Abertay University

During WWI, ships were painted in high-contrast 'dazzle' patterns believed to distort, among other things, submariners' perceptions of direction when aiming their torpedoes, but was this strategy effective? Here, we investigated the effects of different camouflage patterns, including versions used in the war, on the perceived direction of travel for a three-dimensional computer model of the RMS Mauretania. The results of this study showed that texture gradients ‘twisted’ the perceived direction of the ship, the effect being ~10° for a regular pattern of circles. We also found a second, larger effect, 'hysteresis', that biased perceived target directions to parallel the horizon for directions of travel within approximately ±30° of 90° (left–right). Hysteresis persisted outside this central plateau, causing perceived directions to be offset from veridical. The twist and hysteresis effects combined linearly and were constructive (enhancing protection) or destructive (diminishing protection) depending on the directions of (i) travel and (ii) the 'twisting' texture gradients. However, the strength of hysteresis reduced as a function of experience. Our simulated torpedo attacks suggest that systematic perceptual distortion of direction by dazzle might have been effective only where submariners had low hysteresis and ships were fast enough to benefit from the perceptual error imposed by twist.

This qualitative study explored students’ lived experiences of higher education study abroad programs during the Covid-19 pandemic. Studying individual experiences in extraordinary circumstances like a pandemic can reveal personal, organisational and process-related resilience relevant to understanding and planning future events. Online semi-structured interviews with thirteen international students from four continents (North America, South America, Europe and Asia) were conducted amidst the pandemic in the Spring of 2021. Transition Theory underpinned the study. Interviews with students were used to explore personal strategies adopted to support the transition to virtual platforms during the pandemic. Through Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, four response categories were identified: Functioning in Ambiguity, The Importance of Language and Culture, Reshaping Community, and Alternative Experiences in Intercultural Connectivity. Participants’ responses delved into aspects of acculturation, culture shock and resiliency amidst the disruption. These findings may inform future practices for international professionals supporting students studying abroad.

This study aimed to determine the validity and between-day reliability of the mean velocity (MV), peak velocity (PV), mean power (MP), and peak power (PP) provided by the Vitruve linear position transducer at different submaximal loads in the free-weight and Smith machine back squat using GymAware as a reference point. Fourteen male sports science students (free-weight back squat one-repetition maximum [1RM]: 132.5 ± 28.5 kg, Smith machine back squat 1RM: 163.9 ± 30.4 kg) performed six experimental sessions, twice per week with 72 hours of rest. The first two included the assessment of the 1RM of both exercises. In the four remaining, both linear position transducers were simultaneously used to record MV, PV, MP, PP of each repetition during an incremental load test (i.e., 20, 40, 60, 80, 90% 1RM) with three minutes of rest between sets. Vitruve displayed both fixed and proportional bias for certain relative loads across all variables. Vitruve did not meet the validity criteria for all (MV, PP) or at least two (MP, PV) relative loads (Coefficient of variation [CV] > 10%; Pearson correlation < 0.70; Effect size > 0.60). MV, PV, MP, and PP recorded by Vitruve displayed acceptable reliability (CV < 10%) with superior reliability observed during a Smith Machine compared to free-weight back squat, and for velocity compared to power variables. Considering GymAware as a reference point, Vitruve was not valid for measuring velocity and power outcomes. Acceptable validity was observed only for PV in the Smith machine back squat, while the other variables—regardless of relative loads and exercise modes—were mostly inaccurate. All variables demonstrated acceptable reliability, with greater reliability noted in the Smith machine compared to the free-weight back squat exercise mode.

Background The primary objective of this study was to advance our understanding of active drug uptake at brain barriers in higher species than rodents, by examining oxycodone brain concentrations in pigs. Methods This was investigated by a microdialysis study in healthy and endotoxemic conditions to increase the understanding of inter-species translation of putative proton-coupled organic cation (H⁺/OC) antiporter-mediated central nervous system (CNS) drug delivery in health and pathology, and facilitate the extrapolation to humans for improved CNS drug treatment in patients. Additionally, we sought to evaluate the efficacy of lumbar cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) exposure readout as a proxy for brain unbound interstitial fluid (ISF) concentrations. By simultaneously monitoring unbound concentrations in blood, the frontal cortical area, the lateral ventricle (LV), and the lumbar intrathecal space in healthy and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation states within the same animal, we achieved exceptional spatiotemporal resolution in mapping oxycodone transport across CNS barriers. Results Our findings provide novel evidence of higher unbound oxycodone concentrations in brain ISF compared to blood, yielding an unbound brain-to-plasma concentration ratio (Kp,uu,brain) of 2.5. This supports the hypothesis of the presence of the H⁺/OC antiporter system at the blood–brain barrier (BBB) in pigs. Despite significant physiological changes, reflected in pig Sequential Organ Failure Assessment, pSOFA scores, oxycodone blood concentrations and its active net uptake across the BBB remained nearly unchanged during three hours of i.v. infusion of 4 µg/kg/h LPS from Escherichia coli (O111:B4). Mean Kp,uu,LV values indicated active uptake also at the blood-CSF barrier in healthy and endotoxemic pigs. Lumbar CSF concentrations showed minimal inter-individual variability during the experiment, with a mean Kp,uu,lumbarCSF of 1.5. LPS challenge caused a slight decrease in Kp,uu,LV, while Kp,uu,lumbarCSF remained unaffected. Conclusions This study enhances our understanding of oxycodone pharmacokinetics and CNS drug delivery in both healthy and inflamed conditions, providing crucial insights for translating these findings to clinical settings.

Self-harm is when someone hurts themselves on purpose, regardless of the reasons for doing this. Often, shame and stigma stop people from seeking help. Self-harming behaviour increases the risk of death by suicide, and it is a common cause of disability in young people. Currently, people attending health services only represent the tip of the iceberg; the proportion of teenagers self-harming has increased over the past 20 years—this is particularly so for young women and girls. The Lancet Commission on self-harm concludes that our cultures and societies play a major role in driving self-harming behaviours. The public health impact of self-harm has been neglected by governments globally. By delivering transformative shifts in societal attitudes, and initiating radical redesign of mental health care, we can fundamentally improve the lives of people who self-harm. Governments need to act to tackle the societal and commercial determinants of self-harming behaviours. The punishment of people who self-harm must stop. People who self-harm need better access to high-quality, compassionate services for support and treatment. Mainstream and social media outlets need to share information about self-harm responsibly and sympathetically.

A central theme of this article is the developing tension between art specialists and non-specialists as a function of complex, differentiated figurations. Bourdieu’s sociology of symbolic revolutions is allied to Elias’s model of the relative autonomy of the artistic figurations within lengthening relations of interdependencies and shifting cognitive-emotional tension balances of feeling and reasoning and spontaneity and self-restraint. Within the sociology of art, the field positionings, power, interdependencies, language and habitus of art critics remain a relatively underdeveloped area of enquiry. Art critics function as ‘professional explicators’ in Bourdieu’s terms or ‘specialists in verbalisation’ in Elias’s to communicate standard-setting models of value and taste of specialists to non-specialists. Clement Greenberg emerged as a socially mobile oblate from a position of artworld outsider to hegemonic dominance as the leading notable of Modernist art criticism. The article examines the social conditions of possibility for Greenberg’s standard-setting codes as they came to be established and sustained by particular figurations of people (a self-conscious avant-garde) at particular times (late 1930s–1970s) and places (New York).

Natural aggregate consumption for producing concrete depletes the natural aggregate, necessitating the development of alternative materials that do not cause a burden on natural resources. Electronic plastic waste (EPW) like digital video discs (DVDs) and compact discs (CDs) are becoming an extreme burden to the environment due to the high quantities generated, which pose serious harm to both the environment and its inhabitants. This study presents the concept of recycling EPW and converting it into construction materials with high specifications. Using 100% EPW in place of sand and 4% unsaturated polyester resin with 20% high reactivity attapulgite (HRA) as a filler, the study generated lightweight polyester concrete (LWPC). The HRA was used after calcination at three temperatures (300, 600 and 900 °C), and for comparison, without calcination, various concentrations of the concrete components were used to produce LWPC using EPW with the optimum polyester resin percentage and HRA burning temperature. The study assessed the physical and mechanical properties of 24 mixtures of LWPC and showed the possibility of producing a novel type of high-strength, sustainable, LWPC with high properties (rapid-set, followability and ductility). The results showed that reducing the concrete's density to below 1385 kg/ m 3 and, when optimal quantities of polyester resin, EPW, and HRA were used, enhanced the workability, flowability, and mechanical properties of fresh and hardened concrete.

Self‐cues such as one's own name or face attract attention, reflecting a bias for stimuli connected to self to be prioritized in cognition. Recent evidence suggests that even external voices can elicit this self‐prioritization effect; in a voice‐label matching task, external voices assigned to the Self‐identity label ‘you’ elicited faster responses than those assigned to ‘friend’ or ‘stranger’ (Payne et al., Br. J. Psychology, 112, 585‐610). However, it is not clear whether external voices assigned to Self are prioritized over participants' own voices. We explore this issue in two experiments. In Exp 1 ( N = 35), a voice‐label matching task comprising three external voices confirmed that reaction time and accuracy are improved when an external voice cue is assigned to Self rather than Friend or Stranger. In Exp 2 ( N = 90), one of the voice cues was replaced with a recording of the participant's own voice. Reaction time and accuracy showed a consistent advantage for the participant's own‐voice, even when it was assigned to the ‘friend’ or ‘stranger’ identity. These findings show that external voices can elicit self‐prioritization effects if associated with Self, but they are not prioritized above individuals' own voices. This has implications for external voice production technology, suggesting own‐voice imitation may be beneficial.

Background Food processing offers various benefits that contribute to food nutrition, food security and convenience. This study investigated the effect of three different processes (fermentation, malting and ultrasonication) on the nutritional, techno-functional and health-promoting properties of sorghum, mopane worm and Moringa oleifera. Methods The fermented and malted flours were prepared at 35°C for 48 h, and for ultrasonication, samples were subjected to 10 min at 4°C with amplitudes of 40–70 Hz. The biochemical, nutritional quality and techno-functional properties of the obtained flours were analysed using standard procedures. Results Fermentation resulted in significantly lower pH and higher titratable acidity in sorghum and mopane worm (4.32 and 4.76; 0.24 and 0.69% lactic acid, respectively), and malting resulted in higher total phenolic content and total flavonoid content in sorghum (3.23 mg GAE/g and 3.05 mg QE/g). Ultrasonication resulted in higher protein and fibre in raw sorghum flour (13.38 and 4.53%) and mopane worm (56.24 and 11.74%) while raw moringa had the highest protein (30.68%). Biomodification by fermentation in sorghum led to higher water and oil holding capacity and increased dispersibility in the ultrasonicated samples. Ultrasonication of mopane worms led to higher water holding capacity, oil holding capacity and dispersibility. Lightness was found to be significantly higher in the fermented samples in sorghum and mopane worm. Raw moringa had the greatest lightness compared to the ultrasonicated moringa. Moringa had the most redness and browning index among all samples. Conclusion In this study, all the investigated processes were found to have caused variations in flours’ biochemical, nutritional and techno-functional properties. Ultrasonication process was noteworthy to be the most efficient to preserve the nutritional value in sorghum, mopane worm and M. oleifera flours.

Unlocking the potential of legumes through short‐term germination offers an innovative approach to improving the functionality of the resultant flour. This review examines the multifaceted benefits of short‐term germinated legume flour, emphasizing the enzymatic activities that breakdown complex legume compounds into simpler forms and reduce anti‐nutritional factors. This process improves digestibility, nutrient bioavailability, and health‐promoting properties. Furthermore, short‐term germination enhances the techno‐functional properties of legume flours without compromising their quality, avoiding excessive starch and protein degradation associated with prolonged germination. This review also explores the applications of short‐term germinated legume flours in developing nutritious and healthy food products tailored to diverse dietary needs. Subsequent integration of these short‐term germinated flours into food products provides a route for the development of cost‐effective, nutritious, and sustainable options that can address malnutrition and enhance overall well‐being.

This study tests whether developments in self‐knowledge and autobiographical memory across early to late childhood are related. Self‐descriptions and autobiographical memory reports were collected from 379 three‐ to eleven‐year‐old predominantly white Scottish children, M age = 90.3 months, SD = 31.1, 54% female. Episodic memory was measured in an enactment task involving recall and source monitoring of performed and witnessed actions. The volume and complexity of self‐knowledge and autobiographical memory reports increased with age, as did source monitoring ability and recall bias for own actions. Regression analyses and structural equation modeling confirmed a close association between these developments. These results inform our theoretical understanding of the development of the self‐memory system in childhood, which may contribute to the gradual offset of childhood amnesia.

The award-winning indie video game Chinese Parents, developed by a mainland China-based studio, has gained significant popularity among both Chinese and Western players owing to its unique narrative and representation of contemporary mainland China. Some of these in-game representations include the strict parenting style, academic pressure on Chinese children, unique Chinese school culture and popular Chinese internet memes. This article applies compositional interpretation, as well as the framework of iconology in visual culture to analyse the representation of contemporary mainland China from a video-game-context graphic communication perspective. Examples of character portraits, background scene illustrations, biaoqingbao meme application and supporting visual elements are selected and analysed to demonstrate how the game incorporates contemporary Chinese culture into the visuals, while also challenging and playing into existing clichés of Chinese culture.

Ultrasound imaging is extensively used by both practitioners and researchers in assessing muscle thickness (MT); however, its use in the field is constrained by the transportability of stationary devices. New portable ultrasound probes pose as a cost-effective and transportable alternative for field-based assessments. This study evaluated the concurrent validity of a portable probe (Lumify) against a laboratory-based device (Vivid S5) in measuring MT. Eighteen participants (nine males and nine females) visited the laboratory and their MT measurements were collected using each device at five different sites (anterior and posterior arm, anterior and posterior thigh, and posterior lower leg). Bland-Altman plots (systematic and proportional bias, random error, and 95% limits of agreement), Pearson's product-moment correlation coefficient (r), and paired samples t-tests with Cohen's d effect sizes (ES) were used to assess the concurrent validity of the Lumify device. Systematic bias was low at all sites ( ≤ 0.11 cm) while proportional bias was detected only at the posterior lower leg (r2 = 0.217 [r = 0.466]). The difference in MT between devices was significant only at the anterior thigh (p < 0.05); however, ES for all sites were considered trivial (ES ≤ 0.131). Linear associations were found between the devices at each site of measurement (r ≥ 0.95). These results highlight that the Lumify probe can be used interchangeably with the Vivid S5 for MT measurements, providing practitioners and researchers with a more cost-effective and portable alternative for field-based assessments.

Purpose Professional boxing is a sport that requires a high aerobic capacity to prevent fatigue and allow athletes to perform over 4–12 rounds. Typically, athletes will go into a heavy training period in a pre-bout camp lasting 6 to 9 weeks. This study investigates the impact of 3 weeks of repeated Wingate sprint interval training, performed on standard gym ergometer bikes, on skeletal muscle endurance and mitochondrial function. Methods Ten male professional boxers (age: 26 ± 4 years, height: 175 ± 5 cm, weight: 70 ± 5 kg) participated in the study. Baseline testing involved a NIRS monitor attached to the rectus femoris muscle prior to an incremental time to exhaustion test on a treadmill. After the treadmill test participants underwent a series of arterial occlusions to determine mitochondrial function post-volitional exhaustion. Participants then continued their own training for 3 weeks and then repeated baseline testing. After the second testing session, participants undertook three weekly sprint sessions consisting of 3 × 30 s maximal sprints with 60 s recovery. Testing was repeated 3 weeks later. Results The time to exhaustion increased by > 6% after 3 weeks of sprint interval training as compared to baseline and control (p < 0.05). Skeletal muscle oxygen saturation (SmO2) at exhaustion was increased by 5.5% after 3 weeks of sprint interval training as compared to baseline and control (p = 0.008). Skeletal muscle mitochondrial rate post exhaustion was increased by 160% after 3 weeks of sprint interval training as compared to baseline and control (p < 0.001). Conclusion The study demonstrated that SIT led to increased incremental time to exhaustion, higher SmO2 levels at volitional exhaustion and increased mitochondrial rates in professional boxers. These findings suggest that SIT should be an integral part of a boxe’s conditioning regimen to improve performance and safety within the ring.

Metabolite profiling is an analytical technique used to assess metabolites in complex biological samples. This technique allows for the identification of both targeted and untargeted metabolites. In this study, the effect of traditional (fermentation and malting) and novel processing (ultrasonication) on the metabolites of finger millet (FM) and Bambara groundnut (BGN) flour was investigated using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Various metabolite classes, including amino acids, alcohol, aldehyde, organic acid, ester, fatty acids, glycoside, and sugar, were identified in FM and BGN flours. The adopted processing techniques impacted metabolite composition, as evidenced by substantial variations in volatile compound levels and metabolite composition among the FM and BGN samples before and after traditional and novel processing. Important health‐promoting compounds, such as oleic acid, linoelaidic acid, and linoleic acid, were identified at their highest levels in fermented FM and BGN flours. The results obtained from this study offer an important context for monitoring and regulating the metabolite composition of FM and BGN flours under traditional and novel processing. Practical Application Fermentation, malting, and ultrasonication induced desirable changes in some health‐promoting compounds of finger millet and Bambara groundnut flours. The food and pharmaceutical industries could benefit from these traditional‐ and novel‐modified flours as they could be used as improved food sources with health benefits.

This editorial presents a collection of articles focused on the effective use of physiological and mechanical variables to assess athletes' neuromuscular state and optimize their training programs. The included studies span a range of sports disciplines, from traditional activities like marathon running and sprinting to newer practices such as CrossFit. Additionally, the editorial features a meta-analysis on the effects of blood flow restriction on muscle activation and post-activation performance enhancement during actions involving the upper-body muscles.