Dance-making on the internet: can on-line choreographic projects foster creativity in the user-participant?

Interactive Internet artworks invite viewers to become involved as user-participants as the creative process unfolds. Through analysis of selected Internet projects, the authors discuss the potential for facilitating an interactive, creative experience for participants in the process of making dance. This study was carried out in 1998 and 1999, but the findings remain relevant, as there have been few subsequent developments in the field

Missing in Action: Embodied Experience and Virtual Reality

This essay examines embodied experience in virtual reality (VR) theatre, performance art, and installations in one-to-one engagements with virtual worlds and in telematic interactions with other people. It proposes that bodies in VR are blurred, virtual and physical, absent and present, compounded and indivisible, even though body and environment have different materialities. This blurring can cause confusion in the ethics of embodiment that usually govern physical interactions between audience and performer—when, and if, to touch or be touched—since embodied experience confounds cognitive separation between the physical and virtual. Such confusion can result in a mismatch between the embodied self and disembodied Other that the gaming world is poorly equipped to negotiate, but that could have profound effects on VR users. Theatre, on the other hand, is well-versed in the negotiation of the real and the virtual, and virtual environments allow us to ask questions about embodiment and humanity through the experiences of individual bodies in ways that were never previously achievable. How can theatre and performance help us to understand the nature of embodied experience in VR when anything can be done but the body is apparently missing? It becomes possible to explore impossible situations and experiences through the eyes of others. Yet, is it ethically defensible to engage in any experience or action that would not be viable, or perhaps condoned, in the physical world on the basis that it is not “real”? The essay examines the nature of embodied experience in VR and considers the implications for theatre

Struggling to be Fit: Identity, Integrity, and the Law

This interdisciplinary co-authored Analysis piece introduces identity and integrity, which are argued to sit at the core of the person. It analyses approaches taken to these concepts by legal regimes, particularly in the context of individuals using artificial limbs or digital avatars. The piece concludes that law engages with identity and integrity to a limited and incomplete extent; and that law is thus inadequate in its engagement with the person, and its meaning making in this respect. This piece draws on two interdisciplinary funded projects, funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Arts and Humanities Research Council

Multilevel principal component analysis (mPCA) in shape analysis: a feasibility study in medical and dental imaging

Background and objective Methods used in image processing should reflect any multilevel structures inherent in the image dataset or they run the risk of functioning inadequately. We wish to test the feasibility of multilevel principal components analysis (PCA) to build active shape models (ASMs) for cases relevant to medical and dental imaging. Methods Multilevel PCA was used to carry out model fitting to sets of landmark points and it was compared to the results of “standard” (single-level) PCA. Proof of principle was tested by applying mPCA to model basic peri-oral expressions (happy, neutral, sad) approximated to the junction between the mouth/lips. Monte Carlo simulations were used to create this data which allowed exploration of practical implementation issues such as the number of landmark points, number of images, and number of groups (i.e., “expressions” for this example). To further test the robustness of the method, mPCA was subsequently applied to a dental imaging dataset utilising landmark points (placed by different clinicians) along the boundary of mandibular cortical bone in panoramic radiographs of the face. Results Changes of expression that varied between groups were modelled correctly at one level of the model and changes in lip width that varied within groups at another for the Monte Carlo dataset. Extreme cases in the test dataset were modelled adequately by mPCA but not by standard PCA. Similarly, variations in the shape of the cortical bone were modelled by one level of mPCA and variations between the experts at another for the panoramic radiographs dataset. Results for mPCA were found to be comparable to those of standard PCA for point-to-point errors via miss-one-out testing for this dataset. These errors reduce with increasing number of eigenvectors/values retained, as expected. Conclusions We have shown that mPCA can be used in shape models for dental and medical image processing. mPCA was found to provide more control and flexibility when compared to standard “single-level” PCA. Specifically, mPCA is preferable to “standard” PCA when multiple levels occur naturally in the dataset

Resolution of severe hyponatraemia is associated with improved survival in patients with cancer

© Balachandran et al.Background: Hyponatraemia is a common finding in patients with cancer, and has been shown to be associated with poor prognosis in different settings. We have analysed the impact of severe hyponatraemia in patients with cancer. Methods: A retrospective review of all patients admitted to a specialist cancer hospital with a plasma sodium of less than 115 mmol/l and a diagnosis of malignancy was undertaken. Patient and tumour characteristics were analysed as well as impact of hyponatraemia management on overall survival and number of lines of cancer treatment received. Results: 57 patients were identified. 84% had advanced Stage 3 or 4 cancer and approximately 85% with data available had symptoms attributable to hyponatraemia. Mean length of hospital stay was 12 days, and overall survival (OS) was 5.1 months. Plasma sodium level corrected in 56% of patients and here OS was 13.6 months compared to 16 days in those whose sodium did not correct (p < 0.001). Those whose sodium corrected were more likely to receive further lines of anti-cancer treatment. Conclusions: Severe hyponatraemia in cancer is associated with very poor survival, but correction of the sodium level leads to additional treatment and significantly greater overall survival (although it is not possible to determine if this is due to specific therapy of the hyponatraemia or the resolving hyponatraemia reflects an improvement in the clinical condition). Aggressive treatment of hyponatraemia may allow more anti-cancer treatment and improve survival

Redefining the performing arts archive

This paper investigates representations of performance and the role of the archive. Notions of record and archive are critically investigated, raising questions about applying traditional archival definitions to the performing arts. Defining the nature of performances is at the root of all difficulties regarding their representation. Performances are live events, so for many people the idea of recording them for posterity is inappropriate. The challenge of creating and curating representations of an ephemeral art form are explored and performance-specific concepts of record and archive are posited. An open model of archives, encouraging multiple representations and allowing for creative reuse and reinterpretation to keep the spirit of the performance alive, is envisaged as the future of the performing arts archive

Management of orthodontic emergencies in primary care – self-reported confidence of general dental practitioners

Objective: To determine general dental practitioners’ (GDPs) confidence in managing orthodontic emergencies. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Primary dental care. Subjects and methods: An online survey was distributed to dentists practicing in Wales. The survey collected basic demographic information and included descriptions of ten common orthodontic emergency scenarios. Main outcome measure Respondents’ self-reported confidence in managing the orthodontic emergency scenarios on a 5‑point Likert scale. Differences between the Likert responses and the demographic variables were investigated using chi-squared tests. Results: The median number of orthodontic emergencies encountered by respondents over the previous six months was 1. Overall, the self-reported confidence of respondents was high with 7 of the 10 scenarios presented scoring a median of 4 indicating that GDPs were ‘confident’ in their management. Statistical analysis revealed that GDPs who saw more orthodontic emergencies in the previous six months were more confident when managing the presented scenarios. Other variables such as age, gender, geographic location of practice and number of years practising dentistry were not associated with self reported confidence. Conclusions: Despite GDPs encountering very few orthodontic emergencies in primary care, they appear to be confident in dealing with commonly arising orthodontic emergency situations

An unblinded, randomised phase II study of platinum-based chemotherapy with vitamin B12 and folic acid supplementation in the treatment of lung cancer with plasma homocysteine blood levels as a biomarker of severe neutropenic toxicity

BACKGROUND: Vitamin B12 and folic acid (referred to as vitamin supplementation) improves the toxicity profile of pemetrexed containing regimens. Low baseline vitamin B12 and folate levels are reflected in a raised total homocysteine level (HC). Studies have suggested that pretreatment HC levels predict neutropenia toxicity. We have tested supplementation with vitamin B12 and folate in non-pemetrexed platinum-based regimens to decrease treatment-related toxicity and looked for a correlation between toxicity and change in homocysteine levels. PATIENT AND METHOD: Eighty-three patients with advanced lung cancer and malignant mesothelioma were randomly assigned to receive platinum-based chemotherapy with (arm A) or without (arm B) vitamin B12 and folic acid supplementation. The primary end point was grade 3/4 neutropenia and death within 30 days of treatment. Secondary end points included quality of life, overall survival (OS) and the relationship between baseline and post supplementation HC levels and toxicity. RESULTS: In the intention-to-treat population, no significant difference was seen between the two groups with respect to chemotherapy-induced grade 3/4 neutropenia and death within 30 days of chemotherapy (36% vs 37%; p=0.966, emesis (2% vs 6%; p=0.9) or OS (12.3 months vs 7 months; p=0.41). There was no significant difference in survival rates by baseline HC level (p=0.9). Decrease in HC with vitamin supplementation was less frequent than expected. High baseline HC levels decreased with vitamin supplementation in only 9/36 (25%) patients (successful supplementation). Post hoc analysis showed that patients in arm A who were successfully supplemented (9/36=25%) had less neutropenic toxicity (0% vs 69%; p=0.02) compared to unsupplemented patients. CONCLUSIONS: The addition of vitamin B12 and folic acid to platinum-containing regimens did not overall improve the toxicity, quality of life or OS. Rates of grade 3/4 neutropenia at 36/37% was as predicted. Further studies to increase the rate of successful supplementation and to further test the biomarker potential of post supplementation HC levels in predicting chemotherapy-induced neutropenia in platinum-based chemotherapy are warranted. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: EudracCT 2005-002736-10 ISRCTN8734355

Efficient Genotyping of KRAS Mutant Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Using a Multiplexed Droplet Digital PCR Approach

© 2015 Pender et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) can be used to detect low frequency mutations in oncogenedriven lung cancer. The range of KRAS point mutations observed in NSCLC necessitates a multiplex approach to efficient mutation detection in circulating DNA. Here we report the design and optimisation of three discriminatory ddPCR multiplex assays investigating nine different KRAS mutations using PrimePCRddPCRMutation Assays and the Bio-Rad QX100 system. Together these mutations account for 95% of the nucleotide changes found in KRAS in human cancer. Multiplex reactions were optimised on genomic DNA extracted from KRAS mutant cell lines and tested on DNA extracted from fixed tumour tissue from a cohort of lung cancer patients without prior knowledge of the specific KRAS genotype. The multiplex ddPCR assays had a limit of detection of better than 1 mutant KRAS molecule in 2,000 wild-type KRAS molecules, which compared favourably with a limit of detection of 1 in 50 for next generation sequencing and 1 in 10 for Sanger sequencing. Multiplex ddPCR assays thus provide a highly efficient methodology to identify KRAS mutations in lung adenocarcinoma