Exchanging ideas and good practice globally: reciprocal learning in the context of a twinning project

Between August and November 2019, I had the pleasure of making two trips to Bangladesh to support the Royal College of Midwives’ (RCM) twinning project with the Bangladesh Midwifery Society (BMS). The partnership between the RCM and the BMS aims to strengthen the BMS to advocate for the midwifery profession and to create demand for midwifery services. The project is part of a wider programme of midwifery strengthening activities, managed by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Bangladesh, and funded by donors, the Department for International Development (DFID) and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida)

'dis ɔhord' : one woman’s experience of confronting and understanding the lived experience of birth.

This paper is a collaborative piece written by a midwifery academic and an artist. It presents and interprets a number of mixed media art works created by Caroline Calonder in response to the traumatic birth of her son, and utilises findings derived from Lesley Kay’s doctoral study about birth and birth stories as a means of contextualising, understanding and interpreting the work (Kay et al 2017). In sharing elements of Caroline’s experience, the psychological harm it caused her, and the means she used (and continues to use) to understand, and come to terms with the experience, the paper highlights some of the distressing and harmful sequelae which can arise when a woman’s disembodied experience of birth is accepted as normal and mainstream. Furthermore, it emphasises the need for health care professionals to actively work towards safeguarding women’s emotional health, and the value of art as a means of confronting and recovering from birth trauma

A Hidden Broad-Line Region in the Weak Seyfert 2 Galaxy NGC 788

We have detected a broad H alpha emission line in the polarized flux spectrum of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 788, indicating that it contains an obscured Seyfert 1 nucleus. While such features have been observed in ~15 other Seyfert 2s, this example is unusual because it has a higher fraction of galaxy starlight in its spectrum, a lower average measured polarization, and a significantly lower radio luminosity than other hidden Seyfert 1s discovered to date. This demonstrates that polarized broad-line regions can be detected in relatively weak classical Seyfert 2s, and illustrates why well-defined, reasonably complete spectropolarimetric surveys at H alpha are necessary in order to assess whether or not all Seyfert 2s are obscured Seyfert 1s.Comment: 10 pages using (AASTEX) aaspp4.sty and 4 postscript figures. Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Research Notes, in pres

Using a smartphone app to identify signs of pre-eclampsia and/or worsening blood pressure

Background Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy complicate 10% of pregnancies and can have serious consequences. Aims To explore the experiences of pregnant women with a history of hypertension using an innovative home blood pressure monitoring device. Methods A qualitative study using a grounded theory approach was undertaken. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. Women were given a blood pressure machine to monitor their blood pressure daily. They inserted their blood pressure results on a smartphone app and answered questions for signs of pre-eclampsia. Participants were followed up every 2 weeks. Findings The results suggested that women wanted a holistic care pathway for the management of hypertension in pregnancy. Three subcategories (‘empowerment’, ‘comparison of care pathways’ and ‘continuity of care’) were also identified. Conclusions The traditional management of hypertension in pregnancy is not holistic. The home blood pressure service was accepted by women and incorporated elements of holistic care but more is required to meet the standard of care that women need

fc177, a Minor dec-1 Proprotein, Is Necessary to Prevent Ectopic Aggregation of the Endochorion During Eggshell Assembly in Drosophila

The Drosophila eggshell is a highly specialized extracellular matrix that forms between the oocyte and the surrounding epithelial follicle cells during late oogenesis. The dec-1 gene, which is required for proper eggshell assembly, produces three proproteins that are cleaved within the vitelline membrane layer to multiple derivatives. The different spatial distributions of the cleaved derivatives suggest that they play distinct roles in eggshell assembly. Using extant dec-1 mutations in conjunction with genetically engineered dec-1 transgenes, we show that, although all three dec-1 proproteins, fc106, fc125, and fc177, are required for female fertility, gross morphological abnormalities in the eggshell are observed only in the absence of fc177. The coalescence of the roof, pillar, and floor substructures of the tripartite endochorion suggested that quantitatively minor fc177 derivatives are necessary to prevent ectopic aggregation of endochorion proteins during the assembly process. Expression of a fc177 cDNA in dec-1 null mutants was sufficient to restore spaces within the endochorion layer. Fc177 may function as a scaffolding protein akin to those utilized in viral morphogenesis

Study of meshing of beveled gears with normally decreasing arc teeth

The meshing of beveled gears was studied by the direct and inverse approaches. Gear wheels with teeth of equal height are studied, and wheels with normally-decreasing arc teeth. Different coordinate systems are utilized to plot the determination of the rotation of the originating gear wheel and the meshing line of the gear wheel which is cut. Matrices are used to determine the equations of the originating surfaces and the unit vectors of the normals to these originating surfaces

Initial experimental evidence that the ability to choose between items alters attraction to familiar versus novel persons in different ways for men and women

Nonhuman species may respond to novel mates with increased sexual motivation (‘The Coolidge Effect1). In humans, novel technological advances, such as online dating platforms, are thought to result in ‘Choice Overload’2. This may undermine the goal of finding a meaningful relationship3, orienting the user toward novel possible partners versus committing to a partner. Here, we used a paradigm measuring change in attraction to familiar faces (i.e. rated on second viewing4) to investigate Coolidge-like phenomena in humans primed with choice of potential online dating partners. We examined two pre-registered hypotheses (https://osf.io/xs74r/files/). First, whether experimentally priming choice (viewing a slideshow of online dating images) directly reduces the attractiveness of familiar preferred sex faces compared to our control condition. Second, whether the predicted effect is stronger for men than women given the role of the Coolidge effect in male sexual motivation5.<br/

Resonance absolute quantum reflection at selected energies

The possibility of the resonance reflection (100 % at maximum) is revealed. The corresponding exactly solvable models with the controllable numbers of resonances, their positions and widths are presented.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure

Psychological type preferences of male British Assemblies of God Theological College students: tough-minded or tender-hearted?

Psychological type theory proposes that people make decisions through using one of two dichotomous judging functions (thinking and feeling). People who prefer thinking make judgements based on impersonal logic and tend to be objective and tough-minded, while people who prefer feeling make judgements based on personal values and tend to be compassionate and tender-hearted. This study explores the notion that the judging functions are key predictors of individual differences in terms of religiosity. The psychological type preferences of a sample of 190 male Assemblies of God bible college students were assessed using Form G (Anglicised) of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. The data revealed preferences for thinking over feeling, and the implications of this finding are explored