Recent cognitive scientific and social neuroscientific research into human imitation provides a foundation upon which to base an understanding of the appeal of realistic imitation in general, and ...realistic visual imitation in particular. This essay uses these ideas in an analysis of Steven Spielberg's 2001 film AI. Artificial Intelligence.
Summary
Analysis of short tandem repeats (STR) is the predominant method for post‐transplant monitoring of donor engraftment. It can enable early detection of disease relapse, level of engraftment ...and provide useful information on the graft‐versus‐host disease (GVHD)/graft‐versus‐tumour (GVT) effect, facilitating therapeutic intervention. Harmonization and standardization of techniques and result interpretation is essential to reduce the impact of laboratory variability on both clinical management and the results of multi‐centre clinical trials. However, the United Kingdom National External Quality Assessment Service for Leucocyte Immunophenotyping (UK NEQAS LI) has highlighted significant issues inherent in STR testing that impact upon inter‐ and intra‐ laboratory variation. We present here consensus best practice guidelines and recommendations for STR chimerism testing, data interpretation and reporting that have been drawn up and agreed by a consortium of 11 UK and Eire clinical laboratories. This document uses data obtained from the UK NEQAS LI Post‐Stem Cell Transplant (SCT) Chimerism Monitoring Programme.
The novel imagines this conscription occurring through advanced technological forms of writing, but the process must necessarily be a bleakly imagined endpoint of the original technology: ...alphabetography. Since spoken language is an essential element of both our cultural and our individual psychological being, it follows that the conscription of speech by writing also entails the conscription of human beings. The "memorable event" had taken place that morning when Winston had made eye-contact with O'Brien, the Party official whom Winston mistakenly suspects of being unorthodox (19). Since Winston is only "almost equal" to writing this down, we get his recollection rather than the diary entry we might expect. ...the therapy fails, but this appears to be because what really torments him is not the one guilty night with the prostitute, but the systematic ruination of sexual desire in Oceania. ...by thinking seriously about writing as a technology, we have revealed an otherwise not-quite obvious element of Orwell's dark vision.
The connection between speech and writing in human language has been a matter of philosophical debate since antiquity. By plumbing the depths of this complex relationship, Tony E. Jackson explains ...how the technology of alphabetic writing has determined the nature of the modern novel.
Jackson’s analysis begins with the universal human act of oral storytelling. While telling stories is fundamental to human experience, writing is not. Yet the novel, perhaps more than any other literary form, depends on writing. In fact, as Jackson shows quite clearly, it is writing rather than print that most shapes the forms and contents of the genre.
Through striking new readings of works by Austen, Mary Shelley, Dickens, Forster, Woolf, Lessing, and McEwan, Jackson reveals how the phenomena of speech and storytelling interact with the technological characteristics of writing. He also explains how those interactions induced the generic changes in the novel from its eighteenth-century beginnings to postmodernism and beyond. His claims, grounded in a contemporary understanding of human cognitive capacities and constraints, offer a fresh interpretive approach to all written literature.
An essential text in the study of the written word, The Technology of the Novel provides new insights into the evolving nature of one of the modern world's most popular narrative forms.
Since the 1990s, social neuroscience has established imitation as an unconscious, constitutive element of human identity; to the point that one may reasonably say that human identity is imitative ...identity. This research has profound implications for the human fascination with imitation in general, as well as with specific kinds of imitation. For the imitative identity, imitation human beings are uniquely, but strangely fascinating. This may readily be seen from the long history of stories about humanly made imitation humans. Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is a major entry in the history of such stories. This article shows how social-neuroscientific findings about imitative identity can help us understand Dick’s novel.
The number of people living with chronic health conditions is increasing in Australia. The Chronic Disease Management program was introduced to Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) to provide a more ...structured approach to managing patients with chronic conditions and complex care needs. The program supports General Practitioners (GP)s claiming for up to one general practice management plan (GPMP) and one team care arrangement (TCA) every year and the patient claiming for up to five private allied health visits. We describe the profile of participants who claimed for GPMPs and/or TCAs in Central and Eastern Sydney (CES) and explore if GPMPs and/or TCAs are associated with fewer emergency hospitalisations (EH)s or potentially preventable hospitalisations (PPH)s over the following 5 years.
This research used the CES Primary and Community Health Cohort/Linkage Resource (CES-P&CH) based on the 45 and Up Study to identify a community-dwelling population in the CES region. There were 30,645 participants recruited within the CES area at baseline. The CES-P&CH includes 45 and Up Study questionnaire data linked to MBS data for the period 2006-2014. It also includes data from the Admitted Patient Data Collection, Emergency Department Data Collection and Deaths Registry linked by the NSW Centre for Health Record Linkage.
Within a two-year health service utilisation baseline period 22% (5771) of CES participants had at least one claim for a GPMP and/or TCA. Having at least one claim for a GPMP and/or TCA was closely related to the socio-demographic and health needs of participants with higher EHs and PPHs in the 5 years that followed. However, after controlling for confounding factors such as socio-demographic need, health risk, health status and health care utilization no significant difference was found between having claimed for a GPMP and/or TCA during the two-year health service utilisation baseline period and EHs or PPHs in the subsequent 5 years.
The use of GPMPs and/or TCAs in the CES area appears well-targeted towards those with chronic and complex care needs. There was no evidence to suggest that the use of GPMPs and /or TCAs has prevented hospitalisations in the CES region.
This essay brings together social-neuroscientific claims about imitation and Darren Aronofsky's 2010 film, Black Swan. I explain how social neuroscience is establishing the imitative nature of human ...identity through empirical research, including research into Mirror Neuron Systems. Taking these findings from social neuroscience as a foundation, I explain their implications for imitative art in general and imitative performance art in particular. I then turn to study Black Swan in detail. I show how the movie--specifically Nina's obsession to perfect her role as Swan Queen, along with the use of mirrors and doppelgangers--becomes an investigation into a negative possibility that necessarily haunts the imitative animal: over-imitation. I conclude that Black Swan "knows" in the realm of art and experience what social neuroscience knows theoretically about the imitative nature of the human animal.
Introduction: It is anticipated that by 2030 the number of older people and people living with long term conditions will have significantly increased. At the same time, it is expected that there will ...be a shift to providing more health care in the community. Browning et al 1 using a prospective 16-year longitudinal study of 1000 older Australians described three ageing groups (i) ageing well (30%); initially ageing well then deteriorating (50%); consistently ageing poorly (20%). Understanding the predictors of services use in older people is important in planning and providing quality care. Predictors of general practice service use from a small community-based studies have included: lower age, fewer medical conditions, restful sleep, good nutrition, decreased stress, being a non-smoker and good social support 2. Using our existing data linkage resource, the Central and Eastern Sydney Primary and Community Health Cohort/Resource (CES-P&CH), which includes questionnaire data, primary care records, prescribing information, hospital records, emergency department records, cancer registry, and vital statistics on over 30,000 participants in CES aged 45 years and over (over 250,000 in NSW for comparison) we identified the predictors of service use (including general practice, pharmaceuticals, emergency departments, hospitalisations) amongst people aged over 75 years. Methods: A record linkage study using 45 and Up Study questionnaire data, MBS claims, PBS claims, Emergency Department visits, hospitalisations and deaths was undertaken. Participant characteristics at baseline (2006-2009) included demographics, health behaviours, social capital, functional status, and health conditions. Service characteristics included type of service, length of stay, location. Predictive models were developed to examine the participant/service characteristics with higher/lower service use over time. Results and Discussion: We identified 6,067 participants who were aged over 75 years in CES at baseline. Of these 59.0% had seen a GP 8 times or more in 2008, 19.6% had seen a specialist 8 times or more, 26.7% had attended an ED at least once, and 44.2% had been hospitalised at least once. In 2014 rates of GP use, specialist use and hospital admissions remained the same however ED visits had increased by 5%. This paper will discuss the different predictive models that were developed to describe service use. This paper will also provide the results from the predictive models and how this information is being/can be used to better plan and provide quality care for older people in CES. Limitations and suggestions for future research: Because the research study used an existing record linkage resource we were limited to the participant and service characteristics that were available. This research study would benefit from the inclusion on non-admitted data such as outpatient, community services and aged care services. References: 1- Browning C, Enticott J, Thomas S and Kendig H. 2017. Trajectories of ageing well among older Australians: a 16-year longitudinal study. Ageing and Society. 2017; 1-22. 2 -Korten AE, Jacomb PA, Jiao Z, Christensen H, Jorm AF, Henderson AS, Rodgers B. Predictors of GP service use: a community survey of an elderly Australian sample. Aust N Z J Public Health. 1998; 22: 609-615.
Introduction: In Australia there has been a sharp increase in the proportion of older people who live alone. Living alone increases the risk of being socially isolated or experiencing loneliness. ...Older people who are lonely have an increased risk of dying sooner and are more likely to experience a decline in their mobility 1. Understanding if and how social isolation/loneliness impacts on managing health conditions and use of health services is important in providing quality care and preventing premature mortality. Living alone is not necessarily a predictor of social isolation/loneliness, rather lack of time spent with family or friend may be a better indicator. More supportive social relationships are related to a decreased mortality risk 2. Research has been undertaken on the determinants of isolation/loneliness (individual, social, community and environment), however less emphasis has occurred on the medical determinants and how these might be mitigated. Using our existing data linkage resource, the Central and Eastern Sydney Primary and Community Health Cohort/Resource (CES-P&CH), which includes questionnaire data, primary care records, prescribing information, hospital records, emergency department records, cancer registry, and vital statistics on over 30,000 participants in CES aged 45 years and over we explored patterns of service use in people who are socially isolated. Methods: A record linkage study using 45 and Up Study questionnaire data, MBS claims, hospitalisations and deaths was undertaken. Social isolation was defined using a combination of baseline questionnaire data on living arrangements, family and friend support, and health issues that impacted on work/daily activities. Participant characteristics and health conditions at baseline (2006-2009) and health service use (including GP presentations, care plan use, and number and frequency of hospitalisations over the next 10 years) were compared for those who were defined as socially isolated versus those who were not using multivariate/time series models. Results and Discussion: At baseline 20% of participant lived alone; 30.8% had no partner; 18.5% had no children; 44.3% were not working; 4.9% regularly need help with daily tasks; 12.0% had severe physical limitations; 8.8% did not have support from family or friends; 9.6% were urinary incontinent, and 11.3% had depression or anxiety. These participants were included in the socially isolated group for the analysis if they had multiple risks. This paper will discuss the different algorithms that were developed to describe social isolation. This paper will also provide the results from the multivariate/time series models and how this information is being/can be used to better understand and provide person-centred quality care in CES. Limitations and suggestions for future research: Because the research study used an existing record linkage resource we were limited to the items that were included in the questionnaire to define social isolations. This research study would benefit from sensitivity testing of the resultant social isolation algorithm. References: 1- Perissinotto CM, Stijacic CI, Covinsky KE. Loneliness in older persons: a predictor of functional decline and death. Arch Intern Med 2012;172(14):1078-83. 2- Holt-Lunstad J, Smith TB, Layton JB. Social Relationships and Mortality Risk: A Meta-analytic Review. PLoS Med 2010;7(7): e1000316. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000316
The main goal of asthma treatment is to obtain and maintain reasonable control of symptoms with current evidence-based protocols. Asthma is one of the chronic diseases, that, if not well controlled, ...can lead to the development of serious complications involving not only the respiratory, but the cardiovascular system. In this study, we aimed to determine how well intermittent asthma and mild persistent asthma are controlled among patients aged 15 years and above in a general practice setting using Asthma Control Test (ACT) questionnaire. Furthermore, we used a SABA Reliance Questionnaire (SRQ) to understand whether these patients rely heavily on their prescribed short-acting beta agonist (SABA) medication. This is an audit questionnaire-based study conducted in our primary health care setting in New Zealand from February to May 2021. Forty-three physician-diagnosed intermittent asthma and mild persistent asthma patients aged 15 years and above volunteered to take part in this study. They completed two questionnaires - the ACT to assess asthma control and the SRQ to assess patients’ reliance on SABA reliever inhalers. Overall, 43 patients responded; asthma was well-controlled in 23 patients (53.5%), partially controlled in 15 (34.9%), and uncontrolled in five (11.6%). The total of patients who showed a high reliance on SABA was 31 (72.1%). When comparing SABA reliance with asthma control, 23 (53.5%) patients reported well-controlled asthma; however, 13 (56.5%) of these patients showed a high reliance on SABA. Furthermore, 15 (34.9%) of the patients had partially controlled asthma, and 14 (93.3%) of them also relied highly on their SABA inhalers. We concluded that intermittent asthma and mild persistent asthma remains inadequately controlled in general practice, with the majority of patients showing a high reliance on SABA.
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