1 and JM2 are recognized by sera from 67% of patients with IA-2 Abs, and relatives of patients with type 1 diabetes having Abs to either JM epitope had a >50% risk for developing type 1 diabetes within 6 years, even in the absence of diabetes-associated HLA genotypes. Remarkably, the presence of Abs to one of these two epitopes was mutually exclusive of the other; JM2 Abs and not JM1 Abs were found in relatives with HLA DR3/4, DR4/13, or DR1/4 genotypes; and the binding of autoantibodies to the JM2 epitope, but not the JM1 epitope, markedly affected proteolysis of IA-2. This is a unique demonstration of HLA-associated B cell responses to epitopes within a single autoantigen in humans and is consistent with modification of Ag processing by specific Ab-influencing peptide presentation by HLA molecules

Improving the application of long-term ecology in conservation and land management

This research was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council through the Rural Economy and Land-Use Programme (RES-229-27-0003).1. Significant effort is being made to develop more inclusive and systematic decision-making frameworks in ecology, but these have yet to include palaeoecology. Doing so would address critical questions about long-term ecological processes (spanning >50 years). 2. This paper outlines the main barriers to the integration of long-term ecological data (LTE) into management. Using two UK upland case studies, it uses a choice experiment to assess the value placed on LTE by ecological researchers, policymakers and practitioners. Respondents were able to consider how selecting or excluding different sources of evidence might affect management decisions and their environmental outcomes. 3. The results suggest that LTE has the potential to become a valued part of the evidence base for guiding land-management decisions. 4. Synthesis and applications. Placing more emphasis on site-based approaches can help translate this potential into practice by demonstrating the practical benefits of using LTE. By working with managers to address site-based issues, palaeoecology can provide additionalinsights into ecosystem dynamics and critical thresholds. Using LTE can also improve conservation effectiveness by ensuring that both rapid and lagged responses are anticipated and indicating the range of variability against which management responses can be evaluated.PreprintPreprintPeer reviewe