Why Trump supporters may think that their local economy is worsening even when it’s getting better.

Nearly 25 years later, Bill Clinton’s campaign strategy of “the economy, stupid” holds true as ever. But do voters actually agree on how well the economy is doing, especially at the local level? In new research, Jonathan Rogers finds that Tea Party supporters were much more likely to think that their local economy was getting worse, despite the fact that their local unemployment rate was improving, and that they were not more likely to live in economically deteriorating areas

Global Research Report – South and East Asia

Global Research Report – South and East Asia by Jonathan Adams, David Pendlebury, Gordon Rogers & Martin Szomszor. Published by Institute for Scientific Information, Web of Science Group

RoboGlove: Initial Work Toward a Robotically Assisted EVA Glove

The RoboGlove is a device designed to provide additional grip strength or endurance for a user. In applying this Robonaut 2 spinoff technology to the Phase VI Space Suit glove, the project is using robotic tendons and actuators to regain some of the hand performance that is lost when wearing a pressurized glove. An array of sensors embedded into the finger softgoods provides input to the control system which retracts the tendons, helping to close the user's hand. While active, this system provides augmentation, but is nonintrusive to glove usage when disabled

The role of myocardial membrane proteins and myocardial oedema in postoperative myocardial dysfunction

The vast majority of children undergoing surgical repair of cardiac lesions do spectacularly well. However a significant proportion, ~ 25%, struggle to progress in the early postoperative period and require additional pharmacological and occasionally mechanical circulatory support. All children typically have some degree of postoperative myocardial dysfunction, with the severe spectrum termed the low cardiac output state (LCOS). LCOS is clinically defined as the requirement for new or escalated inotrope therapy, a widened arteriovenous oxygen difference, cardiac arrest or the need for reinstitution of mechanical circulatory support. LCOS is largely responsible for the morbidity and mortality involved in paediatric cardiac surgery. Despite the predictability of LCOS in the initial postoperative hours, the underlying pathophysiology remains unclear. The period of decline in cardiac function that typifies LCOS is temporally associated with the development of oedema in the tissues of the body, including the heart. This relationship between oedema and dysfunction has increasingly become blurred, with a tendency to elevate the temporal association to a causal link. We sought to explore the causes and contributions to myocardial dysfunction in this setting, including the roles of oedema and ischaemia within the heart. In focusing on oedema and ischaemia we also examined the effects of these insults on relevant myocardial membrane proteins, including those that permit rapid water transport – aquaporins (AQPs), and those involved in membrane mechanics – dystrophin, and membrane repair – dysferlin. Experimental settings which enabled the in vitro dissection of these insults and proteins of interest were combined with a clinically accurate in vivo model. This thesis describes a series of thematically linked experiments that examined LCOS, myocardial oedema and the role of various membrane proteins. We performed isolated cardiomyocyte studies, isolated heart studies as well as a clinically relevant large animal (lamb) cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) model. Across these models we also explored the role of therapeutically protecting myocardial membranes with Poloxamer 188 (P188) and assessed any influence on myocardial function, oedema and membrane proteins. vi The results from these three models suggest that the clinically accepted dogma of a causative link between myocardial oedema and dysfunction overstates the contribution of myocardial oedema to LCOS. We found that ischaemia/reperfusion was of primary importance in causing myocardial dysfunction. Myocardial oedema without ischaemia had a mild and reversible contribution to myocardial dysfunction, but this was minor in comparison to the gross dysfunction attributable to ischaemia. Isolated cardiomyocytes, with induced oedema, functioned well. Whilst ischaemic cardiomyocytes, with less swelling still had severe contractile dysfunction. Isolated hearts, perfused with an oedema inducing crystalloid perfusate developed myocardial oedema and had minimal reversible systolic and diastolic dysfunction. Isolated hearts which experienced global ischaemia had comparable degrees of myocardial oedema, and significantly greater degrees of myocardial dysfunction that increased in severity with increasing duration of ischaemia. In the lamb CPB model, only those lambs which underwent aortic cross clamping and had a period of ischaemia had poor myocardial function. These lambs also had swollen hearts, raised myocardial AQP1 mRNA and reduced membrane dysferlin protein expression. Membrane dystrophin protein expression was not altered, somewhat unexpectedly with CPB with or without ischaemia. Lambs placed on CPB without ischaemia had good myocardial function, minimal oedema and unchanged membrane protein expression during the survival period. In a blinded lamb CPB trial of P188 there were improved haemodynamics and indicies of myocardial function associated with its use. This was also associated with preservation of dysferlin expression and reduced membrane injury. In parallel isolated heart trials of this therapy, there was a reduction in myocardial oedema associated with its use in non-ischaemic experiments. There was also a suggestion of improved diastolic function in ischaemic experiments, but no change in myocardial water content. In conclusion, we have highlighted the primacy of ischaemia/reperfusion over oedema in contributing to LCOS. We have refuted the accepted dogma that myocardial oedema causes significant dysfunction in itself, with important oedema likely to result from ischaemia. We have shown that AQP1 may be involved in the pathogenesis of the capillary leak syndrome. Finally we have hinted at a role for prophylactic P188 in the vii setting of LCOS, possibly highlighting the role of membrane repair in recovery after surgery. Isolated heart trials of P188 further support a non-rheological mechanism of action and also lend support to the causal separation of myocardial oedema and dysfunction. The integral membrane protein dysferlin, rather than dystrophin, is relevant in the setting of LCOS in the current era

Investigating Educator Identity-Construction : A Qualitative Study

This dissertation uses a qualitative approach to examine the sources informing professional identity development in pre-service teachers. The central questions which guided this study are grounded within a few separate bodies of literature: moral education, identity theory, teacher education, and educational policy. The data of this study revealed a trend among participants: Pre-service teachers view teaching first and foremost as a moral act. The study found that the beliefs and attitudes held by pre-service teachers about the identity of educators can be conceptualized in sixteen separate ways, across three separate codes toward teaching. In addition to teaching as a moral act, participants also indicated that the role of teachers might be managerial or transformational. The findings of this study and their implications contribute to the narrow body of literature that exists concerning professional identity of pre-service teachers. The project also serves to inform the structure and design of teacher education programs with an emphasis on adapting to the assessment-driven climate of teaching in the 21st Century. Two practical suggestions for teacher training programs are given based on the trends that emerged from the data: First, teacher education programs must consider the factors that inform professional identity in order to avoid preparing students who will eventually burn out. Second, preparing students in multicultural, social justice, and culturallyresponsive pedagogy can be an outlet to put teacher identity to work in the classroom

Epidemiology and Neuropsychiatry of Catatonia

1.1 Background Catatonia is a severe form of psychomotor disturbance associated with a range of general medical and psychiatric disorders. After almost 150 years, most of the existing literature relies on case reports and series. This has resulted in gaps in the epidemiology and neuropsychiatry of this condition. 1.2 Aims In this thesis, I aim to characterise the epidemiology, neuroimmunology, structural neuroimaging findings and EEG findings in catatonia. 1.3 Methods I conducted a narrative review of studies related to the immunological findings in catatonia and related conditions, informed by several systematic literature searches. I used anonymised electronic healthcare records from South London to further examine the epidemiology, inflammatory markers and neuroimaging of catatonia. Inpatients with catatonia were compared to inpatients without catatonia. To characterise the EEG findings, I conducted a systematic review and bivariate meta-analysis to determine its diagnostic test accuracy in determining the aetiology of catatonia. 1.4 Results A literature review found that various viral, bacterial and parasitic infections have occasionally been reported in association with catatonia. The most commonly reported form of autoimmune catatonia is NMDAR encephalitis. Using electronic healthcare records, I found that the incidence of catatonia was approximately 1 per 10,000 person-years. Serum NMDAR antibodies were more common in patients with catatonia than in a psychiatric comparison group, but other inflammatory markers were not comparably increased. Abnormalities on structural MRI scans occurred in 34% of patients with catatonia, but there was no difference in adjusted comparisons to other psychiatric patients. Neurological and other general medical conditions in the literature were usually found to be distinguishable from psychiatric catatonia using clinical electroencephalography. 1.5 Conclusions Catatonia remains an important problem in clinical and academic neuropsychiatry. There is promise for neuroimmunological and electroencephalographic biomarkers. Future research requires prospective design, relevant comparison groups and identification of more homogeneous subgroups