Evaluation of Salmon (<i>Salmo salar</i>) and Rainbow Trout (<i>Oncorhynchus mykiss</i>) pin bones using textural analysis and micro X-ray computational tomography

Industrially, common problems arise with the deboning pin bone process, where Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) and Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) fillets, post rigor, are subjected to a pulling process to remove the pin bones from the fillet. This study measured the length of pin bones from two species of fish and two different industrial graded weights, and then used a texture analyser and lCT X-ray to measure the pulling force, break point and volume of the pin bones of both species of fish. Results showed that salmon pin bones required significantly higher pulling force to remove pin bones from the fish fillet when compared with Trout pin bones. Interestingly Trout pin bones were significantly longer and stronger than Salmon pin bones, but had significantly lower volume. This research has progressed the issues surrounding pin boning industrially, however, more studies are required in order to understand if these differences affect the overall deboning pin bone process

The effect of collagenase, water and calcium chloride on the removal of <i>Salmo salar</i> (salmon) and <i>Oncorhynchus mykiss</i> (trout) pin bones

The aim of this study was to determine the influence of the fillet structure on the deboning force required to remove salmon and trout pin bones. Salmon and trout fillets with differing fillet structure were used, in order to study the importance of the fillet structure on the deboning process. In the first test naturally gaping and non-gaping fillets were compared. To confirm the role that the collagen plays within the fillet structure, the fillets underwent series of treatments. Fillets were put into (i) a collagenase solution to remove the collagen in the fillet (ii) a calcium chloride solution to determine if collagen was the main influential factor. Both treated salmon and trout fillets were again compared to untreated fillets from the same batch. The results indicate that collagenase and calcium chloride have a large interaction on deboning force compared to water or no treatments

Uncovering steroidopathy in women with autism: a latent class analysis

BACKGROUND: Prenatal exposure to increased androgens has been implicated in both polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and autism spectrum conditions (ASC), suggesting that PCOS may be increased among women with ASC. One study suggested elevated steroidopathic symptoms (‘steroidopathy’) in women with ASC. As the symptoms are not independent, we conducted a latent class analysis (LCA). The objectives of the current study are: (1) to test if these findings replicate in a larger sample; and (2) to use LCA to uncover affected clusters of women with ASC. METHODS: We tested two groups of women, screened using the Autism Spectrum Quotient - Group 1: n = 415 women with ASC (mean age 36.39 ± 11.98 years); and Group 2: n = 415 controls (mean age 39.96 ± 11.92 years). All participants completed the Testosterone-related Medical Questionnaire online. A multiple-group LCA was used to identify differences in latent class structure between women with ASC and controls. RESULTS: There were significant differences in frequency of steroid-related conditions and symptoms between women with ASC and controls. A two-class semi-constrained model best fit the data. Based on response patterns, we identified the classes as ‘Typical’ and ‘Steroidopathic’. The prevalence of the ‘Steroidopathic’ class was significantly increased within the ASC group (ΔG(2) = 15, df =1, P = 0.0001). In particular, we confirmed higher frequencies of epilepsy, amenorrhea, dysmenorrhea, severe acne, gender dysphoria, and transsexualism, and differences in sexual preference in women with ASC. CONCLUSIONS: Women with ASC are at increased risk for symptoms and conditions linked to steroids. LCA revealed this steroidopathy despite the apparent underdiagnosis of PCOS

Attenuation of typical sex differences in 800 adults with autism vs. 3,900 controls.

Sex differences have been reported in autistic traits and systemizing (male advantage), and empathizing (female advantage) among typically developing individuals. In individuals with autism, these cognitive-behavioural profiles correspond to predictions from the "extreme male brain" (EMB) theory of autism (extreme scores on autistic traits and systemizing, below average on empathizing). Sex differences within autism, however, have been under-investigated. Here we show in 811 adults (454 females) with autism and 3,906 age-matched typical control adults (2,562 females) who completed the Empathy Quotient (EQ), the Systemizing Quotient-Revised (SQ-R), and the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ), that typical females on average scored higher on the EQ, typical males scored higher on the SQ-R and AQ, and both males and females with autism showed a shift toward the extreme of the "male profile" on these measures and in the distribution of "brain types" (the discrepancy between standardized EQ and SQ-R scores). Further, normative sex differences are attenuated but not abolished in adults with autism. The findings provide strong support for the EMB theory of autism, and highlight differences between males and females with autism.This study received funding from the UK Medical Research Council, the Wellcome Trust, and the Autism Research Trust. Meng-Chuan Lai was supported by the William Binks Autism Neuroscience Fellowship, the European Autism Interventions - A Multicentre Study for Developing New Medications (EU-AIMS), and Wolfson College, Cambridge.This is the final published version. It's also available from PLOS at http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0102251

Relational frame theory and human intelligence: a conceptual and empirical analysis

The current thesis builds upon developments in the field of Relational Frame Theory (RFT), which has proposed a behavioural re-examination of the widely used concept of intelligence in terms of derived relational responding (DRR). In the first chapter the concept of intelligence is explored theoretically from a RFT perspective. A framework for the construction of interventions to raise intelligence quotients as calculated by standardised IQ tests is also provided. Specifically, the current thesis proposes that training skills in DRR by utilising multiple exemplar training (MET) can improve intellectual skills. In Experiments 1 and 2, it is shown that, by employing a MET intervention for symmetry and transitivity, modest rises in full scale IQ on the WISC-IIIUK were generated for normally functioning children. In Experiment 3, the MET intervention methodology is further developed across a group of both children and adults to specifically improve the relational skills which appear to underlie intelligence as a behavioural repertoire. The newer methodology is shown to generate repertoires of Same and Opposite relational responding for experimental groups of adults and children, where these repertoires were previously weak or absent. In Experiments 4 and 5, the stimulus control of the intervention is further improved. Experiments 6 and 7 involve the addition of intervention protocols for More- Than/Less-Than relational responding. MET is again shown to facilitate the emergence of DRR for Same and Opposite (Experiments 4 and 5), and also for More-Than/Less- Than (Experiments 6 and 7) with both child and adult groups. However, Experiments 6 and 7 failed to clearly establish the functional dependence of More-Than/Less-Than responding on Opposite relational responding alone. In Experiment 8, participants with an extended history of MET across symmetry, transitivity, Same and Opposite showed rapid acquisition of More-Than/Less-Than DRR. Experiment 9 measured considerable rises in WISC-IIIUK scores across an extended MET intervention for four children. Importantly, similar rises were not seen for a matched control group who had no access to the intervention. In Experiment 10a, a relational abilities index (RAI) is developed for use as a baseline relational skills index. This baseline measure is then correlated with the WISC-IVUK and its subtests for a group of children with learning difficulties (Experiment 10b). Several interesting correlations between relational skills and intelligence are observed in the resulting analysis, although many theoretical and conceptual issues are also suggested by the data. In Experiment 11, a complete MET battery is administered to an educationally challenged child group. Both RAI and full scale IQ scores rise from pre to post intervention. In the closing chapter, the implications of these rises for intellectual disability, educational psychology and behaviour analysis are discussed

Addressing identity/redressing the museum.

This thesis paper expands upon the aspects of identity and power explored in the exhibition that I curated, entitled Being & Making: Artists Investigating Identity, at the Speed Art Museum. The developments on topics of identity prominent in the United States in the 1980s and 1990s fundamentally changed the creation, exhibition, collection and interpretation of art. These changes related to power investigations originating from artists in marginalized groups. The change affected not just the art itself, but also the function of museums and the role they play in forming identity in contemporary visual practice. As institutions of power, art museums absorb investigations of identity into their operations to sustain a current and relevant position in contemporary culture. This process has caused a paradigm shift in museum management and operations. Feminist theory is a major proponent of this shift and is the key to its continuation into the future. I will analyze the relationship between the two ideologies: investigations of identity in contemporary art coupled with the new museology. I will conclude with the assertion that feminist theory is the basis of this paradigm shift. The rise into prominence of investigations of identity and the new museology coincided, as they were influenced and propelled by feminism and by the cultural and political climate at the end of the twentieth century and into the new century. I argue that the new museology resulted from feminist and poststructuralist investigations of identity and power, as museums struggled with their positions as structures of power in the art world

What is traditional acupuncture - exploring goals and processes of treatment in the context of women with early breast cancer

Background: Despite the increasing popularity of acupuncture, there remains uncertainty as to its effectiveness and how it brings about change. Particular questions are posed over whether acupuncture research has sufficient model validity and reflects acupuncture as practised. Exploring traditional acupuncture (TA) in practice should help to expose processes essential to the theory of TA. The aim of this study was to examine what TA practitioners aim to achieve, their rationale and how they follow this through in their practice. Methods: A longitudinal study of TA for women with early breast cancer (EBC) was performed. Study participants comprised 14 women with EBC and two experienced TA practitioners, all taking part in in-depth interviews, conducted before and after receipt of up to 10 treatment sessions, and analysed using grounded theory methods. Additional data came from practitioner treatment logs and diaries. Results: Practitioners sought long-term goals of increasing strength and enabling coping as well as immediate relief of symptoms. They achieved this through a continuous process of treatment, following through the recursive and individualized nature of TA and adjusted, via differential diagnosis, to the rapidly fluctuating circumstances of individual women. Establishing trust and good rapport with the women aided disclosure which was seen as essential in order to clarify goals during chemotherapy. This process was carefully managed by the practitioners and the resultant therapeutic relationship was highly valued by the women. Conclusion: This study provided insight into the interdependent components of TA helping to demonstrate the multiple causal pathways to change through the continuous process of new information, insights and treatment changes. A good therapeutic relationship was not simply something valued by patients but explicitly used by practitioners to aid disclosure which in turn affected details of the treatment. The therapeutic relationship was therefore a vital and integral part of the treatment process

Visuospatial Processing Deficits Linked to Posterior Brain Regions in Premanifest and Early Stage Huntington's Disease.

OBJECTIVES: Visuospatial processing deficits have been reported in Huntington's disease (HD). To date, no study has examined associations between visuospatial cognition and posterior brain findings in HD. METHODS: We compared 119 premanifest (55> and 64<10.8 years to expected disease onset) and 104 early symptomatic (59 stage-1 and 45 stage-2) gene carriers, with 110 controls on visual search and mental rotation performance at baseline and 12 months. In the disease groups, we also examined associations between task performance and disease severity, functional capacity and structural brain measures. RESULTS: Cross-sectionally, there were strong differences between all disease groups and controls on visual search, and between diagnosed groups and controls on mental rotation accuracy. Only the premanifest participants close to onset took longer than controls to respond correctly to mental rotation. Visual search negatively correlated with disease burden and motor symptoms in diagnosed individuals, and positively correlated with functional capacity. Mental rotation ("same") was negatively correlated with motor symptoms in stage-2 individuals, and positively correlated with functional capacity. Visual search and mental rotation were associated with parieto-occipital (pre-/cuneus, calcarine, lingual) and temporal (posterior fusiform) volume and cortical thickness. Longitudinally, visual search deteriorated over 12 months in stage-2 individuals, with no evidence of declines in mental rotation. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provide evidence linking early visuospatial deficits to functioning and posterior cortical dysfunction in HD. The findings are important since large research efforts have focused on fronto-striatal mediated cognitive changes, with little attention given to aspects of cognition outside of these areas. (JINS, 2016, 22, 595-608)

Philosophy with children : facilitating children's voices on childhood

Increasingly there is a search for participatory research methods that work to ensure children’s authentic voices are heard. In this presentation we will propose that Philosophy with Children might be employed as a research method that facilitates children’s participation and voice in research. Further, it may also impact positively in children’s wider participation and engagement in recognising children’s agency and conceptual autonomy. We will discuss the advantages of using philosophical dialogue as a method for collecting data and will also consider challenges that arise from using Philosophy with Children as a research tool. In discussing the challenges and opportunities afforded by such a method, the presentation will draw on two studies to exemplify the approach. One study explored what kind of society children want to live in, and the second is an on-going international study that aims to explore children’s conceptions of child/childhood. We will also suggest that using Philosophy with Children might be considered as addressing the need for rights-based approaches to research as in affording children ownership of the dialogue it does not assume children as deficient in their capacities and it recognises children’s particular perspectives on the world. In addition, we will suggest that using a philosophical approach to gathering children’s views might offer a deeper insight into their thinking of and understanding about the world. Elements of the approaches used in the study will be discussed in order to gauge the strengths and limitations of using practical philosophy as a means of gathering data in subsequent analysis. In juxtaposition to the Philosophy with Children approach discussed, we will comment briefly on the use of an alternative research method, Nominal Group Technique, which was also used in the first project. In comparing the two approaches we aim to show where Philosophy with Children may provide richer and deeper evidence when seeking children’s views. While the presentation will not share the findings of either of the projects mentioned above, the approach taken in using Philosophy with Children as a research method, relates strongly to the findings of the initial project and the goals of the Children’s Voices on Childhood project. In using Philosophy with Children, it will be proposed that, while there may be some limitations in using the approach, it takes account of children’s voices in research; it affords opportunities to explore children’s conceptual thinking and the application to ‘real life’; it allows children to have ownership of the topic under consideration; and it potentially leads to addressing children’s status in wider society

Do adults with high functioning autism or Asperger Syndrome differ in empathy and emotion recognition?

The present study examined whether adults with high functioning autism (HFA) showed greater difficulties in (i) their self-reported ability to empathise with others and/or (ii) their ability to read mental states in others’ eyes than adults with Asperger syndrome (AS). The Empathy Quotient (EQ) and ‘Reading the Mind in the Eyes’ Test (Eyes Test) were compared in 43 adults with AS and 43 adults with HFA. No significant difference was observed on EQ score between groups, while adults with AS performed significantly better on the Eyes Test than those with HFA. This suggests that adults with HFA may need more support, particularly in mentalizing and complex emotion recognition, and raises questions about the existence of subgroups within autism spectrum conditions