From Rights to Compassion: The D Case and Contemporary Abortion Politics

This chapter is concerned with exploring the dynamics of contemporary debate on women’s reproductive choices and rights in the somewhat transformed social, political and economic context of the Republic of Ireland. News coverage of the events of April and May 2007 provide the focus of attention, as the case of ‘D’, a 17 year old in the temporary care of the state, seeking to terminate her pregnancy after a diagnosis of severe foetal abnormality, became yet again a focus of public debate on abortion access within the state. The analysis explores how the issues this case raised were framed in the public domain, in order to consider the shifting moral grammar shaping the debate. The paper explores the ways in which this case illustrates the ongoing tensions between changing characterisations of Irishness, and the social dynamics of access to reproductive rights, particularly for national minors in the care of the state.

The silent treatment: Parents’ narratives on sexuality education with their adolescent children

This paper is based on research undertaken in Ireland that sought to understand how parents communicate with their children about sexuality. Forty-three parents were interviewed and data were analysed using analytical induction. Data indicated that while parents tended to pride themselves on the culture of openness to sexuality that prevailed in their home, they often described situations where very little dialogue on the subject actually transpired. However, unlike previous research on the topic that identified parent-related factors (such as ignorance or embarrassment) as the main impediments to parent-young person communication about sex, participants in our study identified the central obstacle to be a reticence on the part of the young person to engage in such dialogue. Participants described various blocking techniques apparently used by the young people, including claims to have full prior knowledge on the issue, physically absenting themselves from the situation, becoming irritated or annoyed, or ridiculing parents' educational efforts. In our analysis, we consider our findings in light of the shifting power of children historically and the new cultural aspiration of maintaining harmonious and democratic relations with one's offspring.

Attention deficits in Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia

OBJECTIVE:

To compare the performance of patients with mild-moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VaD) on tests of information processing and attention.

METHOD:

Patients with AD (n=75) and VaD (n=46) were recruited from a memory clinic along with dementia-free participants (n=28). They underwent specific tests of attention from the Cognitive Drug Research battery, and pen and paper tests including Colour Trails A and B and Stroop. All patients had a CT brain scan that was independently scored for white-matter change/ischaemia.

RESULTS:

Attention was impaired in both AD and VaD patients. VaD patients had more impaired choice reaction times and were less accurate on a vigilance test measuring sustained attention. Deficits in selective and divided attention occurred in both patient groups and showed the strongest correlations with Mini Mental State Examination scores.

CONCLUSION:

This study demonstrates problems with the attentional network in mild-moderate AD and VaD. The authors propose that attention should be tested routinely in a memory clinic setting.

Mid- to late-Holocene climate variability and anthropogenic impacts: multi-proxy evidence from Lake Bliden, Denmark

We conducted multi-proxy geochemical analyses (including measurements of organic carbon, nitrogen and sulphur stable isotope composition, and carbonate carbon and oxygen isotope composition) on a 13.5 m sediment core from Lake Bliden, Denmark, which provide a record of shifting hydrological conditions for the past 6,700 years. The early part of the stratigraphic record (6,700-5,740 cal year BP) was wet, based on delta O-18(carb) and lithology, and corresponds to the Holocene Thermal Maximum. Shifts in primarily delta O-18(carb) indicate dry conditions prevailed from 5,740 to 2,800 cal year BP, although this was interrupted by very wet conditions from 5,300 to 5,150, 4,300 to 4,050 and 3,700 to 3,450 cal year BP. The timing of the latter two moist intervals is consistent with other Scandinavian paleoclimatic records. Dry conditions at Lake Bliden between 3,450 and 2,800 cal year BP is consistent with other paleolimnological records from southern Sweden but contrasts with records in central Sweden, possibly suggesting a more northerly trajectory of prevailing westerlies carrying moisture from the North Atlantic at this time. Overall, fluctuating moisture conditions at Lake Bliden appear to be strongly linked to changing sea surface temperatures in the Greenland, Iceland and Norwegian seas. After 2,800 cal year BP, sedimentology, magnetic susceptibility, delta C-13(ORG), delta C-13(carb) and delta O-18(carb) indicate a major reduction on water level, which caused the depositional setting at the coring site to shift from the profundal to littoral zone. The Roman Warm Period (2,200-1,500 cal year BP) appears dry based on enriched delta O-18(carb) values. Possible effects of human disturbance in the watershed after 820 cal year BP complicate attempts to interpret the stratigraphic record although tentative interpretation of the delta O-18(carb), magnetic susceptibility, delta C-13(ORG), delta C-13(carb) and delta O-18(carb) records suggest that the Medieval Warm Period was dry and the Little Ice Age was wet.

Self-generated expressions of residual complaints following brain injury

Following brain injury there is often a prolonged period of deteriorating psychological condition, despite neurological stability or improvement. This is presumably consequent to the remission of anosognosia and the realisation of permanently worsened status. This change is hypothesised to be directed partially by the socially mediated processes which play a role in generating self-awareness and which here direct the reconstruction of the self as a permanently injured person. However, before we can understand this process of redevelopment, we need an unbiassed technique to monitor self-awareness. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 individuals with long-standing brain injuries to capture their spontaneous complaints and their level of insight into the implications of their difficulties. The focus was on what the participants said in their own words, and the extent to which self-knowledge of difficulties was spontaneously salient to the participants. Their responses were subjected to content analysis. Most participants were able to say that they had brain injuries and physical difficulties, many mentioned memory and attentional problems and a few made references to a variety of emotional disturbances. Content analysis of data from unbiassed interviews can reveal the extent to which people with brain injuries know about their difficulties. Social constructionist accounts of self-awareness and recovery are supported.

Electromagnetic interaction between a metallic nanoparticle and surface in tunnelling proximity-modelling and experiment

We simulate the localized surface plasmon resonances of an Au nanoparticle within tunnelling proximity of an Au substrate. The results demonstrate that the calculated resonance energies can be identified with those experimentally detected for light emission from the tip-sample junction of a scanning tunnelling microscope. Relative to the modes of an isolated nanoparticle these modes show significant red-shifting, extending further into the infrared with increasing radius, primarily due to a proximity-induced lowering of the effective bulk plasmon frequency. Spatial mapping of the field enhancement factor shows an oscillatory variation of the field, absent in the case of a dielectric substrate; also the degree of localization of the modes, and thus the resolution achievable electromagnetically, is shown to depend primarily on the nanoparticle radius, which is only weakly dependent on wavelength.

Phototextual Journeys: Nicolas Bouvier in Asia

Travel literature's inherent intergenericity extends into the realm of the interaesthetic in Nicolas Bouvier's textual and photographic representations of Asia. Although produced as distinct narratives, successive editorial decisions and the layering of these two media in the mind of the reader have transformed Bouvier's already palimpsestic texts into fluid, phototextual constructs. This article will offer ‘contrapuntal’ readings of a selection of Bouvier's texts in relation to the photographs charting his intercultural encounters in China and Japan. Countering the relegation of these photographs to the conventional status of aide-mémoire, the article will consider the shifting relationships of complementarity, tension, or disjuncture between image and text. These relationships are characterised by slippage, subversion and paradox. Text does not ‘load’ image, and images do not illustrate text. Indeed, Bouvier's photographs frequently contest, modify, or debunk the textual narratives. Ultimately, the article will argue that Bouvier's representations of Asia, both textual and visual, offer a challenge to cultural essentialism, to self-other binaries, and to monolithic discourses of otherness.