Developing films to support vaccine-hesitant, ethnically diverse parents' decision-making about the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine: a codesign study.

OBJECTIVE: To illustrate an evidence-, theory- and person-based approach to codesign the COMMUNICATE films that support parental decision-making about the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine for their teenagers. DESIGN: Codesign study. SETTING: Localities covered by two immunisation teams in London and the south-west of England. METHODS: The intervention planning phase involved combining evidence from a literature review with qualitative interview data to identify barriers and facilitators to HPV vaccine uptake, as well as design features that should be incorporated within the COMMUNICATE films. The intervention development phase involved identifying guiding principles for the COMMUNICATE films, mapping behaviour change techniques onto the behaviour change wheel and codesigning the COMMUNICATE films. Feedback from users informed modifications to maximise acceptability and feasibility and to support behaviour change. RESULTS: The primary and secondary evidence highlighted important content to include within the COMMUNICATE films: emphasise the benefits of the HPV vaccine, provide transparent information about the safety profile and side effects and emphasise the universality and commonality of HPV infection. A series of scripts were used to guide 4 film shoots to create the content in multiple community languages with 16 participants, including vaccine-hesitant, ethnically diverse parents and professionals. Overall, participants were positive about the films. Potential messengers and ways the films could be distributed, identified by parents, include local social media networks or text messages from general practices. The need for information about the HPV vaccine to be shared by schools ahead of consent being sought was also raised. CONCLUSIONS: By using an integrated approach to intervention development, this study has begun to address the need for an intervention to support vaccine-hesitant, ethnically diverse parents' decision-making about the HPV vaccination programme. A future study to codesign, implement and evaluate a communication strategy for the COMMUNICATE films is planned.

[The representation of sexuality and ageing in cinema: a reflection of a persistent capacitist ideology]. / Sexualité et vieillissement au cinéma : reflet d'une idéologie capacitiste persistante.

One might think that the representation of the ageing body in film has evolved over the years, reflecting certain cultural and societal changes, as well as advances in the understanding of ageing. However, regardless of gender, older people are more likely than any other group to appear in film as comic antidotes to ageing, cultivating stereotypes of physical, cognitive and even sexual inefficiency.

Examining how a documentary film can serve as an intervention to shift attitudes and behaviours around sexism in STEM.

"Picture a Scientist," a documentary featuring stories and research about bias in STEM, reached a large international audience. Yet, the extent to which this type of engaging media can impact gender bias remains unclear. In a unique collaboration between film creators and researchers, the current large-scale field studies explored whether "Picture a Scientist" functioned as an intervention and persuasive message targeting sexism in STEM. Study 1 found viewers who indicated more knowledge and stronger emotions, perspective-taking, and transportation after the film were more inspired to continue learning sexism in STEM and combating unfair treatment, suggesting the documentary engaged both classic and narrative persuasion processes. Employing a quasi-experimental design, Study 2 demonstrated that compared to those who had not watched the film (but intended to), participants who had viewed the film indicated higher awareness of gender bias, stronger intentions to address this bias, and participants in leadership reported stronger intentions to enact inclusive policies (for example, making it easier to report mistreatment). Our findings suggest that the use of this documentary may be a relatively low-cost and easily scalable online intervention, particularly when organizations lack resources for in-person workshops. These studies can help inform organizational trainings using this or similar documentaries.

Inter- and intra-subject similarity in network functional connectivity across a full narrative movie.

Naturalistic paradigms, such as watching movies during functional magnetic resonance imaging, are thought to prompt the emotional and cognitive processes typically elicited in real life situations. Therefore, naturalistic viewing (NV) holds great potential for studying individual differences. Previous studies have primarily focused on using shorter movie clips, geared toward eliciting specific and often isolated emotions, while the potential behind using full narratives depicted in commercial movies as a proxy for real-life experiences has barely been explored. Here, we offer preliminary evidence that a full narrative movie (FNM), that is, a movie covering a complete narrative arc, can capture complex socio-affective dynamics and their links to individual differences. Using the studyforrest dataset, we investigated inter- and intra-subject similarity in network functional connectivity (NFC) of 14 meta-analytically defined networks across a full narrative, audio-visual movie split into eight consecutive movie segments. We characterized the movie segments by valence and arousal portrayed within the sequences, before utilizing a linear mixed model to analyze which factors explain inter- and intra-subject similarity. Our results show that the model best explaining inter-subject similarity comprised network, movie segment, valence and a movie segment by valence interaction. Intra-subject similarity was influenced significantly by the same factors and an additional three-way interaction between movie segment, valence and arousal. Overall, inter- and intra-subject similarity in NFC were sensitive to the ongoing narrative and emotions in the movie. We conclude that FNMs offer complex content and dynamics that might be particularly valuable for studying individual differences. Further characterization of movie features, such as the overarching narratives, that enhance individual differences is needed for advancing the potential of NV research.

Reexamining the Kuleshov effect: Behavioral and neural evidence from authentic film experiments.

Film cognition explores the influence of cinematic elements, such as editing and film color, on viewers' perception. The Kuleshov effect, a famous example of how editing influences viewers' emotional perception, was initially proposed to support montage theory through the Kuleshov experiment. This effect, which has since been recognized as a manifestation of point-of-view (POV) editing practices, posits that the emotional interpretation of neutral facial expressions is influenced by the accompanying emotional scene in a face-scene-face sequence. However, concerns persist regarding the validity of previous studies, often employing inauthentic film materials like static images, leaving the question of its existence in authentic films unanswered. This study addresses these concerns by utilizing authentic films in two experiments. In Experiment 1, multiple film clips were captured under the guidance of a professional film director and seamlessly integrated into authentic film sequences. 59 participants viewed these face-scene-face film sequences and were tasked with rating the valence and emotional intensity of neutral faces. The findings revealed that the accompanying fearful or happy scenes significantly influence the interpretation of emotion on neutral faces, eliciting perceptions of negative or positive emotions from the neutral face. These results affirm the existence of the Kuleshov effect within authentic films. In Experiment 2, 31 participants rated the valence and arousal of neutral faces while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The behavioral results confirm the Kuleshov effect in the MRI scanner, while the neural data identify neural correlates that support its existence at the neural level. These correlates include the cuneus, precuneus, hippocampus, parahippocampal gyrus, post cingulate gyrus, orbitofrontal cortex, fusiform gyrus, and insula. These findings also underscore the contextual framing inherent in the Kuleshov effect. Overall, the study integrates film theory and cognitive neuroscience experiments, providing robust evidence supporting the existence of the Kuleshov effect through both subjective ratings and objective neuroimaging measurements. This research also contributes to a deeper understanding of the impact of film editing on viewers' emotional perception from the contemporary POV editing practices and neurocinematic perspective, advancing the knowledge of film cognition.

Real-world exoskeletons are better than those in the movie Atlas.

The recent movie Atlas misses fundamental robotics advances in self-stabilization and human-robot interaction.

The effects of profession-related films on the professional pride of nursing students: A randomised controlled trial.

AIM: This study aimed to determine the effects of profession-related films on the professional pride of nursing students. DESIGNS: The study was conducted with a randomised controlled experimental design. METHODS: The sample of the study consisted of 102 students enrolled in the first year of the School of Nursing, Zonguldak Bulent Ecevit University in Türkiye in the 2022-2023 academic year. These students were randomly assigned to the experimental (n = 57) and control (n = 45) groups. The experimental group watched two documentaries and a film on YouTube with a one-week break. Self-administered online questionnaires were distributed via WhatsApp groups for pretests and posttests. Data were collected with a "Sociodemographic Data Form" and the "Nursing Professional Pride Scale (NPPS)" included in the questionnaire forms prepared on the Google Forms platform. Data were analysed using Spearman's rho, the Mann-Whitney U Test, and the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test. RESULTS: The mean age of the participants was 18.80 ± 0.99 years, 80% of the participants were female, the place where 79.4% had lived for the longest duration in their lives was the city, 85.3% had information about the profession of nursing before they started university (36.8% from the internet, 34.6% from people around them). The experimental group had significantly higher NPPS scores than the control group after the intervention (p = 0.017). There was also a significant increase in the dimensions of professional feeling (p = 0.012) and desire to continue the profession in the experimental group (p = 0.002). PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: Patients and public were not involved in this research.

Exploring the implementation of an educational film within antenatal care to reduce the risk of cytomegalovirus infection in pregnancy: A qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is a leading cause of sensorineural hearing loss and neuro-disability in childhood. In the absence of a licensed vaccine, adoption of hygiene-based measures may reduce the risk of CMV infection in pregnancy, however these measures are not routinely discussed with pregnant women as part of National Health Service (NHS) antenatal care in the United Kingdom (UK). METHODS: An exploratory qualitative study was conducted, underpinned by Normalization Process Theory (NPT), to investigate how an educational intervention comprising of a short film about CMV may best be implemented, sustained, and enhanced in real-world routine antenatal care settings. Video, semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants who were recruited using a purposive sample that comprised of midwives providing antenatal care from three NHS hospitals (n = 15) and participants from professional colleges and from organisations or charities providing, or with an interest in, antenatal education or health information in the UK (n = 15). FINDINGS: Midwives were reluctant to include CMV as part of early pregnancy discussions about reducing the risk of other infections due to lack of time, knowledge and absence of guidance or policies relating to CMV in antenatal education. However, the educational intervention was perceived to be a useful tool to encourage conversations and empower women to manage risk by all stakeholders, which would overcome some identified barriers. Macro-level challenges such as screening policies and lack of official guidelines to legitimise dissemination were identified. DISCUSSION: Successful implementation of education about CMV as part of routine NHS care in the UK will require an increase in awareness and knowledge about CMV amongst midwives. NPT revealed that 'coherence' and 'cognitive participation' between service members are vital to imbed CMV education in routine practice. 'Collective action' and 'reflexive monitoring' is required to sustain service changes.

Ethnographic Film, Fourth Cinema and Situated Knowledge Practices-from Colonial Film to Collaborative Research.

The text attempts to understand the development of collaborative audiovisual knowledge practices in anthropology as situated and diffractive knowledge (Haraway, Barad, Smith). By considering specific stages in the history of collaborative and participatory projects, the article argues that collaborative filmmaking is not only a decentering of one-sided authorship and one-sided modes of representation, but also a media-specific form of knowledge that is bound to and embedded in social contexts. Through the example of colonial film, the article describes stations of demarcation and attempts to decolonize film. Current film experiments with marginalized groups have their origins in "shared anthropologies" (Rouch) and have further developed this approach through more consistent forms of Fourth Cinema and power sharing with Indigenous communities. Film is thus also able to depict amateur knowledge practices within collaborative research projects.

The Black Lives Matter movement mitigates bias against racial minority actors.

Watching movies is among the most popular entertainment and cultural activities. How do viewers react when a movie sequel increases racial minority actors in the main cast ("minority increase")? On the one hand, such sequels may receive better evaluations if viewers appreciate racially inclusive casting for its novel elements (the value-in-diversity perspective) and moral appeal (the fairness perspective on diversity). On the other hand, discrimination research suggests that if viewers harbor biases against racial minorities, sequels with minority increase may receive worse evaluations. To examine these competing possibilities, we analyze a unique panel dataset of movie series released from 1998 to 2021 and conduct text analysis of 312,457 reviews of these movies. Consistent with discrimination research, we find that movies with minority increase receive lower ratings and more toxic reviews. Importantly, these effects weaken after the advent of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, especially when the movement's intensity is high. These results are reliable across various robustness checks (e.g., propensity score matching, random implementation test). We conceptually replicate the bias mitigation effect of BLM in a preregistered experiment: Heightening the salience of BLM increases White individuals' acceptance of racial minority increase in a movie sequel. This research demonstrates the power of social movements in fostering diversity, equality, and inclusion.

Bidirectionality of LF when the movie makes you sad: Effects of negative emotions on heart rate variability among patients with major depression.

OBJECTIVES: Heart rate variability (HRV) reflects the capacity to adapt to internal and environmental changes. Decreased HRV may indicate inadequate adaptive capacity. This study aims to investigate the relationship between the heart and brain's adaptive abilities, both at rest and when negative emotions are stimulated in depression. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The study included 30 patients (20 female, 10 male) with major depression (mean age = 29.8 ± 7.8) and 30 healthy controls, all of whom had similar characteristics in terms of age and gender, selected through convenience sampling. The patients were drug-free at the time of the assessment. Holter recordings were obtained while subjects watched videos stimulating anger, fear, sadness, and a neutral video, and at rest, HRV parameters were calculated. To control for interindividual variability and account for paired sampling, linear mixed effects models were employed. RESULTS: Watching the 'sadness video' led to an increase in low frequency band (LF) [LF change (Control vs depression); Difference:-620.80 df:107 t:-2.093 P:0.039] and LF/high frequency band ratio (LF/HF) [LF/HF change (control vs depression group); Difference:-1.718 df:105 t:-2.374 P:0.020] in the depression group. The video led to a decrease in LF and LF/HF in the controls. Although the differences between the conditions and interactions with the group were significant, the effects were independent of depression severity. CONCLUSION: In depression, brain's regulatory effect on the heart differed from controls in the sadness condition, possibly due to increased arousal levels in subjects with depression and their inability to suppress sympathetic activity when a state of sadness is stimulated.

Online Search Interest in Gynecologists After the Release of the Film Barbie.

This cross-sectional study evaluates whether the film Barbie was associated with increased public interest in gynecologic care in the US after its release.

Testing the efficacy of a narrative short film in educating the public about providing emotional support to individuals with fertility problems.

BACKGROUND: To educate the public on how best to support people with fertility problems, a narrative short film "Ten Things Not to Say to Someone Struggling with Infertility" was created, depicting the impact that helpful versus unhelpful dialogue has on someone with fertility problems. METHODS: Before and after watching the video, 419 participants from the public were presented with a hypothetical vignette describing a woman experiencing fertility problems and asked about the likelihood that they would endorse a series of helpful and unhelpful statements when communicating with the protagonist. Pre and post endorsement of helpful versus unhelpful statements were compared, as were self-perceived knowledge about the mental health aspects of fertility problems, confidence in providing emotional support to someone with fertility problems, and empathy for the protagonist. RESULTS: Participants endorsed fewer unhelpful statements after the video relative to before (M(SD) = 2.2(2.3) vs. 1.3(2.3), p < .001) and fewer participants endorsed at least one unhelpful statement (72% to 47%, p < .001). Self-perceived knowledge of fertility problems, confidence in providing support, and empathy increased at post-test (ps < .001; Cohen's d = .56-.83) indicating medium-large effects. CONCLUSIONS: A narrative short film appears to be an effective dissemination strategy for sensitizing the public to the emotional struggles of individuals experiencing fertility problems.

Lifespan differences in hippocampal subregion connectivity patterns during movie watching.

Age-related episodic memory decline is attributed to functional alternations in the hippocampus. Less clear is how aging affects the functional connections of the hippocampus to the rest of the brain during episodic memory processing. We examined fMRI data from the CamCAN dataset, in which a large cohort of participants watched a movie (N = 643; 18-88 years), a proxy for naturalistic episodic memory encoding. We examined connectivity profiles across the lifespan both within the hippocampus (anterior, posterior), and between the hippocampal subregions and cortical networks. Aging was associated with reductions in contralateral (left, right) but not ipsilateral (anterior, posterior) hippocampal subregion connectivity. Aging was primarily associated with increased coupling between the anterior hippocampus and regions affiliated with Control, Dorsal Attention and Default Mode networks, yet decreased coupling between the posterior hippocampus and a selection of these regions. Differences in age-related hippocampal-cortical, but not within-hippocampus circuitry selectively predicted worse memory performance. Our findings comprehensively characterize hippocampal functional topography in relation to cognition in older age, suggesting that shifts in cortico-hippocampal connectivity may be sensitive markers of age-related episodic memory decline.

Film as an educational tool in medical pedagogy: A study on cinemeducation and its effectiveness.

OBJECTIVE: To find out the possibilities and usefulness of introducing cinemeducation in medical institutions, and to formulate suggestive inserts for faculty and policy-makers. METHODS: The quantitative study was conducted in Lahore from January to June 2021 after approval from the ethics review committee of King Edward Medical University, Lahore, and comprised fourth and final year medical students. Relevant short clips from seven movies of different genres were selected and shown to the students who were then divided into eight equal groups. Every session lasted 30 minutes, and was followed by an interactive discussion between the students and faculty members. The critical aspects of the sessions were discussed and analysed. Data was collected using a 7-item questionnaire that was scored on a 5-point Likert scale. Data was analysed using SPSS 21. RESULTS: Of the 240 participants, the questionnaire was returned duly filled by 219(91.25%). Among them, 176(80.4%) said they found the experience worthwhile and that they would like to have such an experience again, while 184(84%) said such sessions should be made a part of regular curriculum. Also, 166(75.8%) participants felt that the session had helped them learn about crucial features of medicine, and 169(77%) thought that the session facilitated the understanding towards patient management. CONCLUSIONS: Cinemeducation was found to be an excellent tool of pedagogy that should be incorporated in all the relevant disciplines of medicine and allied sciences.

Mal do século: meio ambiente e doença no filme "Safe" (1995) de Todd Haynes / Evil of the century: environment and disease in the film "Safe" (1995) by Todd Haynes / El mal del siglo: medio ambiente y enfermedad en la película "Safe" (1995) de Todd Haynes

O filme "Safe" (1995), dirigido por Todd Haynes, conta a história de Carol White, dona de casa de classe média alta em Los Angeles, que começa a sofrer de uma misteriosa alergia aos frutos da "modernidade" (alimentos ultraprocessados, produtos sintéticos e poluição). Realizado décadas atrás, o filme é atual para criticar a sociedade contemporânea, explorando a desconexão e o vazio existencial nas crises ambientais. A resenha se aprofunda nos dilemas sofridos pela personagem que, apesar de viver em um ambiente abastado, sente-se alienada e busca refúgio em um grupo que oferece uma solução pseudocientífica para seu mal. O filme se posiciona como uma crítica à sociedade de consumo e às consequências das políticas neoliberais, questionando a eficácia de soluções superficiais para problemas profundos e sistêmicos.

The film "Safe" (1995), directed by Todd Haynes, tells the story of Carol White, an upper-middle-class housewife in Los Angeles, who begins to suffer from a mysterious allergy to the fruits of "modernity" (ultra-processed foods, synthetic products and pollution). Despite being made decades ago, the film is current in criticizing contemporary society, exploring the disconnection and existential void in environmental crises. The review delves into the dilemmas suffered by the character who, despite living in a wealthy environment, feels alienated and seeks refuge in a group that offers a pseudoscientific solution to her illness. The film positions itself as a critique of consumer society and the consequences of neoliberal policies, questioning the effectiveness of superficial solutions to deep, systemic problems.

La película "Safe" (1995), dirigida por Todd Haynes, cuenta la historia de Carol White, una ama de casa de clase media alta de Los Ángeles, que comienza a sufrir una misteriosa alergia a los frutos de la "modernidad" (alimentos, productos ultraprocesados, productos sintéticos y contaminación). A pesar de haber sido realizada hace décadas, la película está vigente en su crítica a la sociedad contemporánea, explorando la desconexión y el vacío existencial en las crisis ambientales. La reseña profundiza en los dilemas que sufre el personaje que, pese a vivir en un entorno acomodado, se siente alienada y busca refugio en un grupo que ofrece una solución pseudocientífica a su enfermedad. La película se posiciona como una crítica a la sociedad de consumo y las consecuencias de las políticas neoliberales, cuestionando la efectividad de soluciones superficiales a problemas sistémicos profundos.

Alcohol imagery in popular films in China, 2001-2020.

This study aims to identify the level and trend of alcohol imagery in popular films in China from 2001 to 2020. We divided the running time of the annual 20 top-grossing films in China into 5-min intervals and coded those containing alcohol imagery, the presence of warnings, whether the imagery was related to minors and alcohol brands. Results showed that alcohol imagery occurred in 90.75% (363/400) of the films and 25.26% (2380/9423) of the intervals; these proportions remained stable over time. No film containing alcohol imagery had warnings, alcohol imagery related to minors appeared each year, and 103 alcohol brands were present in 185 intervals across 93 of the 400 films. Chinese films contained more alcohol imagery than international films. National policies are required to restrict alcohol imagery in films and to reduce the availability of such films for viewing by young people.

Sisterhood predicts similar neural processing of a film.

Relationships between humans are essential for how we see the world. Using fMRI, we explored the neural basis of homophily, a sociological concept that describes the tendency to bond with similar others. Our comparison of brain activity between sisters, friends and acquaintances while they watched a movie, indicate that sisters' brain activity is more similar than that of friends and friends' activity is more similar than that of acquaintances. The increased similarity in brain activity measured as inter-subject correlation (ISC) was found both in higher-order brain areas including the default-mode network (DMN) and sensory areas. Increased ISC could not be explained by genetic relation between sisters neither by similarities in eye-movements, emotional experiences, and physiological activity. Our findings shed light on the neural basis of homophily by revealing that similarity in brain activity in the DMN and sensory areas is the stronger the closer is the relationship between the people.

Can viewing a 3D movie improve visual function in children with a history of amblyopia and neurotypical children?: A pilot study.

PURPOSE: The aim of this pilot study was to determine whether viewing an immersive 3D movie with large disparities in a cinema resulted in improved visual acuity (VA), stereoscopic depth perception (ST), and improved eye alignment in residual amblyopic children and children without amblyopia. METHODS: A total of 24 children aged between 5 and 12 years with a history of anisometropic and/or strabismic amblyopia, that had been previously treated and who currently have residual amblyopia (N = 14), and in children with typical development without amblyopia (N = 10) viewed the movie in 3D Sing 2 in a cinema for 110 minutes. Visual acuity, stereoacuity and ocular deviation were assessed before viewing the movie, and three months later. Stereoacuity and ocular deviation were also measured immediately after viewing the movie. RESULTS: We observed an improvement in visual acuity in the non-dominant (amblyopic) eye 3 months after viewing the movie in the amblyopic group (P<0.001). Stereopsis improved immediately after viewing the movie (P = 0.02), and after 3 months by ≈ 40% (P = 0.01). Moreover, improvements in stereopsis were also observed in children without amblyopia (P = 0.04). No significant changes in ocular deviation were observed in either group. CONCLUSIONS: These pilot results suggest that brief exposure to large disparities by viewing a 3D movie in a cinema can help to improve stereopsis and visual acuity in children aged 5‒12 years with previously treated amblyopia, and provide a rationale for a randomized clinical trial.