Support and information needs of older and disabled older people in the UK

The aim of this study was to determine the support and information needs of older and disabled older people in the UK. Following an initial literature survey, an examination of data on enquiries made by older people to information providers, and a series of focus groups, a questionnaire was developed for a nationwide survey. Over 1630 questionnaires were completed by disabled older clients of Day Care Centres and less frail older members of social clubs. Findings showed that there is a serious shortfall in the number of older people getting the practical support that they need, and the information that enables access to this support, compared to the number that actually need help. Substantial percentages of the survey respondents experienced difficulty with everyday tasks and with accessing the information they needed. Implications for formal sources of support and information are discussed.

Performance evaluation of wall mounted convector for pre-heating naturally ventilated spaces

This paper presents the results of performance monitoring under real winter weather conditions, controlled laboratory testing and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis of a wall mounted ventilation air inlet heat convector. For real winter weather monitoring, the wall-mounted convector was installed in a laboratory room of the Engineering Building of the School of Construction Management and Engineering. Air and hot water temperatures and air speeds were measured at the entrance to the convector and in the room. The hot water temperature was controlled at 40, 60 and 80 °C. The monitoring results were later used as boundary conditions for a CFD simulation to investigate the air movement in the room. Controlled laboratory testing was conducted in laboratories at the University of Reading, UK and at Wetterstad Consultancy, Sweden. The results of the performance investigation showed that the system contributed greatly to the room heating, particularly at a water temperature of 80 °C. Also adequate fresh air was supplied to the room. Such a system is able to provide an energy efficient method of eliminating problems associated with cold winter draughts.

In vitro examination of the effect of Orlistat on the ability of the faecal microbiota to utilize dietary lipids

Orlistat is an anti-obesity treatment with which several gastrointestinal (GI) side-effects are commonly associated in the initial stages of therapy. There is no physiological explanation as to why two-thirds of those who take the drug experience one or more side-effects. It has been hypothesized that the GI microbiota may protect from or contribute to these GI disturbances. Using in vitro batch culture and human gut model systems, studies were conducted to determine whether increased availability of dietary lipids and/or orlistat affect the composition and/or activity of the faecal microbiota. Results from 24-h batch culture fermentation experiments demonstrated no effect of orlistat in the presence or absence of a dietary lipid (olive oil) on the composition of bacterial communities [as determined by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analyses], but did show there was great variability in the lipolytic activities of the microbiotas of individuals, as determined by gas chromatography analysis of long-chain fatty acids in samples. Subsequent studies focused on the effect of orlistat in the presence and absence of lipid in in vitro human gut model systems. Systems were run for 14 days with gut model medium (GMM) only (to steady state, SS), then fed at 12-h intervals with 50 mg orlistat, 2 g olive oil or a mixture of both for 14 days. FISH and DGGE were used to monitor changes in bacterial populations. Bacteria were cultivated from the GMM only (control) systems at SS. All strains isolated were screened for lipolytic activity using tributyrin agar. FISH and DGGE demonstrated that none of the compounds (singly or in combination) added to the systems had any notable effect on microbial population dynamics for any of the donors, although Subdoligranulum populations appeared to be inhibited by orlistat in the presence or absence of lipid. Orlistat had little or no effect on the metabolism of indigenous and added lipids in the fermentation systems, but there was great variability in the way the faecal microbiotas of the donors were able to degrade added lipids. Variability in lipid degradation could be correlated with the number and activity of isolated lipolytic bacteria. The mechanism by which orlistat and the GI microbiota cause side-effects in individuals is unknown, but several hypotheses have been proposed to account for their manifestation. The demonstration of great variability in the lipolytic activity of microbiotas to degrade lipids led to a large-scale cultivation-based study of lipolytic/lipase-positive bacteria present in the human faecal microbiota. Of 4,000 colonies isolated from 15 donors using five different agars, 378 strains were identified that had lipase activity. Molecular identification of strains isolated from five donors demonstrated that lipase activity is more prevalent in the human GI microbiota than previously thought, with members of the phyla Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes and Actinobacteria identified. Molecular identification and characterization of the substrate specificities of the strains will be carried out as part of ongoing work.

Cyborg 1.0

I was born human. But this was an accident of fate - a condition merely of time and place. I believe it's something we have the power to change. I will tell you why. In August 1998, a silicon chip was implanted in my arm, allowing a computer to monitor me as I moved through the halls and offices of the Department of Cybernetics at the University of Reading, just west of London, where I've been a professor since 1988. My implant communicated via radio waves with a network of antennas throughout the department that in turn transmitted the signals to a computer programmed to respond to my actions. At the main entrance, a voice box operated by the computer said "Hello" when I entered; the computer detected my progress through the building, opening the door to my lab for me as I approached it and switching on the lights. For the nine days the implant was in place, I performed seemingly magical acts simply by walking in a particular direction. The aim of this experiment was to determine whether information could be transmitted to and from an implant. Not only did we succeed, but the trial demonstrated how the principles behind cybernetics could perform in real-life applications.

Disabled characters in plays

In attempting to answer the question ‘How is disability represented in plays?’ two approaches are considered, one semiotic and literary and the other concerned with notions of stereotyping drawn from disability studies. The five plays on which the discussion is based are school examination set texts, raising questions about classroom discourse and interpretation. Pilot study data drawn from students’ work in examinations are offered to suggest possible answers to those questions.

An Examination of the factors that shape the subjectivities of female art students in Initial Teacher Training

The school subject of Art and the profession of the primary school teacher are gendered female and both are considered low status within the field of Education and other professional areas of society. A number of sociological studies have examined the impact of gendered socialisation and habitus on females’ career choices and various educational initiatives have been put in place over the years to encourage females to select subjects and/or pursue career paths normally associated with males. Yet Art and primary school teaching continue to be a popular choice with middle class girls. Based on a critical ethnographic study of female BAED Art students, who are training to be primary school teachers, this study is an examination of the many factors, historically and contemporaneously that have shaped and continue to shape the subjectivities of females and frame their aspirations and ambitions. Within this discourse significant aspects of the history of Art and Art Education that have contributed to and influenced the construction of the female artist, and their consequent impact on artistically talented females’ personal identity as artists, are also examined.

Parameterising ecological validity and integrating individual differences within second-person neuroscience

This commentary situates the second person account within a broader framework of ecological validity for experimental paradigms in social cognitive neuroscience. It then considers how individual differences at psychological and genetic levels can be integrated within the proposed framework.

Historic environments and tourism: Improving access for disabled people

Historic environments and buildings are valued and valuable features of the UK tourism sector, as visitor attractions and as holiday accommodation. Keeping historic environments in economic use is crucial to their conservation, but they date from eras when access for disabled people was not a consideration. Part III of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (the DDA) took effect on 1 October 2004 and requires service providers to make reasonable building adjustments to remove physical barriers to disabled access. This independent scoping study by the College of Estate Management, sponsored by Marsh Limited and The Mercers' Company, explores progress in making historic environments accessible to disabled people through an examination of UK policy, literature and case studies in South Oxfordshire and London. The report findings are relevant for property and built environment professionals, business managers and all those involved with historic environments that are used for tourism.

Customer engagement planning emerging from the “individualist-collectivist”-framework: an empirical examination in China and UK

Purpose – Today marketers operate in globalised markets, planning new ways to engage with domestic and foreign customers alike. While there is a greater need to understand these two customer groups, few studies examine the impact of customer engagement tactics on the two customer groups, focusing on their perceptual differences. Even less attention is given to customer engagement tactics in a cross-cultural framework. In this research, the authors investigate customers in China and UK, aiming to compare their perceptual differences on the impact of multiple customer engagement tactics. Design/methodology/approach – Using a quantitative approach with 286 usable responses from China and the UK obtained through a combination of person-administered survey and computer-based survey screening process, the authors test a series of hypotheses to distinguish across-cultural differences. Findings – Findings show that the collectivists (Chinese customers) perceive customer engagement tactics differently than the individualists (UK customers). The Chinese customers are more sensitive to price and reputation, whereas the UK customers respond more strongly to service, communication and customisation. Chinese customers’ concerns with extensive price and reputation comparisons may be explained by their awareness towards face (status), increased self-expression and equality. Practical implications – The findings challenge the conventional practice of using similar customer engagement tactics for a specific market place with little concern for multiple cultural backgrounds. The paper proposes strategies for marketers facing challenges in this globalised context. Originality/value – Several contributions have been made to the literatures. First, the study showed the effects of culture on the customers’ perceptual differences. Second, the study provided more information to clarify customers’ different reactions towards customer engagement tactics, highlighted by concerns towards face and status. Third, the study provided empirical evidence to support the use of multiple customer engagement tactics to the across cultural studies.

The acquisition of person and number morphology within the verbal domain in Early Greek

The aim of this paper is to examine the acquisition pattern of person and number verb morphology within the generative framework and to compare the results of the analyses with previous research in Greek and other European languages. The study considers previous data on the acquisition of subject-verb agreement, and thereafter, examines the acquisition of person and number morphology in a new dataset of two monolingual Greek-speaking children. The analyses present quantitative data of accuracy of person and number marking, error data, and qualitative analyses addressing the productivity of person and number marking. The results suggest that person and number morphology is used correctly and productively from a very early age in Greek speaking children. The findings provide new insight into early Greek language acquisition and are also relevant for research in early development of languages with rich inflectional morphology.

Video stimuli reduce object-directed imitation accuracy: a novel two-person motion-tracking approach

Imitation is an important form of social behavior, and research has aimed to discover and explain the neural and kinematic aspects of imitation. However, much of this research has featured single participants imitating in response to pre-recorded video stimuli. This is in spite of findings that show reduced neural activation to video vs. real life movement stimuli, particularly in the motor cortex. We investigated the degree to which video stimuli may affect the imitation process using a novel motion tracking paradigm with high spatial and temporal resolution. We recorded 14 positions on the hands, arms, and heads of two individuals in an imitation experiment. One individual freely moved within given parameters (moving balls across a series of pegs) and a second participant imitated. This task was performed with either simple (one ball) or complex (three balls) movement difficulty, and either face-to-face or via a live video projection. After an exploratory analysis, three dependent variables were chosen for examination: 3D grip position, joint angles in the arm, and grip aperture. A cross-correlation and multivariate analysis revealed that object-directed imitation task accuracy (as represented by grip position) was reduced in video compared to face-to-face feedback, and in complex compared to simple difficulty. This was most prevalent in the left-right and forward-back motions, relevant to the imitator sitting face-to-face with the actor or with a live projected video of the same actor. The results suggest that for tasks which require object-directed imitation, video stimuli may not be an ecologically valid way to present task materials. However, no similar effects were found in the joint angle and grip aperture variables, suggesting that there are limits to the influence of video stimuli on imitation. The implications of these results are discussed with regards to previous findings, and with suggestions for future experimentation.