Large bodies on small screens: fat representation in contemporary British and American television

This thesis examines the narratives told about fatness in contemporary British and American television (from 2010 – 2021). Conversations about fat oppression and anti-fat bias have become more visible in recent years, and fat characters have started appearing more often on television. However, the specific framings and positions associated with fatness have gone mostly unexplored in feminist media studies, where fat is most often framed through the reductive categories of disgust, horror, or unruliness. To address this gap in research, this thesis utilises a method of embodied feminist textual analysis of TV, making connections between a variety of contemporary shows featuring fat characters. This work argues that the neoliberal structures of governance and the moral frameworks that guide public discourse about fatness are enabled and intensified in the patterns and rhythms of contemporary television. In pursuit of this argument, this thesis demonstrates methods of analysing fat characters and their narratives by considering fat as an intersectional lens; the analysis here interrogates specific representative tropes, “fat-involved” familial relationships, and meanings associated with fat in social justice-oriented – or, “woke” – programmes in order to draw conclusions about the dynamic and boundless medium of contemporary television. This thesis, then, presents a significant intervention into contemporary feminist media criticism and into the nascent discipline of fat studies. By “fattening” (in other words, situating fat as a material reality with constructed characteristics) feminist studies of television and other media, this work argues that we can enable new possibilities for reading bodies, relationships, and lived realities alike. By addressing the nuances and intricacies of media studies, in turn, we broaden the scope and abilities of fat studies to more fully understand the specificities of media representation

Bronchoalveolar Lavage Lymphocytes in the Diagnosis of Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis among Patients with Interstitial Lung Disease: A Systematic Review

RATIONALE: Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis (HP) is an interstitial lung disease (ILD) characterized by inflammation and/or fibrosis in response to an inhalational exposure. OBJECTIVE: To determine the value of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid lymphocyte cellular analysis in the detection of HP among patients with newly detected ILD. METHODS: This systematic review was undertaken in the context of development of an American Thoracic Society (ATS), Japanese Respiratory Society (JRS), and Asociación Latinoamericana del Tórax (ALAT) clinical practice guideline. The clinical question was, should patients with newly detected ILD undergo BAL fluid lymphocyte analysis to diagnose HP? Medline, Embase, and grey literature were searched through October 2019. Studies that reported the percentage of BAL fluid lymphocytes for various ILDs were selected for inclusion. Meta-analyses compared the mean percentage of BAL fluid lymphocytes among patients with HP to that among patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) or sarcoidosis. The sensitivity and specificity by which various percentages of BAL fluid lymphocytes distinguish HP from IPF and sarcoidosis were also evaluated. RESULTS: Eighty-four articles were selected. No randomized trials or observational studies were identified that compared BAL fluid lymphocyte analysis to no BAL fluid lymphocyte analysis in patients with ILD. Included studies were case series describing BAL fluid cell differentials in patients with various ILDs. The percentage of BAL fluid lymphocytes was significantly higher in both fibrotic and nonfibrotic HP compared to IPF. Similarly, the percentage of BAL fluid lymphocytes was significantly higher in both fibrotic and nonfibrotic HP compared to sarcoidosis. A threshold of 20% BAL fluid lymphocytes distinguished fibrotic HP from IPF with a sensitivity and specificity of 69% and 61% respectively, and nonfibrotic HP from IPF with a sensitivity and specificity of 95% and 61% respectively. It distinguished fibrotic HP from sarcoidosis with a sensitivity and specificity of 69% and 26% respectively, and nonfibrotic HP from sarcoidosis with a sensitivity and specificity of 95% and 26% respectively. CONCLUSION: The percentage of BAL fluid lymphocytes is higher in HP than IPF or sarcoidosis. However, a threshold that distinguishes HP from IPF or sarcoidosis with both high sensitivity and high specificity was not identified

Evaluation of Variation in Nursery Pig Growth Performance Utilizing Different Allotment Strategies

A total of 360 pigs (200 × 400 DNA) were used in a 43-d nursery trial (initially 12.4 ± 0.37 lb) to evaluate multiple strategies for allotting pigs to pens in swine research trials. At placement, the population was split into 3 cohorts with similar average weight and standard deviation. Each cohort was randomly assigned to 1 of 3 allotment strategies. Strategy 1 (random) utilized a simple randomization strategy with each pig randomized to pen independent of all other pigs. Strategy 2 [body weight (BW) distribution] sorted each pig within the cohort into 1 of 5 BW groups. One pig from each weight group was then randomly assigned to pen such that distribution of BW within pen was uniform across pens. Strategy 3 (BW grouping) sorted pigs within the cohort into 3 BW categories: light, medium, and heavy. Within each BW category, pigs were randomly assigned to pen to create pens of pigs from each BW category. There were 72 pens in the trial with 5 pigs per pen and 24 pens per allotment strategy. For all strategies, once pigs were allotted to pens, pens were allotted to 1 of 2 treatments for a concurrent trial. Treatment diets consisted of basal levels of Zn and Cu from the trace mineral premix for the duration of the study (110 and 17 mg/kg, respectively; NC), or diets (PC) with carbadox (50 g/ton; Mecadox, Phibro Animal Health, Teaneck, NJ) fed in phase 1 and 2, pharmacological levels of Zn and Cu (2,414 mg/kg Zn from ZnO; 168 mg/kg Cu from CuSO4) in phase 1 and only Cu (168 mg/kg Cu from CuSO4) in phase 2. There were no allotment × treatment interactions (P \u3e 0.10). Pigs fed the PC diet had improved (P \u3c 0.001) ADG, ADFI, F/G, and final BW compared to pigs fed the NC diet. The coefficients of variation (CV) within pen between all pens on each allotment strategy and for the entire population of each allotment strategy were calculated. For between-pen and within-pen CV, pigs allotted using the BW grouping strategy had the lowest CV at allotment and final weigh day. Results were used to estimate the replication required with each allotment strategy to obtain significant differences with different percentage responses. Fewer replications are required to discern significant differences in ADG and final BW when allotting pigs utilizing BW grouping. However, there is no meaningful difference between allotment strategies in the replications required to detect significant differences for overall feed efficiency. When conducting nursery research with pen serving as the experimental unit, the data of this trial would support that a BW grouping allotment strategy would produce the least within-pen and pen-to-pen variation

The transcriptome and proteome of the diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana reveal a diverse phosphorus stress response

© The Author(s), 2012. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in PLoS One 7 (2012): e33768, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0033768.Phosphorus (P) is a critical driver of phytoplankton growth and ecosystem function in the ocean. Diatoms are an abundant class of marine phytoplankton that are responsible for significant amounts of primary production. With the control they exert on the oceanic carbon cycle, there have been a number of studies focused on how diatoms respond to limiting macro and micronutrients such as iron and nitrogen. However, diatom physiological responses to P deficiency are poorly understood. Here, we couple deep sequencing of transcript tags and quantitative proteomics to analyze the diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana grown under P-replete and P-deficient conditions. A total of 318 transcripts were differentially regulated with a false discovery rate of <0.05, and a total of 136 proteins were differentially abundant (p<0.05). Significant changes in the abundance of transcripts and proteins were observed and coordinated for multiple biochemical pathways, including glycolysis and translation. Patterns in transcript and protein abundance were also linked to physiological changes in cellular P distributions, and enzyme activities. These data demonstrate that diatom P deficiency results in changes in cellular P allocation through polyphosphate production, increased P transport, a switch to utilization of dissolved organic P through increased production of metalloenzymes, and a remodeling of the cell surface through production of sulfolipids. Together, these findings reveal that T. pseudonana has evolved a sophisticated response to P deficiency involving multiple biochemical strategies that are likely critical to its ability to respond to variations in environmental P availability.This research was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Environmental Genomics and NSF Biological Oceanography Program through grant OCE-0723667 to Dr. Dyhrman, Dr. Jenkins, Dr. Saito, and Dr. Rynearson, the NSF Chemical Oceanography Program through grant OCE-0549794 to Dr. Dyhrman and OCE-0526800 to Dr. Jenkins, the G. B. Moore Foundation and OCE-0752291 to Dr. Saito, NSF-EPSCoR (NSF-0554548 & NSF-1004057) to the University of Rhode Island, the Center for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education, and the Joint Genome Institute/DOE Community Sequencing Program (CSP795793) to Dr. Jenkins, Dr. Dyhrman, Dr. Rynearson and Dr. Saito

Do You See What I See?:Quantifying Inter-Observer Variability in an Intertidal Marine Citizen Science Experiment

Citizen science represents an effective means of collecting ecological data; however, the quality/reliability of these data is often questioned. Quality assurance procedures are therefore important to determine the validity of citizen science data and to promote confidence in conclusions. Here, data generated by a marine citizen science project conducted at 12 sites across the United Kingdom was used to investigate whether the use of a simple, low-taxonomic-resolution field-monitoring protocol allowed trained citizen scientists to generate data comparable to those of professional scientists. To do this, differences between field estimates of algal percentage cover generated by different observer units (i.e., trained citizen scientists, professional scientists, and combined units), and digitally derived baseline estimates were examined. The results show that in the field, citizen scientists generated data similar to those of professional scientists, demonstrating that training, coupled with the use of a simple, low-taxonomic-resolution protocol can allow citizen scientists to generate robust datasets in which variability likely represents ecological variation/change as opposed to observer variation. The results also show, irrespective of observer unit, that differences between field and digital baseline estimates of algal percentage cover were greatest in plots with medium levels of algal cover, highlighting that additional/enhanced training for all participants could be beneficial in this area. The approach presented can serve as a guide for existing and future projects with similar protocols to assess their data quality, to strengthen participant training/protocols, and ultimately to promote the incorporation of robust citizen science datasets into environmental research and management

In search of phylogenetic congruence between molecular and morphological data in bryozoans with extreme adult skeletal heteromorphy

peerreview_statement: The publishing and review policy for this title is described in its Aims & Scope. aims_and_scope_url: http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?show=aimsScope&journalCode=tsab20© Crown Copyright 2015. This document is the author's final accepted/submitted version of the journal article. You are advised to consult the publisher's version if you wish to cite from it

The Effect of Live Yeast Probiotics in Lactation Diets with and without a Yeast Prebiotic in Nursery Diets on Lifetime Growth Performance, Antibody Titers, and Carcass Characteristics

A total of 28 mixed parity sows (Line 241 DNA) and their offspring were used in a farrow-to-finish study to evaluate the effect of live yeast supplementation during lactation with or without yeast extract supplementation during the nursery period on sow and litter performance and lifetime growth performance, serum antibody titers, and carcass characteristics. Sows were blocked by parity and BW on d 110 of gestation and allotted to 1 of 2 dietary treatments which consisted of a standard corn-soybean meal lactation diet with or without yeast-based probiotics (0.10% Actisaf Sc 47 HR+; Phileo by Lesaffre, Milwaukee, WI). Following weaning, a total of 350 pigs (241 × 600 DNA; initially 13.5 ± 0.05 lb) were randomly assigned within sow treatment to 1 of 2 nursery diets which consisted of a control diet or a diet that contained yeast prebiotics (0.10% MS309; Phileo by Lesaffre, Milwaukee, WI) for 42 d after weaning (d 59 of age). After this time, two nursery pens of the same treatment were combined into one finishing pen and pigs were fed common diets until market. There were no significant effects of live yeast supplementation on lactation performance (P \u3e 0.079). A sow × nursery diet interaction (P = 0.024) was observed during the nursery period where pigs from sows fed Actisaf had improved ADG when fed the control nursery diet compared to pigs from control sows that were fed the control nursery diet. Pigs fed MS309 in the nursery from either sow treatment were intermediate. Pigs from Actisaf sows tended to be heavier at marketing (P = 0.067) with heavier HCW (P = 0.101) but there were no differences in overall finishing growth performance with the inclusion of live yeast in lactation diets or yeast prebiotics in nursery diets (P \u3e 0.100). Subsets of pigs were bled on d 22, 38, 50, 66, 78, 101, and 162 of age to determine porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) and Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae antibody sample-to-positive (S/P) ratios and on d 50, 66, 78, 101, and 162 of age to determine the percent inhibition of Lawsonia intracellularis. An S/P ratio is representative of antibodies present in the blood for that specific pathogen. There was a tendency for a sow diet × day interaction for the PCV2 S/P ratio (P = 0.097) where offspring from sows fed live yeast had higher PCV2 S/P ratios at 101 d of age compared to offspring from control sows (P = 0.046). There was a nursery diet × day interaction for the PCV2 S/P ratio (P = 0.036) where pigs fed MS309 during the nursery period had reduced PCV2 S/P ratios at 66, 78, and 162 d of age (P \u3c 0.022). In conclusion, feeding a yeast prebiotic in the nursery did not affect performance or immune parameters. Conversely, feeding a live yeast probiotic during lactation resulted in a tendency to improve ADG during the nursery period, final BW, and numerically improve HCW

The interaction of affective states and cognitive vulnerabilities in the prediction of non-suicidal self-injury

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a serious public health concern and remains poorly understood. This study sought to identify both cognitive and affective vulnerabilities to NSSI and examine their interaction in the prediction of NSSI. A series of regressions indicated that low levels of positive affect moderated the relationships between self-criticism and brooding and NSSI. The associations of self-criticism and brooding with greater frequency of NSSI were attenuated by higher levels of positive affect. The interaction of cognitive and affective vulnerabilities is discussed within the context of current NSSI theory

A low molecular weight dextran sulphate, ILB ®, for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS): An open-label, single-arm, single-centre, phase II trial

Background: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig´s disease, is a rare neurological condition and is the most common motor neurone disease. It is a fatal disease with specific loss of motor neurons in the spinal cord, brain stem, and motor cortex leading to progressive paralysis and usually death within five years of diagnosis. There remains no cure for ALS, and management is focused on a combination of neuroprotective medication, respiratory support, and management by multidisciplinary clinics. Patients and methods: This prospective, single-arm, open-label phase II clinical trial of sustained weekly administration of 2 mg/kg ILB® (a low-molecular weight dextran sulphate) was conducted in a single UK hospital. Eligible patients were at least 18 years and had a definite diagnosis of ALS according to El Escorial Criteria. The co-primary outcomes were safety, tolerability, and quantity of ILB® administered. EudraCT number. 2018-000668-28 Findings: Between 18-Apr-2019 and 27-Mar-2020, 11 patients were recruited and treated for up to 38 weeks. There were no treatment terminations or withdrawals. One serious adverse event was reported, which was not related to ILB® and resolved without sequalae. 270 mild/moderate adverse events were reported with no intolerable events occurring during the trial. The total number of ILB® treatments administered per patient ranged from 4 to 38, with a cumulative dose ranging from 745 to 6668 mg. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the high-risk status of study participants, recruitment and treatment was suspended early in Mar-2020. At the long-term follow-up, three patients had died after the trial was halted, between 53 and 62 weeks after their final ILB® injection. Interpretation: Long-term weekly ILB® injections of 2 mg/kg was well tolerated and had an acceptable safety profile in patients with ALS. Trial registration: EudraCT: 2018-000668-28. clinicaltrials.gov: NCT03705390. This trial adheres to the principles of GCP in the design, conduct, recording and reporting of clinical trials as listed in part 2, “Conditions and Principles which apply to all Clinical Trials” under the header “Principles based on Articles 2 to 5 of the EU GCP Directive” in the Medicines for Human Use Clinical Trials Regulations (as amended in SI 2006/1928). For clarity, the study did not conform to all aspects of the International Conference on Harmonisation (ICH) E6 R2 Guidelines for GCP (also known as ‘ICH GCP’). Of note, we did not use an external database, perform 100% source data verification, and only primary outcome data were analysed in parallel by a second, independent statistician