Home

Tom Hunter in conversation with Robert Elms to discuss the notion of 'Home' in relation to location and means of representation in photography and art. The discussion spans Hunter's work during the past twenty years, from his graduation from the London College of Printing in 1994 to the present day, focusing on his new book 'Le Crowbar' and the accompanying exhibition 'Life in the Road', which was shown in the London College of Communication Upper Street Gallery from February 2014

Annual Photographer’s Lecture 2013 - Home

Article by Tom Hunter titled 'Home' for the Annual Photographer’s Lecture 2013. Illustrated with 10 Tom Hunter colour photographic images

Advantages and Challenges of Using COTS Industrial Networking Technology on the International Space Station

No abstract availabl

Home style: governments, parties, and the domestic presentation of European integration

National governments are accused of being evasive and opportunistic in their presentation of European integration, thereby exacerbating the EU's crisis of legitimacy. Yet empirical evidence on how governments present Europe at home is limited to a small handful of qualitative studies. This thesis provides the first comparative, quantitative study of how governments - and the parties that form them - present Europe in their domestic public spheres, and what these presentational strategies mean for representation and legitimacy in the EU. Inspired by Fenno's 1978 classic, I call this their `home style'. Through innovative text as data methods combining machine translation, automated text analysis, and hand coding, I show that rather than adopting a nationalist home style marked by evasiveness and opportunism, governments have responded to EU politicization by adopting a home style I label technocratic-patriotic. Technocratic, in the sense that gov- ernments actually talk frequently about the EU, but avoid clear position taking on the issue by defusing it with complex language. Patriotic, in the sense that governments extensively claim credit for defending the national interest on the European stage, but in fact rarely blame or criticise the EU directly. I argue that despite not fitting the stereotypical image of evasive, opportunistic blame shifters, this technocratic-patriotic home style still poses deep problems for democratic accountability in Europe's multilevel system of governance. The thesis also contributes two resources to the academic community: EUCOSpeech, an original dataset of over 6,000 statements by national leaders in the aftermath of EU summits, and EUParlspeech, an original dataset of over 1 million references to European integration made in parliamentary speeches between 1989 and 2019

Global assessment of exposure to faecal contamination through drinking water based on a systematic review

Objectives: To estimate exposure to faecal contamination through drinking water as indicated by levels of Escherichia coli (E. coli) or thermotolerant coliform (TTC) in water sources. Methods: We estimated coverage of different types of drinking water source based on household surveys and censuses using multilevel modelling. Coverage data were combined with water quality studies that assessed E. coli or TTC including those identified by a systematic review (n = 345). Predictive models for the presence and level of contamination of drinking water sources were developed using random effects logistic regression and selected covariates. We assessed sensitivity of estimated exposure to study quality, indicator bacteria and separately considered nationally randomised surveys. Results: We estimate that 1.8 billion people globally use a source of drinking water which suffers from faecal contamination, of these 1.1 billion drink water that is of at least 'moderate' risk (>10 E. coli or TTC per 100 ml). Data from nationally randomised studies suggest that 10% of improved sources may be 'high' risk, containing at least 100 E. coli or TTC per 100 ml. Drinking water is found to be more often contaminated in rural areas (41%, CI: 31%-51%) than in urban areas (12%, CI: 8-18%), and contamination is most prevalent in Africa (53%, CI: 42%-63%) and South-East Asia (35%, CI: 24%-45%). Estimates were not sensitive to the exclusion of low quality studies or restriction to studies reporting E. coli. Conclusions: Microbial contamination is widespread and affects all water source types, including piped supplies. Global burden of disease estimates may have substantially understated the disease burden associated with inadequate water services

Pacing during an ultramarathon running event in hilly terrain

PURPOSE: The dynamics of speed selection as a function of distance, or pacing, are used in recreational, competitive, and scientific research situations as an indirect measure of the psycho-physiological status of an individual. The purpose of this study was to determine pacing on level, uphill and downhill sections of participants in a long (>80 km) ultramarathon performed on trails in hilly terrain. METHODS: Fifteen ultramarathon runners competed in a 173 km event (five finished at 103 km) carrying a Global-Positioning System (GPS) device. Using the GPS data, we determined the speed, relative to average total speed, in level (LEV), uphill (UH) and downhill (DH) gradient categories as a function of total distance, as well as the correlation between overall performance and speed variability, speed loss, and total time stopped. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in normality, variances or means in the relative speed in 173-km and 103-km participants. Relative speed decreased in LEV, UH and DH. The main component of speed loss occurred between 5% and 50% of the event distance in LEV, and between 5% and 95% in UH and DH. There were no significant correlations between overall performance and speed loss, the variability of speed, or total time stopped. CONCLUSIONS: Positive pacing was observed at all gradients, with the main component of speed loss occurring earlier (mixed pacing) in LEV compared to UH and DH. A speed reserve (increased speed in the last section) was observed in LEV and UH. The decrease in speed and variability of speed were more important in LEV and DH than in UH. The absence of a significant correlation between overall performance and descriptors of pacing is novel and indicates that pacing in ultramarathons in trails and hilly terrain differs to other types of running events

Improvement of Automatic Target Recognition Through Synthetic Data Augmentation

Data sets of well­ labelled and diverse acoustic imagery of the seabed are scarce. However, a recent breakthrough in synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) image simulation has facilitated the rapid generation of realistic echo data. The synthetic data include important aspects of the acoustic wave physics, such as aspect­ dependence, layover, diffraction, speckle, focusing errors, and artefacts. Moreover, it provides high­ fidelity label information. This combination of speed, realism, and detail has enabled the use of synthetic data to improve the volume and diversity of training data for deep learning algorithms in automatic target recognition (ATR). We present an overview of the rapid simulation model, alongside an existing SAS simulation model, and demonstrate its application to ATR training for the detection and classification of underwater munitions and unexploded ordnance

A Neuroanatomical Basis for the Frequency of Discrete Spontaneous Activities in Schizophrenia

Limited behavioural repertoire impacts quality of life in chronic schizophrenia. We have previously shown that the amount of movement exhibited by patients with schizophrenia is positively correlated with the volume of left anterior cingulate cortex and that this quantity of movement can be increased by modafinil. However, increased movement in itself may be of limited clinical significance. Hence, we sought to analyse the ‘structure’ of spontaneous movement in patients with schizophrenia and to examine whether the chunking of spontaneous activity has a neuroanatomical basis. ‘Actiwatches’ were used to record spontaneous motor activity over a 20 hour period in sixteen male patients with schizophrenia. Time-series data were analysed for the number of discrete spontaneous activities, which might indicate a degree of structure to ongoing activity. Subjects underwent a whole-brain structural MRI scan. The ‘number of discrete movement epochs’ correlated with volumes of regions within bilateral rostro-ventral putamen and temporal poles. These data suggest that in people with schizophrenia the volume of bilateral putamen may influence the complexity of their behaviours, as distinct from the overall amount of behaviour. The results are presented in the context of a large body of previous research examining the role of the basal ganglia in motor and cognitive pattern generation

Delayed Lead Perforation: Can We Ever Let the Guard Down?

Lead perforation is a major complication of cardiac rhythm management devices (CRMD), occurring in about 1%. While most lead perforations occur early, numerous instances of delayed lead perforation (occurring >30 days after implantation) have been reported in the last few years. Only about 40 such cases have been published, with the majority occurring <1 year after implantation. Herein, we describe the case of an 84-year-old female who presented with recurrent syncope and was diagnosed to have delayed pacemaker lead perforation 4.8 years after implantation. Through this report, we intend to highlight the increasing use of CRMD in elderly patients, and the lifelong risk of complications with these devices. Presentation can be atypical and a high index of suspicion is necessary for diagnosis