Back to the margins in search of the core: foreign land's geography of exclusion

The crisis of the national project in the early 1990s, caused by a short-lived but disastrous government, led Brazilian art cinema, for the first time, to look at itself as periphery and re-approach the old colonial centre, Portugal. Terra estrangeira/Foreign Land (Walter Salles & Daniela Thomas, Brazil/Portugal, 1995), a film about Brazilian exiles in Portugal, is the best illustration of this perspective shift aimed at providing a new sense of Brazil’s scale and position within a global context. Shot mainly on location in São Paulo, Lisbon and Cape Verde, it promotes the encounter of Lusophone peoples who find a common ground in their marginal situation. Even Portugal is defined by its location at the edge of Europe and by beliefs such as Sebastianism, whose origins go back to the time when the country was dominated by Spain. As a result, notions of ‘core’ or ‘centre’ are devolved to the realm of myth. The film’s carefully crafted dialogues combine Brazilian, Portuguese and Creole linguistic peculiarities into a common dialect of exclusion, while language puns trigger visual rhymes which refer back to the Cinema Novo (the Brazilian New Wave) repertoire and restage the imaginary of the discovery turned into unfulfilled utopia. The main characters also acquire historical resonances, as they are depicted as descendants of Iberian conquistadors turned into smugglers of precious stones in the present. Their activities define a circuit of international exchange which resonates with that of globalized cinema, a realm in which Foreign Land, made up of citations and homage to other cinemas, tries to retrieve a sense of belonging.

Selecting valuable information to remember: age-related differences and similarities in self-regulated learning

It is often necessary to selectively attend to important information, at the expense of less important information, especially if you know you cannot remember large amounts of information. The present study examined how younger and older adults select valuable information to study, when given unrestricted choices about how to allocate study time. Participants were shown a display of point values ranging from 1–30. Participants could choose which values to study, and the associated word was then shown. Study time, and the choice to restudy words, was under the participant's control during the 2-minute study session. Overall, both age groups selected high value words to study and studied these more than the lower value words. However, older adults allocated a disproportionately greater amount of study time to the higher-value words, and age-differences in recall were reduced or eliminated for the highest value words. In addition, older adults capitalized on recency effects in a strategic manner, by studying high-value items often but also immediately before the test. A multilevel mediation analysis indicated that participants strategically remembered items with higher point value, and older adults showed similar or even stronger strategic process that may help to compensate for poorer memory. These results demonstrate efficient (and different) metacognitive control operations in younger and older adults, which can allow for strategic regulation of study choices and allocation of study time when remembering important information. The findings are interpreted in terms of life span models of agenda-based regulation and discussed in terms of practical applications. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved)(journal abstract)

Taxonomic free sorting: a successful method with older consumers and a novel approach to preference mapping

Taxonomic free sorting (TFS) is a fast, reliable and new technique in sensory science. The method extends the typical free sorting task where stimuli are grouped according to similarities, by asking respondents to combine their groups two at a time to produce a hierarchy. Previously, TFS has been used for the visual assessment of packaging whereas this study extends the range of potential uses of the technique to incorporate full sensory analysis by the target consumer, which, when combined with hedonic liking scores, was used to generate a novel preference map. Furthermore, to fully evaluate the efficacy of using the sorting method, the technique was evaluated with a healthy older adult consumer group. Participants sorted eight products into groups and described their reason at each stage as they combined those groups, producing a consumer-specific vocabulary. This vocabulary was combined with hedonic data from a separate group of older adults, to give the external preference map. Taxonomic sorting is a simple, fast and effective method for use with older adults, and its combination with liking data can yield a preference map constructed entirely from target consumer data.

Workers with elderly dependants: employment law’s response to the latest care-giving conundrum

This paper considers how employment laws are being used in response to what we have termed ‘the eldercare/workplace conundrum’. It is well known that people are now living longer but health is still failing in a significant percentage of older people, meaning that many adults require care for longer, albeit to varying degrees and for varying amounts of time. Many of these individuals will receive care from relatives or close friends who are participating in the labour market: this is increasingly likely as adults are expected / wanting to remain in paid work for longer, often into their 60s and 70s. The requirements of elderly dependants can cause these workers huge difficulties and dilemmas as they attempt, across time, to accommodate the particular needs of the person for whom they wish to provide care, often a loved one, and meet the particular demands of their employment relationship. In this paper we consider why this is an area of social policy that warrants effective legal engagement and consider, drawing on various examples of legal responses in other countries that face similar conundrums, what might improve legal engagement in this area.

Apolipoprotein e genotype has a modest impact on the postprandial plasma response to meals of varying fat composition in healthy men in a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND:Apolioprotein E (APOE) genotype is reported to influence a person's fasting lipid profile and potentially the response to dietary fat manipulation. The impact of APOE genotype on the responsiveness to meals of varying fat composition is unknown. OBJECTIVE:We examined the effect of meals containing 50 g of fat rich in saturated fatty acids (SFAs), unsaturated fatty acids (UNSATs), or SFAs with fish oil (SFA-FO) on postprandial lipemia. METHOD:A randomized, controlled, test meal study was performed in men recruited according to the APOE genotype (n = 10 APOE3/3, n = 11 APOE3/E4). RESULTS:For the serum apoE response (meal × genotype interaction P = 0.038), concentrations were on average 8% lower after the UNSAT than the SFA-FO meal in APOE4 carriers (P = 0.015) only. In the genotype groups combined, there was a delay in the time to reach maximum triacylglycerol (TG) concentration (mean ± SEM: 313 ± 25 vs. 266 ± 27 min) and higher maximum nonesterified fatty acid (0.73 ± 0.05 vs. 0.60 ± 0.03 mmol/L) and glucose (7.92 ± 0.22 vs. 7.25 ± 0.22 mmol/L) concentrations after the SFA than the UNSAT meal, respectively (P ≤ 0.05). In the Svedberg flotation rate 60-400 TG-rich lipoprotein fraction, meal × genotype interactions were observed for incremental area under the curve (IAUC) for the TG (P = 0.038) and apoE (P = 0.016) responses with a 58% lower apoE IAUC after the UNSAT than the SFA meal (P = 0.017) in the E4 carriers. CONCLUSIONS:Our data indicate that APOE genotype had a modest impact on the postprandial response to meals of varying fat composition in normolipidemic men. The physiologic importance of greater apoE concentrations after the SFA-rich meals in APOE4 carriers may reflect an impact on TG-rich lipoprotein clearance from the circulation. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01522482.

Investigating early years teachers’ understanding and response to children’s preconceptions

This paper focuses on young children’s scientific preconceptions and discusses teachers’ identification of these preconceptions when teaching science in the early years, on which research is still limited. This paper is based on the theoretical framework of constructivism and it defines preconceptions as children’s erroneous concepts prior to formal education. A two phase case study approach was employed, facilitating in-depth investigation though the use of questionnaires, interviews and observations. The results indicate that the teachers did not dedicate time to identify children’s preconceptions when planning and teaching science, even when acknowledging preconceptions’ possible existence. This indicates a possible lack of appreciation of the importance of children’s preconceptions of the consequences when ignoring them. The results also indicate the need for further training and professional development in relation to the teaching of early-years science, especially since only a very small percentage of early years teachers tend to study science during their years compulsory education. A number of suggestions are also provided for practice and policy that can be useful for other subjects as well.

The dependence of high-latitude dayside ionospheric flows on the North-South component of the IMF: A high time resolution correlation analysis using EISCAT “Polar” and AMPTE UKS and IRM data

In 1984 and 1985 a series of experiments was undertaken in which dayside ionospheric flows were measured by the EISCAT “Polar” experiment, while observations of the solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) were made by the AMPTE UKS and IRM spacecraft upstream from the Earth's bow shock. As a result, 40 h of simultaneous data were acquired, which are analysed in this paper to investigate the relationship between the ionospheric flow and the North-South (Bz) component of the IMF. The ionospheric flow data have 2.5 min resolution, and cover the dayside local time sector from ∼ 09:30 to ∼ 18:30 M.L.T. and the latitude range from 70.8° to 74.3°. Using cross-correlation analysis it is shown that clear relationships do exist between the ionospheric flow and IMF Bz, but that the form of the relations depends strongly on latitude and local time. These dependencies are readily interpreted in terms of a twinvortex flow pattern in which the magnitude and latitudinal extent of the flows become successively larger as Bz becomes successively more negative. Detailed maps of the flow are derived for a range of Bz values (between ± 4 nT) which clearly demonstrate the presence of these effects in the data. The data also suggest that the morning reversal in the East-West component of flow moves to earlier local times as Bz, declines in value and becomes negative. The correlation analysis also provides information on the ionospheric response time to changes in IMF Bz, it being found that the response is very rapid indeed. The most rapid response occurs in the noon to mid-afternoon sector, where the westward flows of the dusk cell respond with a delay of 3.9 ± 2.2 min to changes in the North-South field at the subsolar magnetopause. The flows appear to evolve in form over the subsequent ~ 5 min interval, however, as indicated by the longer response times found for the northward component of flow in this sector (6.7 ±2.2 min), and in data from earlier and later local times. No evidence is found for a latitudinal gradient in response time; changes in flow take place coherently in time across the entire radar field-of-view.

Climate change and infectious disease: time for a new normal?

At present, there is a clarion call for action on climate change across the global health landscape. At the recent WHO-sponsored conference on health and climate (held in Geneva, Switzerland, on Aug 27–29, 2014) and the UN Climate Summit (New York, USA, on Sept 23, 2014), participants were encouraged to act decisively to change the current trajectory of climate disruption. Health inequalities, including those related to infectious diseases, have now been pushed to centre stage. This approach represents a step-change in thinking. But as we are urged toward collective action, is it time to rethink our approach to research, especially in relation to climate change and infectious disease?

Identification of domestication-related loci associated with flowering time and seed size in soybean with the RAD-seq genotyping method

Flowering time and seed size are traits related to domestication. However, identification of domestication-related loci/genes of controlling the traits in soybean is rarely reported. In this study, we identified a total of 48 domestication-related loci based on RAD-seq genotyping of a natural population comprising 286 accessions. Among these, four on chromosome 12 and additional two on chromosomes 11 and 15 were associated with flowering time, and four on chromosomes 11 and 16 were associated with seed size. Of the five genes associated with flowering time and the three genes associated with seed size, three genes Glyma11g18720, Glyma11g15480 and Glyma15g35080 were homologous to Arabidopsis genes, additional five genes were found for the first time to be associated with these two traits. Glyma11g18720 and Glyma05g28130 were co-expressed with five genes homologous to flowering time genes in Arabidopsis, and Glyma11g15480 was co-expressed with 24 genes homologous to seed development genes in Arabidopsis. This study indicates that integration of population divergence analysis, genome-wide association study and expression analysis is an efficient approach to identify candidate domestication-related genes.

A variational approach to retrieve rain rate by combining information from rain gauges, radars, and microwave links

Accurate and reliable rain rate estimates are important for various hydrometeorological applications. Consequently, rain sensors of different types have been deployed in many regions. In this work, measurements from different instruments, namely, rain gauge, weather radar, and microwave link, are combined for the first time to estimate with greater accuracy the spatial distribution and intensity of rainfall. The objective is to retrieve the rain rate that is consistent with all these measurements while incorporating the uncertainty associated with the different sources of information. Assuming the problem is not strongly nonlinear, a variational approach is implemented and the Gauss–Newton method is used to minimize the cost function containing proper error estimates from all sensors. Furthermore, the method can be flexibly adapted to additional data sources. The proposed approach is tested using data from 14 rain gauges and 14 operational microwave links located in the Zürich area (Switzerland) to correct the prior rain rate provided by the operational radar rain product from the Swiss meteorological service (MeteoSwiss). A cross-validation approach demonstrates the improvement of rain rate estimates when assimilating rain gauge and microwave link information.

Dynamic game soundtrack generation in response to a continously varying emotional trajectory

Dynamic soundtracking presents various practical and aesthetic challenges to composers working with games. This paper presents an implementation of a system addressing some of these challenges with an affectively-driven music generation algorithm based on a second order Markov-model. The system can respond in real-time to emotional trajectories derived from 2-dimensions of affect on the circumplex model (arousal and valence), which are mapped to five musical parameters. A transition matrix is employed to vary the generated output in continuous response to the affective state intended by the gameplay.

Validation of a priori CME arrival predictions made using real-time heliospheric imager observations

Between December 2010 and March 2013, volunteers for the Solar Stormwatch (SSW) Citizen Science project have identified and analyzed coronal mass ejections (CMEs) in the near real-time Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory Heliospheric Imager observations, in order to make “Fearless Forecasts” of CME arrival times and speeds at Earth. Of the 60 predictions of Earth-directed CMEs, 20 resulted in an identifiable Interplanetary CME (ICME) at Earth within 1.5–6 days, with an average error in predicted transit time of 22 h, and average transit time of 82.3 h. The average error in predicting arrival speed is 151 km s−1, with an average arrival speed of 425km s−1. In the same time period, there were 44 CMEs for which there are no corresponding SSW predictions, and there were 600 days on which there was neither a CME predicted nor observed. A number of metrics show that the SSW predictions do have useful forecast skill; however, there is still much room for improvement. We investigate potential improvements by using SSW inputs in three models of ICME propagation: two of constant acceleration and one of aerodynamic drag. We find that taking account of interplanetary acceleration can improve the average errors of transit time to 19 h and arrival speed to 77 km s−1.

A method for merging nadir-sounding climate records, with an application to the global-mean stratospheric temperature data sets from SSU and AMSU

A method is proposed for merging different nadir-sounding climate data records using measurements from high-resolution limb sounders to provide a transfer function between the different nadir measurements. The two nadir-sounding records need not be overlapping so long as the limb-sounding record bridges between them. The method is applied to global-mean stratospheric temperatures from the NOAA Climate Data Records based on the Stratospheric Sounding Unit (SSU) and the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit-A (AMSU), extending the SSU record forward in time to yield a continuous data set from 1979 to present, and providing a simple framework for extending the SSU record into the future using AMSU. SSU and AMSU are bridged using temperature measurements from the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS), which is of high enough vertical resolution to accurately represent the weighting functions of both SSU and AMSU. For this application, a purely statistical approach is not viable since the different nadir channels are not sufficiently linearly independent, statistically speaking. The near-global-mean linear temperature trends for extended SSU for 1980–2012 are −0.63 ± 0.13, −0.71 ± 0.15 and −0.80 ± 0.17 K decade−1 (95 % confidence) for channels 1, 2 and 3, respectively. The extended SSU temperature changes are in good agreement with those from the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) on the Aura satellite, with both exhibiting a cooling trend of ~ 0.6 ± 0.3 K decade−1 in the upper stratosphere from 2004 to 2012. The extended SSU record is found to be in agreement with high-top coupled atmosphere–ocean models over the 1980–2012 period, including the continued cooling over the first decade of the 21st century.

Improving mood with psychoanalytic and cognitive therapies (IMPACT): a pragmatic effectiveness superiority trial to investigate whether specialised psychological treatment reduces the risk for relapse in adolescents with moderate to severe unipolar depression: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

Background Up to 70% of adolescents with moderate to severe unipolar major depression respond to psychological treatment plus Fluoxetine (20-50 mg) with symptom reduction and improved social function reported by 24 weeks after beginning treatment. Around 20% of non responders appear treatment resistant and 30% of responders relapse within 2 years. The specific efficacy of different psychological therapies and the moderators and mediators that influence risk for relapse are unclear. The cost-effectiveness and safety of psychological treatments remain poorly evaluated. Methods/Design Improving Mood with Psychoanalytic and Cognitive Therapies, the IMPACT Study, will determine whether Cognitive Behavioural Therapy or Short Term Psychoanalytic Therapy is superior in reducing relapse compared with Specialist Clinical Care. The study is a multicentre pragmatic effectiveness superiority randomised clinical trial: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy consists of 20 sessions over 30 weeks, Short Term Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy 30 sessions over 30 weeks and Specialist Clinical Care 12 sessions over 20 weeks. We will recruit 540 patients with 180 randomised to each arm. Patients will be reassessed at 6, 12, 36, 52 and 86 weeks. Methodological aspects of the study are systematic recruitment, explicit inclusion criteria, reliability checks of assessments with control for rater shift, research assessors independent of treatment team and blind to randomization, analysis by intention to treat, data management using remote data entry, measures of quality assurance, advanced statistical analysis, manualised treatment protocols, checks of adherence and competence of therapists and assessment of cost-effectiveness. We will also determine whether time to recovery and/or relapse are moderated by variations in brain structure and function and selected genetic and hormone biomarkers taken at entry. Discussion The objective of this clinical trial is to determine whether there are specific effects of specialist psychotherapy that reduce relapse in unipolar major depression in adolescents and thereby costs of treatment to society. We also anticipate being able to utilise psychotherapy experience, neuroimaging, genetic and hormone measures to reveal what techniques and their protocols may work best for which patients.

Interlateral asymmetry in the time course of the effect of a peripheral prime stimulus

Evidence exists that both right and left hemisphere attentional mechanisms are mobilized when attention is directed to the right visual hemifield and only right hemisphere attentional mechanisms are mobilized when attention is directed to the left visual hemifield. This arrangement might lead to a rightward bias of automatic attention. The hypothesis was investigated by testing male volunteers, wherein a ""location discrimination"" reaction time task (Experiments 1 and 3) and a ""location and shape discrimination"" reaction time task (Experiments 2 and 4) were used. Unilateral (Experiments 1 and 2) and unilateral or bilateral (Experiments 3 and 4) peripheral visual prime stimuli were used to control attention. Reaction time to a small visual target stimulus in the same location or in the horizontally opposite location was evaluated. Stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) were 34, 50, 67, 83 and 100 ms. An important prime stimulus attentional effect was observed as early as 50 ms in the four experiments. In Experiments 2, 3 and 4, this effect was larger when the prime stimulus occurred in the right hemifield than when it occurred in the left hemifield for SOA 100 ms. In Experiment 4, when the prime stimulus occurred simultaneously in both hemifields, reaction time was faster for the right hemifield and for SOA 100 ms. These results indicate that automatic attention tends to favor the right side of space, particularly when identification of the target stimulus shape is required. (c) 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.