Home curation versus teenage photography: Photo displays in the family home

In this paper we report an empirical study of the photographic portrayal of family members at home. Adopting a social psychological approach and focusing oil intergenerational power dynamics, our research explores the use of domestic photo displays in family representation. Parents and their teenagers from eight families in the south of England were interviewed at home about their interpretations of both stored and displayed photos within the home. Discussions centred on particular photographs found by the participants to portray self and family in different ways. The findings show that public displays of digital photos are still curated by mothers of the households, but with more difficulty and less control all with analogue photos. In addition, teenagers both contribute and comply with this curation within the home, whilst at the same time developing additional ways of presenting their families and themselves online that are 'unsupervised' by the curator. We highlight the conflict of interest that is at play within teen and parent practices and consider the challenges that this presents for supporting the representation of family through the design of photo display technology. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comparison of consumer perception and acceptability for steaks cooked to different endpoints: Validation of photographic approach

Photographs have been used to enhance consumer reporting of preference of meat doneness, however, the use of photographs has not been validated for this purpose. This study used standard cooking methods to produce steaks of five different degrees of doneness (rare medium, medium well, well done and very well done) to study the consumer’s perception of doneness, from both the external and internal surface of the cooked steak and also from corresponding photographs of each sample. Consumers evaluated each surface of the cooked steaks in relation to doneness for acceptability, ‘just about right’ and perception of doneness. Data were analysed using a split plot ANOVA and least significant test. Perception scores (for both external and internal surfaces) between different presentation methods (steak samples and corresponding photos), were not significantly different (p > 0.05). The result indicates that photographs can be used as a valid approach for assessing preference for meat doneness.

Comparative study between African-American and Caucasian Normal Tension Glaucoma patients

Purpose. To evaluate differences in optic disc and visual field damage between African-American and Caucasian Normal Tension Glaucoma (NTG) patients. Methods. We retrospectively selected 33 African-American patients with the diagnosis of NTG and age-matched them with 33 Caucasian patients with the same diagnosis. Three masked observers graded disc photographs and visual fields as being normal, globally damaged or focally damaged for both eyes of the subject. Chi-square test was used to evaluate statistically significant differences between groups. Results. The results of the visual fields showed that in the African-American group, 24% were graded normal, 30% showed global damage, and 46% showed focal damage. This data was compared with the Caucasian group which showed 41% normal graded eyes, 22% with global damage, and 37% with focal damage (p = 0.28). The results of the optic disc photos showed that in the African-American group, 25% were graded normal, 45% showed global damage, and 30% showed focal damage. This data was compared with the Caucasian group which showed 43% graded normal, 32% with global damage, and 25% with focal damage (p=0.16). Conclusions. In our study there was no difference in the frequency of globally damaged, focally damaged, and normal graded discs or visual fields between African-American and Caucasian NTG patients.

The effect of pantethine and ultraviolet-B radiation on the development of lenticular opacity in the emory mouse.

PURPOSE: Few studies have examined the impact of long-term treatments or exposures on the development of cataract in maturity-onset animal models. We studied the effect of treatment with D-pantethine and exposure to ultraviolet-B (UVB) radiation on the development of lenticular opacity in the Emory mouse. METHODS: A total of 164 Emory mice were randomized by litter at weaning to exposure to UVB light at 12 mJ/cm(2) for 6 hr/day (UV) or usual room light (A), and within litter, were further randomized to bi-weekly intra-peritoneal injections of 0.8 g/kg pantethine (T) or no treatment (C). Retro illumination lens photos were taken at 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 months after weaning, and graded in masked fashion. The animals were sacrificed at 10 months and the lenses analyzed for total pantethine and total cysteamine. RESULTS: Lens pantethine and cysteamine levels were significantly (P < 0.001) higher for the T as compared to C litters. Mean cataract grade increased monotonically over time for all four groups. Unadjusted mean grade for the AT group at 8 (1.32) and 10 (1.86) months appeared lower than for the other groups (AC: 2.17, 2.39; UVC: 1.77, 2.40; UVT: 1.88, 2.37). However, the mean grade for the pantethine-treated litters did not differ significantly from the untreated litters except at 2 months (when untreated litters had significantly lower grades), when adjusting for UV treatment, gender and litter effect. No significant difference in cataract score existed between UV-exposed and ambient litters. Mortality was higher among pantethine-treated (hazard ratio = 1.8, p = 0.05) and UV-exposed animals (hazard ratio = 1.8, p = 0. 03) than among the untreated and unexposed litters. CONCLUSION: Significantly increased lens levels of pantethine are achieved with long-term intra-peritoneal dosing. The impact of pantethine on the progression of lenticular opacity in the Emory mouse is less than has been reported in other models. This level of chronic UVB exposure appeared to have no effect on the development of cataract in this model.